How would I research an ancestor who arrived by way of Latin America and may have changed his name?

He arrived in the USA after WW1 by way of Latin America. My maternal grandfather whose name is Albert Petring. He was a cultured gentleman and quite refined and secretive. I was told he was of German descent but also deduced that Petring many be a shortened term of a Russian name, Petronivich or some such derivative. Because he wife (maternal grandmother) was Spanish, by way of Guatamala my maternal heritage is lacking. Ths was a closed mouth family without regard of delineating any but the barest of information.to their offspring. German / Spanish union. Both immigrants and attained status in their social spheres

How would I research an ancestor who arrived by way of Latin America and may have changed his name?
You're making it more difficult than it needs to be. I'm betting you could figure this out in under a month.





First off, pull his passenger records from when he arrived. He had to have a passport to get into the country after WWI and it would be full of information that you'll want. If he went on to become an American citizen even better. Then you want to pull his Declaration of Intent and Naturalization petition. If his wife came with him, pull the same documents on her.





In Guatemala you'll have to find the parish records of her marriage and birth. It's not hard at all. You pull her Declaration of Intent, which will give you her parents' names and her town of birth, then you contact the parish(es) in that town and request her baptismal certificate, information on her parents' births, marriage and septulmes (burials). The records will be in Latin, but you can read them with a little cheat sheet from the LDS family history center nearest you. Every record you need will be in church records. Just follow the notations of the parish records to find out other parishes or missions that would have had information on people. If her father had social status then you might also contact an historian at a university in the area to help you find out more about him.





In Albert's case, he'll have to disclose his place of birth on his passport, regardless of nationality. He'll have to disclose his town of birth on his Declaration of Intent and Naturalization petition. His parents and all siblings will be listed, regardless of their country of residence.





I found records that may be him. If it is, then Petring is not a shortened/abbreviated name because I found it from original German emigration records. They list him as Prussian, and Petring is a very common name in Prussia:





Name: Albert Petring


Departure Date: 17 Aug 1897


Destination: Guatemala


Estimated birth year: abt 1876


Age Year: 21


Gender: m盲nnlich (Male)


Family: Household members


Residence: Blankenstein, Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia)


Occupation: Kaufmann


Ship Name: Polaria


Captain: Stange, H.


Shipping Line: Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft)


Ship Type: Dampfschiff


Accommodation: Kaj眉te


Port of Departure: Hamburg


Port of Arrival: Westindien





Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 097 A








Name: Albert Petring


Departure Date: 30 Aug 1902


Estimated birth year: abt 1877


Age Year: 25


Gender: m盲nnlich (Male)


Marital Status: ledig


Family: Household members


Residence: Blankenstein


Ethnicity/Nationality: Preu脽en


Occupation: Kaufmann


Ship Name: Pennsylvania


Shipping Line: Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft)


Ship Type: Dampfschiff


Emigration: Reise


Accommodation: Zweite Kaj眉te


Port of Departure: Hamburg


Port of Arrival: Boulogne; Plymouth; New York


Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 134


Page: 2106








I'm betting the information you need will be housed by this archives in Germany: http://www.gsta.spk-berlin.de/framesets/...





They do speak English (if you're very nice to them) and you can also contact a History student at a local university and hire him/her to go pull the records you need and translate them for you. Hungry students are often more than happy to spend a whole day pulling records for spending money.





This might also help you get your bearings:





ALBERT HEINRICH PETRING


Male


--------------------------------------...


Marriages:


Spouse: CAROLINE KOCH


Marriage: 27 OCT 1869 Evangelisch, Blankenstein, Westfalen, Preussen





I'm not saying these were your Albert's parents. But it does show that the Petring name predates him. There are several Albert Petrings going back to the 1770s in Westfalen Prussia.





None of the records you need should be that difficult, not even in Guatemala. Was her maiden name Nativodad Lainfiesta by any chance?? If so, some of her records may be in Mexico. During part of its history, parts of Guatemala belonged to the Mexican empire. In the 1930 US census, she claims that she was Mexican as were her parents. That was long before Guatemala recognized the independence of Belize and Honduras. It's also after Chiapas was annexed into Mexico. Or maybe this is the wife of Albert Jr, as the Albert in this record is younger and claims that he and his parents were all born in Mexico. If he is the son of the Albert whom you're searching, then his naturaliaztion papers will also be valuable to you as they'll give full details on his parents.