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Copyright, 1982 William Clark Griggs

FRANK MCMULLAN'S BRAZILIAN COLONY
by
WILLIAM CLARK GRIGGS, B.B.A., M.A,
A DISSERTATION
IN
HISTORY
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Approved
x\ccepted
May, 19 82

PREFACE
To most southerners, the news of the surrender of
the Confederate States of America in 1865 was devastating.
Although they knew that the end was near, neither the
rebellious army nor the citizenry had adapted their think­
ing to the social adjustments they would face as a conquered
nation. The guidelines for regaining citizenship status
remained blurred and most southerners felt anxious about
the future. "We are surrounded by gloom," wrote one
Georgia woman.
Not even hope to sustain us. My heart is filled with
an intensity of hatred toward the authors of our misery,
that I cannot mollify. There is no happiness within or
without. I cannot reconcile myself to this wretched
servitude.^
In another extreme example of depression, Edmund Ruffin,
the man who reputedly fired the first shot at Fort Sumter,
loaded his pistol, wrapped himself in the Confederate flag,
then committed suicide. Adding to the southern feelings of
uncertainty and fear, some northerners, particularly radi­
cals like Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania,
Rebecca Minis, Savannah, Georgia, to Godfrey
Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, July 27, 186 5, in
Barnsley Papers, The Robert W. Woodruff Library for
Advanced Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
ii

clamored that a harsh, demanding reconstruction policy
should be adooted toward the South. In natural reaction
to such pressures, many southerners decided to leave the
United States for another nation where they would be free
from fears of Yankee domination, the humiliation of antici­
pated rule by former slaves, and the imminent possibility
2
of criminal action for treason.
One Georgian who later emigrated to Brazil ex­
pressed the fear of some southerners. "It is true that
our horison [sic] is dark, but political prosecutions have
not commenced. The crash and thunder of contending fac­
tions at the north are almost heard." Commenting on the
anticipated loss of freedom in the South, the Galveston
News editorialized that.
The radical programme of depriving the people of the
South of the last vestige of liberty is about to be
carried out, and . . . our unhappy country is about
to be made the theatre of the most despotic rule the
world has witnessed in modern timies."
Although the fears of former Confederates were, on the
whole, without real standing, potential emigrants dis­
cussed the relative merits of dozens of countries. Canada,
Mexico, Cuba, British Honduras, and England received con­
sideration by many, but most talked of Brazil, where land
2
Alfred Steinberg, "Fire Eating Farmer of the Confederacy,"
American Heritage: The Magazine of History 9
(December 1957): 22-25.
Ill

was cheap, where slavery was still legal, and above all,
3
where southern emigrants were actively courted.
Although officially neutral during the Civil War,
the government of Brazil refused to comply with continued
Union demands that Confederate ships be treated as "pirates."
Although such actions were not official imperial policy,
Brazilian port authorities allowed southern ships to secure
provisions, take on coal, and, in some cases, to "dispose of
their captures." When the United States warship Wachusett
went so far as to fire upon and capture the Confederate ship
Florida in the port of Bahia, a "frenzied mob" of irate
Brazilians defiantly ripped the American flag from the con­
sulate. "Citizen police" in Rio de Janeiro were detailed to
guard the residences of the American consul and minister
"against possible violence from the infuriated populace."
According to historian Lawrence Hill, matters might "have
taken a serious turn" except for major diplomatic problems
4
which demanded immediate attention of Brazilian officials.
3 George Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, to the
Editor of the Rome Courier (Rome, Georgia), November 6,
1866, as quoted in Douglas Grier, "Confederate Emigration
to Brazil, 1865-1870" (Ph.D. dissertation. University of
Michigan, 1968), p. 19; Galveston Daily News, January 8,
1867, p. 2.
4 Lawrence F. Hill, Diplomatic Relations Between
the United States and Brazil (Durham, North Carolina:
Duke University Press, 1932), pp. 149-159.
IV

