Finding Your Hispanic Roots by George Ryskamp

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Finding Your Hispanic Roots is quite possibly the most useful manual on Hispanic ancestry ever published. Building on the previously published Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage (1984), it provides detailed information on the records, sources, and reference works used in research in all major Hispanic countries. Starting with an examination of basic research principles and techniques, illustrated with examples from actual Hispanic research experience, it goes on to discuss such important subjects as language and handwriting, Hispanic surnames, methods of tracing Hispanic immigrants in U.S. records, and, most importantly, how to conduct Hispanic genealogical research in LDS Family History Centers, where the researcher has access to the largest body of Hispanic records in the United States.

With this foundation in place, the work proceeds with an examination of the types of records found in all Hispanic countries, using examples from many of them and indicating where particular record types are found. Covered here are such indispensable records as civil registers of births, marriages, and deaths; church records of baptisms, marriages, and burials; census records; military records; and the often under-utilized notarial records. This discussion is enriched by the introduction of numerous documents that have been transcribed and translated, allowing the reader to teach himself to read and work with old records.

George R. Ryskamp, the author, is an Assistant Professor of History at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and an Accredited Genealogist specializing in Spanish language research and United States probate and legal systems.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

"The handbook is an excellent introduction to research basics as well as a major guide to unique aspects of Hispanic genealogy...and merits a place in libraries' genealogy sections."--AMERICAN REFERENCE BOOKS ANNUAL (1997).

"It is obvious that George Ryskamp knows his subject well. For those of Hispanic descent seeking detailed information about how to research family history, Ryskamp's Finding Your Hispanic Roots is the book to consult. It has many more wonderfully detailed graphic illustrations, common-sense instructions, and references to primary sources than earlier guides. Even non-Hispanics with ancestors in areas of the United States once governed by Spain could benefit from learning how to delve into Spanish records for evidence of their forebears."--FEDERATION OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES FORUM, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 30-31.

"Finding Your Hispanic Roots is a fine example of true scholarship in any subject area, not just in genealogy. All who have Hispanic ancestry will benefit greatly from having this book as part of their permanent research collection."--NATIONAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY, Vol. 85, No. 3, p. 228.