São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ (now known as Pentagna-RJ)

 

Church of São Sebastião do Rio Bonito; the town is now known as Pentagna-RJ.

As one can see, São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ, now known as Pentagna-RJ is not far from Rio Bonito-MG on the North side and Valença-RJ on the South side... 

A wider map of the Rio de Janeiro State where my paternal grand-parents came from. One can see Pentagna-RJ formerly known as São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ near the board of Rio de Janeiro-Minas Gerais. One can also see Volta Redonda-RJ which became an industrial region during Getúlio Vargas' period (1930-1945) plus Barra Mansa-RJ and Barra do Piraí-RJ. Further south one can see Baixada Fluminense with Nova Iguaçú-RJ, Duque de Caxias-RJ and Baía da Guanabara... a little further North there are Petrópolis-RJ and Teresópolis-RJ. 

Emilia Maria Nazareth aka Tia Nenê

Emília's mother Placidina Maria Nazareth at her coffin in 1923 in Ourinhos-SP; on the right, Emília's younger brother Fernando Amorim.

As we have already seen, EMILIA MARIA NAZARETH aka TIA NENÊ was the 7th child of my paternal great-grandparents Jacinto Antonio Amorim & Placidina Maria Nazareth. She was born in 1889, in São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ. Tia Nenê aka Sá Nenê, was 6 years old when Fernando Antonio Amorim was born in 1895. 

In February 1908, when Emília was 19, there was a commotion in the area of São Sebastião where she lived with her parents and siblings. Early one morning when everyone was up to go to work, a bundle wrapped in some cloth was discovered on top of a tree stump near their street. To everyone's surprise, the bundle turned out to be a baby-girl which had been born only a few hours back. It just didn't die because February is the height of the Brazilian summer. The police was summed up and a great big search was put in place to find out whose the baby's mother was. The Police knocked on everyone's doors to find out whether they could find a young lady who had just lost a few kilos recently. 

It didn't take too long for the Police to zero in on Emilia who had to admit that the child was hers. She had given birth to the girl with no help from anybody and decided to get rid of it to save her reputation. The little girl was eventually baptized and given the name of Catarina Maria Nazareth, born on 2nd February 1908. Emília said Manoel de Aragão, who worked as a drover (tropeiro) was the father, but he never acknowledged his part so little Catarina was raised by mother Emília and grandmother Placidina. 

When Catarina was 4 years old and her mother was 23, Emília became pregnant from a Black man (his name has never been mentioned). Emilia's sisters Maria, Adelina and Aspasia wouldn't hear of their younger sister having a child of a Black man inside their home so Emilia had to have her second daughter out in the open, just like the first time although for a different reason. Thank God it was summer again, otherwise it would've been a messy business with both mother & child risking their lives. 

On 3rd December 1913, Emilia Maria Nazareth gave birth to Virgilina Francisca Nazareth, since birth known as Chica, who was unlucky to be of a darker skin than a mixed blood child could be. So life went on for Emilia and her two daughters until 1919, when the whole family left the State of Rio de Janeiro and moved to Ourinhos-SP, near the boarder of Paraná, where everyone worked as labourers at coffee or sugar-cane plantations. Emilia was 30 years, Catarina (11), Chica (6) when they arrived in Ourinhos.

As time went by, Catarina, not yet 17, married Domingos Martins (22) on 12 January 1925, in Ourinhos. Domingos, who worked as 'carroceiro' (cart man) was a fair man with blue eyes having been born in in 1903 in Ribeirão Preto-SP; his father Christovam Martins and mother Rosalia Lopes were both from Málaga, Spain. Catarina & Domingos Martins had 5 children:

1. José Martins, born on 23rd July 1926, even though he was registered on 10 September 1926. 

2. Nair Martins, born (probably) in 1929; married Joaquim Maciel; died in 1965 (36 years old); 

3. Francisca Martins - born circa 1931. 

4. Nadir Martins, born on 19 July 1937; died of a heart attack, on 29 July 2009, in Baurú-SP;

5. João Martins, probably born in 1939; João was 1 year old when Catarina died, so her uncle Virgilio Amorim ended up adopting João Martins who had his surname changed to João Amorim, the same name of his mother's cousin João Amorim.

After having 5 children or maybe more, for we don't know whether she had still-born babies or children who lived only a few days - Catarina was frail and dispirited. They had moved to Avaré-SP, 115 km away east of Ourinhos and probably lived in squallor for I was told Catarina contracted tunga penetrans known as 'bicho-do-pé' which is a sort of flea which burrows under the skin of humans and if not treated it can cause blood poisoning aka septcemia. They said Catarina walked barefoot near their pig sty. Catarina was taken to a hospital but never recovered having died at 33, in 1941.

