moluga

By VMU on June 17, 2022
We are working to confirm if she is the same Carmen Otero listed in the United States Census of 1850 as born in Chile, aged 25, and  living in the Georgetown District of Tuolumne, California with a group of chilean gold miners: Juan Bastola 31, Julián Castro 26, Juan Ramírez 25. This latter Carmen Otero later married a Scottish born carpenter, Alix Muir (est 1822-) and lived with him in San Francisco, California. At the time of the 1860 Census, June 14, 1860, her married name was Carmen Muir and she declared having born in 1825 in Santa Ana, Melipilla, Chile. In the same Census party: Angela, 9 yrs old born in California and Celia or likely Cecilia? (handwritten as Ceila) aged 18 born in Chile, in est 1842.

Carmen Otero is listed as the mother of Pedro Ugarte Otero (1843-1914) in his official death certificate. He died on May 31, 1914 at La Victoria de Trebulco farm of Talagante, a town near Santiago, in Central Chile. Carmen´s son Pedro was very likely raised by the Vial family of his aunt Rafaela Ugarte Ramírez, married to Antonio Jacobo Vial Formas. If true, this would explain the handwritten legend below his portrait: ¨Pedro Ugarte Otero y Vial nac el 9 Diciembre 1843 y +14 Abril 1915¨. The handwritten date of death is incorrect.
We suspect that the handwritten date of birth may instead be the date when the child was legally recognized by his father, judge Pedro Ugarte Ramírez. A record of baptism at the church of Santa Ana, Petorca, Chile on 01 November 1843, shows a Pedro Otero born to a Carmen Otero. This is the last confirmed record we have found for Carmen Otero in Chile.