Dominican Genealogy Research Help

I've been part of the genealogical research world for a very long time [I am the editor and publisher of an Italian genealogy magazine since 1998], and have spent a lot of time in Family History Centers run by the Mormons. They send teams around the world to microfilm civil and church records, and those microfilms are available for rental in any Family History Center in the world. I've been working with Dominican records for some time now, working on my husband's ancestry so our kids will have both sides of the family done.

That being said, there is a series of books called FAMILIAS DOMINICANAS written by Profesor Lic. Carlos Larrazabal Blanco published beginning in 1967. Each book details amazing information about each and every Dominican surname - alphabetically. Birth, marriages, deaths, etc. Some of the information goes back into the 1600s. Often tells where the family originated [Spain, Italy, Lebanon, etc.] Book One has surnames beginning with A & B, etc. These books are almost impossible to find.

I have only 3 of the 12. My copies cover surnames beginning with A, B, C, D, O and P. If you're Dominican and want free lookups of your surname, drop me a PM and I'll be happy to do that for you.

Does anyone else here have other volumes? I'm looking for the one covering letter "G".

If ANYONE ever comes across one of these old books anywhere, please let me know. I bought one in Santo Domingo in a used book store, and the other two came from a book store in California. There must be more floating around someplace!

Thanks,

AE

Hillbilly said:

Get in touch with Edwin Espinal...he is the young gun in Dominican geneology....I am sure you will find him in FaceBook or Google...

HB

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Well, HB, Facebook gave me 161 choices for Edwin Espinal :ermm:

I did find an e-mail address for him on Family Tree Maker so sent him off a note, thanks!

AE

bachata said:

I was interested in my roots three years ago as I was willing to apply for an European citizenship but not anymore as next year I'll be able to apply for the American.:cheeky:

JJ

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That's an interesting comment JJ. Many South Americans are in the process of obtaining citizenship in Italy, Spain, Germany etc., based on their ancestry, especially since the financial crises there. It's necessary to get all the paperwork carefully because much depends upon when the European ancestors gained citizenship of their new country. There are a lot of Dominicans who may be eligible for other citizenships if their parent, grandparent or even great-grandparent was born abroad.

When I was gathering the documentation for Italian citizenship I found out that three of my four grandparents became US citizens before my parents were born, making me ineligible [in those days you had to renounce your birth country when you became naturalized]. Only my maternal grandfather became a US citizen 6 months after my mother was born, so she had Italian citizenship at birth because her father was still an Italian citizen. I inherited that citizenship through her because I was born after 1948 [before that Italian born women were NOT Italian citizens, so my mother was legally an Italian only after that date].

Similar laws would apply for other countries.

Boring to some, fascinating possibilities for others.

AE

Hillbilly said:

I inherited that citizenship through her because I was born after 1948 [before that Italian born women were NOT Italian citizens, so my mother was legally an Italian only after that date].

Would you please clarify that??

HB

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After WWII, when they sent the Savoys packing, Italy ratified a new constitution [in 1948]. Part of it was that Italian women were finally official citizens of Italy and could vote for the first time. Until that time, they were just "there". So, after that date, children born to Italian women were also Italian citizens. Until then a child could only inherit Italian citizenship through their father [if they weren't born in Italy].

In my case, if I had been born 1947 or before, I'd have no claim to Italian citizenship, because at that time my mother was not considered an Italian citizen. [I couldn't file through my father because by the time he was born both of his parents were American citizens and had renounced their Italian citizenship.]

AE

Hillbilly said:

Get in touch with Edwin Espinal...he is the young gun in Dominican geneology....I am sure you will find him in FaceBook or Google...

HB

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Hillbilly, Edwin Espinal couldn't help me, but he forwarded my e-mail on to several other Dominican genealogists and one of them just blew my socks off. He e-mailed me my husband's tree back into 1791 Italy [Piantini] and 1794 Espana [Lapuente]. I also learned that the section/land his grandparents owned in Santo Domingo, and where he was born, was called San Carlos de Tenerife, and it was founded by/for settlers from the Canary Islands in the late 17th century. It was all farms back then - now their land includes the Children's Hospital, Centro de los Heroes, La Feria, etc. http://dominicanahoy.net/blog/2009/04/18/iglesia-de-san-carlos-de-tenerife/

Wow! Alot to absorb, many thanks for your suggestion!