The wartime differences between Brazil and the
United States must have resulted in some affinity for the
southern cause, and, on the close of the conflict, agita­
tion began to encourage Confederate emigration to Brazil.
Many in Rio de Janeiro discussed the possibility of luring
badly-needed agriculturalists and technical experts from
the South. The newspaper Diaro de Sao Paulo pressed for a
liberal emigration policy, arguing that southerners "cannot
submit to the new order of things and live on a footing of
equality with their slaves. ... If our government loses
this favorable opportunity to draw them to our country,
it will not find another." By January, 1866, prominent
Brazilians held a meeting in Sao Paulo for the express pur­
pose of forming an association to promote emigration.
All over the South, serious plans were drawn for
settlement in Brazil. In Chester County, South Carolina,
Joseph Abney was elected president of the newly-formed
Southern Emigration Society. Lansford Warren Hastings, a
pioneer in both Oregon and California, made plans for a
colony on the Amazon River. Alabama's George Grandioson
5 Diaro de Sao Paulo, September 26, 1865, as quoted
in James McFadden Gaston, Hunting a Home in Brazil: The
Agricultural Resources and Other Characteristics of the
Country. . . . (Philadelphia: King and Baird, 186 7), p.
60; Blanche Henry Clark Weaver, "Confederate Emigration
to Brazil," The Journal of Southern History 27 (February,
1961): 34.
V

Gunter determined to lead a flock to a home on the Doce
River in Espiritu Santo Province. Dr. James McFadden
Gaston, a South Carolina physician, made an extended survey
of southern Brazil, then wrote a lengthy treatise called
g
Hunting a Home in Brazil. Sponsored and subsidized by
the Brazilian government, Gaston's volume became a textbook
for many who planned to go to South America. One of the
best-known colonizers. Reverend Ballard S. Dunn, an Epis­
copal preacher of New Orleans, acquired a tract of land
near Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, on the Juquia River. Dunn
named the settlement "Lizzieland" in honor of his late wife,
Elizabeth, and declared the spot to be a refuge for the
South's oppressed. He edited a book, Brazil, The Home for
Southerners, promoting emigration and incorporating the
7
reports of several other empresarios. In another major
colonizing attempt, Frank McMullan of Hill and McLennan
counties led a group of friends, neighbors, relatives, and
like-minded Texans to the Sao Lourengo River in Sao Paulo
Province.
Gaston, Hunting a Home in Brazil (Philadelphia:
King and Baird, 1867).
7 Ballard S. Dunn, Brazil, The Home for Southerners,
or, A Practical Account of What the Author, and Others,
Who Visited That Country, For the Same Objects, Saw and
Did While in That Empire (New Orleans: Bloomfield & Steel,
1866) .
VI

The earliest-known study of Confederate emigration
to Brazil was written by Professor Lawrence F. Hill of Ohio
State University. Entitled "Confederate Exiles to Brazil,"
it appeared in the May, 19 27, issue of the Hispanic Ameri­
can Historical Review. When one considers that Hill wrote
on a subject upon which no historiographical data had been
accumulated, the article must be termed outstanding. It
was a general work which touched on all but one of the major
emigration attempts from the United States. The study
focused on Lansford Warren Hastings's colony on the Amazon
and Charles G. Gunter's settlement on the Rio Doce. He
provided almost no information on the McMullan attempt.
In this first study. Hill concluded that emigration was
moderately successful, although the Brazilian government
was discouraged by the amounts of money spent in relation
to overall results. Two of Hill's undocumented conclusions
still occur from time to time in emigration studies. One,
which remains questionable, is a statement that most Con­
federates had no desire to acquire Brazilian citizenship.
The other conclusion, that southerners studiously avoided
g
military service, is also unproven by evidence.
Following Lawrence Hill's article was another study.
g
Lawrence F. Hill, "Confederate Exiles to Brazil,"
Hispanic American Historical Review (May 1927): 192-210.
Vll

