Finding out what it means to be Boricua through a genetic & genealogical journey through my family history
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 »
Time is flying as the end of the summer nears and it seems like a lot is happening! I missed my final post for August but I am hoping I can post three times this month to make up for it. Quite a bit is going on personally in my life as well (good things!) …
I’m not gonna lie — I have hesitated so many times in writing this post. First, I created the post itself and saved it under drafts for two years (enter the pandemic and other life events), after I began doing some research on the family and then stopped. Lastly, I created a file for them …
A Triple-Barrelled Surnamed Family? The García-Rodríguez-Bonilla Read More »
Sometimes in genealogy, the most important step is taking none at all – take a break from your tree! Though it might seem counter-productive, spending too much time on a specific branch can cause burnout, in my opinion. There are many times you might find yourself coming across dead-ends and brick walls with what seems …
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 …
Some time ago (or what feels like an eternity ago) I had the pleasure of presenting for the first time about Puerto Rican research and genealogy. The first presentation was to a society in Texas (over Zoom) which I was asked by a fellow Boston University Genealogical Research classmate if I could present in one …
There are many times in genealogy where we “discover” an ancestor, but a lot is still left in the shadows. We gain bits and pieces of information about this person, but sometimes the whole picture doesn’t come into full view. It can be missing information such as documents themselves to tie together the person or …
Revisiting my 2nd great-grandmother: Amalia Rivera Rodríguez Read More »
The time has finally arrived – April 1st, 2022; the release of the 1950 Census! If this is the first time that you hear about this release, it has been a long time coming. Literally 72 years! The census records recorded every ten years are stored away until the names written on them can be …
When it comes to learning about our ancestors, we usually want to learn pretty much everything about them – no detail seems too small. How tall were they? What color eyes did they have? Where did they live and where did they work? And of course, who were their parents and where were they from? …
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 …