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Confirming Genealogical Information Using Catholic
Church Confirmation Records
By Lynn Turner
Confirmation
records found in Latin American Catholic parish registers have
proved to be an invaluable asset to genealogists. These
records usually contain the name of the person being confirmed and
names of his/her parents. Even though the records lack
excessive genealogical information, they can be useful in other
ways. Confirmations are useful in the following ways:
? As a
locator tool
? Speeding up baptismal, marriage, and death
searches
? Filling gaps between children
Sometimes
confirmations are often found in the parish baptismal book.
Other times they are maintained in there own book. Depending
on parish size and location confirmations may have been done every
year or once every several years. In small parishes far away
from the Diocesan bishop a researcher may find a child and mother
being confirmed at the same time.
Often times
when we think of a locator tool we think of census records.
Unfortunately Latin American countries did not record many censuses
like the United States did. Confirmation records can help
place a family within a particular parish. One of the quickest
ways to know if a family lived in or moved to a parish is to check
the confirmation records for that parish. Unlike census
records confirmations will not list every person living in the
parish, but will only list those being confirmed.
Recently I did
some research on a family from Spain. The information given to
me identified a parish, but when the couple married and began having
children had not. None of the records had been indexed.
I estimated a time period when the couple should have been having
children. Instead of searching several pages of baptisms I
began with the confirmations. Very quickly I learned that the
confirmations were taken approximately every nine years. In a
matter of minutes I determined that the family was having children
between 1730 and 1750. I checked the baptisms between these
years and found that the couple had seven children between 1731 and
1746.
If a child is
found in the baptismal records but not in the confirmations he/she
may have died as an infant. Death records should be consulted
to verify any assumptions of an infant mortality. This should
narrow death record searches and eliminate any searching for
marriage records.
Confirmation
records are also great gap fillers. As a general rule couples
tended to have children every two years, sometimes spanning twenty
or more years. At times four or five years will
pass between before another child is found for a couple. If a
gap of more than three years is discovered, the confirmations should
be checked to see if a child was overlooked in the baptisms.
Confirmations, when available, can save you valuable time
while doing your family history. To know if your parish of
interest has confirmations available perform a place search on the
family history library catalog found at www.familysearch.org
. If you find that your parish has not
been microfilmed, a letter to the parish priest might be
necessary.
Lynn
Turner is a senior at Brigham Young University. He will
graduate with a B.A. in genealogy and family history in August
2004. His areas of specialty include Latin America, Spain, and
the United States. He provides research services and
consultations; he can be reached at lynnturner@...
Genealogy News & Events
Pending Bill May Restrict Vital Records
in British Columbia
Legislation which will further restrict access to
historical birth/death/marriage certificates & registrations in
British Columbia has reached the provincial house. Hopefully many
B.C. residents will become informed and call or write their M.L.A.'s
and Ministers in the government about this issue.
Bill 43, the vital statistics amendment act,
proposes increased restrictions on who may access Vital Statistics
records of Birth, Marriage and Death. Parents with children
over 19 will have a difficult time accessing a birth certificate for
their own children. The bill distinguishes between certified vital
documents and 'registrations' of same. It specifies in the
legislation time frames before such 'registrations' might be
accessible by the public. In most cases those seeking
information on ancestors would be more interested in the
registrations of BMDs than in obtaining certified documents for
them.
The current Vital Statistics Act of BC does not
codify time frames, nor does the Regulations for the Vital
Statistics Act. Through the BC Archives, registrations of
Birth have been available after 100 years, Marriages after 75 years,
and Deaths after 20 years.
Bill 43 codifies the time frames for access to
registrations of Birth to 20 years after death or 120 years after
Birth -- an extension of twenty years over what has been allowed up
to now. For registrations of Marriage the period remains as 75
years after the event, but adds the provision that both parties must
be deceased for more than 20 years. Access to registrations of
Death remains at after 20 years.
All genealogists concerned with research in British
Columbia should be concerned not only about the speed with which the
B.C. government has pushed this Bill through but also with the
extended time frames and restrictions as to whom might access these
records. This affects our access not only to records of the
future, but to those records we have been able to access up to
today. All concerned B.C. residents should contact their local MLA.
To find out who the MLAs for British Columbians are
go to www.legis.gov.bc.ca./index.htm .
Click on "Members" and the resulting page will allow you to search
by Postal Code to find out who your MLA is. The MLA's page
gives their biography and contact information.
Bill 43 may be accessed at : http://www.leg.bc.ca/37th5th/1st_read/gov43-1.htm
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Adams County, MS Circuit Records
Available Online
Adams County Circuit Clerk records are now available
online and can, of course, be viewed all over the world. The Adams
County Circuit Clerk's office is allegedly the first in Mississippi
to get such a site running. These public records will be useful to
many groups, including genealogists. The site includes everything
from the judgment roll to marriage licenses. Not all of the past
records are online, but the clerk?s office is working on scanning
all old records back to the 1800s. A small fee is required to view
documents.
The Web site can be accessed at www.adamscountyms.gov .
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