My Family

I created this blog to keep track of my family history research. I do most of my research online.

The Francis name is my husband's which was originally Francisco from Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal. He also has ancestors from Sweden and England. So far, I have found that my family has come from Italy, England, French Canada, Scotland, and Ulster Ireland (Scotch Irish).

I have also taken a DNA test, which shows mostly Italian, but also England and France.

Monday, April 27, 2015

ancestry of bento soares

In my last post, I wrote about Josefa do Amaral's parents.  This post I will focus on Josefa's husband's ancestry, Bento Soares.  I obtained Bento's parents' names from Bento's son's, Antonio Jacintho, baptism record.  They are Antonio Soares Rebello and Maria dos Santos, my husband's 5th great grandparents.

I like looking at these descendant charts because you can see how often the surnames change between generations.  I have found that most of my husband's Azorean ancestors have taken their mother's surname.

Both Antonio Soares Rebello and Maria dos Santos were baptized in Achada on the Island of Sao Miguel in the Azores.  I have a picture of the church in Achada from an earlier post about Antonio.

Antonio Soares Rebello ancestry

I was able to find Antonio's parents through Antonio's marriage record, Jose Soares Carreiro and Maria Rebello, who also spent their lives in Achada.  I did find Jose and Maria's marriage record in Achada, but it is missing some parts on the parish register, so I was not able to get the entire names of Antonio's grandparents, which makes bringing that line back another generation a little more difficult.

Jose Soares Carreiro's parents:
It looks like Jose's father's name begins with an M, and his mother is Maria Soares.  I looked for a marriage record for this couple in Achada around 1700, and found a possible match in 1698; but I am not certain it is correct as I do not know Jose's father's name.  This record shows the marriage of Manoel Rabello and Maria Soares.  If this is the correct couple, these would be Antonio's grandparents.  (I included the pedigree chart at the end of this post, but I did not include the names of the possible grandparents)  I may have also found Maria Soares' death record in 1729 in Achada.  Jose's marriage record does state Maria is deceased at the time of his marriage in 1734, so this could be her.  This Maria is about 50 years old at the time of her death, so she would have been born around 1679.  The husband stated on this record is the above Manoel Rabello.  Again; I have no evidence that this is the correct Maria, other than Jose's father's name begins with an "M" and that Maria died before 1734.  I have not looked for Manoel Rabello's death yet. (NOTE - azores genealogy group has information on this line with a second marriage for the above Manoel Rabello which links him with Carneiro surname - Manoel is listed as Manoel Rabelo Carniero.  With these new connections, I did add these names as Jose's parents.)

Maria Rebello's parents:
The only parts of Maria's parents' names I can gather from her marriage record are the surname of Rebello for her father and her mother's name as Cecilia Furtado.  Maria's marriage record also states that her mother, Cecilia, is deceased at the time of her marriage in 1734.  I looked through the Achada death records between the years 1703-1734, and the closest record I found was for a Cecilia Corvalda in 1729.  The surname does not match, but I have found other surnames change throughout time.  The husband's name of this Cecilia is Baltazar Rabello, which would fit with the Rebello last name on Maria's marriage record.  (It almost looks like the missing parts of his first name in Maria's marriage record could end in "ar"). This Cecilia is 60 years old at the time of her death in 1729, so she would have been born around 1669.   I also looked in the death records after 1734 up to 1745 for a Baltazar to see if Cecilia may be listed with surname of Furtado as wife; but the records are in bad shape for these years in Achada and I did not see any possible matches.  The death records then jump to 1753, so I think I will not be finding Baltazar's death.  This may be the ending point for this family line. (The marriage records for Achada beging in 1690, so I could look for a Baltazar Rabello and Cecilia Corvalda or Furtado here; but records are not in great shape.  There is also Canto's index which goes back a bit further, but I do not have access to it)




Maria dos Santos ancestry

According to Maria's baptism record, her parents were not from Achada (A) like her husband Antonio's parents.  Maria's father, Manoel Furtado Sengo, was baptized at the church in Achadinha (B); and her mother, Francisca Rodriquez, was baptized on the southern part of the island, at Agua do Pau (C).  (Note that Maria did not take a surname from her parents).  Below is a map of these areas of Sao Miguel.


