Anthony M, It depends on the freguesia and island you are researching. For instance, if you are on Flores island, you can use that wonderful "Casais das Flores e Corvo" marriage index (now an e-book). If you happen to be rearching Ribeira Quente on Sao Miguel, those marriages were extracted. By using the marriages, you can make a kind of road map with your pedigree and fill it in from there.
Most of us have to do it the hard way (and some of us either did microfilm and a few of us had to go there in the 80s and before to do research). I find every baptism of every baby for the couple. I made note of anyone who is mentioned as deceased so I can fill that in later. When I run out of baptisms (assuming all are legitimate births), then I go to the marriages and begin looking for that couple being married - starting as close to the day before the birth of that eldest child. Once I find the marriage, it will state the parents of the bride and groom. Usually, if they are 2 younger people, they are in their 20s. To be safe, I make them 18. If the groom is Manuel de Mello, born to Jose de Mello and Francisca de Jesus and the groom was married in 1818, I go to 1800 and search for ALL babies born to Jose de Mello & Francisca de Jesus. I will pick up Manuel along the way. Because I have done "whole family" or "collateral" research, it allows me to connect to others without too much difficulty. When Todd (Brum) Brown did his DNA and it came in and matched me, I could tell he had Ribeira Quente (or was that Ponta Garca - it's been awhile). Anyways, I checked out his Gedcom and found the last ancestor he researched and opened my genealogy program and found her there. Todd probably got an instant 5 more generations. There's really no easy way about it. :( 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.
