existence in
Binan, came a great grief in the loss of their baby daughter, Josepha
Didnio, probably named for her aunt. She had lived only five days,
but payments to the priest for a funeral such as was not given to
many grown persons who died that year in Binan show how keenly the
parents felt the loss of their little girl. They had at the time but
one other child, a boy of ten, Francisco Mercado, whose Christian
name was given partly because he had an uncle of the same name,
and partly as a tribute of gratitude to the friendly Friar scholar
in Manila. His new surname suggests that the family possessed the
commendable trait of taking pride in its ancestry.

Among the Chinese the significance of a name counts for much and it
is always safe to seek a reason for the choice of a name. The Lam-co
family were not given to the practice of taking the names of their
god-parents. Mercado recalls both an honest Spanish encomendero
of the region, also named Francisco, and a worthy mestizo Friar,
now remembered for his botanical studies, but it is not likely that
these influenced Domingo Lam-co in choosing this name for his son. He
gave his boy a name which in the careless Castilian of the country was
but a Spanish translation of the Chinese name by which his ancestors
had been called. Sangley, Mercado and Merchant mean much the same;
Francisco therefore set out in life with a surname that would free
him from the prejudice that followed those with Chinese names,
and yet would remind him of his Chinese ancestry. This was wisdom,
for seldom are men who are ashamed of their ancestry any credit to it.

The family history has to be gleaned from partially preserved parochial
registers of births, marriages and deaths, incomplete court records,
the scanty papers of the estates, a few land transfers, and some stray
writings that accidentally have been preserved with the latter. The
next event in Domingo's life which is revealed by them is a visit
to Manila where in the old Parian church he acted as sponsor,
or godfather, at the baptism of a countryman, and a new convert,
Siong-co, whose granddaughter was, we shall see, to marry a grandson
of Lam-co's, the couple becoming Rizal's grandparents.

Francisco was a grown man when his mother died and was buried with
the elaborate ceremonies which her husband's wealth permitted. There
was a coffin, a niche in which to put it, chanting of the service and
special prayers. All these involved extra