Finding your Portuguese Roots_1e

At some point in time, your paper trail will lead you to the inevitable: the immigrant. This could be your source of joy, your brick wall, or the thorn in your side. Any way you look at it, you are going to begin to have a more difficult time. The following will take you though some sources that you will need to try to get an island and town. Some of these are more obscure sources and the librarians may not be of much help. Think of it like this: You are now a pioneer!

1. Naturalization Records

(written by Larry Bowles of the former Genealogy Forum on AOL, edited and updated by Cheri Mello)  If you are lucky enough, your immigrant ancestor became a U.S. citizen. Or maybe he meant to become one, but never quite finished. You can obtain the paperwork your ancestor filled out to become a U.S. Citizen.

Before 1906, it is on microfilm, available from your FHC. From Sept. 27, 1906 - Mar. 31, 1956, you will need to request the paperwork from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) through their Web site: www.uscis.gov. Look for a link on their page about History and Genealogy. Follow the links to request your naturalization and pay the fee. You may need to mail it to the address provided on the site or may be able to pay through the Internet. If you have NO FILE NUMBER, you will need to use the G-1041 to do an index search. If you have the file number, or after obtaining the file number through their search, use the G-1041A form.

For naturalizations after Apr. 1, 1956, you will need to fill out a G-639 form (FOIA/PA--Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act).

The naturalization paperwork has 3 parts to it: the Declaration of Intention or First Papers, the Petition for Citizenship (Second or Final Papers) and the Certificate of Naturalization. The older Declarations show name, country of birth, date of application, date and port of arrival in the U.S. The later records after 1880 (depending on the court) will contain: name, address, occupation, birthplace, nationality, country from which emigrated, birth date or age, personal description, date of intention, marital status, last foreign residence, port of entry, name of ship, date of entry, and date of document. Three to 5 years later, the immigrant will seek a Petition for Citizenship repeating much of the same information as the Declaration. These papers include the name, address, occupation, date emigrated, birthplace, country from which emigrated, birth date or age, time in the U.S., date of Intention, name and age of spouse, names of children, ages of children, last foreign residence, port and mode of entry, name of ship, date of entry, names of witnesses, date of document, address of spouse. The last document, the Certificate of Naturalization is an actual certificate making the immigrant a citizen of the United States. Most usually contain the applicant's name, country of origin, renunciation of former allegiance and certification that the individual is henceforth an American citizen.

When making a request, ask for "Any and all paperwork" in the file.

One unusual (but lucky for some) collection was done by the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in the 1930s where they managed to photocopy all the PRE1906 naturalization records and to index them for the four New England states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The period covered is 1787 to 1906. These are in the National Archives together with a card index (Soundex System). Contact the National Archives in Washington D.C. for these four states. If your ancestor lived in New Jersey you will find naturalization records from 1749 through 1810 in the state library. In Massachusetts, naturalizations from 1885 to 1931 are on file in the Archives Division at the State House in Boston. (The New Bedford Public Library has the naturalization indices from MA, RI, ME, NH, and VT from 1791 to 1906.)

Bibliography: "Locating Your Immigrant Ancestor" by James C. Neagles and Lile Lee Neagles.

"American Naturalization Processes and Procedures 17901985" by John J. Newman.

"A Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States" by Christina K. Schaefer. (All of these are probably available in your public library).

