My African Ancestors and Slave-Owning Ancestors in Colombia

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NOTE: This blog entry was started in October 2022 but backdated to 2009.

"Iolofos, berbesíes, mandingas y fulos; otros fulupos, otros banunes, o fulupos que llaman bootes, otros casangas y banunes puros, otros branes, balantas, biafaras y biojos, otros nalus, otros zapes, cocolíes y zozoes."

In 1627, a Jesuit priest in Cartagena, Colombia wrote this list of the West African nationalities represented among the city's enslaved Africans. It hints at the complexity of a small but important part of my family history. I have ancestors who were born in West Africa who left their homes by force and endured the genocide of Transatlantic slavery. They survived the horrific Middle Passage that killed about 15% of slaves and the first "seasoning" year of enslavement that killed another similar percentage.

These ancestors of mine survived, raised children, and died in a foreign land. I have yet to find any of these African ancestors' names, or find any proof of which Colombian ancestors of mine had African ancestory, but my DNA ancestry tests indisuptably show my markers inherited from West Africa an unknown number of generations ago. 

A number of ancestors on all branches of my Colombian family owned enslaved people, exploited their labor to build intergenerational wealth, and in some cases exploited them sexually. This page is to honor my enslaved ancestors and to remember the people held in bondage by my slaveholder ancestors, and all the enslaved people who resisted their bondage.

It's significant that even in my limited research I found two riveting stories of Afro-Colombian resistance. Pablo Mayorga (died 1771) of San Gil and Rafael Godoy (fl.1822) of Cartagena were both sentenced to death for crimes committed in self-defense. Pablo, a freeman, killed a man who had assaulted his wife. Rafael, an enslaved man, injured the man who claimed to own him. The people who were considered "slaves" found many ways to subvert or sabotage their so-called captivity. 

This blog entry is a small gesture to represent and reclaim generations of lost family history. I can't even begin to imagine the centuries' worth of unknown ancestors' stories of resilience, sorrow, anger, strength, and joy. 

Sankofa bird, a symbol of the Akan people of Ghana representing how looking back to the past can guide us as we move into the future. (Source: Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition)

Here are some resources helping me learn more about this African and Afro-Caribbean history: 

- The Beyond Kin Project (For genealogists who descend from slave owners)

- Tracing Center (Focusing on the U.S. role in the transatlantic slave trade)

- Geografía Humana de Colombia: Los Afrocolombianos, "Demografía histórica de la trata por Cartagena 1533-1810"

- Aline Helg, Liberty and Equality in Caribbean Colombia, 1770-1835

- Alonso de Sandoval: Treatise on Slavery, translated by Nicole von Germeten

- Tracing African Roots: "Documented African Roots of Dominicans"
- David Wheat: "The Afro-Portuguese Maritime World and the Foundations of Spanish Caribbean Society, 1570-1640" 

It's scientifically impossible to determine from DNA exactly where my African ancestors lived, but the most specific test so far (AncestryDNA) has found genetic similarities between me and the people of:

1. "East Central" Nigeria. They most likely mean the Igbo people, but it could also be the Yoruba people. Regardless, Nigeria is a very diverse country. 

2. Ivory Coast & Ghana. Most likely the Akan people, but Ghana is also a very diverse country. 

African populations that match my DNA, 2022

West Africa, 1625

DNA admixture tests can only give clues about a person's ancestry from about three centuries back, and it's interesting that my African genetics reflect the main populations who suffered during 18th-century British-dominated chattel slavery: the Akan and Igbo peoples. I probably have African ancestors stretching further back in the colonial period, but their individual contributions to my genetics can't be traced. 

"Waves" of African captives taken to Cartagena (1570-1640), from David Wheat's: "The Afro-Portuguese Maritime World and the Foundations of Spanish Caribbean Society" 

Most slaves entered Colombia through the port of Cartagena de Indias. From the early 1500s to 1570s, the majority of the approximately 3,000 Africans who arrived came from the Wolof-speaking nations in what is now Senegambia and from Sierra Leone. Enslaved people from this region were called by the cartageneros "gente de los Ríos de Guinea" or "negros de ley."   

Diorama of slave market in the Museo Histórico de Cartagena de Indias

Returning to the list of nationalities of enslaved Guineos written by the Jesuit priest Alonso de Sandoval in 1627, historian Nicole von Germeten has done an admirable job of identifying these groups:   

Iolofos - Wolofs

Berbesíes - Siin people of western Senegal 

Mandingas - Mandika, or Mande people, including the founders of the Mali Empire in the 1200s 

Fulos, Fulupos - Fula, or Fulbe people of Senegal, "who built a large empire in the 1700s in Senegal and Mali"

Banunes - Bainuk, or Banhuns, who live in Senegambia and Guinea-Bissau

Bootes - An unidentified people who lived near the mouth of the Gambia River. 

Casangas - Casangas lived on the Casamance River. "Their king in the 1500s, Mansa Tamba, was heavily involved in the slave trade in Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau." 

