Five Common Misconceptions About Mexican Genealogy Research

When I started I had Five Common Misconceptions About Mexican Genealogy Research that have proven to be totally wrong. In this post, I share them with you.

Have you ever wanted to start looking for your Mexican Ancestors only to find yourself discouraged with misconceptions about Mexican Records and or Research?

It is my purpose or hope that this post will help debunk those misconceptions that you may have and that may be holding you back as they were holding me back.

Five Common Misconceptions About Mexican Genealogy Research

• I Live In The U.S. and It Will Be Impossible To do Mexican Genealogy Since I don’t go to Mexico – Many people believe, just as I did, that it was impossible to do Mexican Genealogical Research from the U.S. Turns out that you can do most of it by just using a computer and networking with people in Mexico and other researchers int he U.S. I know this since I have done it myself. Thanks to FamilySearch.org most Church Records and Civil Records up until and past 1930s are available to us.

• Mexico Has No Records Online – This is true and at the same time false. It is true since the Mexican Government hardly has any records online. But false since FamilySearch.org has almost all Civil Registry Records starting since its implementation in 1859. FamilySearch also contains most Church Records since the 1500’s to in some cases in the present times.

• There Are No Books About My Ancestors – Boy oh boy was I wrong, I have found books with stories greater than life, about Indian fighters, Royal Lines, Soldiers, Generals, Conquistadores, and Explorers. Most of them are supported by documentation. One of my ancestors even wrote about the History of one of the provinces of New Spain. The key is to look for rare books, my greatest resource is my local university, UTRGV Library’s Special Collection. Also, a great place to find books is Borderlands Book Store or We Are Cousins.

• My Ancestors Were Humble And Doubt They Left Wills – To date, I have found many wills, they are transcribed or short excerpts from the originals. Most of them, since my ancestors were from Northeastern Mexico, are in the Archives of Monterrey. I found them with the help of several books that had indexed those archives. Wills, offer a window into the lives of our ancestors.

• My Family is Not Catholic, I Doubt My Ancestors Were Catholic – I had the same misconception when it came to my own family. When I started asking questions I was very surprised to find out that only me and two other brothers of mine were not baptized in a Catholic Church. Turns out that my parents were raised Catholic and then became New Born Christians. History will also show us that almost everyone in Mexico in Pre 1900s was Catholic it was a way of life and it was also the only religion most people had contact with. I’ll bet you anything your Mexican Ancestors were Catholic and their records can be found in the Church Records available for Mexico.

These were the five common misconceptions about Mexican Genealogy Research. Now that we have busted them, what are you waiting for? Go search for your ancestors. Happy diving into your Mexican Genealogy Research! If you have had another misconception proven wrong about Mexican Genealogy Research let us know about them in your comments and how you prove them to be wrong.