Parent's surnames. searching for grandparents in Mexico & U.S.
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Parent's surnames. searching for grandparents in Mexico & U.S.
 1chacoellen
(View posts)
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Posted: 26 Feb 2008 1:31AM GMT |
Classification: Lookup
Surnames: Mata, Reyes, McMills,Graham, Fitzpatrick, Farfan, Zuniga
I had trouble finding one of my grandfather's location in U.S. All I know was that he and his wife had travelled to U.S. Then while my grandmother was alive, she told me "back in those days we didn't have to register to enter the United States, only pay .25 cents to cross the border".
She claimed they arrived while my mother was a baby.
I knew from family converstions that some of her 'stories' were true to a certain extent. However it took me years to locate them in the U.S. Census.
And her is why
In Mexico, the paternal surname is always listed right after the given first and/or second given name, then the father's last name follows finally last surname written is the mother's surname.
Unlike in the U.S. where we wrtie our father's name after we have written our first one or two given names and our mother's surname.
Often, some people like my grandfather will just write the initial of his father's surname.
That is the reason I couldn't find them. My grandfather had written his name as "Francisco R. Mata" but in the American system it would read Francisco Mata Reyes.
I also learned that they came to U.S. about 1917, and that my grandmother's middle name is miss interpreted with the letter "H" I never knew my grandmother to have any name with that letter. Her name was Maria Luisa Farfan Zuniga, "Farfan" was her paternal surname. I also noted that one of her son's name was miss interpreted as "Guillerma" when in fact his name was Guillermo.
It seems also that the parents on this census actually wrote down the nick names of their children or relatives a lot of the times rather than their given name. This I found out form my other great grandparents on the census records. And their descendants also miss wrote the city or Country of birth.
An example I know that one ancestor was A Jewish German, it seems he was hiding from the Germans in the early years of the two wars that he lied on the Census as to his nationality, so to this day I haven't found him. However, I did find a record but not in the census.
Avise, search varied name combinations and countries.
And if anyone knows anything about the McMills, Fitzpatrick ,Graham, Reyes, Mata, Farfan, Zuniga, Please reply
She claimed they arrived while my mother was a baby.
I knew from family converstions that some of her 'stories' were true to a certain extent. However it took me years to locate them in the U.S. Census.
And her is why
In Mexico, the paternal surname is always listed right after the given first and/or second given name, then the father's last name follows finally last surname written is the mother's surname.
Unlike in the U.S. where we wrtie our father's name after we have written our first one or two given names and our mother's surname.
Often, some people like my grandfather will just write the initial of his father's surname.
That is the reason I couldn't find them. My grandfather had written his name as "Francisco R. Mata" but in the American system it would read Francisco Mata Reyes.
I also learned that they came to U.S. about 1917, and that my grandmother's middle name is miss interpreted with the letter "H" I never knew my grandmother to have any name with that letter. Her name was Maria Luisa Farfan Zuniga, "Farfan" was her paternal surname. I also noted that one of her son's name was miss interpreted as "Guillerma" when in fact his name was Guillermo.
It seems also that the parents on this census actually wrote down the nick names of their children or relatives a lot of the times rather than their given name. This I found out form my other great grandparents on the census records. And their descendants also miss wrote the city or Country of birth.
An example I know that one ancestor was A Jewish German, it seems he was hiding from the Germans in the early years of the two wars that he lied on the Census as to his nationality, so to this day I haven't found him. However, I did find a record but not in the census.
Avise, search varied name combinations and countries.
And if anyone knows anything about the McMills, Fitzpatrick ,Graham, Reyes, Mata, Farfan, Zuniga, Please reply