On Sunday, June 23, 2013 8:04:19 PM UTC, E Sharp wrote: > > Here's a question for you all including those living in the Azores. If > someone entered to the US illegally, under dark of night, ca 1900 do you > think they would they have gotten a Passportes before they left Faial? The > ship left Faial illegally and there were about 40 passengers on the ship. >
My grandfather and three of his older brothers left Faial between 1885 and 1905 and supposedly entered through New Bedford or New York on their ways to California, but I have been unable to find anything showing entry for any of them, nor have I been able to find any passport example, the manifest from the ship m grandfather came on clearly lists the cousin he travelled with and the older brother that cousin was coming to visit. Nowhere is my grandfather's name listed, however. All four brothers left before turning 18, which I've learned was a common practice to avoid military service. Just this year, the granddaughter (my second cousin) of the oldest brother found some interesting paperwork she shared with me. The oldest brother applied for a Portuguese passport AFTER he began the process of applying for American citizenship! He did this just as my grandfather (the youngest male of the family) was about to come from Faial in 1905, a trip the oldest brother paid for. On one form, he stated his entry date as having been in March 1885. Another piece of paper was a declaration from Portugal that this brother had been born in Portugal and was a subject of the king. On the back is a written notation that this paperwork was requested by and given to a younger brother who had remained in Faial. That brother's signature appears in receipt of the paperwork. I was surprised to see these two pieces of paper. It seems that paperwork could catch up with immigrants after the fact. As others have pointed out, the U.S. wasn't so fussy about admitting immigrants from Europe, especially sturdy workers from southern European countries who could build the labor force in the factories sprouting up as the U.S. took over the position away from Britain as number one in industrial output. Tomás Leal -- For 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." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
