My Azorean Ancestors
Far out in the Atlantic Ocean, half way between Portugal and America, tiny islands emerge from a blue horizon. These are the Azores, sometimes called the Western Islands. For generations, my ancestors were born, lived and died on these islands. During the last century, some left and ventured across that wide blue expanse of ocean to America. This is their story.
The Island of Sao Jorge
Manuel Bettencourt Silva, my great grandfather, made the journey aboard a whaling ship from the island of Sao Jorge to New Bedford, Massachusetts in the year 1870.
The Island of Flores
Anna Gomes, his future wife, boarded a ship in Flores and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts three years later.
