Recently, another genealogist had asked me to check out a document from Puerto Rico and, if possible, provide a transcription for the text. I gladly decided to help, providing both a transcription and translation for the needed document. In helping her out, I decided to try and find some more information about the couple in question. The document was from Fajardo, Puerto Rico – a town in the northeastern part of the island.
While searching the records I came across the surname “Burgos”. Since my Burgos family was from Las Piedras, not too far from the old boundaries of Fajardo (what is now Naguabo) I decided to take a peak. Lo and behold, the person is question was a José de Burgos, son of Manuel de Burgos and Rafaela de los Santos (my 6th great-grandparents)!
In this post, I will focus on how via this coincidental find I was able to discover a record which ultimately helped me obtain another generation in my family tree.
Burgos de los Santos
A few years back I got lucky while researching my family in Yabucoa and was able to push their lines further into the early 1700s with the help of the Registros Parroquiales (Parish Registers). Before settling in Yabucoa, the family came from towns such as Las Piedras, Humacao, and apparently Naguabo/Fajardo.
The last towns in question are tied to my 6th great-grandmother Rafaela de los Santos. Her place of origin was up for debate because the records were not clear on where exactly she was from. A baptism for a son Damián in 1800 mentions Rafaela de los Santos was from Fajardo while a baptism for another son Domingo de la Cruz in 1812 mentions Naguabo. Though the 1812 baptism record mentions Rafaela as “Rafaela Cruz” we know it is the same couple given the godparents (León Burgos and Catalina Burgos) who were siblings to Manuel de Burgos, all children of Cristóbal de Burgos and Águeda de la Cruz.
The two baptisms are provided below for Damián Burgos (1800) and Domingo Burgos (1812).
Rafaela de los Santos
de Fajardo
Rafaela de los Santos
de Naguabo
Given the ambiguity of Rafaela’s origins, I poked around a bit in both Naguabo and Fajardo but then gave up fairly quickly given that many of the books for these towns are unindexed and I could be here forever looking for a record I might never find. However, when I bumped into José Burgos’ marriage record in 1822, this sparked a new interest and mainly for one specific reason – consanguinity!
A Consanguineous Marriage
When José appeared the 14th February 1822 to marry, it was in fact to his cousin Teodosa de los Santos! The marriage record states the following:
José de Burgos, legitimate son of Manuel [de Burgos] and Rafaela de los Santos.
Teodosa de los Santos, legitimate daughter of Adón [de los Santos] and Francisca Pacheco.
They were dispensed in the second of consanguinity. A second degree would mean that José de Burgos and Teodosa de los Santos would share a set of grandparents. and since we know the surnames in question are Burgos, de los Santos, de los Santos, and Pacheco – the relationship would have to be through the “de los Santos” line.
Meaning that if I could find the marriage for either Manuel de Burgos and Rafaela de los Santos OR Adón de los Santos and Francisca Pacheco I would be able to find out the names of my 7th great-grandparents.
Finding Manuel de Burgos’ and Rafaela de los Santos’ marriage had yielded me no results so far, so now it was up to me to find Adón de los Santos’ marriage record to Francisca Pacheco.
Adón de los Santos +
Francisca Pacheco
Fortunately, I was able to find Adón’s marriage in Fajardo in 1798! The marriage mentions that Adón de los Santos was the legitimate son of Juan (deceased) and Juana Velásquez from this town [Fajardo], while Francisca Pacheco was the legitimate daughter of Manuel Pacheco and Gertrudis Meléndez.
Juan de los Santos and Juana Velásquez are the names of my 7th great-grandparents, parents to both Adón de los Santos Velásquez and Rafaela de los Santos Velásquez, she my 6th great-grandmother.
The witnesses to the marriage were Juan Eusebio de los Santos and María Concepción. An important piece of information!
Some more enticing evidence
Luckily, records generally do not exist in a vacuum. That is to say that when you have a marriage or a baptism, usually other people in the family appear to bear witness to said acts. This would also be the case for the de los Santos both in Fajardo. Las Piedras, and Humacao.
The first person is Juan Eusebio de los Santos who appeared in Adón de los Santos’ marriage. Juan Eusebio and María Concepción would also serve as godparents to Teodosa de los Santos’ baptism in 1800.
They would also serve as godparents to Pedro José Burgos Vásquez, son of Eusebio Burgos and María Monserrate Vásquez – a 4th great-granduncle. Pedro José was baptized in Humacao, Puerto Rico. My 5th great-grandfather Eusebio Burgos de los Santos was the son of Manuel de Burgos and Rafaela de los Santos.
Equally, Juan Eusebio de los Santos and María Concepción (sometimes appearing as María Encarnación Concepción) had a son named Eugenio de los Santos Concepción, baptized the 21 September 1817 in Fajardo. Abdón de los Santos and his wife Francisca Pacheco would serve as the godparents.
What is great about Pedro José Burgos’ baptism record is that it shows that the Burgos family did not move in isolation. We can see that others were present for his baptism from Fajardo, meaning that Juan Eusebio was in contact with the family and probably even lived in and or around Humacao himself.
One Final Document
The last document I was able to discover is another sibling from the Burgos de los Santos branch – I was able to find a sister named Anastasia who married a Pedro Concepción the 17 January 1817 in Fajardo as well.
What’s interesting to note is that Pedro was surnamed Concepción while Juan Eusebio’s wife was also surnamed Concepión – possible siblings or related?
Where to next?
Ideally, I will be able to find some evidence of Juan de los Santos and Juana Velásquez in Fajardo, however their names are fairly common so I am not sure how long it would take me to find them. I will slowly work through the Fajardo records to see if I can find them.
Equally it is interesting to note that the family migrated from the north-east towards the south, which I would imagine that the de los Santos were originally from towns in the north like San Juan, Río Piedras, Carolina, Loíza, etc. instead of coming from the South.
Hopefully I can dedicate some time to researching them and seeing if anything new comes up.
And who knows, maybe I will discover them by helping out someone else! This is why paying it forward and helping others is always important in genealogy. It pays itself back 😉
Cover Image Source: Iglesia Católica Santísimo Rosario (Fajardo, Puerto Rico), “Libro 3 Matrimonios 1808-1832,” pg. 104v, no. 242, José Burgos & Teodosa de los Santos, marriage, 14 February 1822; accessed as “Registros Parroquiales, 1854-1942,” browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog : accessed 4 September 2023).
Thank you very informative