Hi Jeff, Have you looked at the Rio Grande do Sul Catholic Church records on familysearch? There are only a few states that have been fully uploaded. I've found a lot on my family (including my Azorean ancestors), but we are from Rio de Janeiro. I checked and they do have Rio Grande do Sul records online - both for Viamão and for Osório. The records typically go to the late 1800s, at which point the Civil Registry took over from the church. Unfortunately, Civil Registries for RS are not yet available online, but those are easier to find in local town notaries since they're more recent. However, if you have an ancestor born in the mid-to-late 1800s that you know of, that would be the easiest place to start looking. There are no indexes available, but if you browse the books in the parish your family came from, you should be able to find someone that is related. I've found that parish records were great at informing the parish where the family came from in Portugal. That's how I linked mine back, so hopefully you'll find a great detailed record. Here's the link to the two parishes you were looking at:
Osório: https://familysearch.org/search/image/index#uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch.org%2Frecords%2Fwaypoint%2FM97B-NYV%3An879109685%3Fcc%3D2177295 Viamão: https://familysearch.org/search/image/index#uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch.org%2Frecords%2Fwaypoint%2FM97B-N1N%3A1811888855%3Fcc%3D2177295 Good luck! Rodney On Friday, December 27, 2013 11:58:15 AM UTC-5, Jeff Rolim wrote: > > Hello. > > I am new to genealogy but I am ready to start the research that will lead > me to my lost family members. > > I currently live in The United States but I am from a small town in > Brazil, called Viamao. Back in the days, that particular area in Brazil > received a huge number of people from Azores and I always heard as a kid > that my family originated there. > > Unfortunately, I only have a few names and even fewer birth dates that > will make my research even more complicated. My mom was able to get some of > the records from a church in Osorio, Brazil but few people's records were > found. We actually suspect my family was Jewish but forced to become > Christians back then, several friends found their records in church and my > family did not. I am Jewish, by choice, and it would shock me if my > research finds Jewish ancestry at this point in my life. > > Any help or tip from you all will be greatly appreciated, so far I have > requested a DNA kit and will start my genealogy tree soon. > > Thanks, > > Jeff Rolim > Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T -- For 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." --- 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 azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to azores@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
