Genealogy

52 Ancestors – #16 Cayetano Mercado Cajigas (1855-1905)

When looking through records for my family in Puerto Rico, I have been fortunate that many of my ancestors have lived either in the same town or a neighboring town for many years if not generations. Some of the migrations across the island in my family happened early when many of the towns were being …

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52 Ancestors – #15 Joseph de Rivera

I write today about my oldest male ancestor from whom I inherited the surname Rivera, my 4th great grandfather. I don’t know too much about him, so I’ll just add what I do know and see where it goes from there! When I first began my research at the age of 14 (yup, I was that …

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52 Ancestors – #14 Julienne Malvina Lautin (1844-1897)

I know I have talked plenty about this ancestress but I love talking about her and she definitely deserves a spot in my 52 Ancestors Challenge! This ancestor is my 4th great grandmother, Julienne Malvina Lautin- a woman who was born a slave, later freed, and immigrated to another country with another culture and language. …

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52 Ancestors – #13 Juan Calderón Nazario (1829-1889)

Today I want to focus on my 4th great grandfather Juan Calderón Nazario, a native of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico and the father of my 3rd great grandfather Augustin Calderón Meléndez. But the story gets interesting here! Juan Calderón Nazario according to his death certificate was born about 1829 and the legitimate son of Juan …

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52 Ancestors – #10 Hernán Pérez (1508-1581)

Post #10 already!! Today’s ancestor I want to focus on I’ve talked a little bit about but in a different aspect. I’ve talked about his origins in my post “Travel Tuesday: Oh The Place I’ll Go“. This post will discuss more about my 11th great grandfather Hernán Pérez. I would have NEVER imagined that by …

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Sibling Saturday: Family Twins Ernesto and Ernesta

I haven’t used any of the Geneablogger blog prompts yet since I’ve been busy with the 52 Ancestor Challenge, but I think today is a great day to use one and you’ll see why. Today is my great grandmother’s birthday, as well as her twin brother’s! Unfortunately, my great grandmother and her brother have passed …

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52 Ancestors – #9 Ramona Rivera Rivera (1887-19??)

When I began to start my genealogy, I remember asking my maternal grandmother for every and any name she knew of the family. Luckily, she was also pretty well informed about some of maternal grandfather’s maternal ancestors. On this post I want to focus on my 2nd great grandmother Ramona Rivera Rivera, or as my …

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52 Ancestors – #7 Benito Orozco (1843-1923)

My third great grandfather Benito Orozco also lived his life in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico (like my 2nd great grandfather), though his marriage record points to him being born in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico – a town just to the north of Yabucoa. Las Piedras, Puerto Rico [Wikipedia] Benito’s year of birth is unknown to me, …

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52 Ancestors – #6 José Avilés Magraner (1891-1981)

My 2nd great grandfather, José Avilés Magraner, has been to me the quintessential Puerto Rican ancestor. Growing up I had always heard José Avilés was tall, white and had blue eyes. Stories were passed down to me about him that turned out to be typical myths heard in stories passed throughout the generations in Puerto …

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