Researching Your Puerto Rican Genealogy
One of my pet peeves regarding genealogy is the amount of incorrect data. There is plenty of incorrect data on the internet and Ancestry. People join Ancestry and simply start clicking away. As a result, adding ancestors to their family trees without checking the resources. Thus never noticing a lack of resources. Researching your Puerto Rican Genealogy involves more. CLICKING AND ADDING PEOPLE TO TREES ISN’T GENEALOGY!!!
I say this in the kindest way but it really annoys me that people are under the impression that genealogy is very easy. Henceforth, genealogy is not about clicking and adding a name on the tree. What other ancestry trees are good for are simply clues; yes nothing else but clues! You should not automatically add something that Ancestry gave you as a hint. It is frustrating when I see my ancestors associated with unrelated people. Hence, no connection whatsoever to my ancestor. I’ve seen this pattern on my Bayala and Betancourt lines. It is not surprising that Ancestry can’t keep many interested in genealogy.
Ancestry lacks in many ways as a learning tool. Part of researching your ancestry is reading history books and sources available online. The type of weather and the political situation truly assists in understanding how your family member wound up in a region of the globe or even their living conditions. Consequently, something written in a book does not make it factual. There are times that people quote things in their book and I’ve discovered them to be false.
Researching Your Puerto Rican Genealogy: Outcome of Research
Case in point, I discovered by just looking at the 1910 Census that many Bayala children were living with people with different family names. As a result, I also discovered Juan Montañez living with Pedro Bayala. Hence, I did not understand what was going on. I then decided to look to see if any hurricanes hit the island, was there some form of disease taking over the villages, the possibilities were limitless.
I quickly discovered that Hurricane San Ciriaco of 1899 impacted Puerto Rico. In fact, in speaking with my father about Juan Montañez, I discovered more. As a result, I found out that Juan is actually Pedro Bayala’s son. Therefore, Juan’s real name is Juan Bayala Montañez; my father’s grandfather.
This hurricane was very devastating to the island and what followed was hunger, diseases, and deaths. The hurricane itself killed over 3,000 people. However, many more died between 1899 and 1910. Many children of these families were impacted in a horrible way with some winding up in orphanages. If you need more information on Puerto Rico hurricanes, the following link is a great source.
My second discovery was Oscar Bunker’s book on the History of Caguas. This book assisted me in knowing where to research and validate content. Important to realize that this book is riddled with many errors. There were people who never existed in that book and people whose ages didn’t add up to being parents of individuals. I was not able to locate some of the people mentioned as children. In fact, I am just glad to say that I ask many questions.
Questions…
So the questions you should be asking yourself when you start researching are…
- How did my ancestors wind up in Puerto Rico?
- Where on the island did my ancestors lived?
- Which government was in charge of the island when my ancestor was living?
- What forms were in use in reporting birth, marriage, and death at the time my ancestor was living?
- When I say form I don’t mean an actual form as we would use today to fill out paperwork. In other words, check to see if baptisms into the Roman Catholic faith required.
- Part of Puerto Rico’s history includes only permitting Roman Catholics to live on the island.
- Who was recording births, marriages, and deaths during the time period?
- How did the global rules on Civil Registration that took effect impact the island?
- Puerto Rico wasn’t the only island that needed to create official records.
- Who was the governing country over the island? Was it Spain or the United States during the era you are researching?
Other Resources
Another source besides just clicking away is referencing church books with many being available online via www.familysearch.org or even by visiting a local Family Search Library which is located at a local Mormon Church. You can also locate them all on this website as the films have been broken down to assist a researcher in finding records much easier.
Some other great databases are Spain’s archives called PARES and Puerto Rico’s Archives.
So before you click and add someone to your tree do your research. Furthermore, do not add to the madness that has gripped many on Ancestry. Do your own research or you’ll be doing a disservice to yourself, family, and ancestors. Until next time and good luck with your research! It’s not an impossible task but its a lot of work and rewarding as you learn your own history along the way.
I agree with you about people creating family trees with MAJOR errors. I usually don't add a name until I have confirmed that person with valid documentation. I have a pile of "maybes" on the side which I check on every once in a while. I also read a lot of history books about Puerto Rico and the towns I am researching. It enriches my research and gives me a fuller picture of how my ancestors lived, why they moved and the challenges they faced. I have been researching for 20 years and it is more interesting than ever! Thank you for providing this website. H. Serrano Mendez
My apologies with not responding until now. Yes there are a lot of mistakes out there. I'm hoping that as people discover this blog that they use the tools, suggestions, and weblinks provided. We are all susceptible in making mistakes, myself included, however as long as we all make a concerted effort, I'm hoping that we'll get there one day of having accurate family trees to share. It is always my pleasure to help others. 🙂
Hello Anna. I am spending more time with my family tree than what I expected. I need information on my great grandmother and great grandfather on my mother's side of the family. I am confronting a coldness with the people at the demographic record and my hometown church. They don't want to give me any information on people that lived on the early 1800's. The problem I have is that I don't know for sure if they were born or lived in Juana Díaz, my hometown or if they did in Coamo and I only have one surname for both of them and no dates. At the church office they told me that I could go to three different churches and I already went to two of them and they don't have anything. Can you give me a tip from where I should look? Thank you and God bless.
