Fajardo Digitized Church Records 1766 to 1946
Fajardo, which was founded in 1760, and is an eastern municipality facing the Atlantic Ocean, has a church called Santiago Apostol. We are fortunate to have these church records filmed since many of Loiza records are gone. While not all books start in 1766, the death records do, which provides visibility to those who live…
Digitized Church Records for Arroyo in Puerto Rico
Before I go into the below records, I need to answer two questions that are being asked by many. I am not the holder of these church records. They are maintained by FamilySearch. While the records are available on their website, currently they are not easy to navigate until they make their changes which will…
Digitized Ponce Church Records 1835 to 1948
Ponce was established in 1692 and had settled prior to this year. While churches did exist prior to 1836, it is the earliest records that were filmed for the region. I cannot say if books prior to this date exist and if they do, they were never filmed. Most importantly, Ponce has a large connection…
Joseph Vaguizu – An Infant Slave in Puerto Rico
I’ve edited this post with the following… I want to thank the source of this record, an individual who is collecting records for Toa Alta. I wanted his okay before putting his name out there. I cannot thank Angel Perez-Galarza enough for providing me with numerous images on those that were enslaved. This record is…
Digitized Maunabo San Isidro Labrador Records 1800 – 1935
Many of the municipalities and towns names in Puerto Rico originate from the indigenous people that populated the island, the Tainos. Their history and existence can be found throughout the island. The majority of people who identify their ancestry to the island are now discovering through DNA that almost all of us have connection to…
Manumitted Enslaved People in Puerto Rico
Most people do not realize that slavery still existed on the island of Puerto Rico well after the United States had freed those enslaved. In Puerto Rico, slavery ended in 1873 by the Spanish National Assembly. However, those enslaved were not exactly free, they had to work for an additional 3 years for those that…