NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
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NAPOLEON
K nperor
I.
of France.
Napoleon, the
First
Emperor
of France.
From
St.
Helena
to Santiago de Cuba,
BEING A SUMMARY OF FACTS CONCERNING
THE LATTER DAYS OF
DR. FRANCOIS
ANTOMARCHI,
THE LAST PHYSICIAN TO
HIS IMPERIAL
MAJESTY.
FBANKL.IN HUDSON PUBLISHING
KANSAS CITY, MO.
1910.
CO.,
;
w
-.ART
:
T L
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Copyrighted
1910,
By Franklin Hudson Publishing
Kansas City, Mo.
Co.,
From
Early
ing the
St.
Helena
in the
days of a detail
in
de Cuba.
Santiago de Cuba, dur-
American occupation, we received
last
from our brother,
to pluck for
to Santiago
a
letter
which he asked, as an especial favor,
in
him a few sprigs of something growing from
the grave of Doctor Antomarchi, the last physician to the
Emperor Napoleon on
While we knew
tomarchi had been
last days,
we
tainly did not
in
desultory
way
that a Doctor
attendance on the
knew any more than
that he
had
lived
*
Emperor
that.
and died
in
An-
in his
We
cer-
Santiago
So, accordingly, on one golden April afternoon,
de Cuba.
we drove
to the cemetery, lying in all its white array of
marbles across the
We
in a
hardly
know
the island of St. Helena.
still
waters of the Bay of Santiago.
halted at the ruined portal and entered full of cer-
tainty.
Finding the custodian, we asked for the grave of
Doctor Antomarchi.
further:
"The
last
He
shook
his head.
We
explained
physician to Napoleon, to Napole-
FROM
6
ST.
on the Great
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
DE
CUBA.
"Americano?' was the
sabe Napoleon?"
questioning answer.
We
could discover nothing further, and, after roam-
ing around
back to the
among the sadly neglected tombs, we drove
From that moment our search for Doccity
Antomarchi
tor
We
in
Santiago de Cuba began.
found upon
reliable authority,
through the remem-
brances of several persons, and by searching local libra-
and ponderous
ries
ecclesiastical
a French doctor by the
was
name
and
of Francois
Antomarchi
one time a resident of Santiago de Cuba; but of
at
his
tomb, which the guide-books and
we
could find nothing, though
burial
legal records, that
we had
M. Piron
refer to,
traced his place of
from the records of the old parish church of San
Tomas, the
oldest church in the city (at least three hun-
dred years old), to the old Santa
on the
hill
Ana
Cemetery, situated
Ana Church, in the direction
one time known as 'The General
above Santa
of El Caney, and at
Cemetery."
Indeed, Senor Bartoldo Portuondo, son of the
quis de
Tempu,
Mar-
a fine old gentleman, speaking perfect
DKATII .MASK OF KMPKR*
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XAPoLKoX
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PUBLIC LIBRARY
IDS, LBNOX A
TILDEN FOfiNDATlONg
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FROM
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
me
CUBA.
7
English, and with the manners of old Spanish times, went
with us to Santa Aila.
cle
Marquis
lie told us
Tempu, had
told
what
him: that
his father, the
time of
at the
Doctor Antomarchi's death he had no tomb, and, as
custom
in this country, his friends offered the
place in their family tombs, which were
built.
Among many
do's father, the
the
remains a
roomy and
others, the offer of
is
well
Senor Portuon-
Marquis de Tempu, was accepted, and he
pointed out to us what remained of the old tomb of his
fathers in Santa
About
tery,"
forty
Ana
Cemetery.
years
was removed to
and Senor Portuondo
&go
its
'The
this,
General
Ceme-
present location, across the bay,
he himself had super-
told us that
intended the removal of the remains of his family, of
which nothing was found but a handful of dust and a few
corroded
gilt
buttons, presumably
from
his father's court
uniform.
The sky was
radiant with the glow of a crimson sun
setting across the
bay. and a
murmuring wind swept
through the tangled grass, as the old
from one deep vault
to the other.
man
"Here
peered
it
is
;
first
here
is
FROM
3
ST.
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
what remains of the tomb of
the remains of Doctor
my
father,
DE
CUBA.
and
in this
Antomarchi were buried
other remains within at that time were those of
father, also a
My
Marquis de Tempu.
after,
of
family in quick succession/'
my
This abandoned cemetery of Santa
Everywhere are
of places.
father,
the only
my
grand-
some years
Then followed other members
was interred
here.
;
tomb
to be
Ana
is
the saddest
seen the remains of
these tombs of great depth, but most finished examples
of masonry,
still
in perfect preservation so far as their
There are
interiors are concerned-
still
standing two
graceful specimens of mortuary art, but these are entirely despoiled of inscription or of
tion.
