- About Puerto Rican Genealogy Information
- About Puerto Rican Genealogy Records
- About Puerto Rican Genealogy Ancestry
- About Puerto Rican Genealogy Sites
Births in Puerto Rico often occurred at home. A parent or other relative would have to register the birth at a municipal office, and this is where we get the 'Acta de nacimiento', or birth register. Below is a glossary of the terms and phrases shown in these documents:
- Most surprisingly, we found that roughly 60% of Puerto Ricans carry maternal lineages of Native American origin. Native American ancestry, higher than nearly any other Caribbean island, originated.
- Puerto Rico is a commonwealth and territory of the United States after the Spanish American War of 1898. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States. Ancestry.com has made available the Puerto Rico Civil Records after 1885 as well as the census from 1910, 1920, 1930, 1935, and 1940 under US census rules.
The beginning of the birth register should indicate in what municipality/town the birth was registered. Depending on where your ancestor was born, their birth record might show a different municipality than their adult home address.
The text of the birth register document reads as follows:
ArchivesPuertoRico.com provides search services to anyone seeking genealogical, ancestral and/or historical information specific to Puerto Rico. We collect, preserve and deliver historical and genealogical information and records. And for a time, I was only able to trace my genealogy back to 1910 because that was the first U.S. Census that was taken in Puerto Rico. Now with the newest release of Puerto Rico’s birth, death and marriage records dating back to 1885 I have been able to track my genealogy as far back as approximately the 1790s!
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Register of Birth
In the [name of municipality/town], at [numerical hour of the day] on the [numerical day] of the [month] of the [year spelled out in words], before [name of Judge], Judge of the Municipal District of [name of District], and [name of Secretary], Secretary, appeared [name of declarant], of [hometown (country, if not Puerto Rico)], adult, of [marital status], [profession], and resident of [street address and number], in order to register a [daughter / son], and to do that as [relationship to child]:
Spoiler html codes. That said [daughter / son] was born at the home of the declarant on [xx day of xx month].
That this child is the [legitimate / acknowledged / illegitimate] child of the declarant and [information about other parent; this section might include information on grandparents, as well].
That this child is [granddaughter/grandson] of [paternal grandfather's name], [aged xx years / deceased], and [maternal grandfather's name], [aged xx years / deceased].
And that this child has been given the name [name of child].
About Puerto Rican Genealogy Information
All of which was been witnessed by [names and titles of witnesses].
Sealed by the Municipal Court Judge, declarant, and witnesses.
Some useful phrases in translation:
About Puerto Rican Genealogy Records
mil novecientos = 19__ (rarely, 'mil ochocientos' = 18__)
comparecio = appears
legitimo = legitimate
natural = illegitimate
ya difunto = deceased
About Puerto Rican Genealogy Ancestry
de __ años de edad = is __ years old
About Puerto Rican Genealogy Sites
Some records also list the race of the child, which literally translate as: blanca/o = white; mestiza/o = literally 'mixed', typically refers to a person of Spanish and Native American ancestry; mulata/o = a person with one parent of African descent and one parent of European descent; negra/o = black; parda/o = brown; triqueña/o = 'three cultures'.
| This page will consist of three parts: |
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Last updated: March 11, 2000 |
| INFORMATION: |
| If you want to research your family you have to begin with interviews of your parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts. Write down or, better yet, tape whatever they tell you. Some of these data may not be correct, but they will give you anyway worthwhile hints about where to start. |
| After you have collected the first information, you can write to the Registro Demográfico (Addresses) of the town where your family lived in order to get whatever documents you don't have yet. If you go there personally, bring for each document a $5 stamp from the 'Colecturía'. Don't forget at least one picture ID because information is given only to direct descendents. If you write from outside Puerto Rico, send a money order for $5 and you have to send a photocopy of an picture ID which also has your signature. If someone else does the job for you, you have to write a letter of authorization for that person and give him/her a copy of your ID as well. |
| Many records are nowadays at a central location in San Juan with the following address: Departamento de Salud; Registro Demográfico; PO Box 11854; San Juan PR 00910. Obviously, you must know the approximate date when the document was issued in order to be successful when you ask for documents in writing. However, I only realized recently that the Mormon church has been filming the public registers of about 45 towns in Puerto Rico and is continuing to do so. As the records begin about the turn of the century and I personally had all the data from this century for our own genealogy, I never realized that so many of these records had been filmed. |
