El Salvador Finding Records: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:57, 10 January 2024

To find church, civil or other records for your ancestor in El Salvador you will need to know the various levels of jurisdictions (government or religious administrative divisions) in El Salvador. Only three locality levels are normally used. The country of El Salvador is divided into departments (departamentos), municipalities (municipios), and cities, towns, villages, etc.

Municipality[edit | edit source]

Under the Municipality levei (Municipio), you will find civil registration records. A Municipality covers an area that may contain several towns with the headquarters usually located in the largest one. A large city may contain several Municipalities. You will need to determine the correct Municipality in order to locate the civil registration records.

To figure out your Municipality, check the following sources:

The Spanish version of Wikipedia
Google Maps is a great place to find towns and figure out distances between towns.

On genealogy records, places are usually written from smallest to largest with the Municipio not being listed. For example:

City/town, Department, Country
Arcatao, Chalatenango, El Salvador

The city of Arcatao is located in the Chalatenango department of El Salvador.

Church[edit | edit source]

Catholic Church records are listed by city or town and then by parish. A parish is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction and is usually named for a Saint. A parish covers an area that may contain several towns and is usually located in the largest one. A Large city may contain several parishes.

To figure out the Catholic parish, check the following sources:

Check a Catholic Church directory. It will list the archdiocese officials and the dioceses with their parishes, so you can easily determine all nearby parishes. It may include historical information about each parish, and sometimes it provides addresses for parishes, the diocese headquarters, and the diocese archives where additional records may be kept.

If your ancestor lived in large city, you will need to know what parish within that city they belonged to. If you know what part of the city they lived in, that will help narrow down the possibilities. However, people sometimes attend the closest church or the one that the rest of their family attends. So you might have to check nearby parishes also.

If your family lived in a very small village, you might have to check a map, church directory or gazetteer to determine the location of the parish.

On genealogy records, the parish is listed as the smallest unit before the city or town. For example:

Parish, City/town, Department, Country

San Juan Bautista, Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán, El Salvador

The parish of San Juan Bautista is located in the city of Cojutepeque, in the Cuscatlán department of El Salvador.

Records from FamilySearch[edit | edit source]

The Civil Registration Records have been partially indexed. You can search for your ancestor by typing in their name. Or you can also do a manual search, the records are located by department, then by municipality.
The Catholic Church Records have not been indexed. A manual search is the only option. The records are located by department, then by parish or else by department, then by municipality, then by parish.
There are a few other El Salvador records that can be searched. Some are digitized and some are not.