Soon after Catarina died, Domingos Martins took a trip somewhere never to return, leaving all 5 children at their own devices. This is actually a male trait: when the going gets tough one might as well, fuck off. Hearing the news of Martins' desertion of his children, uncle Fernando Amorim traveled from Marília to Avaré to try and sort the whole mess. José (14) went to live with his grandma Emília, in Marília. Nair (12) and Nadir (4) went to live with Fernando and his family in Marília. Joãozinho (2) was legally adopted by Fernando's younger brother Virgilio Amorim who had only daughters and longed to have a male child. I don't know about Francisca Martins' fate, who was 10 then. She probably went to work as a handmaid for some next-of-kin in Ourinhos. Nair lived with her great-uncle Fernando Amorim for a few years. She went to primary school in Marília where she learned to read and write. By the time she was 15, Fernando thought Nair was unruly and could not follow instructions so she decided to go back to Ourinhos to live with another relative; probably went to live at the same place where Francisca had been living for the past 3 years. Dulce Amorim told me, Nair used to write back to Marilia (from Ourinhos) telling about her new life...until she herself got married to Joaquim Maciel and had a few children. 

So this is the saga of Catarina Nazareth and her husband Domingos Martins who went AWOL.  

In 1920, when the whole family migrated to Ourinhos-SP, Chica was 7 years. In 1926, when Chica turned 13, she started working as a handmaid for Sá Lodi, mother of Manoel de Oliveira, who was married to Anna Rosa de Jesus, Emilia's sister-in-law's sister, Albina.

On 16 December 1932, when Fernando (37) & Albina (35) moved yet again, this time to Marília, his sister Emilia (43) came along with her youngest daughter Chica (19) who by this time already had a baby boy born in Ourinhos called Álvaro, of an unknown Black man. 

Virgilina Francisca Nazareth (*3rd December 1913 + 5 January 1952) soon met a Black man called Raimundo Andrade da Silva, born in 1901, who adopted Álvaro, and went on to have 2 daughters and another boy:

Virgilina aka Chica & Raiumundo's children: 

1. Alvaro (Chica's first child, probably born in 1930, in Ourinhos, when she was 17 years old)

2. Regina Andrade da Silva (born in Marília, probably in 1938)

3. Guiomar Andrade da Silva (born in Marília, probably in 1942)

4. Milton Andrade da Silva, born in Marília, on 18 April 1945. 

In conversation I had with Dulce Roza Amorim on 20 November 2006, she told me a few things about Chica's family. Raimundo showed up in Marília circa 1934, from 'nowhere'. No one knew where he came from. He had a shack by a brook that ran through the low northern section of Marília, called Alto Cafezal, running parallel with Rua Bom Fim. He owned a horse and managed to buy a cart which he loaded with wood he'd cut in his backyard and delivered to households around town. There was no cooking gas in the 1930s. Apparently, Emilia aka Tia Nenê, also lived with Chica and Raimundo near this brook. 

Dulce said Chica would only visit Murim's house (nickname of Fernando Amorim, her uncle) after dark for she was afraid she'd stained his reputation for having business with a Black person. Slavery had been abolished only 45 years before and Blacks were deemed as sub-humans then. She'd have a cup of coffee and off she went on her way. 

Chica worked as a handmaid during the day while Raimundo kept busy with his 'lenhadora' (firewood) business. They lived a hand-to-mouth existence. Chica became very frail and died of malnutrition on 5 January 1952, only 38 years old. Regina was 13, Guiomar was 9 and Milton only 6. The children were supervised by their grandmother Emília who was 62 years old. 

Raimundo outlived Chica by 4 years. Raimundo Antonio da Silva died of hyper-tension on 29 October 1956. Regina and Guiomar were adopted by a white family who belonged to a Lutheran Church in Marília. Milton, who was 10 when his father died was kept by his grandmother (Tia Nenê) who died 

In the lack of Emília Maria Nazareth's photographs I took the liberty to post a photo of her mother, Placidina Maria Nazareth, lying in an open coffin at Ourinho's cemetery, in 1923, a few moments before being lowered 7 feet into her grave. This is Placidina's only extant photo. For some unique reason I happened to be present when Emília died in a bedroom in her brother's house on Rua Mato Grosso, 397, on  ....  1956. My family lived in a house just in front of Fernando & Albina's abode. One day I thought I had someone shoutin 'Tia Nenê is dying!!'. It was Nadir Martins' crying, her own flesh and blood, actually her granddaugher. I rushed to our grandparent's house, climbed the steps to the front porch of a wooden house, for I knew Tia Nenê had been staying for the last few days. I don't remember whether I saw her alive, but I'm pretty sure I saw her body for a prolongued stretch of time. Actually, I think I saw Tia Nenê when she was still grasping for air on the verge of dying... or maybe it is my imagination playing with me. That's why, this post-mortem photo of Placidina reminded me of her daughter Emília...

