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Por mazochoa |

Hello Nuestros Rancheros,

I have reached a stalemate in my ancestry search. Although am researching many branches currently it seems that some (the poorer) branches are nearly impossible. My fathers family who were extremely poor are proving very difficult to find, I have only been able to locate records to the beginning of the 20th century. Is this common in families of lower economic status? If so what do I do, where do I look? or is this something I need a professional genealogist for?

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Monica

Hola Nuestros Rancheros,

He llegado a un punto muerto en mi búsqueda de la ascendencia. Aunque estoy investigando muchas ramas en actualidad, parece que algunas ramas (las más pobres) son casi imposibles. La familia de mi padre que eran muy pobres, están demostrando ser muy difíciles de encontrar, sólo he sido capaz de localizar los registros al comienzo del siglo 20. Esto es común en las familias de baja condición económica? Si es así, ¿qué hago, dónde busco? O esto es algo que necesito un genealogista profesional para resolver?

Cualquier consejo se agradece.
Gracias,
Monica

Hi Monica,

We all reach stalemates in our research. Some take years, hard work and perserverance and lots of patience. What I would do is continue researching your lines, if you can continue to advance on others, stick with those and resume with other lines. Somtimes, I find researching other lines in the same area, might give clues or hints on other lines. It can become difficult when everyone stays around the same general area. What I hate the most is having to back to the same film and review it a second time, so I started to extract microfilm of all spaniards, since about 98% of my lines are Spanish. I have a couple of mestizo, mulato, black, and native american lines. That way when I do advance I can easily check for Spanish and has been working so far. I do not know if I would recommend this method for you, since it is time consuming, but well worth it. I have been called a serious, but a crazy researcher.

In my family tree, there exists all ends of the spectrum, some were very wealthy, some very poor. Documents even state, no testo por ser pobre. Some refer to them as la muy rica, etc. I have noticed in my mulato, mestizo, black and native american lines do tend to "die out" eventually. Which does sadden me a bit, because I would be interested to see where they take me. I do not think its that the poorer branches are impossible to find, they existed so they must be out there somewhere. Something a wise man taught me is that Colonial Spanish officers usually focused on their Spanish colonists, especially if they were of noble lineage, for some reason the officiators in Colonial Mexico would have hundreds of documents on one family. So I think that's why Spanish lines for the most part are easier. Have you looked on www.familysearch.org? Have you looked page by page on film? This is a tedious job, but for the most part if the only way to advance. People know me for doing the gru
nt work, that no one else really wants to do. I can assure you the grunt work is what produces results.

Where is your general area of research. My ancestors moved around a lot. I have lots of lines in Mexico City, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Jalisco, Nayarit, Chihuhua, Hidalgo, Zacatecas, Puebla, Portugal, Spain, Italy and France. Try to research your own lines first, I think it's more fulfulling. If you still believe hiring a professional researcher is the way to go, be careful, some claim they know what they are doing, but some can fabricate genealogies, for the sake of a paycheck. Always make sure they provide documents to back up their researcher. I have taken on big projects in the past, but I'm not sure if I could be of assistance, since I am moving to Brazil in two weeks. I do however, have "many friends" in this field, and they are all excellent researchers and am sure will love to help you.

Mis saludos,

Daniel Mendez de Torres Camino

Hello Daniel,

I use many different resources for research in (diciphering barely legible writting) and have produced many results on maternal side (espanoles de Jalisco y Aguascalientes) going back more than 7 generations (which has taken me 10+ years to compile) However on my fathers side (indios/mestisos, de Guanajuato) I keep hitting a wall. I know you are right and I must just be patient, research another branch, and revisit this search periodically. I suppose I am being impatient from years of researching my paternal ancestry to no avail, I was looking for a short cut but I will follow your advise and encouragement and persevere through the difficulty.

Thanks again so much!
Monica Ochoa

Monica,

I would suggest, being patient and review what you have already done. Plus make sure that for every event you have checked every resource for it. Such as a birth (have you checked both the civil register and the Parish records), Marriage (have you checked the Civil and parish records again, also have you checked both the marriage record and the marriage presentation). And make sure that you research every child and sibling in each family.

It took me, about ten years to find my wife's great-grandfather. And I finally found him while I was looking for the death record of one of his children.

