Hello,
I've recently joined this group as I have begun researching the ancestors of Juan Vargas (b 1890 in Malpaso, Zacatecas; d 1962 in El Paso, Texas) and his wife Maximina Bautista (b 1898; d 1936 in El Paso, Texas)
I don't have anything yet on Juan's family having only just learned where he was born through a US-Mexico border crossing manifest, but I've made some major headway on Maximina's family from her death certificate.
Just today I received a copy of Maximina's baptism record. It is transcribed into English as follows:
In the parish del Sagrario in Zacatecas June 12, 1898 I baptized Maximiana Bautista, who was born on May 29 in Las Minas del Bote. Legitimate daughter of Gerardo Bautista and Bacilia Palos. Paternal grandparents Tiburcio Bautista and Regina Muro. Maternal grandparents Hilario Palos and Paula Casas. Godparents Antonio Espinoza and Tomasa Ramos. Signed Daniel Guerra.
My geography question comes from the fact I know very little about Mexico. This baptism record refers to the "Parish del Sagrario" and what I assume to be a town called "Las Minas del Bote". Is a parish in Mexico similar to a county here in the states? I know Louisiana has parishes instead of counties. Or are parishes in Mexico strictly religious regions, not part of the governmental structure.
Also, I've seen references to Municipalities, so that a place is located as a Town, Municipality, State, Country. I believe Malpaso is in Villanueva. Is La Minas del Bote also in Villanueva?
I know these are probably pretty basic (er, stupid) questions... but I have to start somewhere!
My folder on the Nuestros Ranchos website is at this address under the name Vargas, Juan: http://www.nuestrosranchos.org/node/16085
Thank you,
K.
Tiburcio Bautista - for Katrina
Here is a find from the IGI on familysearch.org that you might find interesting. You should order the film and scan through it, using the batch number to find any collateral relatives. You should also find the contemporary baptisms film for Villanueva and see if they had any children there before moving... to Fresnillo or Zacatecas.
TIVURCIO BAUTISTA
Spouse: REGINA MURO
Marriage: 20 APR 1860 San Judas Tadeo, Villanueva, Zacatecas, Mexico
Batch No.: M601095 Film No. 1094363
Introduction and Geography question
As far as I know a parish is strictly a church. I never have heard of a
parish referring to anything except a church. I have only heard of ranchos,
ejidos, pueblos, municipios, cuidades, capitales, estados and then the country. Do
not know if that helps any.
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
Introduction and Geography question
It helped me!! Thanks
---- Original Message -----
From: MecheChavez@aol.com
To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Introduction and Geography question
As far as I know a parish is strictly a church. I never have heard of a
parish referring to anything except a church. I have only heard of ranchos,
ejidos, pueblos, municipios, cuidades, capitales, estados and then the country. Do
not know if that helps any.
Introduction and Geography question
I have done research and came across the attached information, hopefully this will help you too.
----- Original Message ----
From: "MecheChavez@aol.com"
To: general@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 5:44:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Introduction and Geography question
As far as I know a parish is strictly a church. I never have heard of a
parish referring to anything except a church. I have only heard of ranchos,
ejidos, pueblos, municipios, cuidades, capitales, estados and then the country. Do
not know if that helps any.
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
Re: Introduction and Geography question
hi Evie:
Thanks for the response but I receive the daily digest or I read responses on the website so I didn't receive whatever you had attached to your message. Could you describe what you were trying to show in the attachment?
Thanks!
El Bote de Abajo y el Bote de Arriba
Katrina:
Your questions are very legitimate and I hope we can answer them for you. The Mexican geography bible for the 19th Century (and even to date perhaps) is Antonio Garcia Cuba's DIccionario Biografico y Geofrafico de Mexico. There is a digital version of this online that you can locate by going to the Links section of the site and then going down to the Geography section.
There is only one listing for "El Bote" and it is for "El Bote de Abajo y El Bote de Arriba" and they are basically two ranchos (villages or small group of rural dwellings) in the municipality of Fresnillo, Zacatecas.
When the record states the Sagrario de Zacatecas, I would veture to say that it is the old church/cathedral in the actual city of Zacatecas. If it simply states Zacatecas with no other city mentioned it must be THE Zacatecas.
As far as geographical divisions in Mexico, today there are only states and then municipalities below that. The municipalities often include many towns and villages so they would be similar to small counties. In the 19th Century there were cantons between the state and the municipality which would be more like a large county. Parishes (parroquias) are purely an ecclesiastical jurisdiction.