Colombia, Valle del Cauca, Miscellaneous Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Colombia, Valle del Cauca, Diversos Registros

Record Description
This collection contains miscellaneous records that are housed at the Archivo Histórico de Buga. These records include censuses (padrones), will-related records (mortuorias and testamentarías), and voter identification cards (cédulas electorales) from 1549-1955.

The records are in Spanish; see the section "For Help Reading these Records" for access to translation helps.

Additional records will be published as they become available.

For a list of the dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Census records generally contain the following information:
 * Name
 * Residence
 * Members of the household and their relationship to the head of household
 * Age

Will records usually contain the following information:
 * Name of the deceased
 * Names of family members
 * Location and date of death

Voter identification records usually contain the following information:
 * Name of the voter
 * Residence of the voter

How to Use the Record
Use these records to learn information that would lead to finding baptismal/birth, marriage, and/or death/burial records. Wills/testamentos are good for learning the death date and place, what family/friends he/she had at the time of death, his/her wealth status at the time of death; for example, if your ancestor gave parcels of owned land to descendants/relatives, then you know to look for land records. Censuses/censos help to also identify family relationships as well as ages and birthplaces which then help us find birth records.

Search the Collection
To search by image: To browse the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "Tipo de registro y años" which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by index or image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several entries or images and compare the information about the individuals listed to your ancestors to make this determination.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For Help Reading these Records
These records are in Spanish. For help reading the records see the following guides:
 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Colombia Language and Languages
 * Reading Spanish handwritten records
 * Script tutorial for Spanish

Using the Information

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date.
 * Get the names of family members and look for their records.
 * Use the place of residence as a starting point and search nearby towns for further records and ancestors.

Tips to Keep in Mind
When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Proof of information given during a census was not required, so it may contain some errors. Censuses were taken by ordinary civilians who may have misspelled names, so check for variant spellings of the names, especially phonetically.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?
A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring state, or your ancestor immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby areas or immigration/emigration records Colombia Emigration and Immigration.

Below is a video (in Spanish) about emigration and immigration within and to Colombia: El Transporte en Colombia y las Migraciones

Church records are also a great source for finding information about your ancestor. Colombia, Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Related Websites

 * Los Abundantísimos Registros no Eclesiásticos Free video (in Spanish).

Related Wiki Articles

 * Colombia Census
 * Colombia Notarial Records
 * Colombia Military Records
 * Colombia Civil Registration
 * Valle del Cauca Genealogy
 * Valle del Cauca
 * Colombia

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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Keep track of records where you did not find information about your ancestor so you and others won’t waste time looking through these records in the future.

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

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.