You think you know everything about your family tree. Then, a DNA match comes along and a new story unravels. It was through a DNA match that I discovered my 4th great grandfather, Jose Pacheco, had two families. After 30 years of research, I still have discoveries to make. My DNA Match Reveals A Second…
Tag: Maia
The Braga and Braga Serra of Maia are the Same Family
Since the first day I opened the records for the village of Maia on Sao Miguel Island, Azores, I was aware that there were two Braga families. One was mine. The other family went by Braga Serra. They seemed to be two completely different families. So, I followed mine and ignored the others. That turned…
Josefa de Mello wasn’t a Mello at all: Or, Why You Can’t Trust Portuguese Surnames
Curious thing about Portuguese surnames. They are inconsistent at best and downright frustrating most of the time. Surname research is out of the question because you can’t depend on any consistency. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Josefa de Mello’s surname turned out to be completely different than the name on her son’s marriage record….
I Didn’t Plan to Research the Whole Village of Maia
I didn’t plan on researching the whole village. No, really. I didn’t. I started out following the trail of my great grandmother, Maria (de Braga) Pacheco Smith, in Maia like a good genealogist. Maia is a village on Sao Miguel Island in the Azores. I found more ancestors and added more lines. I found…
Mello Castanho Migrating from the Azores: Hawaii, East Coast, and Canada
Sooner or later it was bound to happen. I was going to make a connection to Canada with my Portuguese lines. It was just a matter of time. I had thought it would be with Canadian tenor, Remigio Pereira, instead it is on a different line. Working from Maia to the Kingdom of Hawaii to…