Finding out what it means to be Boricua through a genetic & genealogical journey through my family history
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 Church Records 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 »
In Puerto Rican genealogy the year 1885 can be a fairly crucial year. This is because before this date, vital events such as birth, marriage, and death were recorded by the churches… and with that came a lot of variation! For example, some church records are available online while others were not digitized and remain
Lares Municipal Census 1878 Read More »
Recently while working on another genealogical case, I realized that I had gone all these years without ordering a crucial record for my ancestor José Avilés – his SS-5 file. Like many novice genealogists, I probably overlooked this resource when I first started my genealogical journey and then as time went on, I forgot that
A Puerto Rican Look at: SS-5 Files Read More »
While researching my Magraner family in Lares via various online databases, I came across an interesting record that allowed me to learn more about my ancestor (in this case my ancestor’s brother) and the act of coartación in regards to slavery on the island of Puerto Rico. So in this case I will talk about Gabriel Magraner
Coartación & Slavery in Lares Read More »
Recently, in the United States Veterans’ Day, was observed on the 11th of November 2023. For most of my life, I thought I had only one recent ancestor who had served in any modern war, my maternal grandfather having served in the army in the 1960s. However, a document with what seemed like a random
Veterans’ Day: Remembering José Avilés Read More »
One day while I was in college, a friend asked me a question that to this day has stuck with me. She asked me, “how far can you trace your maternal line?”. She very well knew I was into genealogy and that I could rattle off various names and generations but I still stopped to
9 Generations of Women – mtDNA L2a1 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 »
***Si eres descendiente de los Magraner de Sóller, Mallorca, especialmente a través de Damián Magraner Morell o uno de sus hermanos, me gustaría hablar con usted para ver si podemos establecer una conexión genética. Puedes dejar un comentario aquí en este blog para contactarte conmigo. ¡Muchísimas gracias!*** While in Puerto Rico for Spring Break, one of my
A Puerto Rican Look at: Y-DNA67 (Avilés/Magraner) Read More »
DNA tests ready to go! [Personal Photo] Just like that I’m back home from my spring break trip to Puerto Rico! Though it was a quick trip I was able to get a lot of genealogical work done, among one of those tasks was fulfilling my goal to get DNA testing done from various companies