Could someone please help with 1877 Mexico church marriage record?
This record is for the marriage of Luis Meyer and Avelina Garms. The date is given and the location of the marriage (San Mateo) but no other information. Does this mean they did not actually marry? It looks like space was allowed for more information. Was this to be filled in later?
If so, possibly the later information may have been for Luis Knoell (and not Luis Meyer). I believe that Meyer was the middle name of Luis and not his surname. Baptisms and other records show Avelina was in fact married to Luis M Knoell. I am fairly certain this is their marriage record and perhaps his German accent may have caused some misunderstanding? Do you think this is likely what happened?
I could have really proved the marriage was the correct one if the additional information had been included (such as parents' names, etc).
I am not sure how these records are created, so any help or explanation would be very much appreciated.
This record is from FamilySearch: Mexico, Nuevo Leon Catholic Church Records, 1667-1981; Matamorelos>San Mateo>Matrimonios 1860-1880; pg 270, #787. It is FHL film #004515004, Image 368. Here is the link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YSG9-V2L?i=367&cc=1473204
Thank you so much for your help with this.
Brenda
Answers
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Brenda,
This is definitely a good question, and one that I'm not sure any of us have a good answer for. The process of Catholic marriages in Latin America and Spain was to have a pre-marriage investigation done to ensure that both bride and groom were in good standing in the church. These are called informaciones matrimoniales, diligencias matrimoniales in Spanish.
If the couple married, and the parish has these pre-marriage investigation records, you should search them. The investigation normally took place a 1-2 months before the actual marriage, which also allowed for the marriage banns to take place.
In your case, you should search the diligencias found here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/004515636?i=45&wc=3PMR-L29%3A45389601%2C45389602%2C47023001&cc=1473204
Each record has a clear title page, so you can jump to the beginning of each record. I checked these and did not find anything, but I recommend double checking my work.
Question: do you have a civil marriage for the couple? Also, could you please share a link to one of their children's baptisms?
This is likely your family, but we obviously need to make sure. A few other ways to do that is to corroborate your information/evidence across multiple records. For example: is this marriage entry in the same parish as the birth of the children? Does the date line up, etc.
-Lynn
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Hi Lynn,
Thank you so much for this information. I was not aware of the requirement for marriage investigations. I will check out the link you provided.
Meanwhile, here is the link to the baptism record of their daughter, Maria Enriqueta Clementina Knoell. Unfortunately, her surname is misspelled Henovell (again possibly due to the father's German accent). The parents and grandparents are correct for my family. Other information (including the 1930 census and Enriqueta's death record) confirms that her correct surname is Knoell.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMFP-MVZ
What do you get from the baptism as Enriqueta's birth date...it seems to say she was 3 years old when baptised. Was that usual in Mexico? I have not found a civil birth registration for her (yet).
Thanks again for all your help on this.
Regards,
Brenda
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It says she was 3 years 10 days old. Usually Catholics baptized their children very soon after their births, however, some circumstances could have delayed the sacrament - distance from the Church, family preference, etc.
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Thank you so much for this, Lynn. Since the father had died following the child's birth (or conception) ...perhaps after an illness...might account for the delay in the baptism. Hopefully I can find more information about that.
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