The Research Journal
The Curious Passport Record
Research Journal #2, Entry #2
There were many known details about the Cosma family. The family was said to be headed by Jacinto Cosma and Joaquina Rosa. Their children were Manoel, Maria, John, Shandra, Francisco, and Maria. They also had twins who died on board the ship to Hawaii in 1882.
It was time to start conparing the family data to documentation. Jacinto's tombstone at St. Mary's Cemetery in Oakland confirmed the family name. It read: Jacint Cosma. He was buried alone. This supported the family story that he was a widower when he came to California. Joaquina was probably buried somewhere on Kauai. The rest of the cemetery files seemed to support the family stories.
A curious thing happened along the research trail. A family member came across the passport index entry for the Cosma family. It told a different tale than the family history and the Hawaiian and California documentation. The name of the head of the family was Cosme Jacinto da Camara! His parents were Antonio da Camara and Miguelina Rosa. Nowhere was the name Cosma. Was this an error? Did Cosma somehow get inverted as the first name, Cosme? Or, was Cosma the error? Name changing was so common on Hawaii that one has to be careful when researching. In addition to this, the names of the children were slightly off. John was really Joaquim and Shandra was really Alexandrina. The twins were Maria and Filomena meaning the family had 3 daughters named Maria! Francisco and Maria (the third!) must have been born in Hawaii as they weren't mentioned in the immigration records.
The ship index and consulate logs showed the same head of family "Cosme Jacinto da Camara". This was no fluke! In three places along the immigration trail, his name was recorded the same. Did this mean that the Cosma and Camara families were really blood relatives? A search for the head of the Camara family, Manoel Camara, turned up nothing. But, with immigration records, he could be anywhere!
There were many known details about the Cosma family. The family was said to be headed by Jacinto Cosma and Joaquina Rosa. Their children were Manoel, Maria, John, Shandra, Francisco, and Maria. They also had twins who died on board the ship to Hawaii in 1882.
It was time to start conparing the family data to documentation. Jacinto's tombstone at St. Mary's Cemetery in Oakland confirmed the family name. It read: Jacint Cosma. He was buried alone. This supported the family story that he was a widower when he came to California. Joaquina was probably buried somewhere on Kauai. The rest of the cemetery files seemed to support the family stories.
A curious thing happened along the research trail. A family member came across the passport index entry for the Cosma family. It told a different tale than the family history and the Hawaiian and California documentation. The name of the head of the family was Cosme Jacinto da Camara! His parents were Antonio da Camara and Miguelina Rosa. Nowhere was the name Cosma. Was this an error? Did Cosma somehow get inverted as the first name, Cosme? Or, was Cosma the error? Name changing was so common on Hawaii that one has to be careful when researching. In addition to this, the names of the children were slightly off. John was really Joaquim and Shandra was really Alexandrina. The twins were Maria and Filomena meaning the family had 3 daughters named Maria! Francisco and Maria (the third!) must have been born in Hawaii as they weren't mentioned in the immigration records.
The ship index and consulate logs showed the same head of family "Cosme Jacinto da Camara". This was no fluke! In three places along the immigration trail, his name was recorded the same. Did this mean that the Cosma and Camara families were really blood relatives? A search for the head of the Camara family, Manoel Camara, turned up nothing. But, with immigration records, he could be anywhere!
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Passport Index Record:
Camara, Cosme Jacinto da 34
Father Antonio da Camara
Mother Miguelina Rosa
From Feteiras
Wife Joaquina Rosa 39
Children: Manuel 13, Joaquim 8, Maria 9, Alexandrina 4, Maria 5, Filomena 5 (Twins)
#825 Hansa
Source: "Passport Registrations: Portuguese Immigrants from Azores to Sandwich Islands, 1879-1883." By Robert S. De Mello. Honolulu : De Mello Publishing Co., [n.d.]
...................
Ship Index
825 Camara, Cosme Jacintho [sic] da, age 34 Hansa82, StM, Sheet 13
With Joaquina Rosa, 39, wife
Children: Manuel 13, Maria 9, Joao 8, Alexandrinha 4, Maria Filomena, 5m (dead) [Maria Filomena written as one name with no comma]
Source: "Portuguese Immigrants to Hawaii". Compiled by Edgar C. Knowlton, Jr. Kahului, HI : Maui Cultural Club, c1993.
Passport Index Record:
Camara, Cosme Jacinto da 34
Father Antonio da Camara
Mother Miguelina Rosa
From Feteiras
Wife Joaquina Rosa 39
Children: Manuel 13, Joaquim 8, Maria 9, Alexandrina 4, Maria 5, Filomena 5 (Twins)
#825 Hansa
Source: "Passport Registrations: Portuguese Immigrants from Azores to Sandwich Islands, 1879-1883." By Robert S. De Mello. Honolulu : De Mello Publishing Co., [n.d.]
...................
Ship Index
825 Camara, Cosme Jacintho [sic] da, age 34 Hansa82, StM, Sheet 13
With Joaquina Rosa, 39, wife
Children: Manuel 13, Maria 9, Joao 8, Alexandrinha 4, Maria Filomena, 5m (dead) [Maria Filomena written as one name with no comma]
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