Manaíra, Paraíba, Brazil Genealogy

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

History
The City of Manaíra emerged on the small farm Alagoa Nova, owned by Manoel Pereira da Silva, who arrived there in 1840 as the first merchant. He installed a "bulandeira", an instrument with which he classified the cotton and also a kind of device that served to gin the product and prepare the cane for the manufacture of rapadura. Among the pioneers are Manoel Pequeno, Severino Benedito and Belarmino Nogueira. In 1870 the first chapel was built, later demolished. In 1889, on land donated by the sisters Catarina and Balbina, whose surname history does not reveal, the church, currently known as the Mother Church, was built, dedicated to the Divine Holy Spirit, chosen as the patron saint of the place. In 1887, the Parish was created, the year in which commerce was already showing good development. Legend has it that the name Manaíra - Seios de Mel - was chosen in honor of an Indian woman with that name, promised by her father Boiassu as a bride, to the Indian Piancó, chief of the Coromas tribe. The legend also says that, having Manaíra involved with the colonizer Manoel Curado Garra, she was sacrificed by her father, in the name of the commitment assumed with Piancó. In 1920, the district of Alagoa Nova appears in the municipality of Princesa. On November 15, 1938, the district of Alagoa Nova was renamed Manaíra and the municipality of Princesa was renamed Princess Isabel. Elevated to the category of municipality with the name of Manaíra, on December 15, 1961, separated from Princess Isabel.

Local Offices
Cartório Duarte Rua José Rosas, 108 Centro 58995-000 Manaíra PB Telephone: (83) 3458-1158 E-mail: cartorioduarte@hotmail.com Cartório Rabelo Rua Aureliano Barbosa dos Santos, s/n Centro 58995-000 Manaíra PB Telephone: (83) 3458-1212 E-mail: cartoriorabellops@hotmail.com

Online Resources

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

Local Churches
PARÓQUIA DO DIVINO ESPÍRITO SANTO

Localities
Pelo Sinal District