Who’s Your Mamá? Documents and discrepancies from early 19th century Moca – Part 2
Approaching your brick wall? Here are some suggestions for thinking about context, surnames & working with documents.
Puerto Rico
The Many Names of Telesforo Carrillo (1845-1920)
The search for my great great grandfather began with a fiction of sorts, created by his death certificate of 1920. Here the gap between who he was when he started and who he was at the end of his life widens.
Resources on the History of Prostitution, Underground Economies & Family Histories
A supplement for Episode 89: Dangerous Liaisons: Jailbird Relatives and The Freaky Underside of Genealogy. Black ProGen Live! July 30,
Beyond Transcriptions: Jose Antonio Caban Nieves and his five wives
What’s in a name? How many Jose, Maria and Juans have you come across in your tree? Frequently repeated first
African Ancestors in San German: Juan Tomas Gandulla and his Family
Recently, my cousin Maara asked me to explore her great grandmother’s line, Maria Monserrate Malave Ayala, and that of her
Some Amazing Things You Can Learn in the Registro Civil
If you’re doing Latinx genealogy tied to the Spanish empire, you’ll eventually hit a version of the Registro Civil, the
The escape of Juan de la Rosa: A Runaway Slave Ad from Moca, December 1842
“Anuncios” In December 1842, after much planning, Juan de la Rosa finally decided to do something about his situation. He
Can Genealogy Be Racist? Identity, Roots & the Question of Proof
Oral history, Alex Haley’s Roots and the question of proof Change takes time. It can feel glacial when looking at
Stories in a Box: Caja 1289, Slavery and the Hernandez family
In reviewing a transcription of notary documents, I came across a pair of Hernandez sisters whose sale of property in
Gaining Freedom: gleaning narratives from Caja 1444, Moca, Puerto Rico, 1848-1854
Cartas de emancipación: Letters of Freedom As three historians of Cuban slavery recently wrote,”Los notarios eran parte de este sistema