written in two parts, by Peter A. Brannon in the Alabama
Historical Quarterly. Brannon, in a footnote, states that
he had been unaware of Lawrence Hill's article in the
Hispanic American Historical Review and that Hill had
access to materials on emigration "not available for my
use." Brannon need not have been apologetic, however, for
his article, "Southern Emigration to Brazil," went beyond
Hill's in some respects. Like Hill, Brannon focused on
the colonial ventures of Hastings and Gunter although he
provided valuable historiographical data on Ballard S. Dunn
and Robert H. Norris, the leader of a colony at Santa Bar­
bara. Brannon,' like Hill, barely mentions the McMullan
Colony. Brannon provides the first partial listing of
American emigrants ever published. Brannon's conclusions
are based on the experiences of the Gunter colony and, as
a result, they are misleading in relation to the entire
emigration picture in Brazil. For instance, Brannon states
that "the people who left the South of the United States
were not fitted to be pioneers in any country." He re­
ferred to well-to-do southerners unaccustomed to hard phy­
sical labor. Of interest is Brannon's observation that
the professional man was the most content in Brazil. He
also concluded that few families stayed in Brazil and that,
on the whole, individual emigrants were the ones who became
Vlll

9
life-long Brazilians.
In the 19 30's Lawrence Hill published two addi­
tional studies about emigration to Brazil. The first, a
chapter entitled "Confederate Exiles to Brazil," appeared
in Hill's book. Diplomatic Relations Between the United
States and Brazil. With the exception of two opening para­
graphs, it was identical to Hill's 1927 effort published in
the Hispanic American Historical Review. The second, how­
ever, represented the best study on southern emigration to
date. Entitled "The Confederate Exodus to South America,"
it appeared as a three-part series in the 19 35-19 36 South­
western Historical Quarterly. In these articles. Hill out­
lined for the first time the efforts of all of the Brazilian
colonies. As in his earlier studies. Hill's emphasis cen­
tered on Hastings and Gunter, although he did give consid­
erably more space to Dunn, Gaston, and the Southern Emigra­
tion Society. In the entire ninety-four page series, a
little more than one paragraph was devoted to the McMullan
attempt. Hill did conclude, however, that the McMullan
Colony failed because of "depleted funds, a lack of means
of communication, and physical and mental sickness." Even
9 Peter A. Brannon, "Southern Emigration to Brazil
Embodying the Diary of Jennie R. Keyes, Montgomery, Alabama,"
The Alabama Historical Quarterly 1 (Summer 19 30;
Fall 1930): 74-95 (Summer), 280-305 (Fall).
IX

efore the publication of the articles in the Quarterly,
however, J. Fred Rippy, then associate editor of the His­
panic American Historical Review, advised Blanche Henry
Clark, then a student at Ward-Belmont in Nashville, that
"the subject of Confederate Exiles to Brazil has practically
been exhausted by L. F. Hill, of Ohio State University."
Clark, later Blanche Weaver, was not discouraged
by Rippy's advice, however, and continued to pursue the
study of southern emigration to Brazil. In her research,
she received encouragement from two outstanding southern
historians. E. Merton Coulter expressed keen interest in
the subject and even discussed publication of the Godfrey
Barnsley papers which he secured for the University of
Georgia. Francis B. Simpkins was particularly interested
in Blanche Weaver's studies. In a 19 47 letter to Weaver,
Sim.pkins hoped that she "will pretty soon give us a book
on the Southerners in Brazil. I believe the venture must
have been more successful than generally believed."
Hill, Diplomatic Relations; Lawrence F. Hill,
"The Confederate Exodus to South America," Southwestern
Historical Quarterly 39 (October 19 35, January 19 36, and
April 1936): 100-134 (October, 161-197 (January), and
309-326 (April); J. Fred Rippy, Durham, North Carolina,
to Blanche Henry Clark, May 23, 19 35, Blanche Henry Clark
Weaver Papers, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas.
E. Merton Coulter, Athens, Georgia, to Blanche
Henry Clark, Nashville, Tennessee, December 29, 194 2,
X

