Anyway, all this is to say that I did find a record for my Maternal Grandparents' marriage in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil. So, I thought I'd use this document to show my process for adding documents and citations to my database (which happens to be RootsMagic5).
Citation
Whenever I post an image of a document to the blog I like to cite the source so y'all know where it came from and that it is legit. I just enter in the information I know about it. I try to do this right when I find the source if I'm at home, but if I'm at the Family History Center or Library I take extensive notes so I can add it when I get home. I normally use the "footnote" version of the citation on the blog because it includes a lot more information.
File Naming and Organization
I've talked about the organization of my file structure before, so I won't go into that here. But, I will mention that I recently decided to change how I named the files themselves. I followed Calvin Knight's file naming conventions for the most part and am slowly renaming my files. So this particular file got the name:
Lima_Joao_b1925_&Lindalva_19500930_MarriageRecord_01
Transcription / Translation
I like to transcribe most documents using Microsoft Word. This way I can easily add the text to my database program and to my blog...making it easier for people to search for the names, dates, places etc found in the document image. If the document is in a foreign language then I make sure to transcribe and translate it into English. I also copy and paste the source citation onto that document as well. So, for the above Marriage Record here's what I have:
131 - João de Sousa Lima e Lindalva Ferreira da Silva
Transcription:
Aos trinta dias do mês de Setembro de mil novecentos e cinqüenta, na Matriz do Rosario, perante as testemunhas justo Lacerda Ferreira e João Cabral Batista, o Revmo Frei Inocencio ofm. assistiu ao recebimento matrimonial de João de Sousa Lima e Lindalva Ferreira da Silva, o nubente con 25 anos de idade, filho legitimo de Manuel de Sousa Lima e Hosana Maria da Conceiçao, natural e batizado em Cajazeiras, a nubente con 17 anos de idade, filha legitima de Joaquim Pedro da Silva e Ernestina Ferreira da Silva, natural e batizada em João Pessoa, residentes nesta frequezia. E, para constar, mandei fazer este fermo que assino.
(signed) Frei Jorge [Bolchaus.?] ofm. Vigário
Translation:
On the thirtieth day of the month of September of nineteen hundred and fifty, in the Mother of the Rosary, as witnessed by Lacerda Ferreira and João Cabral Batista, the Reverand Frei Inocencio [ofm.?] performed the marriage rite of João de Sousa Lima and Lindalva Ferreira da Silva, the groom with 25 years of age, legitimate son of Manuel de Sousa Lima and Hosana Maria da Conceiçao, born and baptized in Cajazeiras, the bride with 17 years of age, legitimate daughter of Joaquim Pedro da Silva e Ernestina Ferreira da Silva, born and baptized in João Pessoa, residents in this parish. And, for the record, I had this [fermo] sign.
(signed) Frei Jorge [Bolchaus.?] ofm. Vigário
I make sure to copy the transcription/translation into my RootsMagic "Detail Text" tab for this source and to add the image of the original document under the "Media" tab. (Hint: do this for the first citation you make for this document - in my case, for the marriage of Joao and Lindalva. Once I have added all the relevant transcriptions and media I can choose "Memorize" and add this exact citation to any other fact. If I want to add any comments specific to the fact, I'll go in and do that as well.)
Facts and More Facts
When adding information to my database found in the document I like to have the transcription/translation open next to my database so I can read it as I go, like in the image above. You could also print it out if you'd like. So for this particular document I was able to add this source citation to the following facts:
- Marriage - Joao de Souza Lima & Lindalva Ferreira Da Silva - date and location, as well as adding the names of the witnesses (they may come up later).
- Birth - Joao de Souza Lima - made a note that the marriage record gave the groom's age as 25 at the time of marriage which supports the birth date I have of 4 Jun 1925. It also lists the birth place.
- Relationship to parents - Joao / Manuel and Hosana. I added a note to this citation that they are listed as Joao's parent's in his marriage record. Because this "relationship" source shows up for any of the children, I wanted to specify that it only proves they are Joao's parents...not necessarily true for any of the other children. (this is an item I've requested RootsMagic look into as I'd like a better way to distinguish the relationships I'm citing)
- Birth - Lindalva Ferreira da Silva - I added a new birth fact because her marriage record states that she was 17 years old but the birth date I have from family recollection would mean she'd be 15 years old at the time of marriage. Either I have the wrong birth date or she lied on her marriage record (was there a certain age she needed to be?). Either way, I now have both facts listed in my database with their corresponding notes so as my research continues I know where these "facts" came from. (See yesterday's post about dealing with false information.)
- Relationship to parents - Lindalva / Joaquim and Ernestina.
Depending on the document you may have more or fewer facts associated with it. By citing everything you can get out of a document you can decide how true a fact is.
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