Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending John Schmal’s Researching Your Mexican Roots: Following the Paper Trail at the West Los Angeles Family History Library.  In this class, I learned the highest priority items needed to start a search in Mexico.  It was a real eye opener.  I also learned a few facts about the Mexican state of Zacatecas (where my grandparents were from) and it helped in breaking down my brickwall on my grandmother. I was so very happy to have been searching some of the records on the Family Search website and found my grandparents marriage license!

This marriage license was a treasure trove of information, some that I had and it was verified and some that was new to me.  It verified that my great-grandfather, Salome Luna, had passed, but I didn’t know that he had passed before my grandparents were married.  It also verified that my grandmother’s father was Esteban Robles, but I found out that my great-grandmother, previously only known as Pabla, was actually Paula Esparza.  So I have found my maternal great-grandmother!

This information has led me to search for any event for Esteban Robles and Paula Esparza.  I found two more children that were born to an Esteban Robles and Paula Esparza.  There is a possibility that these two boys are my grandmother’s brothers.  The only way to find out is to order the film and look at their baptism certificate and see where they were born.  If it turns out to be her brothers, it will also tell me who my great-great-grandparents are as they are usually listed as well.  I will be ordering those films soon!

This is the same family that I am working on for my entry into the NGS Family History Writing contest.  Although I was able to break through my brick wall, I wasn’t able to interview as much of the 3rd generation that I had planned.  I will have to add that to next month to make up for it.  All in all, it was a spectacular weekend with a great brickwall buster to boot!!!