Reflecting on my Genealogical Goals of 2019

Time sure does fly! It feels like only yesterday I was setting up genealogical goals for 2019, and yet here I am December 31st, 2019 - ready to close out the year! Similarly to last year, I wanted to take some time to reflect on my goals for the year 2019 and see how far I've gotten. If you're interested in my past goals of 2018 - here's the link! Also like last year, I will be answering each goal with "yes", "some" or "no" and explaining where I am with those goals.

Genealogical Goals of 2019

1. Test a male descendant for Y-DNA Avilés - Yes

On a recent trip to Puerto Rico in March, I was fortunate to have visited extended family in Lares, Puerto Rico - the town my Avilés ancestors lived in. Not only did I get a chance to see where my 2nd great-grandfather lived most of his life and some of his lands, but I was also able to meet two men who are direct descendants of my Avilés line. However, this line is said to be "Magraner" and not "Avilés" because my 2nd great-grandfather was born out-of-wedlock, said to be the son of Damián Magraner Morell from Sóller, Mallorca. Their haplogroup falls under one of the most common for European men so no close hits yet. Hoping more will come of these results soon! 

2. Add on my Rivera and Correa lines to FTDNA - Yes

I've recently posted this month about upgrading my Correa line and the current finds the line has... so far there might be some potential Sephardic Jewish origins in this line - hopefully more discoveries to come. I've also added my Rivera line but nothing interesting there so far, currently I have the possibility to upgrade to Big Y-700 for my line and currently considering it though I don't know what will come of it.

3. Continue to learn about my Correa family - No
Besides learning a bit more about my Correa family via DNA, I haven't been able to learn more about my family through records. I've scoured the records in Coamo and San Juan as well as nearby towns but nothing yet. I've also looked at the Carcaño branch and found some other people with the surname in towns near San Juan but I'm also stuck there as well. Hopefully this wall will come crashing down soon!

4. Visit the Archivo Diocesano and AGPR to attain testamentos and dispensas de matrimonio - Yes/Some
Though I was able to find information about my family from both the Archivo Diocesano and the AGPR I placed it under "some" as well because I know that there is probably much, much more to research in both archival places. For example, I was able to find dispensas for cousins marrying in Maunabo that I had no idea about - all related to the Martínez branch of my family that came over from Guayama. This goal is also hard to accomplish within one year because time is limited while I'm in Puerto Rico and there are so many files to search as well.

5. Begin to interview family members - No
I feel like I'm going to beat myself up for not starting this sooner but I need to get on this! My goal is to record older family members talking about their lives and our family and create a digital bank of voices and information before these people are gone. I need to think this goal through next time I am in Puerto Rico!

6. Push all my lines into the 1700s - Some
The generation between my 4th and 5th great-grandparents' would be the branches that be able to reach the 1700s. So far on my paternal side there are many branches that have reached the 1700s, the ones currently stuck at my branches from Corozal and San Sebastián. On my maternal side, my Patillas, Morovis, Vega Baja, and San Sebastián sides of the family haven't been explored into the 1700s - 3/4 of these towns don't have church records online which halts me from exploring deeper into their lineage. I heard Corozal, Morovis, and Vega Baja are becoming available in Puerto Rico via La Sociedad Genealógica de Puerto Rico while San Sebastián hasn't allowed any organization to digitalize their records.

7. Continue reading books about genealogy - Yes
This year I've been fortunate to have read a lot of books but out of the books I've read so far, not many have to do with genealogy. So far I have read: "The Man Who Stole Himself: The Slave Odyssy of Hans Jonathan" by: Gísli Pálsson, a book about a mulatto man from St. Croix who ends up in Iceland via Denmark (worth the read!), "She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity" by: Carl Zimmer, this book was a bit more intense because it dealt a lot with the science of DNA but it was definitely an interesting read. I also read "1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus" by: Charles C. Mann, definitely was an eye-opening book to what life was like in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans, and "Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love" by: Dani Shapiro, which was a very interesting book about a woman's journey of who her biological father is post-DNA testing. So out of 19 books read so far 4 were related somehow to genealogy which isn't too bad. I also read "The Coming" by: Daniel Black and "My 15 Grandmothers" by: Genie Milgrom but the former was more of a historical fiction narrative of a slave's journey through the Middle Passage while the latter was about researching your Sephardic ancestors and I wasn't able to pull too much information for myself, if I count these books this would be 6 books about genealogy!

8. Take a genealogy course - No
For monetary reasons, I decided to hold back on this goal this year but I'm hoping sometime next year or even 2021 to register myself and take a genealogical course. Though so far the courses I've found are not really geared to the Caribbean/Latin America, I figured it's better to start building myself a genealogical resumé which includes a variety of courses. This will give me some more "seriousness" as I continue to make a name for myself as a genealogist.

9. Get savvier with the use of DNA results - Yes/Some
With the use of DNAPainter I have been able to identify pieces of DNA that I share with African Americans with no known connection to Puerto Rico and recently thanks to MyHeritage and AncestryDNA I was able to find genetic connections to Guadeloupe. I'm hoping that this goal extends itself into the next year and I can find out more about my connection to Guadeloupe. I also say "some" because I would like to learn more about Y-DNA testing and how to read more into my results. For example, I recently upgraded my Correa Y-DNA to Big-Y700 and I would like to be able to read more into the results myself.

