José Martins (1926-2022) & Maria das Dores Vital

José Martins (19), José de Oliveira (21) & Mario Amorim (20) in 1945.  

As we have seen in earlier posts:

Jacinto Antonio Amorim & Placidina Maria Nazareth had at least 9 children:

1. João Amorim

2. Maria Nazareth

3. Adelina Nazareth

4. Firmino Amorim aka Danga

5. Joaquim Amorim (died when only 2 years old)

6. Aspasia Nazareth (accidentally electrocuted)

7. Emília Maria Nazareth aka Tia Nenê (1889)

8. Fernando Antonio Amorim (1895)

9. Virgílio Amorim 

Emília Maria Nazareth had two daughters from different men

1. Catarina Nazareth 

2. Virgilina Nazareth aka Chica 

Catarina, not yet 17, married Domingos Martins (22) on 12 January 1925, in Ourinhos.  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 (23rd July 1926)

2. Nair Martins 

3. Francisca Martins

4. Nadir Martins (19 July 1937 + 29 July 2009)

5. João Martins (1939) adopted by Virgilio Amorim and renamed João Amorim

Zé was raised by his grandmother Emília (Tia Nenê). After Catarina gave birth to Nair, in 1929, Zé was weaned and given to Emília, who lived with Chica, her youngest daughter. In 1932, Chica married a Black ex-soldier called Gilberto, they used to call 'Geriberto'. As Fernando Amorim moved to Marília with his family, Chica, her new husband Gilberto, her mother Emília and grandson Zé Martins went to work at a coffee plantation in Ribeirão Claro-PR, just across Paranapanema River. 

Ribeirão Claro-PR just across the wide Paranapanema River, where Zé Martins, his grandmother Emília, aunt Chica & her husband Gilberto went to work as labourers in 1932. 

When Zé Martins was 22 years old, he met and married Maria das Dores Vidal aka Dorinha.

José Martins weds Maria das Dores Vital, born in Marília, on 19 April 1932; Her father was Miguel Vital and Maria Rosa Pereira, known as dona Rosa, her mother. Miguel & Rosa had:

1. Geny Vital, who died from a weak heart in her early 30s.

2. Nércio, born on 17 August 1930; died on 30 April 1961; 

3. Ernestina, who went away and returned only 20 years later; 

4. Maria da Dores aka Dorinha born on 19 April 1932; jumped off a train on 28 January 1975;

5. Luzia Pereira, who was born in 1948 or 1949; Luzia's father was not Miguel, hence her different surname. Luzia was nursed by dona Rosa who also nursed her granddaughter Maria Lúcia Martins.

Marília graveyard

 

Marília's Cemitério da Saudade.

This is an early shot of Marília's Cemiterio da Saudade built in the outskirts of town in the mid-1920s. My grandfather Giovanni Battista Darin arrived in Marilia with his family in November 1927. Less than a year later on 20th September 1928, his brother Francesco Darin (52) died and was buried near the main gate which shows prominently on the photo. Toni Darin's toddler Antonio Darin Filho died on 20 September 1929 and then Elisa & Rissieri Darin's only daughter Lilia Therezinha died a month later on 25 October 1929 and were all buried in the same grave near the main entrance.

Part of the Darin family was really scared of so many deaths in so short a time and decided to go back to São José do Rio Pardo where they had come from about 2 years before and the graves were left unattended.

In the 1940s the local Council (Prefeitura) built a new brick wall around the Cemetery and those graves near the entrance were either transfered or simply destroyed with the remaining bones being taken and thrown into a common grave they called 'Cruzeiro' (Crosses). At Dia-dos-Finados (All Souls' Day) on 2nd November people usually light candles near this mass-grave that burn the whole day. The grave-yard management makes sure the fire is put out before they close down at the end of the day.

Every time I visited Marília in the 1990s, I would pay a visit to Cemitério da Saudade. Actually, aunt Rosa Darin would attend a Catholic Mass on Mondays at 2:00 pm, so I made a habit of walking from her abode on Rua 9 de Julho, 2008, up to the Graveyard every week. After Mass, Rosa and I would wander through the lanes and I would ask all sorts of questions about the graves we passed by. I made a point of taking paper and pencil to jot down names and dates of those I had the chance to know during their lifetime or people who lived and died before I was born or too young to know better. Here are some of the notes I took during those pleasant visits:

Gesuína F. de Souza (*4 January 1900 + 12 November 1987) at the same grave Q 57; 159; Sebastião L. Ribeiro (*18 August 1918 + 18 December 1955) who was married to dona Gesuína's daughter Sebastiana, who worked at the waiting room (sala de espera) of Companhia Paulista de Estrada de Ferro after her husband died prematurely at 37. 

Sebastiana de Souza & her mother Gesuína F. de Souza plus Pedro and Paulo, moved to Rua Mato Grosso, some time after their father's untimely death, in early 1956. Pedro was probably one year older than myself (1948) and Paulo, probably one year younger than I (1950). Both were nice kids. I remember a few years later, maybe 1959, Pedro had to go to hospital to have an operation. I don't know what was his problem... but I remember I became really sad when I heard the news for I thought he might die. While Pedro was in hospital, I listened to Giselle Galo's 'Le Lac de Côme', played by the orchestra of Frank Pourcel, from an Odeon extended-play my Father had and almost cried. A few days later, Pedro was back on Rua Mato Grosso alive and kicking. I never forget this particular moment. 