The
ghouls,
any
slightest
ornamenta-
place seems to have been visited by a band of
who
never rested until every vestige of beauty
and decency were gone.
About
half a century before our visit to Santa
Cemetery, when presumably
ervation, a
"Santa
it
was
at its height of pres-
French writer describes
Ana Cemetery
shrubs ornament
its
is
it
in these
ugly, sad, horrible.
paths.
Ana
No
words
:
trees or
Miserably bare, the dry and
\
Brigadier-General
Don Juan
Governor
de
Moya y
of Santiago do
Cuba
Morejon. Spanish
in
1838.
FROM
HELEXA TO SAXTIAGO
ST.
I,K
CUBA.
.
withered grasses wave above the tombs, which, indiscreetly
yawning, show the whitened bones of those
This
consigned to their hallowed secrecy.
who were
city certainly
ignores the sentiment which makes the last resting-place
of a beloved being the object of pious
tery
At
moment we
the
[continues
\vere about to leave the ceme-
M. Piron], bearing away
impressions, our eyes were arrested by a
the proportions of a mausoleum..
architectural.
touch-
Death as seen here presents a hideous
ing veneration.
aspect.
memory and
It
Its-
these
pitiful
tomb which had
form was regularly
contrasted most favorably with other
tombs, so poor and so abandoned
it
;
recalled with tender-
ness thoughts of another civilization, of elegance and of
art.
It
seemed to dominate with
this field of desolation
its
and
ruin.
its
gentle melancholy
\Ye approached, and on
face beheld, in the midst of a long epitaph, the
of 'Doctor Antomarchi/ the physician to the
Napoleon
at St.
name
Emperor
Helena, who, after traveling about the
world, came to Santiago de Cuba."
While the preceding descriptions of the burial-place
of Doctor Antomarchi
may seem
contradictory, a
tomb
10
FROM
very
much
in
ST.
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
like the
DE
CUBA.
one described by M. Piron
still
what remains of Santa Ana Cemetery, and,
years ago,
still
stands
as fifty
continues to be the one object to attract
the eye in this scene of desolation.
\Ye have abundant proof that Doctor Antomarchi
left
funds enough to have a suitable interment, and that he
had friends enough among the
residents of Santiago to see that
and
fitting his position,
it
in.
and potential
was done becomingly
and the esteem
held by a grateful people
than seventy years ago.
influential
in
which he was
this part of the
world more
Besides, a letter* remains in the
*MINISTERE DES AFFAIRES ETRANGERES.
Direction Politique.
PARIS, le 27 Nbre., 1854.
Monsieur: Le Majeste 1'Empereur, informe que les restes
du Docteur Antomarche gisaient abandones a St. Jacques de
Cuba, dans le tombeau d'une famille etrangere, a decide que une
sepulture decente et honorable serait donnee aux depouilles mortelles de fidele serviteur de Napoleon ler et que les frais de cette
sepulture incomberaient a la liste civile imperiale. Je vous prie
en consequence, de vouloir bien me transmitte tous les renseignements propres a m'eclairer sur les dispositions qu'il paraitrait
convenable d'adopter pour 1'erection d'un tombeau destine a recevoir les cendres du Docteur Antomarchi et sur le chiffre de la
depense que travaux necessiteraient.
Recevez,
tinguee.
Monsieur,
1'assurance
de
ma
(Signed)
consideration
dis-
DROUYN LHUIS.
Padre Braulio Odio, for many years curate of San Tomas Church.
His father was a patient of Doctor Antoinarclii's.
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC
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PUBLIC LIBRARY
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ST. i-lKLKXA
TO SANTIAGO
I.K
CUBA.
11
Santiago de Cuba, from the French
Government, written in 1854, sixteen years after Anto-
French Consulate
in
marchi's death, inquiring as to his place of burial, and
suggesting the erection of a suitable tomb for him, who,
the letter goes on to say, "is reported as being buried in
the grave of a stranger."
This
letter is
duly recorded as having been referred
to in the palace of the
but
we were unable
Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba,
any trace of further
to find
official
action.
