in my case my first ancestor here from portugal seems to have said his name but people couldn't understand or pronounce it. we cannot fully be sure of his name. manoel jose became manoel jose figurehead on one census. perhaps they couldn't understand him or spell his name which some think was figueiredo which people mistakingly took to be his occupation of carver of figureheads as one story goes. of course we know that names change intentionally and otherwise over the years. much of our family folklore and culture can be traced back to the portuguese culture although no one was aware of it until it showed up in research. i think in the end "foreigners" or " people from away" just wanted to blend in and fit into their new environment . to be accepted by neighbors as one of them so did many things to accomodate that. Dawn Josey some summize people thought he might have carved figureheads. his name Jose became Josey and the figurehead was lost. On 08/11/12, Lorinda Sevenans <[email protected]> wrote: > 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(http://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." >
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