FAQ
Search
Members
Groups
Register
User Control Panel
Log in to check your private messages.
LoginIn researching my family, I first obtained as much documentation about my grandparents from U.S. records. From the Social Security Applications and Ellis Island records I discovered the dates of birth of my grandparents, where they originated, and the names of their parents.
Once I had that information, I decided to write the Civil Register in Spain and request a copy of my grandparents Birth and Marriage certificates (The Civil Register started archiving records around 1875, so they probably will not have a record of a birth, marriage or death occurring prior to that date).
You can order vital records online at the following website: http://www.mju.es/registro_civil/index.htm. The online register requires a DNI (Spanish Equivalent of the Social Security Number). I would not suggest putting your SSN in that space. I have heard of people putting in a random number like 123456 and then in the comment space, writing in Spanish “I am a U.S. Citizen, I do not have a DNI”.
Unfortunately, the Civil Register in the town my grandparents originated did not have online access, so I had make my request by regular mail.
I do not speak Spanish, so this was a problem. I overcame this obstacle by using one of the many online language translators. There are three that I use:
http://world.altavista.com/
http://www.reverso.net/textonly/default.asp
http://www.freetranslation.com/
They all are good, but I recommend that you keep the language as simple as possible. Do not use slang or figurative speech. If you know somebody that speaks Spanish, have the letter proofread.
You can see document request sample letters by purchasing a copy of the Spanish Letter Writing Guide from the the Latter-day Saints: http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/st ... =Y&tclBC=Y
Click onto Family History Research Products> How to > and then Language Helps. The guide only costs $1.25 and it is very helpful.
Once your letter is written, when you mail in your request you should include a self addressed envelope and International Reply Coupons for return postage.
I have found Spanish Civil Register documents to be very detailed. For example: the death certificates for my great grandparents had the following information:
Name of the Deceased.
Time and date of death
Place of birth of Deceased and where he/she resided.
Profession of the Deceased.
Parents of deceased and where they were born and resided.
Spouse of deceased.
Where the deceased is buried.
Surviving children of the deceased.
Marriage and birth certificates are equally detailed.
After requesting documents from the Civil Register, I decided I would try to obtain documents from the church that my grandparents attended. The first step was identifying the church. I found a listing of parishes at the following website: http://www.iglesiadeasturias.org/
There were three churches serving my grandparent’s town. At that point I simply posted an inquiry in the forum asking if anybody knew which church was around during the late 1890s. Once I identified the church I wrote a letter to the Priest at that parish requesting my grandparents baptismal and marriage certificates. Once again, I wrote my request in Spanish and I included a self addressed envelope and funds for return postage. In addition, you may want to send a small donation for the parish.
Spanish Baptismal certificates are fantastic. They not only have the names of the child and parents, but the maternal and paternal grandparents and where they originated. Often the document will not only tell you which town the ancestor was born or lived, but which church they attended. For example: On my grandmother’s baptismal certificate it states my great great grandfather Miguel Artime was natural de San Martin de Podes- Gozon. Meaning the parish he attended was San Martin de Podes located in Gozon.
This information can be helpful later in your research when you wish to request church documents on that particular ancestor.
After I requested documents from the church and state, I decided to try to contact cousins in Spain. I was lucky because my grandparents have very uncommon surnames. I used the following website:
www.infobel.com to look for people having the same surnames as my grandparents. There were about 25 people; a dozen of those people lived in the town my grandparents originated. I wrote all 12 of those people. I told them who I was and that I was researching my ancestors who originated from that town. I asked them if we could be related, and if we were, I would love to correspond with them. I then gave my email address.
Out of the 12 people I received 4 responses. I have been corresponding regularly with my cousins who have sent me dozens of photos and documents.
I hope this information helps others in some way. Good luck with your search! I would love to hear other success stories!
