Using Blogs to Search for your New Mexican relatives

If you have ever read a genealogy blog, you may have noticed that there is often a treasure trove of information to be found. However, blogs seem to be overwhelming. For instance, my own person blog - "The Baca/Douglas Genealogy and Family History Blog" - contains 413 posts! How can you find what you are looking for?

There is actually a couple of easy ways to search a blog.

The first way is to look for a list of labels or categories listed in the blog. Below is an image of my own blog that shows a list of categories. For example, if you are interested in looking for information about the family "Bourguignon", all you would have to do is click on the name "Bourguignon" and the blog would automatically display all the articles that I listed as being in the "Bourguignon" category.

Test out using labels to browse for blog posts by clicking on this link to my blog.

Another way is to use the search engine provided for the blog. Look at the image below:

A blog is just a type of database. It includes a bunch of information that is searchable. A great blog that a search engine works well with is the 1598 New Mexico Blog. Henrietta Martinez Christmas has posted a number of burial, marriage and baptismal extractions from Sandia, Santo Domingo, Pojoaque and many, many other places going back hundreds of years.

You can search by name, place or any other type of information you are looking for. Are you looking for a census? Type in "census" in the search engine and click on the little magnifying glass. Wholla! There you go, you found blog posts about censuses.

Test out this function by clicking on the 1598 New Mexico Blog at this link.

Happy hunting!

Access Ancestry.com for Free at any ABC Library

Access Ancestry.com for FREE at any Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Public Library

Recently, I discovered that ABC Libraries are offering free access to the library version of Ancestry.com. You can use the computers at the library, or bring your own computer and access it through wifi.

Once you are on a computer at one of the libraries, go to the ABC Library website at http://www.cabq.gov/library . Click on the “Genealogy Research Center” link on the left side box under the heading “Research Assistance. On the next page, look at the top right hand corner box that says “Available in the Library”. Click on “Ancestry Library Edition” and begin searching Ancestry.com and downloading the records offered by this site!

Remember, this service is only offered at the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Public Libraries themselves. You must be inside one of their libraries and be able to access their wifi. Speak to your librarian if you have any questions regarding this service!

P.S.: If you discover that this service does not work at any of the ABC libraries, please let me know so that I can post the information on this blog. My email is president@nmgs.org. If you are unable to access Ancestry.com, you may wish to ask your librarian if they can help you access it at your library.

Robert Baca

President, NMGS

August 18, 2012 NMGS Program

Botts Hall

Albuquerque Special Collection Librar

423 Central NE

Albuquerque, NM

(On the corner of Central and Edith)

 Saturday, August 18, 2012

10:30 AM – Noon

The Albuquerque Special Collections Library

and

The New Mexico Genealogical Society

Present

David Snow

Settling New Mexico’s Colonial Landscape

Juan de Oñate's colonists put in place a settlement strategy that reflected European preferences for consuming beef, mutton, and wheat bread.  Expansion of the "Hispano Homeland" of northern New Mexico resulted in the formation (and abandonment) of some 450 plazas and placitas within and adjacent to this region between 1700 and the latter half of the 19th century, as individuals and families pushed the frontier's envelope in search of grass for livestock and irrigable lands necessary for the production of wheat.

David is an historical archaeologist, former staff archaeologist at Museum of NM Lab of Anthropology and former history curator at Palace of the Governors.  He has written numerous articles and books pertaining to New Mexico sites & personalities including, New Mexico’s First Colonists & History and Archaeology of San Felipe Church.

For more information about our programs, check out the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s website at www.nmgs.org.

This program is free and open to the public.

An Updated Martin Serrano Genealogy

An Updated Martín Serrano Genealogy

José Antonio Esquibel has just completed a compilation of the first three generations of the Martín Serrano genealogy. Prefaced by Henrietta Martínez Christmas, the attached PDF includes documentation and digital images of key primary record.

The document "is intended for sharing and for wide distribution for personal, educational and non-commercial use. Descendants of Hernán Martín Serrano are encouraged to use the material below to update their genealogy charts and software databases and to copy the source citations provided in the Endnotes."

Those engaged in New Mexican genealogical research know Hernán Martín Serrano for at least two reasons:
(1) He was a soldier who was among the first Juan de Oñate colonists who came in 1598 to what is now New Mexico.
(2) He is the progenitor of Martinez line from which many of us descend.

Click this link to download your copy of José Antonio Esquibel's compilation.