So just be patient and through. And if you still would like to consult with a professional, I can give you the names of some researchers, or I can take a look at your family and give you some suggestions on where to research.

Also, it doesn't matter if the family was poor or well off. You can usually take any family line back several generations.

Jonathan Walker

Monica, Jonathan is correct, sometimes you will find information where you least expect it.. I had a Mulato ancestor who's mother was a slave and listed only as Maria Gertrudis on his records.. down the line I found a record where he and his mother were godparents and it listed his mother's last name.  I never would have found it if I had not researched every one with the Rolon last name in that time period.. The ancestors will be found just have patience and don't overlook the strangest places for information.
Linda in Everett.

________________________________
From: "jonathan@mexicanfhr.com"
To: research@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Sunday, January 8, 2012 1:38 PM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] professional genealogist/genealogista profesional

Monica,

I would suggest, being patient and review what you have already done.  Plus make sure that for every event you have checked every resource for it.  Such as a birth (have you checked both the civil register and the Parish records), Marriage (have you checked the Civil and parish records again, also have you checked both the marriage record and the marriage presentation).  And make sure that you research every child and sibling in each family.

It took me, about ten years to find my wife's great-grandfather.  And I finally found him while I was looking for the death record of one of his children. 
So just be patient and through.  And if you still would like to consult with a professional, I can give you the names of some researchers, or I can take a look at your family and give you some suggestions on where to research.

Also, it doesn't matter if the family was poor or well off.  You can usually take any family line back several generations.

Jonathan Walker

Monica,

I agree with Jonathan and Erlinda,

Genealogical research takes lots of hard work and patience and with the hard work come the surprises. You don't know where your ancestors will turn up. It doesn't matter if they were poor or rich, they all hide in different places. Keep plugging along, listen to the words of wisdom and encouragement of experienced researchers and follow your instincts. That's why it's so important to do your own research. By way of your own research you develop a sense for the tracks that lead you to where your ancestors may be hiding. Not saying don't hire a professional, just saying that by doing so, it prevents you from knowing the region your researching, the extended familia that could lead you to your roots and the joy of finding that elusive long lost ancestor.

Happy hunting!
Alicia,
San Jose, Ca

________________________________
From: Erlinda Castanon-Long
To: "research@nuestrosranchos.org"
Sent: Sunday, January 8, 2012 1:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] professional genealogist/genealogista profesional

Monica, Jonathan is correct, sometimes you will find information where you least expect it.. I had a Mulato ancestor who's mother was a slave and listed only as Maria Gertrudis on his records.. down the line I found a record where he and his mother were godparents and it listed his mother's last name.  I never would have found it if I had not researched every one with the Rolon last name in that time period.. The ancestors will be found just have patience and don't overlook the strangest places for information.
Linda in Everett.

________________________________
From: "jonathan@mexicanfhr.com"
To: research@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Sunday, January 8, 2012 1:38 PM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] professional genealogist/genealogista profesional

Monica,

I would suggest, being patient and review what you have already done.  Plus make sure that for every event you have checked every resource for it.  Such as a birth (have you checked both the civil register and the Parish records), Marriage (have you checked the Civil and parish records again, also have you checked both the marriage record and the marriage presentation).  And make sure that you research every child and sibling in each family.

It took me, about ten years to find my wife's great-grandfather.  And I finally found him while I was looking for the death record of one of his children. 
So just be patient and through.  And if you still would like to consult with a professional, I can give you the names of some researchers, or I can take a look at your family and give you some suggestions on where to research.

Also, it doesn't matter if the family was poor or well off.  You can usually take any family line back several generations.

Jonathan Walker

Thank you Jonathan & Alicia,

I appreciate your encouragement and advice. I suppose I just needed some reassurance from those who have had the same challenge. I have been reasearching my tree from the time I was a child and though I have made huge steps on my maternal side the paternal branches have all but dried up, despite my persistence. Which is why I have considered that perhaps I NEED a professional, BUT you are right there is more satisfaction in the journey, reading, researching and "playing detective" so to speak does give me the feeling of connection with my past family. I have learned so much about my ancestors, their culture and my own roots in the process that it would almost be sacrilege to do it any other way.

Thanks!

Monica Ochoa

Genealogy Research