Cadereyta Jimenez is an important city for Mexican genealogy research in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. It is one of the earliest towns founded in this area, and many of its citizens participated in the founding of several other towns in Tamaulipas, Mexico. There have been a number of good Hispanic genealogy books of Cadereyta and its inhabitants. Guillermo Garmendia Leal’s Hispanic genealogy book ‘Orgin de los Fundadores de Cadereyta’ provides information on the founding families, their descendents, the 1712 electoral roll (census) and families that founded towns in Tamaulipas. While, Guadalupe Hinojosa Cantu’s ‘San Juan Bautista de Cadereyta’ covers the history of Cadereyta from its initial founding in 1637 and into the early 1900s. His Hispanic genealogy book includes the names of many city officials, soldier listings, locality listings and the names of the local Indian tribes. One of the best Hispanic genealogy books for ancestry research in this area is the ‘Cadereyta Church Marriage Records 1710 – 1880’ produced by SAGA (Spanish American Genealogical Association). They have also produced ‘Cadereyta Baptisms from 1825 – 1835,’ as well as, several other Hispanic genealogy books of the surrounding towns. These are all excellent Hispanic genealogy books but they’ve had to limit their scope to deal with the large spans of time their respective works involve. As a result, my studies cover shorter periods of time which allowed me the opportunity to extract more information from each genealogy record. The purpose of these Hispanic genealogy books is twofold: to provide basic facts about ones Hispanic ancestors in Cadereyta and the surrounding area and to allow one to find information quickly. Every effort was made to include all pertinent information contained in each genealogy record.
Hispanic Ancestry
My Hispanic genealogy books were written to aid those looking for Mexican ancestry in the Cadereyta Jimenez area of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The area and period covered by these Hispanic genealogy books was chosen because it is one of the earlier settlements in Nuevo Leon (1637). This period includes several very important events that shaped the lives of our Hispanic ancestors, namely, the revolution and the formation of a new nation. These events changed our ancestor’s lives and attitudes and are reflected in the basptism records as people began changing their names from the traditional Spaniard compound surnames to a single surname.
Baptism Records
The first volume covers the complete Cadereyta baptismal extractions for the years 1806 to 1815, while the second volume covers baptism records for the period 1816 to 1825. The Cadereyta baptism records generally include the following information: baptism date, race, age in days, child’s name, parents’ names, town of origin, grandparents’ names, and padrino name(s). This information was fairly consistent but did vary depending on circumstances, such as illegitimate births, adoptions, and some Indian baptisms. It should be noted, Cadereyta baptism records prior to 1807 did not include grandparents’ names. Lastly, there was an observed trend in later years to exclude race and include the name of the priest performing the baptism.
Census Records
The third volume covers the April 20, 1827, Cadereyta electoral roll (Padron) or census, reported to the Governor of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on June 15, 1827, for Cadereyta Jimenez and the municipal area. This area includes 32 surrounding haciendas, ranchos and communities. The Cadereyta census records are grouped by community and then household. Each Cadereyta census record generally includes the following information: social standing, first name, surname, marital status, although some census records may additionally include profession or education information.
