| In addition to being the
place where possibly Christopher Columbus landed (Guayanilla in 1493),
the Yauco region was also the place where the US Forces invaded Puerto
Rico the 25th of July 1898. The landing took place in the port of Guánica,
which then was part of Yauco. Yauco was thus the first American town in
Puerto Rico. The Yauco region was also the scene of the first battle of
the Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico when soldiers from Company G of
the 6th Illinois Infantry Regiment exchanged fire with soldiers of the
Spanish Patria Battalion. The combat took place 26 July 1898 near the hacienda
Desideria owned by Antonio Mariani. By the evening of that day American
forces had occupied Yauco and the next day Francisco Mejía Rodriguez
and Francisco Negroni Nigaglioni were given the task of organizing the
new municipal government in Yauco. |
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most characteristic note of Yauco's population is the presence of large
numbers of Corsicans. Of the 128 foreigners that came to Yauco in the 19th
century, 115 were Corsicans! A total of at least 379 Corsicans came to
Puerto Rico in the 19th century; therefore, Yauco absorbed almost one third
of that total. This is the reason why iin Puerto Rico, Yauco is also known
as a "Corsican town". Yauco is also recognized as a "learned town": even
though it is 18th in population size, it ranks 6th in the number of newspapers
published (over 50). Some of these publications have attracted world renowned
writers such as the Nobel laurate Gabriela Mistral. |
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The founder of the Negroni Family
in Puerto Rico was Antoine Francois de Negroni de San Colombano (Castle
of San Colombano, born 1794, died in Yauco, 2 April 1861). Upon his arrival
in Puerto Rico he changed his name to Antonio Francisco Negroni Mattei.
Although his passport indicates that he was born in 1794, his death record
would indicate that he was born in 1801.
I am inclined to believe the date on his passport.
He married three times. His first marriage was 18 May 1826 in Yauco to
Rita Rodríguez de la Seda y López de Victoria (born in Yauco,
1808, died. in Yauco, 12 December 1839). She was the daughter of Pascual
Rodríguez de la Seda y López de Victoria (Yauco, 1756-Yauco,
22 January 1823), who had been the mayor of Yauco 1811-1817 and of Maria
Luisa López de Victoria (Yauco, 1772-Yauco, 18 November 1850). His
second marriage took place about 1840 in Yauco to Magdalena Contreras (Yauco,
1821-Yauco, 22 November 1848). His third marriage took place about
1857 to Epifanía Rodríguez de la Seda Valdés (Yauco,
1825-Yauco, 1877), daughter of Antonio Rodríguez de la Seda and
Juana Valdés Antonio Rodríguez de la Seda was mayor of Yauco
in 1836, 1842, and 1843. Juana Valdés was the daughter of Narciso
Valdés and granddaughter of José Valdés and Maria
Ana Aguayo Sotomayor. Epifanía was the niece of Estefania Rodríguez,
wife of Domingo Mattei (Antonio Francisco's uncle). |
Don Antonio Francisco
Negroni Mattei
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| Antonio
Francisco arrived in Puerto Rico on 1 June 1822 and on 24 October 1828
received his Letter of Naturalization. He rapidly integrated into the political
and military elite of Puerto Rico when eight years later he was appointed
commander of the Yauco Urban Militia Corps (Cuerpo de Milicias Urbanas),
serving in that capacity from 1830 to 1840. In 1838 he was also appointed
mayor of Yauco. He served as mayor from 1838 to 1843 and again In 1846.
In 1848 he was appointed by the Captain General of Puerto Rico as Teniente
a guerra (supreme civil and military authority in the town of Yauco). From
1847 to his death in 1861, he was also it corresponding member of the prestigious
Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País (Economic Society of
Friends of the Country), an organization devoted to the improvement of'
the Puerto Rican economy. |
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devoted his life to agriculture and in 1840 he established his hacienda
Florida in the outskirts of Yauco on the road to Barrio Barinas (Carretera
335 Ramal, Km 0.3). This plantation was built on land formerly owned by
the Pacheco de Matos family and originally contained an ox driven sugar
mill. Six years latter this plantation was Yauco's largest with an area
of 940 cuerdas (approximately 970 acres), worked by 38 slaves and having
a declared capital of 23,661 pesos. For comparison purposes, it should
he noted that the Governor and Captain General of Puerto Rico had a monthly
salary of 183 pesos! By 1851, Antonio Francisco Negroni Mattei had 41 slaves.
