Places

For Stuart and others interested in the origens of the pueblos of Aguascalientes, I've just posted two pages in Reference materials on the foundation of the pueblos of Aguascalientes. Included are San Jose de Gracia and Rincon de Romos.

Anulaciones

Arturo,

Are there any filmed records of annulments in Mexico? Would they be called anulaciones? I know that annulments have to be approved by upper levels of the Catholic hierarchy, and that the process took a long time, unless the man had money to pay. It seems a man could get an annulment from the Catholic church for himself or for his children if he was rich enough. Women could only get them in certain cases.

Insurgente

Another question I have is during the religious wars in Mexico during the 1920 through 1927, they referred to some of the people fighting as insurgentes. Who were the insurgentes? Where they the people fighting for Catholicism or were they the people that were for the government?

Happy Fathers Day

I wanted to wish all the Fathers in the the group a Happy Fathers Day.. What a wonderful gift you're giving your children and future generations of your line by working so hard to give them a history and foundation to build on.. I'm sure the ancestors are proud, happy and humbled to be remembered.

Veterans History Project @Library of Congress

Do you have a relative that served in the following conflicts: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afganistan, or Iraq?
If so, please read about the VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT of the Library of Congress. LOC is attempting to collect FIRST-HAND accounts of those who served in these conflicts. LOC would also like first-hand accounts of those who participated in support-services such as: war industry, USO, or medical volunteer. Alas, my three uncles who served in WWII (one who was career Navy and served in Korea and Vietnam, too; and whose PARENTS were BORN in ZACATECAS) have died, and are unable to provide their first-hand accounts.

Mexican Movies

Marge -

I showed my husband your message about the theaters in El Paso. He too went to the same theaters, and he waxed nostalgic. He told me:

"I remember in the early forties walking into the El Alcazar theater and the 'unbearable stench of being' hitting my nose immediately. In those days before air-conditioning in most theaters, and the weather outside around 110, and the young men that frequented the theater sporting flannel socks and tennis shoes (not Nikes or sneakers, but the real tennis shoes, two strips of canvas that laced up the ankles), you had the makings for a real 'pot boiler'. We dubbed the theater "El Calzetin".

Port of El Paso Records

Arturo and Joseph,

Suzanne Harris of NARA has returned the batch of five requests I sent her. There were two cover letters that I will paraphrase here:

"Since 1845 there had been attempts in the United States to create or require a record of aliens within the country. Registration of alien enemy residents of the United States was required during World War I under section 19 of the President's Proclamation of November 16, 1917. A central set of records of the registration of alien enemies [Germans and ?], consisting of their registration affidavits, was assembled by the Department of Justice in Washington, DC during the war. However, in 1940, the Department of Justice reported to the National Archives that these registration affidavits had been destroyed with the permission of Congress. A small number of these registrations have survived and can be found in our regional archives in San Bruno, CA and Kansas City, MO. It is possible that others have survived on the county or state level."

DN testing

Linda,

My brother had the FamilyTree Y-DNA test done. His results are posted to
Gary Felix DNA Surname project. He tested R1b. If you want more details,
please contact me directly.

Maria

Place Names in Mexico

Stuart,

I am in the same boat you are. My husband's ancestors were from the exact same places you mentioned. The place where they were baptized, married, etc is not the same place where they were born or buried. You have to look for the phrase "originario de" for the name of the place they were born. For example, I was looking in the records of the La Encarnacion (Jalisco) church for baptisms and marriages thinking my husband's ancestors were born in the town of Encarnacion de Diaz where the church is located, then I realized that the records kept stating they were "originario de Santa Maria" which must have been a large hacienda village nearby. It seems they had big cathedrals in some towns (pueblos, villas?) where people living in the surrounding haciendas would come to be baptized, etc.

Mexican Nicknames

My father's nick name is el Chorro's (he had stomach problems I think) , his brother Manuel is el Profe (Professor), Gregorio was el Piojo (small one/ lice), Jose is known as el Mocho to this day (he accidently cut a couple of his fingers off), Antonio is Maraguas (unsure of meaning), and my grandfather's nick name was el Guero (light one).

FYI, Streets of Laredo

My husband and I just finished watching Streets of Laredo, through Netflix.

It was an offshoot of the Lonesome Dove made for TV movie (1995)and it takes place in the wildwest days, mostly Texas/Mexico border. I couldn't help but think of the days when our ancestors came across the border and what trials they must have endured. Some people probably made it and some may have perished with the possibility that no one ever knew where their remains were or what could have happened to them. Those that did live probably had a very difficult life, Mexicans were on the bottom end of the food chain.

Crossing the border at El Paso, Texas in the 1920's

I'll be posting some photos from a souvenir booklet sold on the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1920's. Those of us whose ancestors crossed to el norte through El Paso saw some of these same stations along the way. My father, Luis Calvillo Zaragoza, was 10 years old when his family travelled from Guadalajara to San Francisco, California, on this same train route, in 1922. His mother, Jesus Zaragoza Castillo, a widow with five children and very little money, nevertheless paid the grand sum of $1.50 so that Luis would remember the journey. The booklet remained one of my father's treasured possessions until he died.