Where to start

[Lindsey Carpenter]

Hi, I am trying to help my dad and grandmother trace our family genealogy. So far we think we've traced it back to terceira, Azores. I'm obviously running into much difficulty with the language barrier and the fact that all of the names seem to be common. 

How do you all find these important documents? What should be my next step?

Thank you!

[Cheri Mello]

Hi Lindsey,

Does your grandmother speak Portuguese? You need a freguesia (it's like a village) to start searching over there. Most things in Europe are organized on the town/village level and so it is with the Azores. Even if you can't quite figure out the village your grandmother is saying, just spell it phonetically. Someone here will figure it out.

There's a how-to guide here on the Azores GenWeb. You need to find that freguesia. Taking a wild guess that maybe it's Terceira will lead you on a wild goose chase. You have to be sure. Once you have the names of the ancestors (your grandmother parents or her grandparents), the location, and some dates (or at least ranges) you can get started with the Portuguese records. For now, you need to utilize the American records (assuming you are in America) to figure out the freguesia.

http://www.worldgenweb.org/azrwgw/research-aids-a---l/finding-your-portuguese/

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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[Linda Mare]

Hi Lindsey,

Sounds like you are off to a great start if you know the island. Where are you currently on your tree that you know to be 100% fact (oldest relatives)? The most crucial way to know you have the right place and people is to gather as much familial information and USA sources as possible to help link to Azorean documents and the right people.

Azorean records are online (1910ish and earlier). There is even some indexes for certain parishes but you’ll need to who and where to search. Below is the link to church records for the islands.

http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ig/registos/Default.aspx

-Linda

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[Lindsey Carpenter]

Thank you for your help! Unfortunately no, my grandmother does not speak Portuguese. It would make things so much easier, lol. I have found immigration documents that say my great-great-grandother was born on Terceira and her name prior to getting married was Maria da Conceicao. After doing more research, it looks like her last name here was really just the name of a community. Maybe this is the freguesias? 

[Lindsey Carpenter]

Thank you for your help! We know 100% my great grandfather, his siblings, and his father. We are running into difficulty because my great great grandfather had two wives (at different times) names Mary/Maria and the records don't always line up with the spellings/dates. We are 80% sure the info we have on my great great grandmother is for the right Mary but that where things get complicated. 

[Cheri Mello]

Maria da Conceição = Mary of the Conception. That's NOT a surname - it's a religious middle name. You are in the time period where women didn't have surnames. All of us who have been researching for many years have dozens of Maria da Conceiçãos in our genealogy program.

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

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/azores/7d24cfc7-d519-4550-b4b0-9e1357476d16n%40googlegroups.com.

[bsei.azo...@gmail.com]

If the immigration document you have gives a date of arrival you could scan through "passaportes" in Angra for that time.  The listing should give her freguesia of birth, age, and parents' names.  Maria da Conceição is very common and the name likely has nothing to do with the freguesia of Conceição.

Passaportes can be found here: http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ig/passaportes/Default.aspx

Bill Seidler 

[Ah.da....@gmail.com]

If you know when your great-grandmother immigrated then you may be able to find her on the passports (people leaving the Acores). These are on the Tumbo site. The records will name her parents and what freguesia they are from. Start with the date of her arrival in the US and then work back. Most of the time you will find the person within a week or two before the ship sailed from the Azores.

Rick

Richard Francis Pimentel

Lee, NH

 

Researching, Riberia Grande, Riberinha, Achada Grande,  Bretanha, and Ponta Delgada,  Sao Miguel, Acores

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/azores/b4a489ad-3ad5-4321-94d4-26c23a723eb1n%40googlegroups.com.

[Lindsey Carpenter]

I have the date that the ship arrived in the US and the ports of departure. How long would the ship take to make the trip from the Azores to New York?

[Cheri Mello]

It depends. Sailing to America in 1860s on a barque took much longer than the steamships of 1900.

Basically, if the ship arrived in America on July 20, 1885, you go to the Azorean Passaportes and start looking from July 20, 1885 working your way back in time. However, if all you know is her name is Maria da Conceição, you'll find many of them. You won't know which one is yours unless you have her parents' names and her freguesia. I wouldn't recommend you start your search this way. As I previously mentioned, you need to utilize more American records to get more information about her before diving into the Azorean records. It's like looking for John Smith in America. With no parents, no state, no nothing, it's impossible to tell which John Smith to look for in America. It's the same with all the Maria da Conceiçãos. I have only 36 Maria da Conceiçãos in my genealogy program. I'm sure other researchers have more. It's a difficult name to research without other clues to narrow it down.

Good luck,

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

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/azores/6dc572fd-9ddf-4244-93bb-74c1971e709an%40googlegroups.com.