| For further research you have the parishes with their registers, but to look up records there personally, you need a permit from the bishop's office AND the permission of the parish priest. You can also go to the Family History Centers of the Mormon (Latter Day Saints) churches. For a small fee, they can order for you from their large genealogical library in Salt Lake City microfilms for some of the parish registers of Puerto Rico. They also have copies on film of many of the books published on genealogy in Puerto Rico. Besides, you have access through these centers to the US Census records up to 1920. These original records can give you very valuable information about your family, but you have to understand some Spanish as the census takers in Puerto Rico wrote the information in Spanish. The following abbreviations should be known: v = varón; h = hembra; cs = legal marriage and cc = common-law marriage. Lately I heard that there is a website for the sale of CDs for the 1910 and 1920 US Censuses. These CDs include the towns of Puerto Rico. |
| Finally, if you have a chance to go to San Juan, you can visit the General Archives in San Juan as well as the History Center of the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. |
| There are, of course, many other places where you can look for information, but this is not the place to go into too many details. It is also very worthwhile to take up contact with other researchers, new and old ones. I have given you a link on the first page of this homepage to the Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Genealogía, a very helpful organization for the genealogical researcher. Another very good organization for research on Puerto Rican family history is the Hispanic Puerto Rican Genealogical Society in New York (e-mail latinoblue@aol.com). There is also some genealogical information on the homepage of Dr. Luis López Nieves, one of the members of the Sociedad, and also the homepage of Walter Cardona Bonet. Lately our friend and fellow member of the Sociedad, José Rivera Nieves has put up a good genealogical site about Puerto Rican genealogy and families. A lot of Puerto Rican history is available at another marvelous site, the homepage of Luis Negrón Hernández. I have had problems accessing this site from here despite a correct URL, but you can do so through the homepage of Luis López Nieves (go to the homepage from here, click on Genealogía and you will find it). Another worthwhile site, most of you probably know is the Family Treemaker. There are some other sites which you might want to visit: The homepage of the AOL Hispanic Genealogy Group and Hispanic America USA. A new genealogical group was formed in New York with the name Hispanic Genealogical Society of NY. |
| When I took off the 1827 taxlist, some persons felt I took it off too early. OK, as I still have space on my homepage, I will put up Oldies here: Cabo Rojo Property Taxes 1827 ; Pirates of the Caribbean, Humacao Taxlist, A Problem in Cabo Rojo, Cabo Rojo Landowners, 'Insurgentes', Fajardo death records,Errors in Documents, Immigration, the Zapatas, Mayagüez Records, some gossip from Cabo Rojo, Defunciones de Mayagüez, Deputados de Mayagüez and an article about the rules of Consanguinity. |
| THE SCHMIDTS |
| Although my legal name is Acosta, I am really a Schmidt, and as this is my homepage, I will begin with the Schmidts. Well, I doubt that you are interested in my German ancestry, but many people like to look at old family pictures. That's why I am making this second part a picture gallery. By the way, my legal name is Acosta because the judge misunderstood me when I became a naturalized citizen and changed my name legally from Ursula Hildegard Irma Schmidt to Ursula Acosta. Nowadays I would probably object, but in those days - 1958 - I didn't mind. Meanwhile, I have become so used to Acosta that I vociferously object when people insist on calling me Schmidt. |
| The picture at the beginning of this page is a family group which was made at the confirmation of one of my father's cousins with two of my paternal great grandparents in the center. Greatgrandfather Schmidt is a rather striking figure although at the time the picture was taken, he was almost totally blind. The tall lanky guy half-left in the back is my Dad; next to him is his mother, the only grandparent I ever knew and loved very much. |
| * * * This picture of my parents, Hans Schmidt (1897-1972) and his wife Irma Ulrich Schmidt (1904-1991), was taken before I was born on one of their vacations when they had just been married. * * * * * * * * * * * * |
| * * My paternal grandparents Carl Schmidt (1868-1901) and Caroline Erlenbruch Schmidt (1871-1958). Grandfather was a physician. During a visit to a patient in very bad weather he caught pneumonia and died at the age of 33. * * * * * * |
| * * *My maternal grandparents Hermann Ulrich (1869-1931) and Caroline Liepe Ulrich (1878-1922). * * * * * * * * |
| * * My great grandparents Carl Schmidt (1837-1909) and Hulda Hufschmidt Schmidt (1845-1915). * * * * * * * * |
