Guatemala Department, Guatemala Genealogy

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

History

 * In 1638, the Dominicans separated their great doctrines -which brought them considerable income- in groups centered on their six convents and doctrines, located in what later became the Departments of Guatemala and Sacatepéquez, although they remained in the jurisdiction of the convent of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.
 * The Department of Guatemala /Escuintla, whose head was the Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, was one of the seven original departments.
 * The creation of the state of Los Altos, an ephemeral independent republic, was authorized on December 25, 1838 by the Congress of the Federal Republic of Central America. The Department of Guatemala was part of the lands that were called Los Altos.
 * On April 23, 1925, Fraijanes departed from the Department of Amatitlán, which was part of the jurisdiction of the Department of Guatemala.
 * The Department of Guatemala has a population of approximately 2,542,000 people.

Civil Registration and Church Records
Most of the research you will do will be in these records. Additional online records may be listed in the Family History Library Catalog for places within Guatemala, Guatemala.
 * 1877-1980 - Guatemala, Civil Registration, 1877-1980 - in Ancestry ($) - index and images
 * 1877-2008 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1877-1994 -
 * 1877-1994 - Guatemala, Guatemala, Civil Registration, 1877-1994. Additional towns.
 * 1581-1977 - Guatemala, Guatemala, Catholic Church Records, 1581-1977
 * 1750-1930 - Guatemala, Select Marriages, 1750-1930 - in Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1730-1917 - Guatemala, Select Baptisms, 1730-1917 - in Ancestry ($) - index and images
 * 1730-1917 - Guatemala, Baptisms, 1730-1917 - in MyHeritage ($) - index and images
 * 1760-1880 - Guatemala, Select Deaths, 1760-1880 - in Ancestry ($) — index and images

Census Records
In addition, this census record might help you. A wiki article describing this collection found at:
 * 1877 - Guatemala, Ciudad de Guatemala, Census, 1877, index and images.
 * 1877 - Guatemala, Guatemala, Ciudad de Guatemala, Censo, 1877 - in Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * Guatemala, Guatemala City 1877 General Census - FamilySearch Historical Records

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 Learning Center class on reading Spanish handwriting:
 * Deciphering Spanish Handwriting


 * 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.