I wanted to add an update to the original information I posted, as well as respond to a few of the reply posts.
I received some incredible information from Joao Ventura which allowed us to add several additional generations to the information we already had: Feliciano de Sousa da Silva and his twin Joao de Sousa da Silva were born to their mother, Mariana Rosa. She was a single washer woman. Joao listed his father as Manuel Sousa Silva on a trip he took to the States in 1912. They do not seem to have been married. Mariana Rosa was born to her mother, Adriana Rosa 11 Apr 1850. Adriana was also a single washer woman. Adriana's parents were Manuel de Sousa, a native of Vila da Praia, and Maria Josefa (Jozepha) of Luz. Ermelinda da Luz Pacheco was born to her parents, Manuel da Cunha Pacheco (a seaman) and Maria da Luz, natives of Luz, on 2 May 1897. Manuel's parents were Manuel da Cunha Pimentel and Maria Carolina. Maria's parents were Francisco Espinola Chaves and Ana de Jesus. Ermelinda Pacheco and Feliciano de Sousa da Silva were married 8 Nov 1913 in Luz. Marcelino Jose Espinola was born to Marcelino Jose Espinola (builder of stone walls) and Rosa Isabel Bettencourt, natives of Guadalupe, Graciosa. Marcelino's parents were Manuel Jose Espinola and Maria Joaquina. Rosa's parents were Joao Correia Machado and Rosa Joaquina. Marcelino Jose Espinola married Rosa Sousa Mendes in New Bedford, Massachusetts in November of 1914. Rosa's parents were Mariano S. (likely Sousa) Mendes and Domingas Da Guia. We are still working to determine where Rosa Sousa Mendes was from. There are conflicting reports that she was born on mainland Portugal, but we've also heard Graciosa. Anyone out there with any additional information, I'd love to hear from you! Ken, I thought you'd be particularly interested to hear that there was a da Cunha in our family, but it was on the Pacheco side. I've not had good luck accessing records from the Azores myself, but I HIGHLY recommend contacting Joao Ventura-- he was able to provide us with much of this information, and let me know that it was not always the case that surnames were passed from father to child. Apparently, a family would sometimes choose a last name with other familial significance, and women didn't generally receive last names. Interesting stuff. Joao is quick and very reasonably priced. You can reach him at [email protected] I hope this information can be helpful to someone! Laura -- 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."
