HAWAIIAN GAZETTE ARTICLE - PAY DIRT!

Since my last posting, I have spent a merry-go-round of emotions because --- armed with my newly-learned research instructions from my recent class I found something that made me breathless and teary. I have taken baby steps to learn when, how and why my ABUELITA (grandmother) Manuela and her family left Spain, sailed to Hawaii, worked in the sugar cane fields and moved on to California..... where my descendency began. I have managed to leap over several brick walls with the help of my genealogy classes and found (1) Where and when they sailed from (2) the ship they sailed on (Orteric) (3) where and when they arrived in Honolulu (4) and pieced together stories from grandma through personal conversations and those of her children.

I have struggled to find a picture of the Orteric and found pieces of information about their voyage to put together in my book.....imagining their trip, etc. I have looked consistently for information about what plantation they worked on, when, how she met grandpa.... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Friday morning I logged onto the Library of Congress web site because my professor said there were digital photos of historic information. I clicked on newspapers and found the Hawaiian Gazette for various dates around April and May 1911 looking for articles on the farming immigrants etc. I found one article listing Arrivals and Departures and......On a fluke, decided to check the date I knew my grandparents arrived in Honolulu. Looking at page 8 of that date, I saw their Arrival listed and was excited.... then the word 'Orteric' caught my eye in a column beside it -- an actual story that was continued from page 1. The Orteric!! Their ship. OMG, I was shaking.... I went back to page 1 and found the headline, "Orteric Arrives with Many Laborers" It was 1/3 of the front page WITH A PICTURE OF the immigrants.... Crying by then, I printed it out and when I looked at the printed page in my hands I saw at the bottom left hand corner a PICTURE OF THE ORTERIC. Sigh. Life is good.... The article explained so much and filled so many holes. My story can continue now since I am including information in my book that are only from proven sources as much as possible --- no hearsay except for my imaginations based on facts. My heart beats triple time even as I recollect my findings. For you out there who are related to me through Abuelita --- get ready! It just gets better and better!! Smiles to you. PS