Branes - Probably the Mankanya, or Brames people of Guinea-Bissau

Balantas, Biafaras, Biojos - Balanta peoples in the Senegambia/Guinea-Bissau region

Nalus - Nalu people from Guinea-Conkery in southern Guinea-Bissau

Zapes - A Spanish umbrella term for different peoples from coastal Sierra Leone

Cocolíes, Zozoes - Subgroups of the Zape

Map of western and central African cultural groups, from Nicole von Germeten's translation of "Treatise on slavery" by Alonso de Sandoval (1627).

Between 1580 and 1640, the largest group of African slaves arrived in Colombia, numbering at least 169,000 according to historian Nicolás del Castillo Mathieu. The majority were Kikongo-speaking Africans from Congo and Angola. 

After 1640, the Dutch gained control of the slave trade, and then French and English traders dominated in the 18th century. As said earlier, the majority of captives from this later period were from central-west Africa, including the Ewe people (from modern Ghana, Togo, and Benin), Akan people (from modern Ghana and Ivory Coast), and Igbo people (from modern Nigeria). Simón Bolívar enacted a law in 1821 that freed children born to slaves, and slavery was finally abolished in Colombia in 1851.

Left: Igbo monumental statues. Right: Akan memorial head (Ntiri)

At an unknown point in time, my ancestors became free, joining the libres de todos los colores (free people of color) who made up the majority of the population of 18th-century Caribbean Colombia. Africans and their black and mixed-race descendants took many paths to freedom. While some slaves bought their own freedom and some owners practiced manumission, many other slaves escaped bondage and often settled in lands beyond the reach of the cities. Cimarrones (runaway slaves) formed informal settlements called rochelas or walled villages called palenques, where they could speak African-derived dialects and defend themselves from colonial soldiers. According to historian Aline Helg, the 1777 census showed that about two-thirds of the people living outside the region's main cities and at least 90% of people in villages along the Magdalena River were libres de todos los colores (free people of color).

A genetic study of the inhabitants of San Basilio de Palenque, the only palenque that is still extant, suggests that the residents' genetic origins are in Congo or Angola, and the local Palenquero dialect has words that probably stem from Yombe, a Kikongo language spoken in Congo.

 

San Basilio de Palenque (Source: Coronatours.com.co)

My family tree has an unknown number of people who were libres de todos los colores, descended from Africans, cimarrones, indigenous people, and a number of other ethnicities. The range of skin tones in the Caribbean coast is evidence of this mixing of peoples. Our Afro-Colombian ancestors' heritage still lives on in the village of San Basilio de Palenque and the region's son de negro dance, one version of which depicts cimarrones wielding machetes.

Map of palenques on the Caribbean coast of Nueva Granada (source) 

JUAN COHEN: A SLAVE OWNER WHO CAPTURED A SLAVE SHIP

My 4th-great-grandfather Juan Cohen (c.1786-1869) settled in El Carmen de Bolívar, a town by the Montes de María, a small Colombian mountain range with a large number of palenques. Juan Cohen was a planter and merchant of Jewish descent who was born in Bristol, England and lived in Jamaica by 1810.

Juan Cohen first came to Colombia around 1813, at the start of a metaphorical gold rush. The city-state of Cartagena, Colombia, which had declared independence from Spain in 1811, issued privateering licenses to ship captains, allowing for legalized piracy on the Caribbean. (For more on these privateers of Cartagena, read No Limits to Their Sway by Edgardo Pérez Morales.)

Many of the ships sailing under the flag of Cartagena, and later Gran Colombia, were previously used by slave traders. In particular, Captain John Cohen commanded the General Padilla, a "Colombian private armed schooner" named after José Prudencio Padilla. The ship was previously owned by George DeWolf (or George D'Wolf, 1778-1844) of Bristol, Rhode Island, an infamous shipping magnate who had only recently stopped illegally smuggling enslaved people. The DeWolf family was the most successful slave-trading family of the United States, bringing around 12,000 enslaved Africans on the Middle Passage between 1769 to 1820.

Juan Cohen's most disturbing privateering involved the capture of La Pensée, a French brigantine smuggling 240 enslaved Africans. This ship was captured in November 1821 by El Centinela, “a private vessel of war, cruising under the flag of Colombia and commanded by [Peter] J. Bradford” and owned by "Kirkland and Cohen, of Santa Martha." 

Shortly afterwards, the USS Hornet, a U.S. brig commanded by Captain Robert Henley, captured the Centinela and brought the Colombian ship, French ship, and the enslaved Africans to New Orleans. Juan Cohen fought in the New Orleans courts, saying the 240 African captives were his rightful loot. Historian Jonathan Bryant reports that La Pensée had 270 captives when it left Africa, so 30 people had died in the Middle Passage. 

Part of the infamous 1787 diagram of a British slave ship, showing 292 slaves. The French slave ship La Pensée had 270 enslaved people on board upon leaving Africa in 1821.

In March 1822, a New Orleans district court judge ruled that “Kirkland and Cohen, of Santa Martha” were legal privateers and the rightful owners of La Pensée and its enslaved captives. President James Monroe personally intervened in the case and ordered the French ship and enslaved people be sent to France. Historian Jonathan Bryant said by the time the French legal system condemned the illegal slavers in July 1822, "only 160 captives remained alive of the 270 La Pensée loaded in Africa."

