At the Oakland, CA FHC a guy who volunteers there and specializes in
Portuguese/Azorean genealogy told me that when he visited Sao Miguel a
few years back, he went to several of the old churches in the villages
of Bretanha and I believe Santo Antonio and asked the Priest if they
had any older books of church records. As noted in the Family History
Library Catalog the records from Bretanha cover the years 1703-1882,
and the records from Santo Antonio cover the years 1625-1880. He told
me that the Priests did have several older books stored away that
apparently were not given to the Government and National Archives back
when all the records were rounded up.
He said the Priest let him look at the books and take notes on people
he was looking for (He gave the priest a small donation for his time
and effort-i think $50). He also said that some of the older records
went back to the mid to late 1500's in Bretanha and I think Santo
Antonio.
This is a very interesting bit of information for anyone who is
researching their families in Sao Miguel, because it is possible that
other churches might have done the same things and have kept some of
the older records, rather than turning them over to the government.
Anyways, I do not know if these records will be microfilmed, copied or
scanned.
David
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