Brazilian Research: Getting Started

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Getting started with Brazilian family history research isn't difficult at all. Just follow a simple 5-step Research Process:

Step 1: Identify What You Know

To start your research, first search family and home sources.'

• Search for names as well as dates and places of important life events.
• Look for records you have close to home:
  • certificates,
  • diaries,
  • journals,
  • obituaries, etc.
• Talk with living relatives to learn additional information they might have on your ancestors.

Step 2: Decide What You Want to Learn About Your Family

Select an specific ancestor you would like to learn more about. Identify questions you want to answer about them.

• Where was he/she born?
• Were was he/she married?
• Who were his/her parents?
  

Select one question at a time to help you focus your research.

Step 3: Select Records to Search

'Most of your research will be in these two records:

• Civil Registration: Civil registrations of births, marriages, and deaths of individuals became standardized by the 1880s in Brazil. For help with using and locating civil registration records for Brazil see Brazil Civil Registration.
  
  
• Church Records: The Roman Catholic Church has long been an integral part of Brazilian society and culture. Most of your ancestors from Brazil were Catholic and were recorded in local church records called parish registers (registros paroquias). The catholic church recorded births, marriages, deaths, and burials in parish registers. Catholic parish records are some of the best in the world, stretching back hundreds of years to the earliest settlements of Brazil. For help with using and locating Catholic Church records for brazil see Brazil Church Records.
  
  

Eventually, more advanced research might use these records:

• Land and Property: Brazilian Land grants, known as sesmarias, where available contain rich genealogical information for ancestors who owned land, often containing relationship details (names of spouse, children), dates, residences, petitions, etc. While the vast majority of people weren't land owners in Brazil, these records are a valuable source for ancestors who did own land. For help with using and locating Land and Property records for Brazil see Brazil Land and Property.
  
  
• Notarial Records: Notarial records were records made out by a public notary. They include legal documents such as wills, codicils, land transactions, powers of attorney, contracts, dowry arrangements, bonds, mortgages, complaints, etc. Notarial records for Brazil date back to 1594. While they contain valuable genealogical information, they are more difficult to through, being organized chronologically by name of notary, without any indexes. For help with using nad locating notarial records for Brazil see Brazil Notarial Records.
  
  
• Military Records: Ancestors who served in the military or militias in Brazil may have been recorded in military records.
  

• Immigration/Emigration Records: Like all countries in North and South America, many immigrats came over from their countries of origin from Europe, Africa, and Asia to find a new home in Brazil. Immigration records contain information of people coming into Brazil, while Emmigration records refer to those leaving Brazil for another country.

Step 4: Obtain and Search the Record

You will usually locate the records you need in one of these ways.

1. In an online database of digitized photos, transcripts, or indexes.
2. In the microfilmed records of the FamilySearch Library.
3. By visiting or writing to a repository where the records are preserved, such as archives or libraries.
4. By visiting or writing to the church or civil office that created the original record.

Detailed help with locating records is given on the individual page for each state of Brazil in the Wiki. Click on the link to the article for your state from the Brazil Clickable Map or list of states on the Brazil Genealogy main page.

Step 5: Use the Information

• Organize your information on pedigree charts and family group records, in paper or software form.
• Prepare a research log to keep track of your completed research steps.
• Choose new questions to research.
• Choose to research newly-discovered relatives and ancestors.