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BLOBservation: May 1924 Guam Recorder

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Written by: Bernard Punzalan

Published: 09 May 2012

The Guam News Letter and Guam Recorder were initially published by the US Navy during the period 1914 – 1941. There wasn’t a consistent publication effort, but at least there was some form of public record for vital statistics.

At one time, I was blogging my observations on the Guam PDN, but now I will start posting my observations here, beginning with what I believe to be the May 1924 edition. I’m not quite sure of the exact edition, because I only have copies of the Vital Statistics section that was donated to me by Elizabeth Martinez Bitanga (thanks Lisa!). These copies are a result and part of her collaboration with me on the Chamorro Roots Genealogy Project, which she obtained from the Library of Congress.

“MARRIAGES”

   * 1 marriage was recorded

“BIRTHS”

   * 81 births recorded

   * 12 children appear to have been born out of wedlock since no father was listed.

   * 1 set of twins was born. Margarita and Eugenia were born to Jose Crisostomo Pangelinan and Maria Fausto Pangelinan.

   * 2 children did not appear to be of Chamorro descent. Frederick son of Isabel O’C. and Frederick N. Chandler; and, Robert son of Edna Mae and Edward Warren Hastings.

   * In most cases the mother’s maiden surname was listed, which does help to minimize any duplicate database entries.

“DEATHS”

   * 38 deaths recorded

   * 3 children less than one year of age appeared to have died (I keep track of these to determine if there was some type of outbreak trend/correlation during a given period of time, such as the whooping cough epidemic)

   * It was difficult to ascertain the marital status of a woman that was listed. If I was not able to determine a woman’s marital status, her name is entered into the database as recorded; vice a woman who is married and her maiden name is entered into the database.

That’s about it for my first round of BLOBservations for the Guam Recorder. These names will be added to the Chamorro Roots Genealogy Database soon. Stay tuned for my next BLOBservations with the rest of the 1924 Guam Recorder vital statistics.