The daughter of Brazilian and Azorian parents she came to America through Ellis Island in 1909 from the village of Biscoitos on the island of Terceira (Azores of Portugal)with her sister Etelvina (Goncalves) Tavares and stayed in Boston with a cousin. She learned English on the six week boat trip from Angra Do Heroismo, Azores. She worked as a housekeeper in Boston and then moved to Fall River, Massachusetts. She met and married Louis B. Souza and had five children and seven grandchildren and lived the rest of her years in their family home in Warren, RI. She was a master herbalist, descended from a long line of herbalists (Herbeveiria/Curandiera) and had considered a life as a nun prior to her getting married. She is remembered well for her keen intelligence, vast holistic medical knowledge and her strong faith. "In my lifetime, I have seen history go from horse and buggy, to a man on the moon. I am fortunate to live in such exciting times." -Maria AG Souza, 1969
The daughter of Brazilian and Azorian parents she came to America through Ellis Island in 1909 from the village of Biscoitos on the island of Terceira (Azores of Portugal)with her sister Etelvina (Goncalves) Tavares and stayed in Boston with a cousin. She learned English on the six week boat trip from Angra Do Heroismo, Azores. She worked as a housekeeper in Boston and then moved to Fall River, Massachusetts. She met and married Louis B. Souza and had five children and seven grandchildren and lived the rest of her years in their family home in Warren, RI. She was a master herbalist, descended from a long line of herbalists (Herbeveiria/Curandiera) and had considered a life as a nun prior to her getting married. She is remembered well for her keen intelligence, vast holistic medical knowledge and her strong faith. "In my lifetime, I have seen history go from horse and buggy, to a man on the moon. I am fortunate to live in such exciting times." -Maria AG Souza, 1969