Blanche Weaver's first article on emigration to
Brazil from the United States zeroed in on an important
result of the American presence, religious activities and
churches. In November, 195 2, her study appeared in The
Journal of Southern History. Entitled "Confederate Immi­
grants and Evangelical Churches in Brazil," it was the
initial work on a distinct facet of southern emigration to
Latin America. In it, she concluded that "the determined
12
efforts of the Confederates . . . had phenomenal results."
Blanche Weaver's second publication, "Confederate
Emigration to Brazil," appeared in the February, 1961,
issue of The Journal of Southern History. Unlike her first
study, this scholarly article presented an overview of all
Confederate colonies. It was the most balanced examination
to date of all of the emigration attempts and was the first
to recognize the McMullan colony as one of three "most
notable mass emigration attempts." In addition, this
article presented for the first time information from the
extensive correspondence of George Barnsley and the arti­
cles of Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, both McMullan
Weaver Papers; Francis B. Simpkins, Farmville, Virginia,
to Blanche Henry Clark Weaver, Nashville, Tennessee, March
2, 19 47, Weaver Papers.
12
Blanche Henry Clark Weaver, "Confederate Immigrants
and Evangelical Churches in Brazil," The Journal
of Southern History (November 1952): 446-468.
xi

colonists. Weaver concluded that the failure of all of
the southern colonies was traceable to several problems
including isolation of colony sites, failure of the
Brazilians to provide transportation routes, and lack
13
of an adequate financial reserve by emigrants.
The 1960's and the centennial of the Civil War
brought a renewed interest in studies of Confederate emi­
gration. In 1967, Brazilian Julia McKnight Jones completed
Soldado Descansal (Soldier Rest), a study of southern emi­
gration from a Brazilian viewpoint. Jones, a descendant
of one of the McMullan colonists, adopted a general approach
in her study and made little attempt to delineate the his­
tory of any of the specific colonies. It is particularly
valuable, however, in the study of families of Americans
who remained in Brazil. Bell I. Wiley stated that the
Jones account "is the best source for a comprehensive
14
account of Confederate settlements in Brazil."
In 1968, Douglas Grier of the University of Michi­
gan completed a doctoral dissertation entitled "Confederate
Emigration to Brazil." It was the first book-length study
p. 34 .
13
Weaver, "Confederate Emigration to Brazil,"
14
Julia McKnight Jones, Soldado Descansal Uma
Epopeia Norte Americana Sob Os Ceus do Brasil (Sao Paulo:
Jarde, 1967); Bell I. Wiley, "Confederate Exiles in Brazil,"
Civil War Times Illustrated 15 (January 1977), p. 25.
xii

of southern colonization in Brazil completed in the United
States. Grier's work was without doubt the most thorough
investigation to date. He utilized more source materials,
both unpublished and published, then any historian had
previously located on the subject. Yet, Grier's disserta­
tion also generalized about all southern colonies. He made
no real attempt to complete a thorough study of any one
group. Grier concluded that southern emigration resulted
in benefit to Brazil and that the descendents- of Americans
"made significant contributions to the technology, religion,
and education of their new land."
Four years after the completion of Douglas Grier's
dissertation, an American sociologist who lives in Brazil,
Frank P. Goldman, wrote a book to be published.for the
sesquicentennial of the independence of Brazil. Entitled
Os Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil, Goldman utilized several
Brazilian sources not previously cited in the other works
on emigration to Brazil. Of particular interest is Gold­
man's research concerning the search for gold and other
16
minerals by Americans.
Grier, "Confederate Emigration to Brazil."
16
Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No
Brasil: Educadores, Sacerdotes, Covos e Reis (Sao Paulo:
Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1972).
Xlll

In the 19 70's, two magazine articles appeared
which presented overviews of Confederate emigration. One,
by William C. Davis, appeared in the June, 19 70, issue of
American History Illustrated. Entitled simply "Confederate
Exiles," it traced the exodus to Mexico, Canada, Honduras,
British Honduras, Venezuela, and Brazil. Davis concluded
that Latin American emigration was a failure because
"Southern men and women, accustomed to one way of life in
one environment, found themselves unable to adapt to the
new life-style, climate, and customs. ..." Davis noted,
however, that the Americans introduced new technological
expertise and opened primitive lands to future settle­
ment. Another article on Brazilian emigration from the
South by Bell I.Wiley was published in Civil War Times
Illustrated. Like most articles before it, Wiley's study
detailed a composite of all of the American colonies in
Brazil. Following precedent, Wiley directed most of his
efforts toward description of the Hastings, Gunter, and
Dunn attempts at settlement. The McMullan Colony was noted
in a single paragraph. Wiley concluded that approximately
20 percent of the southern emigrants remained in Brazil,
an estimate that is probably close to correct. However,
17
William C. Davis, "Confederate Exiles," American
History Illustrated 5 (June 1970): 30-43.
XIV

