Surname Saturday - Maria de Jesus and Her Family's Name

Maria de Jesus Pimentel, my grandmother’s oldest sister, has not been far from my thoughts since I wrote the words below in Between the Lines almost two years ago. Finally my search for Maria has come to an interesting end. 

 

Maria de Jesus Pimentel, age16 arrived upon the Saxonia at the Port of Boston on May 13, 1909.   My mother has told me that she died aboard the passenger ship, possibly from diphtheria. However, Maria is clearly listed on the ships manifest.  If you look closely at the portrait, Maria was inserted (back row, 2nd from right) as she had already died at the time of the portrait. Her sister to her right, Maria Soccorro, the second oldest child, may also be wearing her deceased sister’s locket.

 
 
My search continues for Maria de Jesus.  

 
Maria’s plight has been a mystery that I have been trying to decipher for some time.  Whenever Maria crept into my thoughts, I tried to imagine where she could be buried.  If I believed my mother’s story, she was somewhere in the Atlantic.  However, that end does not seem correct, since according to the ships manifest, Maria clearly disembarks the Saxonia in good health, as checked under “Condition of Health, Mental and Physical” in column number 23 on the sheet for steerage passengers. Could this record be wrong? 

Searching in vain several times through the Massachusetts death records for Maria de Jesus Pimentel in 1909 turned up nothing in either Boston or Lowell. 

As I continued referring back to the death records provided by the Center for Lowell History – University of Massachusetts Lowell Libraries , my search was becoming futile.  

Nothing turned up in the Lowell records in 1909, 1910, or 1911 under Pimentel.  I then decided to take apart her name, remembering I had read that in the Azorean naming tradition, surnames could come from any relative, godparent, or other admired person or neighbor. Although it was a cultural tradition for only the first-born son to take their father’s surname in the Azores, occasionally other children also took the family name. I never imagined that a child would be buried without the family name, especially when buried in an unfamiliar, foreign land. Could it be that Maria de Jesus was buried in America without her father’s surname? 

Determined in my search, I looked up de Jesus in the Lowell death records and to my dismay, found nothing.  I was tentative, but hopeful, and decided to look under the name Jesus, believed to be Maria’s middle name. 

Low and behold, scrolling down the list of names in the 1910 Lowell death records, I found a Maria Jesus!   The records include just a name, Maria Jesus, a date, 7 Jan 1910 and her age, 16!  A significant piece of the puzzle was her age, since I knew she died when she was about 16 years old. The fact that I knew her family was living in Lowell at the time gave me hope that I had finally found her.

Nevertheless, I had to ask myself, “How can I be sure this is my long lost great aunt?” 

Is this Maria Jesus the daughter of Francisco (Frank) and Quiteira (Catherine) Pimentel? 

My initial thought was to check the grave records for a Maria Jesus in Lowell at findagrave.com. To my surprise, there was one hit located in St Patrick’s Cemetery in Lowell!  Curious, I clicked on her name, which lead to a link to a memorial page for a Maria Jesus. There, staring back at me was the same date of death that I obtained from the Lowell death records.  However, there was more, a death certificate for Maria Jesus!

Maria Jesus died at 9 Cherry Street, Lowell Massachusetts on January 7, 1910.  The Cause of her death was typhoid fever, and not diphtheria.  Clearly, she did not die aboard the Saxonia, but at home surrounded by her family.  The Lowell city directory confirmed that Francisco Pimentel, Maria’s

father also lived at 9 Cherry Street in 1909.

In spite of this finding, Maria’s death certificate raised more questions about her given name and the family name, Pimentel.  At first glance, reading Maria’s death certificate, her parent’s names seem to be switched. Her father’s surname is listed as Jesus and her mother’s surname is listed as Pimental, the feminine version of Pimentel.

Checking back to the ships manifest the family name was spelled Pimental, and in the Lowell city directory, the surname was recorded as Pimentel, the male version of the name.  Could finding Maria not only satisfy my curiosity about her death but also bring about a significant clue to the Pimentel family name? 

Tragically, Maria's death certificate was most likely the first official document the Pimentel’s filled out in America.  Could the surnames of Maria’s parents listed on Maria’s death certificate have been a transcription error, or were they their true surnames?

 The Azorean surname naming traditions may be a significant piece of the mystery in not only finding Maria but also finding her  parent’s surnames on her death certificate.  Traditionally, in the Azores, children were given only a first name at birth then only as the reached adolescence did they choose a surname.  

Azorean surnames usually possessed some significant meaning. Male family members, especially first-born males typically, but not always, chose their father’s surname.  To make matters more confusing, girls up until the early 20^th century would have two given names, a first name followed by a middle name, which was usually a religious name (Jesus) and not considered a surname. Girls could pick the feminine version of their father’s last name (Pimental) or their mother’s last name. However, children could also choose to select a grandparent’s last name, another relative’s name, or even respected neighbor’s surname.

Maria

Customarily before the middle of the 20^th century upon marriage, a man or woman did not necessarily assume his or her spouse's surname(s), but the original birth surnames were always kept. Women were not expected to take on the last name of their husband.

 

Therefore, it turns out that finding Maria was significant in contributing to not only the Pimentel family history, but also prompting new questions about the origins of the family name or should I say names. 

Finding Maria de Jesus Pimentel has closed the last chapter of her life while also opening new chapters on the Pimentel family history.

Sources

 Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Cardoza, Kathy, and Cheri Mello. "Naming Practices of the Azores." Azores GenWeb. N.p.. Web. 29 Mar 2014. 

"Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N434-58S : accessed 28 Mar 2014), Maria Jesus, 07 Jan 1910; citing Lowell,,Massachusetts, 16, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2314429.

Original data: Boston, Massachusetts. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943. Micropublication T843. RG085. 454 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.