Since Maria's parents, Manoel and Francisca, were from different areas of the island before they came to Achada and had Maria, it is more difficult to find their marriage record.  I browsed through the parish registers of Água do Pau and Achadinha, but did not find anything.  Many of the records during the late 1600's to early 1700's are illegible, so I very well could have missed it.  I have not looked that closely at the records in Achada for this couple, where they eventually settled and had their daughter Maria.  I have a possible baptismal record for Francisca; but I really need the marriage record to confirm parents.

Monday, April 13, 2015

ancestry of josefa do amaral

My last post left off with Bentos and Josefa's parents' names and location of baptisms.  I am focusing this post on Josefa do Amaral's parents, Antonia de Jesus de Amaral and Jose da Silva, my husband's 5th great grandparents.


I did not get that far with Josefa's mother, Antonia de Jesus de Amaral's line, because Antonia's parents are listed as Maria Amaral and father "incognito" or unknown (from Antonia's marriage and baptismal records).  Without a father's name, it is too difficult to trace back her mother, especially with a common name as Maria Amaral.  I need another name attached to Maria to identify her in the records, which I do not have.  Maria could have married at some point, but without her parent's names, it would be nearly impossible to identify her.

I had much more success with Josefa's father, Jose da Silva, who was baptized in Relva, Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel.  I was able to take Jose da Silva's maternal line back four more generations with the records in Relva, Ponta Delgada; and his paternal line back three more generations with the records in São Sebastião, Ponta Delgada.  These would be my husband's 9th great grandparents and his 8th great grandparents.  So exciting that these records are available online.




As you can see from the pedigree chart above, at some point Jose da Silva left Relva, Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, for Achada, Sao Miguel; where he married his wife, Antonia de Jesus de Amaral.  Below is a google map of Relva (A) and Achada (B), 32 miles apart by car on opposite ends of the island of Sao Miguel, Azores.  The family only stayed at Achada for about two generations, when my husband's second great grandfather, Antonio do Amaral Pereira, was baptized in Ribeira Grande (C) on the island.  Ribeira Grande is where his immigrant ancestor, Aldina Pereira Francisco, was baptized.



Jose's mother, Antonia, was baptized at the same church in Relva, the church of Nossa Senhora dos Neves.  Jose's parents were also married here.  Jose's maternal grandmother's ancestry seems to be from Relva, where I was able to find records going four geneartions back.

Church at Relva, Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel; Nossa Senhora dos Neves
from igreha acores website

Jose's father, Manoel, and paternal grandmother, Ursula, were from another part of Ponta Delgada, as they was baptized at São Sebastião, the central part of Ponta Delgada.  Jose's maternal grandfather, Antonio, was from a more northern part of Ponta Delgada, Fenais da Luz; and Jose's paternal grandfather was from Sao Matheos, Ponta Delgada, according to the records.

The records online end in the late 1600's for most parishes, so I am not able to go further back than the names I found above.  Maybe there are some published genealogies for the island that can lead me further back.  It would be great to find out when my husband's ancestors arrived on the island of Sao Miguel, and if they were some of the early settlers there.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

bento soares and josefa do amaral

Bento Soares and Josefa do Amaral are my husband's 4th great grandparents.  They were married on November 5, 1804 at the church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciação, in Achada, Nordeste, São Miguel, Açores. 

marriage record of bento soares and josefa do amaral
church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciação, in Achada, Nordeste, São Miguel

Their marriage record lists their parents' names, which I already had; but it also gives the baptismal dates of the bride and groom.  They were both baptized in the same church in Achada; Bentos in 1782 and Josefa in 1784.  Their baptismal records are below.

baptismal record of Bento Soares
church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciação, in Achada, Nordeste, São Miguel

I love that the handwriting of this priest is so easy to read.  The only new information I have from Bento's baptismal record is his date of birth, May 1, 1782; and the churches his parents were baptized in.  Both parents, Antonio and Maria, were baptized in the same church as their son, Nossa Senhora da Anunciação, in Achada.  I also noted that his father Antonio's name only includes the surname Soares, and not Soares Robello; which was listed in Antonio's grandson's baptismal record.  The Robello surname was also not mentioned in Bento's marriage record. 

baptismal record of Josefa do Amaral
church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciação, in Achada, Nordeste, São Miguel

