My ancestors left Sao Miguel Island, Azores, in 1882 for place called Sandwich Island (later known as Hawaii) to work on the sugar plantations of Kauai Island. The journey was long and the accommodations were dismal. Because of the length of the journey, a sort of mini community was formed. Individuals were born, got married, and died. Disputes were judged, illnesses were tended to, and friendships forged.

I have been fascinated by the fact that family who met aboard ship forged alliances that lasted a lifetime--from the ship to Kauai then later to California. I have wondered whether this is where many romances had begun or marriages had been arranged.

My Pacheco line came on the Hansa. My DeBraga line came on Monarch. On the same ships were cousins or other families who later married into the lines. On the Hansa: Jacinto Cosme da Camara and Joaquina Roza Rapoza, Manoel Jose & Maria dos Anjos, and Joao Castanho & Maria Victorina (cousins). On the Monarch: Jose de Mello & Maria Joaquina (cousins) and Jacinto Caetano and Rosa Claudina de Mello Castanho (cousins). Another ship, the City of Paris, brought another group of families who would later intertwine: Apolniaro Moniz (& children), Manoel Antonio Bonita & Maria Jacinthia de Mello, Jose F. Caires & Maria de Jesus Correia, Augusto Clemente & Maria da Encarnacao, and Manoel Remoaldo & Francisca Albina. Perhaps the fact that they were all sent to Kauai and the sugar plantations were such tight communities, the closeness of the families was only natural. Also, when the families moved to California, they seemed to stay among the same tight groups. Many took up residency on the same street, E. 25th, in Oakland or worked the sugar beet plantations of Monterey County.

There is an excellent account of life aboard ship called "Destination Sandwich Islands". This account is from a personal diary documenting the 156 day journey from Madeira to Hawaii on the ship the Thomas Bell. The reader learns how hard the journey had been with its many trials and tribulations.

Sources:
1. "Destination, Sandwich Islands" The Hawaiian Journal of History, volume IV, 1970, pages 3-52. Available from the Hawaiian Historical Society or on the Internet at: www.lusaweb.com
2. Portuguese Genealogical Society of Hawaii. On the Internet: PHGS http://www.lusaweb.com/genealogy/html/phgs.cfm
3. The Portuguese Resource Center in the Genealogy Forum, Hawaiian Resources: Hawaiian Islands