Early Pico
Cheri Mello
nancy jean baptiste
Sent: Saturday, 01 August 2026 10:28:03
To: Azores Genealogy <Azo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Early Pico
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Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada
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nancy jean baptiste
To: azo...@googlegroups.com <azo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Early Pico
Liz Migliori
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Karen Ramos
Hi Rich, BACK TO YOUR QUESTION!!
I think we could help you better if we knew what research you have done and what kind of facts you are hoping to research.
Do you have family stories and documents already? Do you know the names, dates, and parishes you wish to research on Pico? If not, we can help you learn how to find that information before you move on to researching in the Azores. But there too, it helps to know where your family settled in the United States. California has some different records from those found in New England for instance.
If you are already doing research in the Azores:
Have you researched the Catholic sacramental birth, marriage, and death records online? Have you used the family group records for Pico parishes compiled in the CITCEM Genealogias already?
There might be a couple roís de confessados (parish confession rolls), which are like local censuses, available for your parishes at Archive.org. The São Jorge Genealogical Society placed some rolls for mid-1800s Pico there. We need to know parishes and dates to help you there.
Do you already have Azores passport and U.S. passenger list information and U.S. naturalization records? (The São Jorge Genealogical Society has an amazing index for the Horta port with more limited years for Angra): https://saojorgegenealogy.org/resources/passports/ Use % as a wildcard between parts of the name if you are not sure how the name will be listed, and use modern spellings for names, not the traditional spellings found in the records.
You are in luck that a series of books detailing families of some areas of Pico in the late 1800s were done by Professor Maria Norberta Amorim at the University of Minho. Most are available to download for free as PDFs. I would need to know the your parishes to help you.
I would recommend a book and companion video on Portuguese genealogical research that are valuable for both the beginning and experienced genealogist. We are lucky that the example family used in both the book and video is searching for their Pico ancestors, knowing only their American names and the island at the start of their research.
The book talks about both American and Portuguese records. So, beyond finding your family in American records, it goes on to describe more advanced Portuguese resources like military records, notary registers, and compiled genealogies. Samples of birth, marriage, and death sacramental records and passport registers are shown in Portuguese with transcriptions and translations of the sacramental records and explanations of the organization of the passport registers and with translations of the column headings. There are multiple name and word lists to help with reading and translating records.
A bonus in the book is the inclusion of the complete Basic Portuguese Paleography, originally published by the Genealogy Department of the LDS Church as Series H, No. 20 in 1978. I paid $10 for a copy of that pamphlet back in the 1980s and I still use it.
The book is the Genealogist’s Handbook for Portuguese Research by Michael J Hall et al., American Ancestors, c. 2024. It is available on Amazon and from the publisher at
The video is Getting Started in Portuguese Genealogy on American Ancestors’ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbijWLYgj6w&t=279s
American Ancestors description of the book:
Modeled on our other popular Genealogist’s Handbooks, this is the first essential guide to finding your ancestors from mainland Portugal, the Azores, and Madeira. We also provide information for Brazilians with Portuguese ancestry. After reading the primer on genealogical research principles and a brief history of Portuguese immigration, follow our step-by-step approach to searching first in U.S. records and then in Portuguese records. Includes real-life examples, detailed maps, key terms in English and Portuguese, and activities to reinforce your new skills. This book will give you the tools—and the confidence—to dive into researching your Portuguese family history!
By Michael J. Hall, Al Viera, and Lauren Wake Vasylyev, with Rhonda R. McClure
Edited by Penelope L. Stratton and João C. Ventura
7 x 10 paperback, 280 pages, illustrated
Published by American Ancestors in Nov. 2024
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