Finding family in the Azores

[David Amaral]

My sister and I bought our dad plane tickets to the Azores for his birthday since he has always wanted to go and visit his roots. I would love to be able to find some family there before he visits, though I know this can be difficult. Based on my great grandfather's obit (his grandfather), my great grandfather had two sisters alive in the Azores when he died in 1969, who I presume to be Urania and Maria Margarida (see below). Does anyone know of a way to track down any more information his grandfather's siblings? They're not old enough for marriage records, etc. to be listed on tombo.pt. I've pretty much exhausted the DNA front and am sure there are no descendants with DNA tests. Anyone who had information about this on our side died over 25 years ago so that route is gone as well.

Parents:

Manuel Elias do Amaral 4 May 1862 Ponta Garça, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal
Maria Adelina de Bettencourt 10 Jan 1871 Santa Barbara, Sao Jorge, Azores, Portugal

Siblings:
Urania (do Amaral?) 15 Oct 1900 Angra, Terceira

http://culturacores.azores.gov.pt/biblioteca_digital/TER-AH-CONCEICAO-B-1900-1911/TER-AH-CONCEICAO-B-1900-1911_item1/index.html?page=60

Humberto do Amaral 5 May 1899 Angra, Terceira

http://culturacores.azores.gov.pt/biblioteca_digital/TER-AH-CONCEICAO-B-1895-1899/TER-AH-CONCEICAO-B-1895-1899_item1/index.html?page=184

Maria Margarida (do Amaral?) 18 Aug 1897 Angra, Terceira

http://culturacores.azores.gov.pt/biblioteca_digital/TER-AH-CONCEICAO-B-1895-1899/TER-AH-CONCEICAO-B-1895-1899_item1/index.html?page=128

[Cheri Mello]

Hi David A,

There's no side margins, so the records aren't helpful.

Let me tell you a story though.

Many years ago, around 2000 or 2002, I was going to find some family too. My ancestor's baby brother had a margin note that said he died in Nordeste (Sao Miguel) on the other side of the island. When I went to Sao Miguel, I took my family group sheet, went up to a taxi driver, asked for a bilingual one, showed them the sheet, and asked if anyone would take me to Nordeste to find my family. They all told me to come back tomorrow, before sunrise, because I really must see the sunrise from Nordeste. Um, OK, but that's not what I wanted to do at that moment. I wandered over to the mall and found a taxi driver there. He looked at my family group sheet and said "Do you know how common Antonio de Melo is?" I said yes, however, look at his wife's name (Senhorinha). So he agreed to help me. We settled on a price and off we went. A festa was going on that day in Nordeste, so many people would be out and about. Once we got to Nordeste, the taxi driver stopped at a bar! I had no idea what he was doing (it seems like they don't explain their process). He comes back in a few minutes with a pack of cigarettes and said the guys in the bar told him to find the old man (and he had a description and where he liked to sit).  He found the old man. The old man remembered Antonio de Melo. Said he died a few years back (at that point, it was about 10 years prior). He had a son who went to Canada. I had heard I had relatives in Canada. I asked for the son's name. He couldn't remember. I asked where in Canada. He didn't know. So I went back home in defeat.

About 8 or 10 years after that, some guy named Altino DeMelo posted a query on this list. That's one unusual name. And what made it more weird was that I had a photo in my possession of a man named Altino de Melo in a military uniform. I was guessing the photo was from the 1940s or 1950s and I knew the man with the query wasn't the same man as the photo. His writing style was too modern. About a day or 2 later, the new Altino emailed me directly with a question and said he was going to start soon on his Melo side of the family, from Ribeira Quente! Right then, I knew he was related (I'm related the all the Mellos from R.Quente). So I sent him the photo of the Altino de Melo in uniform and asked who was that man. He answered back with "What are you doing with a picture of my uncle?" The living Altino was in Canada. He was the grandson of the Antonio de Melo that I had gone in search of.

Maybe you want to have a family group sheet with you. I'd definitely bring photos. My great-grandmother's sister was deaf. Even though she died in 1982, the older people in the village can recognize her and they all tell me she was the deaf woman. So I'd bring photos. I think that might be your best shot. And asking the group of older people who are camped out under a tree, or hanging out playing dominoes or whatever - I'd asked the oldest people that I can find.

Also, it might be worth it to send those 3 sisters to Joao Ventura, who works at the archive in Angra. He is a researcher for hire. He might be able to figure out a way to find their marriage or death. It would be a big help to you if you had that information. Joao can be reached at heroi99 at yahoo.com. Let him know when your dad's trip he. Joao can get busy and might not be able to get to your request in time.

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

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[MaryAnn Santos]

That's a wonderful story, Cheri! I had a similar experience - it wasn't as dramatic because there was no mystery wonderfully resolved but on my first trip to Lombinha da Maia, São Miguel I went to the church there - Nossa Senhora das Dores. Luckily it was open and there were three women cleaning and arranging flowers. I told them (in my limited Portuguese) that my great grandmother was Rosa Leite Barbosa and they all knew the family and showed me the house where they lived. The next leg of my trip was to the mainland to look for my father's family. I was in rural Portugal da Serra da Estrela mountains and quite lost. I came upon a post office and asked the clerk I was looking for the cemetery where my grandmother was buried in Vila da Rua. She said,  wait a minute I'll call you cousin who lives nearby. The second trip to São Miguel a year later,  I went to the Civil Registry in Ribeira Grande to request a copy of the death certificate of my grandfather. The clerk looked at the name, António Rodrigues de Mello, on the form I handed her, smiled and said "minha prima!".

You just never know which relatives you'll meet on your travels.

Boa sorte!

MaryAnn

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[nancy jean baptiste]

I love these stories💓

Nancy Jean 

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From: azo...@googlegroups.com <azo...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of MaryAnn Santos <ma...@nyu.edu>
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023 9:10 AM
To: azo...@googlegroups.com <azo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Finding family in the Azores

 

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[MaryAnn Santos]

Me too!

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