 His father was forced to leave the farm due to primogeniture laws, and he moved to Mexico where he became a prosperous clock manufacturer and retailer.His mother, Rosa Maria Córdova y Puig (1843–1881), was the daughter of Spanish immigrants to a newly independent Mexico.Rosa's father was Lieutenant Joaquín de Córdova y García, a former member of the Spanish Royal Army who, like many others, defected to join the fledgling Army of the Three Guarantees.