Manuel Correa Silva

Born Nov 16, 1867 at Graciosa, Azores

Immigrated April 22, 1882 at the age of 15

That supports the family lore that he came as a stow away. I can find no records of him on any passenger lists of the time.

His age is given as 34 and DOB as Nov 1865 on lines 92-97 of the 1900 census C:\Users\Len\Documents\Geniology\census 1900.jpg It is shown as 8/21/1865 on his Naturalization Card and as 11/16/1867 on a 1894 Passport Application. and the same on a Passport Application in 1925

He was married to Anne or Annie in 1886

Annie arrived before he did in 1881

At the 1900 census they lived at 67 Acushnet Ave. in New Bedford

They rented and there were at least 4 other families at that address

He was a barber and had been out of work for three months in 1900

He could read, write and speak English, Anne could not.

They had 4 children

Mary, Born Mar 1887

Anna, Born Feb 1891

Manuel, Born Feb 1895

Charles, Born June 1898

By the 1910 census Anne has died and Manuel is a widower

They live at 121 Fair St.

Manuel's daughter Mary is married to Edmund F. Burke 2/8/06 and he is shown as the head of the house. He is Massachusetts born with English parents.

Edmund and Mary have a 3 year old daughter Dorothy M, and have lost one child.

Manuel is shown as the father-in-law and his children Anna, Manual and Charles are shown as Edmund's brothers and sister in law.

In the 1920 census, Manuel is the head of the same house at 121 Fair St. but now owns it without a mortgage. He is 52.

He is married to Laura (Dad's mother) and his mother-in-law Mary Dimendos also lives there. The assumption is that Dimindos is Laura's maiden name.

Laura (or Laurentina) is 20 years younger than Manuel and arrived in this country in 1902. She was naturalized the same year. He is a barber and she works in a cotton mill.

Did you know that Dad visited the "Old Country"? In 1925, when he was 4 years old. There is a passport application (with a photo) and a ship's passenger record showing their return via Providence.

In the 1930 census Manuel, Laura and their son Leonard live at 317 Bedford St. He owns the house without a mortgage which is valued at $7000. 315-317 Bedford St is a duplex. The other side rents for $50.00 per month. He is a barber and she does not work.

The home at 121 Fair St. was built in 1903. It would be interesting to know if he was the first owner.

The home at 315-317 Bedford St. was built in 1922 as a duplex, Again, I wonder if he built it.

From the City Directories in 1902 he lived at 67 Acushnet Ave and was a hair dresser at the Dartmouth Club (whatever that was)

In 1908 he lived at 121 Fair and still worked at the Dartmouth Club

In 1930 he lived at 317 Bedford, phone 5645-3 and worked at 690 Pleasant St.

In 1943 (the year I was born) he lived at 43 Buttonwood Rd, South Dartmouth Rented, I remember that house. He was retired.

In 1955 he lived at 14 Columbia St. I spent a lot of time there.

He died sometime between 1956 and 1958, just from my memory. Laura died within a year or so. She lived with us on Seabury St for a while then to a nursing home. She had pretty severe senile dementia.

I have City Directories from the period that confirm the addresses, but not much more.

The birth dates and immigration dates on the census records don't seem to accurate and change with each census. The most accurate information I found came from a passport application. That could have been because he was covering up for how he came to the country.

Apparently early June of 1894, Manuel, his wife Annie, and their two children Mary and Annie visited the old country and the passport application has his birth date and immigration date which I assume is the most accurate.

Still a lot of mystery here. Dad had a half brother Steve, an optometrist in Providence, but there is no mention anywhere of a Steve. Could he have been Manuel or Charles and went by Steve?

I become more and more fascinated with vovoo's first family. He had four children. The oldest, Mary, was only 34 when Dad was born and only 55 when I was born. The youngest, Charles was only 45 when I was born, yet I never knew of their existence until I started this research.

Then there is "Uncle Steve", who I always thought was the only child of his first marriage, and I can find nothing about him anywhere.

So, what happened to them? Did they all die young? was there a family falling out where they would have no contact with their father? They were all quite young, anywhere from 8 to 18 when Anna died.