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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
CIVIL REGISTRATION Civil registration is vital records made by the government. Records of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths are commonly referred to as “vital records” because they document critical events in a person’s life. Civil registration records (registros civiles) are excellent sources for accurate information on names, dates, and vital events.
Civil records are important for genealogical research in Mexico. Civil authorities began registering births, marriages, and deaths in 1859 and most individuals who lived in Mexico after 1867 are recorded. Because the records cover such a large percentage of the population, they are extremely important sources for genealogical research in Mexico.
For birth, death, and marriage records before 1859, see the “Church Records” section of this outline.
The earliest vital records in Mexico were made by the Catholic Church. In the late 1850s the Mexican government recognized the need for accurate vital records. On 28 July 1859, President Benito Juárez, speaking in Veracruz, established the Civil Registration Office (Registro Civil). The new law determined both the standards and information to be recorded. Justices of civil registration were established throughout the republic to implement the process of creating, witnessing, and safeguarding the civil register. Initially, the Mexican populace, accustomed to registering its vital events with the local parish church, opposed the register. It was not until the republic was restored in 1867 that civil registration was vigorously enforced.
Although civil registration records are an important source for genealogical research in Mexico, many births, marriages, and deaths were never recorded by civil authorities; therefore, you must use church records to supplement this genealogical source.
The British government also kept civil registration records for British citizens living in Mexico from 1827 to 1926. These records can be found in the Family History Library Catalog under:
The information recorded in civil registration records varied over time. Later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones.
Birth, marriage, and death records may either be handwritten or typed, and are often indexed by given name or surname.
Births were usually registered by the infant’s father or by a neighbor of the family within a few days of the event. A birth record includes the day and time of the birth; the names of the child and parents, the birthplace, which may be different from where it was registered; and the address of the house or hospital in which the birth took place. Family information may be included, such as the parents’ ages, birthplaces, residences, marital status, and professions, and the number of other children born to the mother. You may also find information about the grandparents.
Corrections or additions to a birth record may have been added as a note in the margin.
Early civil marriage entries simply contained the name of the bride and groom and the marriage date. Gradually more information was entered such as the bride’s and groom’s ages, birthplaces, occupations, civil status, residence and parents’ and grandparents’ names. In current civil marriage records even street addresses are given.
The Catholic Church continued keeping records after the creation of the civil registration in 1859. Therefore two types of records are available for the marriages. Be sure to search both records.
With the separation of church and state in Mexico, formalized by the 1917 constitution, civil authorities determined that for couples to be legally married they had to be married by the state. Because of the close affinity of the Catholic Church and the state authorities, this rule was not always followed, and church weddings were accepted by the state. Normally, however, couples were married by civil authorities prior to a church wedding. On rare occasions they were married civilly after a church wedding.
Divorce was not legalized in Mexico until after the 1917 constitution. Divorces are not recorded with the civil registration, but rather with the municipio courts. The Family History Library has very few divorce records in its collection. You may obtain information from divorce records by contacting the court of the town or municipio where the divorce took place.
Early civil death records are especially helpful because they list people for whom there are no birth or marriage records. Death records may provide information about the person’s birth or spouse, and may list his/her parents. Deaths were recorded in the town or city where the person died, within a few days of the death.
Death records generally give the deceased person’s name, date, and place of death. Depending on the clerk who registered the death, the record may also include the person’s age or date of birth if a child, place of residence, occupation, name of spouse or parent, cause of death, and burial information. The name of the informant, who was often a relative may also be included.
Be aware that information found in a death record about the deceased person’s parents, birth date, birthplace, and other information may be inaccurate as the person who gave the information may not have had complete information.
Civil registration records are kept by all the states on a municipio level. The exceptions are the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, where the records are recorded by the municipio but are archived on a district level, and the Distrito Federal (Federal District), where they are kept in delegations. Because of the difficulty of obtaining records from these two states and the Federal District, a guide to locating records within these localities has been included in Appendix D. In these three instances, as well as in the rest of the nation, the populace still registered in their local civil registration offices, from which the records were sent to the municipio office, district office, or delegation office. If you know the town where your family lived, you should be able to find the local civil registration office.
Each state now has a central civil registration office to which you can write for information. Refer to Appendix B for the archive addresses.
The Family History Library has microfilmed the civil registration records of thousands of municipios throughout Mexico. These records are listed in the Family History Library Catalog.
Civil registration for the states of Baja California; Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, and Tabasco have not been microfilmed. Campeche records are very incomplete through 1930 because most records were destroyed; most the records of Tabasco were burned; Morelos has some missing records; and some of the records of Quintana Roo were microfilmed in Yucatán.
For the states that kept records on a municipio level, you will need to know the town where your family lived and to which municipio the town belonged. A gazetteer will help you find the municipio level for your town.
Some municipios are small and therefore only have one civil registration office, but there are other larger municipios that have several sub civil registration offices that report to the main municipio office. These sub civil registration offices are all listed under the municipio seat. For example, in Sonora the municipio of Cajeme covers a large geographical area and has had ten sub civil registration offices at different times. These offices have been or are now in the following cities: two in the city of Ciudad Obregón and one each in Cumuripa, Esperanza, Cocorit, Providencia, Pueblo Yaqui, El Realito, Oviachic, and Buenavista. All of these offices are listed under Cajeme, with a “see” reference indicated by an arrow from the sub-civil registration office to Cajeme. A person looking for civil registration for Cocorit will be referred to Cajeme by the “see” reference or arrow. However, other records such as church records or censuses, will still be listed under Cocorit. Hence, to search all the records the library has for Cocorit you will need to search under two listings: Cajeme for civil registration, because Cocorit civil registration records are listed under Cajeme, and Cocorit for church records because the church records are listed under Cocorit.
The specific holdings of the Family History Library are listed in the Family History Library Catalog. To find civil registration records, search in the “Locality” section of the Family History Library Catalog under:
Birth, marriage, and death records may be obtained by contacting or visiting local civil registration offices and state civil archives in Mexico. To protect the rights of privacy of living persons, most records with current information have restrictions on their use and access. The present location of records depends on whether local offices have sent their records to the higher jurisdiction. Most recent records will be found in the local civil registration offices. Older records may be found in the municipio or state archive.
You may obtain copies of civil registration records in Mexico by writing to the local civil registry in the municipio. However, some archives will not send photocopies, and some will also ask for power of attorney to receive a certificate of an individual other than the correspondent. Civil officials will generally answer correspondence in Spanish. Your request may be forwarded if the records have been sent to state archives.
After deciding who has jurisdiction over the records for the time period you need, write a brief request to the proper office, including:
If your request is unsuccessful, search for duplicate records that may have been filed in other state and ecclesiastical archives.
To effectively use civil records, follow these steps:
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General Historical Background
MEXICO, DISTRITO FEDERAL, CIUDAD DE MEXICO - CIVIL REGISTRATION
Information Recorded in Civil Registers
Births (nacimientos)
Marriages (matrimonios, casamientos)
Divorce Records
Deaths (defunciones)
Locating Civil Registration Records
Records at the Family History Library
MEXICO- CIVIL REGISTRATIONMEXICO, [STATE]- CIVIL REGISTRATIONMEXICO, [STATE], [TOWN/MUNICIPIO/ DISTRICT]- CIVIL REGISTRATION
The library’s collection continues to grow as new records are microfilmed and added to the collection from numerous sources. Do not give up if records are not yet available. The Family History Library Catalog is updated periodically, so check it occasionally for the records you need.
Locating Records Not at the Family History Library
Search Strategies
[FamilySearchTM: Research Guidance
Version of Data: 6/9/2001]