Disappointment with microfilms...HELP!

[Terri]

Can someone please give me some guidance to using the microfilms? How
do you do it when you only have an idea of the years a person maybe be
born in. Looking for someone circa 1880 could mean looking at a few
books for years before and maybe even after.... I have already ordered
3 films and i feel so anxious when i see so many of the pages
grainy..and difficult to read (not because it's in Portuguese but the
quality of the film...or pages) and i have no exact date to search. I
am afraid i don't know how to really look at these microfilms for the
information i need and feel discouraged that this is where it ends for
me with the searching unless i take a trip to the Azores to spend my
days at the archives there. I don't want to order any more microfilms
until i understand how to search more effectively without spending 8
hour days at the library trying to decipher what i'm looking at.

["E" Sharp]

Terri,

When I read these films, the first thing I look for is the name, and
the first name Maria will drive you crazy, as it seems every other one
was Maria - and sometimes when you think the name is something else,
chances are they were originally named Maria on the records and the
other name is either their middle name of nickname i.e. my Emma was
Maria on her baptism record. Then I look for the names of the parents
in the text. This is about all you can do when you don't have an
exact date. I have done this so many times on many Portuguese,
Danish, Polish records and it seems the easiest for me. I don't try
to read all the text unless I feel I might have the person I am
looking for.

Don't get frustrated. If you feel you are getting that way, get up,
walk around a bit, do some exercise while sitting and then go back to
the screen--sometimes these breaks help. Looking at these films for a
very long spell can sometimes make you not see what you are looking
for.

"E"

[rfrancis...@comcast.net]

Hi Terri,

The best way is to start with some smarter searching. It is difficult to
search for a birth record because there are many more births than
marriages. To search for a birth you have to know the name of the
parents because the births only give the first name of the person.
Further in the record is given the names of the parents and
grandparents. If you have the names of the parents then it may be easier
searching for their marriage record. Most marriage records in the
1870-1880 time frame have the parties named in the margin of the record
and the record itself gives more information such as the names of the
parents, age of the bride & groom, occupation, parish where they were
baptized.

In the Azores you have to know what village/parish your people are from
as this is how records are kept. Also keep in mind the depending on what
parish you are looking in will determine what years were filmed. Most
filmed records end in 1883/84 as they were filmed in 1983/1984 (100 year
rule). So if the person you are looking for was born after that time
there is no filmed record available

When searching for a birth record I try and narrow it down to as close a
date as possible. Then pick a year to search. If the person name was
Antonio de Mello then I start by focusing in on every record for a
person named Antonio. Sometimes the name "Antonio" is written in the
margin and on other records it is in the text of the record. You have to
learn where in the record to look. In many of the earlier records they
start off with the name "Antonio filho de Manuel de Mello and Antonia de
Jesus etc"

I hope this helps. You may also try posting what you are looking for
with as much information as you have on this list as there may be
others searching in the same area.

Rick

Richard Francis Pimentel
Epping, New Hampshire, USA
Researching Bretanha, Ribeirinha, Ribeira Grande, Achade Grande, and
Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Acores for, Pimentel (Costa), Carvalho,
Teixeira, Rocha

--
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
Azores+un...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions
when they arrive.
For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail
(vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the
right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my
membership."

[rfrancis...@comcast.net]

I also use a large magnifying glass when I am using the film readers.
Staples or Office Max have a good selection at a reasonable price.

Rick

Richard Francis Pimentel
Epping, New Hampshire, USA
Researching Bretanha, Ribeirinha, Ribeira Grande, Achade Grande, and
Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Acores
for, Pimentel (Costa), Carvalho, Teixeira, Rocha

-----Original Message-----
From: azo...@googlegroups.com [mailto:azo...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf

Terri,

"E"

--

[Shirley Allegre]

You say that you have 3 films but having a hard time trying to read them.
What films do you have? What are the film numbers.
Who are you looking for? Name? Time period, etc.
I have several films at the FHC. Maybe I can help you.
Shirley in CA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Terri" <ter...@rogers.com>
To: "Azores Genealogy" <azo...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2010 12:16 AM
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Disappointment with microfilms...HELP!

--

[Kathy Cardoza]

Hi Terri

I understand your frustration at researching using microfilms. I remember that feeling myself, once. Most of us have been there. Some of the old filmed records are pretty awful but learning to read them will come to you in time and with practice. Like everything else in life, just jump in and keep after it. It will get easier! Meanwhile, I would encourage you to use the techniques offered here by others. They are all good ideas/advice. Educate yourself, too, in the key words you need to learn to pick out of the records and what the various words and letters will look like.

I am the coordinator for the Azores GenWeb site, located at:  http://homepage.mac.com/kmacardoza/Genealogy/azoresindex.html. There are a lot of very helpful resources there including word lists, a paleography (helping to identify letters, abbreviations, and words), and various How Tos. Take some time as you start out on your research, to check out the help that is waiting there for you. Knowledge will lessen your concerns and make your search much more enjoyable. Also, I would suggest getting a small Portuguese to English dictionary to take with you when you go to read the records. It can be very helpful.

