Re: DaSilva family from Faial da Terra, Azores

[JR]

I don't know if you should attempt this. You will find Silva's in virtually every village in Sao Miguel and quite possibly, in every Island in the Azores and even Madeira island. Even if you find a match, and you will likely find many, there is no way of determining if they are your ancestors. You have to at least pinpoint the village. If you had a more uncommon name, that would be different. Quite frankly, I am very sceptical of stories of people shipwrecking. Such disasters are usually chronicled somewhere. He may have jumped ship and stayed in the US, but eventually one has fit in and make a living. There are a lot people on this list who can help with US research, maybe try a question on them about something you know. Good luck!

JR

On Wednesday, January 2, 2013 5:52:45 PM UTC-5, R Mac wrote:

Excellent. Thank you very much for the information!

On Wednesday, January 2, 2013 1:25:49 AM UTC-5, Dano wrote:

Parish records recorded Baptisms, Marriages, and deaths. The parish for Faial da Terra is Nossa Senhora da Graca, and their records data to 1690, or thereabouts.

[Cheri Mello]

Robert,

You state that your ancestor was most likely born in Sao Miguel, but you want to research the records of Faial.  That's the same as if a friend told you he wanted to get into genealogy and his ancestor was most likely born in NY but he wanted to search the records of Arizona.  Does not make sense.

You are in a tough time period for immigration as an abundance of paper was not generated at this time.  You will have to find every scrap of paper your ancestor was mentioned on to figure this out.  A death certificate (if one exists), obit, marriage, U.S. censuses, naturalization (if he naturalized), etc.  A how-to guide can be found on the Azores GenWeb here: http://goo.gl/uHRmY
Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

[R Mac]

Hi, Cheri

 

Thank you for bringing this to my attentiion. I now see that this will be a bit more challenging than I originally thought. I do have the death certificate but when my grandfather died, the records kept by local authorities were not that detailed. For example in several records I have located, it lists simply Faial as his place of birth. I do have the year of his birth so that may be of some help. But as for naturalization or alien registration, I don't feel very confident that I will find anything more since at that time, the country was relatively young and he lived in a very rural area.

 

I did read over the information link you sent (thanks:) ) and will follow those guidelines to see if I can find out anything more. Unfortunately the last reminant of my great gradfather is his ring with the family Coat of Arms, but that went to his eldest son's great, great grandchild who is now deceased and ring lost!

 

Thanks again for your help!

 

Robert

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[Cheri Mello]

Hi Robert M,

If several records state your ancestor's place of birth as Faial, then it's Faial.  Faial has only 13 freguesias (villages) to search.  Sao Miguel has something like 70 to search.

Why don't you list what records you've found and what they say about your ancestor?  I'm guessing that an ancestor born in 1833 probably didn't live long enough to see the Smith Act (Alien Registration) enacted in 1940.  And naturalization rules changed from time to time.  So did the information that the census takers collected.  And some state had state censuses that you could utilize.

Let us know what you've found and maybe some list members can give you some ideas.

[R Mac]

Hi, Cheri

Thanks again for the info. It is encouraging that Faial has a smaller number of villages to search in.

 

The information that I have on my great+ grandfather is:

 

Name: Jose Emanuel DaSilva

DOB: 1833 as recorded on his grave marker.

Place of Birth: Faial, Azores

DOD: 5/14/1914

Place of death: Sag Harbor, NY

 

He was aboard a vessel (most likely a whaling ship) when it ran aground off of Wainscot, Long Island. He was around 15 years old so I am guessing this was around 1848. I am currently researching wrecks off the coast of Long Island at this time for the vessel name, type, etc.

 

He swam ashore and was rescued by a local family (Topping) whom he worked for until he learned enough English and set out on his own.

 

He married Catherine McLane sometime between 1860 and 1865. Together they had 7 children. Sometime between 1880 and 1900 the last name of (then) Silva, was changed to Silvey, which it remains today. The "Da" was dropped somewhere along the line between the time he arrived and his marriage. This fact and that of his wife's maiden name having several different spellings is proving quite challenging to say the least. But little by little each day I get closer to completing the tree.

 

Thanks again for any help you can provide.

 

Best regards,

Robert

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