Crypto-Protestants and pseudo-Catholics in the nineteenth-century Hispanic Caribbean

Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Volumn 51, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 347-365

  Martínez Fernández, Luis ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 61049176601     PISSN: 00220469     EISSN: 14697637     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0022046900004255     Document Type: Review

References (77)

1. There exists a modest body of published sources on Protestantism in the nineteenth-century Hispanic Caribbean. Most of it examines the post-1869 period. The most general source on Cuba is Marcos Antonio Ramos, Panorama del protestantismo en Cuba, San José, Costa Rica 1986.
2. On the Hispanic Caribbean in general one finds Justo L. González, The development of Christianity in the Latin Caribbean, Grand Rapids, MI 1969.
3. Among the few extant more specific works are Rafael Cepeda, 'Joaquin de Palma: predicator revolucionario', Juprecu xv (January 1977), 8-11;
4. Francisco González del Valle, 'El clero en la revolución cubana', Cuba Contemporánea xviii (1918), 161-79;
5. Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, Martí y las religiones, Havana 1941;
6. Harold Greer, 'Baptists in western Cuba', Cuban Studies xix (1989), 61-77;
7. Luis Martínez-Fernández, '"Don't die here": the death and burial of Protestants in the Hispanic Caribbean, 1840-1885', The Americas xlix (July 1992), 23-47.
8. There are notably fewer sources focusing specifically on Puerto Rico. See Juan Jorge Rivera Torres, Documentos históricos de la Iglesia Episcopal Puertorriqueña, Santo Domingo 1983;
9. Albert E. Lee, An island grows, San Juan 1963
10. and Angel Gutiérrez, Evangélicos en Puerto Rico en la época española, Guaynabo, PR 1997.
11. See, for example, AHDASJ, justicia, procesos legales, Soltería, Ponce, leg. J-182; AALH, expedientes ultramarinos and matrimonios ultramarinos; various anti-Protestant articles and documents published in Puerto Rico's Boletín Eclesiástico and Boletín Eclesiástico del Obispado de La Habana.
12. See Puerto Rico's 1815 Cédula de Gracias in Boletín Histórico de Puerto Rico, ed. Cayetano Coll y Toste, San Juan, 1914-27, i. 297-304, and Cuba's 'Real Cédula de 21 de octubre de 1817, sobre aumentar la población blanca de la isla de Cuba', ANC, gobierno superior civil, leg. 1657, exp. 82745.
13. See also D. C. Corbitt, 'Immigration in Cuba', Hispanic American Historical Review xxii (1942), 280-308
14. and Francisco Ramos, Prontuario de disposiciones oficiales: disposiciones más notables del Gobierno Superior desde 1824 a 1865, San Juan 1866, 212-16.
15. French settlers in Vieques reportedly lived many years on the island without seeking domiciliation: governor of Puerto Rico to the Spanish minister of government, 18 Nov. 1851, CIH, papeles de Vieques, 209-10.
16. In 1876, according to Eduardo Newmann, there were 811 foreigners among the 33,514 residents of Ponce. José María Archevald owned Hacienda Cintrona, Thomas Davidson owned Hacienda Consuelo, William Lee owned Hacienda Constancia, Thomas G. Salomons owned Hacienda Santa Cruz, James Gilbee owned Hacienda Fortuna: Eduardo Newmann, Verdadera y auténtica historia de la ciudad de Ponce desde sus primitivos tiempos hasta la época contemporánea, San Juan 1913, 85;
17. Francisco A. Scarano, Sugar and slavery in Puerto Rico: the plantation economy of Ponce, 1800-1850, Madison, Wis. 1984, 81-2;
18. Ivette Pérez Vega, 'Las oleadas de inmigración sobre el sur de Puerto Rico: el caso de las sociedades mercantíles creadas en Ponce (1816-1830)', Revista del Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe ix (1987), 114-23;
19. Padrón de productos y capitales, Ponce, 1869-70, and Riqueza territorial, 1871-2, both in AHMP, leg. 31, boxes 30A, 30C; secretaria del gobierno superior civil de la Isla de Puerto Rico, Registro central de esclavos (6to. Depto. ), San Juan 1872 (microfilm in CIH);
20. Andrés A. Ramos Mattei, La hacienda azucarera: su crecimiento y crisis en Puerto Rico (siglo xix), San Juan 1981, 22.
21. Lee, An island grows, 3.
22. Of a total of 227 foreigners (1838), race was determined for 208, 127 of whom were white and 81 blacks: statistics for 1838, AGPR, gobernadores españoles, Ponce, box 14.