10. Build stories around my factual evidence - No
Though I set up this goal, I'm not sure exactly how to go about it. Though Ancestry builds a "LifeStory" for your ancestors' lives, it doesn't necessarily touch upon facts based on your country, for me this would be facts from Puerto Rico. For example, one of my ancestor's story shows a fact about the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence which doesn't really have to with his life in Puerto Rico, especially since this time it was a part of the Spanish crown. I need to figure out a way to build facts about my ancestors - maybe creating some sort of timeline with important Puerto Rican facts based around towns and the island's history and seeing where my ancestors fall within that timeline.

This year also marked for me my 200th blog post, as well as 8 years of blogging and 15 years of genealogy which is definitely a lot of time dedicated to this obsessive hobby! In a few days I hope to create new goals for 2020 and explain why I want to follow this goals! Stay tuned and Happy New Year! 

Genealogical Goals of 2019 (Part II)

Continuing from my previous, genealogical goals of 2019 (Part I), here are the second set of goals for this new year!

6. Push all my lines into the 1700s
This one is a bit harder and will take some time, depending on the availability of records. I have been pretty fortunate to push many of my lines back to the early 1800s, though of course this is also thanks to a lot of dedicated hours and hard work on my behalf. A next step however would be to push my lines to the early 1700s and this type of work comes with its limitations. For example, lines that are products of illegitimate marriages and slaves are less than likely going to reach the 1700s, 1) because there was no listed father and with no clue to who he was I could search forever and 2) slaves were  sometimes not given surnames or clues to their origins. For these cases DNA is my next best bet, but again that also comes with limitations. The endogamy on the island plays a hard role in figuring out who matches me where, so it's not like I could test cousins on those lines that are not related to other lines in my family, because so far it almost seems like everyone is related!

Going down my tree, I can definitely identify lines in the 1700s for example: Rivera, Román, Díaz, Mojica (Múxica), Marrero, Vélez, Pérez, Sepúlveda, Román, Magraner, Morell, Padilla, Santana just to give you a quick insight into surnames (these only paternal) I've pushed back to the early 1700s. Yet there are other names such as Mercado, Cajigas, Cruz, Gerena, Ortiz, Vázquez (again, all paternal) that I can not push back due to lack of records currently available. On my mother's side it's also a mix, some lines are pushed back to the 1700s and some still wavering in the 1800s waiting to be discovered. For example, San Sebastián is currently a big block in my research since none of their records are readily available online like how other towns for Puerto Rico are. Hoping though that as more records become available, this task will be much easier. 

7. Continue reading books about genealogy 
This one is pretty straight forward, continue reading books that have to do with genealogy. Recently, I have been able to incorporate reading into my general everyday life again and so hopefully it'll stick and I'll be able to cycle through some genealogy books as well. There are some books I have on my shelf waiting for me to pick them up and read them and some on my Amazon wishlist waiting for me to buy them. A lot of these texts though can be historically factually heavy and thus makes me want to put them down pretty fast because it's too much to digest in one sitting. Hoping I get through some for the year though!

8. Take a genealogy course 
I have wanted to complete this goal for some time now but there are two things that always stop me: Time and Money. I think taking a genealogical course, especially if it offers some type of certification, would be an amazing "genealogy resumé" builder, but I also fear that taking the course won't help me much. Though there are some courses that are geared to the more general approach to genealogy, I have also seen some targeted to mainly North American research - which for someone who does basically all of their research in Puerto Rico, the course won't be very helpful. Boston University does offer an interesting course for genealogy which I think would be helpful but the course has a hefty price tag. Also, I always miss the deadline to actually sign up for the course which bums me out and then I totally forget. I think at some point, maybe in the fall, I would like to try and register for the course and actually take it. Taking it in the summer is difficult since I'm usually traveling or away from most of my genealogy books. I think it's definitely worth the investment especially if I want to later on get an actual certification as a professional genealogists.

9. Get savvier with the use of DNA results
I've always been hesitant to learn from my DNA in-depth because it can be a lot to take in. With testing other family members and tools such as DNA Painter, my goal is to hopefully continue learning more about my ancestors through DNA. Whether it's autosomal, haplogroups, mtDNA or YDNA, I'm hoping that I can take apart my results and what they hide. It's not easy with endogamy but bit by bit I can learn more about myself and my ancestors.

10. Build stories around my factual evidence
What I mean by this is that I want to learn more about what went on in the day-to-day on the island while my ancestors were living there. I know some key dates such as when slavery ended and the Spanish-American war occurred but for example, when were some of the major hurricanes to hit the island? The rebellions that occurred besides El Grito de Lares? What did the different societal classes look like? What other events pushed my ancestors from Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Spain to come to the New World as well. I think some of this information will come from reading more books but I'll have to check around the internet as well and see what else I can learn.

Here's to hoping that I can stick to my goals and before I know it, it'll be 2020 and I'll be reflecting on these goals as well. Make sure to set some genealogical goals for yourself as well! 

