Disambiguating the Two Francisco Genovars

Among the many pairs or groups of same-named individuals in St. Augustine, Florida, during the Second Spanish Period (1784-1801), there were apparently two men named Francisco Genovar.  They were not father and son. 

Here is how I differentiate them to conclude that they were indeed two separate and distinct persons:

Francisco Genovar, son of Juan Genovar and Antonia Murillo (1)

• Native of Mallorca (2) 
• 22 years old in 1786 (3) (therefore, born ca. 1764, Mallorca)
• Single (4) 
• Sailor (5)
• Parents from Minorca (6)
• Father from Minorca (7)
• Father from San Miguel, Minorca; mother from Mahon, Minorca (8)
• Father, Juan, from Mallorca (9)
• Juan Genovar, father, native of Mallorca (10)

Francisco Genovar (signed his name Yenobart)

• Literate enough to sign his name (most sailors were not)
• Occupation unknown
• Son of Juan Mariano Genovar (or Genovart) and Juana Marquez (11)
• Parents native of Minorca (12)
• Had no parents or other relatives in St. Augustine or the province of East Florida (13)

There is no record of a Francisco Genovar in the Golden Book of the Minorcans, the church records of the parish on the plantation of Andrew Turnbull at New Smyrna.  The birth or baptism records of the first Francisco, above, born ca. 1764, would not appear, as the plantation did not begin until 1768.  Age of the second Francisco Genovar, signed Yenobart, is not known.  Juan Genovar and Antonia Murillo, parents of the first Francisco, above, do appear in the Golden Book, as parents of daughters baptized in the New Smyrna parish.  As the first Francisco Genovar's father appears in the 1784, 1786, and 1793 censuses of St. Augustine, and the parents of the second did not, by his testimony and the testimony of witnesses, live in St. Augustine or in the province of East Florida but remained in Minorca, these two Francisco Genovars are sons of different parents, and are two separate and distinct persons.

(1) 1786 Census, Reel 148, Bundle 323A, East Florida Papers, folio 22v.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) 1784 Census, Reel 148, Bundle 323A, East Florida Papers, p. 26
(8)  Baptism of Francisco's sister, María Antonia, abstracts of baptismal records, 1784-1792, typed manuscript at the St. Augustine Historical Society, page 21)
(9) 1793 Census, Reel 148, Bundle 323A, East Florida Papers, f. 111r
(10)  Witness statement of Juan Geonvar, Petition of Juan Gianopoly for permission to marry, Matrimonial licenses, Reel 132, Bundle 298R9, #33, East Florida Papers.
(11)  White Marriages, Book 1, 1784-1801, Ecclesiastical Records of the St. Augustine Diocese, page 136, entry 152, Vanderbilt University (online)
(12) Ibid.
(13) Petition of Francisco Yenobart for permission to marry, Matrimonial licenses, Reel 132, Bundle 298R9, #110, East Florida Papers.

The picture becomes clearer

I've been working in the baptismal records of St. Augustine during the early part of the second Spanish period (Volume I, 1784-1792) in the transcriptions available at the St. Augustine Historical Society research library.  It is much easier to use these transcriptions, at least from 1784 into the fall of 1788, because the entries during that period were made in Latin, and I do not read Latin.  It was in 1788 that Bishop Cirilo de Barcelona made his visita (inspection tour) of St. Augustine and he decreed that henceforth entries should be made in Spanish.  He cites errors and other unacceptable conditions in the records, and prescribes a form which is preserved in the baptismal record. 

I have also just finished transcribing from the original the 1786 census of St. Augustine taken by Father Thomas Hassett, the priest at St. Augustine.   It is not a complete census, as Hassett himself points out in his introductory comment.  He purposefully left out the government officials and the troops stationed at the Castillo de San Marcos.  Spanish censuses frequently left out military personnel.  For one thing, they were probably considered transient, even though other records I have examined show many of them participating in the daily life of the town. 

These documents, along with marriage records, form the basis for reconstructing the family structure of the town, and I am beginning to see patterns of relationship.  Another aspect found in the baptismal records is the godparent relationship, which I've mentioned previously. 

It is necessary to bear in mind that with these Spanish censuses, however, the one consistent aspect of them is their inconsistency.  There were no prescribed formats and no preprinted forms.  Not all entries have all the information.  For example, it is traditional in Spanish records (as it is in French records) for a woman, married or not, to be recorded by her maiden name.  This is a boon to family historians researching their female lines.  Most of the entries in the census and baptism records have the women by their maiden names, but not all of them.  Then, too, it is careless to assume that because the woman's surname is the same as her husband's, that it is not her maiden name.  Non-first cousins could marry, and sometimes did.  It is also possible that, even in a town as small as St. Augustine, you could have two unrelated individuals with the same surname.

More information is necessary in these events, and the marriage records are the best source for that.

They're next.
.