Family Histories (71)
When Santa Fe's Fischer Brewery was built in the early 1860s, it included a large underground stone lined cellar used to keep beer cold. There was a man-made pond just off the Santa Fe river below the brewery where ice was harvested during the winter and placed in the cellar. In 1890, Fischer financed an ice plant, which caused financial difficulties, causing the brewery to close in 1896.
In 1906, my great-grandfather, Alois Renehan, purchased the brewery, demolished it, and had a large house he named The Willows built on the site. For the next 35 years the cellar was used for storage, including the equipment needed to maintain an apple orchard next to the main house. There is a family story that the bar from the Plaza Hotel was stored there while the hotel was being remodeled. The hotel burned down in 1926. During this time, he also built the La Vereda complex that is there today. After Renehan's death in 1928, my grandfather moved into the big house and continued to use the cellar. In 1942, my father recalled taking all metal objects that were in the cellar out and donating them to an iron war drive. He said that the bar was still there. After the war, the road over the cellar was sinking, so my grandfather had the cellar filled and walled up the entrance. That wall, pictured above, still exists. As a boy, I remember a depression next to our house which I was told was a ventilation shaft for the cellar. I was also told to stay away from it.
Today, all traces of the cellar are gone except for the walled-up entrance. I've often wondered whatever happened to the Palace Hotel bar. It must have been something!
Fischer Brewery, 1890, showing location of the cellar
My Father, Dee Lord, in 1938. The ventilation shaft for the cellar is on the hill over his right shoulder
In 1954, my brother David and I were invited to Suzy Armentrout's 7th birthday party. We lived on La Vereda then and Suzy hung out with me, my brother David, and Larry Lloyd. We did everything together, from playing army in the arroyos to putting on our Davy Crockett hats and stalking game to building roads for our Matchbox cars and trucks. The one time I remember playing girl stuff with her was when David and I were having a tug of war with Suzy's favorite doll and the doll came apart, spilling stuffing all over the room. After that, it was strictly boy activities. The only times I remember her in a dress was on school days and at her birthday party. We all went to the brand new Acequia Madre elementary school. Suzy told me recently that two of her birthday gifts were Davy Crockett outfits for her Ginny doll.
Pictured in the photo are: Standing, Larry Lloyd, Mike Lord, Suzy Armentrout, and Patsy Burtrum. Seated are Rosina (?) and her sisters, David Lord, and Linda Lloyd. My mom thought it would be cute to dress David and me in matching outfits, which was the beginning of my initiation into the Peefee world (for more about the word Peefee, go here.) And the hats! They came from Los Niños. They don't make 'em like that any more.
What I love most about this photo is the mix of cultures. We were white kids living in a Hispano neighborhood and we were all able to get along just fine. Our parents taught us that we were no different than anyone else and, at this age, it never occured to us that we were. This is probably the most important thing I learned as a child growing up in Santa Fe and a lesson that I've passed on to my children.
The beautiful little girl is Angie Sosaya Biddle. eldest child of Augustin and Victoria Roybal Sosaya. Many of you know Victoria Murphy. Her mother, Monica Sosaya Halford, was their daughter. Victoria Sosaya's older sister was Nicolasa Roybal Chavez, mother of Fray Angelico, Martha, Nora (my mother), Cuate, Adela, Maria Consuelo, Eugenio, FabIan Jr., Antonio and Jose. Jose is the only one of the ten children still living!
The pretty lady to the right in the picture is Victoria. She and their older sister Eva, were the prettiest of the 4 Roybal girls. They were both tall and slender. My grandmother Nicolasa is sitting with her back to the camera. She was barely 4'10" and had a very small frame. The 2nd oldest of the sisters was Aurelia Roybal King. She was married to George King. You got it...he later owned a bar in Santa Fe.
This picture was taken in front if the Roybal house in Wagon Mound in 1915.
Who is that little boy pushing a wheel barrel? Why that is Fabian and Nicolasa's eldest child....none other than Manuel Ezekiel....aka Fray Angelico Chavez OFM.
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I had the privilege of meeting Carmen Baca at Bookworks aqui en 'Burque. Carmen was discussing her book "El Hermano." It is a wonderful story about her father's coming of age in the 1920's as a future member of a Cofradia (Penitentes) in northern New Mexico. The book features some of the folklore that we love in northern New Mexico including our mysterious La Llorona. You can purchase the book on Amazon and many local bookstores. Voces de Santa Fe has always been committed to supporting our local artists and authors. They are instrumental in keeping our culture alive and vibrant.
