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Archiver > CUBA > 2001-04 > 0987040218


From: "humtrada.tx" <>
Subject: Re: [CUBA] Re: Birth certificate veracity
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 21:02:45 -0500
References: <200104110000.f3B00KC07520@lists5.rootsweb.com> <3AD4750F.F6C930E4@usa.alcatel.com>


Karen yes Cuban birth certificates are kine of messey, Up to 1887 the only
registry outside of Habana, was the local churches, A church in those days
cover a very large territory, a priest will make his rounds to the farms,
and baptise childrens, some times jost born, or few months later, for this
they may get a chicken,notes were taken on any piece of paper, back to the
church 2 or 3 days later, tired, and thirsty, with his pockets full of
notes,will take a couple of drinks to be able to sleep, and give the notes
to the bell ringer, to put them down in the books, My GGrandfather names
were JOSE DE JESUS DE LA LUZ peaple gave the name that they like to use, My
mother the oldest of 5 is the Gdouther of the rite name, one of my uncles,
the gson of Jose, the other is gson of Jose Luis , My ant Gduther of Luz,
this is all in the same church , also in the 1900s, how was it before when
not even telegraf was invented? Regards good luck Humberto in Dallas
----- Original Message -----
From: Karen Davis <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 10:15 AM
Subject: [CUBA] Re: Birth certificate veracity


>
>
> > Just a few observations on birth certificates from Cuba, and if I say
> > something which is not true, will someone who knows please correct me.
> >
> > Before the XX the century children were baptized, for the most part, a
few
> > days after they were born. The Civil Registry did not formally exist
yet,
> > and the baptismal cerificate was the only 'proof of birth' available.
>
> .... Most of the interesting stuff cut for brefity
>
> > Just don't trust everything you read in those certificates- if there is
a
> > discrepancy, double check! That is, if you can.....
> >
> >
>
> Silvia, you hit several nerves with me! ;-) I have at least 5
> questionable birth certificates in my possession! First, my
> grandfather was born in Habana in 1882. He has a baptismal certificate
> that appears fairly accurate, but he has a hand-written birth
> certificate that was written several years after the fact. Both
> his and his sister's births are on it, and the information is
> accurate for the most part, but it was obviously NOT written at
> the time of their births.
>
> My mother's Tampa birth certificate is almost a work of fiction; her
> name and the date are about the only things right on it. Her mother
> was very young, maybe 17 (her age was frequently lied about) and her
> father was at least 44 when she was born. (It was an arranged
> marriage.) On her birth certificate, his age was decreased by 6 years
> and my grandmother's increased by at least a year to a more acceptable
> 18. My grandmother's name is wrong, giving her maiden name as Diaz,
> because that is the name of the man my great grandmother was married
> to at the time. My grandmother's first name is misspelled as ESTELLA
> instead of ESTRELLA.
>
> On MY birth certificate my mother listed her name as Helen Teresa
> La Rosa. La Rosa was the name of her stepfather, Teresa is her
> saint name, and Helen is the anglicized form of Elena, which is her
> real name. She and I are listed as white, as there was no "Hispanic"
> designation back in the 50s. Now who would be able to connect
> Helen Teresa La Rosa with her real name, Elena Pumarada? Even Mom's
> social security number is under La Rosa!
>
> On my father's b.cert., it shows that he has a brother at the time
> of his birth. My dad is the oldest! His grandmother gave the info
> on the certificate when my dad was trying to enter the Navy, and
> so she listed his younger brother in the space asking about siblings.
> Made sense to her! I had started frantically looking for a missing
> sibling before my dad explained the circumstances surrounding his
> certificate.
>
> So, without knowing better, someone could assume that I am the
> daughter of Helen Teresa La Rosa, granddaughter of Estella Diaz
> instead of daughter of Elena Pumarada and granddaughter of Estrella
> Castillo!
>
> What a mess! Don't trust ANY one source for your information. Census
> data can be wrong, birth certificates, death certificates, etc...
> they all can bend the truth or be products of human errors.
>
> Karen Davis-Pumarada (La Rosa?)
>
>
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