Antone Oliveira & Mary Lewis

Antone Oliveira & Mary Lewis are my 2nd great-grandparents.

Antone: August 1847 ~ October 15, 1925

Mary: March 1854 ~ January 16, 1933

Mt. Pico (picture by Guillaume Baviere)

In the Atlantic Ocean, about 930 miles away from Lisbon (the capital of Portugal), the water meets an archipelago known as the Azores. Consisting of nine major islands, as well as several tiny islets, the Azores are a part of the Portuguese Republic. Its newest island, which happens to be the second largest of the chain (about 3 1/2 times larger than Rhode Island), is called Pico Island. It's named appropriately, considering the translation for pico is peak, and the island is known for having the tallest mountain peak in all of Portugal. 

Standing at just over 7,700 feet, the mountain was created due to volcanic activity from a chain of three volcanoes. Although there hasn't been an eruption in 300 years, signs of its volcanic history lie all around the island with its black lava stone an ever present feature. For centuries, local inhabitants have used this ubiquitous stone not only for building houses, but for building numerous pyramids, as well.

Pico Pyramid - one of 140 on the island.

Along with the perennial gathering of lava rock, the citizens who lived here during the nineteenth century worked in a few industries that created the economy of the island. Most predominantly people practiced whaling, fishing, olive harvesting into oil and until the mid-19th century viticulture thrived on the island. That all changed when mildew and disease infiltrated the vines, forcing many to abandon their homes in search for greener pastures.

But before the emigration began, our Portuguese ancestors lived here. 

It was in August of 1847, when parents Joaquin and Anna Oliveira welcomed Antone to the world. In his youth, Antone helped his fisherman father, with his occupation.

Maria Luis Soares (who would later change her name to Mary Lewis once she arrived in America) was born in 1854 in the month of March to parents Francisco Luis and Isabel Tomasia Martins.

Little is known about their life in Portugal, but at some point before leaving the island, Antone and Mary became engaged to be married. Prior to tying the knot, Antone wanted to make a better life for himself and his bride-to-be. With that in mind, he set his sights on America in order to make this happen.

Why they left their homeland is not documented, however, history shows that Pico Island during that time frame not only had a problem with the wine industry, it also had a problem with overpopulation, which of course, both of these issues led to a scarcity of jobs. As a result, many inhabitants emigrated to the United States in the hopes of finding their version of the American dream. California was particularly enticing in the mid-century due to the Gold Rush, but after the fever of the Gold Rush terminated, Portuguese immigrants worked on whaling ships and as miners. By the 1880's, however, over 82% of the Portuguese population congregated in rural areas in order to become farmers. (1) Antone followed this path, as well.

He translated the fishing skills he had learned while working with his father, to working in another capacity associated with sea. He worked his way over to this country on a whaling ship in 1870 or 1871. He entered this country through the port at Boston. And it was here where Antone and Mary married. Shortly thereafter, they made their way to California by train.(2)

Historic image of downtown Centerville.

Initially, Antone worked two jobs as a farm hand, but working for other people was not something that interested him for long. The Oliveiras purchased land in Centerville, which later would incorporate with other towns to become modern-day Fremont. The earlier censuses list their address as "living by the railroad". On later censuses, the street was called Railroad Road. As for their home itself, "He built a small house followed by a larger one made of lumber acquired from a ship docked in nearby Newark. As a farmer, he became very successful growing sugar beets, apricots and cherries." (3) 




Antone referred to himself as an orchardist, which is a more elegant term for one who owns the farm. According to Robert L. Santos, the Portuguese were known in California for their farming skills and Antone fell under this success story category, as well. It wasn't long before Antone and Mary built a nice little nest egg for themselves.

As was common in the day, Mary stayed at home and raised the children. Antone and Mary had 17 children, twelve of which reached maturity. Manuel was born in 1874. Mary and Antone, Jr. were born the following year. I am uncertain if they were twins or if they were born "Irish" twins that were born at opposing sides of the year. Joe was next in 1880, while Minnie followed him in 1881. Frank (born Francisco) was born in 1882 and two years later John and Frances (born Francisca) were born. Again, I am uncertain if they were twins or not. Rosa was next in line in 1885. 

Then Rosida Otella was born in circa 1888. Rosida, means "little Rosa" in Portuguese. I suppose she was named after her sister, Rosa. Rosida, is the real name of Bette's mother. As many immigrant children did, including some of her own siblings, Rosida changed her name to become more Americanized. She used the last three letters of her first name and Ida became the name she was known for in adulthood. All of us knew her as Ba (pronounced Buh.)

