August 31, 2010
How much do we really know about our family? Our ancestors? How many of us wonder about where they were born, where they lived, what kind of work they did, when they passed?
My mind travels toward these questions as I work on the geneology project of my family tree. The problem is that now that I am interested in my ancestors, there´s nobody around who can answer my questions.
My research on my family takes me from the islands of the Azores to mainland Portugal, to Macau (China) and finally to the United States. Who knows where else it will take me... it will be a true voyage of discovery.
Summer 2010 : Researching family records
This summer I visited the island of São Miguel in the Azores (where I was born) in my journey to discover my ancestors. I spent a couple of days in the archives in Ponta Delgada reading through baptismal records from 1830 to 1890 hoping to find information on my father's side of the family (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents). At that time it was the baptismal record which recorded not only the baptismal of the baby but also the birth. The only information I had was my grandparents names and their age at the time was father was born. I knew that both were 22 as stated on his birth record. I started with the books for 1889. I finally found my grandfather: he was born on September 13, 1889 in the parish of Rosário, Lagoa.
I didn't find any record for my grandmother in 1889 so I moved on to the books for the next year, 1890 and fortunately she was born on January 1 of 1890 also in the parish of Rosário, Lagoa. Baptismal records, written by the priest who performed the ceremony, contain not only the names of the child's parents but also the names of the grandparents, if known. Some also indicate the names of the godparents. Therefore, I was able to find the names of my great-grandparents. I looked at the records as far back as 1839 in an attempt to find them. I found some similar names but am not sure it is them. The search can be a daunting experience. These records which still exist today in their original format in bound books are handwritten and some in very elaborate penmanship. With the passing of the years the ink has begun to fade so most are rather difficult to read. Some effort is being made to digitalise these records but it is a slow process.
I didn't find any record for my grandmother in 1889 so I moved on to the books for the next year, 1890 and fortunately she was born on January 1 of 1890 also in the parish of Rosário, Lagoa. Baptismal records, written by the priest who performed the ceremony, contain not only the names of the child's parents but also the names of the grandparents, if known. Some also indicate the names of the godparents. Therefore, I was able to find the names of my great-grandparents. I looked at the records as far back as 1839 in an attempt to find them. I found some similar names but am not sure it is them. The search can be a daunting experience. These records which still exist today in their original format in bound books are handwritten and some in very elaborate penmanship. With the passing of the years the ink has begun to fade so most are rather difficult to read. Some effort is being made to digitalise these records but it is a slow process.
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