The key to research in the Azorean Islands is to learn FIRST which village your ancestors came from. This can be a frustrating task ... but a near 100% requirement. There are exceptions but they are few. As Cheri Mello advised, research ALL available records in USA first. This would include every church record that you can locate (including cemetery records), look at every census record (state and federal), locate all civil records (birth marriage & death). Look for local probate records, property records, legal records. Exhaust all potential sources in USA that might hint at locale of origin or family connections that might offer alternative avenues for research. A note on an exception: if you know two items: exact date of death on an island AND the island .. there is a chance that you can write to the specific Portuguese archive for that island and they may locate the village. That is the only Portuguese alternative that I have used with success. There are currently no central databases ... all exist "by village" The passenger lists are another useful way to see if you can find a village of origin ... but these are US records. Best of luck, Al In a message dated 7/1/2012 3:42:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, mgilfilia...@gmail.com writes:
Pam, Cheri is right, if you can download her guide, save print it out like I did, it really helped me start using a process, after I first joined the group I realized I didn't have a clue what I was doing. There are a number of places to look here in the USA first before using the govt pages, I happen to just have some luck, a genealogist happen to notice one of the surnames i'm looking for and asked for the names I had. Just so happens we're cousins and he gave me the baptismal record for my GGgrandmother, her village, parents and grand parents. Pure luck for me, but it also takes a bunch of effort and patience. Took me a bit to figure that out. On Jul 1, 2012 2:39 PM, "Cheri Mello" <_gfscherim@gmail.com_ (mailto:gfsche...@gmail.com) > wrote: Pam M, Your 2 questions: <<First, I want to ask if there is a place we can visit in the New Bedford or RI areas to get some help with Portuguese records?>> You're not ready to utilize the Portuguese records yet. You'll need to confirm that the island is indeed Sao Miguel and then find the freguesia (fregh-Z-ah) which is the village. Most of Europe is that way (find the village). I have a how to guide posted here on the Azores Genweb: _goo.gl/9CO4r_ (http://goo.gl/9CO4r) You might want to bookmark the Azores Genweb site: _goo.gl/HuNWh_ (http://goo.gl/HuNWh) Tracing your ancestor(s) in America and collecting all the clues and analyzing them will help you find the freguesia over there. One man on this list started about 10 weeks ago and he just found one freguesia on one ancestor! Your 2nd question: <<Secondly, any thoughts about why Salvador does not seem to exist in records from 1926 until much, much later in his life?>> You don't say what records you have searched. Judy P. gave you something that she found. However, if a person was born about 1926, they would not be an adult until about 1944. It's tough to find records on people between the 1940s to the present due to privacy and stuff like that. You will be able to find them on the 1940 census (just released) when it's fully indexed. Since he served in WWII, you'll find records on that. The rest will be you sleuthing via the how to link I posted above. Good luck. Post what you find from the various sources here and we'll help you make sense of it. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to _Azores+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com_ (mailto: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_ (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." -- 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_ (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." -- 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."