After Ida was born, two more children were added to the Oliveira clan. Leonora was born in 1893, while George was the youngest born in 1897. The names of the five children, who passed away in their childhood, are unknown to me.

Neither Antone or Mary were educated and when they arrived in this country, they could not read or write English. However, they eventually both learned to do so. Antone learned to speak English early on. On earlier censuses, Mary claimed she could not speak English even though she could read and write. In 1930 she stated she could speak English. She probably could speak English for years, but chose not to do so while her husband was alive. It wasn't her first language and she didn't have to work outside the home so she really didn't need to. 

Their lack of having a formal education didn't seem to matter with regards to their success. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, they owned their farm outright without a mortgage. 

Outside of the farm and family, "Antone was involved in community activities and in 1888 is listed as a charter member of the Centerville Chapter, U.P.E.C. (Uniao Portugueza do Estado da California), a Portuguese fraternal organization," (4) that was established in 1880 in San Leandro.

Both Antone and Mary participated in the voting process. They were registered as Democrats.

Antone passed away on October 12, 1925. By the time of his passing, 11 of his children were still alive. Mrs. Gallagher is listed on the obituary to the left. Mrs. G. was Ida (Ba). According to a second obituary, his funeral was held at the Oliveira home first, and then at Holy Ghost Church in Centerville.

In 1930, Mary still lived on Railroad Road, but she moved down the street from 134 to 164. She no longer lived at the farm. Her home was valued at $4,000 that year. Her son Joseph, who was still single, lived with his mother that year, as well, but Mary was considered the head of the family, not her son. 

Mary passed away three years later on January 16th. As of this writing I could not find an obituary on her.

The Oliveiras are buried with their granddaughter, Norma Gull, at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, section M, Row 12 in Hayward. 

There is another Antone Oliveira buried in Concord. This is probably Antone and Mary's son, Antone Jr, but it may be someone else all together. Antone Sr's second obituary listed Holy Sepulchre as Antone's final resting place, and I confirmed that the third person on their tombstone is their granddaughter. So, Hayward is the correct place.  

PERSONAL APPEARANCE:

Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of Antone or Mary, but I do have a record of some of Antone and their son's physical attributes. Antone was 5'11 at the age of 46. He still had dark black hair, and brown eyes. He was dark skinned and had tattoos on his hands. I do not know what the tattoos were of. 

Antone's son, Manuel (Ida's (aka Ba's) brother), became a leader in his community. There is an elementary school named after him today. I found a record that he was 5'8 and had the same black hair and brown eyes of his father, but he was light skinned. Considering the fact that Ba, was also light skinned, I would surmise that Mary, must have been light skinned, as well.

Moreover, Ba was a very petite lady. She must have been 4"11 as an elderly lady, so maybe she was a few inches taller than that as a young woman. Considering her father was 5'11, I would surmise that Mary must have been on the petite side.

In looking at historical reference of the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago where Antone and Mary were from, I discovered that it had been unusually diverse in its cultural and racial heritages, with a combination of fair-skinned European, Jewish, and African ancestral lineages all living on the islands.

STORIES FROM BETTE:

Unfortunately, I began writing these family stories after Bette was gone, so I cannot confirm the details. However, this information is what I remember to the best of my recollection.

* Antone and Mary's granddaughter, Bette, talked about how Antone eventually sold his farmland to a large conglomerate, which made them quite well-off. I seem to remember her thinking it was Del Monte, but that is my guess and I think she didn't really know for certain either. 

* She also mentioned how he had owned an impressive white convertible. Years later she saw a version of that car in the museum at Blackhawk and she could swear that it wasn't just a version of the car, that it was the actual car itself. Even all those years later, the aroma it had, sent her back to her childhood. I cannot confirm or deny if it was the car, but I'd like to think that it was. 

* Many of us know the story that Bette told claiming that Antone was a bigamist and he had another wife and family living in Portugal. According to her, he traveled back and forth between Europe and the U.S. 

The way I heard the story of how the families found out, is that Bette's uncle was sitting at a bar in California and the bartender asked what he could get him. Afterwards, he then asked what he could get his brother, referring to the man sitting next to him. These two men apparently looked a lot alike, but they didn't know one another. However, the bartender's comment sparked a conversation between the men and they realized they were indeed 1/2 brothers. The stranger was Antone's son from Portugal and he was looking for his father. 

I always found this story to be quite extraordinary. What are the odds that these two siblings would have met, considering travel and communication were so limited in the 19th century, but according to Bette they did meet and the proverbial cat was out of the bag. 

