Have you ever struggled with finding the right relative? Many have. There are times we struggle with finding the correct family members. One person can be mistakenly taken for another person with the same or similar name. Then you have locations, as in the case of Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico (also known as Presidio Del Norte), that have records for that area that are not up to par and are definitely lacking in organization as well as possibly being lost forever due to either time, wars, water damage or other unforeseen issues. Padrones records were the censuses of parishioners taken by the Catholic Church occasionally. However, the unfortunate side for some is that not all churches have padrones records. So when you are wanting to clarify families members, padrones records are quite useful. For most of our ancestors they were blessed with long names. Thus leaving us sometimes clueless as to which name they went by. With the padrones records, the names that people went by is most often used. They can also help pin point approximate year of birth of certain individuals. Remember as one should always, take the age of the individual with a grain of salt as well as the spelling of the names. With these records family lines can be traced far back for decades if not centuries. So the question then becomes, where can we find padrones records, if one exist? Check FamilySearch first. Once your on their site and logged in, click on SEARCH at the top of the page. There you will see 6 subcategories. Click on RECORDS. On this page you will see on the left hand side where you can search historical records. On the right hand side you will see where you can search by location. On the map, click on Mexico. Mexico will become highlighted and a list of locations within Mexico will appear. Click on the place in which the city or town, you are searching for, is located in. Once you are where you want, it will look similar to the picture right below. At the bottom of this picture you will see where it may say something like "Show all ..... Collections". Click on that. Once the lists expands, click on the Catholic Church Records. You will then see a screen like the one below. Toward the bottom of the page you will see "Browse through .......... images". Click on that. Once you do click on the "Browse through ....... images" you will see a list of towns and cities. Once there click on the town or city being researched. From there click on the Parish of interest. If you are blessed you will see where Padrones are listed. Such as in the case of San Geronimo, Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico, as highlighted in the picture. This is what your padrones record may look like. For some of us there can possibly be a surprise awaiting. You may not see where the Padrones records are listed but they are hidden within the records. So while searching for baptismal, confirmation, death or marriage records give the records a once over by going through the pages randomly. Fingers are crossed that you will be one of the lucky ones that find the padrones records. The Archdiocese of Durango actually included records for other Archdioceses before they were established, when they used to be under the Archdiocese of Durango. Padrones records can be found at: Rio Grande Historical Collections New Mexico State University Library Look for the "Guide to the Microfilm Collection of the Archivos Históricos del Arzobispado de Durango" . Within these files you will find some Padrones records that were not included within the records that FamilySearch has collected over the years. This allows you to download the guide and order copies of any records you want or have the option to go to the library. One such set of Padrones records that were included within this collection was the 1803 Padrones for Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico (also known as Presidio Del Norte). Here it is for those of you that have relatives from this area during this time period. Enjoy and Good Luck in your search for your ancestors!
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Penny Alvarez-KellerGraduated from Arkansas Tech University with a degree in Management / Marketing and a degree in Economics / Finance Archives
February 2023
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