 

 

Jacinto Antonio Amorim & Placidina Maria Nazareth

Jacinto Antonio Amorim & Placidina Maria Nazareth were my paternal great-grand-parents. They had 9 children who reached adult life. We don't know about still-born children or those who died in infancy. 

Fernando Antonio Amorim, Antonia Amorim, 4, Albina Rosa de Jesus holding João Amorim, 2 & Firmino Amorim aka Danga in Ourinhos, circa 1925.  

1. João Amorim, first child. Almost nothing is known about him. Apparently he died venereal disease. He never migrated. Stayed in the State of Rio. 

2. Maria Nazareth - she married an older man. Their son Pedro used to write letter from São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ.  

3. Adelina Nazareth - she married an older man called Arlindo. She was quite lazy always staying in bed the whole morning. She was known for eating a lot of beans & angú (corn meal puree). 

4. Firmino Amorim aka Danga - was close to his younger brother Fernando when they lived in Ourinhos-SP; He never migrated to Marília-SP having died in Ourinhos of unknown causes.

5. Joaquim Amorim - died in infancy due to an accident having been burned with boiling water; he was only 2 years old. 

6. Aspasia Nazareth - she has been described as 'pure & chaste'; Aspásia died electrocuted by a live wire during a storm, next to the place where her sister Emília lived with her daughter Chica in Ourinhos-SP.

7. Emília Maria Nazareth aka Aunt Nenê - was born in 1889, in São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ; died of toxemia on 23rd December 1955, at her brother Fernando's house, on Rua Mato Grosso, Marília-SP. 

8. Fernando Antonio Amorim - born on 18 May 1895; died on 3rd February 1969, in Marília-SP.

9. Virgílio Amorim - born on 7 June 1900; died on 4 September 1986, at age 86.  

Florência Rosa de Jesus & Quintino Pavão de Oliveira

 

João Amorim, 10 with his grandmother Florência Rosa de Jesus, 64, in 1933.

Florência Rosa de Jesus was born on 11 March 1869, in Valença-RJ. 

Quintino Pavão de Oliveira was probably born in 1869.

Florência & Quintino were married on 4 October 1890, at the Registry Office of São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ. In the 1990s, when I went to Pentagna-RJ, which is the name São Sebatião is known ever since the 1950s, I was given the Registry Books to research at my own pleasure. I took advantage of the great opportunity and made a point of paying careful attention to the signatures of both the bride and bridegroom. Florência as an illiterate young woman simply wrote an X as a signature, but Quintino's signature was neat and clean.

Not much was talked about Quintino in later years, for soon he became addicted to alcohol and must have led an irresponsible life. Suffice it to say, when Florência had her 3rd daughter on 2nd August 1897, Quintino went to the Registry Office to register the new girl and when asked what would her name be he simply said 'Altina', which was the name of his first daughter born on 29 June 1893, who was 4 years old. One could not say this was an act of an absent-minded man but the act of a man under the influence of liquor. 

Even though Quintino was mostly under the influence of pinga or cachaça, apparently he was not a violent man for Florência remained married to him until 1915, when she had Margarida, her last child. They lived together for 25 year at least. 

Circa 1918, when it was time to migrate to São Paulo, Florência took Margarida (3) in her arms and moved away with all of her children. Quintino, who was 49 years old then was left behind. Some say Quintino had been admitted to a psychiatric ward of a hospital in Barra do Piraí-RJ; others say Quintino ended up in a hospice in Varginha-MG. Anyway, Quintino died in March 1923, at the age of 54.

Quintino Pavão's background: it's been said that his father João Pavão de Oliveira was born circa 1848, in the Azores Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America. It was said João was born in Ilhéu, but I have noticed that this is a word commonly used in the Azores to designate a small island. Tereza Maria de Jesus, was Quintino's mother's name. We don't know when Quintino's father migrated to Brazil.

