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.

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.