Luis Rivera

A New Piece to the Puzzle! The Jean Charles Gustave Mystery Continues…

ancestry, Basse-Terre, Cholera Epidemic, Françoise Jackson, Genealogy, Guadeloupe, Jean Charles Gustave, Martinique, Vieques / By

When fellow French Guadeloupean genealogist David Quénéhervé began his email with “Hi, I think that I’ve found something in Basse-Terre“, I knew that I was going to be delivered some new information pertaining to my ancestors. David has helped me numerous times from finding and using the BNMP, to understanding documents and life in Martinique …

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Tragedy in the Family

Alberto Charles, Alberto Fermin Gustavo Lotten, Alberto Gustavo, Charles Claudio, Charles family, Guánica, Gustavo Claudio, Gustavo family, Petra Claudio López, Puerto Rico, Salinas / By

When researching my family, I have always seen it important to research other branches of the family. While looking into my Charles/Gustave side of the family I came across a cousin who went through some pretty serious tragedies practically year after year. My 1st cousin 4x removed, Pedro Juan Gustavo Siman (who’s last names later …

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52 Ancestors – #3 Mercedes Ortiz Marrero (1903-1984)

Felisa Rincon de Gautier, Genealogy, La Perla, Mercedes Ortiz Marrero, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Toa Alta / By

I want to focus on an ancestor in this post that I’ve been learning a lot about recently through stories. This ancestor is my great grandmother Mercedes Ortiz Marrero. I unfortunately never got to meet my great grandmother but hearing stories about her has gotten me as close to knowing her as possible. My father’s …

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52 Ancestors – #2 Jean Charles Gustave (1819-1891)

FTDNA, Genealogy, haplogroup, Jean Charles Gustave, Julienne Malvina Lautin, Martinique, Puerto Rico, R-M269, Salinas, Vieques, Y-DNA / By

This second post will be about a challenging ancestor of mine who I have mentioned a lot before but I want to dedicate a post to him since he has been a troubling ancestor to pinpoint. This post will be about my 4th great grandfather Jean Charles Gustave. Jean Charles Gustave has been very elusive …

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52 Ancestors – #1 Felix Vélez Mercado (1905-1953)

Adjuntas, Felix Vélez Mercado, Genealogy, Puerto Rico, Utuado / By

I guess I’ll start this challenge with a man who I know both some about but yet know nothing about. This man is my great grandfather Felix Vélez Mercado. Felix’s family photo was what catapulted me into genealogy and it was featured in my first post ever in my blog! L-R: Felix (standing back), Carmen …

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A Volcano, a Man, a Typo?

Léon Compère, Louis Marie Alphonse Cypriani, Louis-Auguste Cyparis, Marie Etiennette Cypriani, Martinique, May 8 1902, Mount Pelée, Saint Pierre / By

A Volcano Researching Martinique, I have come across many different events in history including the tragedy of the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902. Saint Pierre, located to the north of Martinique, suffered a terrible eruption which would completely wipe out the town and most of its 28,000 inhabitants (higher estimates say that over 30,000 …

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A Change in the Past, A Change for the Future

1848, Actes D'individualités, ancestry, Eglantine Lautin, emancipation, Genealogy, Julienne Malvina Lautin, Lautin, Martinica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, slavery, slaves / By

I haven’t blogged in a while and with the holidays being both a busy yet relaxing time, I’ve decided to write a post! Recently, a day passed in December that wouldn’t have meant anything special to me until recently. December 21st would have been any other day for me this year; it was a Saturday, …

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Día de los Muertos- Recognizing One’s Ancestors

ancestry, Cuba, Día de los Muertos, Genealogy, Gullah, language, Mande tribe, Puerto Rico, Sierra Leone / By

From November 1-2, a popular holiday from Mexico also known in the USA due to its closeness in date to Halloween was celebrated- Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). And even though it’s been a week since the holiday, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we remember our ancestors and the importance …

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A Puerto Rican look at: AncestryDNA 2.0 (African Portion)

Africa, Ancestry.com, ancestryDNA, Genealogy, genetics, Ghana Empire, Mali, Mali Empire, Mandé, Martinique, Puerto Rican, Songhai Empire / By

This week something awesome happened- Ancestry.com updated their DNA part of the website and added more ethnicity groups! More importantly, they now break down Africa into various sections which is amazing since this is the first time (to my knowledge) that a company has broken down the Autosomal DNA by African countries. Part of the …

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