In the late 1800's as the Monarchy came to an end in Portugal. Europe was competing over Africa, the last unclaimed continent. My Great Great Grandfather Jose' Carlos Azevedo was a Clerk Registrar (official record keeper) in the Portuguese Colonies for the Portuguese Government in Northwest Africa in what is now known as Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands. A Portuguese Post was established at Bissau in 1687, but the Portuguese claim was disputed by the French and the British. In 1879 the region was made a Portuguese Colony and border disputes with the French were settled by treaty in 1886. However it wasn't until 1915 that the Portuguese were able to exercise effective control over the country. The Cape Verde Islands were claimed by Portugal in 1460, Portuguese settlers began to land shortly afterward. In 1495 the archipelago was declared a crown possession of Portugal.

While in the Colonies he met and married a German Colonist, Guilhemina Jose Travasso. In 1895 a son was born, my Great Grandfather Manuel Azevedo. To the best of our family's knowledge my Great Great Grandfather and Mother lived out the rest of their lives in the Colonies. As a young man my Great Grandfather Manuel came to the United States as a seaman. Manuel first came to the United States through San Francisco, CA in the early 1900's. On October 25, 1916 he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Ft. McDowell, California. He was assigned to Company B of the 58th Infantry for four years of his enlistment. During that time he made expert Rifleman and was then honorably discharged as Private on October 26, 1920.

After leaving the Army he became a seaman again. He became a naturalized United States citizen on September 23, 1921 in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, CA. As a seaman he traveled throughout the globe. While on one of his voyages he stopped in the Azores were he met Umblina Cabral. He later married Umblina in May of 1931. The Azores are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, located about 800 miles west of Portugal. Manuel continued as a sailor until he and his wife settled in the Azores. He earned a good living as a sailor and was able to purchase land in the Azores. Over time he built seven houses on his property which he leased as income property. Later on he purchased and operated a restaurant.

Umblina and Manuel had a son, my Grandfather, Carlos Azevedo on September 16, 1934. The marriage did not last, they broke up and Manuel returned to the United States and to his life as a sailor. Whether Manuel ever intended to return to the Azores is unknown. Manuel Azevedo died in Brooklyn, N.Y. at the Veterans Administrative Hospital in January 26, 1952. He died at fifty two years of age and is buried in New York. Umblina and her son Carlos stayed in the Azores, Carlos grew up and took over the family business. Later Carlos met Izaltina LeAndro, they married in the Azores on June 5, 1958.

In the late 1950's early 1960's, Portugal entered into a very unsettled time in it's history. There was severe political unrest, the Communist Party as well as the Socialist Party had grown strong during this time and there was a chance that the Communist or the Socialist party might come to power in the Portuguese Republic. Communism a concept or system of government in which the major resources and means of production are owned by the State rather than by individuals. In theory, such societies provide for equal sharing of all work, according to ability and all benefits according to need.

My grandparents feared that if Communism or Socialism took hold that they would lose everything they had because business would have been nationalized and private wealth may have been put into the public treasury. Fearing the worst, Carlos sold all but two of the seven houses, they liquidated everything. Izaltina and Carlos left the Azores to come to the United States on June 6, 1964. Umblina lived out the rest of her life in Portugal on a widowers military pension from her husband Manuel. Izaltina and Carlos lost a lot of money but it wasn't as bad as losing everything. Portugal never did become Communist, although the Socialist Party has had some influence in Portuguese politics.

Izaltina and Carlos came into the united States through Boston and settled in Massachusetts. Because Carlos was a son of a United States citizen living overseas, he applied for and was given U. S. citizenship quickly, Izaltina became a naturalized citizen later on. As with most immigrants of that day, Izaltina began work in the garment factories. Carlos was a welder by trade, he worked in and out of construction sites. It took them a while, but the reestablished themselves. Carlos bought a cafe which he managed, they bought three tenement houses. Carlos sold the cafe about five years before he died on November 23, 1989. My Grandmother Izaltina is in her mid sixties, she continues to live in the original house she and my Grandfather bought when they first arrive in the United States.