Cartagena's notarial records also note several enslaved people bought and sold by Juan Cohen during the 1830s and 1840s. They included: 

Juan José - A man sold by Juan Cohen to Ramón Benedetti in 1831 in Cartagena.

Pedro - A man bought by Juan Cohen from Juan Burke in 1831 in Cartagena in 1831. In 1837, Juan Cohen donated Mariano to his own son, Juan Agustín Cohen, who was 10 or 11 years old at the time. 

Mariano - A man bought by Juan Cohen from Roberto M. Key, a landowner in Quibdó, Colombia, in 1835. In 1837, Juan Cohen donated Mariano to his own son, Juan Agustín Cohen.

Juan José Rebelo - This man was listed as collateral for an 1839 mortgage issued by Juan Cohen's firm, Cohen & Carles. Juan Cohen then bought Juan José Rebelo in March 1843 and then sold him in September 1843. 

Now I look back at the family history of enslavement, which even predates the conquest of the Americas! 

BEFORE COLUMBUS: THE CANARY ISLANDS

Even before the conquest of the Americas, Iberians and other European navigators regularly visited the Canary Islands from the 1340s onward, mostly to enslave the indigenous Guanches. It eerily mirrored the Portuguese enslavement of West Africans a century later, just as the cruel conquest and agricultural exploitation of the Canary Islands in the 1400s would be repeated a century by the conquest and agricultural exploitation of the Caribbean and Latin America. 

Guadarfía - King of the Majos, inhabitants of Titerogakaet / Titeroigatra, a.k.a. Lanzarote, the first of the Canary Islands conquered by Europeans. Guadarfía escaped slavers six times before Jean de Béthencourt's expedition invaded his island in 1402. Béthencourt's men created and broke a peace treaty within a few months, and even though chroniclers estimate that there were only 200 Majo warriors on Lanzarote at the time, Guadarfía still led armed resistance for over a year. In January 1404 Guadarfía finally surrendered, received baptism, and took the new name "Luis de Guadarfrá." The daughter of Guadarfía, Teguise, married the nephew of Jean de Béthencourt, and were the supposed ancestors of the Conde de Santa Cruz de la Torre, in turn a supposed ancestor of my grandmother.

PEOPLE HELD IN BONDAGE BY MY CONQUISTADOR ANCESTORS 

Surviving 16th-century documentation on enslavement in Colombia can be found in the website of Colombia's Archivo General de la Nación and the notarial records of Pamplona in Norte de Santander, which are digitized on FamilySearch.org. 

Slave Owner: Juan Muñoz de Collantes (1501-fl.1559)  
My 13th-great-grandfather, who served as regidor, alcalde, and procurador of Bogotá and the husband of Francisca Inga, niece of the Inca Huaina Capac. 

Six enslaved Africans - A surviving 1548 document shows Juan's request to import six people from Africa to work his lands. 

Slave Owner: Bernardino Fernández de Peñalosa (1530?-fl.1604)
My 11th-great-grandfather, an encomendero and resident of Pamplona, Colombia.

Juancho (born c.1576) - A 6-year-old boy sold by Bernardino Fernández de Peñalosa in 1592. 

Pedro (fl.1589) - A man originally from the nación Zape (the Sapi people of Sierra Leone) sold by Bernardino Fernández de Peñalosa.

Miguel (fl.1589) - A man originally from the "nación Zape" sold by Bernardino Fernández de Peñalosa.

PEOPLE HELD IN BONDAGE BY MY SANTANDER ANCESTORS 

While Santander Department in Colombia was not a major center of slaveholding, the early Spanish and mestizo settlers in the area enslaved people for labor, and used their captives as a source of collateral for mortgages and other transactions. A lot of business transactions involving slaves are preserved in the notarial records of San Gil, Barichara, Zapatoca, Girón, and other towns, which are digitized on FamilySearch.org. Another excellent case study of 17th- and 18th-century slaves and slaveowners in the town of Girón, Santander is "Esclavos y libertos en la jurisdicción de Girón, 1682-1750" by Yoer Javier Castaño Pareja.

Slave Owner: Damiana Pérez de Rosales (c.1571-c.1647)
My 10th- and 11th- and 12th-great-grandmother (yes, the Rueda family tree doesn't branch), widow of the merchant Cristóbal de Rueda, the immigrant Spaniard who founded the Rueda family in Colombia. She is listed with her "servants" in the 1620 census of Tunja, Colombia. 

Alonso (fl. 1620) - A man described as mulato who was probably a servant but may have been a slave.

Isabel (fl. 1620) - An Indian woman who was probably a servant but may have been a slave.

Felipa (fl. 1620) - An Indian woman who was probably a servant but may have been a slave.

Catalina (fl. 1620) - An Indian woman who was probably a servant but may have been a slave.

Juana (fl. 1620) - An Indian woman who was probably a servant but may have been a slave.

Isabel (fl. 1620) - A second Indian woman with the same Spanish name who was probably a servant, but may have been a slave.


