Barros Andrade Family Collection [1918-1996]

Barros Andrade Family Collection [1918-1996]

1918-1996

This collection features images from the Barros Andrade family of Lowell, MA. Wedding photographs and marriage documents are included, as well as family photographs and letters.

Biographical Sketch

Manuel Figueira Barros was born on November 4, 1885 (sometimes marked as 1886 in records) in the municipality of São Vicente on the island of Madeira, where his parents worked as wine barons, and baptized on May 20th, 1887. He was born to João Francisco Figueira Barros and Augusta Leonor Dinis (Diniz) and grew up with four siblings: his brothers Antonio and John Barros and his sisters Johanna and Maria Barros. Johanna eventually moved to mainland Portugal to live in Sintra, Maria moved to Brazil, and John Barros and Antonio Barros both immigrated to Lowell like Manuel. Antonio Barros was the father of Manuel F. Barros Sr., the original owner of the bakery that eventually became known as Barry's Pastry Shop.

In his 20's, Manuel Figueira Barros moved around much of South America, immigrating to Argentina, where he worked as a gaucho (cowboy); Chile, where he was eventually expelled for the accusation of starting a communist revolution; and Brazil, before finally moving to Lowell in 1916, where he found work as a mill operative and met Maria da Conceição Andrade, likely through their church. Maria was also from Funchal, Madeira, though the two had never met before their meeting in Lowell, and similarly immigrated to Lowell in 1916. Maria had one sister, Carolina da Conceição Andrade, and worked as a mill girl in a Lowell factory. They were married at the Saint Anthony Parish in 1918 and moved into a house at 192 Tremont Street.

Manuel and Maria had 4 children together: Lionel Joseph Barros, Anthony F. Barros, Augusta M. Barros, and Francelina C. Barros. Lionel was born in Lowell but would be raised in Madeira with his mother, Maria, until he was 9 due to issues between her and Manuel Barros. The two eventually returned to the United States in October of 1929 and moved as a family to a house on Nichols Street in Danbury, Connecticut. Anthony, Augusta, and Francelina were born shortly after. Manuel Barros worked as a roadworker in construction and as a laborer under the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) during their time in Danbury. Eventually, sometime around 1946, the Barros-Andrade family returned to Lowell's Back Central neighborhood and took up residence nearby at 12 Irving Street. By the 1950's, Manuel Barros was working as a floor hand at a worsted textile mill in Lowell alongside his son, Lionel, who worked as a boiler tender.

Manuel and Maria remained in Massachusetts and near the Lowell area for the rest of their lives. Manuel Figueira Barros passed away on November 1, 1984 in Tewksbury, MA. Maria da Conceição Andrade's death date is unknown.

What follows is a brief overview of the lives of the four Barros children.

• Lionel "Lee" Joseph Barros (1920-2011) was the first Barros child, born on May 21, 1920 in Lowell, MA. He was raised on the island of Madeira with his mother until the age of 9, when his family settled once again in the U.S. in Danbury, CT. He worked as a hatter for the National Hat Shop on Chestnut Street in Danbury during his late teens to early 20's until he registered to fight in WWII on July 1, 1941. Lionel would be enlisted in the United States Army in December of 1942, serving honorably in the European Theater, including the Battle of the Bulge, until November of 1945. He received the European African, Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and World War II Victory Medal for his service, and is said to have taken great pride in serving his country and the comradery that he shared with his fellow soldiers.
  
  After his service, Lionel worked as a boiler tender in Lowell and eventually as a suit salesman at Jordan Marsh in Burlington, MA, where he would remain employed for 30 years. He and his wife, Patricia (McGrath) Barros, had three children: Michael, Peter, and Christopher Barros. Patricia Barros passed in 2004 and Lionel Barros passed away on February 17, 2011 in Billerica, MA at 90 years old.
  
  
• Anthony "Tony" F. Barros (1930-2013) was the second oldest Barros sibling, born in Danbury, CT, on November 28, 1930. In his early 20's, he worked as a part-time chef in a potato chip factory in Lowell. Later in his career, he worked as a shift supervisor for Raytheon Corporation in Andover, MA and lived in both Derry and Salem, NH. He married Shirley A. Barros of Derry, NH and they raised four children together: Holly Barros, Jacqueline Bourque, Fredrick C. Beal, and Kenneth A. Beal. He was also a father of William Sager of Litteton, MA, and known for acting as a father figure to his granddaughters, Jennifer Bordis and Vanessa Barros. Anthony Barros passed away in Boston, MA on December 13, 2013 at the age of 83.
  
  
• Augusta "Gussie" M. (Barros) Daly (1936-2015) was the third child in the Barros family, and the oldest daughter. She was born on January 30, 1936 in Danbury, CT and attended the area schools before her family moved back to Lowell, where she would graduate from Lowell High School with the class of 1954. She lived in both Ipswich, MA and Nashua, NH, but eventually returned to Lowell, living in the Centralville neighborhood for over 30 years. Augusta worked as an administrative secretary for Raytheon in Bedford for over 37 years and was a devoted communicant of Saint Michael Parish. She served as a Eucharistic Minister for the parish, and was also involved with the St. Vincent DePaul Society for many years.
  
  She was the wife of the late Robert McKeon, who passed away in 1998, and the late John F. Daly, who passed away in 2014. She was also the stepmother to John F. Daly's four children: John F. Daly, Martin Daly, Stephen Daly, and Michele (Daly) Bedell. Augusta Daly passed away on November 3, 2015 in Lowell, MA at the age of 79.
  
  
• Francelina "Fran" C. (Barros) Vaughan (1937-2010) was the youngest sibling of the Barros family, born on April 8, 1937 in Danbury, CT. She, like her sister Augusta, also attended Lowell schools and graduated from Lowell High School with the class of 1955. She worked at American Hyde & Leather in Lowell, at the Hanscom Air Base in Bedford, and American Mutual Life Insurance in Springfield before finding work as a secretary with the Town of Lunenburg for the Board of Selectmen, with whom she would remain employeed for more than 30 years until her retirement. She was also a member of the St. Boniface Church in Lunenburg, MA.
  
  Francelina married John “Jack” Vaughan and never had any children of her own, though she had many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews and cousins. Francelina Vaughan passed away on October 17, 2010 at her home in Lunenburg at age 73, survived by her husband and her older siblings.

Barros, Manuel F.

Daly, Augusta M.

Madeirans

Marriage

Dogs

Wedding attendants

Wedding photography

Mills and mill-work

Portuguese American women

Weather

Lowell (Mass.)

Pawtucket (R.I.)

Madeira (Madeira Islands)

Donated by Peter Barros.

UMass Lowell, Center for Lowell History

McCarthy, William P.

Geary, Michael Q.

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