Mike, For the most part, the Portuguese records are unindexed. The few indicies that I've seen are in the latter 1800s. Guess the priest had the time to create one. Other than that, you have to go one by one.
There are different strategies on where to research next. I think with those new to reading the Portuguese records it's better to collect your ancestor and all his/her siblings first. It will really help you learn to read the records and get familiar with the format. If my ancestor was born 1880, I'd go back in time looking for others born to that same couple. Let's say I find one in 1878. I'd keep going back in time. If I don't find any for 4 years (1874), I'd go back to my ancestor born 1880, count 9 months, and try to find that month in the records and then go forward. And when I find none for 4 years, I stop there. If the first child was born legitimate, I then go to the marriages. I start with as close as I can to the day before the birth of the oldest. Once I find that marriage, I pick someone. I'll just say the groom in this example (your ancestor's dad). Then I go looking for his baptism (since his marriage has his parents' names). And I collect all his siblings. You'll find hiccups along the way. You'll be looking for your Manuel da Silva married to Maria da Conceicao and then you find her having a couple of kids as Maria de Jesus or something. Is it yours? Is it not? Are the godparents similar to what you've been finding? How many months/years between babies? All stuff you need to evaluate. Another strategy would be to build your pedigree first by searching marriages only. You'll be jumping different freguesias, different handwriting styles, and different formats (there's 3 time period formats). You'd have to be familiar with all of this. For someone new to the Portuguese records, getting used to the old Portuguese and the paleography (handwriting), I really don't recommend this method. You might try it though after be successful on a couple of other lines. I usually save deaths for last. Unless I get a clue off of a record. Let's pretend this is your family: 1) Manuel b. 1870 2) Maria b. 1872 3) Manuel b. 1874 4) Rosa, b. 1876 5) Maria, b. 1878 Kid # 1, Manuel b. 1870 is dead by 1874. So I'd go to the deaths to find his record (again, to strengthen my deciphering of the handwriting). Portuguese families don't have sons with the same name. They do have multiple Marias though. Here's another reason to search the deaths. You have your ancestor's marriage, and it says that the groom was the son of Jose de Mello ja defunto and Maria dos Anjos. The father of the groom is dead (ja defunto). If the mother of the groom was dead, it would say ja defunta after her name. If they were both dead, it was say ja defuntos after the mother's name. And that "s" on the end can sometimes just look like a stray mark. Have I overwhelmed you? 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."