Regional USCIS offices. I am looking at a map. If I am not sure, I will say "Appears to be...." Also, some numbers are skipped.)
2 NH, MA, RI, CT: USCIS, Government Center, JFK Building, Room 1700, Boston, MA 02203
3 Appears to be Long Island: USCIS, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 14102, New York, NY 10278
4 PA, WV: USCIS, 1600 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130
5 Appears to be western MD: USCIS, Equitable Tower One, 100 S. Charles St, 12th Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21201
6 FL: USCIS, 7880 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33138
7 NY: USCIS, 130 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, NY 14202
8 MI: USCIS, 333 Mt. Elliott St., Federal Building, Detroit, MI 482074381
9 WI, IL, IN: USCIS, 10 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604
10 ND, SD, MN: USCIS, 2901 Metro Dr., Suite 100, Bloomington, MN 55425
11 Appears to be KS, MO: USCIS, 9747 N. Conant Ave., Kansas City, MO 64153
12 WA, panhandle of ID: USCIS, 815 Airport Way South, Seattle, WA 98134
13 Appears to be northern CA down to the SLO, VEN, LA, and SB co. lines: USCIS, Appraisers Building, 630 Sansome St., Room 232, San Francisco, CA 941112280
14 Appears to be central TX: USCIS, 8940 Four Winds Dr., San Antonio, TX 78239
15 Western TX, NM: USCIS, 700 E. San Antonio, El Paso, TX 79901
16 Appears to be: SLO, SB, VEN, LA, SB, OR, RIV co., CA: USCIS, 300 N. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
17 HI: USCIS, 595 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96813
18 AZ, NV: USCIS, 2035 N. Central, Phoenix, AZ 85004
19 WY, CO, UT: USCIS, 4730 Paris St., Denver CO 80239
20 Appears to be northern TX, OK: USCIS, 8101 N. Stemmons Fwy, Dallas, TX 75247
21 Appears to be NJ, DE, eastern MD: USCIS, 970 Broad St., Federal Building, Newark, NJ 07102
22 ME, VT: USCIS, 739 Warren Ave., Portland, ME 04103
24 OH: USCIS, A.J.C. Federal Building, 1240 E. Ninth St., Room 1917, Cleveland, OH 44199
25 VA: USCIS, 4420 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203
26 NC, SC, GA, AL: USCIS, MLK Federal Building, 77 Forsyth St. SW, Room 117, Atlanta, GA 30303
27 PR: USCIS, Carlos Chardon St., Hato Rey, PR 00917
28 MS, LA, AR, TN, KY: USCIS, 701 Loyola Ave., Room T8011, New Orleans, LA 70113
29 Appears to be NE, IA: USCIS, 3736 S. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68144
30 MT, southern half of ID: USCIS, 2800 Skyway Dr., Helena, MT 59601
31 OR: USCIS, Federal Building, 511 Northwest Broadway, Portland, OR 97209
32 AK: USCIS, 620 E. 10th Ave., Suite 102, Anchorage, AK 99501
38 Eastern part of TX that touches the Gulf of Mexico: USCIS, 509 North Belt, Houston, TX 77060
39 Appears to be SD & IMP co. in CA: USCIS, 880 Front St., Suite 1234, San Diego, CA 92188
40 Southern tip of TX: USCIS, 2102 Teege Road, Harlingen, TX 785504667

2. Alien registration

(co-written by Cheri Mello and Marian Smith of the DC USCIS) -
If your ancestor did not become an U.S. citizen and was still alive in 1940, you may find alien registration a useful alternative to the naturalization records. Alien registration was simply a requirement for any alien living in or arriving in the United States after June 1940. Many of those who registered subsequently naturalized.

The Alien Registration Act of 1940 (or the Smith Act) required all non-citizens 14 years or older to register at their local Post Office or INS Office (Immigration and Naturalization Service, now the USCIS or U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service) beginning in June 1940. There were severe penalties for non-compliance. In the first year of the program, the INS registered many millions of resident aliens, many of whom had immigrated as early as the 1880s. In some cases, this may be the only record the USCIS has of that individual. At the same time, beginning June 1940, all immigrants arriving in the US had to perform Alien Registration when they applied to immigrate. This still continues today.

Alien Registration records for registrations from 1940-1944 were microfilmed by the INS for internal use only. USCIS FOIA (Freedom of Information Act office) makes "prints" from this microfilm in response to requests, and they call the copies "AR (Alien Registration) prints." They are also referred to as AR records (not to be confused with AR cards). Beginning in 1944, all Alien Registration records were to be filed in the immigrant's A-File. Thus one can get an Alien Registration record for an immigrant who came after 1944, but it probably won't be an "AR print" from the microfilm. These AR records have quite a bit of information, just like a Declaration of Intent for U.S. citizenship. It also lists membership in fraternal societies and even contains a finger print!

