Salvadoran identities established
Original records for both paternal grandparents and all four paternal great-grandparents.
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Founder’s extended research project
Across countries and centuries, a family history takes shape—one record, correction and carefully qualified connection at a time.
About this example: This is the founder’s extended family-research project, developed across multiple questions and research sessions. It is not a customer testimonial or an example of everything included in one $200 investigation. A standard project investigates one focused question using accessible records; discoveries and depth vary.
Original records for both paternal grandparents and all four paternal great-grandparents.
Follow the first records →Earliest baptism index reached. The adult/child identification remains probable; parish entries were read as indexes.
Read the evidence boundary →Birth years, a birth day, an age and a professional title changed when the sources were compared.
See the corrections →A real family investigation connecting California, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Germany—with additional leads in Guatemala and colonial Central America.
Richard Aragon began with familiar family names, memories of relatives, and questions about where the Aragón surname came from. He remembered a portrait of a poet in an aunt’s home and a family tradition of Spanish origins. What he did not have was a complete, consistently sourced explanation of how those stories and people connected.
The investigation expanded into several distinct branches. It established his paternal grandparents’ original Salvadoran identities, identified all four paternal great-grandparents, followed the Quehl–Johanning branch into German records, and recovered a nineteenth-century lawyer’s certified baptism. Along the way, it corrected mistaken index entries and uncovered relationships that a surname-only search would have missed.
The oldest dated German baptism index reached was 1663. That index also names the baptized child’s father, Jobst Willmans. The connection between the adult Arnold in the later family and the child baptized in 1663 remains a probable identification, and some neighboring branches rely on published research. The result is a substantial reconstruction with visible evidence boundaries—not a claim that every link has been proved from original registers. S17 S18 S19 S20
| Finding | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Original birth and marriage evidence for both paternal grandparents | Connects relatives known in the United States to named parents and specific places in El Salvador. |
| An explicit correction linking Graciela’s birth registrations | Establishes the connection between an Alvarez birth entry and the later Quehl identity. |
| An 1883 Costa Rican estate instrument | Connects Albina Johanning, her husband Rodolfo Quehl, and the Johanning–Bertelsmann family. |
| A German branch reaching a 1663 baptism index | Extends the reconstruction into the seventeenth century while retaining the final identity qualification. |
| Eduardo’s baptism, copied and certified in 1861 | Gives his full baptismal name, 1831 birth and baptism dates, and parents Lucio Aragón and Josefa Beltrán. |
| Multiple corrected names, ages, and dates | Shows why an index or an existing online tree cannot substitute for comparison with the underlying record. |
| A clearer account of literary and migration traditions | Connects family recollections to specific people and sources without treating every remembered detail as fact. |
The first task was to connect the family Richard knew with its earlier Salvadoran records. His paternal grandfather appeared in United States records as Yohalmo Emilio Aragon or Yohalmo E. Aragon. His Salvadoran civil birth entry supplied the longer name Carlos Joaquín Yohalmo Emilio Aragón and named his parents as Emilio Aragón and Graciela Qüehl. S01
There was a serious obstacle: the birth index assigned the year 1886. A separate baptism made the correction possible. Dated March 19, 1908, it described the child as born on November 13 of the previous year. Together with the civil register’s context, it established November 13, 1907. S02
A California death index independently supplied the same birth date and the maternal surname Quehl. His signed 1943 draft registration gave San Salvador as his birthplace and placed him in San Francisco by May 1, 1943. A draft registration establishes presence and registration; it does not by itself establish an immigration date or military service. S03 S04
Richard’s paternal grandmother, known as Bertha, appeared in her original birth record as Bienvenida Ana Berta Castañeda. That record established March 22, 1910, in Santa Ana, and named Ismael Castañeda and Josefa Aragón as her parents. It resolved a conflict with a later obituary transcription that gave 1911. The registration date, March 28, was also distinguishable from the birth date. S05
Their original marriage entry, dated April 11, 1932, in Santa Ana, brought the two identifications together. It repeated their full names and parent pairs. It described Yohalmo as a mechanic and Bertha as a bookkeeper and typist. Her recorded age differed by a year from the age implied by her birth record; that discrepancy was retained rather than silently erased. S06
The 1950 census index then placed Yohalmo and Bertha with their children in Sacramento County. The household matched the family Richard recognized. This was a connection built from overlapping names, dates, parents, and family members, rather than a single attractive online-tree match. S07
The surname investigation produced an important distinction between a surname line and a father-to-son line.
