Sorting, Waiting and Hoping

With my sudden potential discover of a definite Martinique connection, my brain has been yelling "Full Steam Ahead!!!!" I've been searching the internet for Martinique books, websites and even videos to find an insight to what my ancestors would have gone through. David Quénéhervé recommended to me  a book titled "Black Shack Alley" written by Joseph Zobel which he says gives a good look into the life of Martinique (the book is set in the 1930s). I've found some other books which sound pretty interesting such as: "Sugar and Slavery, Race and Family", "The Diligent", and "Sweet Liberty". I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy at least 2 or maybe 3 of them to do some more in-depth reading of Martinique. I even looked into Martinican Creole or Créole Martiniquais which was really cool to look at and listen to.

With this new intense focus on my Martinique connection, I've been trying to figure out how I could learn more about Jean Charles Gustave through records. I searched in the Record of Foreign Residents, 1815-1845 but figured that the years were too far back for him to have arrived in Puerto Rico. I searched for Charles, Gustave(o), Pedro, Lotten/Lautin but found none, which I expected. In the Catalog of Foreign Residents from Puerto Rico which Estela Cifre de Loubriel wrote she mentions that Juan Carlos Gustavo was living in Fajardo in 1874, so I knew there had to be some other record available with more recent years. After typing many things into Google and trying to figure out if another register existed I was finally able to find the one I was looking for. It is known as the Register of Foreigners, 1870-1875 and is located in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. under Puerto Rico Miscellany. I knew that the other registry was housed there but had no idea that another set existed. I don't know if this an extension to the Cedula de Gracias or just a foreigner log but I'm excited to see it! I'm going to have to travel to Washington D.C. to see these records and I'm willing to sit the ride out to see them, I just have to figure out when to go! My hope is that there is a lot more information included in these records such as place of origin in Martinique, the wife's name (which hopefully will be written the French way), maybe some parent names, along with his signature to confirm whether or not I have the right person. Unfortunately the records are not microfilmed by LDS or NARA so I have to travel there to see the documents. 

I sit here hoping the documents will provide me new information, waiting to figure out how to plan this little excursion and sorting through all the information I have and don't have on this family. I'm excited, nervous and ready for this flood of information!