by Noel Shafi
April 2020
The history of the Nunez family from Baitoa, Dominican Republic is centuries old. The Nunez lived in Santiago province since the early Spanish colonial period of the Dominican Republic. Many settled in the town of Baitoa, a town located 13 miles south of the city of Santiago, and east of the Yaque del Norte river.
The Nunez family was made up of well-known farmers in the Cibao, or the northern valley of the Dominican Republic. This family specialized in the production and sale of tobacco and sugarcane.
Based on genetic genealogy, the Nunez family originated in the Aran Valley region in Lleida, Spain. They likely immigrated from Spain to the Dominican Republic in the 1600s. The Y-chromosome haplogroup for the Dominican Nunez family is R-M167.
The original Spanish Nunez family in Spain are believed to have been Catalonian, and some, were Sephardic Jews, according to oral history. This family probably migrated from northern to southern Spain at some point, and perhaps, departed from Spain via the port of Cadiz, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean via merchant vessels or Spanish galleons, ultimately arriving in Santo Domingo after a month-long journey. Upon arrival, they migrated north, probably on horseback, from the capital district to the valley in Santiago.
The origin of the Nunez family of Baitoa begins with Isidoro Nunez, born around 1700. His wife’s name is unknown. Isidoro is the common ancestor for nearly all people with the Nunez surname in Santiago.
Isidoro had several sons, including Jose Nunez. Jose was born around 1755. He is the earliest known Nunez from Santiago de los Caballeros.
Jose Nunez married Catalina de los Reyes. They had a son named Francisco. Francisco was born around 1775.
Francisco Nunez married Catalina Tavarez. They had a son named Rafael. Rafael was born around 1800.
Rafael Nunez married Francisca Valerio. They had at least 3 children: Maria Natividad, Maria de Pilar, and Jose Maria Nunez Valerio. All three siblings were born in the 1820s.
Maria Natividad married Manuel Tineo and settled in San Jose de las Matas.
Maria de Pilar married her distant cousin, Benito Nunez, and settled in Arroyo Hondo.
Jose Maria married Bernarda Franco in the 1840s and settled in Baitoa. Jose Maria was born circa 1825 and died on July 2, 1895. Jose Maria and Bernarda had many children together including: Sebastian, Maria Dolores, Petronila Amalia, Maria de la O, Martin Antonio, Felix, Maria Adelaida, Rafael, and Baldomero Antonio Nunez Franco.
Many of their records, including baptismal, marital, and funeral records, are found in the archives of Saint James the Apostle Church in Santiago, also known locally as La Catedral. Marital dispensations are found in the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo.
Jose Maria Nunez also had two extramarital children with Prudencia Perez, including Reina Julia Perez and Jose Eugenio Perez.
Today, you will find the Nunez in various towns in Santiago and Santo Domingo, and outside of the country, including Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United States, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Arizona, Kentucky, and Florida. The first member of the Nunez family from Baitoa to immigrate to the United States was Juan Crisostomo Nunez Franco in 1926. Additional waves of Nunez family members immigrated to New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Now there are thousands of descendants of Jose Maria Nunez, forming an important part of the Dominican diaspora.