| * * My other paternal great grandparents Johann Erlenbruch (1818-1895) and Caroline Julie Pandel Erlenbruch (1837-1898). * * * * * * * * |
In the center of this picture is one of my maternal great grandmothers, Auguste Breuert Liepe (1855-after 1922). She is surrounded by her sons and some of her grandchildren whom I cannot identify, but they were cousins of my mother. Raphael saadiq ask of you download free music. |
| ANCESTOR TABLES |
DESCENDENTS OF MIGUEL ACOSTA |
| 1. Miguel Acosta ..+Paula de la Rosa Monteros ..2. Luis Acosta Monteros, - 1811 ....+Anna Vázquez ....3. José Acosta Vázquez, about 1773 - 1814 ......+Gertrudis Matos Martín, - 1841 ......4. Andrés Acosta Matos, 1798 - after 1865 ........+Ana Montalvo Vélez, 1798 - 1859 ........5. Don Juan Antonio Acosta Montalvo, about 1820 - 1874 ..........+Doña María Candelaria Ortiz de Peña y Zapata, - 1877 ..........6. Manuel del Carmen Acosta y Ortiz de Peña, 1855 - 1935 ............+María de Jesús Pabón Dávila y Ramírez de Arellano, 1853 - 1942 ............7. Juan Sebastián Acosta Pabón Dávila, 1895 - 1966 ..............+Emilia Ronda Ramírez de Arellano, 1908 - ..............8. Sebastián Acosta Ronda, 1929 - ................+Ursula (Schmidt) Acosta, 1933 - ................9. Johann Sebastian (Hans) Acosta, 1955 - ..................+Lois Pastrana, 1955 - ..................10. Michelle Marie Acosta, 1983 - .....................Jonelle Denise Acosta, 1986 - ................9. Dennis Gerhard Acosta, 1957 - ..................+Angela Deadina Vázquez, 1959 - ..................10. Dennis Javier Acosta, 1981 - .....................Angela Cristina Acosta, 1984 - .....................Nicole Marie Acosta, 1987 - ................9. Peter Acosta, 1960 - ..................(div.) Hilda Zapata, 1960 - ..................Karen Spies, 1958- ..................10. Christopher Acosta, 1983 - .....................Monika Marie Acosta, 1988 - .....................Courtney Ana Acosta, 2000- |
DESCENDENTS OF JUAN ANTONIO RONDA |
| 1. Juan Antonio Ronda, born in Callosa, near Valencia in Spain, - 1825 ..+Teresa Larrimbe, born in Cadiz(?) or in the Biscay, Spain, - 1862 ..2. José Miguel Ronda ....+María del Rosario Vilanova ....3. Demetrio Ronda, - 1904 ......+Francisca López Rodríguez, - before 1904 ......4. Manuel Ronda, about 1886 - 1925 ........+Romana Ramírez de Arellano Arroyo, 1867 - 1952 ........5. Emilia Ronda Ramírez de Arellano, 1908 - ..........(see above, the Acostas, #7 - 10) |
DESCENDENTS OF JOSEPH PABON DAVILA |
| 1. Joseph Pabón Dávila ..+Baltazara Cintron ..2. Don José Eugenio Pabón Dávila Cintrón ....+Doña María del Carmen Ramírez de Arellano y Rivera ....3. Don Cristóbal Pabón Dávila Ramírez de Arellano, 1766 - 1837 ......+Doña María de los Angeles (Angela) Quiñones Irizarry, about 1775 - 1826 ......4. Don Felipe Pabón Dávila y Quiñones, 1820 - before 1883, probably in the Mona .........Channel ........+Doña Juana María Ramírez de Arellano y del Toro, about 1816 - 1900 ........5. María de Jesús Pabón Dávila Ramírez de Arellano, 1853 - 1942 ..........(see above, the Acostas, #6 - 10) |
DESCENDENTS OF GERONIMO RAMIREZ DE ARELLANO |
| 1. Gerónimo Ramírez de Arellano; he lived in Santo Domingo, about 1600 ..+María Benavides ..2. Lázaro Ramírez de Arellano; he immigrated to San Germán from Santo Domingo ....+Clara de Figueroa ....3. Antonio Ramírez de Arellano, 1654 - ......+Ana de Lugo y Sotomayor ......4. Remigio Ramírez de Arellano, - 1766 ........+María de la Cruz Martínez de Matos ........5. Alférez Manuel Ramírez de Arellano, - before 1791 ..........+Valentina Rivera y Vélez Borrero ..........6. Marcos Ramírez de Arellano, about 1752 - 1828 ............+Ana Ramírez de Arellano y Ramírez de Arellano, - 1830 ............7. Nicolás Ramírez de Arellano, about 1785 - 1835 ..............+María San Diego del Toro Cancel ..............8. Juana María Ramírez de Arellano del Toro, about 1816 - 1900 ................+Felipe Pabón Dávila Quiñones, 1820 - before 1883 ................(see above, the Acostas, #6 - 10, and the Pabón Dávilas, #5) |
DESCENDENTS OF FELIX ORTIZ DE PENA |
| 1. Félix Ortiz de Peña, - 1765 ..+Rosa del Toro ..2. Tomás Ortiz de Peña y del Toro, - 1800 ....+María de la Cruz Rodríguez de Berrios ....3. Eugenio Ortiz de Peña y Rodríguez de Berrios ......+Juana María Zapata Feliciano, 1798 - 1869 ......4. Doña María de la Candelaria Ortiz de Peña y Zapata, - 1877 ........(See above, the Acostas, #5- 10) |
DESCENDENTS OF CRISTOBAL ZAPATA |
| 1. Cristóbal Zapata, about 1600 in Mexico City ..+María de Cobarrubias, in Mexico City ..2. Sergeant Marcos Zapata Cobarrubias, born in Mexico City, died after 1700 ....+Ana (Pabón) Dávila, born in San Juan ....3. Marcos Zapata Pabón Dávila ......+María Flora Bello, from Tenerife ......4. Juan Martín Zapata Bello, 1714 - 1797 ........+Baltazara López de Victoria y Ramírez de Arellano, from San Germán ........5. Pablo Zapata y López de Victoria, about 1760 - about 1848 ..........+María Monserrate Feliciano Rodríguez;, - 1830 ..........6. Juana María Zapata Feliciano, 1798 - 1869 ............+Eugenio Ortiz de Peña ............7. María de la Candelaria Ortiz de Peña y Zapata, - 1877 ..............(See the Acostas, #6 - 10) |
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