It
appears from the above varying accounts of Doctor
Antomarchi's burial-place that his remains were only tem-
tomb
porarily placed in the
and
of the
Marquis de Tempu,
that after a suitable place of interment
pared, they were removed.
uondo was not aware of
absences abroad,
it
is
is
If this did occur,
;
but, as he
Senor Port-
was given
to long
not unlikely the change was
without his knowledge.
to-day there
it
had been pre-
This
fact,
however, remains, that
no inscription on any tomb,
morial in Santiago de Cuba, to
made
mark
tablet, or
me-
the last resting-place
of an important character in the great tragedy that
was
FROM
12
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
That there was
enacted at St. Helena.
epitaph in Santa
Ana Cemetery
DE
at
CUBA.
one time an
to the
memory
but how
Antomarchi there can be no doubt;
of Doctor
long van-
ished one can not say. or whether enmity, spite, or the
curio-hunter despoiled
The
tion of
arro,
first
Ana
as the
in the
accompanying
Cemetery, Senor Ricardo
visited the spot with us,
place indicated to
er,
no one knows.
tomb shown
Santa
who
it,
him when
a
says he often visited
the
that
human
it
when
lad,
by
his fathlast
Senor Navarro
dreaming of the glory
a boy,
was Napoleon's, and brooding over the
greatness.
tomb he could look down
coffin,
Nav-
points out as the
young
physician of Napoleon at St. Helena.
frailty of
J.
where rested the remains of the
spot
and splendor
illustra-
While
into
it
sitting
on the curb of
and see a crumbling
which contained the remains of the man
believes closed Napoleon's eyes,
composed
whom
his limbs,
he
and
folded those hands which once grasped so proudly the orb
of power; the
man who
preserved to an adoring world
the imprint of that beautiful face which death left so
serenely
heroic,
whose hidden mystery of grace and
Sonora Angella Moya y Portuondo, the oid lady who eight years
ago sold the death mask of Napoleon for thirty dollars.
FROM
ST.
HELKXA TO SANTIAGO
CUBA.
DE
strength attracts and holds the world to-day with a
that does not lessen as the years
tomarchi's deed and
Who the man
in 1780, a
ward
;
charm
These are An-
on.
esteem and honor.
to earthly
was, and what, but
Corsican
science, at
title
move
13
little is
known.
Born
a student, with decided inclination to-
Leghorn,
at Pisa,
and
at Florence,
where
he was a pupil of Mascagni, a world-noted anatomist, and
whose successor he became.
chosen by the authorities
In December, 1818, he was
at
Rome and by
Napoleon's
mother and family to serve the Emperor as medical
tendant at
It
man
was
of
St.
in
at-
Helena.
September, 1819, that Antomarchi, a slight
medium
height,
that remote island.
worn with hard
He
was-,
study, landed on
exhausted with the long,
uncomfortable, and rousjtr voyage, and very likely did not
present an attractive appearance.
fore, that
It is
Napoleon looked with haughty eyes upon
unkempt, half-starved countryman of
in
the
experience with courtiers.
home
not strange, there-
his,
this
a novice indeed
Perhaps he rebelled that
authorities should have sent so inexperienced
and unprepossessing a personage
to his already illy as-
FROM
14
ST.
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
He
sorted contingent.
as he
was by a
him
coterie of ill-natured
coldly,
surrounded
and quarrelsome per-
This could scarcely be otherwise, immured as they
sons.
were
received
CUBA.
DE
tiresome monotony, with one weary day follow-
in
ing another, subjected to the tyranny of their custodians,
and cut
from the land that gave them
off
sweet and pleasant land of France/'
shared Napoleon's exile
life
But
if
birth,
"that
to these
who
was hard, what must
it
have
been to him, the high controller of the world's destinies,
he at whose bidding nations rose and
It is
sition
not unlikely Antomarchi was chosen for this po-
on account of
and on account of
world
edge of
all
his brilliant reputation as a student,
his
previous non-contact with the
each of which reputations would recommend him
;
as one free
of
fell ?
from
political intrigue
affairs that
and without
a
knowl-
might be construed as harmful.
callings, the pursuit of science permits the smallest
opportunities to observe
the attention
is
life in its
every-day generalities
;
so engrossed, the ends sought so absorb-
ing, that life with its ambitions, scheming?, intrigues,
selfish
For,
aims passes by unheeded.
The
and
scientific student,
a
o
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c
a
Til
PUBLIC
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T1LDEN FUrNDATlONg
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HELENA TO SANTIAGO m
ST.
this account, is not often able to
and
cessfully,
often,
rate,
compete with
life
15
suc-
did Antomarchi, becomes self-
and, let us say, unsophisticated.
sufficient, egotistical,
any
as
CUP. A.
At
Antomarchi was considered by the authorities
good man
to send to St. Helena.
he was kept
much
in the
It is
a
not strange that
background among the more
favored English surgeons, and one can well believe, after
some study of the time and
place, that he
was very much
kept in the background.
As has been
this extremist,
said,
who
Napoleon looked with hauteur upon
could talk of nothing but anatomy,
anatomy, anatomy, and whose dearest treasure was a
set
With ardor he babbled
of Mascagni's anatomical plates.
continuously on his favorite and all-engrossing subject
He was
only an ardent student, in
confidence, and his retinue
the English authorities
saw
whom
Napoleon had no
were of the same mind, while
in
him what they believed
be an easy go-between, between
Longwood and
to
the Gov-
ernor's house.
