My grandparents, Mariano and Louisa Coronado had thirteen
children born between 1885 and 1906. Ten
children lived to be adults and three children died at an early age.
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| Marianita Coronado |
The firstborn, Marianita, was born 27 July 1885[1]
in Napa, before the family moved to the Vallejo area. According to my mother’s memory of what her
mother used to say about Marianita: “She was a perfect child”.
Three more children were born in the next few years: my
Uncle Dolph, my Aunt Hess, and my Uncle Guadalupe Serapio, born 30 September
1890[2].
However, when the new year of 1891 began, 5-year-old Marianita
fell ill and died on 26 January 1891. I
don’t know whether the death was sudden, but the physician recorded on the death
certificate that she died of tubercular meningitis[3]
– an infection of the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord (meninges)[4]. It must have been a terrible shock and a very
emotional time for the young family.
They were living on the Tobin Ranch in Vallejo and had not yet purchased
the land on the Napa Vallejo Highway that would become their family home and
business location in later years.
Even though Mariano and Louisa lived in Vallejo,
Mariano’s family friend and brother-in-law, Manuel Madrid, offered burial space
for Marianita in the cemetery plot in Napa that he had bought for his
father. Mariano’s younger brother,
Marciano, was already buried in the plot.
Mariano & Louisa accepted Manuel’s offer and Marianita, their
beloved first child, was buried on 27 January 1891 at the Tulocay Cemetery in
Napa.[5]
But tragedy struck again three months later when 7-month-old
Guadalupe fell ill in March and died 11 April 1891[6]. On the death certificate, the physician noted
that he had cared for Guadalupe from 20 March 1891 until the day he died and
the cause of death was “dentition”[7]. Dentition was listed as a cause of death in
this period of time because of issues surrounding the baby’s teething. The teething process and infection or fever
related to teething was a problem for doctors into the early 20th
Century. In addition, they did not have antibiotics
to treat such an infection.[8]
The 7-month old Guadalupe was buried next to his sister
in the Napa Tulocay Cemetery on 12 April 1891[9]. It must have been a very difficult year for
the young Coronado family.
When I visited the Tulocay Cemetery earlier this year,
both Marianita and Guadalupe were listed in cemetery records, but there was no
marker on the cemetery plot. I arranged
to have a stone marker prepared and placed on the plot to properly identify the
location of where the young Coronado children are buried.
A third young Coronado child, Juan Pilar, died in 1897
and was buried in the Vallejo cemetery, but I will save the specifics for
another time.
[1]
There are no birth or baptism records that I could find for Marianita. The birth date is a calculated one based on
her date of death and the number of years (5), months (5) and days (30) that
she was alive. Certificate of Death,
Marianita Coronado, City of Vallejo Death Certificate, Book 1, Page 350,
located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.
[2] Baptism,
Guadalupe Serapio Coronado, St. Vincent’s Church Baptisms, Book 1, Page
479, located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.
[3] Certificate
of Death, Marianita Coronado, City of Vallejo Death Certificate, Book 1,
Page 350, located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.
[5] Death
Record for Marianita Coronado, Office of County Clerk, Solano County,
California.
[6] Certificate
of Death, Guadalupe Coronado, City of Vallejo Death Certificate, Book 1,
Page 362, located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.
[7]
Ibid.
[8] Here is the explanation of the medical term from a genealogy glossary: "Dentition or Teething - The entire process which results in the eruption of the teeth. Nineteenth-century medical reports stated that infants were more prone to disease at the time of teething. Symptoms were restlessness, fretfulness, convulsions, diarrhea, and painful and swollen gums. The latter could be relieved by lancing over the protruding tooth. Often teething was reported as a cause of death in infants. Perhaps they became susceptible to infections, especially if lancing was performed without antisepsis." http://genealogy-quest.com/glossary-terms/diseases/medical-terminology-beginning-letter-t/
[9] Death
Record for Guadalupe Coronado, Office of County Clerk, Solano County,
California.