Stories change with each retelling and this story could have also been made up by Ba and Bette retold what she heard from her mother. Although the story may be true, I can't find a solid enough record of it. That doesn't mean it's false either, but it does mean I don't have conclusive proof one way or the other.

The only record I could find is an Antonio de Oliveira from Portugal who married a Maria Ferreira Marquez in Brazil. According to the record, Antonio was from Portugal (although it did not mention the Azores specifically) and his parents were Joaquim and Anna also from Portugal. The names are all very similar to Antone and his parents, but they are not exactly the same. Also, the bride's mother's last name was de Oliveira, so it's possible Maria was a cousin of some sort as well as his wife. That being said, if Antone was indeed a bigamist, this is very weak evidence that this is the correct Antone.

***If anyone has any memories of what Bette might have said about Mary or Antone, 

I would love to have them for this page.***

SUPPOSITION:

* I surmise that as the Oliveira grandchildren were brought into this world, Mary started to speak English so she could speak to them. Bette did not speak Portuguese and I can only guess that her cousins and half-brother didn't either.

* Please note the birth dates of the children are estimates based on the information given on the censuses, which shows the date it was taken and the age of the person, but usually not the birth month. Ergo, the dates may be +/- a year. 

* I have wondered if Ba was called Ida at home in her youth. Ida is a shortened version of Rosida in Portugal and Brazil, although it would have been pronounced ee-duh, not eye-duh. It would have helped to differentiate her from her sister Rosa, if they did call her Ida. 

* As many of us know, Ba (aka Ida) did not tell the truth about her age. Her documents from adulthood all have a variety of dates, but those documents are definitely hers. So, I have put the date that most closely relates to the childhood records, and 1888 is the best estimate for her birth date.

Mt. Pico painting from 1848.

ANTONE'S PARENTS:

* I only know that Antone's parents were Joaquin and Anna Oliveira. They lived on Pico Island in the Azores. He was a fisherman and she made nets for ocean-faring fisherman. Ancestry.com has many generations spanning back to 1670 as possible ancestors for this Oliveira line, but I don't have documented proof, beyond these two. So, for now, this is as far back as I go. I may need to hire a translator to help with Portuguese documents to go any further. 

MARY'S PARENTS:

* I am not 100% sure that Francisco and Isabel are Mary's parents. I copied this information from other people on Ancestry, but I don't have any documentation to back it up. I do know that we are related genetically to other Martins (with an "s" on the end) and Isabel's maiden name was Martins. So, I am leaning towards these being the correct people, which is why I included them here. That being said, as of this writing, I am not certain. Ancestry.com has several generations listed as Francisco and Isabel's possible ancestors, but I won't document them without any records. Ergo, at this point, I have no other information on this family line. Perhaps I will in the future.

THE MEANING OF MARY'S NAMES:

Personal Name Meaning: Mary ~ Anglicized version of Maria, her original name, which comes from Greek and Hebrew. It means wished for child, beloved and rebel. Of course, Mother Mary is the most famous Mary.

Surname Meaning: Lewis/Luís ~ Lewis is the Anglicized version of her given maiden name Luís. While that name is Portuguese, it is a derived from a German name that means "Famous Warrior."

THE MEANING OF ANTONE'S NAMES:

Personal Name Meaning: Antone ~ A Latin baby name meaning worthy of praise, value. St. Anthony is the patron saint of poor people.

Surname Meaning: Oliveira ~ A Portuguese surname meaning Olive Tree. Apparently olive trees are only on two islands in the Azores, and Pico is one of them. I am only guessing, but I imagine that somewhere along the Oliveira line, they were olive tree farmers.

Additional sources outside of records:

(1) Azoreans to California: A History of Migration and Settlement, by Robert L. Santos 
     California State University, Stanislaus Librarian/Archivist

(2) Stories of California Azorean Immigrants 
     #76 is about Manuel, Antone and Mary's son, and they are mentioned in the first paragraph. 
     Manuel carried on with farming like his father and was very well respected in the community.
    Today, there is an elementary school named after Manuel in Fremont, called Oliveira
     Elementary.

(3) (4) From an article written in the Tri-City Voice in 2008 called, The Manuel Family, regarding Antone and Mary's son, Manuel, which included information on his parents and paternal grandparents.  

Information on the Oliveiras listed on the Oliveira Elementary School Website 

Information on Pico Island.

More information on Pico.

Pyramid information.

Ancestral heritage information of the Azores.