Josefa's baptismal record shows her date of birth as February 13, 1784.  Josefa's mother, Antonia, was also baptized in the church in Achada, but her name is listed a little differently.  On Josefa's marriage record and on the grandson Antonio's baptismal record, Antonia has the surname of Amaral.  On Josefa's baptismal record, her mother is listed as Antonia de Jesus.  As I have seen before, this could be a name that has come from another generation.  Josefa's baptismal record also shows that her father Jose was baptized in the church of Nossa Senhora dos Neves in Relva, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Açores.  Now I have a place to start to find Josefa's parents' marriage and baptismal records.

antonio jacintho de amaral

Antonio Jacintho de Amaral is another one of my husband's third great grandparents.  He is the husband of Margarida Izabel, who I wrote about it my previous post.  I was able to find his baptismal record from the church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciação in Achada, Nordeste, Sao Miguel, Açores.

church where Antonio Jacintho de Amaral was baptized in 1815
Nossa Senhora da Anunciação in Achada, Nordeste, Sao Miguel, Açores
Igreja da Achada, Nordeste, ilha de São Miguel, Açores.JPG
"Igreja da Achada, Nordeste, ilha de São Miguel, Açores" by José Luís Ávila Silveira/Pedro Noronha e Costa - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Antonio was born on September 12, 1815 in Achada.  His father is Bento Soares and his mother is Josefa do Amaral; both are also from Achada, Nordeste, São Miguel, Açores.  As I expected, Antonio's baptismal record includes both sets of grandparents.  His paternal grandparents are Antonio Soares Robello and and Maria do Santos.  His maternal grandparents are Jose de Silva and Antonia Amaral.


When I entered these names into my tree on ancestry.com, I found another user had done some research on this family.  It looks like Antonio had a sister, Margarida, who had a son, Joao Soares Andrade.  Joao apparently took his family to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he died.  This would be Antonio's nephew and Antonio de Amaral Pereira's cousin.  I know that many people from the Azores immigrated to Hawaii; I did not know my husband had ancestors there, and probably still has distant cousins there.   

I will have to look in the records to see if I can find Antonio's sister, Margarida.  I will also have to browse through the records to find other siblings.  I think my next record to find; though, will be Antonio's parents' marriage and baptismal records, Bento and Josefa. 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

magarida isabel

Margarida Isabel (Izabel) is my husband's third great grandmother.  She was born January 13, 1816 in Matriz, Ribeira Grande, Sao Miguel, Açores, and baptized at Nossa Senhora da Estrella in this parish.  Her marriage record from the last post included a surname of Viera.  I am not sure if I am reading it correctly or it should be Pereira, as that is her father's surname.  I have seen her name also include the surname Pereira in at least four of her grandchildren's baptismal records, so it could just be an error.  It could also be that Viera is another name that comes from generations past.  Her birth record brings this line back one more generation with the names of her grandparents, but none have the surname Viera.   

baptismal record of Margarida Isabel
Nossa Senhora da Estrella, Matriz, Ribeira Grande, Sao Miguel

I am getting a little better at reading these documents.  I already knew her father's name was Vincente Pereira and her mother was Anna Jacinta, but this document also provides the names of the parishes where they were from.  Her father Vincente was from Conceição, Ribeira Grande, Sao Miguel, Açores, and her mother Anna was from Rabo de Peixe, Ribeira Grande, Sao Miguel, Açores.  The Conceição parish registers go back to 1699 on the CCA website, and Rabo de Peixe goes back to 1577.  Neither church register has an index online though, so I will have to browse through many years to find Magarida's parents' baptisms. 

Margarida's paternal grandparents are listed on her baptismal record as Manuel Pereira and Magdalena Roza.  Margarida's maternal grandparents were much more difficult to read on this document.  After studying the document for a while, I believe the grandfather is listed as "incognito", and the grandmother is Francisca Tynalia or Jynalia.  Incognito could mean that the name was not known or was just not recorded, maybe other records would list his name, such as siblings of Margarida.



So now we have three names (3 out of 16) of Aldina's 2nd great grandparents (this makes the total for my husband's known 5th great grandparents 19 out of 128).  My next document to find will be Margarida's husband, Antonnio Jacintho de Amaral's, baptismal record.  Perhaps we will find four more of Aldina's 2nd great grandparents.