Slave Owner: Alonso de Rueda Rosales (c.1605? - 1681)
My 9th- and 10th- and 11th-great-grandfather (yes, the Rueda family tree doesn't branch), who was born in Tunja, Colombia and an early settler of Guane. His 1681 will appears in Girón records.

Susana (born 1631?) - A woman described as de nación angola (of the Angola people). She appeared in a 1671 inventory of Gerónima Ramírez's dowry, but was not mentioned in Alonso's 1681 will, probably indicating she was dead. 

Teodora (born c.1657) - A daughter of Susana (probably the one mentioned above), who was inherited by Gerónima Ramírez de Poveda from her late husband Alonso. She was described in Alonso's probate case as nursing a baby girl (con una criada al pecho) named María.

María (fl.1681) - A daughter of Teodora and granddaughter of Susana, who was inherited by Gerónima Ramírez de Poveda from her late husband Alonso.

Jacinta (born c.1661) - A daughter of Susana (probably the one mentioned above), who was inherited by Gerónima Ramírez de Poveda from her late husband Alonso. 

Salvador (born 1678, baptized 1679 in Guane) - son of Jacinta, grandson of Susana.

María (baptized 1684 in Guane) - Daughter of Jacinta, grandson of Susana, who was owned by Alonso's widow, Gerónima Ramírez de Poveda.

Gracia (born 1631?, fl. 1681) - A woman who Alonso de Rueda Sarmiento mortgaged to help launch his son Alonso's career as a priest. The younger Alonso also got "4,000 pesos of his patrimony" and two farms (estancias) in Butaregua from his father. 

Miguel (born 1652?, called mulato) was probably the son of Gracia baptized in 1664. He was 4 years old when Margarita Sarmiento died, and was valued at 120 patacones, or less than Alonso de Rueda's copper pot. When Miguel was presumably grown and worth 400 patacones, he was given by Alonso to his son, Nicolás de Rueda Sarmiento.

Julián (born 1640?, fl. 1681) - A man who Alonso de Rueda Sarmiento mortgaged to help launch his son Alonso's career as a priest. 

Andrés (born 1638?) was 18 years old when Margarita Sarmiento died, and was valued at 400 patacones. He may have been by Alonso de Rueda Sarmiento to his son, Cristóbal de Rueda Sarmiento, when he married Francisca Sarmiento. This enslaved man was then sold by Cristóbal to Alférez Pedro Balduz.

Isidro, described as a mulato man, was given by Alonso to his son, Pablo de Rueda Sarmiento.

Juan (born 1650?, called mulato) was given by Alonso to his son, Bernardo de Rueda Sarmiento.

Bartolomé (born 1650?, called negro), was 6 years old when Margarita Sarmiento died, and was valued at 150 patacones, or less than Alonso de Rueda's copper pot. When Bartolomé was presumably grown and worth 400 pesos, he was given by Alonso to his son, Francisco de Rueda Sarmiento.

Gerbasia (born 1661?, called mulata), a 10-year-old  slave worth 300 patacones, was given by Alonso to his daughter, Bárbara de Rueda Sarmiento, when she married Captain Juan de Amaya.

An unnamed 80-year-old woman (born 1601?, described as negra) was not mentioned in Alonso's will but a subsequent probate inventory. Given her age, this woman could have possibly raised Alonso from childhood. The inventory coldly says that the woman was "not profitable or of any service," so that is why she was previously overlooked.


Slave Owner: Manuel Gómez Romano (born c.1616)
My 8th- and 9th-great-grandfather, born in Portugal and migrated to Vélez, Colombia. 

Susana - A woman whose children are listed below.

María (born c.1656, baptized 1658 in Guane) - Daughter of Susana.

Ciprian (born c.1657, baptized 1660 in Vélez) - Son of Susana.

Marcos (born and baptized 1662 in Guane) - Son of Susana. 

Esteban (born c.1678, baptized 1680 in Guane) - Son of Susana. 

Slave Owner: Martín Díaz Sarmiento (born c.1633)
My 10th-great-grandfather, an early settler of San Gil.

Cristina - Mother of Juana, seen below.

Juana (born c.1657, baptized 1669 in Guane) - Daughter of Cristina

Florentina - Mother of Juana, seen below.

Juana (born c.1671, baptized 1677 in Guane) - Daughter of Florentina

Slave Owner: Gracia Díaz Sarmiento (1643-1733)
My 10th-great-grandmother, who was born in Moncora (Guane) and died in Girón. 

Victoria - The mother of Ignacio, seen below. 

Ignacio (born c.1693) - A six-year-old boy sold by Gracia in 1699. 

Alejandro (born c.1722) - A 10-year-old boy sold by Gracia to her grandchildren in 1732.

Laureana (born c.1726) - A 6-year-old girl sold by Gracia to her grandchildren in 1732.

Slave Owner: Bernardo de Rueda Sarmiento (c.1646-1720)
My 8th-, 9th-, and 10th-great-grandfather, an early settler of San Gil.

Juana - A woman whose children are listed below.

Nicolasa (born c.1679, baptized 1680 in Guane) - Daughter of Juana. 

