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Research Journal #2, Entry #4
Sometimes when researching the universe sends you a gift. One night while looking at “Portuguese Immigrants from Azores to Sandwich Isles, 1879-1883: Passport Registrations”, by Robert DeMello (for the umpteenth time), one of these gifts fell my way.
I was searching for the relatives of Alexandrina (Jose) Pacheco with no success. While thumbing through the pages of Jose families, I came across an entry that read Jose, Manuel Jacinto see Jacinto, Manuel page 194. I flipped to page 194. No match here! This was not the same Jose family.
Sometimes when researching the universe sends you a gift. One night while looking at “Portuguese Immigrants from Azores to Sandwich Isles, 1879-1883: Passport Registrations”, by Robert DeMello (for the umpteenth time), one of these gifts fell my way.
I was searching for the relatives of Alexandrina (Jose) Pacheco with no success. While thumbing through the pages of Jose families, I came across an entry that read Jose, Manuel Jacinto see Jacinto, Manuel page 194. I flipped to page 194. No match here! This was not the same Jose family.
As I reread the entry, the couple seemed awfully familiar. It seemed that I had seen the names of Manoel’s parents somewhere before.
The light bulb flicked on over my head. I realized that Cosme Jacinto da Camara’s mother’s name was also Miguelina Rosa. I quickly flipped to Cosme’s entry.
There it was:
Father–Antonio da Camara
Mother–Miguelina Rosa
Although Manoel’s parents were listed as Antonio Jacinto and Miguelina Rosa, I was sure I had a match. Cosme had used Jacinto in his name and it was easy to see that Manoel had dropped the Camara. These two guys were brothers!
After finding that entry, the pieces began to fall into place. Research showed that the brothers used Jacinto and Jacinto da Camara interchangeably in Hawaiian records. It wasn’t until about 1904 that the surname split occurred. Cosme’s children began using Cosma and Manoel’s children began using Camara or Camera.
It is not clear why this change came about. It may have been because Cosme’s son, Manoel, married Manoel’s daughter, Maria (Minnie). Perhaps by the turn of the century, the people of Hawaii looked down on such close marriages. The families may have changed their surnames to hide this fact. This is all supposition and may be far from the truth. However, I do know that by the time the families came to California ca. 1906, Cosme Jacinto da Camara had become Jacinto Cosma and Manoel Jacinto had become Manoel Camara.
—–
Manoel’s Passport Entry (page 179):
Jacinto, Manuel
Father Antonio Jacinto
Mother Miguelina Rosa
Wife Filomena da Gloria 34
Father Jose de Jesus
Mother Rosa Jacinta
From Arrifes
Children: Manuel 14 (born Island of Faial), Maria 9, Marie 7, Jose 4, Francisco 2–All born Arrifes
#2208 Abergeldie
Source: “Portuguese Immigrants from Azores to Sandwich Isles, 1879-1883: Passport Registrations”, by Robert DeMello. Honolulu : De Mello Publishing Co., [n.d.] View the Original Passport Register Entry. It is in the middle of the page, #2208 (name is abbreviated Mel. Jacintho).
