Enriqueta García Martín

Enriqueta García Martín y Cazañas was a prominent Cuban socialite, landowner, and agricultural businesswoman.

Enriqueta García Martín
Enriqueta García Martín Portrait Photograph, Circa 1900
Born
Enriqueta García y Martín

1862
Matanzas, Cuba
Diedc. 1930
Cardenas, Cuba
NationalityCuban, American
Other namesEnriqueta García Martín y Cazañas
Occupationlandowner
Known forOwner of the Buena Vista Estate, farms, and sugar plantation

Life

Family and Early life

Enriqueta García y Martín was born on November 3, 1862 in Matanzas, Cuba to the wealthy García family of Spain and was noted for her distinctly European features of fair skin and blonde hair.[1] Their family was of considerable prominence in the broader Matanzas province. Her brother, Félix García y Martín (sometimes misprinted as Telix), was a doctor and a regional insurgent leader in Matanzas during the Cuban War of Independence. [2] After the war, he continued to be an active medical figure in the region and assisted American forces stationed there during the ensuing period following the conclusion of the Spanish-American War. [3] Dr. García then became second highest-ranking doctor in the Matanzas province and was later promoted to Chief Doctor of the Port of Matanzas, Head of Administration.[4]

As her brother focused his efforts and attention to his medical, political, and administrative career, Enriqueta became heiress to the García estate and administrator of its properties and financial holdings.[5] At sixteen she was the subject of a poem included in the 1878 literary collection Jardín Matancero ("Matanzas Garden").[6] The publication was dedicated to the debutantes of the Matanzas region in which a flower-themed poem was dedicated to each “blossoming" socialite.

García resided in historic Camarioca, in close proximity to the famed Varadero resort town, now incorporated into the nearby region of Cárdenas.[7] She was molded by her upbring in the broader Cárdenas community, which was founded by old Spanish aristocracy in 1828[8] and housed many elite European families. By García's lifetime, the area had a distinct Southern American influence and was known as the "Charleston of the Caribbean" due to its unique design that broke with the traditional central-plaza Spanish layout found in much of Latin America, instead using a North American grid pattern modeled on the city of Charleston.[9] Its unique character, complete with straight and narrow streets and horse-drawn carriages, attracted an influx of European families from Spain, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, such as the Garcías and the Martins.[10][11][12] These factors would influence her later travel and the upbringing of her children.[13][14]

Marriage

While residing in Cárdenas as an adult, García would meet lawyer and landowner Francisco E. Cazañas, of another prominent Matanzas family who owned many landholdings and agricultural industry interests. Cazañas inherited a large Cárdenas property in 1890,[15] and met García upon his relocation to the area from New York. The couple wed on April 30, 1894[16] and, in accordance with Spanish naming customs, after their marriage García was known as Enriqueta García Martín de Cazañas, or, more simply, Enriqueta García Cazañas. The marriage was significant due to Cazañas, having been born in New Rochelle, New York, [17] holding dual citizenship with the United States and Cuba, and being descendant of the Castilian Peraza family[5] through his father, Francisco José Cazañas y Peraza (sometimes recorded as Francis),[18] an agriculture estate landowner in New Rochelle.[2] García herself received American citizenship after her marriage to Cazañas and would subsequently travel with an American passport.[19][20] The couple frequently traveled to and occasionally resided in the US. There are surviving records of visits to New York City (1892, 1897) and New Orleans (1898).[21][22][13] The couple had three sons, the eldest of which, Enrique, they would arrange to have educated in the United States and reside in Nashville[14] and Winter Park.[16]

Buena Vista

García notably owned the Buena Vista estate in Camarioca and its vast grounds. The Buena Vista property, sometimes written as Buenavista, was renown for its immensity and held its own main roads,[23] stream, hills, prize horses, cattle, ox, as well as full staff and yacht for its proximity to Varadero.[5] The couple resided there and, per the US Consulate records,[16] her husband managed the property’s sprawling farmlands and major sugar plantation, often known collectively as "Finca Buena Vista," which were significant agricultural businesses in the Matanzas province.[24]

The property was damaged during the Battle of Cárdenas in the Spanish-American War and became the center of the couple’s high-profile claims case to the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission.[25] The couple first filed their claims with the commission in 1902.[7] It took six years to settle their claims, during which Francisco’s legal background and US ties and citizenship proved useful as their claims were settled in 1908 with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States awarding the couple total compensation of $13,138[26] ($9,738 to Enriqueta and $3,400 to Francisco), over $360,000 in 2020, after inflation.[27] They received the second highest awards granted by the commission, and the highest among private citizens not representing a corporation.[26] Their legal case was the subject of a book published in 2012, Francisco E. Cazañas and Enriqueta Garcia v. The United States. [2]

