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Mexico Research Outine |
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Table of Contents
Helps For Using This Research Outline
References To The Family History Library Catalog
References To Other Family History Library Publications
Internet
Finding Resources On The Internet
Map Of Mexico
Archives And Libraries
Archives In Spain
Mexican Archives
National Government Archives And Libraries
State Archives
Local Civil Offices/municipio Records Offices
Catholic Church Archives
Inventories, Registers, Catalogs
Biographies
Mexican Biographies
Cemeteries
Census
Searching Census Records
Church Directories
Church History
Roman Catholic
Chronological Table Of The History Of The Catholic Church In Mexico
Church Records
General Historical Background
Information Recorded In Church Registers
Locating Church Records
Protestantism In Mexico
Church Record Inventories
Church Records At The Family History Library
Records Not At The Family History Library
Search Strategies
Civil Registration
General Historical Background
Information Recorded In Civil Registers
Locating Civil Registration Records
Locating Records Not At The Family History Library
Search Strategies
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Records Of The Colonial Period (1492–1810)
Finding An Emigrant’s Town Of Origin
Emigration From Mexico
Immigration Into Mexico
Gazetteers
Finding Place-names In The Family History Library Catalog
Historical Place-names
Genealogy
Major Collections And Databases
Family Histories
Genealogical Collections
Historical Geography
History
Local Histories
Calendar Changes
Land And Property
Language And Languages
Language Aids
Maps
Using Maps
Finding The Specific Town On The Map
Finding Maps And Atlases
Military Records
Military History
Military Records Of Genealogical Value
Spanish Military Records
Locating Other Military Records
Minorities
Mennonities
The Latter-day Saints (mormons)
Jews
Chinese
Middle Easterners
Europeans
Names, Personal
Surnames
Given Names
Native Races
Nobility
Notarial Records
Periodicals
Probate Records
Public Records
Social Life And Customs
Societies
Genealogical Societies
Historical Societies
Other Records
For Further Reading
Appendix A
State Archives Addresses
Appendix B
State Civil Registration Offices Addresses
Appendix C
Mexican Dioceses Archives As Of 1994
Appendix D
Civil Records In The Federal District, Guerrero, And Oaxaca
Guererro
Oaxaca
Mixe District (created In 1938)
Sola De Vega District (created In 1918)
Zaachila District (created In 1939)
Present-day Districts And Their Municipios:
Appendix E
1930 Census Of Mexico
Comments And Suggestions
MINORITIES Mexico has many ethnic minorities. It is important to learn the history of the ethnic, racial, and religious groups to which your ancestor belonged. For example, you might study a history of the Jews in Mexico City or the Lebanese in Nuevo Leon or the Mennonites, or the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) colonies in Chihuahua. This historical background can help you identify when and where your ancestor lived, where he or she migrated, the types of records in which he or she may be listed, and other information to help you understand your family’s history. This background can be found in histories, gazetteers, biographical sources, historical atlases, and handbooks.
The Family History Library collects records of these groups, especially their published histories. These are listed in the “Locality” section of the Family History Library Catalog under:
The Family History Library also has several books about Mexicans in other countries. These are listed in the “Locality” section of the Family History Library Catalog under:
After living in Russia for many years, the government began to regulate the Mennonites’ schools and language. Because of these regulations, the Mennonites sought refuge in Canada, where they believed they would have the freedoms they desired. However, the same restrictions soon arose in Canada.
Mexico promised the Mennonite people freedom from military service and from giving oaths, religious freedom, and the freedom to educate their children as they wished. In March 1922 the first group of Mennonites left Plum Coulee, Manitoba, and immigrated near San Antonio, Chihuahua, Mexico. During the next four years some 6,000 Mennonites emigrated from southern Manitoba and the Swift Current and Hague districts of Saskatchewan to the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Durango.
The Mennonites established four settlements of some 12,000 individuals. The two largest settlements were under the Manitoba Plan and the Swift Current Plan, near the valley of San Antonio (10,000 old colonials).
North of these towns, in the Santa Clara region, was a third smaller group of 700 individuals known as the Sommerfelder Parish. Between the old colony and the Sommerfelder settlement was a fourth group, who belonged to the Holdeman’s Parish. This group belonged to the general conference of Cuauhtemoc.
