Julia Sosa Caban

March 5, 2008

I got involved in genealogy research because I wanted my and my brothers' descendants to know something about their ancestors. I figured a month or two of research and I would be done. That was 15 years ago.

My first exposure to El Grito de Lares and Mathias Brugman was through my cousin Artie. Artie gave me a copy of a research paper written by Paul Borkowski in 1981, The Role of Mathias Brugman in the Puerto Rican Separatist Movement and Lares Rebellion of 1868. I was entrigued by Paul's findings and it made me want more.

My maternal grandmother, Cruz Maria Brugman Puig, filled me in on what she remembered which got me started with Rootsweb. My online research eventually got me connected with cousin Gilbert (Caquias Lopez) who had already dedicated many years to genealogical research.

Here I am 15 years later rich with the knowledge of a history I knew nothing about and rich with more familia than I could have ever imagined.

In case you're wondering, Artie is the ggg grandson of Mathias Brugman and my grandmother's grandson. The Paul Borkowski who wrote the research paper continued his research on the Brugman family with Arturo Brugman Irizarry. The San Juan Star published an article regarding their research in 1983, Death of Grito de Lares Leader Still Mysterious.