I now have copies of all of the original documents. Additional things I have processed since the last blog post:
* What appears to be a promissory note from 1904, signed by Refugio Echeverria, and co-signed by her father G. Echeverria (probably Guilebaldo).
* A letter from the same date as above, to the director of the "Normal Mixed School." It states that Refugio Echeverria wants to enroll in the school, and that she has fulfilled all of the indispensable requirements of the law and regulations to be admitted, as justified by the adjunct documents. It asks that the director grant her the right to attend her first year of school to be a teacher, and is signed by Refugio.
* A letter from a doctor Y. M. Cardenas, from the same date as above, attesting to having vaccinated Refugio Echeverria and to her good health.
* Birth certificate from 1886 birth of Refugio Echeverria.
Next step is to make detailed scans of both the documents (from the copies, as the originals are too delicate) and the photographs. After uploading to Flickr for backup purposes and to Geni for sharing purposes, I'll do what I can on short notice to stabilize the originals.
The things that are letter size or smaller are in archival-safe sheet protectors now, but all of the vital records are larger than legal size. My husband made a shopping trip for me to get scrapbooking supplies, as the 12x12 format is the only way to preserve the documents without folding, and within the next 2 days when my aunt goes back to Mexico.
Finally, I'll make another set of the copies for my aunt Angela, who is currently copying my files for herself. My aunt Cuca will be taking the originals home with her.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Genealogy finds from my aunts
If you follow my twitter, you already know that my aunt and I have traded genealogy notes. I showed her how to use Legacy and gave her a file to start out with, and also lent her my Aceves-Echeverria binder to make copies of my documents. In turn, she and my other aunt (who is visiting from Mexico) lent me their stuff. I think that I got the better deal! A quick inventory of what I've processed so far...
Pictures (I put these on Geni already, coming to Flickr soon):
* Picture of my grandmother (of whom we were told there are no photographs) in a group with other family members, including two of her aunts who helped raise her children when she died. According to my aunt Cuca, their stepmother threw all of the pictures and documents out, but this particular photograph was in my aunt's room.
* Picture of my grandmother alone, edited down from the above picture.
* Picture of my great grandmother.
* Picture of perhaps another great grandmother. Will have to double check identities.
* Picture of my uncle in the 50s with the bus he used to drive.
* Picture of my grandfather and his second wife.
* Picture of a group of kids, probably my dad and uncles.
Documents:
* My aunt's birth certificate.
* My uncle's birth certificate.
* My grandfather's birth certificate.
* My grandmother's birth certificate.
* My grandmother's death certificate.
* My grandfather and grandmother's marriage certificate.
* Hand-written letter from 1908 from Juan Ramirez (believed to be a bullfighter) to great-grandma Refugio Echeverria, written when she was pregnant with my grandmother.
* Hand-written letter from 1910 from Refugio Echeverria (either great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother; must use dates to determine) to her brother.
* Hand-written letter from 1911 from a Refugio Echeverria to her son. Probably great-great grandma, as we believe that grandma was an only child.
* Receipt from 1920 for what appears to be burial permit fee for Refugio Echeverria (unsure which one).
* Hand-written letter from 1916 from Refugio Echeverria to her brother.
* Hand-written letter from 1933 from "Maria" to her aunt Elodia Echeverria (both of the Refugios have a sister named Elodia).
* Enrollment papers for my grandmother to attend school in 1915. Unfortunately, only the signature of the headmaster is on this, not of the parents.
There are still some more documents that I haven't gone through. Some of them are falling apart, and I'm taking my time in this process. Basically, I'm making a color copy of each document, putting it away, and working from the copy. I'm on a deadline of getting the documents back to my aunt Angela's house before my aunt Cuca goes back to Mexico, so an update will probably come shortly!
As you can imagine, I'm thrilled for a number of reasons. Firstly, because I had believed, as had my father, that no pictures existed of my grandmother. They had asked around decades ago, but come up empty. I'm so glad my aunt Angela asked my aunt Cuca to look through her papers before she came on her visit. Secondly, while I may have eventually gotten all of the civil registration documents, the hand written letters are something that can never be ordered or reproduced by paying a fee. I'm so blessed that my aunt had kept them all these years. A big thank you to both of them!
Pictures (I put these on Geni already, coming to Flickr soon):
* Picture of my grandmother (of whom we were told there are no photographs) in a group with other family members, including two of her aunts who helped raise her children when she died. According to my aunt Cuca, their stepmother threw all of the pictures and documents out, but this particular photograph was in my aunt's room.
* Picture of my grandmother alone, edited down from the above picture.
* Picture of my great grandmother.
* Picture of perhaps another great grandmother. Will have to double check identities.
* Picture of my uncle in the 50s with the bus he used to drive.
* Picture of my grandfather and his second wife.
* Picture of a group of kids, probably my dad and uncles.
Documents:
* My aunt's birth certificate.
* My uncle's birth certificate.
* My grandfather's birth certificate.
* My grandmother's birth certificate.
* My grandmother's death certificate.
* My grandfather and grandmother's marriage certificate.
* Hand-written letter from 1908 from Juan Ramirez (believed to be a bullfighter) to great-grandma Refugio Echeverria, written when she was pregnant with my grandmother.
* Hand-written letter from 1910 from Refugio Echeverria (either great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother; must use dates to determine) to her brother.
* Hand-written letter from 1911 from a Refugio Echeverria to her son. Probably great-great grandma, as we believe that grandma was an only child.
* Receipt from 1920 for what appears to be burial permit fee for Refugio Echeverria (unsure which one).
* Hand-written letter from 1916 from Refugio Echeverria to her brother.
* Hand-written letter from 1933 from "Maria" to her aunt Elodia Echeverria (both of the Refugios have a sister named Elodia).
* Enrollment papers for my grandmother to attend school in 1915. Unfortunately, only the signature of the headmaster is on this, not of the parents.
There are still some more documents that I haven't gone through. Some of them are falling apart, and I'm taking my time in this process. Basically, I'm making a color copy of each document, putting it away, and working from the copy. I'm on a deadline of getting the documents back to my aunt Angela's house before my aunt Cuca goes back to Mexico, so an update will probably come shortly!
As you can imagine, I'm thrilled for a number of reasons. Firstly, because I had believed, as had my father, that no pictures existed of my grandmother. They had asked around decades ago, but come up empty. I'm so glad my aunt Angela asked my aunt Cuca to look through her papers before she came on her visit. Secondly, while I may have eventually gotten all of the civil registration documents, the hand written letters are something that can never be ordered or reproduced by paying a fee. I'm so blessed that my aunt had kept them all these years. A big thank you to both of them!
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