Salvador (born c.1691, baptized 1695 in Guane) - Son of Juana. 

Francisco (born c.1688), a man mortgaged by Bernardo in 1710.

Juana (born c.1700) - Another woman first owned by Bernardo and his wife Cecilia, and the owned by Bernardo's son-in-law, Miguel de Orejarena.

Slave Owner: Juan de Amaya Villaroel (died c.1689)
My 10th-great-grandfather, who wrote his will in San Gil.

Gerbasia (born 1661?) - A woman called mulata, originally owned by Juan's father-in-law, Alonso de Rueda Sarmiento.

Juliana (born 1679, baptized 1680 in Guane) - Daughter of Gerbasia.

Serafina - a woman mentioned in Juan's probate record in 1691.

Slave Owners: José Martín Moreno & Jerónima de Meneses
My 9th- and 10th-great-grandparents, who married in 1673 in Chanchón (now Socorro), Colombia and settled in San Gil, Colombia. José wrote his will in 1696 and the probate case occurred in 1708. 

Juana (born c.1680) - A woman described as mulata, listed in the 1696 will of José Martín Moreno, bought for 400 silver pesos.

Lorenza (born c.1684) - A woman described in 1708 as a mulata mother of two children, aged 4 years old and 5 months.

Gabriela (born c.1715) - A 7-year-old girl described in 1722 as a mulatica, who José and Jerónima forced to be in the dowry of their daughter Manuela Martín Moreno as she married Juan Fernández Silva. 

Slave Owner: Bernardo de Arenas (died 1704)
My 9th-great-grandfather, who wrote his will in 1704 and died in San Gil, Colombia.

Lucía - A woman described as "negra" who Bernardo de Arenas owned at the time of his first marriage, and who raised his children from both his marriages. Bernardo wanted Lucía freed after his death.

Martín - This boy originally was owned by Bernardo's mother, then as a mulatillo roughly 10 years old was inherited by Bernardo. Martín was subsequently sold to Cristóbal de Luengas Palacios. 

A teenage boy - Nameless in Bernardo's will, described as a mulatico age 12 to 14 years old, who was part of the dowry of Bernardo's daughter, Inés de Arenas y Zabala.

Teodora  (born c.1679) - A woman described as mulata, who was inherited by Bernardo's son, Lorenzo de Arenas y Zabala.

A young girl (born c.1701) - Nameless in the 1704 will, described as a mulatica. She was inherited by Bernardo's son, my 8th-great-grandfather Felipe de Arenas y Zabala.

Slave Owner: Antonio Tomás de la Parra Cano (c.1657-1729)
My 8th-great-grandfather, born in Guane and died in San Gil. Antonio wrote his will in 1729 and the probate case occurred in 1731. 

Martín (born c.1701) - A man listed in the 1729 will and 1731 probate record.

Alonso (born c.1705) - A man listed in the 1729 will and 1731 probate record.

Salvador (born c.1716) - A boy listed in the 1729 will and 1731 probate record.

Gracía (born c.1695) - A woman listed in the 1729 will and 1731 probate record.

Antonia (born c.1722) - A girl listed in the 1729 will and 1731 probate record, who may have been the daughter of Gracia, seen above.

Sebastián (born c.1726) -  A boy listed in the 1729 will and 1731 probate record, who may have been the son of Gracia, seen above.

Juan (born c.1730) - A boy listed in the 1731 probate record, who may have been the son of Gracia, seen above.

Slave Owner: Alonso de Rueda Sarmiento (1678-1721)
My 8th-great-grandfather, born in Guane, Colombia and died in San Gil, Colombia, who wrote his will in 1720. 

Salvador (born c.1688) - A man described as mulato, who was part of dowry for the marriage of Alonso and his wife, Francisca Ortíz Navarro, and was mortgaged by Alonso in 1710. Salvador had died by the time Alonso wrote his will in 1720.

Lorenzo (fl. 1720) - A man described as mulato.

Petronila (fl. 1720) - A woman described as mulata, and the mother of Juana and Domingo, seen below.

Juana (fl. 1720) - The young daughter of Petronila.

Domingo (fl. 1720) - The young son of Petronila.

Slave Owners: José Serrano Solano y González (c.1681-1755) and Lucía Gómez Farelo y Pineda (1699-1795)
My 7th-great-grandparents, early settlers of Zapatoca. José arranged for the first Mass celebrated in Zapatoca in 1739, and this devout Catholic based his agricultural livelihood on slave labor.

Seven people - In 1760, Lucía helped petition for Zapatoca to have its own priest and parish, and she mortgaged 7 of her slaves to aid the process (as noted in Isaías Ardila's "El pueblo de los Guanes"). 

Slave Owner: Captain Pablo Gómez Romano de la Parra (1687-1773)
My 6th- and 7th-great-grandfather, who lived in San Gil and Barichara.

Juana (born c.1727) - A 10-year-old girl sold by Pablo to Luis Martínez de Ponte.

Bárbara (born c. 1738) - A woman described as mulata.

Slave Owner: Miguel de Orejarena (died 1766) 
My 7th-great-grandfather, who lived in San Gil.