All together, this inexperienced
to
fill,
man had no
and, with the usual tactlessness of
all
easy place
engrossed
FROM
16
HELEXA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
students, he
knew
not
how
DE
CUBA.
to forefend himself against the
enmities, spites, and petty jealousies that attacked
all sides,
man
as
all
him on
biographers admit these attributes of hu-
nature to have had a strong hold in as well as out
of the Emperor's household at St. Helena.
After the tragedy whose stage and
Helena was
finished,,
at
setting
St.
the curtain drawn, the lights extin-
guished, Antomachi left the island, bearing with
treasures than the anatomical plates of
him other
Mascagni
:
his
few
mask
precious souvenirs of the Emperor, among! them the
which he himself had made from the dead Emperor's
face, a lock of the
Emperor's
and the sheet on which he had
hair, a seal
died.
he had used,
First he
went
to the
court of Marie Louise, but doubtless long ere he arrived
there his enemies had preceded him.
for this
messenger from a dying king.
She had no word
He went
to
Po-
land and evidently blundered there, for he was a blundering man.
soled
him
;
Paris
knew him
for
ever a spot thrilled and throbbed with an
if
individuality, Paris thrills
peror Napoleon.
for a while,
and perhaps con-
and throbs with that of the
Here the Emperor trod
Em-
in his success,
The home
day.
of Brigadier-General Don Juan de Moyu a-; it appears toIt was in this house that Doctor Antomarchi died
of yellow fever, 4 a. in.. April 3. 1S3S.
ff
mm
ASTOR,
TH*DEN FOUNDAT10NB
$
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FROM
a
HELEXA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
came
success greater than ever before
Here he wore
tism
;
crown
a
finitely
own
17
a mortal.
to
here he bore his son to his bap-
and longed-for son, who was
that loved
heir of his
;
CUBA.
DK
to be the
matchless renown, but whose fate was in-
sadder and more hopeless than the Emperor's
own..
While
in Paris,
Antomarchi wrote several books on
among them and
different subjects,
the best
known "Les
Dernier Moments de Napoleon," which there
is
no good
reason, despite adverse criticism to the contrary, for believing other than a reliable account of that time as
peared
to him.
probability he
But
was
was not
his unrest
with loyal Frenchmen,
asm had
who
in a
Antomarchi
and arrived at
sailed
New
all
world,
pleasant city
filled
Emperor, and who
him from
his
English pris-
from Havre on the ship "Salem,"
Orleans on November
he was received with every honor.
ministered to their
new
ap-
time of exalted enthusi-
built a palace for the exiled
entertained the idea of rescuing
on.
a.
In
satiated.
invited by the fact that in a
on the banks of the Mississippi, lay
it
Emperor
9,
1834,
where
For had he not ad-
in his last
extremity?
Had
FROM
18
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
he not by his
skill
and
and true Frenchmen
preciation of
him
to
show
what he had
the enmity that
ality
art preserved those majestic feat-
Nothing was
ures to time?
and
left
to
undone by these gallant
Antomarchi
been., of
his
what he had done. But
seemingly bright career was overcast by
justly
Antomarchi seems
tionably
man who
He
from
to
bestowed,
for, as
Some
of these
before mentioned,
have been a blunderer, and unques-
was garrulous over the
ly great, that
in re-
to St. Helena, soon followed
scandalous innuendos and local jealousies.
were probably
their full ap-
must have been engendered., that
must have preceded him
here,
CUBA.
DE
fact, to
him
so appalling-
he had held the dying hand of "the greatest
ever lived," as he invariably spoke of Napoleon.
again took up his pilgrimage, and sailed
New
Orleans,
first
to
Mexico, thence
to
on,
a ship
Havana,
and reported to the Spanish Governor-General Tacon, expressing to him his wish to study yellow fever in epidemic.
It
was
in
Havana
lay, father of the
that he
met and knew Doctor Fin-
present Doctor Carlos
J.
Finlay, cele-
brated for his inception of the mosquito transmission of
yellow fever.
Antomarchi was advsed
to
go
to Santiago
pi
ASTOg, IRHUK
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FROM
HELENA TO SAXTIAGO
ST.
DIS
CUBA.
de Cuba, where an epidemic of yellow fever was
time
his
Besides, there
in progress.
going to Santiago de Cuba.
