As a Genealogist I always emphasize the importance of focusing your research so you do not miss important details and clues that can bring you closer to more information. How important it is to read the documents when possible and to go beyond the set of great grandparents.
One of the first things you need to know is that when you can read a document, do it! Why? Because many times the transcribed info you get from hints on the web platforms can have many errors.
For example below, my great grandfather's name was Zenen Alicea Colon and in this transcription he appears as "Senen Alicia" and there has been others where he appears even under the name "Arconio" (no wonder I could not find him for the longest time!!). When I opened the document and verified who was part of the household, it was him.
The part of reading the documents is the biggest reason I was able to uncover enough evidence that supports that my Great Grandfather's father was Lope Alicea Aponte. To gather information on my great grandfather I had to expand to his children and his siblings. Since a death record and birth record was hard to find I tracked him also through the census records. By this time because of his children and siblings' records I knew that his father was identified as Lope Alicea Aponte and Anastacia Colon Rondana. As I tracked him through the census records, 1950, 1940, 1935, 1930, 1920, I still needed the 1910 census.
Finally I found the 1910 census record, the record that sent me into the hunt of, who is my great grandfather's father and are we even supposed to be Alicea?! The 1910 census had my 2nd great grandmother Anastacia Colon as head of household. All the children I had previously identified as her children and Lope's including my great grandfather were under Montañez Colon not Alicea Colon! She was enumerated also as widowed and to top it all off my 2nd great grandfather Lopes, was enumerated as a pensioner and widowed. What was happening?!! Who is Montañez? Why are they widowed and do not appear as married to each other??
Yes this is about the time I took a moment and took deep breaths and got frustrated with my ancestors. So you see it is not just you, so you are not alone. All the records for "their children" say their parents are Lope Alicea & Anastacia Colon! Is this a case of "hijos politicos" where children are raised as someone's own children, in other words adopted. Was it possible that Anastacia while separated from her first husband was not legally divorced. but had already started a relationship with Lope? To this day I believe the latter is the possibility but I have not found a death record for her first husband.
Then the record that set my mind more at ease that I was indeed Alicea or at least more evidence pointing in that direction, was Lope & Anastacia's marriage record from 13 June 1910 less than a month after the 1910 census. In this record in the parts for extra comments, that you always need to make sure to look at it says that Lope was widow and had been married to Carmen Escribaus and that Anastacia had been married and was also widowed and had been married to Miguel Montañez and from this marriage there had been two children Francisco and Juliana.
Since then I have found the marriage records for their first marriages and have confirmed that information but have yet to find Miguel's death record which could be further evidence to confirm the children he had with Anastacia. Another record that helped even further was Lope's death record from 1916. In his death record in section number 2 it says that at the time of his death he was married to Anastacia Colon and they had 5 children, Matilde, Zenon (great grandfather), Lorenzo, Juana and Maria.
While it has taken time looking for all the records possible and still looking, by expanding to the children and grandchildren's records it has provided me with enough pieces that I can feel confident that I am still Irisneri Alicea. But this little glimpse into one of my hunts hopefully shows you the potential of information the records can give you about your ancestors and if you have been thinking about starting, hopefully this gives you a bit of hope.
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