What was happening in 1929?

Where is Grandma from? -part two.

In an earlier blog post you can read here, I went through all the different documents stating where my grandmother, Raquel Farias was born.  I had collected various records some stating Mexico, others Texas.  I thought maybe the evidence submitted with her delayed certificate of birth with the State of Texas had settled it…somewhat.

Queue Ancestry.com releasing the indexed Civil Registrations for Mexico, and it added a whole new element to my quest.

With the knowledge my grandmother had been born in 1912, I had previously searched the Matamoros registrations for multiple years before and after 1912 trying to find a record of her birth.  I had never thought to look as far as 1929!!

The newly indexed records first led me by way of a hint to my great tia Lilia Farias’  birth registration. I followed the link to the image and was excited to find her entry.  I wondered aloud why it was recorded in 1929.  Quite a delay when you consider she was born in 1916.  But as the genealogy rulebook states, look at the records/pages before and after the one that interests you.  And sure enough, there as my grandmother’s entry along with her brother’s and her 4 of her sisters.1

"México, Tamaulipas, Registro Civil, 1800-2002," nacimientos, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, 1929;
on this page, delayed birth registration for Federico, Raquel, Lilia and Rosa Farias.
Celia on prior page, Ester on following page.

Celia Farias-age 25

Federico Farias-age 23

Maria Raquel Farias-age 16

Lilia Farias-age 14

Rosa Farias-age 11

Ester Farias-age 8

What made my great grandmother, Josefa Longoria de Farias, now a widow, seemingly cross the border back into Mexico and register her children in Matamoros?

With this find, I was reminded that I had previously found other peripheral family members who had a delay registration in 1929 and had made mental note of the delay.

It was a gem of a find, in which my g-grandmother states my grandmother Raquel was born on Rancho el Capote, outside Matamoros, on 12 September 1912.   As excited as I was to find this record, you have to question the veracity of the statement.2  Why record this now?  Why your adult and teenage children; some who are already married and living in Texas? 

What was happening in Mexico in 1929?  Two records before the sibling; the person was 52 years old.  The next 3 records after this group were 36, 42 and 46 years old respectively. 

This is one of the many times I wish I knew Spanish.  There is much research to do, and this just makes it more difficult.

  

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1 FamilySearch.org-delayed registration of birth for siblings Celia, Federico, Raquel, Lilia, Rosa, and Ester

2 Besides, we had always celebrated my grandmother’s birthday on September 9^th, so which date is correct?