What great solutions and tips. Yes, I have carefully examined the passport (Manuel's son, John), thanks.
I will look at the Whaling Crews and Boston ship manifests, which hadn't come up in my searches. Now I know not to rely on general searches so much. Interesting, family stories have some relatives going back once in a while for whaling -- money but also "the longing" for whaling and fishing. Coastal California fishing was seasonal, apparently. The zinger is Ms. Margaret Vicente's baptism find, which others found to be the most revelatory: Manuel Pimentel Ramos born of Manuel Pimentel Ramos and Maria de Jesus I immediately recognized all the names because they were already in my family tree, in another section: Manuel Pimentel Ramos<http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/45606850/person/6495811895> But all evidence points to him being Manuel Minta. I find this realization exhilarating. In brief, if you assume Greg Small's theory is correct, that Manuel Minta married Philomena Thomas (not Joseph), then Manuel Minta's brother, Joseph Pimental Ramos, married Philomena's sister, Mary Thomas. Moreover, Manuel Minta's brother Mathew and sister Mary can be mapped to their counterparts in the Ramos/Renas family. Brother Mathew Minta (Renas/Ramos) family's only record was the 1880 Census. He died before the next 1900 census when his wife and family are still in Contra Costa County under the name Renas. They must have reverted to his original name while Manuel did not. Sister Mary Minta maps to Maria Pimentel Ramos (birth year), and she seems to have married a John Thomas! However, information is scarce for her. The intermarriages and name changing do not allow complete confidence: Pimentel Ramos to Renas and Pimentel Ramos to Minta. Add the fact that surnames Thomas and Joseph are common first names. After figuring how to make these severe changes in Ancestry.com, then I'll contemplate the conundrum of Philomena Thomas vs. Philomena Joseph. With great appreciation, Steve -- 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."