Yohalmo’s father was Jorge Emilio Aragón, born in Santa Ana on October 18, 1886. His original birth entry named María Aragón as his mother and did not name a father. The index misread the day as October 8; the handwritten record supplied eighteen. S08
Jorge Emilio’s March 1907 marriage to Ana María Graciela Quehl also named María. A later church marriage, to Francisca Melara in 1934, named his father as Napoleón Fernando Lara and rendered his mother’s name as Mariana Aragón Gutiérrez. The differences between María, Mariana, and the further name María Josefa found in an online tree remain an identity question. They are not interchangeable full names simply because the same profile contains them. S09 S10
His death entry supplied a particularly personal connection: Yohalmo Aragón reported the death, was explicitly identified as his son, and signed the record. The entry recorded Emilio’s death on November 13, 1934. Its wife, mother, age, and Santa Ana origin corroborated the link to the earlier records. S11
The Aragón surname therefore follows María → Jorge Emilio → Yohalmo → Richard’s father → Richard in this reconstruction. The paternal branch behind Emilio follows Lara. Tracing only fathers would have missed the route by which the Aragón name reached the present family.
Graciela’s original 1884 birth entry called her Ana Graciela, daughter of Agustina Alvarez. Her later records used Ana María Graciela Quehl. Similar names alone would not have been enough to combine those entries. S12
The decisive evidence was an amendment that explicitly referred back to birth entry 328, registered October 18, 1884. It named Jorge Rodolfo Quehl and Agustina Alvarez as her parents. The cross-reference connected the earlier registration with her acknowledged paternal identity. S13
Some year readings in the amendment remain difficult to reconcile, but the original birth and the amendment’s explicit reference support June 23, 1884 as her birth date. A separate surname question also remains: Graciela’s 1907 marriage called her mother Agustina Herrera. The research preserves Alvarez/Herrera as a conflict to investigate; it does not invent a proved combined surname. S09 S12 S13
Jorge Rodolfo’s own marriage certificate and death record both identified his parents as Rodolfo Quehl and Albina Johanning and described him as originally from Costa Rica. Their reported ages point to a birth around 1854–1855. These records provide firmer support than a shared-tree assertion of a Salvadoran birthplace or a precise unverified birth date. S14 S15
His 1888 marriage was to Dolores Trujillo. She must not be substituted for Agustina as Graciela’s mother. Different relationships in one person’s life need to remain separate in a family tree.
The strongest international connection came from a contemporary 1883 Costa Rican estate-sale instrument. It named Federica Augusta Albina Johaning y Bertelsmann, married to Rodolfo Quehl, an engineer described as German-born and resident in El Salvador. S16
The instrument concerned the estates of Carlos Enrique Johaning and Augusta Cristina Bertelsmann y Bertelsmann. A separate archival catalog and a German published family account supplied the parent-child interpretation of the succession group. The inspected estate page should not be described as though it explicitly called every successor a child. S16 S18 S21
The combination of Albina’s fuller name, spouse, family names, and associated relatives strongly supported her identification with Alwine Johanning, described in the German family account as married to Quehl, an engineer in San Salvador. The German and Spanish name forms could now be evaluated together. S18
The spelling Johaning, with one n in the middle, proved useful in finding the material. A later correction recorded the Johanning spelling. This was a practical example of searching historical variants rather than assuming modern spelling would retrieve every record. S16
The same instrument also changed the chronology. Rodolfo was described as over 56 in 1883, pointing to a birth before approximately 1827 and conflicting with a later online-tree date of 1835. The document’s precise January date contains an unresolved inconsistency, so the case study cites it as 1883. Its family evidence does not require pretending that every part of the instrument has already been resolved.
The German extension used historical baptism and marriage indexes, printed genealogical research, and an archival collection description. The German parish originals were unavailable in the research sessions recorded in the log. An index is evidence, but it remains vulnerable to omissions and transcription errors.
