Tonight’s Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge from Randy’s GeneaMusings.com blog is based on a school children challenge called the 100 Word Challenge. You start with the prompt “The Most Interesting Ancestor I Have” and fill in the rest.
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![My great grandmother Maria de Braga Pacheco Smith](https://i0.wp.com/www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mdb2large.jpg?resize=135%2C300)
The most interesting ancestor I have is Maria (de Braga) Pacheco Smith. Born in the Azores, she migrated to Hawaii as a child in 1882.
She helped smuggle her husband to Oakland, California around 1907 when he contracted leprosy. 9 months pregnant, with a sick husband and 4 children, she gave birth on the ship.
Her husband and son, Willie, died within a year of each other. She took her children to Spreckels to live with her brother.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tombstonesmithwilliejohnsousatheodorestmarys032.jpg?resize=204%2C300)
A widow and illiterate, she navigated America as best she could.
She returned to Oakland living with her daughter until she died.
![tombstone st marys cemetery oakland](https://i0.wp.com/www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tombstonesmiththeodoromarypachecostmarys.jpg?resize=296%2C300)
Who is your most interesting ancestor? Tell us about the person in the comments or write a blog post and share it over at Randy’s blog.
I have crossed the Atlantic in a modern ship from the Azores to Florida. I can’t imagine all those brave enough to sail from the Azores all the way to Hawaii in the 1800s. She was a brave, determined lady, but had a difficult life, didn’t she?
Linda, I can’t imagine it was an easy journey at all. I have a feeling most didn’t really have a concept where Hawaii was so they boarded those ships blindly. The laborers like my great grandmother would have been in steerage for a couple of weeks.
She did have a difficult life. It must have been difficult for her especially after her husband was diagnosed with leprosy. Taking care of the family rested solely on her shoulders.