1'J
at that
was another motive
His
first
for
cousin, Antonio
Antomarchi, owned a coffee plantation, which bore the
name "San Antonio," about
Santiago de Cuba.
city of
confounded
thirty miles distant
Many
from the
encyclopaedists have
Antonio Antomarchi with Doctor Anto-
this
marchi, and erroneously record the
latter's
death as hav-
ing occurred at San Antonio.
Havana
In
letters of introduction
were given him by
Governor-General Tacon and others, to Brigadier-General
Don Juan
de
Moya
y Morejon, Governor of Santiago de
Cuba.
It is
not unlikely that at this time he was short of
funds, a poor
On
his
way
man and very weary
to
Santiago de Cuba he tarried a
at the old city of
the family with
with his wanderings.
little
while
Puerto Principe, now Camaguey, and
w hom he
r
sojourned,
who would
to
accept no
other remuneration., he gave from his treasure store a tiny
lock of Napoleon's hair, a seal used by him, and a frag-
ment
of the sheet on which he had died.
Even
in this
FROM
20
ST.
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
remote part of the world these sacred
DE
CUBA.
were
relics
fully
appreciated and carefully guarded, and but fifteen years
ago,
when
so
many Spaniards
descendants of the person to
ried
them
left
whom
Cuba
for Spain, the
they were given car-
there.
Arriving
in
Santiago de Cuba in 1837, ne presented
his letters of introduction to
Brigadier-General
Don Juan
de Moya, and at once began his busy and useful career in
this city.
Soon
baffled in his study of yellow fever, unable to dis-
cover
its
which
in this tropical
cause or cure, he took up the
The work
pleased him.
The
first
He
it,
found enjoyment
cessful
;
the
operation for cataract performed in
the mother of
Marquis dc Tempu, and was
entirely suc-
the lady recovering her sight, to the great delight
of her family and a large circle of friends.
tremendous impetus
in
in
and he was soon a very
Cuba was made by Doctor Antomarchi on
his friend the
of the eye,
country offered large opportunities.
delicacy and minuteness of
busy man.
work
to the
This gave a
fame of Doctor Antomarchi
Cuba, and he soon became besieged with patients from
<
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=
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PUBLIC LI&&AC1
W* AW
TOWN WUWATIONS
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
rk')M ST.
all
walks of
list
life.
ofi
CUBA.
-Jl
)thcr evidences of his skill as an ocu-
(
of these early days quite disprove the statement^ of
some Napoleonic writers who
was
a charlatan.
From
state that Dr.
the rich he
Antomarchi
demanded
fees ac-
cordingly, but the poor received his best efforts without
So
charge.
enthusiastic
were the people with
his work-
that by popular subscription a hospital
with darkened
rooms was provided for
which building
still
his eye patients,
the family of Brigadier-General
Don
a fine old house,
still
made
his
home with
Juan
cle
Moya, the Governor,
standing.
ain, sky,
like to
From
its
in
high balcony bright vistas of mount-
and bay stretch away
in
incomparable beauty.
I
think of Doctor Antomarchi sitting on this breeze-
blown balcony,
dier-General
ous
He
stands on the corner of Gallo and Toro streets.
toil
in quiet
converse with the valiant Briga-
Don Juan
de Moya, resting after the ardu-
of the long, hot
Cuban
that they talked often of the
we have reason
to believe
day.
One may
safely say
Emperor Xapoleon, who
was never long out of Anto-
marchi's thoughts, exchanging views, opinions, and recollections.
The
old brigadier-general had fought against
FROM
22
ST.
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
Napoleon's forces in Spain, and had
He
battle of Beylen.
and valiant man, and
lost
DE
CUBA.
an eye
in
the
had the reputation of being a brave
was the foremost
at this time
resi-
dent of Santiago, and yet, like those of his friend Doctor
Antomarchi,
the
his
remains to-day are
lost
and unmarked
in
abandoned cemetery of Santa Ana.
These busy peaceful days
Santiago de Cuba, and
in
these visits on this high balcony in the heavenly coolness
of
Cuban evenings,
hips, his
his heart
warm
mind appeased, the days
with pleasant friend-
of his pilgrimages ap-
parently over, surely, since his proud student days, these
days in Santiago de Cuba were the best days of Doctor
Antomarchi's
life.
Seventy years
as
it is
in
Cuba.
is
not so long a time in other countries
In Cuba the path of revolution and re-
volt have left their blazed trail, in
which the resting-places-
of the dead even were not held sacred, and in which the
minds of the people were too excited and harassed
serve in song and story only those
helped on the great
common
records were not safe.
disaster.
men who
Even
to pre-
added and
ecclesiastical
Poverty, ruin, famine, war, and
THE KEW TORK
PUBLIC Li&RARY
fiLDEX
B
FROM
ST.