23. La Gaceta de Puerto Rico, 28 Dec. 1872, 3.
24. On Vieques see Juan Amédée Bonnet Benítez, Vieques en la historia de Puerto Rico, 2nd edn, San Juan 1977;
25. J. Pastor Ruiz, Vieques antiguo y moderno, 1493-1946, Yauco, PR 1947;
26. Antonio Rivera Martínez, Así empezó Vieques, Río Piedras, PR 1963;
27. Robert Rabin Siegal, 'Los tortoleños: obreros de Barlovento en Vieques: 1864-1874', unpubl. monograph, AHV;
28. Andrés A. Ramos Mattei, 'La importación de trabajadores contratados para la industria azucarera puertorriqueña, 1860-1880', in Francisco A. Scarano (ed. ), Inmigración y clases sociales en el Puerto Rico del siglo xix, Río Piedras, PR 1981, 125-42. See also transcripts of documents pertaining to Vieques in CIH.
29. Edward Kenney to Bishop Whittingham, 1 Apr. 1876, MDA, Cuba, folder V; Gobierno de Cuba, Cuadro estadístico de la siempre fiel Isla de Cuba, correspondiente al año 1846, Havana 1847, 69, 77; register of Americans [in Cuba], 1 Jan. -31 Dec. 1871, NA, records of foreign service posts, RG 84, Havana, c. 14. 1.
30. Domiciliation files for 1855 in ANC, gobierno superior civil, leg. 796, exp. 27003; register of non-domiciled foreigners, AHPM, negociado de órden público y policía, leg. 58, exp. 6001; register of Americans [in Cuba], 1 Jan. -1 Dec. 1871, 1, NA, RG 84, Havana, c. 14. 1; Robert L. Paquette, Sugar is made with blood, Middletown, CT 1988, 187; Edward Kenney to Bishop Whittingham, 1 Apr. 1876, MDA, Cuba, folder V.
31. Consul Helm, cited in Louis A. Pérez, Jr, On becoming Cuban: identity, nationality, & culture, Chapel Hill, NC 1999, 23.
32. For information on the life of foreigners in El Cerro see Luis Martínez-Fernández, Fighting slavery in the Caribbean: the life and times of a British family in nineteenth-century Havana, Armonk, NY 1998, and Roberto Gómez Reyes, 'Informe histórico sobre la casa # 256 de la Calle Tulipán entre Santa Catalina y Falgueras: Cerro', Museo del Cerro, file 4. 1. 10.
33. Andrew Blythe to William Cass, 20 July 1857, NA, general records of the Department of State, RG 59, despatches from US consuls in Havana, microfilm roll T20, vol. 36; Pérez, On becoming Cuban, 23.
34. Estimate for Puerto Rico based on 16 men per ship and data from Charles De Ronceray to Cass, 29 July 1859, US Department of State, San Juan consulate, Despachos de los cónsules norteamericanos en Puerto Rico (1818-1868), ed. CIH, Río Piedras, PR 1982, 390.
35. Consul-General Joseph T. Crawford to Lord Palmerston, 22 January 1852, PRO, FO, 72, 866; domiciliation documents of George Booth and Guillaume Perrone, ANC, gobierno superior civil, leg. 1656, exp. 82742; domiciliation documents of David Clark, leg. 787, exp. 26754; testimony of Luis Mariátegui on behalf of Juan Emilio Beylle, AALH, matrimonios ultramarinos, exp. 25 (Jan. 1841).
36. Grace M. Backhouse to Catherine Backhouse, 6 Jan. 1854, and George Backhouse to his aunt, 3 Aug. 1853, in John Backhouse papers, Special Collections Department, Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, NC. See also domiciliation papers of Mary Callaghan, ANC, gobierno superior civil, leg. 791, exp. 26855, and of Jorge Y. Finlay, AHDASJ, justicia, procesos legales, certificaciones de soltería, Ponce, leg. J-182.
37. David Turnbull, Travels in the west Cuba with notices of Porto Rico, New York 1968, 67; declaration of Jorge Y. Finlay, AHDASJ, justicia, procesos legales, certificados de soltería, Ponce, leg. J-182; James Kennedy to Lord Palmerston, 21 June 1850, and Crawford to Lord Palmerston, 22 Jan. 1852, both in PRO, FO 72, 886; Spanish minister of Gracia y Justicia to the president of the Spanish Council of Ministers, papeles de Vieques, CIH, 267-72.
38. Joseph John Gurney, A winter in the West Indies, London 1840, 211;
39. Rachel Wilson Moore, Journal of Rachel Wilson Moore, kept during a tour to the West Indies and South America in 1863-64, Philadelphia 1867, 32;
40. George Backhouse to his aunt, 3 Aug. 1853; diary of Grace M. Backhouse, 25-7 Mar. , 24 Apr. , 10 June 1853, 9 Apr. 1854, Backhouse papers; [Julia Louisa Matilda Woodruff] J. L. M. Jay (pseud. ), My winter in Cuba, New York 1871, 157.
