Here's some great videos about the Portuguese in Vancouver but also they mention my great great grandfather John Enos (Joao Ignacio) in the second video and further down the page you will see I found an awesome document, but it's in Portugese so I hope to get it translated (I tried Google but it's not that good) I am really tired, I found this first thing this morning and there is something missing from the puzzle and I can't quite figure out how Mary Anne Poirier fits in because you don't hear mention of her but I have heard and seen stories of how the metis women were not acknowledged and maybe this is it. But I do have proof from archives of marriage, birth, baptism and death certificates.
The annoying thing is it looks like the original archives where I got it is broken or they want to charge for the documents. Anyways, if you are interested, check it out!
No Copyright Infringement Intended- Copied for Fair Use!
This was my great grandfather and I want to keep this documented.
John Enos was my great grandfather and Teresa Elisia of the Songhees nation was my great grandmother on my mother's side.
JOHN ENOS of NANOOSE BAY
http://portuguesepioneersofbc.blogspot.ca/search/label/songhees
http://portuguesepioneersofbc.blogspot.ca/2011/08/john-enos-of-nanoose-bay-from-luistania.html
(From Luistania.ca, June 2003, by M. Azevedo)
John Enos (Joao Ignacio) was born
in 1834 in the parish of Sao Pedro, Santa Maria, Azores. He was the
first European settler in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, settling in
1862. Local historians describe him as the “most colourful pioneer of
all.”
Enos went to sea when he was 14
years old. By 1852 he was in Boston working as a servant for John
Richard. He probably worked his way to the USA on an American whaling
ship, as was the custom in those days. From Boston he headed to the
California gold fields, sailing around the Cape.
In 1858 he joined the exodus from
California to the Fraser River gold rush in B.C. In 1859 he almost
drowned at Fort Yale when his raft overturned. He returned to Vancouver
Island where he worked as a seaman carrying coal from Nanaimo to the
naval base at Esquimalt. He then worked squaring timbers for the Hudson
Bay Company in Nanaimo. He built Nanaimo’s first bridge.
In 1862 he went to the Cariboo in
search of gold but returned shortly to settle on Notch Hill Ranch on
the Nanoose peninsula. There he cleared and farmed the land. He raised
cattle, pigs, and bulls. He also planted a large orchard and fished
with a sloop he built.
Misfortune
struck Enos in 1870 when one of his bulls gored him. He was forced to
rely on others, especially his friend John Suza (Sousa). Shortly after,
his wife, Teresa Elisia of the Songhees nation died. In 1890 he sold
his farm and returned to the Azores to marry but was spurned by his
widowed childhood sweetheart. In 1892 he returned to Nanaimo to live
with his family whom he had left in his house.
Enos was a
canny and litigious entrepreneur. He purchased various properties in
anticipation of the coming of the transcontinental train promised by the
Federal government when B.C. joined confederation in 1871. He was
involved in lengthy litigation with the Hudson Bay Company over property
he owned in Nanaimo.
He retired in 1894 to the men’s ward at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria. He negotiated a shrewd contract with the Sisters of St. Ann to look after him and voluntarily paid more money as a result of his longevity. He died in 1921 at the age of 87. He was a familiar face in Victoria, riding his woman’s bicycle (he was short) till he was 85. He sang and played the guitar for the nuns and guests. He also read music. Enos lake and Enos creek in the Nanoose area are named after him.
I am pretty sure this is his photo
 |
| Joseph Enos 1915 My Great Great Grandpa |
Joseph Enos married Mary Ann Poirier 1891 -This is my Metis Heritage
They had a son
Joseph John Enos and he married my grandma Anna Anderson in 1921
 |
Teresa Elisia of the Songhees-the photo had 1915 but not sure about anything (I think?)- my great grandma- or this is Mary Ann Poirier- I think it must be because they say Teresa died before 1890 |
 |
| John Joseph Enos- their son 1915 - my Grandpa |
John Enos
by fernandocandido
We often lunch on the rocks in Mellstrom's Cove where Spanish and British sea captains repaired their sailing ships. We gaze up at Notch Hill and think of the peaceful life of Nanoose's first settler, John Enos who raised sheep and cattle on these slopes, and the far more tumultuous life of the Giant Powder Company who later would build there a gunpowder production plant and a townsite, wharf and railway to support it.
He was from the Island of Santa Maria and helped build the bridges of Nanaimo ( Manuel Azevedo)
Joao Inacio, who simplified his name to John Enos, also came from the Azores. Like the others he had gone to sea in his early teens. He jumped ship at Boston in 1852 and worked his way west to California, hoping to get rich from gold. He found all the good claims staked, and he made his way north to British Columbia as soon as he got news of the gold rush there. He tells a story of being scared away by Native people from Yale that it is so similar to Portuguese’s Joe (Silvey) account, it’s very possible that they made the trip together. John Enos got work near Nanaimo, took up land a bit farther north at Nanoose Bay in 1863, and married a Songhees woman whom he named Teresa Elisia. Just as the Bittancourts and Norton had done, Enos acquired a reputation as a successful farmer. When Portuguese Joe and his family traveled on the Morning S.
http://portuguesepioneersofbc.blogspot.ca/2011/08/portuguese-place-names-in-canada-manuel.html
Enos Lake and Enos Creek in Nannose Bay are named after the first European settler there, John Enos (Joao Ignacio), a native of the island of Santa Maria in the Azores. He settled there in 1862 after seeking his fortune in the gold rush. He almost drowned at Yale in 1859, when his raft overturned. In 1890 he sold his farm and returned to the Azores, the only one of the pioneers to do so. However, he returned two years later after being rejected by his childhood sweetheart. He retired in 1894 to a ward in St Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria but did not die until 1921 at the age of 87. He rode his bicycle around Victoria and played the guitar for the nuns of St. Ann’s who looked after him.
Listen to the video below at 5:46
Update:
I used Google Translate from the page
but it's confusing in the translation as it messes up the names and I can not tell if they are talking about my greatfather or the other famous Portugese Joe.
I used Google Translate from the page
but it's confusing in the translation as it messes up the names and I can not tell if they are talking about my greatfather or the other famous Portugese Joe.
When I get a better translation I will share it.
2 comments:
tina, i have not read the whole article but this john enos is from the island o são jorge, not santa maria where your grandpa was from. the azores had 9 islands spread over 200 miles. travel between the islands was difficult, especially in the 19th century. santa maria was the first island settled in the 15th çentury, it is the closest to portugal, settled mostly by people from the algarve in southetn portugal, today i think it has about 6000 people, unlike its neighbour são miguel which had 130,000 people, by far the most populous island and the birthplace of the bettencourts of saltspring island.
so, in my opinion, the two john enos' were not related. very little is known about john "suza" .
Yes, I know they are not related but I mainly want find out about my great grandpa that was living at Enos Lake. Once I get the correct translation I will understand it better, I believe that the other John they are referring to is the one that settled in Stanley Park? Thank for the input!
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