Juana (born c.1700) - A woman originally owned by Miguel's in-laws, Bernardo de Rueda and Catalina Sarmiento, who was sold in 1725 in Socorro by Miguel to Juan Gómez Farelo. This may also be the same Juana sold in 1727 in Socorro by Miguel to Juan Gómez Farelo. 

Slave Owner: María Ortíz de Zárate 
My 9th-great-grandmother, an early settler of San Gil.

Leandro (fl.1723) - A man described as mulato. He was sold by María to pay a fine for her husband, Juan de León Santana, who was punished for hiding enslaved people (who were probably smuggled).

Basilio (fl.1723) - A man described as mulato. He was sold by María to pay a fine for her husband, Juan de León Santana, who was punished for hiding enslaved people (who were probably smuggled).

Slave Owners: Jacinto Gómez Farelo y Pineda (born 1697) and Úrsula Serrano Solano y González (c.1696-1768) 
My 7th-great-grandparents

One enslaved person (fl.1733) - Jacinto and Úrsula mortgaged this person for 300 patacones (gold coins), according to Castaño Pareja. 

Slave Owner: The priest Pablo Antonio Gómez Farelo y Pineda (died 1766)
My 8th-great-uncle, a priest who led the parish of Zapatoca from 1760-1762 and then died in Barichara. 

Rosa (born c.1705) - A woman who Pablo bought in 1724 and who served as his housekeeper and herded his goats. The historian Yoer Javier Castaño Pareja notes that in 1750, one of Rosa's goats escaped and injured the wife of a town official in Girón, and Rosa got into an argument with the injured woman. Rosa was then captured, jailed, not offered any help from a lawyer or her priestly master, and sentenced to 10 years' exile.   

Slave Owner: Pedro Antonio de la Plata Moreno (1712-1765)
My 8th-great-uncle, born in Socorro, mayor of San Gil in 1765. 

Pedro Antonio de la Plata was stabbed to death by Pablo Mayorga, an Afro-Colombian described as "color pardo" (brown). Court documents suggest that Pedro had tried to seduce Mayorga's wife days before the stabbing. Later historians wrote that Pedro was stabbed by his own slave, which is false. Mayorga was sentenced to death in 1770 and died in jail the following year. Pedro was the grandfather of Antonia Santos Plata (1782-1819), the heroine and guerrilla leader who died for Colombia's independence, and the great-great-great-grandfather of el Conde de Cuchicute, José María de Rueda y Gómez (1871-1945). His descendants also include Presidents Eduardo Santos and Juan Manuel Santos and their families.

Slave Owner: Antonio de Acevedo y Durán (c.1702-1790) 
My 7th-great-grandfather, an early settler of Zapatoca.

Slave Owner: Melchor de la Prada y Arenas Mendoza (c.1711-1789)
My 7th-great-grandfather, one of the founders of Zapatoca.

Felipe & Luisa (died 1744) - Two enslaved people owned by Melchor who were killed by lightning. 

Salvador (born c.1768) - A boy sold by Melchor in 1772.

Mariano (born c.1766) - A boy bought by Melchor in 1772. 

Slave Owner: Juan de la Cruz de Rueda y Gómez (c.1725-1800)
My 7th-great-grandfather, and the nephew of Alonso de Rueda Sarmiento (1678-1721), seen above. Juan de la Cruz was a wealthy tobacco farmer and landowner born in San Gil, Colombia. By the time of his death in 1800 in Zapatoca, Colombia, Juan de la Cruz owned 10 males slaves and 11 female slaves.

Juan Antonio (fl. 1768) - A man who married María Gregoria Quintero on September 12, 1768 in Zapatoca.

Feliciana (born c.1760s) - A woman whose partner was the freeman Juan José Millán and whose children included Isabel María Millán (bapt. 1783 in Zapatoca), Ignacio Patricio Millán (bapt. 1787 in Zapatoca), and José María Millán (bapt. 1789 in Zapatoca). One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Isabel María Millán (baptized 1783 in Zapatoca) - A young woman born to the freeman Juan José Millán and Feliciana, a slave woman. One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Ignacio Patricio Millán (baptized 1787 in Zapatoca) - A boy born to the freeman Juan José Millán and Feliciana, a slave woman. One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

José María Millán (baptized 1789 in Zapatoca) - A boy born to the freeman Juan José Millán and Feliciana, a slave woman. One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will. José María was sold on August 23, 1801 for 135 pesos by Juan de la Cruz de Rueda's grandson, Juan Agustín Rueda Gómez, to his father-in-law, José Joaquín Gómez.

Bernardo (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Martín (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Marcos (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Isidro (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Pedro (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Vicente (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Francisco (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Lino (fl. 1800) - One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Juana (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

María (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Ventura (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Isabel (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Ignacia (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Concepción (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Andrea (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Gulelma (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Encarnación (fl. 1800) - One of the 11 female enslaved people listed in the 1800 will.

Slave Owner: Francisco Javier Gómez Wandurraga (born 1744, fl.1809) 
My 6th-great-grandfather, and the son of Pablo Gómez Romano de la Parra, was born in San Gil, and owned the farm "Agua-Blanca," near Barichara.

