Find A Grave Memorials

I became a volunteer for the Find-A-Grave organization in 2008. One day while I was researching my ancestors, I came across this site and nearly fainted when I found the photo of a gravestone for my many-times great grandfather Chubb.  Since that time, I have created memorials for many ancestors and descendants for others to find and enjoy that feeling.  This is an example of a memorial and I will list the steps to find others.
Juan Francisco "John" Silvan Hernandez Memorial

First, go to Find A Grave  - At the HOME Page, you will see several options.  You can type in the last name, date of birth and death and if you have it, list the state, county and town where your ancestor or relative lived.  Sometimes, it will pop up (if a memorial is already in their database).

If you know the name of the cemetery, click on "Search for a Cemetery"  Once you type in the name of the cemetery, it will bring up a list of everyone interred there and you find the person, or people with the same surname that will lead you to who you are looking for.

If you still cannot find it, then the next best option is "Add burial records"  This is the place you can create a memorial, add photos, a biography and link to other memorials related to your family member.  More instructions soon.

WHISK ME TO SPAIN

I am one day closer to launching my newest venture at www.spanishpearlsgenealogy.com  As of today, it is a temporary Home Page and Contact Page.  Within the week - poof ~ it will be live.
Yesterday, an idea popped into my head to include a tab called "WHISK ME TO SPAIN."

Before I was privileged to visit Spain in 2012 in order to finish writing my grandmother's immigration story in the historical fiction, The Girl Immigrant, one of the most interesting pieces of my research revolved around finding my ancestor's villages.  I'd heard towns mentioned by many family members but "seeing" them for myself seemed like the quintessential bonus to my research.  I had hundreds of questions.  If I'd been able to find a website that included photos of some of their villages, it would have adding icing to my already-baking cake.

So, this new page in this new website will include a glimpse of villages through a Facebook site created for exactly that purpose.  I encourage other descendants of Spanish heritage to post photos of their villages, their family gatherings or anything Spanish you feel others would enjoy.  It could become a wealth of information.

There are two Facebook sites that I find pretty amazing, miraculous and informative.  Each of these Facebook sites were designed and created for Spanish descendants and each stand alone in their quest to add that special layer of need to all of us.  Please have a visit there too.

Hawaiian Spaniards: https://www.facebook.com/HawaiianSpaniard/

Spanish Immigrants in the United States: https://www.facebook.com/tracesofspainintheus/?fref=ts

Spanish Recipes: https://www.facebook.com/Your-Spanish-Recipes-1394162100800625/?fref=ts

 

Spanish Pearls Genealogy is moving forward

Family history, the study of families, and the tracing of their lineages and history is where the magic happens.  The passion one feels about filling the branches on these trees truly is something one can't force or imagine.  During the past nearly ten years since I began the genealogy experience, I have located hundreds of ancestors, documents, photos, stories and filled my family tree.  The end result is very exciting but the journey up and down the roads looking for all the holes in the story is amazing.

My new project will be launched on February 1, 2016.  All the marbles flitting around in my head as I put together exactly how I will offer to help others are still doing just that...flitting around.  However, I want to help others by posting genealogical help here, besides taking family tree business requests.

When I first began my quest, there were a lot of free help sites.  Now, there are very few.  I want to make a difference, so you will find helpful hints and tips here during 2016.

SPANISH PEARLS GENEALOGY

DNA messages

DNA results are being spit out from various genealogy banks every day.  Recently, I received a message from a woman who thinks we must be related because her data bank told her so.  Since I received my own DNA results early last year, I have contacted every person who was listed as a "cousin" of some degree.  I've checked every surname in their family tree and found 2 out of 15 who were related.  Some might say, that's not very good odds, but wait!  Those 2 "cousins" were people I never knew existed before I trusted my spit...to run the test in the first place.

Sometimes, it is a trust issue and we have to just do it as Nike would say.  In this day and age, I know it is difficult to trust strangers and we should be cautious.  However, I am willing to look for my relatives in this way.  I am not concerned about who might find me in the hopes I'm their cousin only to find no links to our families.  What I am concerned about is having anyone using my DNA for a tracking device or other unconventional use.

Until I'm proved wrong, I will continue to look for, research in databases and strive for connections.

I hope you do too.  It's an amazing journey. 

Invisible Immigrants will not be forgotten from James Fernandez

PLEASE CLICK ON LINK OR COPY INTO YOUR BROWSER.  IT IS A WONDERFUL VIDEO ABOUT SPANISH IMMIGRATION...
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/informe-semanal/info-inmigrantes-invisibles-101015-2155/3318887/

This is in Spanish and one day I hope to translate the video in my head instead of Google Translate and books.  My Spanish classes help a lot but when I see a wonderful video such as this, I wish I could work at a faster speed!

Spanish Pearls is now ~ Spanish Pearls Genealogy ~

As Fall brings gold and red leaves, changes are definitely in the air here too.
In preparation for my new look, Spanish Pearls is changing to Spanish Pearls Genealogy.
It will be different but the same...not a cliche, really.

Spanish Pearls began several years ago for a way for me to post about my personal genealogical journey during the research phase while I wrote THE GIRL IMMIGRANT, the story of Spanish immigration during the early 1900s through my grandmother's eyes and memories.  What started as a project of love, as I followed my grandmother and her family, morphed into a passionate obsession with Spanish genealogy.  That being said, my new venture will be doing this crazy, wonderful searching for others so they can feel the bliss of growing their own family trees by connecting their families to the past.

My goal is to move all the personal blog posts to Touching Spanish Soil where my personal genealogy journey will continue, while my new Spanish Pearls Genealogy blog will include tips and steps to genealogy help and suggestions for others.

New website will be live soon! www.spanishpearlsgenealogy.com
New genealogical contact email is live now ~ spanishpearlsgenealogy@gmail.com

Immigration and the Statue of Liberty

This article (September, 2015) hit home for me because of so many immigrants who came through San Francisco, New York, New Orleans, Boston and down from Canada into America in the early 1900s.

This was written by Rosemary LaBonte to the editors of a California newspaper in response to an article written by Ernie Lujan who suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the immigrants of today aren’t being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry. The paper never printed this response, so her husband sent it out via internet. Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home. They had waved goodbye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought alongside men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French American, the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl. And here we are with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags. And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.