The principal route runs through the following people. The table starts with the older family and moves toward Richard’s Salvadoran grandparents. S17 S18 S19 S20
| Person or couple | Evidence recovered | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Jobst Willmans | Named as father in Arnold’s 1663 baptism index | Jobst’s own birth and parentage remain unknown. |
| Arnold Willmans | Baptism indexed April 3, 1663; a later Arnold married in 1691 | Identifying the later adult with the baptized child remains probable. |
| Catharina Margareta Willmanns | Baptism indexed March 11, 1700, naming father Arnold; marriage indexed in 1722 | No mother is listed in the inspected baptism index. |
| Johann Heinrich Bertelsmann and Catharina Margareta Willmanns | Marriage index and their son’s baptism | Older parentage on Johann Heinrich’s side has a separate published-source limitation. |
| Johann Carl Bertelsmann | Baptism indexed September 30, 1723 | Parents named in the index. |
| Johann Carl and Catharina Elisabeth Fuhrmann | Named as parents in Christoph Arnold’s baptism | Corroborated by a Bielefeld archive description. |
| Christoph Arnold Bertelsmann | Baptism indexed December 9, 1763 | Original parish image not inspected. |
| Christine Auguste Bertelsmann | Baptism indexed April 13, 1808 | Mother named Justine Friederike; other sources use differing names. |
| Christine Auguste and Carl Heinrich Johanning | Marriage indexed in 1830 | Connected to Albina through the combined estate and family-account evidence. |
| Federica Augusta Albina / Alwine Johanning and Rodolfo Quehl | Costa Rican and Salvadoran records, corroborated by German family research | Strongly supported identity across name forms. |
| Jorge Rodolfo Quehl → Graciela Quehl → Yohalmo Aragón | Original civil and church records | The documented route back to Richard’s paternal grandfather. |
This is eleven parent-child steps from Richard to Jobst on the reconstructed route. The relationship labels “eighth-great-grandfather” for Arnold and “ninth-great-grandfather” for Jobst inherit the uncertainty in the final Arnold identification. They should not be shortened into “eleven generations fully proved.”
Two other German branches matter. Carl Heinrich Johanning’s 1806 baptism index names Philip Henrich Adolph Johanning and Maria Dorothea Ebmeier as his parents. A 1696 marriage index establishes the couple Johann Balduin Bertelsmann and Margretha Illsabein Feuerberg, but Johann Heinrich’s parent-child link to that couple rests on published reconstruction rather than his own recovered parent-naming record. Agneta Varendorff, given as Jobst’s wife and Arnold’s mother in published research, is likewise a published lead; she is absent from the inspected 1663 index. S17 S19
Other published Fuhrmann leads reach into the 1500s. They are retained in the research ledger as future work, not attached as established ancestors. Nor does the Bertelsmann surname alone establish a relationship to a modern business or a particular famous person.
Bertha’s side of the family added another Aragón line. Her mother, Josefa Aragón, died in 1916. The original death entry named her husband Ismael Castañeda and her parents Eduardo Aragón and Ramona Hernández. The couple and neighborhood matched Bertha’s birth record, making a strong identification. S22
There is also a physician named Ismael Castañeda in a 1946 death record. That record gives parents Juan Castañeda and María Chacón and identifies a different wife, Concepción Cienfuegos. The occupation is interesting because Bertha’s marriage gives her father the title doctor. However, the wife and other identity differences are unresolved. The physician’s parents cannot yet be added to Richard’s established ancestry. S23
The Eduardo named as Josefa’s father is kept separate from the Eduardo associated with Josefa Gutiérrez on María’s branch. Matching names on both sides of a marriage are a reason to investigate possible kinship, not proof of a common ancestor. The study does not claim that Yohalmo and Bertha were cousins or establish any degree of relationship.
A 1949 death record for María V. de Aragón named Eduardo Aragón and Josefa Gutiérrez as her parents. The informant was Nydia Aragón, explicitly described as her granddaughter. S24
A separate birth record for Cristina Nydia named Francisca Melara as her mother and recorded Jorge Emilio Aragón’s declaration of paternity and signature. The combination provides strong support for identifying the 1949 decedent with Emilio’s mother. Nevertheless, the shortened informant name and variations in María’s own name leave a residual identity question. S25
The next question was whether María’s father was the man styled Doctor Don Eduardo Aragón, who died in Santa Ana on January 3, 1885. His original death entry identifies him as a widower of Josefa Gutierres, originally from San Miguel, and a legitimate son of Lucio Aragón and Josefa Beltrán. It explicitly gives his occupation as abogado: lawyer. The title Doctor must not be interpreted as evidence that he practiced medicine. S26
A later discovery supplied the baptismal identity José Paulino Antonio Eduardo Aragón. A certificate made by priest Santiago Palacios in San Miguel on June 18, 1861 copied an entry from the 1831–1832 baptism book. It recorded his birth on June 22, 1831, baptism on July 14, parents Lucio Aragón and Josefa Beltrán, and godfather Fernando Ávila Echegoyen. The birth year is assigned from the certificate’s book context and the established research interpretation; the copied entry itself gives the day and month. S27
That birth date also fits the 53 years reported at Eduardo’s January 1885 death. The certificate is a historical certified copy preserved in a later file, not a photograph of the original 1831 parish-book page. Its discovery shows why marriage-investigation files can contain records from much earlier in a person’s life.
The connection from this Eduardo to his parents is explicit. His placement as María’s father in Richard’s pedigree remains a strongly supported but qualified identity conclusion. Establishing Eduardo’s parents does not automatically settle the preceding María identification.
