Hello Katharine,
I noticed your question about slaves, so I thought I'd join in to answer you.
I don't think I have ever seen a single village in the Azores where there ISN'T a baptism of a slave. So, they were found in every village.
As you would expect, it must have been a measure of wealth and status to be a slave owner. Everyone from priests to nobility and wealthy families had them.
They are important to notice if you are doing serious research, because they often mention as the padrinhos (godparents) many family connections that might not otherwise be mentioned, especially when these padrinhos are single and can't be found ever being married or having any children. It can be the one and only time you ever see them mentioned.
There were other slaves than from Africa, but it is still my first presumption. They often do say a black slave, but not always.
Just yesterday I ran across the baptism of a child who married in Terceira, but was native of Sao Jorge and found her mother was a black slave.
Finding descendants of these slaves is of particular interest to me. There are several on this list who have mentioned they found a slave ancestor in their tree.
The closest I have personally come is a sibling of my ancestor in Terceira married a child of a slave.
Atenciosamente,
Doug da Rocha Holmes
Sacramento, California
Pico Genealogist
916-550-1618
Sacramento, California
Pico Genealogist
916-550-1618
---------- Original Message --------
Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Birth record of daughter of slave
From: Katharine <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, December 28, 2012 10:36 am
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Rick, this is fascinating, as I had been unaware of slaves (presumably of African origin) in the Azores. Were there very many, and do you know their distribution in the various islands of the archipelago?
I ask because I'm currently translating Onésimo Almeida's essay collection O peso do hífen [The weight of the hyphen, referring to the hyphenated identity of Portuguese-Americans]. In one of his essays -- "Olhares americanos sobres três comunidades açorianas da Costa Leste na década de 1920" (pp. 129-152) -- Dr. Almeida recounts at length the justifiably great outcry that arose among the New England Azorean community following the publication of Donald Taft's 1923 scholarly treatise Two Portuguese Communities in New England, in which he posits the racial theory of people from São Miguel being socio-economically inferior and less intelligent due to having Black blood in their ancestry (as opposed to folks from the Central and Western Island groups of the Azores, who had more Flemish blood). Sigh...
At present my English translation of this essay is still in the first-draft stage, although if you read Portuguese I would be happy to email you the original text of the relevant portion of the chapter. Katharine.
On Wednesday, December 19, 2012 12:48:25 PM UTC-5, Richard Francis Pimentel wrote:--Hi All,I came across this record several years ago in Achada and was confused by it. I went back this morning and realize that is was because the parent was a slave. It is a bit hard to read.What I can make out is it says “Francisca daughter of Elena de Medeiros single slave of Joanna Amaral widow of Captain Antonio de Medeiros. Born 26 Nov 1754RickRichard Francis PimentelSpring, TXFormerly of Epping, New HampshireResearching, Riberia Grande, Riberinha, Achada Grande, Bretanha, and Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Acores
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