AE

alvaronadalp said:

Hello AlterEgo,
The reason why I'm investigating deeper on my ancestor's information is to try and gain Italian citizenship via Jus Sanguinis for the Piantini family. I read that you even work with Italian geneaology. Is there any way you can help with information and any other thing?
I am part of the Piantini family, from Secundino's descendants.

I tried to send you a PM but it says I don't have privileges. Thanks!

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The PM privileges kick in when you have 10-12 posts. You can send e-mails [click on a person's name, then click on 'send e-mail']

Secundino Piantini Blanchard is also my husband's ancestor. His father was Jose [probably Giuseppe originally] Eugenio Piantini, born in Italy about 1791, died in San Carlos, SD in 1871; his mother was Florentina Blanchard, born in Banica, DR.

I'm sorry to tell you that you would not qualify for Italian Citizenship. The requirements are stringent. In my case, all four of my grandparents were born in Italy, but only one was still an Italian citizen when my mother was born [the other 3 were already US citizens], so I could apply through that grandfather.

Since your Italian ancestor was born about 225 years ago, it would be almost impossible for you. The first requirement would be his original [certified with an Italian seal] birth certificate, but Italy didn't begin formal birth recording until Napoleon imposed it in 1809. Before that there were primarily church records. We also do not know exactly where in Italy Jose was born, but today the Piantini surname is predominantly in Tuscany, so I would suspect they were Toscano. You would also need certified copies of every direct ancestor until you, and proof they never renounced Italian citizenship. It's a daunting task in your case.

alvaronadalp said:

Thank you AlterEgo for your quick response!

I imagined it was going to be practically impossible. I assume that if you (a geneaologist) were not able to find more info it is useless that I even try. Could you share the info from the FAMILIAS DOMINICANAS about the Piantini family for me to at least get back to my family with that?

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The Piantini family tree in Familias Dominicanas takes up 2 full pages, all descendants of Jose Piantini from Italy. If you will enable e-mails in your profile, you can send me one and I will scan the pages and e-mail them to you.

magoo said:

I have the twelve books of Familias Dominicanas, in case anyone needs information from them.

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Thank you!! Can you look up Isidro Gonzalez Martinez, actually if you could scan all the Gonzalez entries and e-mail to me I would be eternally grateful. I think the first person in that family is Juan Bautista Gonzalez [born 1700s], married to Maria Rafaela Gonzalez. I'm hoping the book goes back to them, and with any luck, further

magoo said:

I have the scanned pages you need, let me know an email to send them to you. Sorry for the delay, was on vacation.

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Thank you! I've sent you a PM with my e-mail info.

Coincidentally, today I scanned and e-mailed Piantini information to alvaronadalp.

magoo said:

Check your email.

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Well magoo, your e-mail blew my socks off. 52 pages of detailed information on Dominican Gonzalez families. I was still reading it at 10 p.m.

Filled in some missing links, and unknowingly answered a question for my husband. Found out that a man who came to help his grandmother in the 1950s was actually a relative.

My husband's grandfather killed someone. Long story short, a neighbor had pigs that he let roam anywhere; they came over to their farm and ate everything in sight. After complaining several times, abuelo got disgusted and shot the pig [or pigs, not sure] on his property, and had them delivered to the owner with the message "Here are your pigs". Not long afterwards, the owner came over to his property screaming about the pigs and saying he was going to kill the grandfather. Grandfather calmly told son to go get his muzzleloader and go back into the house. Neighbor shot at grandfather and missed him. Grandfather shot back and didn't miss. He was arrested, and had to spend every day in jail for some time, but was allowed to go home at night. [??????] He had a huge farm in Santo Domingo, along the malecon, so this man showed up and took over running it while he was in jail. Mr. AE never knew where he came from or who exactly he was, until I worked with the files magoo sent - and I asked if Miranda was a last name or a first name. Turns out he was the grandmother's uncle, and he owned the large tract of land from the other side of Independencia north to Jose Contreras. It was all originally one huge family farm in the 1800s. Mystery solved.