While the couple also owned other property, the manor would remain the Cazañas family’s main residence until the Cuban Revolution, after which it was nationalized and made into a village (subdivision) of Cardenas.[5]

Other properties and businesses

Their filings with the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission offered other rare glimpses into the Cazañas-García property holdings. They describe the family's “extensive landed estates" that were each “elaborately and expensively furnished.” [2] Other estates mentioned in addition to Buena Vista included Dos Rosas, Pura y Limpia, Dolores, Rosario, and others, all of which sustained at least some damage during the Cuban War of Independence. Some were adjacent to each other and some were on the coast described in court documents as “Situated on a sort of promontory extending out into the ocean between the Bay of Cárdenas and Bay of Matanzas” within "a strategic area to combatants," likely Varadero.[2] Many of these functioned as sugar estates, plantations, and stock farms throughout the Matanzas province in the towns and districts of Camarioca, Santana, and Cárdenas. A Peraza relative of Cazañas testified to the commission “I witnessed the destruction of some splendid houses [Francisco] Cazañas had on Santana.” [2] The couple made the Pura y Limpia estate their main residence during the extent of the battles, during which Spanish forces viewed them with suspicion due to the prominent role of García's brother, Dr. Félix García Martín, in the insurgency, causing the couple to relocate temporarily to the United States as the Spanish American War progressed.[2]

While many of their properties had originally belonged to the García family, it is known that the historic Dos Rosas sugar plantation estate was already in the ownership of the Cazañas family, having been purchased in 1868 by Bartolomé Cazañas, a grandfather of Francisco E. Cazañas. The vast estate was originally named "San Francisco de Paula-Riverol" and Bartolomé Cazañas renamed it that year to "Dos Rosas" (spanish for "Two Roses") in honor of his Italian wife, Rosa Cambiaggi, and their daughter.[28] The Cazañas-García family also owned properties in Santa Clara, Sagua la Grande, and Havana.[7][5] As with Buena Vista, all of these estates, plantations, and mills were dismantled[29] or nationalized after the Cuban Revolution and many, including Dos Rosas and Pura y Limpia, were made into small towns and villages.[30][31]

Later life and Progeny

Death

Enriqueta García’s health declined later in life as she suffered from brain cancer, eventually succumbing to the disease by the mid-1930s.

Progeny

García is also noted for her descendants. García and her husband had three sons: successful Havana businessman Enrique Cazañas, the prominent judge and close Batista associate Pedro Pablo Cazañas, and Eduardo, the youngest.

Her granddaughters by Pedro Pablo Cazañas, Raquel and Marta, would have high-profile marriages to Cuban leaders Rene de la Huerta (a psychiatrist and leader of the Agrupación Católica Universitaria)[32] and Jesús Permuy, respectively. Her grandson by Pedro Pablo, Eduardo Cazañas y Díaz, voluntarily enlisted in the United States Army with the rank of SP-4 as an Armor Reconnaissance Specialist.[33] He died in combat in 1967 during the Vietnam War and his death was covered in both English[34] and Spanish media, including the Diario Las Americas.[35] He received the Purple Heart for his actions in battle, was interred in Lauderdale Memorial Park, and is included in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.[36]

Her great-grandchildren would include further noted figures such as the author and spiritual leader Christian De La Huerta and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) and United States-Spain Council President, Pedro Pablo Permuy.[37]

gollark: I guess upvotes aren't that great either, but it's better than currently...
gollark: They would be anyway under my system, since they'd get some of the shares in the meme.
gollark: They would work as more reliable long-term investments.
gollark: That and firms.
gollark: And my idea for how the buying/selling would work is that you'd create a "sell order" if you wanted to sell it, and set a price, and your share would be sold as soon as anyone created a "buy order" with that price or a higher one.

