quiroga: a MEXICAN MTINICIPIO — BRAND 



69 



By law duplicate copies must be sent to the State 

 capital, and in Morelia we found copies for the 

 missing years 1861, 1867, 1892, 1894, 1898, 1906, 

 and 1916. There is a complete lack of record 

 for 1860, 1864-66, 1869-72, and 1917 and 1918. 

 There were Lihros de actas de defunciones for 

 1860-64, 1867, and 1868, 1873-80, 1882-1917, and 

 1920 to date. The missing years were not avail- 

 able in the State archives. There were Lihros de 

 actas de matrimonios for 1861-63, 1867, and 1868, 

 1873-87, 1889 and 1890, 1893-97, 1899-1905, 

 1907-13, 1916, 1923, and 1926 to date. The 

 State archives supplied 1888, 1891 and 1892, 1898, 

 1901, 1906, 1914 and 1915, 1921 and 1922, and 

 1924 and 1925. It will be noted that the chief 

 lacks occur for the periods 1860-72 (which was a 

 period of anarchy caused by the Wars of Reform, 

 the French Intervention, and the chaotic condi- 

 tions before Diaz came into power) and 1914-25 

 (the main era of the revolution, of banditry, and 

 Cristero activity). It is known that the bandit 

 Inez Chdvez Garcia burned some of the books in 

 1918, and that the Cristeros burned others in 

 1928. Many of the books we handled, with dates 

 from 1860 to 1928, were smoked or charred in 

 varying degi-ees. Since 1937 printed form books 

 have been issued and authorized by the State 

 government. Prior to that date the books varied 

 considerably in form, and they were authorized 

 by the local municipal president and the Federal 

 revenue agent. A set form was used for defun- 

 ciones or deaths in 1920 and 1921, and the present 

 forms for all three sets of books came into use in 

 1944. Fingerprints were first used in 1937. All 

 entries are made in longhand. 



BIRTHS 



Births are entered with running numbers for all 

 births registered in the municipality. The child 

 is brought to the office as soon as possible after 

 birth by some relatives (usually the father and a 

 grandmother or aunt) and is fingerprinted. In 

 the record or acta the following data are entered: 

 father's name, birthplace, occupation, and age; 

 mother's name, birthplace, and age; sex of chUd, 

 date born, name, and domicile. Also the nature 

 of the married state; e. g., common-law marriage 

 or civil marriage, is entered. We copied all entries 

 for Quiroga town and its ranchos for the years 

 1940 to 1945 inclusive, and also 1873, 1863, and 

 1862. The earlier records differed from the later 



ones chiefly in the greater proportion of those 

 parents or witnesses who could not sign their 

 names, and in the indication (for a time) if the 

 parents were Indians or non-Indians. A number 

 of sources for error are apt to occur in the books. 

 Late registration will cause a number of December 

 births to be recorded in the book for the following 

 year. Between the parents and the secretary a 

 number of variations in the spelling of proper 

 names are produced. Some entries are highly 

 illegible, and occasionally one or another statement 

 (such as age, domicile, or occupation) will be 

 omitted. There are a few births in transient 

 families, and occasionally births are registered 

 from communities on the borderlands of the regis- 

 tration area, e. g., Cuenembo, Tzintzimacato, and 

 El Tigre. We were told that a number of still- 

 births, prematiu-es or abortions, and illegitimates 

 are recorded neither under births nor deaths. For 

 comparative purposes we show the births in the 

 municipality of Quiroga when its area and/or 

 population were greater than at present. It will 

 be observed (table 8) that the proportion of total 

 registry varied considerably. 



Since we did not analyze the birth records for 

 1939 it was not possible for us to check the births 

 in the 12 months prior to the census of March 

 6, 1940, and compare this number with the num- 

 ber of children listed as under 1 year of age in the 

 census. Nor did we have the time to compare 

 the returns in the civil registry with those in the 

 parish register. We can be certain that the 

 births and birth rate in the Quiroga area are 

 somewhat higher than indicated. In 1940 Qui- 

 roga had a birth rate of 47.44 births per each 

 thousand of population, which compares with 