Genealogical Goals of 2019 (Part I)

With the new year off to a start, I'd figure I set my new genealogical goals for this year. Similarly to last year, I'll write out 10 genealogical goals I have in mind and what I would like to accomplish through each one. Since I've delved deeper into why and how I want to get these accomplished, I decided to break them up into two posts so I don't ramble on forever. Here are my first five goals:

1. Test a male descendent for Y-DNA Avilés
This one is a goal from last year that I haven't gotten to accomplish yet. There's a few possibilities or candidates here for gathering a Y-DNA Avilés cousin - most of them though to seem to be in Lares, Puerto Rico where my branches have lived for about 128+ years. My goal would be to add them via 23andme, this way I: A) also have some autosomal DNA to compare to other people such as my own family members and help to establish hopefully more connections to Mallorcan cousins and B) Find out which group my "Avilés" should be "Magraner" cousins carry as a haplogroup. I know that I should also add them to FtDNA where many people test for Y-DNA but right now I'll have to think that over. Especially if money is tight, and since I have a goal with adding DNA to FtDNA anyways, as you can see below.

2. Add on my Rivera and Correa lines to FtDNA
This one I'm surprised actually I haven't done it before. My goal here would be to add my own direct paternal line to FtDNA as well as my mother's line. Both of these lines have been in Puerto Rico since the early 1700s and I haven't been able to trace out of Puerto Rico. One, my own, points to origins in Europe (most likely Spain and that region) while the Correa family is tied to either Arab/Jewish populations (I would guess though also most likely from Spain but leading back to the times of the Inquisition or earlier). I know my haplogroup thanks to 23andme however I haven't been able to connect with other Rivera men who descend from the same branch as me. I transferred over some basic results from a now defunct Y-DNA company over to FtDNA but at the low SNPs I have, I can't really deduce anything or find connections. So my goal would be to go up in SNPs and go for a "higher resolution" of my own haplogroup while also adding my Correa family. It would be interesting to see who I match with and learn more about the exact line I descend from. I'm not sure if I should just wait for a possible sale in April or just get started on this as soon as possible.

3. Continue to learn about my Correa family
This one continues from last year as well, before the year was out I reflected on how I was stuck searching for the Correa family. As any genealogists knows, it's never fun to be at a standstill when it comes to unraveling family mysteries and discovering new lines, but sometimes I think it's necessary. It allows us to focus on other branches, learn new tactics for discovering ancestors, and ultimately lead us back to these lines as more seasoned genealogists. For example, since I haven't been able to discover anything on my Correa family yet I've begun exploring a Carcaño family that lived in San Juan during the time my own María Eugenia Carcaño would have been predicted to have been born/lived there. I'm not sure if I'm barking up the wrong tree or actually on a lead, but having this experience will allow me to rule out future families/connections I might try to establish later on. However, of course, I'm hoping that this family's origin is brought to light sooner rather that later.

4. Visit the Archivo Diocesano and AGPR to attain testamentos and dispensas de matrimonio 
These two places I have actually visited before, and digging through my past posts I was surprised by how time flies. The archivo diocesano I visited back in the summer of 2013, which proved to be helpful in learning more about the marriage of my 3rd great-grandparents Valentín González and Feliciana Mojica. The Archivo General de Puerto Rico (AGPR) I visited back in the summer of 2011, the same year I decided to start my blog. Back in 2011 I was 21 and still pretty new to the whole "researching outside of the census" game, I knew there were other records out there but it was the first time I was interacting with state records in person. Since then, I've traveled to Mallorca, used more microfilms, and have learned from other searches into countries such as Sweden, Czech Republic (Czechia), etc.

My goal this time around is to search for some wills that my family left behind on my paternal grandmother's side of the family, this family back in the 1800s had owned slaves and most likely property so I'm interested in learning about what they left behind and glancing into their lives at the time. I'm not sure if their wills are in good condition or even if they are readily available to search but I'm hoping I can get to see them while I'm there in March. Meanwhile at the archivo diocesano my hope is to find the marriage dispensation for my 4th great-grandmother who in her second marriage in 1860 apparently married a cousin and received permission from the church to do so. This is hopefully a post to come in the near future!

5. Begin to interview family members
This goal is pretty straight forward, I want to start recording some of the voices of my living family members not only to have information recorded for future references but to also save their voices. This is one of the things I wish I would have done when my great-grandfather was around before he passed, who was born in 1922. Unfortunately, since he lived in Puerto Rico and I in the United States, we didn't get to see him often and by the time I was older, wiser, and able to travel alone he was already getting sick and didn't talk much. However, there are a good number of his children still alive, my grandmother included, who can help fill in some of those gaps of information and talk about their own lives and his. There are also great-grandmothers I never got a chance to meet that also live on through the memories and stories of their children. I have a sheet with guiding questions for these types of interviews that I'll have to translate into Spanish and I scour the internet for some more questions as well. This is a goal that I feel like is never too early to start anyways, the better their memories, the clearer the stories will be as well!

Make sure to check out my second set of genealogical goals (linked here!)