See also

References
  1. "Enriqueta García". geni_family_tree.
  2. Huston, E.S. (February 15, 2012). Francisco E. Cazañas and Enriqueta Garcia, His Wife, v. The United States. Gale, Making of Modern Law. ISBN 978-1275100978.
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=9sRksaERuDUC&pg=PA2335&dq=Felix+Garc%C3%ADa+Martin+Matanzas+Cuba&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj1tr-W94TrAhXkSt8KHYr9DS8Q6AEIRzAF#v=onepage&q=Felix%20Garc%C3%ADa%20Martin%20Matanzas%20Cuba&f=false
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=EUwrAQAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Felix+Garc%C3%ADa+Mart%C3%ADn+Matanzas+
  5. "Marta Cazañas Permuy - Obituary".
  6. Léon, José E. Ponce de (June 20, 1878). "Jardín Matancero: colección de composiciones poéticas en que aparecen cantadas sesenta y una señoritas de las más distinguidas de Matanzas". Impr. "Aurora del Yumuri" – via Google Books.
  7. "Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury: Transmitting Letter from the Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service Presenting a Report Relating to the Origin and Prevalence of Leprosy in the United States". U.S. Government Printing Office. June 20, 1902 – via Google Books.
  8. "Cárdenas | Cuba". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  9. "More than History – God's Unfolding Mission in Cárdenas, Cuba". The Outreach Foundation.
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  11. "Municipio de Cárdenas, Matanzas, Cuba". www.guije.com.
  12. "Letter from Cuba 1851". July 8, 2014.
  13. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C; Selected Passenger and Crew Lists and Manifests. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com. New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA (25 Jul 1898). Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902 (Report). The National Archives at Washington, D.C. Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group Number 85.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  14. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Ancestry.com, U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA (5 September 1919). Francisco Eduardo Cazanas in the U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 (Report). Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. p. Certificate Number 117007. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Volume #: Volume 009: Cuba.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  15. Francisco Eduardo Cazanas in the U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907-1918 (Report). Ancestry.com. U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. 1 Sep 1908. Consular Registration Certificates, compiled 1907–1918. ARC ID: 1244186. General Records of the Department of State, 1763–2002, Record Group 59. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
  16. Department of State, Division of Passport Control Consular Registration Applications (19 Feb 1918). Francisco Eduardo Cazanas in the U.S., Consular Registration Applications, 1916-1925 (Report). Ancestry.com. U.S., Consular Registration Applications, 1916-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Roll #: 32734_649063_0241.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  17. https://www.myheritage.com/names/francisco_caza%C3%B1as
  18. "Francisco José Cazañas y Peraza Ancestry".
  19. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington D.C.; Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA (11 Jun 1918). Enriquita Garcia Cazañas in the U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 (Report). Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Roll #: 533; Volume #: Roll 0533 - Certificates: 21250-21499, 10 Jun 1918-12 Jun 1918.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  20. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA (3 Feb 1921). Enriquita Garcia Cazañas in the U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 (Report). Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Roll #: 1482; Volume #: Roll 1482 - Certificates: 137000-137375, 02 Feb 1921-03 Feb 1921.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  21. National Archives at Washington, D.C.; (1 Aug 1892). E Garcia in the New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 (Report). Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. p. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. Year: 1892; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Line: 9.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  22. National Archives at Washington, D.C. (5 May 1897). Enriqueta Garcia in the New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 (Report). Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. Line: 5. National Archives at Washington, D.C.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  23. Curran, Frank Bernard (June 20, 1925). "Motor Roads in Latin America". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  24. Wood), Cuba Military governor, 1899-1902 (Leonard (June 20, 1902). "Congressional Serial Set". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  25. "Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury: Transmitting Letter from the Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service Presenting a Report Relating to the Origin and Prevalence of Leprosy in the United States". U.S. Government Printing Office. June 20, 1902 – via Google Books.
  26. "Serial set (no.5001-5799)". June 20, 1908 – via Google Books.
  27. "$13,138 in 1908 → 2020 | Inflation Calculator". www.in2013dollars.com.
  28. "Dos Rosas".
  29. http://www.cubagen.org/mills.htm
  30. https://www.cubatechtravel.com/knowing_cuba/details/en/28555/Dos-Rosas-Town-Matanzas-Cuba
  31. https://dondeesta.biz/index.php?qcountry_code=CU&qregion_code=03&qcity=Pura%20y%20Limpia
  32. Rodríguez, Ignacio Uría (July 1, 2012). "Iglesia y revolución en Cuba: Enrique Pérez Serantes (1883-1968), el obispo que salvó a Fidel Castro". Encuentro – via Google Books.
  33. "THE WALL OF FACES". Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
  34. https://www.vvmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Cazanas-Diasz-Edwardo-obit.jpg
  35. "EXILIADO CUBANO MUERTO EN VIETNAM". Diario Las Americas. January 1967.
  36. "Edwardo Enrique Cazanas-Diaz : Specialist Four from Rhode Island, Vietnam War Casualty". www.honorstates.org.
  37. "Revolving Door: Pedro Pablo Permuy Employment Summary | OpenSecrets". www.opensecrets.org.
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