Argentina, Tucumán, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes a collection that is scheduled to be made available for free online at FamilySearch Record Search – Pilot Site.

Collection Time Period
This collection of parish records from the city of San Miguel de Tucumán covers the years 1727-1949.

Collection History
This collection covers the parishes of “Nuestra Señora de la Merced” and “Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación (Cathedral)” in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina. These records cover about 95% of the population of the city in those years.

The later records were created when the parishes were part of the Diocese of Tucumán, which was created on February 15, 1897 from the Diocese of Salta, and later elevated to archdiocese on February 11, 1957. The earlier records were created when the parishes were part of the Diocese of Salta, created on March 28, 1806 from the Diocese of Santiago del Estero, and had jurisdiction over a wide territory which currently is formed by different provinces including Tucumán. The records before 1806 were created when the parishes were part of the Diocese of Cordoba del Tucumán, which had jurisdiction over Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Salta, Catamarca, La Rioja, and Jujuy.

Why This Collection Was Created
The priests created the registers to record all the sacramental ordinances performed under his jurisdiction. Later the local authorities used these records for statistical purposes also, before the civil registration was implemented in 1889 in the whole country.

Collection Reliability
Catholic Church parish registers are the primary source for birth, death, and marriage records in Argentina prior to 1889.

Collection Description
Some earlier registers are handwritten in narrative style, and later records were handwritten on printed forms. Most of these records have been preserve well, however there may be entries of the earlier years that may have some damage.

Collection Content
These are the key genealogical facts found in most baptism records: 


 * Place of baptism
 * Date of baptism
 * Date of birth
 * Child legitimacy
 * Parents’ names
 * Parents’ residence place
 * Child name
 * Godparents’ names and marital staus
 * Residence place of godparents

Key genealogical facts found in most marriage records:


 * Name of bride/groom
 * Age
 * Whether they are single or widowed
 * Place of residence
 * Sometimes place of birth
 * Parents’ names
 * Sometimes grandparents’ names

Key genealogical facts found in most death records are: 


 * Name of the deceased
 * Date and place of burial and/or death
 * Age of deceased
 * Place of residence
 * Marital status
 * Cause of death
 * Names of survivors of the deceased

How to Use the Collection
Catholic Church parish registers are the only record available to identify individuals, parents, and spouses before 1889. After this date, civil authorities began registering vital statistics, which by law includes people of all religions. For later years the information in civil sources confirms and supplements the information in church records. To find the record of an ancestor a person needs to know at least the place and approximate year of an event in the ancestor’s life. If indexes are available it is suggested to check for the name there first.

Related Websites
This section of the article is incomplete. You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying links to related websites here.

Bibliographic Information
Digital copies of originals housed in collections at several ecclesiastical archives:


 * Iglesia Católica. Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación (San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán). Registros parroquiales, 1727-1911
 * Iglesia Católica. Nuestra Señora de la Merced (San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán). Registros parroquiales, 1744-1939
 * Archivo de la Arquidiócesis de Tucumán (Argentina)

Related Articles
Argentina Church Records