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years. It is now buried under the cross in Manjoor Makidalayam church donated by P.C.
Lukose Pannivelil.
The second son of Kochokan Pannivelil was Ouseph who had married Mariam Tharayil. .
The third one was Thomman who married Kocheeryam Kunnacherry. Thomman died six
months after the wedding. The widowed Kocheeryam was one of the first four widows
with whom the Visitation Congregation was started in 1892.
Ouseph and Mariam had three sons and two daughters. The eldest was Kochokan who
had married Mariachi Kaduthodil. They had no children. But Mariachi was a very
dominant person. The second son was Chacko who married Anna Kocheril, and the third
one- Thomman- married Thodukayil Ely, and lived in Pannivelil.
Chacko and Anna lived in Pannivelil during their early years. The first four children-
Naithy, Kunjeppu, Kunjanna and Mariamma,- were born in Pannivelil. (Hence Naithy
always referred to Pannivelil as her home.) Chacko had set up a store in Kaduthuruthy, at
the Kurishinmoottil house. He bought and sold whatever his customers wanted: rice, pots
and pans, salt, fish, tobacco – anything. Barters and cash transactions took place.
Chacko’s store became popular. People came from near and far by boat-the chief mode of
transportation- to buy and sell. In time the family moved to the top of the store.
Achamma and Luka were born there.
Kochanna, the estranged wife of Chacko, also lived in Kaduthuruthy (Nellupadathu). Her
relationship with Mathai continued for some time. He cheated her out of much of her
wealth. Kochanna was a generous lady. She donated the golden statue of St. Anne to the
Church in Kaduthuruthy. She had a predilection for Chacko and Anna and invited them
to live with her in Nellupadathu. Susanna (who died young), Elyamma, Achukutty and
Mathew were all born in Nellupadathu.
Chacko expanded his business and relocated the store to the market place in
Kaduthuruthy. Chacko went to bury his wife’s cousin in Thachettu, Neezhoor, who had
died at the age of thirty-three, of cholera. As he returned, he knew that he himself was
stricken with the dreaded disease. He stopped in the church, asked to make his
confession, came to Nellupadathu, and died on December 18, 1918. He was only forty-
four years old. But he had earned a name for himself as a successful businessman. He
helped build the shrine for the Thazhathu Palli in Kaduthuruthy. He had also a coterie of
friends beyond the confines of Christians. People, regardless of caste or creed, mourned
his death. It was said that all establishments in the vicinity were closed on the day of the
funeral, as a mark of respect for Chacko.
Chacko’s untimely death was a tragedy for the Pannivelil family. There was no one to
assume the responsibility of the store. Anna had the burden of seven more children. Her
eldest son Joseph –Kunjeppu- was hardly nineteen. Chacko’s brother Thomman who ran
a cooperative credit bank died within a few months of Chacko’s death. His father Ouseph
was despondent. Ouseph’s eldest son Kochokan was not efficient. But his wife –
Kaduthody Mariachi- made all decisions for Kochokan. She had no children of her own.
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