Dominican Republic Civil Registration Records – Free Access

Familysearch just updated Dominican Republic’s Civil Registration Birth Records search database on December 21st; just in time for those of you researching in Dominican Republic over the Christmas holiday. A nice discussion with family members over Christmas. The database covers from 1801 to 2010; a long period of time.  The link can be found below:

Dominican Republic Civil Registration, 1801-2010

For years it was said that my great grandfather was 107 years of age at the time of his death with him being born on May 1st, 1871.  While none of us could locate his birth record manually due to the conditions of the records, so glad that many of us have helped in indexing the images at FamilySearch. If you prefer going through the images manually, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and you should see “Browse through 3,416,801 images” which is hyperlinked and will take you to the images.

Felipe Cartagena Estrella

So while taking time off from studying for a certification, I decided to try the search.  It was unbelievable that I located him. I knew at the time of his birth that his last name was Estrella since his parents were not married but his father recognized him per his wedding record. Using this information and knowing his mother’s name, I was able to locate him quickly. 

It turns out that my great grandfather Felipe was actually 102 years old at the time of his death in 1978 which makes sense since he had children born before the turn of the century. I was counting on the fact that birth wasn’t completely off as relatives and even his father fit perfectly into the family tree with the estimated dates of birth.

 

Felipe Cartagena Estrella

He was born on April 16, 1876 in La Vega, Dominican Republic; not too far off from the date he celebrated his birth with only 5 years difference in age. This man had many children which makes the family even bigger than most realize. This means many cousins and grand aunts and uncles to find.

So far I have a maternal grandfather that lived to 103 1/2 and now Felipe Cartagena Estrella who lived to 102 years of age.  I’m now in search of confirming a maternal great aunt who was registered at 105 years of age at her death.   Happy searching and hopefully you’ll uncover some ancestors!  Merry Christmas everyone!