Anthony Sizer was b. Antonio DeZocieur or DeSocieur to
allegedly prob
French parents in 1797 in Terceira, one of the Azores, in
Portugal, a sailor, shipped to America as a young man,
married Sarah Tryon, daughter of a prosperous farmer, a
sailor until illness left him lame, then farmed until his
death when still fairly young.

No part of this story checks out, and one thing that
is particularly improbable is recent French descent. The story as
it is reported doesn't even strictly make sense, though one
can suppose that possibly Anthony was on poor terms with his
parents.

The consensus on the D'Azores list is that probably Anthony
for some reason took on the name D'Azores, which would sound
rather like DeZocieur when someone pronounced it with a French
or Azores (not sure which) accent. De Sousa, which is a common
name in the Azores, would also sound like DeZocieur when
pronounced the way they say it!

Anthony Sizer is supposed to have had fair skin and blue eyes
but black curly hair, and a number of his descendants I have
pictures of look distinctly as though an ancestor may have been
Black. It was common in New England for molatto freedmen and
their offspring to go to a seaport like Boston or the towns at
the base of the Connecticut River, where Anthony turns up, claim
to have come from a Mediterranean island and take on new lives.
One suspects I have a black ancestor here.

============================================================

From Sizer genealogy: (Current web link for this is
http://www.thumptown.com/familyhistory/sizer/sizer_minutes.asp; I also have a
note about Esther McDermott.)

"Our First ancestors, Anthony Sizer, a seaman, arrived in America
about the first of May, 1726. He came from the Island of Terceira,
one of the Azores, in the Kingdom of Portugal, where
he was born, in 1707. He settled in Middletown, Connecticut,
and there married, Sarah Tryon, daughter of Abel and Abiah (Hunnewell) Tryon..."

"All that has been learned about the early life of our first
ancestor, was recorded in "Minutes of William Sizer the First"
a journal or diary written by himself partly from memory.
William Sizer was the elevetn child of Anthony Sizer...
William states that his father's original name was Antonio
DeZocieur, but is not sure of the spelling, that he was born
in 1707, on the Island of Terceira, one of the Azores, in the
Kingdom of Portugal, and was undoubtedly of French parentage.
Much of the information was given William by those who knew
his father and had been to the ancestral home in Terceira.

One family record states that the family came from Lenard, France,
to the Azores Island. Another, that the record of the change
of the name to Sizer, is recorded in book one, page 29, of the
town records of Middletown, Conn All that is recorded on page
29 of this book is...'Anthony Sizer, a seafaring
man and Sarah Tryon were joined in marriage, May 10 1727" then
follows the list of the children born to them, but there is no
mention of the name being other than Sizer.

"A search of the Parochial Records on Terceira Island, proved
futile. In fact the records bearing on the pertinent dates have
been removed to the depository of such old archives and objects
from various parts of Portugal and its adjacent Isles, known
as the ARchives da Torre do Tombo, at Lisbon. This is a sort
of museum maintained by the government of Portugal.

"This search was made by a native resident of Terceira, through
the cortesy of the American Consular SErvice.

"Many families fled France at the "Edict of Natnes" taking
refuge in the Azores. The family may have been Huguenots, and
many have been accepted as such on much less evidence than in
this case.

The Azores are a chain of nine islands in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean, which were colonized in the 15th century by
Portugal. They are volcanic, and extremely beautiful. Below
is a set of links to several extremely good sites on the web
about the islands, their history, emigration, pictures, culture.
Including a photo of a group of folk musicians two of whom
look remarkably like several of the people in the photos of
the Readio offspring (heh, heh, heh). It would hardly be the
first time "they were French" left out most of the picture!
(Like, I've got two lines of "French" ancestry in Pennsylvania
who are 90-99% German with a smattering of Dutch - but both
may have left France before 1500.) Terceira Island is a fairly
large island with quite a number of villages and towns, it looks
like. But travellers who Anthony 's son William talked to in
New England had been hosted by Anthony's father, supposed to
have been a large landowner, he must have lived where he could
host seafaring travellers; traders, merchants, ships captains, sailors
or whatever. Or else they were other sailors from the Azores
who jumped ship in New England! The population who have left
from Azores to the
New World are several times the population of the Islands.
In the 19th century sailors from the Azores would sail with
American whalers and jump ship in New England, and settle there;
it sounds like Anthony did something like this.

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/2140

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/1430

Comprehensive Azores genealogy site Seemingly Azores descendants
have considerable attachment to their roots.


Minutes of the Life of William Sizer the First.
Written by himself in the year 1770 from memory,

until he was about 17years of age,

after taht from a journal that he kept of his life



"I was the eight son of Anthony Sizer and Sarah Tryon. I was
b in 1746, November 13, old style or new style, November 23,
in Middletown CT in a place called South Farms, about four
miles form the metropolis of the town.

My father died, September 21, 1753, when I was in my seventh
year. My mother was left a widow with but a small income to
support a number of children...My oldest brotehr Jabez died
in Barbinia Harbor the summer before my father died.

There was at this time the following children living that
composed my mother's family, Daniel, Lemuel, Sarah, Anthony,
Jemima, Samuel and myself. Daniel and Lemuel married in the
course of about four years.


See also his son William's journal.

• Married: 10 May 1728 in Middletown, Connecticut

1. Mary Sizer b: 3 Mar 1728 in Middletown, Connecticut
2. Jabez Sizer b: 27 Sep 1729 in Middletown, Connecticut
3. Anthony Sizer b: 10 Apr 1731 in Middletown, Connecticut
4. Abel Sizer b: 5 May 1732 in Middletown, Connecticut
5. Daniel Sizer Lt b: 30 May 1734 in Middletown, Connecticut
6. Lemuel Sizer b: 27 Jan 1736 in Middletown, Connecticut
7. Sarah Sizer b: 21 Dec 1738 in Middletown, Connecticut
8. Anthony Sizer b: 18 Dec 1740 in Middletown, Connecticut
9. Jemima Sizer b: 20 Mar 1743 in Middletown, Connecticut
10. Samuel Sizer b: 30 Nov 1744 in MIddletown, Connecticut
11. William Sizer b: 12 Nov 1746 in Middletown, Connecticut
12. SON Sizer b: AFT 1746 in Middletown, Connecticut