IIELEXA TO SANTIAGO
m;
CUBA.
i^
the fearful ravages of yellow fever swept with deadly
repetition over this
most beautiful of
were pillaged the most beautiful old dwellings,
;
rare objects of art from
those
all
things
filled
with
parts of the world, libraries,
statuary, musical instruments, silver
pictures,
china,
all
Estates
islands.
which
give
and rare
intellectual
vigor
through admiration, were vigorously subjected to the
hands of a brutal and ignorant mob.
stroy
!"
"Destroy
This
surgents.
o
it is
Cuba
place.
tled
I
was
the
watchword of the Cuban
know from
is
this relatively short
like
in-
So
the Cubans themselves.
not strange that to try to trace
even through
in
!"
"Destroy!" "De-
life
and
attributes,
space of seventy years,
stumbling on a dark night
But through the darkness
its
in a
strange
that seems to have set-
down, now and then gleams a small
light,
which by
carefully following leads out of the extreme gloom.
The
old curate of
Odio, a gentle old
man
performing faithfully
his
flock of souls;
sweeping
San Tomas Church, Padre Braulio
seventy-six years of age, and
his duties as the
still
still
good shepherd
to
climbing day by day the long
street to the cathedral for his daily devotion,
FROM
24
ST.
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
told us in affectionate
words that
patient of Doctor Antomarchi's.
ened with
doctor
loss of sight,
recommended
baths in the sea.
DE
his father
CUBA.
had been a
His father was threat-
and among other things that the
for
him were
The Padre's
fifty
consecutive daily
father recovered his sight
and strength, and, as the old man remarked, warmed
"My
by the recollections of youth,
talking of Doctor Antomarchi
;
father
was always
he was never weary of
praising him."*
We
have also talked with a very
little
old lady, Senora
Moya y Portuondo, the daughter-in-law of Brigadier-General Don Juan de Moya.
She said she remem-
Angella
bered Doctor Antomarchi very well.
thought of
more than
that,
"He was
he was very
very
much
much
beloved,"
and as she recalled him, "he was a small man with gray
hair."
She further said:
his hospital
"He was
was thronged with
a great doctor, and
patients, rich
and poor,
white and black, clamoring for his attention."
As
she
*Since the above was written, the writer has attended the obsequies of Padre Oclio in old San Tomas Church, and the same
bells
rang his departure that announced that of Doctor Antomore than seventy years before.
marchi,
Exma.
Sra.
Dna Carmen
de
friend of
Moya y Bayu. ("'ondesa do Sta.
Doctor Antoinnrehi.
Iiu->.
THE NFAV YORK
PUBLIC
IIY
SD
TJLft:
B
:
I
FROM
sat
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
propped vp
in
her chair, almost blind,
m;
CUBA.
<le:ifne>-
25
coming
on, her tiny swollen feet resting on a footstool before her,
it
was almost
like
of another world.
heavy upon
holding communication with a denizen
But while her physical
her, her mentalities
and she spoke with an almost
when
cially
mask
of Napoleon, which Doctor
this evident
safely through
all his
were remarkably
child-like eagerness.
was
were
infirmities
clear,
Espe-
she told us of the true death-
Antomarchi had carried
long journeyings, and from which
the numerous masks which he so generously distributed
had been made.
Seiiora
children playing with
it,
Moya
said she
and when
remembered the
became too
it
dirty,
they occupied themselves by scratching off the layers of
dirt with their finger-nails.
This, of course, must have
been after Antomarchi was dead.
bedded
in the interior surface of the
head were many
is
She
also said that
mask about
fine straight hairs of a
brown
em-
the fore-
color,
which
almost conclusive evidence that this was the real orig-
inal
mask.
She also gave us the clue which, after
dili-
gent and faithful following, put us in possession of Doctor Antomarchi's last will
and testament.
FROM
26
The
ST.
HELEXA TO SANTIAGO
fortunes of the
CUBA.
DE
family, once the proudest
Moya
Santiago de
and most
influential of the old families of
Cuba,
with the decline of the Spanish power.
fell
and properties were
So
came
it
man came
to
ill
advantage.
Senora Moya, into whose keep-
mask had been given through her husband's fam-
She was persuaded
ily.
disposed of to
about that, after repeated wars, only eight
years ago, a
ing the
lost or
Lands
to sell
it,
and the object that An-
tomarchi so loved and cherished, and which he had given
to his dearest friend as the last highest token of love
respect, passed into the
nificent
At
sum
hand of a stranger
for the
and
mu-
of thirty dollars.
the only
moment
in his life, perhaps,
Antomarchi was receiving
a
when Doctor
meet return for
his labors,
laudations for his good deeds, the respect and admiration
of the
that
in
community
comes with the
denly
near,
ill,
lived,
and the happiness
and
restore, he fell sud-
ability to heal
and April
made
which he
i,
his last will
1838,
knowing
and testament.
that his end
At 4
a.
was
m., April
3d, he lay dead of yellow fever in the house of his friend,
Brigadier-General
Don Juan de Moya y Morejon.
