G2G: The sources for Yauco, Puerto Rico don't go back that far - how do I find a marriage before 1750?

Question

I'm researching my husband's family (hi it's me again) and I've hit a stumbling block.

His 7G grandfather Francisco Belasques/Velazquez/your spelling may vary was born around 1743. I know from Francisco's marriage record to Dominga Feliciano that his parents' names were Pedro Belasques and Francisca Ruiz.

I found Francisca's death record in Yauco, placing her birth year around 1715. That means that she must have married her husband Pedro between 1730 and 1745. Issue is... Yauco was founded in 1756. The records for Yauco start in 1751.

I've seen with Penuelas that even if people were living there before record keeping by the Catholic Spaniards officially began, the records for births, marriages, etc., were recorded in another nearby church. For Penuelas, that was Guayanilla and then Yauco.

For Yauco, where would that place be, to find pre-1751 records? I just went through the marriage records of San Juan, Puerto Rico and found nothing for Pedro and Francisca.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

In looking at the catalog at FamilySearch, there is only one parish that has records before the middle 1750s, and that is the church in San Juan. That does not necessarily mean that earlier records do not exist. I would suggest writing to the Archives of the Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico and ask if earlier records exist. The diocese was erected in 1511, and the first significant change to the diocese was not made until 1790. See https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsjpr.html

Answer 2

Update

According to Hijos de Coamo website, Yauco’s church was built in 1755. So you would need to check surrounding town parishes. 

I know I keep promoting these two sources a lot but for PR genealogy I cannot stress enough their importance: the SPG, Society of Puerto Rican Genealogy which has knowledge of which records exists and they often have transcriptions of entire books.

And Hijos de Coamo website, he the genealogist who runs it also will know if records exist because he has direct links to every town’s church books on family search.

You can call or write to Puerto Rico but they are very understaffed and lacking in resources. It is worth a shot but I would talk to mainland people first, meaning the sites mentioned above.

Good luck !