Genealogy, History, Heritage, How To
I thought I had a pretty darn good idea of the process Portuguese immigrants went through during the sugar plantation era. They signed a contact to work on a plantation while still at home. The applied for a passport. They got on the ship and were listed on the ship manifest. They arrived in Honolulu…
In browsing the old Hawaiian newspapers, I came across some interesting statistics. The Inspector General of Immigration, C.N. Spencer, visited various sugar plantations quarterly and reported on how many immigrants were on each plantation, and which nationality the plantation owner preferred. I assume that as bringing laborers to Hawaii was costly, the plantation owners were…
I don’t know how this got passed me. I was web surfing the other day and found that the Portuguese Genealogical & Historical Society of Hawaii now has a website. You can visit them at: PGHSH. The website includes information about their current location, hours, and contact information. If visiting the society in person, be…
How would you define your Portuguese ancestors who went to Hawaii? You might start by calling them Azorean, Madeiran, and Portuguese. You would call them Caucasian, wouldn’t you? But, would you call them White? Those who controlled Hawaii’s business and political interests in the 1870s did not. The Portuguese who went to Hawaii were officially…
The desire to link people of the same surname from the same region is strong. After all, how many families with the same surname in a small Portuguese village? The problem is that Portuguese surnames are fluid, they evolve, they come out of thin air (or so it seems). Five children might use five different…