Mamanguape, Paraíba, Brazil Genealogy

Guide to Municipality of Mamanguape ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, church records, parish registers, and civil registration.

History
The mouth of the Mamanguape River and its surroundings were already frequented by French navigators, before the Portuguese began to colonize Paraíba, in 1575. At the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century, Mamanguape began to be colonized, especially the Pernambuco-born Duarte Gomes da Silveira, as the most industrious of its inhabitants. The Portuguese began the settlement of Potiguars and the survey of mills in the region, when the invasion of the Dutch was positive, giving rise to the abandonment of the village that would be the headquarters of the region. With the restoration, the Jesuits rebuilt the old Indian village, which was added to by Portuguese settlers, which aroused serious friction between savages and civilized people until the local authorities deemed it prudent to separate them. The Indians were transferred to a village, situated on a hill, which received the name of Monte-mor. In the old village, origin of the city of Mamanguape, where the authorities and the Portuguese lived, it prospered, the other, however, abandoned, oblivious to the stimulus of productive work, in a few years received the nickname of Vila da Preguiça, to emphasize the indolence of its residents. Mamanguape continued to progress and, in the 19th century, already influenced its inhabitants in the Captaincy's policy. But what is certain is that the seat of the village continued for a long time in Monte-mór, only losing this category, in favor of the village of Mamanguape, in 1839. The name of the municipality is a reference to the Mamanguape river, which bathes it. There are two etymological hypotheses for the toponym "Mamanguape": it is a corruption of the Tupi mama-guaba-pe, which means "where people gather to drink, drinking fountain (of a river or lake)"; derives from the Tupi term mamangûape, which means "in the cove of the mamangás" (mamangá, mamangá + kûá, cove + pe, in).[8] "Mamangá" is a term that designates three species of shrubs: Cassia medica, Senna occidentalis and Senna quinquangulata. Elevated to the category of town with the name of Mamanguape, on January 23, 1839. Elevated to the condition of city with the name of Mamanguape on October 25, 1855.

Local Offices
Cartório do Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais Rua Presidente João Pessoa, 78 Mamanguape PB 58280-000 Telephone: (83) 3292-2292 E-mail: cartoriopenharibeiro@gmail.com

Cartório Distrital de Pitanga da Estrada Rua Principal, s/n Centro Mamanguape PB 58286-000 Telephone: (83) 3662-5029 E-mail: cartoriopitanga@gmail.com

Online Resources

 * Brazil, Paraíba, Catholic Church Records, 1731-2013 no Registros Históricos do FamilySearch

Local Churches
Paróquia SÃO PEDRO E SÃO PAULO (1630) Praça Padre João, 32 Centro Mamanguape PB 58280-000 Telephone: (83) 3292-2885 E-mail: saopedroesaopaulo.mamanguape@gmail.com

Localities
Districts: Barrio Alto, Barrio Baixo, São João, São José do Rio Seco, Jacaraú, Mataraca, Baía da Tradição, Preguiça e Barra de Mamanguape, Rio Tinto, Tavares, Capim, Cuité de Mamanguape, Curral de Cima, Itapororoca, Pitanga da Estrada, Olho D' Água do Capim.

Villages: Camaratuba, Pindobal, Curralinho, As Lagoas, João Pereira, Brejinho, Guaju