The associated papers preserve Josefa Gutiérrez’s December 4, 1861 deposition in Jucuapa. She described herself as unmarried, about thirty, born in that parish, and a daughter of Joaquín Gutiérrez and Josefa Lemus, both deceased. She named Eduardo Aragón as the man she wished to marry. The essential parent names and intended spouse were checked against the recovered manuscript image for this case study. S28
This gives her own account of her parentage, supplementing a later death index with the same parent pair and husband. The deposition also refers to her brother, priest Miguel Gutiérrez, and previous stays in other Salvadoran towns. It supplies family and locality leads; it is not itself the completed marriage entry. S28 S29
Joaquín Gutiérrez and Josefa Lemus therefore belong in the expanded research tree behind Josefa, with Richard’s descent still inheriting the unresolved María–Eduardo connection. The brother Miguel belongs in the collateral family, not the direct ancestral line.
The work did not stop with one parent pair in Eduardo’s record. It searched for the couple’s other children and later appearances, including the fuller maternal name Josefa Eduviges Beltrán in the La Merced baptisms. S30 S31
The recovered research identifies the following children or sibling candidates:
| Child | Record or event | Evidence position |
|---|---|---|
| Rafaela, with additional baptismal names | Born October 30, 1815; baptism October 31 | Later research checkpoint; the recovered page begins the entry but its continuation must accompany a full transcription. |
| Juana Manuela | Baptism recorded September 5, 1817 | Recovered parish export names Lucio and Josefa; exact transcription should be compared with the original before quotation. |
| Petrona Francisca Vicenta | Birth and baptism July 24, 1819 | Historical baptism copy recovered in her marriage papers; later marriage and death also name the parents. |
| Ana Paula Estebana | Birth and baptism August 3, 1820 | Original inspected in the earlier research; both parents and Eduviges named. |
| Juana Ramona de Jesús María y José | Birth and baptism September 1, 1821 | Original inspected in the earlier research; both parents named. |
| Melecia | Death August 18, 1900, aged 74; originally from San Miguel | Original names the same parents; strong sibling correlation. |
| José Paulino Antonio Eduardo | Birth June 22, 1831; baptism July 14 | Certified baptism copy and later death agree on the parents. |
Melecia’s record supplied another instructive correction. Her age had been indexed as 24, but the handwritten word ran across a page break and read 74. The correction moved her approximate birth back by fifty years and made her position alongside Eduardo’s family chronologically plausible. S32
Petrona’s marriage investigation also recorded several places where she had lived. Those places form a research trail, not a proven ordered itinerary for the entire family. A Spanish-born witness in those papers must not be mistaken for a Spanish-born ancestor. S36
A Lucio Aragón who died on January 31, 1871, aged 86 and married to Josefa Beltrán, is a strong match for this household. His age implies an approximate birth in 1784–1785, not an exact birth date. That record names neither his parents nor his birthplace. S37
Later research checkpoints also reported Lucio in a named ceremonial role, Rey de Armas, in San Salvador in 1812. That finding is retained as reported prior research; its archival citation still needs to be reunited with this package. It is not used here to claim nobility, Spanish birth, or a parent-child connection. S40
The remembered portrait led to a family-authored blog that named Yohalmo and other relatives. It described Jorge Emilio Aragón as a writer and connected him with Napoleón F. Lara and Joaquín Aragón. The matching relatives make the account relevant, but family recollections still require comparison with contemporary sources. For example, the original death record establishes Emilio’s death in 1934, despite a later family-page date of 1936. S11 S38
An 1886 literary anthology, Guirnalda salvadoreña, contained biographies of Napoleón and Joaquín. The earlier research read the digitized text rather than the printed page images, so precise biographical details retain that transcription qualification. S39
The biography described Napoleón as born in San Miguel in 1861 to Sebastián Lara and Agustina Hernández. Those parents matched a 1914 Guatemalan death entry for a Napoleón Lara associated with Santa Ana. The match strengthens the proposed earlier Lara generation, although that death entry does not name Emilio or include the additional given name Fernando. S39 S42
Joaquín’s biography named Doctor Eduardo Aragón and Josefa Gutiérrez as his parents. The family account identifies him as María’s brother and therefore Emilio’s uncle. The biography independently supports Joaquín’s parent pair; the sibling link to María depends on the family account and wider reconstruction. He is a collateral relative in this proposed branch, not Richard’s direct ancestor. S38 S39
The literary material helps explain why a poet’s portrait would matter to the family. It does not identify the portrait’s subject. The available accounts place these poets’ births in El Salvador; the remembered Spanish birthplace has not been established.