I hope this has helped you out. Good luck and happy hunting!

Kathy Cardoza

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 Visit the Azores GenWeb Project: 
      http://homepage.mac.com/kmacardoza/Genealogy/azoresindex.html 

Climb My Family Tree: 
     http://homepage.mac.com/kmacardoza/Genealogy/Kathy/index.htm 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

[Judi Phillips]

Try putting a piece of light yellow or pink paper on the reader.  The contrast makes reading the document easier.  We use scrapbook paper.
 

---

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 22:47:56 -0800
From: kmaca...@mac.com

To: azo...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Disappointment with microfilms...HELP!

[Terri]

HI Shirley...Two films have already gone back...i have one still
holding for me at the reference library..( not allowed to bring them
home)...I went this past weekend to look at it but i am going again
today after work because it will only be there until January 11th. If
you could help..that would be fantastic ...it's film 1388481 Igreja
catolica Sao Lazaro (Agua d'Alto, Ponta Delgada) Registros
paroquiais, 1834-1883. I am trying to focus on finding my Great
Great Grandfather Jose Pimentel Andrade born circa 1880? (This i am
guessing by the age of my granfather who was the oldest in his family
and the possible marriage for Jose Pimentel Andrade (i am guessing
circa 1900/1901?) Jose's Parents were Mariano Pimentel and Maria de
Luz. Jose Pimentel was married to Maria de Conceicao Couto. I am
guessing that her birth year could be quite close to his. Her parents
were Manuel Sousa Couto and Ana de Jesus Couto. No one in the family
knows if the family could have come from another town at some point
but all these people i am mentioning have mostly likely been from the
town Agua d'Alto in Sao Miguel. I hope this isn't too confusing.
and Thanks

On Jan 3, 4:02 pm, "Shirley Allegre" <shir...@digitalpath.net> wrote:
> You say that you have 3 films but having a hard time trying to read them.
> What films do you have?  What are the film numbers.
> Who are you looking for?  Name?  Time period, etc.
> I have several films at the FHC.  Maybe I can help you.

> Shirley in CA----- Original Message -----
> From: "Terri" <terr...@rogers.com>

> To: "Azores Genealogy" <azo...@googlegroups.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2010 12:16 AM
> Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Disappointment with microfilms...HELP!
>
> Can someone please give me some guidance to using the microfilms? How
> do you do it when you only have an idea of the years a person maybe be
> born in. Looking for someone circa  1880 could mean looking at a  few
> books for years before and maybe even after.... I have already ordered
> 3 films and i feel so anxious when i see so many of the pages
> grainy..and difficult to read (not because it's in Portuguese but the
> quality of the film...or pages) and i have no exact date to search. I
> am afraid i don't know how to really look at these microfilms for the
> information i need and feel discouraged that this is where it ends for
> me with the searching unless i take a trip to the Azores to spend my
> days at the archives there.  I don't want to order any more microfilms
> until i understand how to search more effectively without spending 8
> hour days at the library trying to decipher what i'm looking at.
>
> --
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> Azores+un...@googlegroups.com.  Follow the confirmation directions
> when they arrive.
> For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail

> (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/Azores.  Click in the blue area on the right

[Eliseu Manuel Pacheco da Silva]

Hi Terri,

I am also interested in AA.

I have a list of the marriages in AA from 1837 to 1900 and none of your
people appear to be married there... It is not much but at least you get the
information they married outside these dates. The surnames are there present
but not the people as you mentioned them in your post.

eliseu

[Gayle Machado]

Terri,

One of the biggest problems for me when I first started was dealing with the
abbreviations in the records. Do you have a list of abbreviations to help
take the mystery out of reading the documents ? Also, I spent time reading
lots of documents (not just my ancestors) until I knew the handwriting of
the particular priest.

Gayle

[Terri]

THANK YOU SO MUCH everyone! This is alot of great advice. I went
after work today to look at the microfilm and although i had limited
time (because the library closed....) some of the pages seemed easier
to read. I won't give up.

[Rosemarie Capodicci]

Terri,

If you write to me privately and give me your snail mail addy I will gladly
send you any of the abbreviations that I use in my classes.
rcapodc @ redshift dot com.

Rosemarie

----- Original Message -----
From: "Terri" <ter...@rogers.com>
To: "Azores Genealogy" <azo...@googlegroups.com>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Terri]

Hi Eliseu,
I looked closer at some info i had for Jose Pimentel and saw that
although he ended up living in Agua d'Alto after he was married ...,
in 1902 he registered for a passport and along the line where his name
is....it says that the Conselho is Vila Franca and the Freguesia is
S.Miguel...there is an area in the Vila that is S.Miguel right? So i
may have ordered the wrong films to look for him....all these families
could be from Vila Franca or somewhere else instead of Agua d'Alto
like everyone in my family thought. Thanks for checking on that. That
was a great eye opener for me. I sure have alot more work to do to
find my Jose Pimentel.

On Jan 4, 3:49 pm, "Eliseu Manuel Pacheco da Silva"

[Cheri Mello]

Terri,

If it says the council is Vila Franca and the freguesia is S. Miguel - that means the parish of S. Miguel Arcanjo (the Matriz).  The other parish there is S. Pedro.  They are physically only 2-3 blocks away from each other!

