Francisco Procelo is the presumptive father of Melchar (b 1749), Maria del Pilar (b 1753) and Pedro Procela (b 1756); all born in the community or ranches connected to Presidio Nuestra Senora del Pilar and Mission San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes (Los Adaes). The children’s mother is unknown, but is believed to be a Lipan Apache woman.
Only two references to Francisco Procelo are known to exist (Hunnicutt, 1953: 35-37, 93 Bexar Archives Translations, Vol 27). The documentation does not establish how Francisco came to reside in Los Adaes or what became of him after the 1753 references. His name suggests an ultimate connection to Diego Rodriguez, Count Porcelos of Castile (Circa 850 CE), founder of the Procell name, but no currently known documentation supports that connection. DNA testing of a suitable male descendant establishes that Procelo belonged to Haplogroup R1b.
Procelo’s presumptive sons, Melchar and Pedro founded separate branches of the Procell family. The two branches have experienced significantly different success, with Melchar's branch flourishing after 10 generations and passage of more than 250 years. Pedro did not have similar numbers of sons as did Melchar. Accordingly, his branch lasted only a few generations before being submerged in families that the daughters married into.
Interestingly, the Melchar branch of the family, beginning with children of Jose Procella (Francisco Procelo’s Great-Great Grandson) and Hefrudas Malmay are related to Count Porcelos via the maternal line. He is the children's 27th Great Grandfather. Finally, after more than 1000 years, the surname and bloodline are reunited in the Melchar Procela family branch originating in Los Adaes. The Pedro Procela branch is not related to the Count.
The surname has undergone numerous spelling changes since 1753. Some variations are: Procell, Purcella, Purcelli, Procelle, etc.
Los Adaes was founded in 1721 in the vicinity of a former Spanish mission to the local Indians. The presidio and mission were approximately 14 miles from the French outpost of Natchitoches, founded in 1714. Los Adaes served as the capital of the Province of Texas for almost 50 years.
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FRANCISCO PROCELO'S FAMILY