Argentina, Santa Cruz, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Registros Parroquiales de la Provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina

Record Description
This collection of church records for the period of 1886-1964 includes baptisms, marriages, and burials for parishes in the Santa Cruz Province. Earlier registers were handwritten in narrative style; later records were handwritten on printed forms. Catholic Church parish registers are the major records available to identify individuals, parents, and spouses before 1930. After this date, civil authorities began registering vital statistics, which by law includes people of all religions. For genealogical purposes, the information in civil sources confirms and supplements the information in church records. Records from some of these parishes have been indexed and are searchable as part of this collection. Additional indexed records will be published as they become available.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in Birth Records may include the following information:


 * Place of the event
 * Date of the event
 * Name of principal
 * Principal’s birth date
 * Legitimacy
 * Father’s name
 * Father’s place of origin and age
 * Mother’s name
 * Mother’s place of origin and age
 * Parents' residence
 * Godfather’s name, place of origin, age, and residence
 * Godmother’s name, place of origin, age, and residence

Key genealogical facts found in Marriage Records may include:


 * Place of the event
 * Date of the event
 * Name of groom
 * Groom’s civil status, race, and age
 * Groom’s birthplace
 * Groom’s place and date of baptism
 * Groom’s legitimacy and parents’ names
 * Name of bride
 * Bride’s civil status, race, and age
 * Bride’s birthplace
 * Bride’s place and date of baptism
 * Bride’s legitimacy and parents’ names
 * Names of witnesses or godparents

Key genealogical facts found in Death Records may include the following information:


 * Parish place and date of event
 * Type of mass
 * Name of deceased
 * Parents’ names
 * Marital status
 * Name of spouse, if married or widowed
 * Date of death
 * Cause of death
 * Age at death
 * Place of origin
 * Place of burial
 * If the deceased left a will

How to Use the Record
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Name indexes to baptisms, marriages, and death or burials make it possible to access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

When searching the index it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place where the event occurred
 * The name and surname of the person
 * The approximate date of the event
 * The name of the parents or spouse

Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

For example:


 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Keep in mind:


 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

Related Websites

 * Conferencia Episcopal Argentina
 * Aica on line
 * Arzobispado de La Plata

Related Wiki Articles

 * Argentina
 * Argentina Church Records
 * Argentina Church History

Citation for This Collection
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Information about creating source citations for FamilySearch Historical Collections is listed in the wiki article Help:How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

Example of a Source Citation for a Record Found in This Collection

 * “Argentina, Santa Cruz, Chatholic Church Records, 1886-1964” digital images, FamilySearch ([https://www.familysearch.org: 3 April 2012), Rio Gallegos &gt; Nuestra Senora de Lujan &gt; Bautismos 1909-1923 &gt; Image 25 of 580 images &gt; page number 39, entry for Clementina Pena, baptism 1910 ; citing

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.