Catamarca Province, Argentina Genealogy

Guide to Catamarca Province family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

History
Before the arrival of the Spanish conquest, most of today's Catamarca was inhabited by the Diaguitas that included the fierce Calchaquí tribe. Catamarca remained isolated from the rest of Argentina by its mountains until 1888, when the rapidly expanding railways first appeared in the province. Attracting immigrants with its spacious, fertile valleys and dry, agreeable weather, Catamarca was soon populated by immigrants mostly from Lebanon and Iran. One family, the Saadis, became prominent in local commerce and politics. Eventually, Saadi, a Peronist, would become indispensable to local politics, exerting influence mostly by proxy. There were problems with the Saadi family in the town and it was then Catamarca voted in a Radical Civic Union (UCR) candidate. 

Getting started with research in Catamarca
See FamilySearch Tutorials on Latin American Research. '''The vast majority of genealogy research in Argentina can be accomplished in just two record groups: civil registration and church records. This article will explain methods for finding those records.'''

Civil Registration

 * Civil registration records are government records covering birth, marriage, and death. They are an excellent source of names, dates, places, and relationships.


 * Civil authorities began registering births, marriages, and deaths in 1886. Even though the law was passed in 1886 most of the provinces started keeping records at different times. Most had the system going by 1900.


 * Every municipal district was to make duplicate copies of their books. In Catamarca they kept the original books and send the copies to the Archivo General de Tribunales in the Federal District. In the provinces they were to be send the copies to the provincial or judicial archives of each province.


 * According to the law, the public has liberal access to the civil records. The director of the civil archive is required to provide interested parties with a complete copy of any record, including marginal notes, under his jurisdiction.


 * The Family History Library has not microfilmed the civil registration records of Argentina. The Library's collection continues to grow as new records are microfilmed and added to the collection from numerous sources. Don't give up if records are not available yet. The FamilySearch Catalog is updated periodically. Check it again every year for the records you need.

Locating Civil Registration Records
Civil registration records are kept at the local municipal district civil registration office (Dirección del Registro Civil). Therefore, you must determine the municipal district where your ancestor lived before you can find the records. The original book stays in the municipal office and duplicate copies are sent to the provincial or judicial archives of the province or the General Archive of the Tribunal in the federal district. Therefore, duplicates may also be available at the provincial level. If a letter to the town/city fails, write to the provincial office.

Your ancestor may have lived in a village that belonged civilly to a larger nearby town. In large cities, there may be many civil registration districts. You may need to use gazetteers and other geographic references to identify the place your ancestor lived and the civil registration office that served it. See Diccionario geográfico estadístico nacional argentino (1885). Although this gazetteer is in Spanish, the province is listed immediately after the name of the town.

Local Archives
Civil officials will generally answer correspondence in Spanish. Use the following address:

Dirección del Registro Civil       Oficina de Inscripciones y Rectificaciones        (*postal code) (City), (Province), Argentina


 * Find the Argentina postal code here.

Provincial Archives and Tribunal Archives
These archives maintain the duplicates sent to them by the municipal districts. You may write to these archives and request searches of the records. The public has access to these records. For the province of Catamarca, you will need to write to the following address:

Registro Provincial de las Personas San Martín 382 CP 4700 San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca Argebtina Telefono: 03833 4 37525

After deciding who has jurisdiction over the records for the time period you need, write a brief request to the proper office. Send the following:


 * Full name and the sex of the person sought.
 * Names of the parents, if known.
 * Approximate date and place of the event.
 * Your relationship to the person.
 * Reason for the request (family history, medical, etc.).
 * Request for a photocopy of the complete original record.
 * Check or cash for the search fee (usually about $10.00).

'''Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. For writing your letter in Spanish, use the translated questions and phrases in this Spanish Letter-writing Guide.'''

Church Records
The vast majority of Argentines were Catholic and were registered in the records of the local parish or diocese which are called registros parroquiales (parish registers). These records include entries for baptisms, marriage information, marriages, deaths, and burials. Often two and sometimes three generations are indicated in the records. In addition, church records may include church censuses, account books, confirmations, and other church-related records.

Church records are crucial for genealogical research, since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until after 1886. After this date one should search in both church and civil records as there may be information in one that does not appear in the other. For instance the church records may only list the godparents whereas the civil records may list the grandparents.

1. Online Digital Records for Church Records
For some localities, digital copies of Catholic church records can be searched online:

Bautismos are infant baptisms, which are used for birth information. Información matrimonial are documents collected in preparation for a marriage. Matrimônios' are marriages. Defunciones are deaths. Entierros are burials'". Índice''' is the index.
 * 1724-1971 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1645-1930 - at FamilySearch Historical Records, index, incomplete.
 * 1722-1911 - at FamilySearch Historical Records, index, incomplete.

2. Microfilm Copies of Church Records Searched at a Family History Center
If the locality and time period you need are not included in the online records, the next step is to find them in the microfilm collection of the Family History Library. Currently, they are being digitized, and plans are to complete that project by 2020. Check back occasionally to see if your records have become available. In the meantime, some of them might be available at a Family History Center near you. To find a microfilm:


 * a. Click on this link to see a list of  records for Argentina, Province of Catamarca.
 * b. Click on "Places within Argentina, Catamarca" and a list of towns and cities will open.
 * c. Click on the town or city you wish to search.
 * d. Click on "Church Records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Choose the correct event and time period for your ancestor.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

3. Writing to a Catholic Priest for Church Records
Baptism, marriage, and death records may be searched by contacting or visiting local parish or diocese archives in Argentina. Argentina has no single repository of church records. Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. 'This method is not always reliable. Officials might or might not respond.'

Write a brief request in Spanish to the proper church using this address as guide replacing the information in parentheses:


 * Reverendo Padre
 * Parroquia de (name of parish) 
 * (postal code), (city), Catamarca
 * Argentina


 * Find the Argentina postal code here.

When requesting information, send the following:

'''Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. For writing your letter in Spanish, use the translated questions and phrases in this Spanish Letter-writing Guide.]'''
 * Money for the search fee, usually $10.00, and an international reply coupon (IRC)
 * Full name and the sex of the ancestor sought
 * Names of the ancestor’s parents, if known
 * Approximate date and place of the event
 * Your relationship to the ancestor
 * Reason for the request (family history, medical, and so on)
 * Request for a photocopy of the complete original record

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 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2
 * 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.

Tips for finding your ancestor in the records
Effective use of church records includes the following strategies.


 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, 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.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Then repeat the process for both the father and the mother.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.

Census

 * Argentina Census
 * 1869 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1895 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Websites

 * How to read old handwriting tutorials
 * BYU Research Outline for Argentina
 * IGI Batch Numbers
 * Useful websites
 * Listing of all records collections for Argentina available on FamilySearch.org
 * Argentina Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Argentina, Catamarca Province Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Argentina 1869 Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Argentina, 1895 Census Population Schedules (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Argentina Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Tutorials

 * Tutorials at FamilySearch related to Latin American Research