I’ve written before about how my great grandfather, Theodoro, changed his surname from Pacheco to Smith. We were all told for generations that he thought there were too many Pacheco’s in Oakland, CA so he changed his surname to Smith. Ha Ha silly immigrant! The truth was far more complicated. My great grandfather contracted leprosy…
Tag: Algrava
Further proof my relatives could not spell their own names
After I found the letter written by Theodore Pacheco in the Garden Island newspaper, I decided to see if there was a World War I draft registration card for him. Sure enough, I found one. I am not sure how I missed it the first time, except for the peculiar middle name. The person who…
That’s Old News: Clifford Gonsalves Commended
I found this news item about Clifford Gonsalves (aka Clifford Algrava), son of Maria J. (Costa) Algrava, through her first marriage. Clifford enlisted in the army in 1943. He was 27 and married. This item was in the Oakland Tribune, 1 Jul 1945, under “Awards”. “Cpl. Clifford Gonsalves, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank P….
Wedding Chapel Wednesday: Wedding Photo Mystery
Around 1994, I contacted a cousin who sent me an enveloped with a bunch of old photographs in it. Almost known of the photographs had names on them. I went over the photographs with my Mom, my Grandmother, and my Mom’s cousin, Ted. They identified as many as they could, but many went nameless….
That’s Old News: Youth Clubs
While going through the Oakland Tribune Newspaper [Oakland, CA] dated 17 Sep 1933, I found this little article about the John Swett Leader’s Club. John Swett was born in 1830 and died in 1913. He was the California State Superintendent of Schools from 1863 to 1867. He is considered to be the founder of California…