Imagine if those who do genealogical research were given the opportunity to travel in a time machine to meet an ancestor who lived two hundred years ago. Wouldn't that be fantastic? Although such a machine has not been invented yet, traveling to the past is still possible.

Of course, it's not going to be a magic carpet ride, instead it will take time and hard work. First of all, you have to select an ancestor who was somewhat prominent in the community he or she resided in. Such prominence does not mean that this ancestor need be a politician or governor, etc. Two hundred years ago, the mere fact of owning a small farm or a grocery store was enough to give an ancestor certain notability.

The next step is making an accurate search of every possible source of information regarding the ancestor, his relatives, the place and events surrounding the time frame in which he lived.

Here is an example of the information I used to reconstruct the events that affected the life of my ancestor BERNARDO HOMEM DA SILVEIRA.

Bernardo, son of João Gonçalves Areas and Maria da Esperança, was born on May 20, 1725, in the Parish of Nossa Senhora da Piedade, Villa das Lagens, on the Azorean Island of Pico, (Portugal). His baptism was celebrated two days later with Pedro de Fraga and Bábara da Conceição being the godparents. Two soldiers, Antônio Vargas Machado and Caetano da Costa Leal were present and served as witnesses to the event.

Another important source of information was his son's process of qualification for the Catholic Church priesthood ("De Genere et Moribus") dated 1779. Individuals known to the qualifying priest were requested to give testimony about the qualifying priest and his family. From these statements, details of Bernardo's life in the Azores were documented. As an example, Manoel Pereira da Rosa said "he had known the paternal grandparents of the qualifying priest, João Gonçalves Areas and his wife Maria da Esperança, nicknamed Maria Santa, owners of a vineyard on the Island of Pico." He also said that he "had known Second-Lieutenant Bernardo Homem da Silveira in his country, where they had been neighbors and many times they had met one another while tending the sheep".

Manoel Pereira da Rosa referred to Bernardo as Second-Lieutenant, but that was his qualification/rank in the year of 1779, when the statement was made. Bernardo was not more than a shepherd when he was a resident in Pico.

He probably came to Brazil about 1745, when he was 20 years old. At that time, the search for gold was the main activity of the population. Bernardo was no exception. Miguel Leal do Couto stated that he " had known Second-Lieutenant Bernardo Homem da Silveira in Brazil, at which time he was selling polished gold and later on when he was a farmer and married". Another witness, one Amaro de Freitas Almada, said Bernardo was a "gold trader and now, in 1779 is a farmer"

Bernardo at the age of 27, was not yet a second-lieutenant, but a farmer, when he married Maria Francisca de Belém on November 22, 1752 . The wedding was celebrated at the Parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Prados, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The trading of gold had proved to be profitable for Bernardo, allowing him to buy a farm in the Parish of Santo Antônio, Villa de São Jose, Minas Gerais, where he raised his family.

Applying for a rank of Captain of the Army had been Bernardo's childhood dream. His grandfather, Captain Antônio Homem da Silveira, whom he knew and had admired, died on July 1st, 1764, in Pico, at the age of 76. He even bore his grandfather's family name, instead of his father's, "Gonçalves Areas". It's reasonable to believe that Bernardo had in mind to follow in his grandfather's footsteps as an officer. In Brazil, after saving some money, he applied to obtain the rank of first and second-lieutenant. Much later, on March 24, 1787, he was granted the rank of Captain of Cavalry.

Bernardo's wife, Maria Francisca de Belém, was born on the Azorean Island of Santa Maria. [Portugal]. According to the testimony of Paulino de Andrade, lawyer, 62 years old in 1762, she was a "descendant of noble families from this island [Santa Maria]". Bernardo and Maria Francisca had nine children:

Priest João Bernardes da Silveira

José Bernardes da Silveira

Francisco Bernardes da Silveira

Antônio Joaquim da Silveira

Ana Bernardes da Silveira

Mariana Francisca da Silveira [m: Capt. Joaquim da Silva Leão, my ancestors]

Bernarda da Silveira

Genoveva Bernardes da Silveira

Manoel Bernardes da Silveira [m: Elena Rodrigues, also my ancestors]

Bernardo Homem da Silveira was aware of the important role he was playing in the history of his family. He worked hard to build a good reputation and he succeeded. It seems that he wanted to leave a "trade mark" for the future: a new surname, BERNARDES. The suffix "-es" from the Basque language means "out of " or "son of." The surname Bernardes ( = son of Bernardo) is still used by hundreds of Bernardo's descendants.

Captain Bernardo Homem da Silveira died in 1798, at the age of 73. His body was burried in the Chapel of São João Batista near his farm.

This is the information I have gathered regarding my ancestor Bernardo Homem da Silveira. To some it may not be considered much, but let us not forget, that Bernardo was born 272 years ago! Recovering part of his biography from the past surely seems to me ... " like a ride in a time machine!"