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Hispanic-American Genealogy
Finding your Hispanic/Latino Ancestors in U.S. Records.
Presented by Elaine HayesLaramie County Library System
Cheyenne, WYFebruary 2014
How do I start searching for my ancestors?
• Talk to relatives to get as much first hand information as possible.
• Use sources that may already be in your own home or the home of a relative.
• Start with yourself and work backwards in time.• Record the information you find on pedigree
charts and family group sheets and/or in a genealogy computer program.
• Find all the information you can in U.S. records before you try to find information/records in the country of origin.
Recording the Information• Paper forms may be found at:– www.cyndislist.com/supplies.htm – www.laramiecountylibrary.org/specialcollections/gettingst
arted– www.familytreemagazine.com/FREEFORMS
• Free genealogy software can be found at:– Legacy Family Tree – Standard edition
www.legacyfamilytree.com– Gramps gramps-project.org– Family Tree Legends www.familytreelegends.com
Hispanic/Latino Countries of Origin
Common History of Colonization
• Fifteen century Spanish explorers discovered what we know today as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. In the following years, Spanish culture spread from Mexico to Central and South America, and over what is now the southwest United States. Early Spanish settlements were established in what became Florida, New Mexico and California.
• The term Mestizos represents intermarriage of Spaniards and indigenous.
• Conquistadores claimed treasures for the Spanish crown and brought Catholic missionaries to forcibly convert indigenous inhabitants. Some indigenous populations became extinct during this period.
Reasons for Immigration into the US
• Immigration to the United States can be understood in terms of pull and push factors.
• Pull Factors:
• Higher living standards
• Push Factors:
• Shortage of jobs, unemployment, low wages, poverty
• Political conflicts, wars
• Violation of human rights, corruption, high crime indices
• Insufficient lands (especially in Central American countries)
• Chain Migration: Those who migrated first would help their family and friends come to US, who would then help others, and so on.
Hispanic/Latino American Immigration History
• 1521-Cortes destroys Aztec city of Tenochtitlan • 1840s-Texas Annexation and Mexican Cession • 1859-Cubans find employment in Cuban cigar factories in U.S. (FL, LA, NY)• 1880s-Latinos immigrate to the U.S. to help build railroads • 1910-Mexican Revolution causes immigration to Southwestern U.S. • 1917-Latino farmers, railroad laborers & miners allowed to enter U.S. for temporary
work• 1921-Limits on number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States each year
are imposed• 1925-Congress creates Border Patrol to stop illegal immigration• 1930s-Great Depression in U.S. causes sharp decline in Immigration of all ethnic
groups. • 1942 to 1964-Farm Labor Supply Program brings 350,000 Mexicans into the U.S.
each year• 1954 to 1958-U.S. government deports undocumented Mexican workers (thousands
of U.S. citizens with Mexican heritage also arrested and detained) • 1959-Cubans migrate to U.S. after Fidel Castro assumes power in Cuba • 2012-U.S. Hispanic population at 53 million
Growth of U.S. territory after Mexican-American War
Requirements to jump into records of country of origin:
• Full name of ancestor• Name of town and country• Approximate date(s) of birth, marriage or death.• Enough information to identify the ancestor
such as:– Parent’s names– Spouse’s name– Children’s names
Do all your research as far back as you can go in the US first!
Sources that may indicate place of origin:
• Birth, marriage or death certificates (vital records).• Obituaries and cemetery/burial records• Journals, diaries, letters, family lore• Photographs• Family Bibles or other family history information.• Immigration, naturalization or citizenship papers.• Military records.
• Many of these sources may already be in your home or the home of a relative.
Naturalization Records
• Very helpful in finding place of origin.• Ancestry.com, Ancestry Library Edition
and FamilySearch.org are good sources of Naturalization Records.
• Or you may need to contact the U.S. National Archives (pre 1906) or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (post 1906).
Good places to start looking for this information:
• Ancestry.com and Ancestry Library Edition.• Heritage Quest (search from home through LCLS
library website).• FamilySearch.org• US GenWeb• Findagrave.com• www.archives.gov U.S. National Archives • See other websites in handouts
• You may also need to contact county or state archives, Catholic Church diocese offices, etc. to order vital records. This is usually NOT free.
More about remote access to LCLS Genealogy Resources
• Go to the Laramie County Library website at www.laramiecountylibrary.org. Click on the WYLD catalog.
• Click on Genealogy under GoWYLD. You can search the Heritage Quest database from home.
• Enter your library card number, just the number (no letters, no spaces) and your PIN. The default PIN is wyld.
Spanish Surnames
• “Double” Surnames (Apellidos)– Example Gabriel García Marquez– García is from his fathers family; Marquez is his
mother’s father’s family.– Sometimes they are hyphenated or reversed.
• Women’s surnames – Traditionally if Maria Padilla Falto marries Manual
Pérez Quiñones she becomes Maria Padilla Perez. But she may choose in the U.S. to be known as Maria Perez (or any other variation of her choice).
Study history• Knowing the history of the places that
your ancestor lived will help you find clues and put their lives in context.
Ancestry Library Edition
• The library version of Ancestry.com. Which you would have to pay for to access at home.
• Largest genealogy database. Consists of scanned original vital records, census reports, published information, etc. from all over the world.
• You must be in the library building to search Ancestry Library Edition.
• Examples of Ancestry Searches here
Don’t Forget to Just “Google it”
• Use all the resources of the Internet to find more about your family. There are thousands of websites about family history and many thousands of genealogists posting family trees, hints, queries, etc. Be creative!
• Be wary of incorrect information. Double check everything, try to find the original source of the information. Check references.
• Find a favorite search engine. I use www.google.com and mocavo.com is genealogy specific.
FamilySearch.org
• The LDS (Mormon) church’s genealogy website.
• Another huge genealogy website with scanned original documents, vital records, census, and family histories from families worldwide.
• You must register to search but access is completely free.
• Examples of FamilySearch Searches here.
Hispanic Genealogy Websites
Colorado Society of Hispanic Genealogy www.hispanicgen.org Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico www.hgrc-nm.org Hispanic Genealogical Society of Houston www.hispanicgs.org Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York www.hispanicgenealogy.com Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic Mexican Genealogy http://mexicangenealogy.info New Mexico Ancestors www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nma Somos Primos www.somosprimos.com Nuestros Ranchos: the genealogy of Jalisco, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes,
Mexico www.nuestrosranchos.com
Genealogy Research in Spain
WorldGenWeb –Spainwww.genealogia-es.com
Spanish Genealogy Associationwww.hispagen.org
Archives of Spainen.www.mcu.es/archivos/MC/AGI/index.html
Translation? Try translate.google.com.
Special Collections at LCLS
• The Genealogy Room (3rd Floor) is open:– Monday – Thursday • 10:00 to 9:00
– Friday –Saturday • 10:00 to 6:00
– Sundays• 1:00-5:00
• If no volunteer or staff person is available, ask for help at the 3rd Floor “Ask Here” Desk.