The latest research checkpoints identified a Santa Ana family in a 1766 notarial extract: Joseph Felipe de Aragón, his mother Damiana Valenzuela, and his brother Manuel Antonio Aragón. The extract does not name the brothers’ father. S41
Another checkpoint reported historian Christophe Belaubre’s citation of a 1784 dispute involving an indigo shipment, in which a Manuel Antonio Aragón appeared as a fiador, or guarantor. The archival reference is AGCA, A1.15 (3), Legajo 140, Expediente 1052. S41
These are promising leads for reconstructing a Santa Ana Aragón family and its commercial connections. Two separate questions remain: whether the Manuel Antonio in 1766 and the man named in 1784 are the same person, and whether either brother connects to Lucio. The family is preserved as an unconnected research group. No line is drawn from it to Richard’s ancestry.
The full family reconstruction also retains Richard’s maternal Jacobs branch and the Browning surname lead. That side remains much less developed than the paternal branches. A limited branch is still part of a full research inventory; it should neither disappear from the case study nor be filled with guessed ancestors.
Collateral records helped identify the United States household. Richard’s uncle Maurice Edward Aragon and aunt Norma Grace Aragon, later Frei, appear in federal records connecting them to Yohalmo and Bertha. Other relatives and family testimony provided leads about the poet’s portrait and the household. Living or potentially living relatives’ full dates and personal documents are omitted from the public presentation. S43 S44
The research also retained unresolved sibling and cousin leads rather than silently promoting them into the main tree. A useful genealogy records both what has been learned and exactly where the next question begins.
| Initial problem | Evidence that changed the interpretation |
|---|---|
| Yohalmo’s birth indexed as 1886 | His 1908 baptism states that he was born in November of the previous year: 1907. |
| Bertha’s later birth year reported as 1911 | Her original birth entry establishes March 22, 1910. |
| Jorge Emilio’s birthday indexed as October 8 | The original entry reads October 18. |
| Graciela appeared under Alvarez and Quehl | A record amendment explicitly refers back to the earlier birth entry. |
| Nydia’s birth indexed with incompatible day and year | Her original registration establishes December 15, 1921 and names Emilio as father. |
| Melecia’s age indexed as 24 | The word spanning two pages reads 74. |
| “Doctor Eduardo” interpreted as a physician | The original death entry explicitly says lawyer. |
| Two men named Eduardo Aragón appeared in different branches | They were retained as separate identities pending evidence. |
| A later tradition proposed different parents for Eduardo | His death and certified baptism name Lucio Aragón and Josefa Beltrán. |
These corrections are part of the research result. They show why apparently precise dates and familiar names can still require investigation.
The research combined information supplied by Richard with civil registrations, parish entries, marriage-investigation files, a draft registration, census and federal indexes, notarial material, archival descriptions, and published family and literary accounts.
AI-assisted tools helped search variant spellings, organize names and dates, work through transcriptions, compare possible identities, and identify useful next records. Conclusions were tied to the evidence actually recovered. Indexes and automated transcriptions were checked against originals where access permitted, and the research record distinguished those checks from cases where only an index or published account was available.
The case illustrates the value of comparison across sources. It is not a controlled performance benchmark and does not establish an exact number of hours saved, a cost saving against a quoted alternative, or a guaranteed depth for future projects.
The next work is specific: settle María’s full identity and the link to Doctor Eduardo; locate Lucio and Josefa Beltrán’s own marriage or parent-naming records; test the Santa Ana Aragón group; obtain the German parish originals behind the oldest indexes; resolve the Ismael Castañeda identities; and extend the Jacobs–Browning branch with source-backed records.
The family’s connection to Germany is substantially supported. The separate question of a documented Aragón migration from Spain remains open. Neither an honorific nor the absence of an easily found baptism establishes a birthplace.
Perhaps you want to identify a great-grandparent’s parents, connect a family member across two countries, or understand why two records disagree. A focused investigation can explain what the surviving evidence supports and what to pursue next.
One defined question. Accessible historical records. A written, source-cited report with evidence assessment and next steps. Research cannot guarantee a particular discovery.
Explore the evidence, one connection at a time
Choose a branch, then a person. Separate identity records stay separate. The list below the explorer provides every person and relationship without needing the interactive view.
Selected person / identity record
Research subject; personal birth details omitted
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S45
Click either name to follow its connections. The diagram uses a readable local view rather than shrinking the entire family onto one screen. There is no scroll capture or zoom required. 69 person/identity records include relatives, candidates and separate possible identities—not 69 proved ancestors.
A text alternative to the explorer. Every identity remains distinct, including unconnected candidates. Expand any name for notes, qualifications and source citations.
