Finding out what it means to be Boricua through a genetic & genealogical journey through my family history
Continuing on the topic of surnames, I want to focus today on the surname “Rivera”, my direct paternal line stretching back into Toa Alta’s history for at least 300 years. Continuing this line further back in time has been a tough cookie to crack and so I want to focus on a potential clue that …
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 …
One of my goals with being abroad this year in Spain is to visit more parts of the country. When I lived here as a student I was able to travel a bit around Spain and I got to learn more about the various regions and cultural differences (accents, food, traditions, etc.). Amongst those regions …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
As I am currently living France, last month while I was on vacation I decided to create a specific and intentional route for my travels. Why? Because I knew that on the 21st of December I wanted to be in the town of Saint-Malo. Currently in my family tree, I have no genealogical connection to …
December 21st – A Day Dedicated to My Ancestress 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!) …