Bárbara (born c.1738) - A woman who originally belonged to Francisco Javier's father, Pablo Gómez Romano, then Francisco Basilio de Acevedo, and then bought by Francisco Javier in 1772. Subject of a 12-year lawsuit between Francisco Javier and Acevedo's surviving brother-in-law. 

Candelaria - Daughter of Bárbara. She originally belonged to Francisco Javier's father, Pablo Gómez Romano, then Francisco Basilio de Acevedo, and then bought by Francisco Javier in 1772. Subject of a 12-year lawsuit between Francisco Javier and Acevedo's surviving brother-in-law. 

Slave Owner: Juan Agustín de Rueda Gómez (1772-1813)
My 5th-great-grandfather, who lived and died in Zapatoca. 

José María Millán (baptized 1789 in Zapatoca) - A boy born to the freeman Juan José Millán and Feliciana, a slave woman. One of the 10 male enslaved people listed in the 1800 will of Juan de la Cruz de Rueda, Juan Agustín's grandfather. José María was sold on August 23, 1801 for 135 pesos by Juan Agustín to his father-in-law, José Joaquín Gómez.

PEOPLE HELD CAPTIVE BY MY CARTAGENA AND BARRANQUILLA ANCESTORS

As said above, Cartagena de Indias was Colombia's major slave port, and the city's businesses and construction (including its famous walls) and the surrounding areas' agriculture all depended on slave labor. Cartagena entered a period of decline following the war for independence, and Barranquilla became an increasingly important port, and became the country's main port in the mid-1800s. 

All branches of my costeña grandmother's family tree, who lived in and around Cartagena and Barranquilla, owned slaves, and most (if not all) of my African ancestry comes from my grandmother's side. It's possible their ancestors included libres de todos los colores, free people of partial African ancestry who either owned slaves or whose descendants owned slaves.

In childhood, my great-great-great-grandfather Juan Agustín Cohen (c.1827-1878) received ownership of two enslaved men from his father, Juan Cohen, but it's unclear how long he remained a slaver. Juan Agustín married Andrea Herrera (died 1856) in 1847 in Cartagena, a woman whose mother remains unknown (was she of African descent?) but whose father was likely a member of the elite Herrera Leiva family. There are at least four slave owners in the Herrera Leiva family tree: 

Slave Owner: Juan Toribio de la Torre, 1st Count of Santa Cruz de la Torre (fl.1690)
My likely 8th-great-grandfather, a military man and mayor of Cartagena who in later life bought his title from the Spanish crown.

Unknown amount of people - Historian Lance Grahn described the Count of Santa Cruz de la Torre as "the leading slave smuggler in the city."  

Slave Owner: Antonio María Laurencio Paniza y Pallares (1705-1775)
My likely 6th-great-grandfather, a merchant born in Cádiz, Spain to Genoese parents who came to Cartagena around 1730. By the 1750s he was one of the city's wealthiest merchants, with clients throughout Nueva Granada and as far as Havana and Madrid. 

A "small slave force" - Historian Anthony McFarlane says Antonio's testament lists his personal estate as worth 150,000 pesos, and his company's assets included four houses in Cartagena and an "hacienda and its small slave force." 

Slave Owner: Lázaro María Herrera Leyva y Cornelis (1755-fl.1816)
My likely 5th-great-grandfather, and the son-in-law of Antonio Paniza. He was also a merchant born in Cádiz, Spain who resettled in Cartagena, his father's birthplace. 

This repulsive human being not only profited from selling humans and exploiting their labor, but he also served in Cartagena's Holy Office of the Inquisition for over 30 years. 

Juan (fl.1814) - A man sold by (the older?) Lázaro María Herrera to a certain Mr. Chatam. 

Slave Owner: Lázaro María Herrera Leyva y Paniza (1786-1859)
My likely 5th-great-uncle (or maybe 4th-great-grandfather?), son of the elder Lázaro María Herrera Leyva and grandson of Antonio Paniza.

Rafael Godoy (fl.1822) - A man who attacked and injured his master, Lázaro María Herrera y Paniza, and was tried in Bogotá and sentenced to death. 

Vicente Caliente (fl.1832) - A man sold by the younger Lázaro María Herrera to Ana León de Arguinedo.

José María Torres (fl.1832) - A man sold by the younger Lázaro María Herrera to Ana León de Arguinedo.

María Cecilia Escobar (fl.1842) - A woman sold by the younger Lázaro María Herrera to Teresa Díaz Granados de Francisco, the wife of the Colombia minister to Mexico.  

Slave Owners: My Martelo, Lara, and de la Rosa Families
The Martelo family came from Mahates, Bolívar Department and the Lara de la Rosa family came from Remolino, Magdalena Department. 

The origins of the Martelo and Lara families are obscure, but they probably had some African ancestry as well as Spanish and Indigenous ancestry. The families' vital records are largely missing, and their main legacy can be found in receipts of slavery in the notarial records of Cartagena and Barranquilla. 