41. Ramos, Panorama, 78; diary of Grace M. Backhouse, 4, 11, 18 Feb. , 4 Mar. 1855, Backhouse papers;
42. Carlton H. Rogers, Incidents of travel in the Southern United States and Cuba, New York, 1862, 173-5;
43. Amelia Matilda Murray, Letters from the United States, Cuba and Canada, London 1856, ii. 64, 77; diary of William Norwood, 24 Mar. 1844, Viriginia Historical Society, Richmond.
44. Grace M. Backhouse to Mary Backhouse, 30 June 1853, Backhouse papers; Hiram H. Hulse, 'The history of the Church in Cuba', Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church vi (June 1937), 249; George A. Leakin to 'Dear Madam', 16 Mar. 1906, Archives of the Episcopal Church, Austin, Tex, Cuba scrapbook.
45. For example, on 6 May 1869 the curate of Ponce baptised Matilde Luisa Belén Eckleman who was the daughter of Bernardo Eckleman and Enriqueta Luisa Van Ryhn; on 11 June 1869 he baptised Carlos Manuel Bonifacio Weichers who was the son of Jorge Federico Weichers and Ysabel Pieretty; on 26 July 1869 he baptised Tomás Antonio Oppenheimer who was the son of Guillermo Oppenheimer and Ana Salomons: books of baptisms of Ponce's Roman Catholic Church, microfilms at CIH.
46. Grace M. Backhouse to her mother-in-law, 3 Mar. 1854, Backhouse papers; baptismal entry of Gustavo Runge, 14 July 1858, book of baptisms, no. 3, Iglesia Salvador del Mundo, El Cerro, Havana; Revd E. Kenney's report of 1874 in Edward Kenney, Report of our mission in Cuba: October 1874-October 1877, Detroit 1878, 15; books of baptisms of Vieques's Roman Catholic Church, microfilms at CIH.
47. Grace M. Backhouse to Catherine Backhouse, 25 Mar. 1855, Backhouse papers.
48. AHDASJ, justicia, procesos legales, papeles de extranjeros, leg. J-229; procesos legales, certificados de soltería, Ponce, leg. J-182.
49. Lourdes Sampera González, 'Breve reseña: la parroquia el Salvador del Mundo del Cerro', file 6. 1. 1, Archivo del Museo del Cerro.
50. See circular by Bishop Gil Esteve, 23 Dec. 1852, AHDASJ, gobierno, circulares. See also files in AHDASJ, justicia, procesos legales, certificados de soltería, legs. J-181, J-182; AALH, matrimonios ultramarinos.
51. Process of certification of bachelorhood and spinsterhood and Catholicity of Augusto Lion and Elena Catalina Salomons (1862); their witnesses were Bernardo Eckleman, Emilio Overman and Degetau. Roberto Graham and Ysabel Spense married Catholic, their witnesses being Tomás A. Dodd, William Lee and Jorge Finlay, all of whom swore that they were Catholics. On 18 Aug. 1868 Juan Hernán Van Rhyn and Juana Francisca Van Rhyn married with Catholic rites. Jorge Finlay and Emilia Francisca Van Rhyn went through the process of certification of bachelorhood and spinsterhood and Catholicity; his witnesses were Ramón Berartain, Juan Sullivan and Francisco Antonsanti; hers were Pedro Minvielle and James Gallagher. They married on 5 July 1866. Certification of bachelorhood and spinsterhood of Guillermo Oppenheimer and Ana María Salomons (1864): Carlos Juan Oppenheimer and Ana María Van Rhyn were married on 18 June 1865; Pedro Minvielle and James Gallagher testified on behalf of Emilia Francisca Van Rhyn; and Bernardo Eckleman served as witness for Jorge Federico Weichers (1862): books of marriages of Ponce's Roman Catholic Church, microfilms in CIH; AHDASJ, justicia, procesos legales, certificaciones de soltería, legs. J-181, J-182.
52. Books of marriages of the Roman Catholic Church of Vieques, microfilms in CIH; declaration of the Vieques curate (1851), papeles de Vieques, CIH, 820-1, 213.
53. Kenney, Report of our mission, 12; Kenney to Whittingham, 25 Nov. 1873, MDA, Cuba, folder IV; Grace M. Backhouse to her mother-in-law, 3 Mar. 1854, Backhouse papers; marriage entry of Carolina Smith and Francisco Javier Molina y García, book of marriages no. 2, Iglesia Salvador del Mundo, El Cerro.
54. Antonio de las Barras y Prado, Memoiras: La Habana a mediados del siglo xix, Madrid 1925, 84;
55. [Woodruff], My winter, 128; marriage records of All Saints' Church of St Thomas (microfilms at the Williams Library of St Croix).