The items found on a Alien Registration form are:
1a) full name, 1b) entered the U.S. under which name, 1c) other names (maiden, etc.)
2a) address, 2b) post office address
3a) date of birth, 3b) born at city, province, country
4) citizen of subject of which country
5a) male/female, 5b) marital status, 5c) race
6) height, weight, hair and eyes
7a) port of entry to U.S. and date, 7b) name of vessel, 7c) passenger, crew member, stowaway, other, 7d) permanent resident, visitor, student, treaty merchant, seaman, official or employee of a foreign government, other, 7e) arrived in the U.S. on date
8a) lived in U.S. how many years, 8b) will live in the U.S. for how long
9a) usual occupation, 9b) present occupation, 9c) employer, address and business
10) memberships or activities in clubs, organizations, or societies
11) military in country, branch, dates
12) applied for citizenship papers or not, dates for 1st and 2nd papers
13) parents, spouse, children in the U.S.
14) arrests
15) involvement in political activities, public relations, or public policy of a foreign government.
Then there is an affidavit with a right index finger print and signature of registrant.

For those aliens who registered from 1940-1944, their AR records were sent to the USCIS in Washington, DC, and are on microfilm there. Some records may be found in the USCIS' district offices, but since the USCIS is a large bureaucracy, it is beyond the scope of this article to explain every possibility. It is recommended that you send your request to the Washington address, because they are more familiar with genealogists' needs and are better able to locate genealogically useful information.

To get this information, make your request on the USCIS G-639 FOIA form (available from the USCIS). Ask for the Alien Registration as well as any other record related to your ancestor (ask for "Any and all paperwork" in the file). Of course, the most helpful piece of information to the USCIS is your ancestor's alien registration number. Make sure you fill it in if you have it. Due to the commonality of Portuguese names, it sometimes becomes difficult to distinguish one immigrant from another. If you have checked the city directories and have your ancestors' address for 1940, it may be of help.

Mail the FOIA form to the address provide on the form. Include your ancestor’s death certificate if he/she was born less than 100 years ago. Make sure you ask for a MANUAL search. In 2-3 weeks on average, you should receive your receipt and USCIS FOIA case tracking number. It may be several months before receiving a response to your request (They have as many as 3,000-4,000 cases pending at a time).

Examples of an Alien Registration form can be viewed HERE. (Please your browser's BACK button to get back to this page.)

3. Social Security Records

If your immigrant ancestor received Social Security, you may write and get the form that they used to apply for Social Security. The form, the SS5 contains the following: 1) full name, 2) mailing address, 3) full given name at time of birth, 4) age at last birthday, 5) date of birth, 6) place of birth (city, county, state), 7) father's full name regardless of living or dead, 8) mother's full name regardless of living or dead, 9) sex, 10) color or race, 11) if ever had Social Security or railroad retirement, if yes, state and number, 12) business name and address, 13) the date, 14) signature. This form cost $27 if you know the Social Security number (you can get that off of the death certificate or from the Social Security Death Index at your local FHC or online at: http://ssdi.rootsweb.com.) If you don't know the number, it's $29. Some facts to note: your ancestor must have worked after 1937. If your ancestor was selfemployed (the Social Security Administration abbreviates it as S/E), they would have applied around 1955. Also, you may wish to ask for the SSA9638, if they are unable to locate your ancestor's SS-5. It lists the following: 1) full name, 2) full name given at birth, 3) place of birth (city, county, state), 4) mother's full name at HER birth, regardless of living or dead, 5) father's full name regardless of living or dead, 6) person's date of birth, 7) person's present age, 8) sex, 9) race, 10) whether applied or had own Social Security number before, 11) if yes, year, state and name applied under, 12) date signed, 13) telephone number, 14) signature. On the bottom was typed the name, address, city, state and zip. So, if they had a Social Security number, ask for the SS5, or if unable to locate, then the SSA9638.

4. World War I Draft Registration

These can be found in the FHC under U.S. Military Records, WWI, State, County, or at the local NARA (National Archives Records Administration) where your ancestor filed. Many are also online with a paid subscription to Ancestry.com. All males were required to register, whether he was a citizen or not. (I have seen a female “accidently” register her name instead of her husband's). In June 1917, men who were 18 years old registered. Then in June 1918, men 1821 years old registered. The 3rd registration was in September 1918 for men 1845 years old. There are about 24 million registration cards. The June 1917 cards asked 12 questions. On the second side is the Registrar's Report. It asked for a description of the person. Then the certification follows. The July 1918 cards asked only 10 questions, as well as the description. The Sept. 1918 cards asked 20 questions. All cards asked for birth date, whether or not a U.S. Citizen, occupation and where employed. Some asked for the nearest relative. Samples of the three different cards can be viewed at: http://www.ancestry.com/save/charts/WWI.htm. These samples are provided free of charge by Ancestry.