Hi Nereida,
Have you looked online on Familysearch website? Definitely start with Juana Diaz. They have civil registration records that start in 1885 and you can view them for free.
In addition, you can view church records locally to where you live. You can visit your local FHC. Visit the below link first, it is a blog post on this website. It will tell you the steps you should take.
https://genealogianuestra.com/2015/08/searching-and-viewing-puerto-rico.html
Once you reach it and follow the process, then visit the following link which will help you with the above. There are church records for Juana Diaz from 1787 to 1932.
https://genealogianuestra.com/2015/08/searching-and-viewing-puerto-rico.html
I believe you're in the group on Facebook for Puerto Rico Genealogy. Share what you are seeking there including surnames so that people can help you. However the above should get you on the right path. 🙂
Anna
Hi Anna. I have tried the first link but it only has 20 churches and doesn't have the at least three municipalities that I need to research being those places Juana Díaz, Coamo or Santa Isabel (Villalba at this time belonged to Juana Díaz and became a municipality in 1917) but I have found all three of them and I think it was with one of your videos that I learned how to find the rest. The problem is that I need to find ancestors from 1840 going back to 1800 and they don't have it or at least I haven't found them. I will sure share what I'm seeking for on Puerto Rico Genealogy. I thank you very much for your help. Blessings! Nereida 🐻
Sorry I meant to give you a second link for Juana Diaz. I'm posting from my phone but as soon as I get to my computer, I'll post the link here for you.
This is the second link I meant to post. Scroll down and you'll see them. So use the instructions I gave you in the post above and then use this one.
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/992645?availability=Family%20History%20Library
Thank you Anna. I am on my way looking at the documents and I think I found my great grandfather. I have to search further but I think he is. Blessings.
Congratulations! Hopefully it turns out to be him. 🙂
Hello Anna. I have a big problem searching for Cosme Aguirre. The churches, the demographic registry and the cemeteries of Puerto Rico do not want to give any information about the the town's people. As Cosme Aguirre was born in 1810 in Guayana City, Bolivar, Venezuela and emigrated to another country which I'm not sure he emigrated directly to Puerto Rico and did it with his own name. In the deaths records it's probable that I find him but in the only place that I can check, it's in the LDS church of Ponce and they only open two days a week at night for 2 hours and this would not give me time to verify all the archives of Ponce where his wife was born, to verify if they were married, Juana Diaz where he had his children, Coamo or Santa Isabel, where he lived his last years and died. I think that Cosme will be the last person of the Aguirre family in my tree. I've spent many months searching for him and I'm feeling a bit tired of searching for him and his wife which I do not know if her name is Carmen Colón, Maria del Carmen or Carmen Maria. Thank you Anna and may God bless you for the help you gave me and give to other people.
Hi Nereida,
When I look at his son's death record, it says that Cosme was from Juana Diaz. Where did you find out that he was from Guayana City, Bolivar, Venezuela? I researched that city and it was sacked in the 1700's and people were moved from there. This city was not reestablished until 1961. Here is the link to his son's death record….
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939D-W77Q-ZQ?mode=g&cc=1682798
As for his wife, her name was probably Maria del Carmen Colon. Most children were named Maria in that era, even my mother has that name but children 2nd name is always used (my mother included). The name Maria del Carmen is her baptism name and she took on Carmen. Note that in the above death record, his son dies in Juana Diaz and his last name is Aguirre Colon.
Here is Luis Aguirre Colon's death record.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939D-W7HZ-J5?mode=g&cc=1682798
Since you are in Puerto Rico, maybe a trip to San Juan to the archivos or even the SPG library may help. I believe the SPG has access to all the films for Puerto Rico. I would look for Cosme in Juana Diaz and not Santa Isabel.
I just found your site and am so happy to find a Caribbean person doing the genealogy who voices the issues.
Thank you so much for all your information. I have been doing genealogy on my family only for about 4 years and I wish that I had found you earlier.
When I first began I was surprised that I could not find my grandfather who was so near in years. He was listed as female in the 1910 census so he never appeared in the searches! It took page by page searches and looking at his siblings to figure that out. I also see the same relative listed as white, black or mulatto depending on who was doing the census.
You have to keep your mind open and you have to do your research.
Thank you! I hope the resources will help you and agree that you have to keep an open mind when researching. I will be adding more information to assist everyone.