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From: (by way of Ed Elizondo <>)
Subject: Re: Owen in Santiago de Cuba, Ponce PR
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 16:14:45 -0700


This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.

Surnames: Owen, Alvarez
Classification: Query

Message Board URL:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRC.2ACE/3785.1.1.1

Message Board Post:

Dear Ms. Fundichelly,

Firstly, please allow me to tell you that I am quite shocked. I have had
to catch my breath in order to calm down enough to give a reply.

Slave trade was outlawed in 1862, I believe. In fact, I was just reading a
book on the history of Havana wherein it is stated that slaves working on a
mansion in Havana claimed right to wages because they were being held as
slaves, although they were purchased after 1862, at which time slave trade
was declared illegal in Cuba.

The British enforced laws by coming to Cuba and counting the slaves, but
the Spaniards would claim that the count had increased due to births in
slavery. I assume that means that slaves could be born into slavery if
their parents were purchased before that date on which slave trade was
prohibited. Also, the Spanish would sometimes lie to appease the counting
authorities.

I did hear a person (Mrs. Wirshing, a widow from Ponce) tell me of sugar
mills run by the Owen family in Puerto Rico. I do not believe that branch
would include anyone from whom I am directly descended, as my grandfather
was an only child and his father owned another kind of business in Ponce.

In fact, my grandfather would tell of meeting the African-descended and
native people of the islands, of appreciating their customs, and he married
my grandmother, who as your grandmother was the daughter of a person born
into slavery, in her case of the Hierrezuelo family of Santiago de
Cuba. Her father fought in the Liberation army and my grandfather was his
admirer as well as an admirer of the "Titan de Bronze" Antonio Maceo.

This does not negate the possibility that his father, my great-grandfather,
could have had brothers who owned slaves. We have not kept touch with that
family and in the past I have not been successful in getting replies from
my correspondence to them. My grandfather came to Cuba young and did not
remember, since they left Puerto Rico even before that.

This is still a mystery to me, but the possibility of a schism in the
family has always shadowed my prior queries into the Owen family in
Ponce. My grandfather never returned there despite living in the United
States for over two decades. He did return to Puerto Rico, but not to
Ponce. Many would try to convince him but he would not discuss it at all.

I guess this is my cross to bear. I hope to find my mother's cousins, who
today appear to be in public relations and leaders in their community, and
to embrace my family. I did meet one member of the family many years ago,
but we lost track of him.

At least I feel comfortable that my grandfather never took an inheritance
from that family. Land records cannot be taken out of Cuba when one leaves
in a hurry. His very happy marriage to my grandmother and his love of his
adopted land make us rich because we are proud of our roots.

My grandfather resigned the Cuban army in the 1950s when he, a tall and
elegant soldier, stood outside Batista's door and listened to things he
felt were detrimental to his commander-in-chief. His belief was that his
children, mulatto also, should not have to hear lies and be used as puppets
one day; his president should be treated with dignity.

For the above reasons I feel a little relieved that we are not directly
involved. However, it is sad that your great-grandmother was deemed
anyone's property at all. Your statement has made me more aware of certain
possibilities in the Owen background, but it also makes me glad that my
grandfather, in the end a very humble man despite decades of honorable
service in the Cuban military, was a son a seafaring man and not a
mill-owner.

I appreciate your prompt and informative response.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Ines Diaz-Owen



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