Costa Rica, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records/Known Issues

Known Issues
Question #1: When searching through indexed records with the Film Number 415393, I found some marriages that listed the event place as Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. I believe that the marriage event place should be Alajuela, Alajuela, Costa Rica. What is the correct locality? Answer #1: You are correct. The Film 415393 has parish register records from 2 different localities:


 * Iglesia Católica. San Blas de Nicoya (Nicoya, Guanacaste) Item 1: Bautismos 1789-1804 Item 2: Confirmaciones 1853
 * Iglesia Católica. Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Alajuela, Alajuela) Item 3-4: Matrimonios 1805-1840

As you can see for the marriage records, the event place would have to be Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Alajuela, Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Question #2: When searching through indexed records with the Film Number 1223550, I found some burials for the years 1850-1896 that listed the event place as Guanacaste, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. I believe that the burial event place should be Esparza, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. What is the correct locality? Answer #2: You are correct. The Film 1223550 has parish register records from 3 different localities:


 * Iglesia Católica. Espíritu Santo (Esparza, Puntarenas) Item 1: Defunciones 1850-1896
 * Iglesia Católica (Guanacaste, Guanacaste) Items 2-3: Bautismos 1790-1804 Item 4: Matrimonios 1818-1826 Item 5: Defunciones 1790-1818
 * Iglesia Católica. San Blas de Nicoya (Nicoya, Guanacaste) Item 6-7: Bautismos 1814-1822 and Bautismos 1783-1789

As you can see for the 1850-1896 burials records, the event place would have to be Espíritu Santo, Esparza, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Question #3: When I am searching for records in Tabarcia &gt; La Asunción (Villa Colón, San José), I believe some of these records should be assigned to an area named Pacaca, San José, Costa Rica. What is the correct locality? Answer #3: Pacaca was a Costa Rican indigenous kingdom of the sixteenth century, whose inhabitants belonged to the ethnic and cultural huetares whose main entry is found in the present canton of Mora, province of San José , Costa Rica, at the place now known by the name of Tabarcia. The Catalog Film Notes do indicate that the parish registers of baptisms, marriages, confirmations, deaths and marriage petitions from Villa Colón were formerly known as Pacaca, San José, Costa Rica.

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