Missing father of Antonio Brum

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Lucas Luis

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Aug 19, 2026, 12:19:29 AM (5 days ago) Aug 19
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Hello everyone, I am wondering if anyone could help me find out the identity or name of one of my ancestors'parents. My 4x great grandfather, Antonio de Brum's father is missing from all the birth, Marriage, and death records. 

For context, Antonio de Brum was born on May 22nd 1802, in the Parish Sao Mateus, on Pico Island. He was Married on April 11th, 1823 in Madalena, and died in the same parish on December 26th, 1860. In the Birth, Marriage, and Death records, his father is listed as "Pai incognito" meaning that the father's identity is missing entirely from those records. However his mother is mentioned, her name is Isabel Luisa, born also in Sao Mateus, to Bartolomeu SIlveira Mancebo. Antonio also had six children, all carrying the surnames Brum SIlveira. Antonio also had zero known siblings. 

One thing to note is that the "Brum" name shows up again as the middle name of his half great Uncle, Manuel Brum Silveira (He is related to him via his Great-Grandfather, Bartolomeu Silveira Sarmento, who remarried to Maria SIlveira who gave birth to Manuel.)

I really want to trace back the lineage of the Brum SIlveira's, however I've hit a brick wall. I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me out, or provide advice on a possible way to uncover Anonio's hidden father, and really anything could help.

Best Regards - Lucas

Antonio's Birth/Baptism

Antonio's Marriage

Antonio's Death

Mother's Birth

Grandfather's Marriage

Great-Grandfather's second Marriage (First is missing)

Half Great Uncle's Birth

Cheri Mello

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Aug 19, 2026, 12:15:49 PM (4 days ago) Aug 19
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Lucas,

When a father is listed as "pai incognito," the mother is not telling the priest his name. She just says that the father is unknown. Of course she knows who the father is (and many in the freguesia may know too), but she's not naming him for whatever reason. Unless the father comes forward to state he's the father (it would be noted in the baptism or sometimes in a separate book), then this line becomes an end of line ancestor. You'r stuck unless you can find the son of the son of the son (all male line) to take a Y-DNA test. As more and more men test, then you may be able to identify Antonio's father.

Surnames are chosen to honor a particular relative and this is what may have happened with your Brum Silveira. Sometimes, they chose the name of a prominent family in the hope it will bring more opportunities in the future.

Sorry, this is not the news you want to hear. Since it seems you have exhausted the records, DNA may be your only answer.
Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada


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Lucas Luis

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Aug 19, 2026, 10:59:29 PM (4 days ago) Aug 19
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Thank you for giving me this new information, I understand the only way to reveal his identity would be through a Y-DNA test, however unfortunately the direct Male line ends with my great grandmother, and she has already passed away and I am not aware if she had any siblings at all, especially male siblings. However I have taken a standard Ancestry DNA test, although zero matches popped up for Antonio. 

There are a few other details that I would like to share, I did mention that the surname shows up further back in Antonio's family, in his half Great-Uncle and recently I discovered he had many children who carried on the Brum name. Now that you've told me it is the Mother who hides the identity of the father, this could make sense. I remember reading somewhere, that sometimes they would conceal the identity of the father if he was disliked, or a relative of the mother. (However I do not recall where i heard this, or if it's even true), and i recently discovered a child of the half Great-Uncle, named Manuel. I am yet to find records mentioning if Manuel had any children or even a wife, and he is around the age that the unknown father could be. I understand this might be a little out there in terms of theories, but it's the best I personally have been able to come up with.

Thanks again for the response, and enlightening me on some possibilities, and I appreciate the help.

- Lucas

Cheri Mello

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Aug 20, 2026, 11:21:07 AM (3 days ago) Aug 20
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Hi Lucas,

Since you are not aware if your ancestor had brothers, you'll have to do a search. Look at this "how to" for possible other sources. Any brothers might be witnesses to events that your ancestor was a principal on.  https://www.azoresgenweb.org/Research_Aids/finding_roots0.html

You need to download your raw data from Ancestry and upload it to Family Tree DNA (or test directly - on sale for $39) and upload your raw Ancestry data to MyHeritage too. You only tested at Ancestry. Maybe the match only tested at FTDNA or MyHeritage. You don't know until you upload and look.

The mothers hid the identity of the fathers for a variety of reasons. She could have been working for a prominent man and it would be embarrassing for him. Her family may not have liked his family so she's not going to name him. Maybe it was the parish priest, so she'd definitely not going to name him. Anything at this point is speculation and everything we come up with are guesses and won't help with his identity. 
Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

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