One Technique: Parent Search

[Joseph Puentes <makas@...>]

How many of you all are thoroughly using the IGI parent search feature 
of the Family Search website? Now I'm not saying that I am either but 
here are a few of the strategies I use in hunting for my ancestors.
I'm going to use my Great Great Grandparents: Lucio Santa Maria and 
Cecilia Lugo. My Aunt Julia Espinoza gave me their names in a 
conversation one day. I went straight to IGI search page and plugged 
their names into the parent section. These are the names that I turned up:
Mexico
Father: Lucio Santa Maria, Mother: Cecilia Lugo

1. CAYETANO SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 11 AUG 1857 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
2. MARIA ANTONIA SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 17 JUN 1862 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
3. ALBINO SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 20 DEC 1869 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
4. BLAS SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 01 DEC 1859 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
5. VICTORIANA DE LA TRINIDAD SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 05 SEP 1845 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
6. JOSEF SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 12 DEC 1864 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico

Now I hope everyone knows that you have to try all the different 
combinations of names to get a the most out of the Parent search, for 
example:
In addition to 1) Lucio Santa Maria and Cecilia Lugo I used these other 
possible combinations:
2) Lucio Santa Maria and Maria Lugo
3) Jose Santa Maria and Cecilia Lugo
4) Jose Santa Maria and Maria Lugo

Many times I have found other children of the same couple by using the 4 
possible combinations for a single couple. But in this case I found no 
additional children.
but if I would have stopped here I would have missed a few more of their 
children.
Here is the other 4 possible combinations that must be tried to make 
sure you haven't missed anything.
1) Lucio Santa Maria y Cecilia
2) Lucio Santa Maria y Maria
3) Jose Santa Maria y Cecilia
4) Jose Santa Maria y Maria

Only number one (Lucio Santa Maria y Cecilia) produced positive results 
for other children giving this list:
Mexico
Father: Lucio Santa Maria, Mother: Cecilia

1. FRANCISCA SANTAMARIA ESPINOSA - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 29 JAN 1853 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
2. VIRGINIA SANTA ESPINOSA - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 23 MAY 1855 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
3. PRICILIANO SANTA ESPINOSA - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 05 JAN 1867 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
4. SILVERIA SANTA ESPINOSA - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 21 JUN 1850 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
5. CAYETANO SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 11 AUG 1857 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
6. MARIA ANTONIA SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 17 JUN 1862 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
7. ALBINO SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 20 DEC 1869 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
8. BLAS SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 01 DEC 1859 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
9. VICTORIANA DE LA TRINIDAD SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 05 SEP 1845 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico
10. JOSEF SANTA LUGO - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 12 DEC 1864 Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico

Now if you looked at the additional 4 children they were the offspring 
of Lucio Santa Maria and Cecilia Espinosa. So initially I assumed it was 
a different couple and if the dates hadn't been mixed into each other I 
would have thought that maybe this was a second wife and that he was a 
Viudo. As it is when the films came in it turned out that the Priest 
didn't consistently name Cecilia. Her parents were Januario Espinosa and 
Antonia Lugo. In one record they called her Cecilia Lugo in another 
record they called her Cecilia Espinosa.
Here is the main point. . .expect anything. Try all the possibilities. 
If you get all the records then you can compare them and sort out the 
anomalies. So instead of a couple only have 4 possible combinations for 
the parent search section it turns out there are 8.
Now maybe I'm not so good at explaining what I mean so if you have any 
questions I'll try to sort out any confusion I might have produced in 
explaining the above. . .let me know.
Joseph