Greetings,
We came to Pico in June and have been looking forward to our trip to Santa
Maria. I have this dream of finding the houses/ruins of all 8 of my great
grandparents. So far I've found my de Lemos from Sao Jorge and the spot where
my Cardoso from Candelaria lived....alas, the house was torn down 3 years ago
and a new modern house is being built in the spot where it stood.
My husband and I went on the ferry (over 12 hours!) with Tomas Leal and his
partner for a week in Santa Maria. We went to my Great grandmother, Catharina
Moreira Cabral's village of Almagreira. I had no clue where to start looking or
who to ask. The cemetery was full of Cabral and Andrade. I knew some of them
were probably related but Catharina left Santa Maria in 1882 and since the
records for Santa Maria haven't been up long I haven't determined her siblings
or much else about the family although I have the generations behind her which
take me way back!
My computer in Pico is very slow and quite iffy so I haven't been in FTDNA much
since I've been in the Azores. The night before we were to leave Santa Maria I
decided to look at Family Finder to see if I had any new matches since I've
been here. Right away I saw a new 3rd cousin match.....she didn't have her
gedcom up but she had her family names, Cabral and Andrade, so I knew she was
related by Santa Maria ancestry. I believe she's a list member, Maria Margarida
Quea.
I wrote her immediately and she responded right away from California.
Her mother was born in Almagreira. She told me to go to the market, Clotilde in
Almagreira and that the woman who owned it was her 3rd cousin and was a Cabral.
When we arrived at the market the daughter, Isabel Cabral Andrade was there and
was very welcoming and helpful. I'm assuming that we're cousins since Margarida
is her cousin as well as my cousin. Isabel knew very little of her ancestry but
did recognize some of the names I showed her on my tree as ancestral names. She
also pointed up the hill to her grandfathers house which was rebuilt on the
family land and his brothers house is right next door to it. We went up there
and no one appeared to be home but right next door in the field was a very old
ruin.....lovely with a caved in roof and trees growing up the
middle......classic ruin made with rubble and stucco. again, my intuition told
me that this was Catharina's home before going to the states.....I have no
proof although we did go back to the market and ask Isabel if this was part of
the Cabral family and she confirmed that it was although she wasn't sure whose
it had been. I have pictures and for now it's Catharina's.
Isabel also told us that there was another family member who does genealogy,
her cousin, Jimmy Coelho, (another of my Santa Maria family names). She didn't
know his phone number but said to go to Sao Lourenco and just ask and someone
would know where to find him. I had a very strong intuitive flash to stop at
the first café rather than the one we were headed to and when I went in and
asked if the man knew Jimmy Coelho he said yes and pointed to the house
immediately behind the café! We went and knocked and 2 men on the street saw us
and came to see what we wanted. It was Jimmy Coelho and his father, Joao! They
have the same great great grandfathers name that I have, Antonio Joaquim
Cabral, and while we have made a certain connection it appears we're also
cousins. They live in the states and Jimmy will be joining our list.
Needless to say, I was very happy and content. Santa Maria is one of the very
loveliest of the islands! I have many pictures and if anyone would like to see
them I'm happy to send them off list.
Thanks to Family Finder I found a very tangible connection to my Catharina and
cousins! Life is good!
Nancy Jean Baptista
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