Enslaved people who bore these families' surnames include: 

José Martelo (born 1803) - A man born to an enslaved woman named Manuela in Mahates on March 19, 1803. A Cartagena notarial record from 1832 says José originally belonged to Don Pablo Martelo and Doña Pascuala Cava and then was inherited by their son Victorino Martelo, a resident of Lórica.

Juana Bautista de Lara (fl.1842) - A woman originally purchased in Remolino who was sold by Andrés de la Rosa. 

Slave Owner: Manuel de la O. Vásquez (c.1800-fl.1879)

My great-great-great-grandfather, who was born in Cartagena and lived in Villanueva, Bolívar, Colombia.

The Vásquez family origins are obscure but probably included some African ancestry. Manuel de la O. mostly appears in Cartagena notarial records for exploitation of enslaved people. 

Isidoro - A man sold by Manuel in 1831. 

Ortencia - A woman bought by Manuel in 1835. 

Matea Sánchez - A woman sold by Manuel in 1835.  

Roque Jacinto - An 11-year-old boy bought by Manuel in 1835.  

Nicolasa Pérez - A young woman described as a criada (servant or girl) who was sold by Manuel in 1844.

María Dominga Matos - A woman sold in 1847, and Manuel served as a representative in the sale. 

"Six freed slaves" - In 1846, Manuel de la O. Vásquez took out a loan of 2,500 pesos to pay back within a year. He put up two farms (dos posesiones) in Villanueva, "one of [sugar] cane, with all its supplies and animals, and one of coffee," as well as "six freed slaves and forty cattle." It's shocking that Manuel considered "six freed slaves" as his property. He likely meant the labor of these freed slaves, treating them like peons, sharecroppers, or serfs. After Colombian abolition of slavery in 1851, Manuel probably continued in his role as a planter and exploited his farm workers. 

Slave Owners: W.B. Ecker (1810-1854) and Margaret Ecker (1825-1886)

The parents of Captain Wolvert Ecker (1847-1885), the first husband of Benjamina Martelo (c.1864-1896), my great-great-grandmother. 

W.B. Ecker, a New Yorker who relocated to Georgia, owned 6 human beings, according to the 1840 census: 

1 male youth between the ages of 10-23

3  men and 1 woman aged between 24-35

1 man between the ages of 36-55

The Savannah Slave Manifests show that W.B. Ecker shipped at least two of the people he owned in 1843. 

Joe - a man age 25 and 5'6" tall, was shipped by Ecker from Savannah to Darien on the steamer J. Stone, perhaps after being purchased. 

Joe - presumably a different man, age 22 and 5'3" tall, was shipped from Savannah to Florida on the steamer Richmond on May 31, 1843, perhaps after being sold.

W.B. Ecker owned 19 people by 1850, but the census only listed these slaves' ages and "colour" (only using "Black" and "mulatto").

Black man, age 32 (possibly Joe?)
Black man, age 26

Black man, age 24
Mulatto boy, age 10
Black boy, age 9
Mulatto boy, age 7
Mulatto boy, age 1
Mulatto boy, age 9
Mulatto man, age 34
Black woman, age 40
Black woman, age 26
Black woman, age 24
Black woman, age 21
Mulatto girl, age 14
Mulatto girl, age 10
Black girl, age 3
Mulatto girl, age 5
Black woman, age 24
Mulatto girl, age 3

W.B. Ecker's widow, Margaret Ecker is an even stranger case. In the 1860 census she is listed as a New York State resident, but also as the owner of 21 slaves housed in 7 "slave houses" in Darien, Georgia. It's possible that Margaret lived a double live at the time, and that her "free state" neighbors might not have know about her owning humans in the South.

The 21 people in bondage under Mrs. Ecker in 1860 were, in the order they were listed:

Black woman, age 45
Black man, age 40 (possibly Joe?)
Black woman, age 30
Black woman, age 30
Black woman, age 28
Mulatto woman, age 22 
Black boy, age 17
Mulatto boy, age 17
Black girl, age 12
Black girl, age 11
Black boy, age 10
Black girl, age 8
Black girl, age 8
Black boy, age 6
Black girl, age 6
Black girl, age 6
Black girl, age 4
Black girl, age 4
Black boy, 5 months old
Black boy, age 1
Black girl, age 2

Slave owners are only five generations before me on the family tree. My father was raised by his great-aunt Vásquez, and both of her grandfathers owned slaves. 

I grew up believing the myth of Latin America being more racially harmonious than the United States. Latinos often are not taught that the Latin American "blend of three cultures" is a direct result of slavery, and that many of our ancestors were slavers, as well as the enslaved. 

I live in New York City, which in colonial times was the U.S. city with the second-highest percentage of slave owners, second only to Charleston, South Carolina. I will keep reflecting on how my surroundings and my ancestry are built on foundations of slavery. I will reflect on the incomprehensible privilege of some of my ancestors, and the incomprehensible sacrifices made by my other ancestors. Hopefully I can do my part to remedy some of the inherited inequalities. 

Sankofa - "Go back to the past and bring forward that which is useful." (Source, image from Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition)

Questions? Comments? Please email me at ruedafingerhut [at] gmail.com.