A settlement in Durango of 2,500 individuals immigrated from Saskatchewan and is called the Hague colony after the name of its mother parish. Later settlements were also founded near Fresnillo, Zacatecas; Potosí-Saltillo, Nuevo Leon; Tampico, Tamaulipas; and San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí. Other small settlements also exist in the northern states of Mexico.
With the completion of the Mexican Reformation, the revolution that brought the liberals to power and allowed religious freedom, the scene was set for opening the doors to Latter-day Saint missionaries in 1875. In the same year intense persecution from the United States government and non-Mormons encouraged the Saints in Utah to search for a haven to which the polygamous members could escape. Mexico began encouraging the Latter-day Saints to immigrate there. In May of 1885, 400 Latter-day Saint families were on the banks of the Casas Grandes River waiting for the negotiations to purchase land.
By 1912, at the time of the exodus, there were 4,000 people in the nine Mexican colonies, seven in Chihuahua and two in Sonora. The pressure to emigrate from the United States because of persecution, caused by the practice of polygamy, had ceased by 1890. However, other families continued to immigrate because of better economic conditions in Mexico. In 1892 a canning factory was built to process the abundant fruits and vegetables. By 1906 there were two tanneries, a furniture factory, two cheese factories, carpenter shops, and a mill in Colonia Juarez. The other colonies had also developed businesses.
With the quieting of the revolution and political upheaval, many of the Anglo-Mexican Saints returned to Mexico from 1913 to the 1920s. The colonies of Díaz, Dublan, Juarez, Pacheco, Garcia, and Chuhuichupa were gradually resettled and developed. Only about one-fourth of the original settlers returned to the Chihuahua colonies. The Sonora colonies were not resettled.
Jews have been in Mexico since the beginning of the colonial period, some arriving with Cortes. Out of fear, these and later Jews often publically claimed to be Catholic. Most of the Jews did not seek naturalization.
Since the period of independence, Jews have come from Germany, France, Poland, and Turkey, settling throughout the country within the bigger cities such as Mexico City. Jews from Alsace were very nationalistic toward their former homeland. After marrying Mexican wives, many of them later returned to France.
During the Porfirio Díaz era there was more tolerance for foreigners and their religions, and so Jews continued to come. Additional Jews from Syria, Turkey, Lebanan, and the Balkans came to Mexico between 1900 and 1920. During World War I, Russian Jews who had immigrated to the United States went to Mexico so they would not have to fight in the war. A large number of Jews also came to Mexico between the world wars, the peak years being 1924 to 1929.
The Chinese slaves and laborers who came to Mexico were actually from the Philippine slave market and many of them were originally from Borneo, Malaca, Java, and Malasia. Chinese immigration started in 1880, and their arrival was met with hostility, except from the landowners and businessmen who used their cheap labor. They settled in Mérida, in Yucatán; Mazatlán, in Sinaloa; and other states. They helped build the railroad in Yucatán in the early 1900s. The government was to oversee their movement and determined where their labor would be most advantageous.
From the late 1800s to the 1930s there was a major influx of Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, and others who came to Mexico to escape the turmoil that existed in their countries. Since they tended to be involved in commerce and finance, they settled in the larger cities.
Mining and business opportunities developed in Mexico when the Spaniards were expelled after independence in the 1820s, enticing foreigners to emigrate to Mexico. Scottish, Irish, and English miners came, replacing the former Spaniards. They settled mostly in mining areas such as Zacatecas and Guanajuato. Others invested in local and national business.
Small numbers of French, Belgians, Swiss and Germans likewise came to Mexico for work opportunities .
Unlike other Europeans, Russians engaged in the fishing industry rather than industrial work. They kept aloof from the local governments, fishing along the Baja California and California coast. Some did eventually settle in the area.
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MEXICO- MINORITIESMEXICO, [STATE]- MINORITIESMEXICO- [NAME OF MINORITY, I.E. JEWISH HISTORY]
Other sources are also in the “Subject” section of the Family History Library Catalog under the name of the minority such as Jews, Lebanese, Mennonites, or Mormons.
[COUNTRY]- MINIORITIES
and in the “Subject” section of the catalog under:
MEXICANS - [COUNTRY]
In the United States and other countries to which members of these ethnic groups went, various local and national societies have been organized to gather, preserve, and share the cultural contributions and histories of these minority groups. For further information on such groups, see the “Societies” section of this outline.
Mennonities
The Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Jews
Chinese
Middle Easterners
Europeans
[FamilySearchTM: Research Guidance
Version of Data: 6/9/2001]