Consulate to celebrate Cinco de Mayo

On Friday, May 4 the Mexican Consulate with the help of researcher and historian Silas Griffin will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, Mexico and as part of the Arizona Statehood Centennial celebrations, a special ceremony will be held for Captain Lugardo G. Lozano, veteran of the Battle of Puebla who is buried here.

The celebration will take place at the Calvary Cemetery at 4 p.m. and is open to the public.

According to Griffin’s research, which started in 1999, Capt. Lozano was a 35-year career army Veteran who was born in La Union, Jalisco, Mexico on February 19, 1847 and he died in Douglas on May 31, 1922, after residing here for five years.

Griffin found Lozano’s obituary when he was looking for Confederate Veterans’ obituaries in The Daily Dispatch’s microfilms. The obituary, which appeared June 1, 1922 said “Capt. Lugardo G. Lozano, a veteran of the battle of Cinco de Mayo, who served under Benito Juarez, died late last night at his home, 1027 12th St. at the age of 75 years.”

It is believed by Griffin that Lozano came to live here because of his age and decided to come live with his son, Rosendo Lozano, who was an electrician at the Calumet and Arizona smelter.

“I think he came here because his son was living here working and has bought a house, and I got the copies of the property from Bisbee,” Griffin said. “Rosendo (son) buys the house, his parents come to live with him, and then the old man dies, Rosendo sells the house to his sister Refugio, who sells it a year after, around 1925; apparently there are no more records of the family around the area from that moment.”

In 2005, Griffin conducted a ceremony to dedicate a headstone and place it at Lozano’s grave. Now, this year the Mexican Consulate will conduct the ceremony to honor Lozano’s memory for his service in the battle that Mexican army raised the victory upon the French.