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Chapter 01: São Nicolau

By The Architect of NextBlock City February 27, 2026

The SS Daisy

Antonio Raymond Bento was born in 1890 on the island of São Nicolau in the Cape Verde Islands. He arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts on the SS Daisy, March 16, 1914. On his immigration papers, the country of origin is marked Portugal.1

Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony. That single word on a form — Portugal — would define how the family understood itself for the next hundred years.

  • SS Daisy immigration manifest, March 16, 1914, Port of New Bedford. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

    • He Sent Back for Her

    Barbara Anna Duarte was born in 1889 in Cape Verde. Antonio sent back for her. She arrived in New Bedford on the SS Lugre Portuguez Savoia, April 8, 1915.1

    They married and had seven children: John, Annie, Mary, Victoria, Julia, Manuel, and Elizabeth.

  • SS Lugre Portuguez Savoia immigration manifest, April 8, 1915, Port of New Bedford. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

    • The Whalers

    Cape Verde played a big part in the whaling industry of the 1800s. Ships would leave New England and hunt whales across the Atlantic, refueling in Cape Verde. Many American whalers complained about the harsh working conditions aboard the whaling ships. When they would dock at Cape Verde, the captains would put them off and take on Cape Verdean men who were eager to get off the islands.1

    They were hard-working men who took to the sea to hunt the great whales.

  • Julian Reis, memoir. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

    • Jump Ship

    When the whaling ships would arrive back in New England, the captains would not pull into port, knowing the Cape Verdean men would go ashore and not return. Eventually they would make it to the United States and start a migration that lasted many years until the US clamped down on immigration in the early 1920s.1

    Many Cape Verdeans then went to Brazil, another Portuguese-speaking country. Antonio’s brother went to Brazil.

  • Julian Reis, memoir. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

    • The Railroad Line

    Antonio and Barbara had six children in New Bedford and Fall River. They migrated southward along the railroad line: Massachusetts to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York, settling in Port Chester.1

    In each of these states, large Cape Verdean communities formed: New Bedford MA, Providence RI, Bridgeport CT, Port Chester NY. The family attempted to assimilate into American culture. The benefits of being Cape Verdean were lost to the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Korean War.

  • Julian Reis, memoir. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

    • The Language Barrier

    Julian once met cousins from Brazil at the hospital visiting Antonio. They came to bring good wishes from his brother.1

    They did not speak English. Julian did not speak Portuguese. The culture broke down at the language barrier.

    1. Julian Reis, memoir. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

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