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Some immigration paths are linear. Many of my Azoreans relatives left for Hawaii or Massachusetts between 1880 and 1900. Once they migrated, they made their new country their home. End of story.
But one of my Azorean relatives took a more indirect route to the United States. And, if the records are to be trusted, they left the country, returned home, and left the country again.
The Pereira Araujo family who migrated to Brazil
Maria Lourenco Correa was the daughter of Manoel Lourenco Correa and Rosa Maria Pimentel and the granddaughter of my ancestors, Jose Francisco de Mello and Roza Pimentel.
She grew up in the village of Achada on Sao Miguel Island. Maria married Manoel Pereira Araujo who was also from Achada circa 1892. According to family lore, they were married in Povoacao, a village in another part of the island.
The Pereira Araujos became part of the Portuguese migration to Brasil where work opportunities abounded. They settled in Sao Paulo. They arrived sometime before 1894 when they had their first son, Manoel. Daughter Noemia followed in 1895. And, daughter Ermelinda came in 1900.
For whatever reason, they did not stay.
A Return home to the Azores
While Maria’s cousins, Anna Jacintha (de Mello) Pacheco and Florinda do Carmo (Soares de Mello) Sousa had already lived in Hawaii for many years and made it their home, Maria and her husband Manoel decided to return to the Azores.
I’m not sure what their reasons were. It could have been economic. They may have found life was too rough in Brazil. Or, maybe they did well and had the funds necessary to return home.
3 of their child were born in Brazil, 1 in the Azores, and 1 in America
Perhaps they had gone back to the Azores for a visit, but ended up staying. While those who migrated to Hawaii rarely returned to the Azores, it was not uncommon for those who went to the East Coast of the United States or South America to go back home from time to time.
Whatever the case, we find that their daughter Cecilia was born in the Azores around 1911. According to her obituary, she was born in Povoacao (ah, there’s that village again!)
One More Migration To Go
Although they returned to the Azores and had a child there, they did not stay for very long. In 1914, the family made one more migration. In 1914, with their oldest son was 20 years old and their youngest daughter 3, Manoel, Maria, and their children left one more time for Fall River, Massachusetts where there was a thriving Azorean community.
This was the final migration for the Pereira Araujos. Fall River is where their last child, James, was born in 1916. Manoel and Maria lived the rest of their lives in Fall River. Their children married and started their own families there as well.
This is one example of an Azorean family who made multiple migrations before settling down. It’s interesting to learn about these other stories so different from those of the Azoreans who went to Hawaii.
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This article written for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 7, Immigration