Fernando, my older brother used to be friends with Jurandir, a boy 2 years older than he who lived in that wooden house that dona Gesuína would occupy later. Jurandir lived with an older sister called Iraí, who was married to a barber and had a baby. 

We moved into a house on Rua Mato Grosso, in 1954. After Antonia Amorim married Günther Karg, on 4 July 1953, and went on living in Baurú (she worked as a telephone operator for Companhia Telefônica, a Canadian utility company). Up until then we had all lived at a house on Rua Rodrigues Alves owned by my grandfather Fernando Amorim. Our grandfather was annoyed with the neighbours who had been living in the area since back when that was part of Marília's red-light district. Since Antonia had left home to go to live in Baurú, he planned to sell the house and move out.

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. 

Rosa de Jesus (females) & Pavão de Oliveira (males)

João Amorim was my Father's name; his father's was Fernando Antonio Amorim and his mother's name was Albina Rosa de Jesus. This is Albina's family history. 

Albina Rosa de Jesus aka Altina in the early 1920s.

Before we go any further I'd like to stress that in the 19th and early 20th century, Brazilian families had a peculiar way of passing the Father's name (Male surname) only to their Male offspring and passing the Mother's name (Female surname) only to their Female offspring. So there was no way one could guess whether your sister was your real sister and vice-versa.

Albina's father (my great-grandfather) was called Quintino Pavão de Oliveira, born in 1865, and Albina's mother (my great-grandmother) was called Florência Rosa de Jesus, born in Valencia-RJ on 11 March 1869. They were married on 4 October 1890, in São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ, and had 10 children who lived to adult life. Probably, there were other children who died in infancy we don't know about. 

Circa 1919, they all moved to São Paulo in search for a better life. As they were labourers in their native Rio de Janeiro (state) the only work they could do was farm work. They all went to work as peasants in coffee or sugar-cane plantations. 1918 was the year the Great Spanish Flu pandemic broke out, so the family tried to flee from certain death.

All children of Quintino Pavão & Florência Rosa de Jesus were born in São Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ, which was re-named Pentagna in the 1950s. 

1. Olímpio Pavão de Oliveira - born on 26 July 1891; died on 17 March 1932. We know very little about him. It's said he married a woman of German extraction called Alzira. The only thing we know about her is she used to sleep in her wedding gown long after being married but due to a habit of peeing in bed, she would hang up her stained wedding gown on the clothes line to dry as soon as she got up. This must have been a bizarre act to have survived in people's memories all these year. Olímpio Pavão died when he was 41 years old. For some unknown reason he never migrated with the family to São Paulo. 

2. Altina Rosa de Jesus - born on 29 June 1893; got married to a man called Quintino (like her father) who was 40 years old. She was only 17. Altina & Quintino left the State of Rio de Janeiro in 1919, with the rest of the family. They all arrived in São Paulo together. As they didn't have a place to go, they would lounge at Jardim da Luz (Light Park) next to the railway station waiting for men who worked for coffee plantation owners to show up and take them to the various plantations in the states of São Paulo, Paraná or Minas Gerais. Most of family was relocated to Ourinhos-SP on the border of São Paulo and Paraná. 

Altina & Quintino ended up being taken up by a coffee plantation master to Londrina-PR (according to Antonia Amorim) or Vargem Alegre-MG (according to Albina) in a conversation I had with them in the 1970s. The bulk of the family in Ourinhos lost contact with Altina for the rest of their lives. Fernando Amorim, Albina's husband used to make inquiries about Altina's whereabouts all his life. Fernando used to be a traveling man selling ladies' fashion magazines (figurinos) around Paraná and São Paulo. Once, Fernando even advertised on Radio Tupi which had a 'Find-a-long-lost-relative' section in their news programme... but to no avail. 

3. Maria Rosa de Jesus - born on 6 June 1895; died on 12 April 1925;  2nd daughter. She also migrated to São Paulo in 1919. She married a man called José Ignácio Lacerda and had a boy named Roldão Lacerda, who lived to be an adult. Maria died during her second child-birth leaving little Roldão alone for his father Ignácio soon went his way and formed a new family near Ribeirão Preto-SP. Roldão was raised by Florência Rosa de Jesus, his grandmother. 

4. Altina Rosa de Jesus aka Albina - our grandmother was born on 2nd August 1897, in Sebastião do Rio Bonito-RJ (whose name has been changed to Pentagna-RJ, in the 1950s). One may find it strange that the 2nd and 4th daughter had the very same name. Her father, Quintino Pavão was known to drink rum (pinga or cachaça) quite often, so he must have drunk more than usual the day his 4th child was born. He went to the Registry Office quite 'light-headed' and when the officer asked the name of the new child he wasn't sure so he said 'Altina' in the spur-of-the-moment. When he was back home Florência asked him if all was right, Quintino told her the new girl was called Altina. Florência was mortified with his carelessness but couldn't do much. So, they decided to change a 'T' for a 'B' and Altina Rosa de Jesus II became Albina Rosa de Jesus. 