Research subject; personal birth details omitted
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S45
Father; personal birth details omitted
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Mother; personal birth details omitted
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S45
Maternal grandmother surname lead; given name not established
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S45
1907–1988; San Salvador → California
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Bertha; 1910–1995; Santa Ana → Yuma
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
1934–1980; federal records contain earlier 1932 discrepancy
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S43
1935–2003
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S44
Family-confirmed aunt; dates omitted
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Gladys’s husband; family testimony and obituary in private log
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S45
1886–1934; Santa Ana; surname inherited through María
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Born 1884; mother Alvarez/Herrera conflict retained
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Also Mariana in 1934; full name unresolved
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Named as Emilio’s father in 1934
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S10
Probable match to Emilio’s father; no Fernando or son named
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Parents supported for 1914 decedent; Richard connection conditional
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S42
Parents supported for 1914 decedent; Richard connection conditional
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S42
c.1854/55–1933; Costa Rica → El Salvador
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Different surnames in daughter’s birth and marriage; do not invent compound
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Jorge Rodolfo’s 1888 bride; not Graciela’s mother
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S14
Dolores’s mother
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S14
Engineer; German-born; over 56 in 1883; own parents unknown
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S16
Strong combined cross-country identification
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Died 1925; Costa Rica origin; parents corroborate family
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S46
Baptism indexed 1806, Herford; Carlos Enrique name form in Costa Rica
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Baptism indexed 1808; Augusta Cristina form in Costa Rica
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Named in Carl’s 1806 baptism index
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S17
Named in Carl’s 1806 baptism index
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S17
Baptism indexed 1763
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Other sources: Amalie Friederike; name/birth-year differences unresolved
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Baptism indexed 1723
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Named in Christoph’s baptism; older branch unverified
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Marriage indexed 1722
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S17
Baptism indexed 1700; father Arnold, no mother listed
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S17
Marriage indexed 1696; Heinrich parentage published lead
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Marriage indexed 1696; Heinrich parentage published lead
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
1691 marriage associated through published reconstruction
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Baptized 3 April 1663; probable same person as later father
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S17
1691 spouse; daughter’s 1700 index does not name mother
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Named in 1663 index; own birth unknown
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S17
Published lead; absent from 1663 index
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S19
Bertha’s father; do not merge with 1946 physician without bridge
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
c.1865/66–1916; Ismael’s wife
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S22
Father of Josefa Aragón; separate identity
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S22
Mother of Josefa Aragón
On the reconstructed ancestral route. Read the cited evidence types; supported does not mean every original record was inspected.
Sources: S22
Strong probable match to Emilio’s mother; granddaughter Nydia informant
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S24
Named in 1949 death; probable identification with lawyer
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S24
Eduardo’s spouse; 1861 deposition names parents; María route conditional
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
1831–1885; lawyer; certified baptism and death name parents
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Eduardo’s father; own parents and birthplace unresolved
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Eduardo’s mother; fuller name in daughters’ baptisms
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Named by daughter Josefa in 1861
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S28
Named by daughter Josefa in 1861
Conditional ancestral route: the connection to Richard crosses an uncertain identity or a published/checkpoint lead. Supported relationships farther back do not remove that uncertainty.
Sources: S28
Priest; Josefa names him as brother
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S28
1815 baptism; mother’s continuation not included in recovered page
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S33
1817 baptism export; fresh full handwriting check pending
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S34
1819 baptism copy; later spouse Joaquín Medina
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Born/baptized 3 August 1820
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S30
Born/baptized 1 September 1821
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S31
Died 1900 aged 74; strong sibling correlation
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S32
Petrona’s spouse, marriage indexed 1858
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S36
Emilio’s later partner and wife; not Yohalmo’s mother
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Francisca’s mother
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S10
Born 1921; probable same Nydia as 1949 informant
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S25
Poet; 1863 Jucuapa birth in contemporary biography OCR; María sibling per family testimony
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
1766 Santa Ana family; no proved connection to Lucio
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S41
1766 Santa Ana; no proved connection to Lucio
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S41
Brother of Joseph Felipe in published extract
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S41
Fiador in cited indigo dispute; identity with 1766 man unproved
Collateral person or separate research lead; no direct ancestral route to Richard is established in this dataset.
Sources: S41
The source apparatus
The supplied research register distinguishes originals examined during earlier research, indexes, published accounts, and checkpoint-only findings. Selected exports were re-examined for the supplied compilation; this page does not claim that every linked original was freshly rechecked. Links may require an account or have access restrictions. References without a recovered URL remain candidly labeled checkpoints or family-supplied information.
Birth 13 November 1907; parents Emilio Aragón and Graciela Qüehl. The associated index misassigns 1886.
Birth on November 13 of the previous year independently resolves 1907.
