research Digest, Vol 17, Issue 10

Hello Corrine,
Last night I went to my local FHC to view a microfilm that I had
requested, but got sidetracked when the volunteer asked if I had any
questions. The thought prompted by Tomas's earlier email regarding
relatives who immigrated to the USA to never be heard from again (my dad
actually does recall their visits back to Mexico when he was a young
child). The volunteer helped me find a great uncle who immigrated to
Wichita, Kansas during the early 1900's. I found several of his border
crossing manifests, along with his wife's. Wow, it had their birth
date, birthplace, occupation, height, age, coloring, how much money they
carried, and even an address in Wichita. I too never found a census
record for him or his family, but I plan to ask my father for more
information. I recall him saying that this couple lost some sons in
WWII, but I need to know their names first. I would love to make
contact with their descendants.
Please keep me posted on your finding. I'm totally new to this.
My experience is mostly in the arena of microfilm of Mexican records...
Thanks for sharing your story,
Irma Gomez-Lucero
N. Calif.

Message: 5
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:28:55 -0700
From: "Corrine Ardoin"
Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Border Crossing Records
To: research@nuestrosranchos.com
Message-ID:
<8d36714c0706261728x147a361fxaf8dd092fca2f733@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hi, Everyone:

I have been perusing Ancestry.com's Border Crossing Records, thanks to a
friend. I have found a wealth of previously unknown information about
my Martin del Campo ancestors through these records. Some of the
records, unfortunately, are very small on the screen. I have been able
to make them larger, in some cases, but some are not workable. I don't
know why Ancestry did it that way, but, nevertheless, I have found some
great information, some records even have photos!

For instance, my mother's family had always held to the story that her
mother, Magdalena Martin del Campo had crossed the border with her Aunt
Dolores Martin del Campo, and grandmother, Rita Robles Rivera (Martin
del Campo). Well, in the records, I found that Dolores, my great-great
Aunt Lola (photos all provided in the albums), had crossed alone in
1920, while my grandmother had crossed with her whole family, parents
and siblings, later on in 1923. When Rita Robles Rivera crossed, I
don't know, but I am beginning to think she never had, that that was
part of the originally held family belief. I have not been able to find
her in Los Angeles census records, though my mother insists she lived
there and should be on the 1930 census and had shared a house with my
Aunt Lola, but I have searched page by page in the census and have given
up, for now. My mother says she also died in Los Angeles, in 1935.

Well, since I have found these wonderful border crossing records, I
discovered a brother of Lola's, a Juan Martin del Campo, who lived in El
Paso. I also found a Alfredo Garza-Trevino in Juarez, who was an uncle
of my grandmother's, who must have been married to one of her mother's
sisters, one of the Cabral's. It has been so interesting to see their
signatures, photos, notes on identifying marks, such as scars, etc.,
their occupations, even addresses of relatives. It gave Lola's
birthplace, Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, which helps me with her brother's
birthplace, Alberto Martin del Campo, my great great grandfather whom I
only had a brithplace of "Lagos."
So, now I know it was probably Lagos de Moreno, not San Juan de los
Lagos, as I put on my ancestral chart. So, there are lots of changes
and corrections and new information to add to my chart.

I encourage everyone who hasn't done so already to check out these
records if your ancestors had crossed the border into the U.S. It is
worth the time to find out information that just might help in your area
of research, like it has for me.

*One question I do have*, if anyone might know the answer, is if you
know about the "Manifest" forms these records were kept on. How were
these used? I mean, were they held onto by the person who crossed for
whenever they crossed again, or by the immigration office? The reason I
am asking is that my grandmother's 1923 Manifest record has some very
interesting notes written on the back of it, dated 1930. It would be a
mini jackpot for me, if I could get these notations clarified. A family
story is that her and my grandfather had married, moved to Detroit, had
two children, then went to Guadalajara when my grandmother was pregnant
with my mother. My mother was supposedly born there in 1931. After a
year, they returned to Los Angeles.
I have not been able to find them in the U.S. census for 1930 anywhere.
I have not been able to find a record of my grandparent's marriage
anywhere.
I have not been able to find a record of my mother's birth anywhere.
But, lo and behold, on the back of my grandmother's initial border
crossing record, there are these notations dated by a stamp DEC 3, 1930,
giving the names and ages of the two eldest children, born in Detroit,
Michigan. They were both born before the date stamped on the back of
this Manifest record.
So, I'm wondering many things. First of all, why were these notes made
on this particular record? Are they of another time my grandmother
crossed the border *into *Mexico, just as the family story goes, when my
grandmother would definitely have been pregnant with my mother? If so,
then this would verify the family story and I would need to keep looking
for census records of them. If it is of when they crossed *back into*
the U.S., then that would change things entirely. I have not found a
border crossing record of my mother, her siblings, or her parents
crossing, except what for these mysterious notations.

So, if anyone knows how these records worked, I would really appreciate
getting this clarified.

Corrine Ardoin
With the family mystery hystery

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