Re: Immigrants from Madeira,Island Portugal
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In reply to:
Immigrants from Madeira,Island Portugal
8/05/99
This sounds like the group of people who were converted by a Scottish missionary in Funchal to the protestant religion. They were persecuted by the Catholic Bishop and left for Trinidad. Later they were offered jobs and housing in Illinois which did not materialize after their arrival. Being illiterate their names were spelled phonetically by the locals, hence, the spelling de Frates.