Hi Michelle, You might want to look at this little booklet of how to get started. It's full of ideas besides marriage and death certificates: http://goo.gl/yJddH
It's from the Azores GenWeb site. You might want to bookmark that as well: http://goo.gl/Ar7pm You're going to have to gather as much evidence on the 3 siblings that you can and then try to weigh it, like you said (believing the marriage over the death). However, keep in mind that you may be dealing with immigrant ancestors who did not have good command of the English language at the time they were asked the question. My immigrant ancestor told the World War I Draft board that he was born in "Portuguese" (stating his nationality, instead). On his son's birth, he stated he was the father, but when asked the name of the mother, he stated HIS MOTHER, not his wife! But your strategy is good. Collect all the information you can on the 3 that you can easily trace (keeping an eye out for Mary/Maria) and then go from there. 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+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."
