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Los Canarios en América
José A. Pérez Carrión
1868 : La Guerra después
de la guerra
Fernando Picó S.J.
Puerto Rico Mío:
Four Decades of Change
Famosa colección
fotos inicios siglo pasado
La esclavitud blanca: Contribución a la historia
del inmigrante canario
en América, siglo XIX
Voces de la Cultura
Sobre 300 páginas con
mapas antiguos, fotos,
carteles, pinturas,
documentos, entrevistas, postales,
etc.
History of Puerto Rico:
A Panorama Of It's People
Fernando Picó
Puerto Rico: An Interpretive
History from
Precolumbia Times to 1900
Dra. Olga Jimenez
Al filo del poder: subalternos y dominantes
en Puerto Rico 1739-1910
Jibaro Hasta el Hueso: Mountain Music of Puerto
Rico
Diccionario biografico de corsos en Puerto
Rico
Enrique Vivoni, Lorenzo Dragoni
Puerto Rico Remembered
Dr. Fernando Picó S.J.
La Formación del Pueblo Puertorriqueño:
La Contribución de los
Vascongados, Navarros
y Aragoneses
Estela Cifre de Loubriel
La formación del pueblo puertorriqueño.
La contribución de los Catalanes,
Balearicos
y Valencianos
Estela Cifre de Loubriel
Inmigracion y clases sociales en el Puerto
Rico del siglo XIX
Ediciones Huracán
Francisco Scarano
Puerto Rico Then and Now
Jorge Rigau
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RESEARCHING YOUR PUERTO RICAN FAMILY HISTORY
By Frank Lago
(c) CopyRight - Prohibido copiar, reproducir
More articles by Frank Lago:
 Mi búsqueda de las familias Lago y Echeandía
en el país vasco
Frank Lago y el encuentro genealógico con
sus antepasados
El Registro de la Propiedad en Puerto Rico
 y family history research started when I discovered a book while taking
my son to the Boy Scout's
store called Genealogy. I never expected that anyone could research
their family tree. When the mini-series ROOTS was viewed on TV it caused all of us to
wake up to the fact that every family has
a history. All American families immigrated
to this country except for the Native Americans
that were already here and they too have
a family history. I say that we should not
forget those ancestors that have suffered
for us to be here and have a better life.
Our island of Puerto Rico is a microcosm
of the United States.
We are a race of mainly white Spaniards,
brown Taíno Indians that were already there and Black slaves that were kidnapped and brought from Africa.
Most of us are of mixed blood but in different
percentages.
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Frank Lago and son
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INTERVIEWING YOUR RELATIVES
Our first step is to interview our oldest relatives and record all of the information and then
verify it. I started without knowing the
names of my grandparents. I knew them only
as Abuelo and Abuela. I am not fluent in Spanish, my language
skills is more like Spanglish, so when I called on the phone to Puerto
Rico to talk with my relatives I was reluctant
but my perseverance paid off. First I interviewed
my father and uncle. My Uncle Ralph said
that his mother's last name was Santiago
Delgado where later I found out her last
name was Santiago Santiago.
There is nothing easy in
genealogy research,
you will be rewarded if
you do your homework
and investigation. Jump
over all obstacles
especially people that
can cause you to lose
your way. |
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Uncle Ralph Lago and Frank
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They will say that your Spanish is not good
enough or that your relatives
will not welcome
your questions etc. I have found
the contrary.
People love to talk about themselves
and
their ancestors and welcome anyone
interested
in their story and if you are
family the
enthusiasm is even stronger.
CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS / LDS
The book Genealogy talked about the LDS church also known as
the Mormon Church. They have built Family
History Libraries (Centers) in their Churches
in which anyone could rent microfilms of
all subjects that have to do with researching
family history and which was recorded all over the world.
This is their web site to get a better understanding. They have
records of most of the Roman Catholic Chruches in Puerto Rico which would be the books
of Baptism, Matrimony and Death and the Registro
Demográfico which is where the vital records
are recorded since 1885; they have birth,
marriage and death records. Included are
microfilms of the Index of the same.
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Artesano de Villalba,
Héctor Jorge Lago y Lago
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Order microfilm and books that are specific
about the cities that your ancestors lived
in. The families and people that lived there
are represented in these books and microfilms.