.Exmo.
Sta.
Sr.
Don
Jose Antonio Portuondo y Hen-era. Coude de
Ines, friend of
to
hi-;
Doctor Antomarchi, and
and testament.
la>t will
a \\itnc--
;
Third and
last
page of Dr. Antomarchi's
Showing
his signature thereto.
last Will and Testament.
(See translation.)
YORK
THE
PUBLIC U
ASTUK,
T1LDEN
ft
L!
I
N'l)
-N'S
L
FROM
His
ST.
last will
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
DE
CUBA.
and testament gives some idea of
and character, and the record of
his
27
his life
imposing funeral
from San' Tomas Church., which structure remains almost
unchanged
to this day. the
having been raised against
hand of the restorer not yet
it,
testifies
which Doctor Antomarchi was held
The only romance
love for the Emperor.
in
to the esteem in
Santiago de Cuba.
seems to have been
in his life
It glitters
his
across the tangled and
often obscure net-work of his years, at once fascinating
and past description beautiful, the love and devotion of a
small
man
for, as
"the greatest
man
Doctor Antomarchi always called him,
that ever lived."
HNRY
D. THOMASOX,
Captain Medical Corps, U. S. Army.
For kindly consideration and many courtesies extended in
the preparation of this subject matter. I am indebted to the following distinguished residents of Santiago de Cuba, besides those
His grace the Archbishop of Santiago; Doctor lilHernandez;
Dr. Richard Wilson, U. S. P. H. and M. H. Service; Dr. Louis
Hechavarria: SeSor Deleau; Sefior Antonio Antomarchi (son of
Antonio the cousin of the Doctor) and Mr. Geo. E. Bryson
also to Professor Fortier, Tulane University, New Orleans.
mentioned:
las,
chief sanitary officer of the city; Sefior Carlos
;
;
TRANSLATION OF THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF DOCTOR FRANCOIS
ANTOMARCHI.
In the
Be
it
name
known
of
GOD
that
I,
All-powerful.
Amen.
doctor in medicine and' surgery, D.
Francisco Antomarchi, native of Morsiola in Corsica,
legitimate son of Juan Antomarchi and Bridgetta Matey,
both dead
use of
;
finding myself gravely
my judgment., memory,
and firmly believing
in the
Trinity, Father, Son,
but in
full
most high mystery of the Holy
God
Spirit
and
three distinct per-
all else
taught by our
holy mother the Catholic Apostolic Church of
der whose faith and belief
and free
and natural understanding,
and Holy
sons and only one true
ill,
I
was
born,,
have
Rome
lived,
;
un-
and
will
continue to live as a faithful Christian until death, and
by the influence of the enemy of mankind
come
God
delirious
is
my
sickness, or
not permit the same) should
28
I
if
should be-
from other cause (may
I
utter or think other-
x
I
_
*
**
N
-
x^
V
1
A
K;
B
1
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xl
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-
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J-~
SX.
V X
*
;
\
"5
i
;
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,
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^ T
-.
<*>
N5
*
4
<*
V
<(-
A
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t
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O5
i-
"Cr
Q
a/
"C
^
So
*
v
X
*
*
1
\
o
o
(2
to
X
c
x;
THE STEWTOBt
PUBLIC UiKAftY
ASTOK, LENOX AND
TILDEN
B
K
^8
L
FROM
ST.
from
this
wise,
and not thought
moment
in fact:
I
Firstly,
it
and to take
which
gin Mary,
to
guide
29
revoke the same as detestable
and fearful of death.
commend my
with the
passion, and death
for
I
CUBA.
DE
I
order and
following manner:
will in the
redeemed
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
it
my
;
soul to God,
infinite price of
beseeching
soul to the
created and
His adorable blood,
to
pardon
my
sins
enjoyment of His holy glory,
was created beseeching the Most Holy Vir;
Our Lady,, Mother
me
Him
who
in the
to the earth of
way
which
it
of God, counselor of sinners,
of salvation.
was formed,
I
consign
my
body
to be buried in the
General Cemetery, leaving the details of
my
burial to
executor, provided that three masses be said for
my
my
soul
and the customary alms given, including the fund for the
"Pio Religioso,"
all
of which
is
to be taken out of
my
estate.
I
declare that
issue.
which
I
I
I
am
declare that
unmarried, and that
I
recognize no
when
I
made
I left
France
a will
sealed and deposited in the commercial house of
Sefior Lazard, Plaza de las Victors, No.