13 November 1907–22 February 1988; maternal surname Quehl. No original death certificate inspected.
San Salvador birth; presence in San Francisco; occupation ship scaler; Raquel Gomez Christiansen named as cousin. Does not establish immigration date or military service.
Born 22 March, registered 28 March; parents Ismael Castañeda and Josefa Aragón.
Both full names and parent pairs; occupations mechanic, bookkeeper and typist. Bertha age 21 conflicts with contemporary birth.
Yohalmo, Bertha, Maurice, Grace, Gladys, Rudy. Original image not inspected in the log.
Born 18 October; registered 5 November; mother María Aragón; no father named.
María Aragón; bride parents Rodolfo Quehl and Agustina Herrera. Continuation onto following page not inspected.
Parents Napoleón Fernando Lara and Mariana Aragón Gutiérrez; bride mother Pilar Melara. Exact ceremony day needs further comparison.
Yohalmo explicitly son and informant; mother María; spouse Francisca.
Born 23 June 1884; mother Agustina Alvarez; registered 18 October.
Explicitly reforms entry 328 of 18 October 1884. Parents Jorge Rodolfo Quehl and Agustina Alvarez. Year readings in amendment remain disputed.
Ceremony 20 October; certificate headed 24 October. Groom 33, Costa Rica origin; parents Rodolfo Quehl and Albina Johanning; bride mother Cirila Trujillo.
Age 78; Costa Rica origin; parents Rodolfo and Albina; spouse Dolores Trujillo; son Jorge informant.
Pages 85–86 handwriting inspected. Pages 88–89 text only. Exact January date inconsistent. Albina and Rodolfo identified; do not claim full probate dossier read. Additional page: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS59-G9QM-V; correction: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS59-GNGK
Original images unavailable during research. All event dates remain baptism/marriage dates, not automatically birth dates.
Alwine married Quehl; matching siblings/spouses support Albina identification. Mother naming and birth-year differences retained.
Arnold adult-child identification; cites Deutsches Geschlechterbuch 82 (1934), pp. 526–527. Jobst/Agneta: https://www.heidermanns.net/gen-pers.php?ID=85325-85326 ; Heinrich parents: https://www.heidermanns.net/gen-pers.php?ID=70805 . Underlying sources not all inspected.
Corroborates Johann Carl, Catharina Elisabeth Fuhrmann, and Christoph Arnold. Description is not original family papers.
Catalog child list; underlying probate not inspected. Distinct from inspected estate-sale instrument S16.
Registered 9 July; age 50; spouse Ismael Castañeda; parents Eduardo Aragón and Ramona Hernández. Origin conflicts with description in Bertha birth.
Identity with Bertha father not proved. 1946 spouse Concepción Cienfuegos; parents Juan and María Chacón. 1902 marriage: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GT5X-VH3 names María Josefa Hernández, mother Romana Hernández. Do not merge.
80 years six months; Jucuapa origin; parents Eduardo Aragón and Josefa Gutiérrez; granddaughter Nydia informant. Identification with Emilio mother strongly supported, qualified.
Francisca Melara mother; Jorge Emilio declares paternity and signs 21 December. Index date error.
Lawyer, 53, widower Josefa Gutierres, San Miguel origin, parents Lucio Aragón and Josefa Beltrán. Original supplied earlier as Transcript.pdf.
Transcript (10).pdf manuscript visually reopened 7 September. Book begins 1831 and ends 1832; first folio and reverse. Birth 22 June; baptism 14 July; 1831 assignment from context/prior analysis. José Paulino Antonio Eduardo; Lucio Aragón and Josefa Beltrán; Fernando Ávila Echegoyen. Not original 1831 register page.
Transcript (15).pdf visually reopened 7 September for essential parent names, intended spouse, age and parish origin. Joaquín Gutiérrez and Josefa Lemus; Eduardo Aragón; brother Miguel a priest. Not proof that marriage occurred on deposition date.
Age 52; parents Joaquín Gutiérrez and Josefa Lémus; spouse Eduardo Aragón. Original not inspected in log.
Born same day; Lucio Aragón and Josefa Eduviges Beltrán; residence, not parents birthplaces.
Born same day; Lucio Aragón and Josefa Eduviges Beltrán; no grandparents.
74 rather than indexed 24; parents Lucio Aragón and Josefa Beltrán; San Miguel origin.
Transcript (42).pdf begins record and names Lucio; mother continues beyond recovered page. Prior checkpoint identifies the couple. Do not treat incomplete page as full parentage transcription.
Transcript (26).pdf text names Lucio and Josefa; fresh full manuscript transcription not completed.
Transcript (36).pdf text re-read 7 September. Duplicate export Transcript (21).pdf is same image, not independent evidence. Birth and baptism same day; parent pair; colonial españoles label does not establish Spanish birthplace.
