Thanks!! On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 9:31 AM, Cheri Mello <[email protected]> wrote:
> The street where I was living on when I was baptized is not where I live > now. It's not even the same city. > > When the 1900-1905 books became available, I went to the archives in Ponta > Delgada to find the rest of the siblings of my immigrant ancestor. The > youngest sibling was born in 1900 and had a margin full of notes. He > married and moved to the other side of the island and died there in 1990. > The next day, I went to the praça and found a taxi driver who agreed to > take me over to the other side of the island (that was a whole story in > itself). > > When we got there, the taxi driver went to the neighborhood bar or pub > first! I waited in the taxi. When he came out a few minutes later, he said > that they told him that we were to go over to the church (a festa was going > on, so I was in luck) and find the old man with the cane and hat named > so-and-so. Over to the church we went. And the taxi driver found the man. > He verified pretty much what I had researched - the youngest sibling, > Antonio, was from the other side of the island, Ribeira das Tainhas, he > married Senhorinha, blah blah blah. Then the old man said that Antonio had > a son who went to Canada. I had a story of some of the family going to > Canada. The old man couldn't remember the son's name or how long ago this > happened though. :( > > Many years passed. One day, a guy named Altino posts on this list. I > thought the name was interesting, as I had a photo of an Altino De Melo in > my possesion, taken in the 40s or 50s. The Altino in the photo was in a > military uniform. The Altino writing the post did not have the writing > style of a man of that age. I thought it was a strange coincidence, until > Altino emailed me directly with a question about this list. In another > paragraph he mentioned that he was about to start researching his father's > side of the family, from Ribeira Quente. One of my freguesias! > > After I picked myself off the floor, I emailed him back with the photo of > Altino the soldier and said to him something along the lines of, "Who are > you?" He writes back and asks what I was doing with a photo of his uncle > Altino, his namesake. A couple of emails later I find out he lives in > Canada. He was the son of the man who went to Canada. Antonio's grandson. > > A couple of years after that, Altino was in California and I got to meet > him and spend the afternoon with him. So I met him on my home turf, so to > speak! It took me only 15, 16, 17 years to find someone from that branch of > the family!! > > Your friend may not be lucky on the first try. It may be convoluted to try > to find family as it was in my case. He can go to the freguesia and ask if > anyone knows about that family. Old photos help. My other ancestor had a > younger sister who was deaf. I show her picture around the freguesia and > they all know who the deaf woman was. Thank goodness for photos! Also look > for places where people congregate. The neighborhood bar or pub, perhaps in > a praça, perhaps near the church, or maybe over at the Casa do Povo. > > Early in my research, I had interviewed my grandfather's eldest brother > (everyone else had died). He had gone there and met family. He gave me a > Christmas card with a return address. The family still lived at that > address. So that one was lucky! > > Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Well not really the worst, > but it could be a long haul. > > Cheri Mello > Listowner, Azores-Gen > Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, > Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada > > -- > 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 https://groups.google.com/group/azores. > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/azores.
