Greetings, I am researching family from the island of Pico. I will be going there for a week in June and hope to look for more information about them.
My great-great grandfather was "Caton Frates" (b. August 1837), married to "Mary Isabel (Avellar) Frates" (b. Feb. 1855). The 1900 US census says they were both from Pico, married in 1882 (he was age 45, she was 27), and living in Arroyo Grande [Corral de Piedra], San Luis Obispo Co., California. I can find them on ancestry.com, but no earlier relatives. I believe her real name was probably Mariana (or Marianna) Isabel Avellar. I also wonder if his real name may have been Caetano Freitas, with "Caton Frates" being an Americanized spelling. (St. Caetano is the patron of a parish in Madelena on Pico - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Caetano_%28Madalena%29) The family story is that "Caton" came to the US in 1865 or 66, having "stowed away" on a whaling ship in order to avoid military conscription. I have no idea if this is true, knowing how family stories can mutate over time. But a quick glance at Portuguese history shows no war going on at that time, so the draft dodging story seems a bit suspect. I am not sure if "Mary" was really also from Pico, although the census lists her as such; it's possible she may have even been born in the US, with her family having come from the Azores. She would have been about 10 years old when Caton arrived in the US. Our understanding is that they lived in Avila Beach, and I am not sure how that relates to Arroyo Grande/Corral de Piedra. They had at least seven (possibly nine?) children, who I have found listed as both Frates and Freitas: Francisco (1874) Joseph (1876)...? Mary (1878)...? Mary M. (1883) Manuel Sylvester (1884-1949) Caton (1886) Julia A. (1887) Antone (1891-1950) Virginia Louise (1893-1974) Their son Manuel S. Fraetis (notice the new spelling - the only one of his siblings to use that, I believe) married Elaine Emily Van Orman, and their son was my maternal grandfather, Francis Garland Fraetis. I would love to hear from anyone with leads going back earlier than Caton and Mary, to Pico or elsewhere in the Azores or even mainland Portugal. Obrigado! Steve Peters -- 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."
