I've posted this information a while ago, but it's probably time to repeat it for our new members or those who have missed it the other times.
European research is organized on the town level. Therefore, we need to do everything we can in our home country to try to turn up a document where they named their village. Death certificate, obituary, marriage (if married outside the Azores), censuses, naturalizations, and the list goes on. A list of sources to try and what to expect can be found on the Azores GenWeb here: goo.gl/r2gNc7 Your local genealogy society probably has information on locating an immigrant ancestor. They may even have an occasional speaker on the topic. Back in B.C. (that's Before Computers), when I started genealogy, I had to do a lot of letter writing and waiting. It ultimately took me 4 years and was the 25th document in the United States that I had located that had something to do with my immigrant ancestors. I've found a few others since. To date, I still have found only that one document with their freguesia on it. It does take some perseverance. With computers though, things can be a bit quicker. If you ancestor naturalized, that is a wait, but I believe people are reporting only weeks. Back, B.C., it was almost a year! -- Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- 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.