For additional help see also El Salvador Quick Start Guide

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[El Salvador Genealogy|El Salvador]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[El Salvador Finding Records|Finding Records]]
-To find church, civil or other records for your ancestor in El Salvador using the [https://familysearch.org/catalog-search FamilySearch Catalog], you will need to know the various levels of jurisdictions (government or religious administrative divisions) in El Salvador. Only three locality levels are normally used. The country of El Salvador is divided into departments (departamentos), municipalities (municipios), and cities, towns, villages, etc.
+To find church, civil or other records for your ancestor in El Salvador you will need to know the various levels of jurisdictions (government or religious administrative divisions) in El Salvador. Only three locality levels are normally used. The country of El Salvador is divided into departments (departamentos), municipalities (municipios), and cities, towns, villages, etc.
-== Municipality ==
+==Municipality==
-Under the municipality or municipio levei, you will find civil registration records. In large cities there may be several offices. Some small towns may not be their own municipality and therefore their records will not be kept in the town. Try looking in a nearby town, especially a larger one. You will need to determine the correct municipality  in order to locate the civil registration records. In the [https://familysearch.org/catalog-search FamilySearch catalog], municipality records will be located under the name of the municipio.
+Under the Municipality levei (Municipio), you will find civil registration records. A Municipality covers an area that may contain several towns with the headquarters usually located in the largest one. A large city may contain several Municipalities. You will need to determine the correct Municipality  in order to locate the civil registration records.
-== Church ==
+To figure out your Municipality, check the following sources:
-Church records are listed in the catalog under the city or town where the  parish is located. A parish is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction and is usually named for a Saint. A parish covers an area that may contain several towns. Usually the parish is located in the larges town in the area. A Large city may have several parishes. In Family Search, the church records have not been indexed. So you will need the location of the parish before beginning your search.
+*The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Wikipedia Spanish version of Wikipedia]
+*[https://www.google.com/maps/ Google Maps] is a great place to find towns and figure out distances between towns.
-== Place Levels (Jurisdictions) ==
-Places are usually written from smallest to largest on a family group records
+On genealogy records, places are usually written from smallest to largest with the Municipio not being listed. For example:
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arcatao, Chalatenango, El Salvador
+*City/town, Department, Country
+*Arcatao, Chalatenango, El Salvador
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;City/town, Department, Country
+The city of Arcatao is located in the Chalatenango department of El Salvador.
-when writing the localities on your family group sheet, the municipio is not listed.
+==Church==
-When you want to include the parish, which is especially important in larde cities, in your locality field you would writie it in the following manner:
+Catholic Church records are listed by city or town and then by parish. A parish is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction and is usually named for a Saint. A parish covers an area that may contain several towns and is usually located in the largest one. A Large city may contain several parishes.
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;San Juan Bautista, Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán, El Salvador
+To figure out the Catholic parish, check the following sources:
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Parish, City/town, Department, Country
+*Check a [http://www.thecatholicdirectory.com/directory.cfm?fuseaction=show_country&country=SV Catholic Church directory]. It will list the archdiocese officials and the dioceses with their parishes, so you can easily determine all nearby parishes. It may include historical information about each parish, and sometimes it provides addresses for parishes, the diocese headquarters, and the diocese archives where additional records may be kept.
-The parish of San Juan Bautista is located in the city of Cojutepeque.
+*If your ancestor lived in large city, you will need to know what parish within that city they belonged to. If you know what part of the city they lived in, that will help narrow down the possibilities. However, people sometimes attend the closest church or the one that the rest of their family attends. So you might have to check nearby parishes also.
-=== To find your localisties, see the following sources: ===
-*The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Wikipedia Spanish version of Wikipedia]
-*[https://www.google.com/maps/ Google Maps] is a great place to find towns and figure out distances between towns.
-=== To find your Catholic parish, see the following sources: ===
+*If your family lived in a very small village, you might have to check a map, church directory or gazetteer to determine the location of the parish.
-You can learn if your ancesto'rs town or city had an established parish by checking a [http://www.thecatholicdirectory.com/directory.cfm?fuseaction=show_country&country=SV Catholic Church directory]. It will list the archdiocese officials and the dioceses with their parishes, so you can easily determine all nearby parishes. It may include historical information about each parish, and sometimes it provides addresses for parishes, the diocese headquarters, and the diocese archives where additional records may be kept.
+On genealogy records, the parish is listed as the smallest unit before the city or town. For example:
-If your ancestor came from a large city that had several parishes, you will need to know what section of the city he or she lived in order to determin what parish he or she belonged to. However, in a large city suc as San Salvador, you may find that even if you know the closest parish, sometimes the family went to the cathedral or the parish of a relative in the same city for the baptism of a child. If you do not find the complete family in the home parish, search the surrounding parishes of the city.
+*Parish, City/town, Department, Country
-If your family lived in a very small village that did not have an established parish, you will need to check a map, church directory, or gazetteer to determine which nearby town had a parish.
+*San Juan Bautista, Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán, El Salvador
-== Records from FamilySearch ==
+:The parish of San Juan Bautista is located in the city of Cojutepeque, in the Cuscatlán department of El Salvador.
-Once you have identified the name and jurisdiction of the town of your ancestors you will want to check the [https://familysearch.org/catalog-search FamilySearch Catalog] and [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/location/1927124 FamilySearch Record Collections] for records about your ancestors. For more information about how to search for the FamilySearch catalog you will want to read [[Using the FamilySearch Catalog]].
+==Records from FamilySearch==
-To search the catalog, as well as indexed records and image available online from FamilySearch, you will need to visit [https://familysearch.org FamilySearch.org]. To find the record collections for El Salvador, click on Central American and choose El Salvador from the list. Finally, click on [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/location/1927124 Start researching in Venezuela].
+*The [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1821208 Civil Registration Records] have been partially indexed. You can search for your ancestor by typing in their name. Or you can also do a manual search, the records are located by department, then by municipality.
+*The [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1919582 Catholic Church Records] have not been indexed. A manual search is the only option. The records are located by department, then by parish or else by department, then by municipality, then by parish.
+*There are [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/location/1927124?region=El+Salvador a few other El Salvador records that can be searched]. Some are digitized and some are not.
-See also [[El Salvador Quick Start Guide]]
+For additional help see also [[El Salvador Quick Start Guide]]
-{{H-langs|en=El Salvador Finding Records|es=Cómo encontrar registros de sus antepasados salvodoreños}}
+[[es:Cómo encontrar registros de sus antepasados salvodoreños]]
-[[Category:El Salvador]]
+[[Category:El Salvador]][[Category:Research Tips and Strategies]]