I just have to chime in here. My grandfather came to California in 1901/02 (I've seen both dates and haven't found a ship). All I know is that his father's last name was Luiz (on my grandfather's death certificate) and that my grandfather was always known as Joseph Souza Lewis, his mother (who immigrated as a widow with 3 children), Mary Lewis, his brother Arthur Lewis and his sister is also Mary Lewis. He married a Portuguese woman (her mother was born in Mass., her father in the Azores) named Ida Lucille Vieirra (I've seen several spellings for this).
My mother and her siblings grew up speaking Portuguese in their home, but I NEVER knew this until I started doing research. In fact, my mother told me they were Irish, which I believed until I met her cousin, Francisco "Sonny" Silva, when I was in my teens. So I always thought that her mother was Portuguese and her father Irish until about 2 years ago when I joined ancestry.com and began doing a little research. I think that the first generation born in America just wanted to blend in and not call attention to the differences they had with "Americans." I found a first cousin on Ancestry who grew up in the same town with our grandparents and she told me a lot about the family that my mother never mentioned. I only met my grandparents once when I was 8 years old. I'm not really sure about my mother's relationship with her family, but I know it wasn't very close - unlike most Portuguese families. I'm really sorry she didn't feel the desire to share more about our heritage with me. I've been trying to share with my grown kids and grandchildren. They may not appreciate it now, but I hope they will later. Lorinda On Sat, Aug 11, 2012 at 2:16 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > Well written Cousin Sam. > I sometimes think some of us from "this era" misunderstand the > "drivers" that led our ancestors to success. They stopped at nothing. They > were survivors ... would do whatever to give their children a better chance > at a more prospective future. That is what I "read" in the various attempts > to "Americanize" themselves (might be viewed as 'anglicized' in the current > day). It was competition in its rawest sense ... *your* family (farm?) > against the existing (old New England) farmer. You did (as a father or > parent) to see that *your* children (born in the country that YOU as an > immigrant chose) did whatever you perceived as *advantageous* to your > children. > > In my opinion ... THAT is what drove our ancestors to do as they saw > necessary in the remarkably competitive environment of those times. Would > you do less for your children? ... try to think in their shoes. I admire > their decisions as much as I regret the loss of heritage that such > decisions entailed. > > I can recover that lost heritage through study. I could not recover > from death of my immigrant ancestors or their children from poverty driven > in part by a disgusting irreverence for the humans who came to US shores > driven by hope. > > Best to you all. > > In a message dated 8/11/2012 3:49:52 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > I was born in 1946 and am the youngest of 6 children. Both my parents > were Portuguese, 1st generation for one a 1st & 2nd for the other. My > mom’s mother was an immigrant but; her father was born in the U.S. My > parents spoke Portuguese to each other but; if one of us children came into > the room they switched to English. They definitely wanted us to be known > as Americans! Not Americans first, Americans period. My older siblings > tell me they experienced prejudice even though there were many Portuguese > descendents in our town in CA. I know neither of my grandmothers ever > spoke to us about where they were from or their early life. My > grandfathers were both dead before I was born. None of my family were > striving for “upper crust” stations in life. They were quite happy to be > successful farmers. I think prejudice against Portuguese people must have > been very real for them but; it probably depended on where you lived and > perhaps, your level of education as well. Just my two cents worth, Sam in > CA**** > > ** ** > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Gayle Machado > *Sent:* Saturday, August 11, 2012 10:50 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Anglicization of names**** > > ** ** > > Len,**** > > ** ** > > My grandfather's first wife was Irish. Her family looked down on the > Portuguese as the N(word)s of Europe.(Sorry, not a word I would use. ) As a > result, he anglicized his name. His children from that marriage used > Marshall. His wife died young. When he decided to remarry, my grandmother's > family were not biased against his heritage (being Portuguese themselves) > so his second family returned to the Machado surname. **** > > ** ** > > However, outside the family, my father would never acknowledge his > heritage or the fact that he spoke Portuguese fluently. To my great > disappointment, he refused to teach my sister or I saying this was the U. > S. and English was the only language we needed. **** > > ** ** > > Gayle**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > > > **** > > > > **** > > -- > 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." > > -- > 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." > -- 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."
