I logged on to Google Earth, which has satellite locations of all Earth (which you can zoom in and see the actual towns, buildings, houses, and even cars and people) and it states that there are several San Sebastians in Mexico.

Zacatecas, Vera Cruz, Monterey, Jalisco, Mexico City, and Baja California Sur.

Which site do you think it is?

Jose Carlos de Leon

Dear Ann:
I think I have seen Rancho San Sabastion in some of the San Miguel Records. I will have a look this weekend, if I have some time. I have some Vasquez in my lines. I will take a look also on my spreadsheets to see if any of the names come up.

Maureen Bejar

Saludos Ann,

By your posting, I presume that the marriage record of your g-grandparents is from the Registros Parroquiales of La Inmaculada Concepcion in San Diego de Alejandria, and you may be interested in reading a small article about the history and characteristics of this Municipality (San Diego de Alejandria) via the following link:
http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/jalisco/mpios/14072a.h…

Also, I believe, because of its proximity, that the San Sebastian you seek is most likely one in the Municipality of Arandas.

I hope that these items may prove of interest, and even productive, to you.

Efrain Conrique
San Diego, California

PS: Rancho Seco also is/was located in the Municipio of Arandas. Efrain

Dear Ann:
I looked in my family file and sadly my Vasquez's are from Rancho Balverde, San Miguel, but since some of the lines I have not linked yet (so I did not enter the grandparents) I will have to look at by hand. I will do that in the coming week. I did a check on all your names and nothing came up. I did find another daughter of Emiliano Rubio and Cenorina in familysearch.org. It is Maria Teodora Rubio, baptized 4/3/1885 Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Arandas Jalisco, batch I036514. For some reason it did not give me the years and the film number on that one. I do not know why. Anyway, Cenorina is spelled Senorina in that document, so look for alternate spellings. Also on the Vasquez name, look also for Vazques, Vasquez and Basques. I will check later in the week on the San Miguel records, some of the baptisms were in the same time period of 1860 to 1895. My Matio Alviso maried a Casimira Vasques, but I did not record her parents. I will look into that also and let you know.

Ann, I too am searching for records in San Sebastian. When I first joined this site ten months ago (or longer) I gave a brief synopsis of what my friend's family had been told about the birth place of Domingo Plazola (born abt 1896), his brother, Luis, perhaps a sister who married a Vasquez, and the mother Jacinta Gonzales. I found the birth record of Luis in San Sebastian del Orest films. San Sebastian del Oreste is a former mining town up near the northern border of Jalisco and up in the mountains east of the Sea of Cortez. I am helping the son of Domingo. Although he speaks and reads Spanish, he is in his mid 70s, has poor eyesight, and doesn't have a clue about of record keeping in Jalisco. Since I speak and read Spanish based on a word by word ability, I am frustrated by my lack of skills in researching. I can't grasp the difference between ranchos, villages, and record depositories. You've given me reason to go back and try again. Thanks.

Candis Carbone
Tacoma, WA
----- Original Message -----
From: AnnValdez
To: general@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 4:33 PM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Vasquez in San Sebastian

I have not posted since my introduction when I joined a few months ago but since then I have ordered the film for my great-grandparent's marriage. They were married in San Diego De Alejandria, Jalisco. The film is very blurry and hard to read. My Spanish is also a little rusty but I was able to make out that my great-grandmother Cenorina Vasquez, daughter of Jose Eduviguez Vasquez and (it looks like) Demetina Vazquez, was from San Sabastian. I have not been able to find anything further. No baptism files, no marriage records from her parents. I don't even know where San Sebastian is. I had read an email from this group that San Sabastian was in someone's research. i can't find that email but does that someone happen to recognize these names or know where it is? Any information that anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

Ann Rubio Valdez
Sugar Land, Texas

Dear Ann:
Sadly none of the San Miguel records I have are from San Sabastian. Good luck on your search though. It is so great to make new discoveries and to learn about the culture and lives of our ancestors. You will find some records very legible and soon become used to the old style writing and the Spanish. I started with very little Spanish at all. Many of the records are set up much the same, so after a while you will start learning the words. Freetranslation.com is a big help too, but don't forget to use the accents on the letters. Remember some words in Catholic documents are not Spanish at all, but Latin as we learned from earlier posts.

Maureen Bejar

Some of the records for marriages and bauptisms were done in La Union de San Antonio Jalisco in the mid 1800's, so you might want to check there.