Hi Mary MK, Katharine posted a link for Benicia. I don't know what records they have.
The census will give an immigration year. Since they were from Sao Miguel, they probably sailed from Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel. You may be lucky. Emigration OUT of the Azores is online for the port of Ponta Delgada only. BUT, there are gaps in the records (some just got lost). You are missing a few kids between 1873 and 1892. Emigration exists for 1875-1883 and then 1894-1908. There is a chance your family can be in that gap. But you can cross your fingers and search the Center for Knowledge of the Azores (Centro de Conhecimento dos Acores) or CCA site for them here: http://pg.azores.gov.pt/drac/cca/ig/ Click on "Passaportes" on the right (that's emigration OUT of the country) then chose Ponta Delgada on the right. The US Censuses will help you narrow down to which year you want. Then look for a Joaquim (da) Costa and his wife with a few kids (Mary will be Maria; Tom will be Tomas). If you don't read Portuguese, but you find a Joaquim (da) Costa and his wife and kids, copy the URL and post it here. Many people here can read (and more have trained themselves to sort of read) the records. A list of other sources (naturalization, alien registration, baptismal, deaths, obits, other vitals) can be found here: http://homepage.mac.com/kmacardoza/Genealogy/HowTo.html Good luck, 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."