Nobody would never know this 'comedy or errors' if it weren't for a Presbyterian pastor circa 1958, in Marília-SP. Albina wanted to be baptized at the same church Nadir Martins (her adopted daughter) and Maria Rosa Amorim (her youngest child) were members. Such Pastor asked for Albina's birth certificate to attest to her name and age. It took a few months for the document to arrive in Marília by mail... It was a shock to everyone when they realized Albina's name at the Registry Office was Altina, like her older sister. The Presbyterian pastor went ahead and baptized Albina as Altina, and tried to convince everyone that Albina was actually Altina. Some people accepted that fact, like Herself and Fernando, her husband... but others like her brother João Pavão e sister Margarida went on calling her Albina (or Dona Albina) as before. Fernando himself used to call her Bininha affectionately before 1958. 

5. Anna Rosa de Jesus - was born on 9 September 1900; died on 20 May 1981, in Ourinhos-SP; Anna married Manoel de Oliveira a man of Potuguese ancestry and stayed back at Estado do Rio. A couple of years later Fernando Amorim sold a sewing machine and with that money paid for the fares of Manoel and Anna. Manoel de Oliveira started working as a grave-digger at Ourinhos Cemetery and ended up becoming really well-off in the end. They had a fairly large family too. 

6. Augusta Rosa de Jesus - born on 20 May 1904; Not much is known about Augusta, even though there is a photo of hers around. Augusta married José Filisbino da Silva, whose mother was a mid-wife. Apparently José, who also went by the name of Benedito or Nelson, was a little wild having been accused of being a horse thief. The fact is Augusta had two daughters: Aparecida, who lived until the 1970s in Avaré-SP and Antonia. Augusta ended up dying of child birth in Palmital-SP. 

7. José Pavão de Oliveira aka Zéca - born on 12 April 1906; only the 2nd male after 5 girls. Not much is known about Zéca who died at 18 years of age at Santa Casa of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo-SP, a place a northeast of Ourinhos. They say he died of rheumatism in the knees. Some kind of knee inflamation that was not uncommon then. 

8. Joaquim Pavão de Oliveira aka Quincas - was born on 19 April 1908. Quincas was João Amorim's favourite uncle for he played either guitar or Brazilian ukelele (cavaquinho). João said uncle Quincas played and sang Noël Rosa's 'O orvalho vem caindo' (1933) when João was 10 years old. Quincas married a Black lady called Joana Ribeiro, who had a baby-boy called Ramiro (or Ramilo) Ribeiro from a previous man. He died on 11 August 1951, when he was only 43 years old. 

9. João Pavão de Oliveira - was born on 26 October 1910. João was still a child when the family migrated to São Paulo in 1918. João married a Spanish lady called Dolores Lopes Moreno, who was commonly known as Rosalina (or Rosalinda). She was born in 1920, and died of a heart ailment on 1st August 1962. My mother Yolanda Darin Amorim used to visit them regularly. They had a little wooden house on Rua Bom Fim; uncle João Pavão was known to make great bonfires in front of his house every 24th of June, Saint John's Day. João & Rosalina had an adopted son called Toninho (Antonio Pavão Oliveira) who had a blondish curly top and used to do the rounds with his father and his cart (barrow); he had some sort of business and was a popular fellow around town. I was told Toninho went to another town and never came back. Nobody knows whatever happened to him. João Pavão had a red complexion maybe helped by his intake of alcohol. But João Pavão was never a drunkard. Never, ever. He died in Marília on 24 November 1978, at 67, which considering his family story was a ripe old age. 

10. Margarida Rosa de Jesus - was the 6th daughter; she was born on 30 June 1915. Legend tells Margarida was 21 years old when she married José Tacla aka Gazuza, owner of a traveling circus. When his circus left Ourinhos, Gazuza abandoned his newly-wed bride to her own devices and was never seen again. Much later, in her 30s, Margarida met a man from Ceará called Domiciano and they lived together until her death. Margarida & Domiciano lived next-door to Quincas & Joana ever since her mother Florência aka Dindinha died in 1949. My Mother Yolanda used to visit both on Rua Coroados, Marília, until we left for São Paulo in 1960. 

Margarida was always a nice lady; she knew how to 'read cards'. They lived in a one-bedroom house. Every time we visited them, we sat at their double bed while she went about making coffee and talking to my Mother. Domiciano was always quiet. They were both in their 40s in the late 1950s. Both of them smoked cigarettes made out of tobacco rolled in straws. Margarida died on 30 April 1966, in Marília-SP. She accidentally drank bleach out of a cup thinking it was coffee or maybe rum. As she was thin and undernurished she didn't survive.  

Margarida Rosa de Jesus, 10 June 1937; Florência Rosa de Jesus circa 1933.

Augusta Rosa de Jesus (born on 20 May 1904).

Joaquim Pavão de Oliveira aka Quincas (1908-1951).

Anna Rosa de Jesus (1900-1981) & her youngest child Paulinho, circa 1946.