5. Passport Records

Your immigrant ancestor most likely would have needed an American passport if they traveled back to the "old country." This means they would have become naturalized and filled out a passport application. Some information that could appear on an application (this one is 1913): name, spouse, minor children including their birth dates, applicant's place and date of birth, ship came on and where and when it departed, resided in the U.S. for how many years including dates and places, the court in which naturalized (Superior, Circuit, etc.) including city of the court and date naturalized, where they are currently residing, occupation, how long traveling, and then an oath of allegiance signed by the applicant. Then below that, is a description of the applicant: age, height, forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, hair, complexion, and face. Next follows the witness' signature. The FHL has 2,090 rolls of film of these applications from 1795-1925, which you can order through your local FHC. The years of 1830-1831, 1850-1852, and 1860-1925 are indexed. The applications are broken down into 1- or 2-month increments arranged chronologically for each year. If you know the year and not the month, you may have to look through 6 or 7 rolls of film. A later application (this one is 1964) has the following: Section A: full name, address, date of birth, place of birth, height, hair color, eye color, approximate departure date, visible distinguishing marks, and occupation. (For office use only has a place for applicant's, spouse's and children's birth certificates). Section B: persons to be included in this passport (asks for a group photo) including spouse's full name and all children's names, places and dates of birth, and when the resided in the U.S. Section C: If had a previous passport then for what year, who the bearer was (including spouse and children), passport number, date of issue and canceled or other. Section D: father and mother's names, their place and date of birth and if a U.S. citizen. Section E: if married (date), to whom, and when and where that spouse was born, and if spouse is an U.S. citizen. It asks it the marriage is or isn't terminated and why (death or divorce including the date). If a woman was previously married before March 3, 1931 she has to state the same as above for her former spouse. Section F: traveling by tour, purpose of trip, country(s) visited, port of departure including ship or airline, approximate date of departure and how many trips abroad in the last 12 months, means of transportation, if you plan to take another trip abroad, how long the stay is for the current trip. It asks for permanent residence (address, county). It asks for whom to notify in the event of accident or death (this was blacked out due to privacy). Section G goes into the Communist Party and Oath of Allegiance. Then the applicant signs and dates the application. A separate page had to be completed for a naturalized citizen. That page is divided into the following: Part II: If absent from the U.S. during the past 5 years when and where. Part III is in regards to naturalization: immigrated to the U.S. on date, residing in the U.S. from & to (dates), where resided, naturalization certificate number and submitted now or previously, date naturalized, and where, which court, and what was previous nationality. Part IV is for an applicant not born in the U.S. who claims citizenship through parents. It asks for date if immigration, resided in the U.S. (dates), if father naturalized including dates, certificate number (submitted), court and place, resided in U.S. (dates). It repeats the process for the mother. Part V is for an applicant whose wife (if included on passport) acquired citizenship through naturalization of herself, her parent or former husband. It asks for wife's date of immigration, whom she was naturalized through and date, which court, place, number, and periods of absence. Part VI is for a male applicant whose wife was previously married before March 3, 1931 and who is included on the passport. It asks for: her maiden name, date of previous marriage, name of former husband, place of previous marriage, former husband's place of birth, and how and when the marriage was terminated. Part VII is for a female applicant whose husband (or former husband) was not born in the U.S. It asks for his date of immigration, which court he was naturalized by, place, date and certificate of naturalization. A renewal form for passports covers only the Sections A - C. For applications after 1925, you will have to write to the passport office. http://www.archives.gov/research/passport/index.html (Internet search: passport records genealogy). You MUST enclose a copy of the applicant's death certificate as well as the approximate time period the applicant would have applied. It took 2 months to receive mine.

