Despite the title, Finding Your Mexican Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide is not a primer on genealogy. There are already plenty of starter guides for those new to genealogy. This book is a “beginner’s guide” to Mexican research. Authors George & Peggy Ryskamp wrote exclusively to help researchers of all levels, newbies to advanced, to find their ancestors who lived south of the Rio Grande.
In their introduction, the authors outline the goal or purpose of this guide:
“You will learn what records exist for your Mexican American heritage, and how they can be located and used to trace your family lines and rich, distinctive history. You will find records that give not only names and important dates and places, but an understanding of the time and events that shaped the lives of your ancestors.”
The introduction goes on to explain the four major migration periods of Mexican immigrants into the United Sates. Almost anyone could guess that Catholic Church records will likely play a big part in Mexican research. However, there are many other records which should not be overlooked, coverage for which you will find in this book. Browse the contents below to get an idea of all that is available.
The Ryskamps have gone out of their way to make this book easy to read and the examples easy to follow. There are plenty of documents, tables, maps, and pictures to help the researcher visualize the research process and the records they are likely to uncover. The couple has also included many important vocabulary words, listed in the outside margins on the relevant pages. Plus, some of the sample documents come complete with both a Spanish transcription and an English translation.
If you are one of the 20 plus million people who have Mexican ancestry, then this book will serve you well as you begin researching south of the border.
Table of Contents
Introduction
- Notes
1. Getting Started: Home, Family, and Internet Searches
- The Home Search
- Talk to Family Members
- Internet Searches
- What Next?
2. Finding and Working with Mexican Records
- The Family History Library Catalog
- No Matching Places found
- Working with Mexican Records
- Reading Spanish-Language Documents
3. Civil Registration Records
- Indexes
- Civil Registration Birth Records
- The Civil Registration Marriage Process
- Civil Registration Death Records
4. Parish Records
- Reading Parish Records
- Parish Record Format
- Parish Baptismal Records
- Parish Confirmation Records
- Parish Marriage Records
- Parish Death Records
- Parish Research Using the International Genealogical Index and Mexican Vital Records Index
- Notes
5. Finding the Place in Mexico
- Political Division of Mexico
- Catholic Church Divisions
- Historical Changes
- Looking for Jurisdictional Information in the FHLC
- Geographical Dictionaries, Atlases, and Gazetteers
- Church Guides and Directories
- Where Do I Go from Here?
- Notes
6. Beyond the Parish: Church and Government Records
- Archives: The Place to Find Original Records
- Records Types Within Mexican Archives
- Notes
7. Beyond the Parish: Notarial Records
- Organization, Indexing, and Formatting of Protocolos
- Where Can I Find Notarial Documents?
- Notes
8. Searching For Your Mexican Surnames
- Searching for Individuals
- Searching for Family Histories and Biographies Online
- Searching for Histories or Description of Your Surname and Its Origin
9. Searching For Your Ancestors in United States Records
- Border Crossing Records
- United States Federal Censuses
- Social Security Records
- World War I Military Draft Registration
- Alien Registrations of 1940
- Military Service Records
- Railroad Pension Records
- Catholic Church Parish Records in the United States
- Untied States Vital Registration Records
- Other United States Record Sources
- Notes
10. Research in Mexican Colonial Records
- Mexican Colonial Records and Jurisdictions
- Catholic Church Records
- Using Government Records
- Civil Legal Documents
- Military Records
- Race in Colonial Times
- Locating Other Colonial Records of Genealogical Value
- Notes
Appendix A: Glossary
Appendix B: Timeline of Mexican History
Appendix C: Research Forms
- Research Log
Appendix D: Archives of the State of Mexico
Appendix E: Researching in the Archivo General de la Nacion From the United States
- Published Indexes
Appendix F: Internet Sites for Mexican Genealogy
- General Hispanic Genealogy Websites
- General Archives and History Websites
- Mexican and Mexican American Websites
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
Get Finding Your Mexican Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: TP071, Price: $16.61.