3,
years thirty-three and thirty-four, in which
I
between the
made
dispo-
FROM
30
sitions,
ST.
and
I
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
request and
command
DE
CUBA.
that these be strictly
carried out in the terms therein expressed.
declare of
I
my
possessions, that the
hundred and eight dollars are
Don Juan
de
Moya
in the
sum of
thirty-two
hands of Brigadier
y Mojeron, and likewise one thou-
sand six or seven hundred dollars
will
be found in
my
commode.
declare that
I
I
owe no
for various cures, as follows
iente, five
hundred dollars
sum, as proven by a note
lars
:
Doiia Maria Manuela Val-
Don
Jose Chamiso, an equal
D. Proensa, three hundred dol-
Don Salvador Lozada, an equal
two hundred dollars Dona Do-
;
Dona Rosa
Pera,
;
lores Espejo, sixteen dollars;
dred and eighty-four dollars
Seiior
:
as indicated in
Molm.
three hun-
Dona Ursula
three hundred and twenty dollars
I
owe me
the Reverend Father
;
sum
;
;
one, but that others
;
Ripilado,
and other individuals
my memorandum-book
of cures-
declare that, in addition to the above effects,
I
have
others in the island, as proven by documents which will be
found with
valuables.
my
private papers, as well as other personal
~
.
/
'f-
.
.
s
v:
^
- s
v:
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC- LIBRARY
ASTOK, LENOX
AND
TJLDEN KOr,\a\TIONS
*
FROM
And
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
to faithfully carry out this
executor
my
Die
will, I
CUBA.
name
31
as
my
Don Antonio Juan Benjamin Antomarchi
Choigneau,
my
cousin, with
first
all
power and
the
y
facility
accorded him by law, to carry out this will with free and
liberal interpretation,
law
if
to
extend the time provided by
necessary.
And
pay or
and
as cashier,
collect
Don Agustin
de
such accounts which
Tejera, in order to
la
may
present in accord-
ance with these provisions, according to law covering the
case, proceeding with all extra- judicially.
remainder of
all
my
And
with the
properties, debts, rights, stocks, that
now belong to me, or may in future belong to me, I appoint and name as my only sole and general heir to all my
possessions in the Island of
sess,
except what
tioned cousin,
I
Cuba
possess in France, the before men-
Don Antonio Juan Benjamin Antomarchi
Choigneau, so that he can have
with
my
blessing, except that
must remain
as well as others I pos-
as I
have
set
it
it all,
which
enjoy and inherit
is
in
y
it
France, as this
apart in the foregoing sealed
will referred to.
And by
the present I revoke, annul, and consider as of
32
FROM
no value or
HELENA TO SANTIAGO
ST.
any other
effect
DE
CUBA.
powers,
wills,
codicils,
or
other dispositions in wills, except as in that one referred
to as sealed
and made
in
France, or any other before
by writing, word, or other form: so that
made
instrument
this
only shall be valid and have effect in the manner and
through the channels herein prescribed.
Dated
in
Santiago de Cuba the
first
day of April, the
year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and the
author of this will
is
known
to me, the Notary,
decree in the employ of the public, and held in
dence by the Government and
;
ances this
man
of sound
is
he made and signed
this
I testify
that to
by royal
full confiall
appear-
mind and judgment, and
that
document (without the aid of an
interpreter, as he understands the Spanish language)
the presence of the witnesses,
Portuondo, Don
who
are
Jabier Borjilla, and
Don
Jose Maria
Don Melchor
de
Tejera, neighbors.
DR. Fco. ANTOMARCHI.
Before me, Franco. Anto. Bucareh.
in
la
TRANSLATION OF THE FUNERAL RECORD OF
DOCTOR FRANCISCO ANTOMARCHI.
(In the Parish Register, Church of San
Apostle, Santiago de Cuba.)
Tomas
the
APRIL.
In the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and thirtyeight, April third, the
in this
Very Venerable Dean and Chapter
Metropolitan Church of this city of Santiago de
Cuba performed
cope, with
the funeral services with the large cross,
two Summons
at ten o'clock in the
morning,
with Vigil, three processions, and the clergy accompanied
the
body of Doctor Don Francisco Antomarchi, which on
the following day they gave service to in this auxiliary
Church of San Tomas the Apostle, with
Calls at the Prayers,
Vigil,
Mass,
and two Summons with eight
assist-
ing clergymen, he having received the Holy Sacrament of
Penance and extreme Unction.
I
to the General Cemetery,
where
That
sign
this
may
be known,
I
have remitted
it
his
body
*
was given interment.
FRANCISCO XAVIER
DE;
IBARRA.