6. Fraternal Societies

The Portuguese started these societies to protect widows and orphans as well as for cultural activities. These societies, such as UPEC (Uniao Portuguese do Estado da California), IDES (Irmandade do Divino Espírito Santo), SES (Sociedade do Espírito Santo) among others, keep membership and death rosters. These rosters can be a valuable source of information. They could give the town your ancestor was from, as well as the CORRECT Portuguese name. Many of our ancestors belonged to more than one. Those who were interested in keeping their heritage would join. To access these records, you need to write to the society that your ancestor belonged to. In CA, most of the records were filmed. Your local FHC has them. Look under: Portuguese  California, then California  Vital Records then, California  Business records and Commerce then, California  Minorities  Societies then, California  Societies for membership and "Death Claim Registers" for the death.

For the membership rosters, you will need to know approximately the city where your ancestor was living. To use these, you will need to copy down the Council number (you'll need it to use the Death Registers). Some have multiple volumes. You will need to check ALL with your town name. (Large cities, such as Oakland, have more than 1 volume). Also, if the membership rosters were rewritten, some of the information may have changed. For example, if your ancestor was single when he joined, his beneficiary maybe a parent or sibling. If the roster was recopied, they may list him as married and his wife or children as beneficiaries.

If your ancestor still belonged to the society when he died, you will find him in the Death Registers. Not all of our ancestors belonged for life. A few may have joined only for months.

Kathy Cardoza (kmacardoza@mac.com) has had experience with these. The following is reprinted with her permission.

My own experience with this type of record is limited to the UPEC records of California. I searched LDS film No. 1577856. It has many different councils listed there and I found one great-grandfather in those records. It listed his name, age, single or married, occupation, current city of residence, place of origin (usually only the island, but sometimes the village too), and their beneficiary (usually spouse, parent, or children). Unfortunately for me, the council I wanted for two of my great grandfathers was missing from this film. It was, however, at the UPEC office so I wrote to them in San Leandro. They were very helpful in sending me copies of the records I wanted and I was able to look at the records myself when I visited their office. I also searched the LDS film No. 1577852, which includes the Death Claims Register for the UPEC of California, 19161937. This typically gives more death related info  their date of death, beneficiary, info about their insurance amounts, etc., and reason for death.

Examples of Fraternal Society records can be viewedHERE. (Please your browser's BACK button to get back to this page.)

7. Baptisms -

If your ancestor had children here in the States, it may be beneficial to hunt down all of the children's baptisms. You will have to know the area your ancestor was living in, and then access the yellow pages for that area to find the Catholic Church there. Once again, do not settle for the church certificate. Ask for a copy from the book (send them a donation). It could give you the town overseas!

8. Passenger Arrival Lists Part 1:

Part 1: Customs Passengers Lists (1820-c.1890s)

. In 1820 through the turn of the century (depending on the port), records were kept of people arriving on vessels. These are referred to as the Customs Passengers Lists (note: some ports had weight limits for baggage. "Baggage Lists" were kept if baggage was over the limit). These Customs lists document 20,000,000 people. These lists were to contain the name, age, sex, occupation, country to which belonged, and where the person intended to become an inhabitant. Also, a special column for deaths enroute, date and circumstance of death was included. This information on the passengers was in addition to the information on the ship: name of vessel, port of embarkation, arrival and date, and the master of the ship. These lists were given to the collector of the customs district where the ship arrived. Abstracts of these lists were given to the State Dept. (until 1874, then statistical reports were given to the Secretary of the Treasury). All of these lists were obtained by the National Archives in Washington, DC, although, not all are indexed yet. In 1890, the Secretary of Treasury ended its contract and the federal government took over  the Bureau of Immigration.

The five major ports of that time period were Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. In existence are other Atlantic and Gulf ports.

To search Customs Lists at your local FHC, you need to know the full, original, Americanized and nicknames / alcunhas of your immigrant. The person overseas filling out the manifests may not spell the name correctly. Or, if it was not a native Portuguese person filling out the manifests, they may have Americanized it. Check for women under both maiden and married names (if they had one). Also, check under the names of others that your immigrant traveled with. Also, you will need the age at arrival and the approximate date of arrival (the closer the better). You can obtain this information from family tradition, passports, obituaries, naturalization records, Homestead Act of 1862, etc.

You can access these Customs Lists via index. Some indices were created by the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. Not all ports are indexed, however. Some indices overlap. Most indices are alphabetical or soundexed. For the de, da, d' prefixes, refer to the National Archives publication "Immigrant and Passenger Arrivals," page 163. Also, some indices are in book form.

