Dear Peggy: Let us start with the basics: The names and dates of birth of your gandparents, (their dates of birth might on their Massachusetts death record), place of birth (village, not just island (might be on their church marriage record, especially if they married in a Portuguese Catholic church.) Their Civil record in Massachusetts will state the name of the person who married them and his address, so that will allow you to determine if it was in a Catholic Church. The marriage (and maybe the death record) should give you the names of their parents. Once you have that, you can send away for their birth records which, given the time period, should also give you the names of their maternal and paternal grandparents. There are other avenues that could be explored. The Bureau of Vital Statistics in Boston is a great place, and if the records are old enough, they are on line. Newspaper obituaries in the Fall River Herald News, for example, became very detailed beginning in the forties. If you would like, you can send me what you have, privately, and I will suggest were you can go from here. Lester is right. Although hiring a genealogist is faster and more practical, especially if you do not know the languag and parish geography, it is so much more rewarding to do it yourself. Good luck! John Miranda Raposo (marra...@yahoo.com)
________________________________ From: Lester <lester.mur...@gmail.com> To: azores@googlegroups.com Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2013 7:35 PM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Ancestors from Faial and Terceira 1800s You could pay someone to do the research, but in my opinion you would miss out on a great opportunity to learn first-hand about your ancestors, where they lived, etc. Cheri Mello has alot of very helpful information for new Azores researchers and the Azores government has put the original baptism, marriage and death records on the Internet making them available to all. Finally, the Azores group is very helpful (and patient) with new researchers - you can read the posts, ask questions, and get (free) assistance from many different sources. Think of the fun you will have! When you hit a brickwall in your research, that's the time to get help from a professional. -------- Original Message -------- >>Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Ancestors from Faial and Terceira 1800s >>From: Cheri Mello <gfsc...@gmail.com> >>Date: Sun, January 06, 2013 10:29 am >>To: Azores Genealogy <azo...@googlegroups.com> >> >>Repost for Peggy Magee, casamagee at gmail.com >> >> >>I am very new to this...My Grandfather was born on Faial in 1968...The >>story is that he came to Boston as a teenager with someone other than his >>parents. His parents followed in 1892. His father was also born somewhere >>in the Azores. My Grandfather met and married his wife in the States but >>she was also from the Azores, the Island of Terceira. They are all buried >>here in Massachusetts....I have found their graves. Where do I begin to >>research their lives before they came here. Can I just write to Joao >>Ventura with the little information I have and ask for his help? How do you >>pay him or arrange for his services? >>Thank you all so much for any help you can send my way. >>Peggy Magee >> >> -- -- 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." -- 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."
