Finding out what it means to be Boricua through a genetic & genealogical journey through my family history
Beginning your genealogy journey can be a bit overwhelming. Where do I start? Which branch should I research? I am stuck on an ancestor or have come across a brick wall, help!! These are many of the experiences beginner genealogists experience during their first years researching their tree in hopes of learning more about themselves.
Getting (More) Serious About Genealogy: 5 Beginner Tips Read More »
Back in 2019, I read an interesting book that combined genealogy and non-fiction story telling. The book is called: The Man Who Stole Himself:The Slave Odyssey of Hans Jonathan. The book was written by Icelandic professor of anthropology, Gísli Pálsson, and documents the journey of a former Caribbean slave from St. Croix to Denmark and finally to
The Caribbean, Western Africa, and Iceland: An Unlikely Trio Read More »
Growing up I always knew I had ties to the town of Lares, Puerto Rico and the connection came via the paternal side of the family. My great-grandmother was born and raised in Lares, and just before she passed I got the chance to meet her in the early 1990s. I don’t remember much about
Revolutionary Ties: 1874 Lares Census Read More »
Just like that it is time to set goals for the new year! If you’d like to read my goals from 2021 and what I was able to accomplish – click here! My Genealogical Resolutions seem to date back to at least 2013, which means I have been doing this for at least 8 years
Genealogical Resolutions for 2022! Read More »
Well jeez – if I thought 2020 was the blink of an eye then 2021 was the second blink! This year definitely flew by as well as we continue to grapple with the pandemic. Now, with the Omicron variant making its way through the United States, things seem almost to be heading backwards as the
Reflecting on my Genealogical Resolutions of 2021 Read More »
When I started researching my family, I was quick to figure out that various sides of my family were just…stuck. Not having access to the church records online meant that I could not research them easily like how I could with other towns such as Adjuntas, Toa Alta, Yabucoa, etc. My great-grandfather, Narciso Sánchez Meléndez,
An Early Christmas Miracle! Read More »
When researching families in Puerto Rico, something to keep track of that might be different in a lot of other genealogical searches is the idea of “consanguinity”. Consanguineous can be defined as “sharing the same blood or origin, specifically descending from the same ancestor” (Merriam-Webster). The term can broken down into “con-” and “sanguis” meaning
Consanguinity on the Meléndez Morán Line? Read More »
If you’re stumbling across this post- you’re either a faithful reader (Thanks! ¡Gracias!) or you might be ready to bite the bullet to hire a genealogist but you might not exactly know how to go about it. Granted, I have only hired one genealogist twice myself, but having various years of genealogy under my belt
So… You Want to Hire a Genealogist? Read More »
Back in 2019, I had learned rather be chance that my Rivera family had spent some time in Guaynabo. Whether to only marry or not, José de Rivera and his wife Gertrudis Román married in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico the 2nd of March 1802. Discovering their marriage record allowed me to learn the name of their
The Román Ayala Branch of Guaynabo Read More »
In a conversation with my grandaunt about our family and how my grandmother got to the United States, her uncle, my great-granduncle came up in the conversation. It seems like he played a vital role in getting my grandmother (or helping her to some extent) get part of her life started in the United States.
Searching for Eligio Torres Read More »