The LDS church has lots of information about
the pueblos, municipalities and cities of
Puerto Rico. I was interested in Arecibo and Utuado and I came upon the microfilms of the private
library of Father Fernando Picó S.J.: Extractos de protocolos notariales, siglos
XVIII-XIX / Vecinos de Utuado, apellidos
Ibáñez a Martínez, María FHL INTL Film number
1563105. There was a treasure trove of the
Lago family history. Was I lucky? After receiving
basic city information from interviews; I
would like to think that it was skill on
my part because I researched a town that
I was unfamiliar with but discovered that
my ancestors lived there for generations.
Think outside of the box. You are the researcher.
Send requests to the town historians and
city hall.
The LDS Church will photocopy page requests
of books: Photocopies can be
requested of
the books and microfilm that
they have in
their library. As for the books,
request
the index and or table of contents
if you
don't know the page numbers.
They will photocopy
by page number.
VITAL RECORDS / REGISTRO DEMOGRÁFICO
The Registro Demográfico is where the vital records are kept from
1885. They are birth, marriage
and death
records. We have to request
a genealogical
permission so that we can
request records
for this sole purpose.
After receiving the
permission we then request
the records in
which we have to include
a photo copy of
our drivers license, a
self stamped envelope
and the cost made with
a Postal Money Order:
Registro Demográfico
P.O. Box 11854 / Fernández
Juncos Station
San Juan, PR 00910 |
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This is an example of a Vital Record available
through the Registro Demográfico
of Puerto
Rico, microfilmed by the
LDS Church and available
online. This death record
is of my great
grandfather Francisco Gerónimo Lago..
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PARISH RECORDS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
As of now January 2014 most parish books in Puerto Rico are off limits to browsing
from researchers like ourselves. Therefore
if the LDS church does not have the records
that you are looking for you will have to
request them directly from the Parish offering a donation along with the certification,
literal copy or photocopy cost. It should
be $5 for the certification and $25 or $30
for the donation to the church per request.
Further information.
GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND OTHER
MEMBER SERVICES
I have connected with cousins that I didn't
know existed and were already researching
my family tree. I interviewed my cousin Iván
in Ponce since there was an oral history that there
was a poet of notable origin in our family.
Iván said his last name was Echeandía y Echegaray. So when I joined the SPG (Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Genealogía) I found an article written about the same
last names. And in communicating with the
author he was the one that correctly gave
the name of the poet, Jesús María Lago, my
great grandfather's brother. Is this important?
Yes and no. If your looking for blue blood,
forget about it because those relatives that
suffered for you are the most important finds.
In this case biographies were written about
this person. When it got to his Spanish grandfather
the author during his interviews could not
determine the town of origin only the province,
Asturias in Spain. So how did I jump the ocean?.
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Ramón Rivera Bermúdez, genealogist
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Only due to old fashion detective work that
my cousin José Echegaray (a member of the
SPG) had done during his vacations while
researching the parish books of the Roman
Catholic Cathedral of San Felipe de Arecibo. He came upon the church marriage record
of Francisco Lago that stated that he was
born in the town of Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain. So don't despair try new ideas and
network with other researchers.
But let me tell you that I have found various
branches of my family tree here
through the
existence of these documents that have never been known to any of my
family members.
The following: https://en.geneanet.org/ is great for searching other peoples family
trees which sometimes are very extensive.
I have paid for the yearly use of searching
for individuals and surnames but here also
you can choice a country like Puerto Rico
and then type in a place like Ponce and everyone that has family trees in Ponce
(at Geneanet) will show up which of today is 985 family
trees.
I will include Ancestry.com. This member web site is searchable by name
or surname and they include census records and passports. It is available also in libraries
and online library web
sites.
Make it a priority to become
a member of
these groups because the
benefits are well
worth it. You are requesting
information
from persons that have
done their due diligence.
They need to be compensated
to continue to
offer their services.
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My grandfather José María and brother Carlos
Lago y Lago in Venezuela; circa 1940.
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It was within one of these groups that
I
was introduced to the web site in which I was able to find a strategic
connection that otherwise paralyzed my research.
I, as a New Yorker wanted to research my
relatives in the Daily
News and New York
Post but was only able
to find the New York Times Archives online.
Photo: My father Frank G. Lago.
