Original baptismal register books for São Miguel up to 1911 are housed in the Regional Archives at the Ponta Delgada Public Library. From personal experience last fall I know for a fact that there are at least a few Library staffers who speak fairly fluent English, if that's an issue for you -- I feel much more secure in English, so can empathize if that's your situation, too :-)
Your quest may be even easier than that. If you'd like to get started before you depart on your trip, see if scans of the register books you seek are online, because a lot of 19th-century records already are. Homepage for records is: http://pg.azores.gov.pt/drac/cca/ig (click on São Miguel on map) Best of luck, and please let us know if you make any discoveries. Katharine. On Aug 3, 10:39 pm, jojo8...@comcast.net wrote: > Hi group, > > I hope someone can help me in my quest. On my grandmother's Francisca J > (Almeida) Pereira born July 1 1879 passport application her parents were > listed as pais inognito. It is thought that the Almeida name was that of her > foster or adoptive parents. > > Does anyone know where you begin to look for a birth or baptismal record? > > I will be in Sao Miguel for ten days. Leaving on August 14. Will be going > to the archives to trace my grandfather's family (Pereira) but she is the one > that I am really interested in. I know that the Almeida family was from Sao > Pedro, Ponta Delgada. One of the wonderful people in this group found her > "sister's" obituary in Oakland,CA. My grandparents came to the East coast and > settled in Fall River,MA. > > She arrived with my grandfather and an 18 month old son named Umberto. > > George Pacheco mentioned that the baptisms of those children were kept in > the Matriz church. Any idea as tto how I can see that book? > > Am I on a fruitless > quest? Joanne Souza -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more 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."