As far as it goes, this tombstone at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Oakland, CA, is pretty simple. Only one person is buried here, my Great Uncle, Antao A. Souza. Antao was born 12 Feb 1890 in Kilauea, Kauai Co., HI. He was the sixth child out of thirteen born to Francesca de Mendonca and Augusto…
Category: Tombstone Tuesday
Tombstone Tuesday: Buried under the Name Cosma
Do you believe everything you read on a tombstone? This one from St. Mary’s Cemetery in Oakland, Alameda County, California reads: COSMA 1875 John 1941 1876 Marie 1951 When I first started researching my Great Great Aunt and Great Great Uncle I thought this information was gospel. It took several years of research before I…
Tombstone Tuesday: Joana’s Tombstone
Joana (Gonsalves Cardoza) Fernandes is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, California. The tombstone doesn’t tell you nearly enough about Joana. Though Joana’s life was long, it was not easy. Joana was born in 1875 in Magdalena do Mar, Madeira to Francisco Gonsalves Cardoso and Coleta de Jesus. At the age of 10 they…
Tombstone Tuesday: What’s in a Name?
This is the tombstone of my Azorean Great Great Uncle and Great Great Aunt, Manoel Pacheco and Jacintha Rosa (Moniz) Pacheco at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Oakland, Alameda County, California: Did you notice that neither of those names are on this stone? The surname Algravia was adopted by this family somewhere around 1910. It’s been…
Tombstone Tuesday: Antonio, the Mystery Man
When I first visited St. Mary’s Cemetery in Oakland, California, I walked in two sections. It wasn’t until the second trip that I explored an older section of the cemetery and came across this tombstone: This is the grave site for my Great Great Uncle, Antonio Pacheco, and my Great Great Aunt, Alexandrinha (Jose) Pacheco….