Tangled Web We Weave

Research Journal #2, Entry 1

One of the most frustratting aspects of genealogy is learning that someone may be related to you but no one remembers how! Take the Cosma's and the Camara's. They appear to be two different, distinct families. No one remembered a close connection between them. They may have been related through a series of marriages. Yet, the kept appearing together in family stories. Things like "I don't think we were related, but every summer they went on vacation to Centerville with everyone else" made the mystery more intriguing.

Those who knew them couldn't decide where they belonged. Comments like "Oh, I think they were my Grandma's cousins" later changed to "Oh, I think they were my Grandfather's friends."

You can add to the pot a healthy dose of confusing characters. They went by the surnames of Remoaldo, Santos (but they were really de Jesus!), Ornellas, Spirou, Pavao (later changed to Pavon), Furtado, Raposo, Gabriel or Medeiros (or were they Gabriel Medeiros?) This was a start of the unsolvable mystery. Too many crossed lines and marriages to get a clear picture.

One thing was clear. All of these families were related in some way. The questions was, of course, how--or better yet--how many times? There didn't seem to be family members from the pre-1920 crowd who new the real story. Sorting out all the stories and conflicts would take an act of congress. The only chance was to find the clues within documentation. Would the early 1900 Hawaiian records reveal the families secrets?