(Click flag to listen to "A Rosinha Dos Limões")
The Thomas Bell is just one of the typical sailing vessel's that would have carried the Portuguese immigrants across the ocean to their new life.
The Thomas Bell (pictured above) left Madeira on November 8, 1887. This is the vessel that my Great Grandfather Antonio Goncalves J. Amaro, Great Grandmother Maria Jardim Farinha Amaro, and their children Manuel (13), Maria (10), Lucina (9), Antonio (6) and my Grandmother Antonia (2) journeyed on around Cape Horn to Hawaii on. This voyage was particularly rough with heavy gales that caused major damage to the vessel. They were forced to land in Iquique, Chile for repairs before continuing. This crossing took 156 days. They arrived at the Depot at Kakaako in Honolulu on April 14, 1888, and from there they were shipped out to various destinations such as Kauai.
The Amana (British) left the Port of Funchal on April 29, 1886 with many families which included my Great Grandfather Manuel de Sousa, Great Grandmother Maria Gomes de Sousa, and their children João (12), Cesar (9) and my Grandfather Augusto (4). The vessel experienced very rough weather at Cape Horn which made it impossible for nearly two months for the people to come on deck. This crossing took 147 days. They arrived at the Immigration Depot at Kakaako in Honolulu on September 24, 1886. On September 27, 1886 they landed on Kauai to begin a new life.
The above information was made available to us by the Portuguese Genealogical Society of Hawaii, 810 NorthVineyard Blvd. Rm. 11, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817. The documents they forwarded to us made it possible for us to explain about the above crossings of our ancestors. In particular, they sent us a copy of the journal kept by João Baptista d'Oliveira and Vicente d'Ornellas who were passengers on the Thomas Bell at the same time as my great grandparents and grandmother. They say that this is the only record of the many sailings ever found in the thirty-five years during which Portuguese people emigrated to Hawaii, which included about 20,000 Portuguese men, women, and children. Click here to read the Dedication and JOURNAL, or you can read the book called Portuguese in Hawaii, by John Henry Felix and Peter Senecal. I understand a more intense version of this journal is written in their book.
My grandparents Augusto Graciliano de Sousa and Antonia Goncalves Jardim Amaro were married May 11, 1902 at Sacred Hearts Church in a small town called Waimea on the Island of Kauai.