If you are unable to find your ancestor, check for others that came with him or her. Also, check New York. Many who arrived went to NY where they were counted and then went to another port. Check under both ports.

Part 2: Immigration Passenger Lists (c. 1890s-1950s).Due to the hazardous conditions coming to America, a series of laws were passed which affected the information on the manifests. The captain had to report name, age, sex, occupation, country to which belonged, where passenger intended to become an inhabitant, whether any passenger and what number died, and the part of vessel the passenger occupied. This report was in effect until 1882.

Due to more laws, the captain had to report names, age sex, occupation, and the new one: the country of which the passenger was citizen. Steerage manifests were the same except that they asked for native country and intended destination.

In 1890, the Secretary of the Treasury ended its contract and the Federal government took complete control. They created the Bureau of Immigration. This is why and where we start to see many changes take place. In 1893 a more detailed manifest was implemented: full name, age, sex; married or single; occupations; whether able to read and write; nationality; last residence; seaport for landing in the U.S.; final destination; ticket to final destination; passage paid by whom; how much money; going to join relativewho, including name and address; if in U.S. before and when and where; in prison, almshouse or supported by charity; polygamist; under contract to perform labor in U.S.; and health (mentally and physically). In March 1903, race was added and the exclusion list included epileptics, anarchists, beggars, people with 2 or more attacks of insanity, and prior deportees.

In 1906, the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization was created. The manifests were then changed to include personal description and birthplace. In 1907 they added the name and address of the nearest relative in overseas country.

In the 1940s, the INS began filming the manifests, which was "carried out over a period of years." It is thought to be complete. Within the last 30 years, more lists were found in the Washington, DC National Records Center in Suitland, MD.

The films are available from your FHC. They are arranged by port of entry, then date of arrival, then the ship. You will need to know the port and date if you are searching by index. If you are not going to use the index (or it was of no help), you will need to know the port and either the date or the ship. Luckily, most Passenger Lists are indexed. In more modern times, flight manifests exist (for NY).

A word about Canada: From 1895, about 40% of people going to Canada had a final destination in the U.S. They may have been denied entry at the U.S. ports. Also, it was cheaper to enter through Canada. Some U.S. officials needed to be stationed at Canadian ports. These have been filmed too. (18951954).

To search the Passenger Lists, you will need to first check the indices (books and film) for your names and ports. If you find the name, then go get the film for that manifest. However, if you are not that lucky, or they are not in the index, check "Registry of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports 17891919." This includes the name of the vessel, country of origin, type of rig, date of entry, master's name, and last port of embarkation. Some years the ships are arranged chronologically, in others alphabetically, and sometimes, even by steamship line.

If you know the name of the ship, you can search by film (M1066) for all the dates it came in. Earlier ships didn't make as many crossings as did a steamship, so there will be less to search. You can also use this same film to search by dates. You can use it to search via port of embarkation;just eliminate all the nonPortuguese ports. Part of this film is in book form titled, "Passenger Ships Arriving in New York Harbor (18201850)." Future volumes are being planned. You may also need to consult the Morton Allen Directory for NY 18901930, and for Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia for 19041926. Film M334 has some Boston (18201847), New Orleans (18201850) as well as some Philadelphia and Baltimore.

"Jumping ship" refers to a crew member entering the U.S. without a document. If your ancestor "jumped ship" you will want to check crew lists for Boston (19171943), New Bedford (19171943), New York (18971957) and others. The lists vary in information given.

Ancestry.com has many (but not all) ships' lists.

Bibliography:
Tepper, Michael.American Passenger Arrival Records: A Guide to the Records of Immigrants Arriving at American Ports by Sail and Steam. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988, 1993).
Colletta, John P.They Came in Ships.(Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Publishing, 1989, 1993).

9. Genetic Genealogy (DNA) -

If you are still absolutely stuck and no piece of paper is turning up your freguesia / village, you may wish to turn to DNA testing. For a fee, a sample of DNA is obtained from inside your cheek. The "junk" area of DNA is analyzed for your ancestral history. Once you receive the results, you can upload them into a project and see if you match anyone else who may have the paper trail. You may wish to start looking at that freguesia for your immigrant ancestor. The Azores DNA project is housed at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) and can be found att http://www.familytreedna.com. Where it asks for a surname, type "azores" (or "madeira" or "cape verde" etc).