Help on Finding My Grandpa's Baptism Certificate

[Felipe Santana]

Good morning, group.

I'm having troubles on finding my grandpa's portuguese documents', and I have nowhere to search, so our group here is my last hope.

My Grandpa migrated to Brazil on 07/03/1891 with his parents in Desterro's ship, when he was 5 years old.
His name was: Manoel Correa de Mello
Filiation: José Correa de Mello & Maria Luiza Correa de Mello
Birth date: 1886 (I only have the year)
Born Location: Ponta Delgada, Saint Michael Island - Açores/PT
Marriage: Salviana Joaquina Tosta (Brazilian)

I urgently need the "Freguesy" where he was borned, but I can't find anywhere, I even called the Acervo Distrital of Azores (Distrital Collection), where they have the old portuguese people's documents, they were very unpolite in the call and refused to help me. i'm almost loosing my hopes.

[Cheri Mello]

Hi Felipe,

Yes, without all 3 pieces: name, date, and freguesia, the archive isn't helpful at all. They have been that way for years and years.

However, you think they are from either the city of Ponta Delgada proper or somewhere in the council of Ponta Delgada. That's about 45,000 people to search! The Azores have their passaportes leaving the country, but the port of Ponta Delgada has gaps and 1891 is one of the gaps (they are missing a number of years in the early 1890s).

You're going to have to make a list of all the freguesia in Ponta Delgada and go through them one by one. If your Manuel was the oldest, it may be easier to search for his parents' marriage in 1886 or before. I'd start with the 3 main churches in Ponta Delgada: São Sebastião (the Matriz), São José, and São Pedro. Then I'd start hunting through 20 churches in the other freguesia in the council of Ponta Delgada.

Good luck,

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

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[Cheri Mello]

Or you could use DNA and see if you match anyone who has the parents of Jose Correia de Mello and Maria Luiza in their tree. You'd need to test (or transfer) between Family Tree DNA and My Heritage. Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) sends kits to Brasil. Then you could transfer to My Heritage. You'd be missing out on Ancestry which isn't sold or shipped to Brasil. The only way around that would be if you were visiting relatives in another country where Ancestry kits are sold. You'd have to have it shipped there and you'd do the test while you were there on vacation. I'd start with FTDNA first. You want the Family Finder test for $79USD (scroll down):

https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=AzoresIslands

It may go on sale for $59 or even $49 USD at the end of the year for their Christmas holiday sale, if you are a sale shopper.

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