Sam, Yes, you kinda have to go with an educated guess. Then try to prove it with DNA.
I come from a Miguel Correia in the Sao Miguel Arcanjo in Vila Franca. Son of Manuel Correia married to a Maria de Souza in the very early 1700s. I found Miguel's baptism and then I went about finding his siblings. It takes 9 months to make a baby. Miguel was born May 8 of 1709. OK, go back to July of 1708. So I started scrolling the mircofilm (this was B.C. - Before Computers). So I landed in July and scrolled back in time until I found another baby. Let's say the baby was born in December 1707 to make this example easy to follow. OK December (12) minus 9 months = March. Scroll, scroll, scoll. This is a Matriz and it's large. Stop and see if I'm in March. Nope, I'm in July and low and behold, Manuel Correia and Maria de Sousa are having a baby. There's no way a couple can have a baby in July and then present a baby in December for baptism. So I went back looking at every single record for ALL babies born to ANY Manuel Correia and Maria de Sousa. I took took them all home (the printed copies - this was B.C remember). The couple of times that the babies were born too close together, I knew it belonged to the other family. Then I looked at the godparents. One set of godparents seemed to appear over and over again. So I sorted the families based on godparents. Then I checked the births and it fits. So one Manuel Correia family has one set of godparents for their kids and the other Manuel Correia family has the mishmash godparents. Am I right? I have no idea. It's kinda of an educated guess. Because it's the very early 1700s, it's a little too far back for autosomal (Family Finder DNA). My dad's DNA should go back to about the 1730s and this line is about 25 years before that. So I'd have to find a male Correia and Y-DNA test them and then find a male Correia from the other Manuel and Y-DNA test and hope they aren't 1st cousins or something. And if they are? I may be back to my educated guess. When I have some time, I really should work this line more forwards and look for ALL siblings of both Manuel Correias and Maria de Sousas. And cross check for godparents. So long story short - if the records are old you are stuck with an educated guess. If the records are 1800s, DNA could possibly answer the question for you. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada On Sun, Feb 24, 2019 at 8:41 AM 'Sam (Camas, WA)' via Azores Genealogy < azores@googlegroups.com> wrote: > Ok, this question is complicated to ask, let alone to figure out the > answer but; here goes… With so many people of the same name marrying so > many people of the same name *and* with the priests sometimes writing > Francisco Tavares Monteiro and sometime Francisco Monteiro Tavares, s*ome > periods of time and some* *records* listing the grandparents and *some > not*; how the heck is one *ever sure* of following the correct/same > line? Is it all just an educated guess? > > > > Thanks for your thoughts and expertise. > > > > Sam (Mazatlán, MX) > > > > > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=icon> > Virus-free. > www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=link> > <#m_7566595363435123336_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > > -- > 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. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. > -- 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. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores.
