Mexico, Zacatecas, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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What is in the Collection?
This collection of Catholic Church records for the State of Zacatecas includes the years 1605 to 1980. The text of the records is in Spanish.

Sample Images
Baptism or confirmation records may contain the following:


 * Date and place of baptism or confirmation
 * Name and gender of child
 * Names of the parents
 * Age of the person being baptized or the person’s birth date
 * Legitimacy
 * Before 1820, social class of the parents
 * Sometimes the person’s race

Marriage records may contain the following:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of the betrothed
 * Names of the parents
 * Names of the witnesses
 * Ages and marital statuses of the betrothed
 * Places of origin and residence of the betrothed and sometimes that of the parents
 * Legitimacy of the betrothed
 * Sometimes the race of the betrothed

Death or burial records may contain the following:


 * Date and place of death or burial
 * Name of the deceased
 * Sometimes the names of the parents or the spouse, if the deceased was married
 * Age of the deceased person at time of death
 * Place of residence or origin of the deceased person
 * Sometimes the race of the deceased

How Do I Search the Collection?
Search by name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page  ⇒ Select the "City or Town" category ⇒ Select the "Parish" category ⇒ Select the "Record Type and Years" category which takes you to the images

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Spanish. For help reading the records, see the following resources:


 * Mexico Language and Languages
 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * BYU Spanish Script Tutorial
 * FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 3

Surrounding Localities
Unable to find your ancestor? Try looking through records in the surrounding localities. Durango is to the west, Coahuila to the north, San Luis Potosí to the east, and Jalisco and Aguascalientes on the south. Zacatecas also shares about a six mile border with Nayarit to the southwest, and about a seven mile border with Nuevo León to the northeast.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation:

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