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Watsonville is in the Heart: Community Digital Archive

Taytayon Family Collection

Dublin Core

Title

Taytayon Family Collection

Description

Eliseo Tapia Taytayon was born in 1908 in the barangay of Calimbajan, in the municipality of Makato, in the Province of Aklan, in the Philippines. His exact birthdate is unidentified. On April 6, 1929, Eliseo and his cousin, Florencio Cawaling, immigrated to the United States. They arrived in Seattle, Washington, and began to work as agricultural laborers following seasonal crops throughout the West Coast. Eventually, Eliseo and Florencio began working in Watsonville where they settled in a labor camp. During the 1940s, Eliseo enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was a member of the Second Filipino Infantry and served in the Pacific Theater. Due to his service, Eliseo became a U.S. citizen.

After the war, Eliseo returned to Watsonville. Through Florencio and Florencio’s soon-to-be wife, Aladina Torres, Eliseo met Rosalinda Mendoza. Rosalinda was also from Makato, Aklan, Philippines. She was born in 1935. Eliseo and Rosalinda corresponded via mail until 1959 when they married. Soon after, Rosalinda immigrated to the United States.

Rosalinda and Eliseo settled in Watsonville. They had four children— Elisa Taytayon Clock (b. unknown), Eliseo Taytayon Jr. (b. unknown), Erlinda Taytayon Heebner (b. 1963), and Stella Taytayon (b. unknown). Eliseo continued to work in agriculture for his entire life and eventually became a foreman on a strawberry farm. Rosalinda worked in the fields as well as in the Green Giant Cannery. Several of the Taytayon family’s relatives also immigrated to Watsonville forming a large extended kinship network. Families integrated into this network include the Cawaling family, the Tejada family, and the Tana and Tabios family.

Eliseo passed away in 1996. The date of Rosalinda’s passing is unknown.

The Taytayon Family Collection was contributed to Watsonville is in the Heart in 2021 by Eliseo and Rosalinda Taytayon's daughter, Erlinda Taytayon Heebner. It includes one item, an oral history interview with Erlinda. In the interview, she discusses her parents' migration to Watsonville and the community activities her family participated in.

Contributor

Erlinda Taytayon Heebner

Collection Items

There are currently no items within this collection.

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