Finding out what it means to be Boricua through a genetic & genealogical journey through my family history
During a recent trip to Puerto Rico this summer, I decided to do some digging outside of the typical notarial registers that I research while I am there. I wanted to see what else the Archivo General de Puerto Rico had in its records that could be of genealogical help. It was this way that
Even More Hidden Records: Vega Baja Read More »
A recent find in the Lares 1878 census provided me a new clue to the origin of my 4th great-grandfather Francisco González Rivera. Though living in Lares in 1878 with his wife Severina Padilla, the census told us that he was actually from Aguadilla, which was new information for me. Source: 1878 Municipal Census, Lares,
A Find in Aguadilla’s Church Records Read More »
This summer I decided to take a hiatus from posting. Though I thoroughly enjoy posting, life has gotten busier and busier. Between work, classes, and being a father of a very mobile baby, a lot of things end up on the back burner. So I decided to take some time off as to not burn
The Importance of Digitizing Our Past Read More »
One of my goals this year was to learn about more social situations regarding my family in relation to historical or cultural events. While I was in Spain researching my Dávila family back in 2024, I learned about the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. It made me wonder if this event, or any fall out from it,
1755 Lisbon Earthquake Read More »
While reading the book The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution, I began thinking a lot about the role both enslaved and free people of color who spent their time working on boats played by passing along through word of mouth important information to their communities and others. The book focuses
Ahoy! Exploring Gustave Jean Charles’ Life on the Sea Read More »
These Vega Baja census records have been an absolute goldmine for my genealogical research. I have already talked about how they helped to extend my Morán and Calderón lines and today I want to focus on my Meléndez line. One that has been full of mystery since I discovered the civil registry records of Puerto
Vega Baja Census Breaks Down Another Brick Wall Read More »
I recently posted about finding more records on FamilySearch via the “Images” search function which allowed me to find more records on my family from Vega Baja. Amongst these records was the 1858 Census which located a few of my Calderón Nazario ancestors living in the neighborhood of Pugnado Afuera. I wanted to focus my
Another Look at My Vega Baja Roots Read More »
In the past, I posted about finding the Vega Baja municipality census of 1841. This was an important find because Vega Baja does not have church records online, so research halts at 1885 when the Civil Registry began. Though I have been able to identify ancestors born before 1885 and who died after this year,
“Hidden Records”: Finding More on FamilySearch Read More »
This morning I came across this YouTube video by Family Locket on using AI to map land using deeds. I was intrigued because I heard that recently ChatGPT had updated its model for creating images. Nicole (the presenter) was impressed by the accuracy of the image created and so I wanted to see what it
Exploring the Power of AI Imagery in Genealogy Read More »
In the past, I have posted about the use of fairly recently released Full Text Search tool in FamilySearch which has been amazing for quickly identifying non-vital records that may have important information for you research. I have used it to find information about my ancestors from Martinique and Guadeloupe that lived on the east of Puerto
The Importance of a Wildcard Search Read More »