Contents
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Showing both families — every line on the page. Pick a side to hide the other
family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · José Matheus
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline659 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople351 cards, by generationJosé Matheus
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments1034 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1235, with where each is cited
The findings
- How the wall came downProeger line
- The glass patentsProeger line
- How the Caffey half was closedCaffey line
- What the DNA saysits own page
- Four routesMigration
- The asymmetryLines
- Open questions20 questions
- Add to this recorda form, read by Earl
How to read this record
Every claim is tagged
Most family trees flatten everything into the same confident typeface. This one does not.
The three research tags below are the whole point of the exercise: they say what a document
proves, what the weight of evidence suggests, and what nobody has found yet. A fourth marks
what the family stated directly, where no document has been retrieved at all — it is kept
separate on purpose and is never quietly promoted to confirmed. A fifth, added on
13 September 2026, marks biological evidence: a DNA result is not a document, and it is not
testimony either. Two further labels mark where this page withholds information
rather than lacking it.
ConfirmedAttested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a
government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.
ProbableStrongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field,
or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.
Not foundSearched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the
person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.
Family testimonySupplied by the family and recorded on their word — no document has been retrieved for
it. Note the diamond rather than the dot: this is provenance, not proof, and it stands
apart from the three record tags above S24.
DNA evidenceBiological evidence consistent with a claim. It corroborates origins; it does
not by itself establish a person or a link. Note the bar rather than a dot or a diamond:
no DNA result on this page is ever counted as confirmed, because no document
was read for it S46.
Living — withheldThe person is living. By the privacy rule for this page, name and relationship are
shown, and at most a year the family has already published. Full dates of birth, ages,
places of residence and record identifiers are held back.
Research in progressA branch that is actively being worked on. The node exists in the structure so the
shape of the family is honest; the detail is simply not in yet.
- Married
- Anna Felicia
- Sources
- 2
Research status
Research status: PROBABLE as the father of
Florência Luiza, and so maternal grandfather of
Frank Silva Sr. Florência's 1880 burial names him
José Matheus S1230; Frank Sr's 1862 baptism names Florência's father "José Francisco"
S1228. Added 4 October 2026
Evidence: Florência Luiza's 1880 burial names her father as José Matheus, alongside her mother Anna Felicia; Frank Silva Sr's 1862 baptism names Florência's father as "José Francisco", and a sister's 1859 baptism (per a FamilySearch index) gives "José Francisco de Medeiros" — the mother Anna Felicia agrees across all three readings. Weak or missing: three records give three forms of his given/surname (Matheus, Francisco, Francisco de Medeiros); his own baptism, marriage and death have not been found, and the surname is unsettled. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →
Life in the order the records give it
Death—
No birth or death date is on any record read
Family parents, marriages, children, siblings
Marriage—
Married
Anna Felicia; the surname is read three ways across three records and is not settled
In the record
Generation 7 — Earl's earliest known
- S1228Baptism of Francisco (Frank Silva Sr), 9 June 1862 — Santa Bárbara (Cedros), Faial. Volume
FAL-HT-CEDROS-B-1861-1870, image 0042. Entry Nº 35: baptised 9 June 1862, ‘filho legitimo, primeiro do nome’ of José Francisco da Silva, lavrador, and of Florencia Luiza, of the lugar da Fonte Nova; paternal grandparents Antonio Francisco da Silva and Anna Francisca; maternal José Francisco and Anna Felicia. BPARJJG (Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Regional João José da Graça), Horta — Registos Paroquiais, via Centro de Conhecimento dos Açores (CulturAçores), free public access, read by eye from the image, 4 October 2026 (SR-1004A). Archive copy. Corrects the 21 Sep sidecar in three places: ‘primeiro do nome’ means first child of that name, not first son — he had an elder brother, José Francisco, b. c.1843 [S1229]; the mother is Florencia Luiza, not “Silveira”; the maternal grandmother is Anna Felicia, not “Anna Silveira”. - S1230Burial of Florencia Luiza, 11 February 1880 — Cedros, Faial. Volume
FAL-HT-CEDROS-O-1875-1885, image 0069. Folio 68, entry Nº 7: died 11 February 1880, aged sixty, ‘married to José Francisco da Silva, legitimate daughter of José Matheus and of Anna Felicia’, natives of this parish, at the lugar da Fonte Nova; left children. BPARJJG (Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Regional João José da Graça), Horta — Registos Paroquiais, via Centro de Conhecimento dos Açores (CulturAçores), free public access, read by eye from the image, 4 October 2026 (SR-1004A). Frank Sr's mother. Same house-place (Fonte Nova) as his 1862 baptism and the 1886 marriage margin, husband named, so identity is secure. Gives her parents: José Matheus × Anna Felicia. Age 60 → b. c.1820. Husband alive in Feb 1880.