I have run across something just now that can serve as a good example for how to evaluate the information and facts presented during the course of researching ancestors.
So if you are interested in some research advice, read on.
My search was for the baptism of a man named Tomás, whose age at marriage indicated he was born in 1818 in the village of São Bartolomeu, Terceira.
The marriage said his parents are Manuel José Machado and Ana Joaquina.
It took only a few minutes to find his probable baptism and here are my notes. Please ask for clarification if you don't understand my mixture of Portuguese and English:
Tomás, filho de Manuel José Machado e Ana Joaquina, natives of ilha de São Jorge, parishioners in São Bartolomeu
Born 9 Mar 1818, bapt 16th in São Bartolomeu, Terceira
Padrinhos: Tomás José da Silva e sua mulher Maria Cândida, residents in Sé, Angra, by proxy of Manuel da Rocha, casado com Isabel Joaquina, residents in São Mateus, Terceira, and Francisco Machado, filho de Francisco Machado Cota e de sua mulher Francisca Inácia, of São Bartolomeu, Terceira.
Born 9 Mar 1818, bapt 16th in São Bartolomeu, Terceira
Padrinhos: Tomás José da Silva e sua mulher Maria Cândida, residents in Sé, Angra, by proxy of Manuel da Rocha, casado com Isabel Joaquina, residents in São Mateus, Terceira, and Francisco Machado, filho de Francisco Machado Cota e de sua mulher Francisca Inácia, of São Bartolomeu, Terceira.
I already had a couple by these names in my database, but it wasn't a perfect match with the other facts, hence the need to carefully evaluate.
My couple was a man from Pico and a wife from São Jorge. But this baptism stated both are natives of São Jorge.
If I were reckless, I would just attach them and continue on from there. But my couple up to now had no connection with São Bartolomeu. I didn't yet have any children for them.
And most of all, there could easily be another couple around this time by these exact names who might have married in São Jorge and moved over to Terceira.
So I made a tentative connection to my Tomás and the couple I already had in my database.
But I decided that if I stopped there, I might end up being wrong. What I needed to do was more research. So I started looking earlier in the baptisms of São Bartolomeu and came to this other child, possibly by the same couple:
João, filho de Manuel José, native of Pico, e Ana Joaquina, native of ilha de São Jorge, parishioners in São Bartolomeu
Born 11 Nov 1816, bapt 18th in São Bartolomeu, Terceira
Padrinhos: Manuel da Rocha, e sua mulher Isabel Joaquina, parishioners in São Mateus, Terceira
Born 11 Nov 1816, bapt 18th in São Bartolomeu, Terceira
Padrinhos: Manuel da Rocha, e sua mulher Isabel Joaquina, parishioners in São Mateus, Terceira
Notice that the father isn't listed with a surname. So is this really the same couple?
And this time, the father is said to be from Pico, not São Jorge. The mother is matching the other record and is said to be from São Jorge.
So did I find the same couple for both children? To answer this, look at the godparents (padrinhos).
In the baptism of Tomás, the proxies for the godparents are Manuel da Rocha and Isabel Joaquina, residents and parishioners in São Mateus, Terceira.
In the baptism of João, this same couple were the godparents.
That alone would be enough to convince me these two children are brothers and their parents are the same, despite a variation in the facts between the two baptism records.
And the baptism of João had enough detail to convince me the couple already in my database was this couple who had moved over to São Bartolomeu after they married.
As always, it's wise to check out the godparents and when I did this, I noticed that the reason Isabel Joaquina was the godmother for João is that she is also his aunt.
I knew this because I had already found the marriage of Manuel da Rocha and Isabel Joaquina. It is most common for one or both of the godparents to be a close relative, such an uncle or aunt for the child.
As I checked out the other godparents, I found I already had them all in my database and saw no close links to the family. I think they were simply friends or neighbors.
It turns out that I am related in many ways to the godfather Manuel da Rocha, and to the other one, Francisco Machado. And I am likely related remotely to these brothers, João and Tomás, through their Pico ancestry, but it is beyond the records to prove it.
If I still had any doubts as to these parents and whether João and Tomás are brothers, I would have continued until I found all their siblings and hopefully I would find enough proof to satisfy any doubts.
It might also require finding their deaths and finding baptisms of other children where someone in this family acted as a godparent.
You must do whatever it takes so you don't end up linking up to the wrong family.
There are situations, especially in older generations where there aren't enough records to make a definitive conclusion and so it might also be helpful to get DNA testing of all relevant people.
I have already discussed this a little and posted on my website: www.dholmes.com/dna.htm
If you do decide DNA testing will help, I recommend using FTDNA.com because they have the largest database and it will help increase your chances of finding matches.
Boa sorte (good luck) !
Doug da Rocha Holmes
Sacramento, California
Pico & Terceira Genealogist
916-550-1618
-- Sacramento, California
Pico & Terceira Genealogist
916-550-1618
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