Finding out what it means to be Boricua through a genetic & genealogical journey through my family history
Today I want to focus on something I have not seen quite often in Puerto Rican genealogy (at least on my end while researching), which are adoption and or orphaned children. Interestingly enough, my own great-grandfather was orphaned by the age of 13, having lost his father at 9 years old and his mother at
An Orphaned Child: Zoilo Dávila Santiago Read More »
I can not believe that this is already my second to last post for 2023! The year has sped by again (… when doesn’t it?) and I soon wrap my genealogical year with a review of my goals and a genealogical look into 2024. However, to end 2023 I want to focus on one of
A Puerto Rican Look at: AncestryDNA Update (2023) 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 »
The last month has been quite exciting for me in regards to genealogy! The first exciting news is that I was fortunate to have been chosen for a genealogical scholarship via the APG (Association of Professional Genealogists) and the second exciting news is that I will publish my first genealogical piece with the SPG (Sociedad
Exciting News: A scholarship, A Publication Read More »
Many of the sources we use for research in Puerto Rico are vital records – we use birth, marriage, and death records to learn new names of our ancestors as we climb up genealogical trees. Sometimes we get lucky and find confirmation records (the Catholic sacrament) or church dispensations for marriages of consanguineous relations between
Puerto Rican Newspaper: El Mundo Read More »
Last week on May 23rd, I was able to attend an event in Paris just two days shy before leaving France. I had been living abroad teaching English the last eight months and my last wish was to attend this event hosted by CM98 (Comité Marche du 23 Mai 1998), a genealogical group I am
Limyè Ba Yo: Honoring my Ancestors Read More »
Recently on Ancestry I was asked what I knew about Tomás Anzalota, an Italian immigrant to Puerto Rico who appears in my tree. Though Tomás is not a part of my main line of ancestors, whenever I find crossovers of people who married cousins or members of my family that are fairly interesting or a
An Italian in Puerto Rico – Tomás Anzalota Read More »
Last month, I had the privilege of going to Mallorca to continue some of my family research. Given that I had two weeks off for winter break, I wanted to use that time researching on the island since it was a long stretch of time and I knew there would be no holidays in Spain
Research in Mallorca (Part I): A visit to the Arxiu Diocesà Read More »
Recently, on FTDNA there was an update to the way you can see your Y-DNA line, making the information a bit more understandable and digestible. This post will focus on my Correa line which I tested via my maternal grandfather (which has been very peculiar in regards to how uncommon the line is) and analyzing
An Update to Y-DNA: A look at the Correa line Read More »
I was driven to do some investigative research on my 3rd great-grandfather and his siblings after a discussion on a Facebook post about the term “raza india” appearing as a racial category on Puerto Rican records. I had discovered my 3rd great-grandfather’s race labeled as “india” on his death record some time ago, but besides
Race among the “Ortiz Rivera” siblings of Corozal Read More »