Just to make it VERY clear, everything will depend on which Civil Registry, which Biblioteca, and which churches you want to visit. Even if you went to the same ones that Savannah did, you may have a different employee. It may be a completely different experience.
The Civil Registry (or conservatoria) will vary. Sao Miguel island has 6 of them. Yes, they should hold about the last 100 years worth of records. On a visit in 2002 with Shirley Allegre, the Civil Registry in Vila Franca called upstairs and a bilingual gal came down to help us. Yes, we should have had the dates, but we didn't (it was a death after 1906). We told her we wanted to search whatever years for 1906 onwards. We said we would stand there at the counter and look and not ask the man who was working behind the counter any questions. She reluctantly agreed. She brought us a stack of books for the years we wanted (maybe 10 years worth, maybe 15, I don't remember) and we went through them, took notes on any relative that looked vaguely familiar, and thanked the man at the end. The following day, we went over to Povoacao. The fellow behind the counter was bilingual. No, we could NOT look ourselves. But he would search and get back to us. So we gave the name of the ancestor and a date range for the event. He wanted our contact information and said he would call back. That never happened. So two very different experiences. I think we lucked out at Vila Franca. They allowed us to search ourselves with no dates. Generally, the Civil Registries want you to have a date as they don't want to do broad searches. Joao Ventura, the archivist, has the most experience with practically ALL the Civil Registries of all 9 islands (about 20 Civil Registries exist in the Azores). Generally, they want a date.
Note on when the books are sent from the Civil Registries to the Biblioteca: The Civil Registry would send over 5 years worth of books on years divisible by 5. So in 2020, the Civil Registries should have sent over books from 1916-1920 (and the Biblioteca in 2020 would be current with books up to 1920). Then in 2025, the Civil Registries should send over books from 1921-1925. BUT, the Biblioteca in Ponta Delgada ran out of room. They were having the Civil Registries hold their books. The only council that they accepted records from (before they ran out of room) was Ponta Delgada. Maybe they were able to accept some from Lagoa and that is why Savannah has success. Maybe they made more room since my visit in 2018. Who knows.
All 3 arquivos (there are 3 for the Azores) will vary. I've been to the one in Angra (where Joao Ventura works) and the one in Ponta Delgada. In Angra, I've used the dispensation records. All dispensations are in Angra since the diocese seat for the Azores is in Angra. I filled out the request, say for a marriage that took place in 1856 in the Sao Miguel Arcanjo in Vila Franca over on Sao Miguel island, and they brought out a stack of books that may have been for 1850-1870. The dispensation may or may not exist. You just look through and hope for the best. I did assist a woman from America who wanted to locate her ancestors but did not have her freguesia. She had the immigration date to America however. So I told her to request the Passaportes. They did bring that out her in the physical book. I helped her look, we found her ancestor and the freguesia, then I had her request the baptism. I think they brought out that book too. I showed her how she could access the digital copies through Tombo.pt when she got back home. Now over in Ponta Delgada, if I've requested something that has already been digitized, they sit me down in front of the computer. They don't hand you the books anymore. They only way I've been able to get the book is to show them I can't read the copy. Then they will ask the director and bring me the book. For the most part though, I don't want to do research that I can do from home. I want to do research for the stuff that's not available online.
Yes, the archive or biblioteca has newspapers. I'm not fluent enough to read them. I know of no census records. I'd like Savannah to elaborate on this more. Do you still have the copy of your request so we know what you ordered in regards to these censuses?
Also, the archive in Ponta Delgada has the inventories for those who have died. It's basically an inventory of the estate or home of the deceased. The more recent ones have a copy of the death record and many name the surviving descendants and where they live. Some of these were many pages (over 100). I just took pictures with my cell phone camera. I don't know what the Angra or Horta archives have in the way of inventories.
The archive in Ponta Delgada also has the indices of Ernesto do Canto. This has not been digitized. He did not index every parish. He indexed the freguesia and the years he was interested in. I have the list of what parishes and years he did if anyone is going over there and needs this information.
The cemeteries there rent the plot. The deceased is left for 7 years. Unless the family continues to pay rent, the remains will be exhumed and the bones placed in an ossuary somewhere in the cemetery. I have never done any cemetery research since my ancestors left over 100 years ago.
In regards to the churches, I wanted a death from 1961 or later. I didn't go to the Civil Registry because I didn't have a date and my range was a guess (he died supposedly over 100 years old so that would be after 1961). I was told to make an appointment. I asked Eliseu to do that for me. Eliseu did that for me and when the day and time came, we went to the church. The church secretary looked through the books with us. We couldn't find him. It made no sense to look for someone who would have died over 110 years of age (the year 1971), so we went back in time. The secretary found him dying at 93 years of age in 1954. So much for being over 100 years old! She allowed me to take a picture of the record with my cell phone, as well as a couple of other records that I found that mentioned family members. I made a donation the church for allowing me to look. Would another church do the same? I don't know. I was very lucky to have Eliseu's assistance in setting up the appointment.
I can't find the copy of that church death from 1954 on my computer (it's here somewhere), but it's pretty close to the form that you see in the early 1900s deaths. Because it's a church record, it will mention the religious aspect, such as if he received his Last Rites. It doesn't list civil things, such as his cause of death. That would be in the Civil Registry records. I contacted Joao Ventura and asked if he obtained the death for my ancestor in 1954 if I would receive the cause of death. He said that information would be blocked out or no longer extracted as it's considered a privacy issue. My ancestor didn't have an inventory, or I would have gone looking for the death record that would have been placed there.
So that's how my experiences over the years have varied. Yours will too, depending on the archive, which employee you encounter, and when you go. They could change their rules next year.
Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada