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: Algravia
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…
Monday Mystery: The Sugar Plantation Train Photo
In my early years of contacting cousins, I learned about a special photograph that had relatives from my Pacheco side of the tree in it. As the story always went… The person we shall name “cousin”, but it really refers to 6 or 7 different cousins, went to Hawaii sometime in the 1980s. They were…
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….