Genealogy
The Spanish Hawaiian Heritage Association provides you with information and tools to assist you in finding out more about your Spanish Hawaiian ancestors and related cousins. Read below to begin exploring the possibilities.
The Spanish Hawaiian Immigrant Ship Index
This worksheet is frequently referred to more briefly as the “Ship Index”, but it is also a doorway to much more information including home towns, public family trees, images of the original manifest, and a path to finding cousins and your family history. It is an enhanced transcription of the original manifests (passenger lists) of the ships that brought our ancestors to Hawaii. After being painstakingly typed into the worksheet over ten years ago, it has undergone many reviews, corrections, and enhancements including:
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Links to images of the original ship manifests stored in Family Search
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Links to public family trees and information on Ancestry and Family Search
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Corrections to names of people, towns, and cities incorrectly written on the manifest.
The Ship Sailing Reference and Birth Year Estimator
This is a companion to the Ship Index. Because the information in the Ship index references ages and other information relevant to sailing dates, it is important to know when and from where the ships sailed to understand the journeys fully and to estimate the year of birth for any given immigrant. You can type in the age of a given immigrant, and the estimated year of birth will appear.
Understanding Spanish Surnames and How They Changed
You might feel that you know the names of your grandparents and your great-grandparents. However, if they were born in Spain, the name on the Ship Index, manifest, and/or birth documents may be different from the names you knew them by. To find Spanish-born ancestors in these documents and some family trees, you need to look at this part of the guidance we offer.
Family Trees can inspire journeys that help you discover and connect with your family history. On-line Family Tree can connect you, up close, with relatives worldwide. If you are a descendant of Spanish Hawaiian immigrants, your family tree has already been started, and the beginning is available here at the Spanish Hawaiian Heritage Association. Go to this section to learn how easy it is to discover, connect and provide your family a legacy for generations to come.
Finding cousins you don’t already know is easier than you think. You can find and contact cousins in the USA, Spain, and internationally through on-line family tree and DNA platforms, or you can go to your ancestors home town and meet them in person. Read this section for tips and hints that could put you in personal contact with your long-lost cousins. In fact, the combination of DNA and family trees is the most powerful combination of tools you can use for finding your long-lost cousins throughout the world. Your DNA matches may also have the family tree information you are looking for.