Randy’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is to pick out a genealogy gift for someone and write about it. There are many things, existing and not, that I could chose. I think that instead of getting a gift for one person, it would be for the cousins who descend from my Great Great Uncle, Antonio Pacheco. I would give them Antonio’s proof of birth.
I have researched all of the Pacheco childnen: Antonio, Manoel, Jose, Joao, Maria I, Francisco, Maria II, and Theodoro. I can place all of them in Hawaii and California (except Maria I who appears to have died before the family left for Hawaii). I can trace them all in the birth and baptismal records of Achada, Nordeste, Sao Miguel Island, Azores–all but one, Antonio.
I have been able to present every cousin with their ancestor’s birth or baptismal, marriage, and death. Yet, Antonio still remains a mystery. The earliest birth for Ana Jacinta de Melo and Jacinto Pacheco is Manoel born in 1863. I searched in Achada where his siblings were born. I searched in Fenais da Vera Cruz (now Fenais d’Ajuda) where his Father was born. I even searched nearby towns including the town of Algravia, which is a surname the Pacheco’s adopted after 1900. Nothing!
I have come to the conclusion that there is something fishy about Mr. Antonio Pacheco. 1) He never existed. Okay, we know that isn’t true! 2) He was adopted. It’s a possibility, but there is no family tale to support it. 3) He is the child of one or the other of Ana and Jacintho, but not both. There is a very good possibility for this. There is a family story that Ana out lived several husbands and that Jacintho was only the last one. I have found no proof of previous husbands but that may be that I didn’t have enough information.
It makes me sad that I cannot place Antonio in the tree where he rightfully belongs. I hope to some day uncover his marriage records in Hawaii. That may lead me to the truth about his parentage or it may tell me where he was born. Either would be most helpful!
So, if I had my druthers, I would present my cousins with Antonio’s birth record, proving who he was and where he came from. Then Antonio could sit in his rightful place as oldest child of the Pacheco family.
