Juan Cortada y Quintana

Juan Cortada y Quintana
Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico
In office 1873–1874
Preceded by	Alejandro Albizu
Succeeded by	Rafael León y García
Personal details
Born	ca. 1820
Died	August 22, 1889
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Spouse(s)	Mercedes Tirado (died 1871) Vicenta Albizu Providencia Martorell[1]
Children	With Mercedes Tirado: Juan (born 1864) Eduardo With Vicenta Albizu: Vicente José Antonio With Providencia Martorell: Joaquín Dora Providencia[2]
Residence	Puerto Rico
Occupation	plantation farmer

Juan Cortada y Quintana (born ca. 1820 – died 1889) was a Puerto Rican politician, businessman, and landowner. He served as Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1873 to 1874.

Hacendado

Cortada and his brother Ramón, were hacendados, landowners who owned several sugarcane haciendas like Hacienda Descalabrado (then known as Central Cortada), Las Mercedes, La Palmarito, and La Mallorquina, among others. They were located in the region between Ponce and Santa Isabel.^[3]

The workers in such estates were almost always slaves. Thus it is likely that Cortada owned slaves in working his sugarcane farm.^[4] Some sources confirm that Cortada in fact owned 28 slaves in 1872, one year before the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico.^[5]

Since 1868, Cortada's estate had irrigation problems, which led Cortada to ask for permits to use the waters of Río Descalabrado river to irrigate his land. After some financial troubles, and with the death of his first wife, Cortada ceded the ownership of the Hacienda Descalabrado to his two young sons, Juan and Eduardo. However, this change wasn't registered. Cortada also had debts for the mortgage of the land where Hacienda Palmarito was established. In 1874, he had to sell Hacienda Descalabrado, but he recovered it in 1884.^[6]

Lender

Cortada, together with his brother Ramón, was also in the money-lending business, lending capital to 11 other hacendados in the area. By 1870 Cortada owned five haciendas in the municipality of Ponce.^[7]

Mayoral term

Cortada served as Mayor of Ponce from 1873 to 1874.^[8] This was the time when the Republica Española (Spanish Republic) was declared (February 11, 1873) and also the time when slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico (March 22, 1873). Cortada's municipal assembly consisted of: Rafael Pujals, Federico Capo, Jose Antonio Renta, Celedonio Besosa, Olimpio Otero, Lazaro Martinez, Marcos Fugurull (padre/father), Juan Jose Mayoral, Guillermo Oppenheimer, and Gustavo Cabrera.^[9]

Personal life

Juan Cortada y Quintana married three times. His first marriage was to Mercedes Tirado, with whom he procreated two sons: Juan (born 1864) and Eduardo. Mercedes died in 1871. Cortada's second marriage was to Vicenta Albizu, with whom he had two more children: Vicente and José Antonio. His third marriage was with Providencia Martorell. They had a son and a daughter: Joaquín and Dora Providencia.^[10] Cortada y Quintana died on August 22, 1889.^[11]

Legacy

There is a street in a Ponce neighborhood, Urbanización Las Delicias, of Barrio Magueyes named after him.

See also

• Ponce, Puerto Rico
• List of famous Puerto Ricans

References

1. La Estancia Descalabrado y los Cortada. Melvin Rivera Velázquez. SantaIsabelPR. March 31, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
2. La Estancia Descalabrado y los Cortada. Melvin Rivera Velázquez. SantaIsabelPR. March 31, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
3. Central Cortada: El fin de la producción azucarera. Melvin Rivera Velázquez. SantaIsabelPR. February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
4. Terratenientes Extranjeros. Melvin Rivera Velazaquez. SantaIsabelPR. January 27, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
5. Propietarios de esclavos en los barrios rurales de Ponce. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
6. La Estancia Descalabrado y los Cortada. Melvin Rivera Velázquez. SantaIsabelPR. March 31, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
7. Terratenientes Extranjeros. Melvin Rivera Velázquez. SantaIsabelPR. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
8. Alcaldes de Ponce. Government of the Autonomous Minicipality of Ponce. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
9. El libro de Puerto Rico: Capitulo XIX: Ciudades Principales: Ponce: Breve Sipnosis Historica, by Juan Braschi. E. Fernandez Garcia, editor. Francis W. Hoadley & Eugenio Astol, co-editors. San Juan, Puerto Rico: El Libro Azul Publishing Company. 1923. Page 1063. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
10. La Estancia Descalabrado y los Cortada. Melvin Rivera Velázquez. SantaIsabelPR. March 31, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
11. La Estancia Descalabrado y los Cortada. Melvin Rivera Velázquez. SantaIsabelPR. Retrieved January 22, 2012.