This week Amy Johnson Crow asked us to write about “something surprising that you’ve found in your research? What is a surprise that one of your ancestor’s had? Have you found something in a surprising place?”
What has surprise me while doing genealogical research was the ideal that not all vital records tell the whole truth, and if there are conflicting information on two more records you need to or should resolved the conflict between the records. A good case in point you always are the birth record of my two uncles on my fathers’ side of the Burgos family.
According to the Civil Registration record for the town of Lares Puerto Rico both of my uncles Salvador Burgos Roman and Leopoldo Burgos Roman where born on May 12, 1931. Originally, I thought that they were twins.
The records clearly state the Liborio Burgos Gonzales (my grandfather) appeared before the civil registrar and stated that both kids were born on the date indicated at 12:00 and at 12:30 in the morning at May 12, 1931 both of these children where born. For years, I believed that these records where true. I took them at face value as I have done for many of the genealogical records. But just recently I looked as these records and compared them to the 1940 Census and the 1935 Puerto Rico Population Census to my surprise I noticed some contradiction’s.
Four years later in the 1935 Census for Barrio Callejones in Lares Puerto Rico, shows Salvador as 6 and Leopoldo (another error Leopoldo’s name is spelled incorrectly) is only 4. According to the census record Salvador was born in 1929 and Leopoldo was born in 1931.
Five years later in the 1940 Federal Census for Barrio Callejones in Lares Puerto Rico, shows both Salvador and Leopoldo living with their family. Salvador as 9 and Leopoldo is only 7.
Which record should I believe and which one is true?
In 1935 both Salvador and Leopoldo should be around 4 years old. According to the census record Salvador was born in 1931 and Leopoldo was born in 1933. In 1940, both Salvador and Leopoldo should be around 9 years old. According to the census record Salvador was born in 1931 and Leopoldo was born in 1933. At the present time I believe that both documents are not accurate.
From my understanding of the Puerto Rican culture at the time most rural mountain famers did not or could not go into the towns to register at birth or a death when it happened. To my best of my knowledge. It seems that Salvador was born in 1929 and Leopoldo was born in 1931. When Leopoldo was born his father went into the town of Lares to register both of his youngest children. While giving testimony about the birth of the children he did not know the birth of Salvador or they mistakenly wrote the same date for both of the children. One theory that I have is that civil registers office did not have a mechanism to record delayed birth at that time. In either case one or all of these records are not correct.
Civil Birth Registration for Salvador Burgos Roman
As an amateur genealogist it surprising the differences in record strengths and weakness. I would have thought that a birth registration would be a primary source and its strength on the date of the birth would be reliable. On the other side of the coin, I have been always been told that the census records could not be relied on when it comes to ages and birth years. In this situation I believed that they have helped get closer to a more reasonable birth year for my two uncles.
The Puerto Rican & Polish Melting Pot 