Totonicapán Department, Guatemala Genealogy

Guide to Department of Totonicapán ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, church records, parish registers, and civil registration.

History

 * The region occupied by the modern Totonicapán, during the pre-Columbian era was the province of secondary importance of the Quiche manor.
 * In colonial times it was part of the local government of Totonicapán.
 * In 1820, towards the end of the colony, there was an indigenous revolt led by Atanasio Tzul against the peninsular and creole authorities, but it was repressed by ladino militiamen who came mainly from San Carlos Sija.
 * In 1838 the city of Totonicapán served as instrumental importance in the creation of the State of Los Altos.
 * The liberal creoles of the region wanted to establish their own state with a port in Champerico and its border with Mexico. They also wanted to maintain the indigenous taxes and secular laws that had been implemented in Guatemala during the government of Mariano Gálvez. For these had led to the social outbreak of the peasantry raised against the Liberals who had expelled the monastic orders and had engaged in business with the English Protestants.
 * The Department of Totonicapán has a population of approximately 340,000 people.

Civil Registration and Church Records
Most of the research you will do will be in these two records.
 * 1877-2008 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1877-1994 - Guatemala, Totonicapan, Civil Registration, 1877-1994. Additional towns.
 * 1581-1977 - Totonicapan, Guatemala, Catholic Church Records, 1581-1977

Additional online records may be listed in the Family History Library Catalog for places within Guatemala, Totonicapan.

Reading the Records

 * You do not have to be fluent in Spanish to read your documents. Genealogical records usually contain a limited vocabulary. Use this Spanish Genealogical Word List to translate the important points in the document. Handwriting skills are taught in BYU Spanish Script Tutorial.


 * Online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:


 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 3
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 3


 * Detailed instructions for reading Spanish records, examples of common documents, and practice exercises for developing skills in translating them can be found in the Spanish Records Extraction Manual.
 * The Spanish Documents Script Tutorial also provides lessons and examples.

Building a Family Record with a Search Strategy
Many articles on strategy are available on the Wiki, but here is a simple set of steps to guide you
 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth/baptism/christening record, then search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents, and even the names of their parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.