Research Journal #6, Entry #5
I set out for the Family History Center one day determined that this intimidating structure would not beat me! My first stop was the card catalog file. I knew that my couple was from the town of Maia and that the church I needed was Divino Esperito Santo.
By this time I had purchased a syllabus for Portuguese genealogy by Doug da Rocha Holmes and I had the LDS Family History Library word and phrase list for Portugal. I located the microfilm, loaded it into the reader, and prepared for my first experience with Portuguese language records.
I decided to research something I was familiar with: baptismal records. I wanted to find Maria’s siblings. This would help me get familiar with the records and establish time frames for my family.
It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Soon I found there was a certain cadence to the films and the language used in the records. I found Jose de Braga’s record. His maternal grandparents were given as Felicianno de Mello Castanho and Rosa Botelho. Their sister, Marie Grace was also in the records. Her maternal grandparents were listed as Felicianno de Mello Botelho and Rosa Jacintha. Their brother, Seraphim, stuck with Felicianno de Mello and Rosa Jacintha. One more brother, Jacintho, sprung from Felicianno de Mello Castanho and Rosa Botelho.
Although the names differed, they didn’t concern me too much. Anyone who has worked with Portuguese records knows that the names change with the time of day. My only concern was about Rosa. Were Rosa Botelho and Rosa Barquiera the same person? I wouldn’t know until I found other earlier records. At least, I knew I’d be looking for a Felicianno and a Rosa.