Hi Mike, The Azores have their own division of records.
Recent records (present to about 100 years ago) are held at the Registo Civil (Civil Registry). Each concelho (like an American county) has a Civil Registry. Records older than 100 years are shipped to the Biblioteca e Arquivo. The Azores has 3: Ponta Delgada: Holds the records from Sao Miguel and Santa Maria Angra: Holds the records from Terceira, Graciosa, and Sao Jorge. Horta: Holds the records from Faial, Pico, Flores, and Corvo. Records are shipped from the Registo Civil to the Biblioteca usually in years that are divisible by 5. Last, year, 2010, the Biblioteca received records from 1906 - 1910. In 2015, the Biblioteca will receive records from 1911 - 1915. That's a rough estimate. The Registo Civil may ship more books if space is needed there. The Biblioteca holds records back to the beginning. Or what's left of them. You can always check the Family History Library Catalog to get a feeling for what is there and then bring it up to the current - 1910. N.S. da Conceicao in Ribeira Grande has baptisms, marriages, and deaths from 1699 - 1910. But if you go pick on another church, say Sao Miguel Arcanjo in Vila Franca, you will find that the baptisms are from 1598-1910, marriages from 1670-1910, and deaths from 1673-1910. However, there is an index for baptisms that exists from 1565-1639. So either the earliest baptisms no longer exist or they are so deteriorated that they couldn't be filmed in the mid-1980s. And since the marriages and obitos begin in the 1670s, the same must be true - the books no longer exist or they are in extremely bad shape. The Torre de Tombo is the National Archives of Portugal, not the Azores. I'm not sure of the current price. I haven't written in a while, but I seem to remember someone trying to get a record there from last summer. Maybe that person can repost what her cost was. I can't recall at the moment. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