56. AGPR, audiencia territorial, acuerdo real, box 34, exp. 19; curate of Vieques to the bishop of Puerto Rico, 12 Mar. 1857, AHDASJ, gobierno, correspondencia parroquia-obispo, Vieques, leg. G-29; books of marriage of the Dutch Reformed Church of Christiansted, St Croix (microfilms at the Williams Library of St Croix); Ramos, Prontuario, 313.
57. D. Ramón Hernández Poggio, Aclimatación é higiene de los europeos en Cuba, Cádiz, Spain 1874, 67-70;
58. Roberto Marte, Cuba y la República Dominicana: transición económica en el Caribe del siglo xix, Santo Domingo [1988?], 191; Consul Robertson to William Marcy, 27 July 1854, NA, RG 5g, despatches from US consuls in Havana, microfilm roll T20, vol. 28;
59. Maturin M. Ballou, Due south: or Cuba past and present, New York 1969, 141;
60. De Ronceray to William Cass, 3 Dec. 1860, US Department of State, Despachos consulares, 308.
61. James William Steele, Cuban sketches, New York 1881, 185;
62. [William Henry Hurlbert], Gan-Eden: or, pictures of Cuba, Boston 1854, 136-7.
63. Blythe to Cass, 20 July 1857, NA, despatches from US consuls in Havana, microfilm roll T20, vol. 36; George W. Williams, Sketches of travel in the old and new world, Charleston, SG 1871, 55;
64. Richard Henry Dana, Jr, To Cuba and back: a vacation voyage, ed. C. Harvey Gardiner, Carbondale, IL 1966, 102-3.
65. Steele, Sketches, 174;
66. Demoticus Philalethes, Yankee travels through the island of Cuba; or the men and government, the laws and customs of Cuba, as seen by American eyes, New York 1856, 222, 251;
67. Ramos, Panorama, 77;
68. Alexander Jourdan to William Seward, 2 June, 19 July 1866, US Department of State, Despachos consulares, 707, 719.
69. Boletín Eclesiástico 1:19 (1 Oct. 1859), 219; Roura and Hernández to the bishop of Puerto Rico, 28 Apr. 1887, AHDASJ, justicia, procesos legales, validación de matrimonios, leg. J-218; book of baptisms no. 4, Iglesia Salvador del Mundo, El Cerro;
70. Ramos, Panorama, 140; books of defunctions of Ponce's Roman Catholic Church (microfilms at CIH).
71. AHMP, Índice del Cementerio Antiguo, vol. 1, p. 166; capitán pedáneo de San Lázaro to the captain-general, 22 Dec. 1849, ANC, gobierno superior civil, leg. 745, exp. 25568; letter of 1853 quoted in Mariano Torrente, Política ultramarina que abraza todos los puntos referentes a las relaciones de España con los Estados Unidos, con Inglaterra y las Antillas, Madrid 1854, 198-9.
72. Leví Marrero, Cuba: economía y sociedad, Madrid, 1971-92, xiv. 88; minutes on Protestant cemetery, 8 Nov. 1841; Ángel Cowley of la Junta Superior de Sanidad to the gobernador superior civil, 17 Feb. 1847; capitán pedáneo de San Lázaro to the captain general, 22 Dec. 1849, ANC, gobierno superior civil, leg. 744, exp. 25546; leg. 745, exp. 25568.
73. David Turnbull to the captain-general of Cuba, 16 Sept. 1841, ANC, gobierno superior civil, leg. 744, exp. 25346; Richard J. Levis, Diary of a spring holiday in Cuba, Philadelphia 1872, 109.
74. Bishop Young, 'Cuba', Spirit of Missions xlix (October 1884), 486-7; governor of Matanzas to the curate of Matanzas, 15 Sept. 1841, AHPM, gobierno provincial, órden público y policía, leg. 74, exp. 8349.
75. Blythe to Cass, 20 July 1857, Belot to Charles Helm, 28 Apr. 1860, and Helm to Cass, 28 Apr. 1860, NA, RG 59, despatches from US consuls in Havana, microfilm rolls T20, vols 36, 40.
76. Acting consul Jourdan to Seward, 27 July 1854, NA, RG 84, San Juan, vol. 7228; George Coggeshall, Voyages to various parts of the world made between the years 1800 and 1831, New York 1853, 144-5; AHMP, leg. 35, exp. 14.
77. Asiento de difuntos protestantes en la isla de Vieques desde I de septiembre de 1845, registro del gobernador de Vieques, 1838-45, CIH, vol. 4, copy in AHV; budget for the Vieques government, 1879-80, AGPR, Vieques, box 5, exp. 41A.