My Great Grandmother

[gene...@comcast.net]

My great Grandmother was a Exposé. Joao Ventura found her birth record. What I am wondering is where she went for 16 years. She was born February 1, 1875, in Sao Sebastiao. I am trying to find something like census records like we have here in the USA to see where she was all this time. I don't know if there are any such records. Her Declaration of Intentions to become a US Citizen said she came to the USA on February 2, 1891, via New York on the Vessel Olinda, under the name Violanti Ferreira. She was 16 years old. I can't find this particular date on a Ships Manifest. I am trying to find a passport or other information that might tell when she lived. I can't read Portuguese at all, but I try to pick out a few words here and there. Just wondering if anyone can help me find where she lived in Portugal before coming to the USA.

[Cheri Mello]

Hi,

An exposto (male) or exposta (female) translates to exposed in English. Most researchers just leave it in Portuguese. For those who do translate it, most seem to use foundling.

She was given to a family for 7 years. At the age of 7, she could chose to remain the family or find another family to work for.

Some confession rolls exist. You'd have to go to the church and ask to see them and look through all the families for your ancestress.

The Olinda did arrive in NY on 2 Feb 1891. It was up to the captain to have EVERYONE on the ship counted in NY regardless of final destination OR just those disembarking were to be counted in NY and those going down to a smaller port (Boston, Providence, New Bedford) etc were to be counted at those ports. So you'd have to research the Olinda to find out if the ship sailed into other ports.

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

On Sun, Nov 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM 'gene...@comcast.net' via Azores Genealogy <azo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

My great Grandmother was a Exposé. Joao Ventura found her birth record. What I am wondering is where she went for 16 years. She was born February 1, 1875, in Sao Sebastiao. I am trying to find something like census records like we have here in the USA to see where she was all this time. I don't know if there are any such records. Her Declaration of Intentions to become a US Citizen said she came to the USA on February 2, 1891, via New York on the Vessel Olinda, under the name Violanti Ferreira. She was 16 years old. I can't find this particular date on a Ships Manifest. I am trying to find a passport or other information that might tell when she lived. I can't read Portuguese at all, but I try to pick out a few words here and there. Just wondering if anyone can help me find where she lived in Portugal before coming to the USA.

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[GENEVA COOK-GERVAIS]

How do you know that the ship did arrive on Feb 2, 1891 and where can I find that information. I have looked at whatever ships manifest on line I can and queried her name on Family Search and Ancestry and don't find an information on her as it pertains to immigration. Also how do you know she was given to a family for 7 years. What Family? 

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[Cheri Mello]

I did a Google search on the ship and saw it arrived on that date. I think I typed "olinda feb 2 1891" (without quotes) and got:

https://immigrantships.net/1800/olinda910602.html

If she's not on that manifest, then she continued down to her final port. Information about what the ship's captains did can be found in Michael C. Tepper's "American Arrival Records" and John P. Colletta's "They Came in Ships." Your public library probably has both.

In the Azores, an exposto was given to a family for 7 years after which they could chose to remain or leave. It was the way it worked back then. The only way to figure it out would be to look at the Confession Rolls held by the church and search through them all.

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

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[GENEVA COOK-GERVAIS]

Thank you I will do my best........

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