{ Digging a little deeper into my ancestors }

Great grandfather Jacinto and great grandmother Maria da Nazare

I'm the kind of person that walks into an old building and wonders, who was there before me, did they walk these same floors, did they touch these same walls, who were they, what did they do?

I'm completely intrigued by my past and my ancestors and I would like nothing more than to find out everything I can, and go as far back as I possibly can go.  This genealogy thing is not easy, you hit a lot of walls, you win some and you lose some, but when you actually hit on something, the surge of energy and excitement that flows throw you is like nothing else.

Woke up this morning, sent hubby off to work and then lay back down and let my mind just wander.  I have so many questions and not enough answers, and knowing the person I am, I won't rest until I feel that I've exhausted every single tip and hint and have gone as far back as I can.

I got up soon after, got the house taken care of and got right to work.

My stepmother had sent me some information she was able to dig up.

Ok.....before I proceed, let me take a second to explain my crazy family dynamics.  I have talked about it before here on the blog, a very long time ago, but I don't talk about it too much because it's not exactly something that I think everyone understands.  It's one of those things that worked for us as a family but may be looked down on on weirdly upon by others.

I am in no way ashamed of my family, I have been blessed with wonderful role models and had a great childhood, but it's just something that is a little strange to try and explain to strangers.

Right, you ready???

When I was two my mother and father divorced.  After a year or two, my father married my mother's sister, my aunt.  She became our stepmother, raised us, loved us as her own and to this day is the woman I consider my mother.

My mother is still alive, but I have minimal if any contact with her.  It's sad, but it is what it is.  She was never a loving and caring person and she makes no effort at all to contact me or my two brothers or her grandchildren.  It's sad but it's something I've grown used to and it really doesn't bother me anymore.

Now that you are caught up, my stepmother (aunt), has worked for the Portuguese Consulate in South Africa, for well over 30 years.  She is the person to go to for anything to do with the registering of births or deaths or marriages and so on.  She has access to all of this, including the ones in Portugal where most of my family is from.

THAT is why she has given me more information and has been helping me look up names, people, dates and places.

I don't know a lot about the family on both my dad and my mom/stepmom's side.  I know some stories that we were told and a name here and there, but details?  None!

It's frustrating to say the least.

But as we have started digging into our relatives, I have been quite surprised by what I'm finding out.  I know for sure that we have roots in Portugal, Mozambique, Spain, Asia, Madeira and France. 

Great grandfather Jacinto - Born 1892 and died 1955

The Asian roots come from his side, somewhere down the line and I would LOVE to find out where and how.

This morning I actually came across his church baptism registry.  It named his father and mother and had their profession as newspaper sellers or distributors.  I'm assuming they sold or delivered newspapers, as the term used in Portuguese is Jornaleiro and the translation of that is "newsboy". 

Funny thing, his name is Jacinto but it was written down as Jacintho.  I always find it interesting how names used to be written and spelled and how they tend to change as time goes by.

I now know the name of his father and mother, so my great great grandparents, as well as his grandparents, which would be my great great great grandparents.  Wow!!!

By the way, Jacinto is my grandmother's father, on my mother and aunt's side.

When it comes to my mother and aunt's dad side, we have a family very well known in Portugal.  Matter of fact my grandfather Antonio played guitar for one of the top Fado singers in Portugal, and his brother Artur, was the great Maestro/Composer Artur Vaz da Fonseca.

My grandfather Antonio on the right

My grandfather's brother Artur, very well known Maestro is the first on the left

Maestro Artur Vaz da Fonseca, in his younger years in Mozambique

This is all so fascinating to me, and it makes sense now why we are all such a hugely musically inclined family.

I honestly can not wait to keep digging and finding out more, I'll be sure to share my journey as I go, not only because I think some of you may find it interesting as well, but as I always say, my blog is my personal journal and I definitely want to record all of this or future reference.

I'm currently using Ancestry.com as well as Familysearch.org (thank you for mentioning it Dianna, I went to sign up only to realize that apparently I signed up last year and had already started compiling a tree).

Well friends, it is late and the morning comes way too quickly.  I am heading to bed, but I'll be back in the morning with my new Meal Plan Friday.  See you then :)