Marriage indexed 19 February 1858. Investigation https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R3J-9J2M and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GR3J-9J18 read through transcription in log. Spanish birth belongs to witness. Death https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GT5Q-3RP original: 20 September 1893, registered 21 September, age 72.
86; spouse Josefa Beltrán. Strong identity match to Eduardo father; no parents, birthplace, children or family informant in short entry.
Named Yohalmo and partners connect account to family. Other relevant posts /2009/07/aqui-empieza-todo.html ; /2009/07/napoleon-f-lara.html ; /2009/07/maria_18.html . Recollections conflict on dates and earlier Eduardo ancestry; not independent proof of all links.
Napoleón biography: 20 December 1861, San Miguel, parents Sebastián Lara and Agustina Hernández. Joaquín: 27 January 1863, Jucuapa, parents Doctor Eduardo and Josefa Gutiérrez. Original printed pages not checked in log; exact quotations not supplied.
Prior research checkpoint — source URL not recovered.
Conversation reports six-page University of Cádiz archival certification inspected and Lucio named a Rey de Armas. Full archival locator and document not recovered for this package. Retain as reported finding; do not fabricate citation or use as direct parentage proof.
Prior research checkpoint — source URL not recovered.
1766 published notarial extract: Joseph Felipe acts for himself, mother Damiana Valenzuela, brother Manuel Antonio. Exact publication/page not recovered. 1784: Christophe Belaubre cites AGCA A1.15 (3), Legajo 140, Expediente 1052, Rosaría Collado and sisters versus Félix Mir over twelve tercios de tinta; Manuel Antonio as fiador. No original expediente inspection claimed. No proved link to Lucio; same-Manuel identity unresolved.
52, associated with Santa Ana; parents Sebastián Lara and Agustina Hernández. No Fernando, wife name or Emilio. Literary biography strengthens but does not erase qualification.
1934–1980; US Army Private, Korean War era. Does not establish deployment to Korea. NARA 1932/1934 application birth-year conflict preserved in private log.
Parents Yohalmo and Bertha Castañeda; 1935–2003; name variants linked in agency records. Public page should not reproduce federal identifiers.
Family-supplied reference; private documents are not published.
Attached full tree through 5 September 2026; underlying starting records summarized in private log. Richard, Rudy, Carol Leslie Jacobs; maternal Browning lead, no established given name. Do not publish exact living dates or private certificate.
Costa Rican origin; parents Rodolfo Quehl and Albina Johanning; corroborates sibling family. Registered 13 April, not death date.
Indexed 1867; parents Eduardo and Josefa. Identity with Emilio mother unproved; conflict with age-derived circa 1868 birth requires original. Do not infer exact birth from confirmation.
Theophil Christoph (1696), Theophil (1665), Stephan (1616), Arnold (about 1585) are unverified upstream leads; not connected to proved tree.
These ten records were examined as indexes. Original parish images were unavailable in the recorded research. Baptism dates are not automatically birth dates.
| Person or couple | Event / date | Place | Named relatives / qualification | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Henrich Johanning ↗ | baptism 1806-04-30 | Sankt Jakobi, Herford | Philip Henrich Adolph Johanning; Maria Dorothea Ebmeier | Index only |
| Carl Heinrich Johanning + Christine Auguste Bertelsmann ↗ | marriage 1830 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | spouses | Index only |
| Christine Auguste Bertelsmann ↗ | baptism 1808-04-13 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | Christoph Arnold Bertelsmann; Justine Friederike Bertelsmann | Index only |
| Christoph Arnold Bertelsmann ↗ | baptism 1763-12-09 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | Johann Carl Bertelsmann; Catharina Elisabeth Fuhrmann | Index only |
| Johann Carl Bertelsmann ↗ | baptism 1723-09-30 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | Johann Heinrich Bertelsmann; Catharina Margareta Willmanns | Index only |
| Johann Heinrich Bertelsmann + Catharina Margareta Willmanns ↗ | marriage 1722 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | spouses | Index only |
| Catharina Margareta Willmanns ↗ | baptism 1700-03-11 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | Arnold Willmanns; no mother listed | Index only |
| Arnold Willmans + Cathrina Margretha Dehlskamps ↗ | marriage 1691 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | spouses; Dehlskamp may be former married surname | Index only |
| Arnold Willmans ↗ | baptism 1663-04-03 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | Jobst Willmans; no mother listed | Index only |
| Johann Balduin Bertelsmann + Margretha Illsabein Feuerberg ↗ | marriage 1696 | Bielefeld-Altstadt | spouses; not proof of Heinrich parentage | Index only |
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