Hi Steve S, Sousa is the modern Portuguese spelling. Before 1911 you will see Souza. At least in the Portuguese records. The set of records you'll be dealing with won't be the Civil Registers but the Church records.
Yes, Souza/Sousa and Silva are 2 of the most common names. Records over there are organized on the village level. You have to know the village, especially when you are dealing with Sao Miguel island. That island alone holds half the population of the Azores and has approximately 70 churches to look through. It's a needle in a haystack. You have the immigration date. Unfortunately, the emigration leaving the port of Ponta Delgada on the island of Sao Miguel has some gaps in the records. That 1885-1886 is one gap. The records are simply missing. If none of your research has turned up a village (called a freguesia) on your Manuel, you'll have to research his sisters and find their immigration and naturalizations. And you'll most likely have to use DNA. Your matches might point towards a particular region on Sao Miguel. Or maybe you'll find a cousin. If your parent(s) are alive test them first. If they are not alive, test their sibling(s). If they are not alive, then you are the best candidate for the DNA test. Order through the Azores DNA Project on Family Tree DNA. Use this link: https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=AzoresIslands You want the Family Finder which is on sale for $49 (+$12.95 S&H - includes return postage if you still reside in the U.S.). The sale ends tonight (Jan. 2) at 11:59 pm PST. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 8:23 AM Steve Stevens <steve.stevens....@cox.net> wrote: > Hello all! > > I just found this group while digging for Azores civil records or > information. My great-grandfather Manuel/Manoel de Sousa/Souza was born > about 28 February 1868 in ST. Michael/Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal and > immigrated to the US about 16 April 1885/86 at Boston, MA. He was > naturalized 5 Nov 1897. According to marriage records, his parents were > John Soza and Mary Silva. Knowing that these names are like Smith and Jones > in the US, I was hoping for some help locating Portuguese records for the > family. He had three sisters, Mary (abt1871-1933), Marion Augusta (abt > 1875-1943) and Gertrude Alice (???-aft 1943). > > Any help would be most appreciated. > > Regards, > > Steve Stevens (Souza) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Azores Genealogy" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/azores/01aba5af-ace1-446e-b253-ccf5c66bc1ee%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/azores/01aba5af-ace1-446e-b253-ccf5c66bc1ee%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/azores/CAKUUw_Gb%3DfXiqM0x7LfPrrJWgb6pvB%2B0XBcJau%3DOKZemdQhj%3DQ%40mail.gmail.com.
