Before my husband and I left for the Azores Genealogical Conference, we talked with his mother about any stories she remembered hearing from her parents about their families. She was born in Massachusetts and growing up in Rhode Island, never knew her grandparents or other family members who remained in Sao Miguel. Her mother’s oldest brother, Manuel Raposo, was a priest and she and my father-in-law took a trip to the Azores in the 60’s when she finally met him. One of the stories she told us was that he owned a tea “plantation”. Joao Ventura told us at the conference that in the poorer parishes, the priests needed a private source of income to support themselves. I have just discovered that this story is true! Putting “Manuel Raposo” and “Ribeira Grande” (where he was born) in a Google search, I got a hit!
Portuguese: *http://historiadosacores.tumblr.com/post/75792642884/2003-goreana-ilha-de-s-miguel-trabalhadora-da*<http://historiadosacores.tumblr.com/post/75792642884/2003-goreana-ilha-de-s-miguel-trabalhadora-da> English: *http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://historiadosacores.tumblr.com/post/75792642884/2003-goreana-ilha-de-s-miguel-trabalhadora-da&prev=/*<http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://historiadosacores.tumblr.com/post/75792642884/2003-goreana-ilha-de-s-miguel-trabalhadora-da&prev=/> This website, A História dos Açores em imagens. | The History of the Azores in images, covers all the Islands and makes for great browsing. Of the 21 historical tea plantations (Plantacoes de Cha) in Ribeira Grande, it appears only two remain at the present day. Here is an overview of the current tea industry in Sao Miguel. I couldn’t find the name of Manuel Raposo’s plantation in Nordestinho, so it is almost undoubtedly defunct *http://mundolusiada.com.br/turismo/plantacoes-de-cha-dos-acores-produzem-50-toneladas-anuais-e-sao-unicas-na-europa/*<http://mundolusiada.com.br/turismo/plantacoes-de-cha-dos-acores-produzem-50-toneladas-anuais-e-sao-unicas-na-europa/> The largest, Gorreana, has a home page in English and also a Facebook page. http://www.gorreanatea.com/ Porta Formoso’s home page is in Portuguese *http://www.chaportoformoso.com/principal_portugues.php*<http://www.chaportoformoso.com/principal_portugues.php> TripAdvisor has glowing reviews from those tourists who have visited. Sounds like a great sidetrip for anyone visiting Sao Miguel. -- 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]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
