New Hampshire (NH) is not one of the places that are associated with Cape Verdean immigration. However, it was a destination of some Cape Verdeans as early as the Civil War. Half a century later, World War I draft registration cards and a passport application shows several Cape Verdeans living in New Hampshire during the war.

Records indicate that one colored troop in the Civil War that came from New Hampshire was born in “Cape de Verde Islands.” This was John Cruse of the 3rd Infantry. He was born in 1839 in Cape Verde and enlisted as a Private on 6 October 1864. He died on January 9, 1865 in Jacksonville, Florida. The United States Navy included two men who were born in the Islands. Thus, there were three Cape Verdeans from New Hampshire who participated in the Civil War.

Three decades later, the number of Cape Verdeans in the World War I era increased. Frank Gomes (photo) (b. 6 September 1875 in Brava, Cape Verde Islands, Portugal) was nineteen years old when he immigrated to the United States on 25 May 1894. He became a naturalized citizen on 24 September 1906, when he was 31 years old. Gomes was a “keeper of restaurant” or restaurant owner in Concord, Merrimack, NH, where he resided. He was to sail from Providence, Rhode Island, on board the Roma, on 17 September 1919. Gomes was heading to Brava to sell real estate, probably his home. His passport was issued on 2 September 1919. Gomes was a resident of Boston during some of his residence in the United States.

Mani Andrade Marlino [Martins] (b. 10 February 1895 in Brava, CV) was a single, Caucasian living at 32 Pleasant Street, Concord. He worked as a cook at Gomes Lunch in Concord, which most likely belonged to the aforementioned Frank Gomes. Martins was his mother’s only means of support.

Three men, all born in Cape Verde, lived six miles southeast of Concord, in the small manufacturing town of Pembroke. Manuel Gooms [Gomes] (b. 16 July 1893), Sam Lopes (b. October 1889 in Sao Nicolau), and Apolinaria Semedo (b. 23 Jul 1894 in Praia) were all single males living in Pembroke, Merrimack, NH. All three were laborers at Ely Construction Company in Allenstown, NH. Gomes was the only one identified as African, while Lopes and Semedo did not have their races identified. It is not known whether the three men knew each other.

About 39 miles east of Pembroke is Newmarket, an old shipping and textile mill center. Luciano Reis (b. 8 November 1889 in Santiago) and Quintino Jose Dagiaca [da Graca] (b. 25 March 1894 in Santo Antao) were single Negros living in Newmarket, Rockingham County, NH. Both worked at the Newmarket Manufacturing Company, a local cotton mill. It is not known whether the two men each other as well.

Some 53 miles southwest of Newmarket was a single, Cape Verdean living close to the Massachusetts border, the epicenter of Cape Verdean migration. Frank Perry (born 25 June 1891 in Praia, CV) was an African living at 8 ½ School Street in Nashua, Hillsborough County, NH. He was employed as a mason’s helper for C.W. Keith of Nashua.

All of the men were born in Cape Verde and most were racially categorized as African or Black. Just over half the Cape Verdean lived in the Merrimack County. Most of the men lived within the same cities. Though their relationship in not know, it seems likely that the men who worked for the same company may have known each other.

By the end of the war, there was a drastic decline in the number of Cape Verdeans in New Hampshire. The manufacturing jobs may have dried up, forcing the eight earliest immigrants to relocate. The 1920 Federal Census shows Earl York (b. 1902 in Massachusetts) residing in Sandwich, Carroll, NH. This single, eighteen year old male boarder was the son of Cape Verdean immigrants.

The population began to rise slowly, peaking at four people by the 1930 Census of Merchant Seamen. All the men were born in Cape Verde and racially classified as Negro. All were kitchen staff on the ship, New York, which was ported in Portsmouth, Rockingham, NH. The men were: Cyril A. Delgado (b. 1884) was a cook, Adnito Rochesteau (b. 1900) was a kitchen man, and Isador C. Delgado (b. 1913) and Luis Lopes (b. 1901) were pantry men (butlers or menservants).

Cyril Delgado appears with his family in the 1930 United States Federal Census. Delgado (b. 1884 in Portugal) was married to Mary (b. 1888 in Portugal) and had three sons: Anthony (b. 1912 in Portugal), Isedoro (1914 in Portugal), and Edward (b. 1927 in Massachusetts). The family lived in Boston and had four Portuguese and one Brazilian boarders. So it appears that Cyril and his son Isedoro lived in Boston, but worked as merchant seamen.

Contact between Cape Verdeans and New Hampshire natives sometimes occurred outside of the state.

Maria Amory (b. 14 January 1893 in Cape Verde, Portuguese Colony) was a female resident of New York City. She was married to Henry R. Amory, a Walpole, New Hampshire native and Secretary for the American Chamber of Commerce in London. Maria Amory’s first passport was issued, on 10 November 1920. She then departed Liverpool, England on the Cedric and arrived in New York City on 5 March 1921.

Amory had her passport reissued on 14 March 1923, to join her husband. It also gave her permission to travel in France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy and to live in Great Britain and Ireland. She left Southampton, England aboard the Leviathan for New York City and arrived on 2 September 1929.

As we have seen, Cape Verdeans have been part of the Granite State since the Civil War. However, the number has usually be low and in flux. There were three Cape Verdeans in the Civil War, rose to eight residents during WWI, dropped to one in the 1920s, and rose to four in the 1930s. The 2000 United States Federal Census estimates that there were about 232 Cape Verdeans in the state. This slow, but steady, growth shows that the community has existed for about one hundred and forty years, or since the Civil War. It is likely that this community will continue to grow.

By Jose dos Anjos
References: Ancestry.com. Revised register of the soldiers and sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Revised register of the soldiers and sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866. Concord: I.C. Evans, public printer, 1895. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1372, 694 rolls); General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Registration Location: Merrimack County, New Hampshire; Roll: 1711725; Draft Board: 1. Year: 1920;Census Place: Sandwich, Carroll, New Hampshire; Roll: T625_1007; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 26; Image: 214. Year: 1930; Census Place: Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire; Roll: 1932_2; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 8-52. Year: 1930; Census Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: 943; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 67; Image: 591.0. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925. 2000 United States Federal Census.