To irrigate his plantation, Antonio Francisco constructed Puerto Rico's
first irrigation system in 1850. In 1852 he sold the hacienda Florida to
Juan María Antongiorgi. Later it was inherited by Juan Maria's son,
Angelino Antongiorgi and and by his wife Lucia Boagna. Shortly thereafter
Antonio Francisco founded another sugar plantation, hacienda San Colombano,
in the Barrio Playa of the town of Guayanilla. The cholera epidemic of
1856 was a severe blow to Antonio Francisco's agricultural enterprises
because it killed most of his slaves. In December 1862 San Colombano was
sold to the firm Tirado & Labarthe. This plantation was later incorporated
into the San Francisco sugar mill or, in Spanish, central. Antonio Francisco
was also a coffee grower and his coffee plantation La Fortuna in Barrio
Indiera Alta in Maricao was inherited by his daughter Maria Luisa and from
there passed into the Lluch Family by marriage. |
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| Antonio
Francisco owned two principal residences. His masonry (mampostería)
town home is today known as Casa Agostini and is located on the west side
and in the middle of the block of Calle Santo Domingo (today's San Rafael,
also known as Rafael Gatell) between Calle Comercio and Calle Amistad (today's
Santiago Vivaldi). |
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Home of Don Antonio Francisco Negroni Mattei
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| His daughter Maria Victoria Negroni Rodríguez
(1838-1900) who married Ignacio Agostini later inherited this residence.
Antonio Francisco also constructed a two story masonry country home in
his hacienda La Florida which allegedly was one of the finest in Puerto
Rico. In 1892, the Yauco Railroad Station was constructed between the town
and the hacienda. The masonry home was demolished in the 1960's in order
to construct the new Highway 2, south of Yauco. The home was located on
the intersection of Highway 2 and Road 335. |
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Don Juan Antonio Negroni Rodríguez
"Don Toto"
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His son, Juan Antonio "Don Toto"
Negroni Rodríguez (Yauco, 1834-Yauco, 10 August 1886) continued
the senior Negroni line in Puerto Rico. About 1860, he married Francisca
Lluberas de Torres (Yauco, ca. 1834-Yauco-13 March 1902), daughter of Jose
Francisco Lluberas Mitchans and Lorenza Faustina de Torres López
de Victoria. Francisca was a sister of Geronimo Lluberas and cousin to
Arturo Lluberas. Jose Francisco was the Mayor of Yauco 1843-47. Don Toto
was the mayor of Yauco 1877-79 and built a home in the corner of Calle
Comercio, between Calle Santo Domingo (today's San Rafael or Rafael Gatell)
and Calle Francisco Mejia. Upon Don Toto's death this house was donated
to the Dominican Priests of Yauco to be their parish house. His son, Andrés
Rutilio Negroni Lluberas continued the senior Negroni line. |
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Home of Don Juan Antonio
"Don Toto" Negroni Rodríguez
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| Andrés Rutilio "Billo" Negroni
Lluberas (Guayanilla, Yauco 4 June 1859-Yauco 27 November 1928) married
in Guayanilla on 3 June 1882 Dolores "Billa" Rodríguez Rodríguez
(Yauco ca. 1860-San Juan ca. 1950). She was the daughter of Elias
Rodríguez Torres and Maria Modesta Rodríguez Rodriguez.
The genealogy of both Rodríguez families call be traced in Yauco
to the early 1700's. Andrés was known as "Billo" and Dolores was
known as "Billa". The origin of this nickname is very simple since Andrés'
middle name (Rutilio) means "resplendent" or "shiny". From this, the family
started saying that he shone like a jewel. A jewel in French is a "Bijoux"
and from there we find the Spanish pronunciation of his nickname Billo
and the feminine equivalent Billa. Andrés owned and operated a land
transport company, the sugar cane plantation Dolores in Barrio Jácana,
a traveling amusement center, and also had lime kilns (hornos de cal) on
his property. He was very active in Puerto Rican politics and, in 1904,
was a leader of the Republican (conservative or supporters of statehood
for Puerto Rico) wing of the Union of Puerto Rico Party |
Don Andres Rutilio Negroni Lluberas
"Billo"
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