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

[rfrancis...@comcast.net]

Hi Terry,

The Freguesia would be Vila Franca and the parish would be Sao Miguel
Arcanjo

Rick

Richard Francis Pimentel
Epping, New Hampshire, USA
Researching Bretanha, Ribeirinha, Ribeira Grande, Achade Grande, and
Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Acores
for, Pimentel (Costa), Carvalho, Teixeira, Rocha

-----Original Message-----
From: azo...@googlegroups.com [mailto:azo...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf

Of Terri
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 12:52 AM
To: Azores Genealogy
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Disappointment with microfilms...HELP!

[Shirley Allegre]

Hi Terri: I have the film for the Sao Miguel Archanjo church in Villa
Franca do Campo.
What are you looking for? I might be able to help you.
I have a lot of ancestors from VFDC. I also have Pimentels.
Shirley in CA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Terri" <ter...@rogers.com>
To: "Azores Genealogy" <azo...@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 9:52 PM
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Disappointment with microfilms...HELP!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Terri]

Hi Shirley...I'm wondering what document might give me the most
information to continue with? Birth? Marriage? or Death? I would
appreciate so much if you could check for the birth of Jose Pimentel
Andrade (my mom says..ANDRADE might not be included in as part of his
last name...) born circa 1880 possibly at the Sao Miguel Archanjo
church. He's the son of Mariano Pimentel and Maria de Luz. If this
can't be found...then maybe you could check if his marriage was at
that church. Jose Pimentel Andrade married Maria de Conceicao Couto
circa 1900 or earlier? Thanks

On Jan 6, 7:49 pm, "Shirley Allegre" <shir...@digitalpath.net> wrote:
> Hi Terri:  I have the film for the Sao Miguel Archanjo church in Villa
> Franca do Campo.
> What are you looking for?  I might be able to help you.
> I have a lot of ancestors from VFDC.  I also have Pimentels.

> Shirley in CA----- Original Message -----
> From: "Terri" <terr...@rogers.com>

> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------­-----

>
> --
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> Azores+un...@googlegroups.com.  Follow the confirmation directions
> when they arrive.
> For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail

> (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/Azores.  Click in the blue area on the right

[Shirley Allegre]

Hi Terri: On Wednesday, (13th) I will look for birth info for Jose
Pimentel, son of
Mariano Pimentel X Maria de Luz. I will search around 1870-1883. The film
ends
in 1883.
Do you know when, and where this Jose Pimentel lived and died? Dates?

Shirley in CA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Terri" <ter...@rogers.com>
To: "Azores Genealogy" <azo...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 5:39 PM
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Disappointment with microfilms...HELP!

[Terri]

My mom was the last of 11 children and she never met my great
grandfather but from what she knows...he died around the age of 60
years old? That would make it around maybe ...1942? I'm assuming in
Agua'Alto (because that's what my mother thinks...)but before
Wednesday...i will try to contact someone else in the family who may
know better.
Thanks again Shirley!
P.S. Do you find it is easier looking up birth , death or marriages?

On Jan 8, 5:20 pm, "Shirley Allegre" <shir...@digitalpath.net> wrote:
> Hi Terri:  On Wednesday, (13th) I will look for birth info for Jose
> Pimentel, son of
> Mariano Pimentel X Maria de Luz.  I will search around 1870-1883.  The film
> ends
> in 1883.
> Do you know when, and where this Jose Pimentel lived and died?  Dates?
>

> Shirley in CA----- Original Message -----
> From: "Terri" <terr...@rogers.com>

[Linda Norton]

Hi Terri, Shirley, Rick,

Rick do you think this is my Mariano Pimental Furtado? My Mariano m. Maria
de Jesus or was that Mariano's mother's name?? Jose was his brother as your
Francisco born around that time frame.

What do you think? Though they are from Ribeira Grande and not Villa Franca.

Linda Borges (Furtado) Norton

-----Original Message-----
From: azo...@googlegroups.com [mailto:azo...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of

Shirley Allegre
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 5:20 PM
To: azo...@googlegroups.com

Shirley in CA

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.132/2610 - Release Date: 01/09/10
14:35:00

[Terri]

Well...i spoke to an aunt of mine and she said she was 4 years old
when Jose died making it 1942 in Agua 'D'Alto.

[Linda Norton]

Could this Mariano Pimentel be the same as my ggrandfather Mariano Pimentel
(Furtado) b. 1868 but son of our Francisco Pimentel? We have Santissimo
Salvador, Ribeirinha though. Marianno had three sons; Joaquin, Antonio (my
grandfather) and Jose, two daughters Marianna and Emilia.

Manoel Cesar Furtado has Francisco Furtado who m. Maria de Luz.

The webs we weave.

Linda Borges (Furtado) Norton

-----Original Message-----
From: azo...@googlegroups.com [mailto:azo...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
Shirley Allegre
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 5:20 PM
To: azo...@googlegroups.com

Shirley in CA

No virus found in this incoming message.