# Researching a place **URL:** \ **Category:** Historical Archives\ **Created:** [October 16, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://treesvortex.com/t/researching-a-place/10883 "2005-10-16T01:58:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nuestros\_Ranchos](https://treesvortex.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/a4c791/32.png) [@Nuestros\_Ranchos](https://treesvortex.com/u/Nuestros_Ranchos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://treesvortex.com/t/researching-a-place/10883/1 "2005-10-16T01:58:46Z")
| Natalie, that is a good idea about a form to note info. I have just been using thin ruled binder paper and at the top (by hand) I enter the film number, name of the church, the locale, and community where the birth or marriage took place and what type records are included in the film (e.g. Baptisms 1831-1842). I then have room for 5 entries on each page. I have filled out thousands of pages this way through the years. A typical entry looks like this: 4/12/1839 - Maria Epifania Roman (b.4/6/1839) parents: Juan Roman/Ma. Antonia Flores pat. g.p. - Xavier Roman/Yldefonsa Tinajero mat. g. p. - Jose Ma. Flores/Ma. Guadalupe Soriano pnos - Francisco Zalasar/Maria Alejandra de Orosco I sure get tired writing "parents, pat g. p, mat g.p. and pnos" for each entry although with abbreviations it doesn't take me that much more time, but it does add to the writer's cramp. I envy the Director at my FHC who has made a form on a database on her laptop and she types in the info in the fields so quickly. I am jealous. But I will now make an abbreviated form to write on. Why didn't I think of that sooner, duh?? This new computer has Excel on it, so maybe I will take a crack at learning it. I also have found out the value of learning the geography, communities, culture, etc of our ancestral lands and ancestors as Dr. Ryskamp stresses. That is why a forum like this is so helpful to me, whose father left Mexico almost one hundred years ago, and since he died while I was still too young and stupid, I never got to ask him about his town, his ancestors, his culture, how he felt when he had to leave it, how they got to this country, why they left, what happened in all those years before I was born, etc? All I know generally is that the Revolution there caused people to immigrate to this country that threw its doors open to the refugees. My father only took us to his homeland once, but again, I was still too young and stupid to appreciate it. I just felt uncomfortable in a place where I did not know the language and where the hygiene, economy, etc was not up to our standards. Some of us just grow too soon old and too late smart. I really depend on you all who are more familiar with the customs and language and I am beholden to you all, especially our guru, Joseph. Emilie Garcia Port Orchard, WA. ---- > ----- Original Message ----- > > **From:** [Natalie](mailto:nc_coleman@... "mailto:nc\_coleman@...") > > **To:** [ranchos@yahoogroups.com](mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com "mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com") > > **Sent:** Friday, October 14, 2005 2:13 PM > > **Subject:** [ranchos] Researching a place > > > > Wow! The messages have been amazing the past few days. Thanks to all > who have shared their insights regarding research. > (Confession: I am really bummed - I was writing this message, and had > written quite a bit, then accidentally hit the wrong key, and lost > the entire message. Now I am going to try to reconstruct, and hope I > don't leave anything out.) > One of the things stressed by Dr. George Ryskamp at the recent > Hispanic Family History Symposium held at the National Archives in > Washington, DC, was the importance of knowing/understanding the > locality of your ancestors. Learn about the geography, community, > economy, culture, etc. Get to know about the jurisdictional concepts > for your locality: political, ecclisiastical, judicial, military, > etc. He highly recommended the preparation of a written locality > report. > In another presentation he mentioned the National Archives of Mexico - > it sounded amazing. Has anyone in this group been there? > BTW, his bibliography was quite extensive. > > On another note - regarding lateral research. Last May, while > reviewing a film from Valparaiso, Zac., on which my father's baptism > was recorded (and which I had previously extracted), I decided to see > what other relatives might be listed. So I went through the films > looking for all the baptism from Astillero (Hacienda del Astillero). > This film was for 1911-1917. It quickly became evident that there > were too many to take notes for so I went home and put together a > form from which to record extracted information. The form looked > something like this: > > Page# \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Entry# \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Name \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Date of birth (dd-month-year) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Place of birth \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Date of baptism \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Place (of registration) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Name of father \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Name of mother \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Paternal grandfather \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Paternal grandmother \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Maternal grandfather \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > Maternal grandmother \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ > > Note: I failed to record the padrinos > Note: I printed 4 forms per page > > After extracting the information, I compiled a list of the surnames > of the children born, listing the names of the fathers under each > surname. You can see this example of a compilation of surnames in the > FILES section, under my name, Natalie C. Coleman. > Extracting the information provides an indication of the community > for a particular time period. > Thanks again, to all of you for sharing your tips and experiences. > Take care, > > Natalie Coleman, in Annandale, VA |