TW: Suicide, death. This blog entry contains an article which speaks about suicide. If you find this to be a sensitive topic, please feel free to skip this post.
This week I came to learn that the Puerto Rican newspaper El Imparcial had been placed online. Last time this happened, it occurred with the newspaper El Mundo where I was able to find various articles about my family which included more recent family members either I or my parents got a chance to meet in our lifetime. Therefore, when I saw another resource was added I was excited to explore them online to see if I could add more information to my family tree that typically does not appear on vital records.
El Imparcial
The newspaper El Imparcial began in 1918 and the online access runs until 1952 (not sure if this is when it stopped or simply until when they have online records). The newspaper was able to cover topics such as World War I to more local events such as political corruption in the 1940s in Puerto Rico.
My goal was to use the newspaper to learn more about my family on the island and any events that I could put more details to in order to paint a better picture of events in our family’s timeline.
A New Nickname
I had known about my great-grandfather and his involvement in selling illegal lotto tickets thanks to an article published in El Mundo, but I had not known that he was referred to as “El Cojo”. The word cojo is used for someone who is “lame” or crippled. I had heard stories that my great-grandfather walked around with a crutch to compensate for his limp. In the only photo I have of him, he is standing behind a chair and so I imagine he was using it to hold himself upright so as to not use his crutch in the photo. So really, I am not surprised that this was his nickname. It was just interesting, however, to see it used so publicly in a newspaper. Yet again it was 1948… a very different time!
A Sad Death
While researching my 2nd great-grandfather José Miranda Santos, I found his death certificate where it stated that he hanged himself by a rope. It came as a shock to me when I found this out, but in talking to my mother she confirmed that this indeed occurred as she had heard the story as well. What surprised me though about this article were the details it went into about how he had a “dangerous illness” and how it was believed that he had decided to kill himself since he had no monetary resources to receive medical assistance. He was found hanging from a tree in the barrio of Barros, Orocovis.
A Mad Dash
When I originally read this article I thought it was in reference to Theodore Roosevelt (the president!!) – except he served between 1901-1909 and later died in 1919 so this could not be him. I am fairly sure this article mentions my great-grandfather who for a part of his life drove taxis in San Juan. It mentions that Teodoro Roosevelt Goldsmith was arrested after having been driven around San Juan and at the end of his ride said he had no money. He was driven around between 5:55PM-6:30PM and had accrued $3.30 in fare (about $35-36 in today’s value).
A later article states that he had forgotten where he had left his $64. Another article mentions that Theodore Roosevelt Goldsmith had been wrongly imprisoned by the police since he was not taken before a judge to be examined.
Conclusion
Finding these articles provide more depth to my ancestors as people. With these newspaper articles I could learn more about the ins and outs of their lives, though a lot of what made it to the news was not good news. Nonetheless, it allows me to understand everyday Puerto Rican life in a time I was not alive for. I am hoping that as more newspapers become available online, I can continue to learn about my ancestors!