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PROPERTY RECORDS / REGISTRO DE LA PROPIEDAD
The Probate Records at the Department of Justice / Property Registry is a treasure trove of family history. Once
you find in the Census records that some one is a farm owner "dueño
de finca" which means that he is a property
owner then you can research for this property
in the index which is listed by surname for
that town.
For the most part anything
that is less than
100 years old is considered
off limits for
general research purposes.
These books can
be reviewed by yourself
or some researcher
that you contract. My article
sheds light
on this subject:
Property and Probate Records (El Registro
de la Propiedad en Puerto
Rico). The offices are scattered across the island
and towns are combined
together in one office
in most cases. |
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Panteón of the family Santiago in Coamo
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THE UNITED STATES CENSUS
The United States Census: of 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 include Puerto
Rico. This is where we find our parents and grandparents
etc. The following web site clarifies
the
subject:
INTERLIBRARY LOANS
Each local library has different interlibrary
loan request forms. Not all libraries
offer
this benefit. Ask a librarian
if the clerk
is not aware of this type of
loan. An interlibrary
loan book will arrive in about
a month due
to its departure from across
the nation.
The cost may be $5 and they might
not let
you remove the book from the
library. You
may copy what you need or 10%
of its contents
legally. Also you need to include
in the
form that you are willing to
pay up to $20
for this particular book though
its rare
that they charge after the initial
cost of
the loan. In researching books the following web site is one of the best.
And next is specific to Puerto Rico:
RESEARCHING A SPECIFIC PERSON
OR PERSONS
/ BOOKS
- Archivo Histórico Nacional, Sección de Ultramar, bajo la dirección
de María Teresa de la Peña Marazuela, Madrid
1972
- Inventario de la serie Gobierno
de Puerto
Rico
- Inventario de la serie Fomento
de Puerto
Rico
- Inventario de la serie Gracia
y Justicia
de Puerto Rico
- Inventario de la serie Hacienda
de Puerto
Rico
- Inventario de la serie Oficios
de Guerra
de Puerto Rico
MUNICIPALITIES RESEARCH / BOOKS
IMMIGRATION / BOOKS
Author: Estela Cifre de Loubriel
- Catálogo de extranjeros residentes
en Puerto
Rico en el siglo XIX - 1962
- La Formacion del pueblo puertorriqueño:
La contribución de los Catalanes, Balearicos
y Valencianos.
- La formación del pueblo puertorriqueño:
La contribución de los gallegos, asturianos
y santanderinos.
- La formación del pueblo puertorriqueño:
La contribución de los Vascongados, Navarros
y Aragoneses.
- La formación del pueblo puertorriqueño:
La contribución de los isleño-canarios.
- La inmigración a Puerto Rico
durante el Siglo XIX
Author: Sonesson, Birgit
- Catalanes en las Antillas:
un estudio de
casos.
- Catalan migration to Puerto
Rico in the
nineteenth century: the links
to Sitges and
Vilanova y Geltru.
- Vascos en la diáspora: la emigración
de
La Guaira a Puerto Rico, 1799-1830.
Author Rosario Rivera, Raquel
- Los emigrantes llegados a Puerto Rico procedentes
de Venezuela entre 1810-1848.
PAY FEE RESEARCHERS
I have contracted the following researchers
to help in finding my ancestors
in Spain.
They request to be paid a reasonable
rate
for their expertise. They are
professionals
and I can verify their competency.
The success
I had in using their talents
is priceless:
Madrid, Spain: Genealogist, researcher:
Fernando González Campo del Román.
Madrid, Spain: Archivist and
researcher:
Matthew Hovious: Researched for "Who do you think you
are" Martin Sheen.
Asturias, Spain: Archivist and
researcher:
José del Riego.
Galicia, Spain: Archivist, author
and researcher:
Xosé Isidro Fernández Villalba:
(cmdlourenza@hotmail.com).
Thank you for reading my article.
I hope
it has been an inspiration and
for further
questions I can be reached at:
fnl@ix.netcom.com
Visite nuestra sección "Genealogía"
Apellidos: siglo 19 Apellidos: Grito LaresArchivo General de Puerto Rico
Archivo Arquidiócesis de San Juan Archivo Arizmendi en Bayamón
Archivos y Parroquias de Puerto Rico
Tablas de censos Fichas de contenido: preguntas, respuestas
Libros : Genealogía y Heráldica
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