Be Sure to Visit my new 1900 Galveston Storm Website at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootseb.com/~barnette 

CUBA ONCE HAVEN OF CARRIBEAN

 During the night of October 27 and the morning of October 28, 1492 Christopher Columbus and his crew sighted the Island of Cuba and claimed it in the name of the Spanish Crown. In 1592 La Habana, today's Havana, was elevated from the status of a villa (village or town) to the status of a city.

 Aside from Spanish immigrants, slaves from Africa were imported as early as 1513. It was not until about 1592, however, when sugar and tobacco became important to the economy that large numbers of slaves were imported into the island. The legal importation of slaves into Cuba ended in 1834, but, illegal importation and the institution of slavery continued until slavery was abolished in 1886.

 In August 1762, during the French and Indian War or the Seven Years War, as it was called in Europe, the British invaded Cuba and ruled it until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles July 6, 1763. In the treaty Cuba was returned to the Spanish and Florida was given to the British. As the British took possession of Florida many of the French and Spanish of that area moved  to Cuba.

 In 1779 thousands of French fled Haiti due to an island wide slave uprising and revolt. Many of those fleeing Haiti went to Cuba. Also, in 1802 when President Thomas Jefferson bought a large portion of central North America, known as the Louisiana Purchase, many French and Spanish citizens migrated to Cuba.

 Reverse migration or emigration out of Cuba took place a number of times in Cuban history as well. From 1821 to 1823 an independence movement called the Soles y Rayos de Bolivar failed. As a result of the failed revolution many of the conspirators and their families moved to the Mexico and the United States. Again in 1868 there was an island wide independence movement. It, too, failed. By 1869 over 100,000 Cubans had left the island for Mexico and the United States.

 In 1895 the Cuban war of Independence from Spain began. The United States occupied Cuba from 1898 to 1902 and again from 1906 to 1909 when the government of the Cuban Republic was restored. Many Cubans were displaced. Many moved to Mexico or the United States.

 After many decades of mismanagement and corruption rebel leader Fidel Castro deposed Fulgencio Batista in 1959. As a result of this revolution and the later pronouncement by Castro that he had professed the communist doctrine many Cubans moved to Mexico, Spain and the United States.

 Some of the cities in the United States exiled Cubans have favored have been  Key West, Tampa and Miami in Florida, New Orleans, New York City and Philadelphia. While not an early destination, Cubans are well represented in the present population of Houston and other Texas cities.

HISPANIC CONFERENCE IN SEPTEMBER

 The 22nd Annual Hispanic Genealogical Conference will be held at the Houston Westin Galleria Hotel September 13-16. A number of presenters will deliver lecturers recognizant of the  conference theme, Somos Familia. For more information on the conference visit the conference website at http://www.brokersys.com/~joguerra/conf1.html or write the Hispanic Genealogical Society P.O. Box 231271 Houston, TX 77223-1271.

HISPANIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

 Formed by twenty members in 1983 to help one another research and foster pride in their ancestry the Hispanic Genealogical Society of Houston today has over three hundred members worldwide. The society meets the third Wednesday of each month at Loma Linda restaurant, 2111 Telephone Road.

 For more information on the society, contact the president, Jose Guerra at joguerra@brokersys.com or visit their website at http://www.hispanicgs.com

NEWS FROM THE BOOKSHELF

 Researchers of Cuban heritage will be interested in Peter Carr's compilation, Censos, Padrones y Matriculas de la Poblacion de Cuba Siglos 16, 17 y 18. Written in Spanish this book is a collection of surviving censuses and lists of people living at various times and places in Cuba from the 16th to the 18th centuries. It is available for $27.45, postpaid, from The Cuban Index, TCI Genealogical Resources, P.O. Box 15839, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406.

 Another indispensable Cuban research book by Carr is Guide to Cuban Genealogical Research: Records and Sources. In his Introduction Carr explains the animosity between the American and Cuban governments and the difficulty one might encounter attempting to obtain civil or governmental records from Cuba. He continues by explaining the types of records one might expect to locate in the United States and in other places throughout the world. He then explains how to obtain information from those records.

 The book offers discussions concerning the sources and locations of:  church records, civil registration, notarial records, census records, official passenger records, slave records, newspapers, commercial records, military records, cemetery records, consular records, directories, maps and atlases, genealogical societies and social clubs, U.S Department of State records and the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba.

 The Guide to Cuban Genealogical Research is available for $18.90, postpaid, from  the Clearfield Company, 200 E. Eager Street, Baltimore, MD 21202.