The Chavarría Family
The Earliest Known Ancestors (EKA) of the Terlingua Chavarría family are Pedro Chavarría and his wife María Rosa Ybarra.  They were both born in Mexico although we don't know the location.  Pedro died in 1772, and his wife Rosa Ybarra was born in 1720 and died in 1785.  Both were buried in Santa Cruz, Rosales, Chihuahua, Mexico.  

click on images to enlarge them
The Chavarría family lived in the Rosales, Pedro Meoqui, Delicias area for at least four generations before Severiano Chavarría moved into the greater Big Bend area. Note that it is about 30 miles from Delicias to Chihuahua City, Chihuahua.

Severiano was also born in Pedro Meoqui,  but he moved to Fort Stockton, Texas and married Rita Ramírez there.  He and Rita had four children in Fort Stockton, then the went to help start a new settlement on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande which came to be known as La Coyota. 

Severiano  died  there and is buried in the La Coyota cemetery just west of the Alamo Creek.  Rita was still living there with her son Juan in May 1940. She probably moved to Fort Stockton soon afterward because nine months later she died February 26, 1941 in Fort Stockton of liver cancer at the age of 81 and is buried in Fort Stockton.    Today the ruins of La Coyota and the La Coyota cemetery are found inside the Big Bend National Park.

The Chavarría Name
The family name "Chavarría" is derived from the Basque word "etxe-barria" (exte means house; and barria means new) so the name Chavarría  means "new house"  or "new farmstead." 

The Basque name Etxeberria became Echeverria in Castilian the language we call Spanish. Over time Etxeberria was shortened to Txabarria which is Chavarría in Castilian.  We see both Echeverría and Chavarría in use today, but they descend from the same Basque family.  When doing genealogical research in old records one encounters a variety of variants in the name, such as Chavarrí, Echavarria, Chavarri, Chavaria, Echavaria, Chavarra, Echeberria, Echebarria, Etcheverri, D'Etcheverry, Echebarri, and others; but all are based on Basque for new house.
We are still doing research to connect the Terlingua Chavarrías with locations in the Basque country, but research on the Terlingua Molinar family has them coming from the village of Gordexola.  Interestingly in some Basque baptismal records for members of the Molinar family we find that the godparents were Chavarría. It's possible that the Terlingua Chavarría families and the Molinar families have been close all these years, and the Chavarrías might also have roots in or near Gordexola about 11 miles west southwest of Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain.
So it will probably turn out that Pedro Chavarría has his roots in the Basque country which is called "Vizcaya" in the Basque language.  Vizcaya is located in northeastern Spain.  It is worthwhile noting that the Spanish "conquerers" that came to northern Mexico named a large area in New Spain, Nueva Vizcaya after their own homeland.  Since Mexican Independence from Spain wasn't until 1821, at the time of their death Rosales was in Nueva Vizcaya which covered the present day state of Chihuahua and a portion of today's West Texas which included the Big Bend area.

The Chavarría Family Tree
               EKA is genertion 0
0 Pedro died 1772   
          1 Mariano born 1752

                  2 Usbaldo Chavarría and Josefa Garcia 

                          3 José Alexo Chavarría 1803-1849

                                  4  Anastacio Chavarría 1837-

                                              5 Genaro Chavarría 1870-

                                                         6 Angel Chavarría b. 1/10/1921; Meoqui, Chih.

                          3 Pío Chavarría

                                    4 Rumaldo Chavarría

                                    4 Severiano Chavarría

                                               5 Valentina Chavarría Franco

 Research Notes:
Chavarrí Palace in Bilbao is at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Plaza_Moy%C3%BAa_%281%29.jpg
Research notes from José L. Chavarría from "Discuss the Chavarria Family" page in FdT
Jose Chavarria
4/4/2021 01:11:25 pm
My father Angel Chavarria was born in Meoqui, Chihuahua on October 1, 1921. I don't know how he is related to Severiano or Romaldo Chavarria, who were also born in Meoqui. With Meoqui being such a small community during that time, I'm sure they are related. I'm thinking that my father's grandfather would have been a cousin of Severiano and Romaldo. My grandfather's name was Genaro Chavarria (my dad's father) but he wasn't Severiano's son Genaro as prior research shows that Severiano's son, Genaro, died as a child. I was wondering if anyone has any information. I don't have my much information about Genaro Chavarria's (my grandfather) family. I also don't think he would be related to Romaldo Chavarria unless Guadalupe Chavarria (Romaldo's son) had a son named Genaro.

Reply
Maria Elena lozano calderon
11/22/2021 08:54:11 pmIAM youngest daughter of jesusita lozano calderon
She was younger sister of Dolores (Lola) Lozano
Married to Tio Martin Chavarria they lived in
Pecos texas my name is Maria Elena Calderon live in Salinas california

Reply
Jose Chavarria
2/13/2022 03:00:15 am
After more checking I found out that my great grandfather Anastacio Chavarria and Severiano Chavarria are first cousins. Severiano's father Pio Chavarria was the younger brother of Anastacio's father Jose Alexo Chavarria. Jose Alexo was the oldest of the siblings. Pio and Alexo's parents were Uvaldo Chavarria and Josefa Garcia. The whole family on my father's (Angel) side are from Meoqui, Chihuahua. 
How José Luis Chavarría and Antonio S. Franco are related:

Pedro Chavarría d. ca. 1772 father of Mariano
Jose Mariano Chavarría b. ca. 1752 father of Uvaldo
Uvaldo Chavarría b. 1781 and Josefa García were parents of Alexo and Pio
José Alexo Chavarría 1803-1849

Anastacio Chavarría 1837-

Genaro Chavarría 1870-

Angel Chavarría b. 1 Oct 1921; Meoqui, Chihuahua

José Luis Chavarría
brothers

1st cousins

2nd cousins

3rd cousins

4th cousins
Pio Chavarría

Severiano Chavarría

Valentina Chavarría Franco

Manuel Chavarría Franco

Antonio S. Franco
Research Notes on Spain:
Txabarri Jauregia in Bilbao

Txabarri Kalea, 48910
Sestao, Biscay, Spain
maps.app.goo.gl/RZP8Ktd7Ep9VyDEp9Sestao, Biscay, Spain https://maps.app.goo.gl/RZP8Ktd7Ep9VyDEp9
SOURCES:
The primary sources for the Chavarría family research are Maria Louisa Franco Madrid, Bob Wirt, Bob Wirt's website Life Before the Ruins and several Chavarría family members who have contributed by responses to this website and social media such as the Facebook pages for Familias de Terlingua and Terlingua Genealogy and History.
Sources for Chavarria name origins:
https://forebears.io/surnames/chavarria
- ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/chavarria-last-name-meaning-and-origin-1422474
- House of Names https://www.houseofnames.com/etxeberria-family-crest
This page was started in the summer of May 5, 2020.
This page updated on September 5, 2024.
This page last updated July 1, 2025.