| You have probably already done a lot of | | | | circle of friends in stories is a great way to jog |
| genealogy research. I'm sure you have tried many | | | | their memory. Sometimes with story telling they |
| ways to find the information you need to find | | | | recall a particular person or item they may have |
| someone in Mexico, from searching the Internet | | | | otherwise forgotten. |
| to speaking to friends and family. You may have | | | | Story telling is an incredible tool to get people to |
| been searching online for hours and hours. You | | | | tell you the information you want. It will also give |
| may have talked to relatives or friends of the | | | | you an idea of who this person was and what |
| person you are searching for, but you just have | | | | they were doing and may lead you to other ideas. |
| not gotten the information you need and are not | | | | Here is a key. Talk to every relative you have. |
| able to find this person living in Mexico. | | | | There is always someone in every family who |
| Let's start with the fundamentals of what | | | | knows a little bit about everyone. And it does not |
| information you should be searching for. | | | | matter if they are your third cousin or they are |
| Your first goal should be to have the complete | | | | four times removed. They could be an |
| name of the person you are looking for. Let's use | | | | ex-husband, an ex-uncle. It does not matter. You |
| the name Juan Carlos Garcia Gonzalez as an | | | | would be amazed at how much information other |
| example. | | | | people in the family have about your side of the |
| If you have a friend who has a name like Juan | | | | family. You may think that your immediate family |
| Carlos, that is his name. In English we might | | | | should know everything about the family, but that |
| separate out two names. Someone with a name | | | | is not always true. I urge you to go talk to every |
| such as Billy Bob may also be called Bob or Billy. | | | | possible relative. |
| However, in Mexico Juan Carlos is this person's | | | | Maybe they talked to someone from another |
| name. It's not correct to call him Juan or to him | | | | group, such as a priest or business owner. Go |
| Carlos. His name is Juan Carlos. Be aware of this | | | | after as many leads as you can. You are going to |
| because having the complete and full name is | | | | have to interview many people to gather all the |
| very important in your search and will help you to | | | | facts. |
| more quickly locate this person. | | | | The second key piece of information that you |
| The complete name is not only their first name(s) | | | | need to have is the city and the state of where |
| but also both of their last names. In Spanish a | | | | they are or where they were living. |
| person has two last names. The first last name in | | | | Finding out where they did live can be helpful if |
| Spanish is the name of the father (for example: | | | | you do not know where they are living right now. |
| Garcia). Gonzalez is the second last name and this | | | | If someone has lived in Guadalajara and they |
| is the equivalent of our mother's maiden name. By | | | | came to the United States for, say, ten years, |
| putting the two together and you have a | | | | there is a very good possibility they may be going |
| complete name. Doing Mexico family genealogy | | | | back to Guadalajara at some point. Also finding |
| can often be easier because the two last names | | | | where they did live is very helpful because their |
| minimize the chance of accidentally researching | | | | family and friends may still be there. |
| someone else's family lineage. | | | | Why do you need to know the city and state? If |
| You can also discover this information by talking | | | | you tried to go to an Internet search engine site, |
| to every relative this person has. You can ask | | | | maybe one that specialized in genealogy research |
| questions such as where did this person come | | | | and put in only a person's name without the city |
| from. Ask how they came to be in the United | | | | and state you are not going to get any |
| States. Ask where they went to school or where | | | | information. Why? Even in the United States you |
| they vacationed as they were growing up. Asking | | | | have to tell the site where this person is living. If |
| different questions can help trigger memories and | | | | you do not have that basic information, you are |
| details that will help you to find the information | | | | not going to get an answer. It is almost impossible |
| and the person you are looking for. | | | | to find a person if you do not have the city and |
| A great way to get information is to get a | | | | the state where they are living. |
| person to tell you stories using questions like, "So | | | | These two key pieces of information will go far in |
| how did you and my father meet?" or "What did | | | | helping with your search. In the next article, we |
| he/she like to do during the weekends?" Engaging | | | | will organize all the information you have collected. |
| the people that you talk to in your family and | | | | |