Tuesday, January 7, 2014

52 Ancestors: #1 ~ Mathias Rodrigues Vasques

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.


Mathias Rodrigues Vasques
Mathias Rodrigues Vasques

Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small, has issued the following challenge:
"...have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree."
52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Image

I've decided to give this challenge a try…gulp! I already try to publish about two blog posts in this genealogy blog per week, which includes my weekly Fab Finds post. And I also try to publish one blog post per week in my other blogs, Jana's Photo Journal, and Grandpa's Postcards.

But, this challenge seems like a great way to make sure I write about lots of different ancestors in my genealogy blog, instead of focusing too much on just a few.

So, here we go!

The first ancestor I'm writing about for this challenge is my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Mathias Rodrigues Vasques. I wrote a blog post about him a very short time after I started this blog, which was in April of 2012.

Mathias was born about 1834 in Rio Grande, Rio Grand du Sul, Brazil to his parents Raimundo Rodrigues Vasques and Maria Joaquina Velho.

Mathias and his wife, Margarida De Farias Correa, were the parents of thirteen children. I don't have definitive marriage information for Mathias and Margarida. That's something I need to work on.

Here are their children:

  1. Margarida Vasques (7 February 1854 – ?)
  2. Maria Do Carmo Vasques (14 April 1855 – ?)
  3. Margarida Vasques (21 June 1856 – ?)
  4. Rosalia Rodrigues Vasques (4 September 1857 – 24 April 1930) [My great-grandmother]
  5. Othilia Vasques (27 November 1859 – ?)
  6. Mathias Vasques (31 December 1860 – ?)
  7. Raimundo Vasques (28 September 1863 – ?)
  8. Joao Vasques (25 August 1865 – ?)
  9. Thereza Vasques (Christened 22 December 1867 – ?)
  10. Maria Francisca Vasques (9 Jan 1870 – ?)
  11. Maria Francisca Vasques (17 June 1871 – ?)
  12. Cazimira Vasques (22 July 1874 – ?)
  13. Miguel Vasques (15 May 1877 – ?)

As you can see, I have a lot of research to do in order to replace those question marks with dates of death.

I love this picture of Mathias! It's so interesting. It appears that he was in the Brazilian military at some point during his life. Check out his hat on the chair. Doesn't it resemble a U. S. Civil War hat? It's interesting that the military hat styles of that time period were similar in both the United States and Brazil.

I found this picture (below) on the Wikimedia Commons website. It shows an officer (left) and a soldier (right) from the Brazilian Empire's Army, circa 1867. It's interesting to compare this picture with the picture of Mathias in his uniform.

Officer and Soldier from the Brazilian Empire's Army Wikimedia Commons No Copyright
Mathias passed away in 1890 in Rio Grande, Rio Grand du Sul, Brazil. Information for the date and place of death for Mathias was taken from a hand-written pedigree chart written by my maternal grandfather, Debs Warren Webster. I will need to do some research to verify this information.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

18 comments:

  1. The pictures are wonderful! I'm envious that you have such great documentation on your ancestor! I'll be interested to read about your other family members!

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  2. Gotta love his first name ;-)
    And yes, his hat does resemble that of our Civil War soldiers. Do you know his rank? There is a Uniforms Identification message board at Rootsweb that might help.
    He doesn't seem to have been very tall.

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    1. Hi Wendy,

      Yep! That's a great first name! I don't know what his rank was. Thanks for the tip on the Rootsweb message board. I'll have to check it out. =)

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  3. Great picture - and it definitely looks like a US Civil War uniform. That's what I thought it was until I read your post. :-)

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    1. Thanks Diana! It's really interesting how the military uniforms of that era were so similar!

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  4. What a fantastic picture! You need to have a copy framed.

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    1. Thank you Pam! Actually, I do have a copy of it framed. It is among the many other ancestor photos I have displayed in our home. =)

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  5. Loved it Jana! What a Colorful History! Uniform was just how they present them even in the movies. I'm scared to take the PLUNGE!

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    1. Thank you True! I understand being scared to take the plunge on this challenge. I was apprehensive myself. We'll see how long I can keep this up. LOL Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. Ohhhh, you have such fascinating ancestors, Jana! I love the photos - simply fascinating additions. I've taken the challenge as well... Posted one so far, and planning the next. Plus many other challenges in other areas this year.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words Celia! Yes, I am very blessed to have these amazing photos of my ancestors. Good for you for accepting the challenge, plus the other challenges you're involved in as well. It sounds like it will be a very busy year for you. I don't think I could handle more than this challenge myself.

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  7. Love the picture. I agree about the similar uniforms, too. Good luck with the challenge!

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    1. Thank you Sally! I love this picture too. Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. What a great photo, Jana! He looks so distinguished, doesn't he? I like how you were able to compare it to the Wikipedia entry.

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    1. Thank you Shelley! And I'm sure glad Wikipedia had this information and photo. I wish I knew more about Mathias' military service.

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  9. Love the post and the picture is wonderful!

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