We cannot pintoint the exact date of the Great Migration of all these people from the mountainous region of the State of Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo, to finally settle in Ourinhos-SP, near the great Paranapanema River which separates São Paulo from Paraná in the south. As the Spanish Flu pandemic was one of the reasons for leaving Rio de Janeiro, I settled the date to 1918, but it may as well be 1919 or even 1920. 

Once the families Amorim, Pavão de Oliveira & Rosa de Jesus settled in Ourinhos-SP, Florência with her children went to live near her son-in-law Fernando Antonio Amorim and her daughter Albina. It was a great family. By the 1930s, Albina's household had two matriarchs: her mother Florência which was addressed as 'Mother' and Albina herself who was addressed as 'Little Mother' (Mãezinha). To complicate matters, as João Amorim (born on 24 September 1923) was baptized by his grandmother Florência, he used to address her as 'Madrinha' but could only utter 'Dindinha' and that's how Florência became known as since the late 1920s: Dindinha!

Antonio Pinto da Rocha had 3 children with Altina Rosa de Jesus (the original), who died still young. Antonio married again and had 5 more children. Unfortunately I don't know his second wife's name.  These are Antonio & Altina's children:

1. Florência Rosa de Jesus (1869)

2. Antonieta Rosa de Jesus

3. Estevam Pinto da Rocha

Altina Rosa de Jesus (the original) died sometime after having had 3 children. Antonio Pinto da Rocha married again and had 5 more children:

1. Francisco Pinto da Rocha married Carolina and had Antonio, Benedicto & Maria

2. Antonio Pinto da Rocha Filho married Balbina and had Jovino

3. Luiz Pinto da Rocha married Cigana Nenzinha and had Osvaldo, Álvaro, Aristides & Lalá

4. Manoel Pinto da Rocha who never married. He was blinded of both eyes.

5. João Pinto da Rocha married Rosa dos Anjos and had 10 children: 

João Pinto da Rocha was my great-grand-mother Florência Rosa de Jesus's half-brother.

João Pinto da Rocha & Rosa dos Anjos Cardoso's children: 

1. Jovino married Isabel and had Elita

2. Jovila married Herminio and had Nilton & Eunice

3. Rubem Pinto da Rocha married Maria José and had Roberto, Rosa Maria, Renato & Rubens; having migrated to Curitiba, Paraná some time in the mid-1950s. 

4. Alcides married Mercedes (Cearense) and had 4 children

5. Euclides (still lives in Rio State)

6. José married Odite

7. Maria de Lourdes, born in 1921; never married

8. Nair (never married) 

9. Ernane, born on 12 November 1927;

10. Amélia, born on 26 January 1929, married Antonio Felício and had 6 children and still lived in Valença-RJ in the 1990s.   

Most of these people were born and raised in the region of São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ which is now called Pentagna-RJ; some lived in Rio Preto-RJ and others were born or lived in Valença-RJ. 

Rosa dos Anjos Cardoso, João Pinto da Rocha's widow sits by herself at he centre of this family picture taken in 1947. From left to right: 1. Rubem; 2. Lourdes; 3. Alcides; 4. Nair; 5. Jovino; 6. Euclides; 7. Jovila; 8. Ernane; 9. Amélia; 10. José (Zézinho). 

In 1951, after having lived in Ourinhos & Marília for more than 30 years, Fernando Antonio Amorim (my grandfather) took a sentimental journey to São Sebastião do Rio Bonito and brought along Maria Rosa Amorim, his youngest daughter who was 13 years old then. Maria Rosa told me that Rio Preto (Black River) ran behind the house of Rubem Pinto da Rocha, who was actually her grandmother's Florência Rosa de Jesus's half-brother. 

From left to right: Roberto, Rosa Maria, Renato e Rubens Pinto da Rocha, the offspring of Florência Rosa de Jesus's half-brother Rubem Pinto da Rocha. Photo taken in Rio Preto-MG, on 12 November 1951. 

Rubem Pinto da Rocha ended up migrating to Curitiba-PR with his wife and 4 children some time during the 1950s. From then on Rubem kept in contact with his relatives in Marília, and that's how I ended up meeting my great-grand-mother's young half-brother some time in the late 1990s. 

Rubem Pinto da Rocha, my great-grand mother's nephew with his wife Maria José, in the backyard of their house in Piraquara-PR, a suburb of Curitiba-PR, in 1995. 

Rubem Pinto da Rocha & wife Maria José, in Piraquara-PR.