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Two Barriers to my Ancestors
By Arline Silveira, sarabelm@aol.com
I had known that my gramma Rita Lacerda, born May 2, 1880 in Ribeira Seca, Sao Jorge, was one of 11 illegitimate children (including triplets!) but knew nothing of her father outside family stories about his being a well to do merchant and a musician who had an invalid wife and maintained a housekeeper who had his 11 children. All the children carried his surname, Lacerda. All eventually came to California to settle. I had no interest in genealogy and unfortunately failed to ask questions while they were all still alive. I knew nothing about my grandpa Jose Azevedo Teixeira, born Dec 1, 1865 in Ribeira d'Areia, Sao Jorge except that my mom said she thought he had 3 sisters.
That was the status when I was talked into a trip to the Acores in 1974 in which I really didn't want to go. Upon arrival however, I felt a strange feeling of "coming home" and everything seemed familiar. I wondered if my grandparents had walked on these very same rocks I was standing on! Well, we toured the islands and I enjoyed them immensely. When I went home, I questioned my mom about everything she could ever remember my grandparents saying about their families. I looked in census records (no naturalizations). The genealogy "disease" was taking hold. I wrote down everything I could find about all my relatives. I found a "History of Santa Clara County" by Sawyer in which there was an article about a cousin of my grampa (M. T. Azevedo) who was very prominent in San Jose where I was born and raised. If I ever found his birth record (he was also from Ribeira d'Areia), then I would find his grandparents which would be the same as my grandpa's grandparents. Another clue: my mom had found an old photo in an envelope from Ribeira d'Areia with a name and return address. The "disease" was getting stronger.
Then came another trip to Sao Jorge in 1979. As I knew my gramma was illegitimate (a definite barrier), I concentrated on grampa. Found descendants of his sisters'! Only problem was that they were not his sisters, but his cousins. They told me he was also illegitimate! Father unknown. What a blow! At least, now had his mother's name, but now I also had TWO barriers that I would probably never surmount.
Went on another trip in 1985. My sister was with me on this trip so we went to the archives in Angra on Terceira. Couldn't find grandpa's birth record at first but finally found it one half hour before we had to leave! It was two years and a month earlier than we thought. Yes, his father was "unknown" and there was no hints. Went home depressed but not defeated.
I tried to find their marriage record but didn't know where it occurred outside the fact that it was in California. My sister finally found a newspaper article about their 50th wedding anniversary which gave the wedding date and place, Dec 20, 1896 in San Francisco. I contacted the church by phone and told the priest I was looking for my grandparents marriage record and gave him the date and names. He looked in his book and said it wasn't there. Now what? Actually, it was very fortunate he didn't find the record. All I would have gotten was a certified copy. I decided to go to San Francisco and look myself. The priest was in the process of shutting down the church as it was old and didn't have many parishioners so the diocese ordered it closed down. He let me look in the book as he was busy. Hurrah, there it was and wonder of wonders, the bride and groom listed their parents!! Someone (gramma or grampa) must have been guiding me to see this for myself as the church did not have a copy machine and if the priest had found the record, I wouldn't have gotten this information.
What excitement! It took me quite a while to come down from cloud nine. Now on my next trip, I could actually search for ancestor. As it turned out, I never made that "next trip" but I discovered in 1991 that the Mormons had finally made available the reels of the Acores so I began my search. I found cousin M. T. Azevedo's birth record. I did indeed find out grandpa's grandparents were the same as his cousin M. T. Azevedo's. At least one family legend was correct. I traced their lines back a long way.
I also was able to trace my gramma's father's line back a long way. Rita's father was a merchant and did have a wife. The only thing was that his wife was in Ribeiras, Pico and had nine children of her own! So much for family legend. The Lacerda's were a wealthy and prominent family. I have some books now that were authored by Lacerdas.
The climbing of these double barriers was long and difficult and just by chance and perseverance was I able to find the record which disclosed my two great grandfathers' names. There were several "ifs" involved. "If" the priest had found the record and sent me a certified copy (which doesn't include parents). "If" I had given up when the priest couldn't find the record. "If" I had been a month later, the church would have been closed and I don't know how I would have ever found the record book. Those "ifs" were crucial to my continuing search being successful. The genealogy passion continues unabated and I am always searching for the next clue that brings me closer to my ancestors.