Mary and Juanita:
It is great to have you in the group and whenever you feel lost please, please ask questions… For anyone new to the group, I suggest you download the Nuestros Ranchos User Guide (Files – Reference Materials). While it is still not yet complete, it will give you a good starting point.
Mary, as Linda mentioned, your great-great grandparents are listed in the IGI and that means that you can easily order the film where their marriage is recorded and find out where they were born and what their parents’ names were. Just go to the nearest family history center and order Film 0605005.
There are also some Chalchihuites films listed in our Films section:
http://www.nuestrosranchos.org/films/Zacatecas/2007
CRUS ESPARSA
Marriages:
Spouse: MA. DE JESUS CHAVES Family
Marriage: 01 JUN 1883 San Pedro, Chalchihuites, Zacatecas, Mexico
Batch No.: M601021 Film No. 0605005
FYI Chalchihuites is named after the ruins of what is believed to be a Toltec settlement… probably a trading post for the trade routes to what is now the American Southwest. That is definitive proof that Mesoamerican civilization reached as far north as Zacatecas at some point.
Juanita:
As far as DNA tests, the ones that are valuable for genealogical purposes are Y-DNA and MtDNA tests. That is because these parts of the DNA fingerprint are immutable from generation to generation except for mutations, i.e. offspring have the same Y-DNA as their father and the same MtDNA as their mother instead of half of each as is the case with most of the DNA fingerprint.
I am not sure what they test in a paternity test for a female child as females do not get the Y chromosome from their fathers and thus cannot have a Y-DNA test done.
If your great granddaughter is your descendant through your daughter’s daughter she would have the same MtDNA as you and your mother and your mother’s mother. MtDNA mutates much more slowly that Y-DNA.
I would recommend getting the test done with Family Tree DNA either directly or through the Human Genographic project:
I have the following limited information regarding these two names. My grandfather, Manuel Chavez (DOB 2 June 1904)is the son of Enrique Chavez and Genobeba Romero. Enrique’s parents are Jacinto Chavez and Guadalupe Ruiz Esparza. All I have for Guadalupe is Father Ruiz and Mother Esparza. Enrique was born in 1868 and died in 1960. He lived and was laid to rest in Gomez Palacios which is in Durango. I have a photo of Guadalupe with her son Enrique.
Zacatecas is close to Durango, but it may be a stretch.
Henry Chavez