Wiley agreed with earlier estimates that as many as 2,500
to 4,000 ex-Confederates settled in Brazil. Their greatest
contributions, Wiley concluded, were in education and
, . . 18
religion.
In an attempt to fill a major gap in the histori­
ography of Confederate emigration to Brazil, this study
will trace the colonizing attempt of Frank McMullan who,
with his partner William Bowen, took the only organized
colony of Texans to South America. Following a survey of
lands, McMullan chose property on the Sao Lourenjo River
south of the city of Sao Paulo. He returned to the United
States after receiving tentative title, then faced months
of delay caused by inconsistent Brazilian emigration policy,
dishonest shipowners, and anti-emigration port authorities.
After finally sailing from Galveston in early 1867, the
emigrants faced even more severe problems. The voyage to
South America was plagued by mutiny, shipwreck, epidemic
disease, and frustration. Following a short stay in Rio de
Janeiro, the colonists continued their journey by canoe up
the Juquia River en route to a fifty-five league block of
lush tropical land they called "El Dorado." McMullan,
suffering from tuberculosis, died in September, 1867. His
death caused a power struggle which failed to produce a
18
Wiley, "Confederate Exiles."
XV

dynamic leader. Ultimately, it resulted in the breakup
of the colony. Many of the emigrants returned to Texas;
others stayed on colony lands until need or loneliness
forced them to join other Americans at a central gathering
place, a town named Santa Barbara.
Although several important manuscript sources have
been available to historians for over forty years, no
scholarly work had been written specifically about the
McMullan colony until a master's thesis was completed by
the author of this work in 19 74 at Texas Tech University.
In my research on this topic, primary materials were
located in a number of private and public collections.
Blanche Weaver generously allowed the use of her papers
which include all of her personal correspondence on the
subject. In addition, the Weaver Papers contain two items
which were vital to this study. A 19 35 manuscript by Sarah
Bellona Smith Ferguson, a young girl in 186 7 when she
sailed with the McMullan emigrants, is invaluable histori­
cal evidence. Also included is a long article which Fergu­
son published in 19 36 in the Times of Brazil. A diligent
search prior to its discovery in the Weaver Papers had
failed to locate this important article in either Brazil
or the United States. Five large collections of Barnsley
family correspondence were located. All include detailed
letters by Dr. George Barnsley and his brother Lucian from
XV i

Brazil to family members in the United States. Duke Uni­
versity, the University of Georgia, the Tennessee State
Library and Archives, the University of North Carolina,
and Emory University were extremely helpful in providing
photocopies and microfilm.
Materials from Brazilian sources were also invalu­
able in the study of the McMullan emigrants. Several very
important documents were located in the Archives of the
State of Sao Paulo, including surveys, reports, letters,
and an 186 7 census of the colony. The National Archives
of Brazil and the Brazilian Institute of History and
Geography in Rio de Janeiro yielded valuable data on
Brazilian emigration contracts in addition to in-depth
correspondence. Some of the most important sources of
information relating to the efforts on behalf of American
emigration by the Brazilian consul in New York were pub­
lished in 19 4 3 by the Revista de Imigra

addition not only to the history of Texas, but also to the
history of Brazil. Several important economic, social and
religious developments stemmed directly from the McMullan
colony. One emigrant, Thomas Steret McKnight, introduced
the steel mouldboard plow to Brazil. With McKnight,
another Texan, John Domm, became the first to manufacture
this American-style implement there. Richard Ratcliff and
Elijah H. Quillin, both with the McMullan group, organized
the first permanent Baptist church in Brazil. Quillin
became the first missionary to Brazil representing the
Southern Baptist Convention. Quillin also taught at a
college organized at Piracicaba, founded by southerners,
which served as a model for later improvements in Brazilian
educational facilities. Judge James H. Dyer and Columbus
Wasson, both from Central Texas, were among the first
persons to utilize a large American-style sawmill in
Brazil. A former Navarro County, Texas, resident, Calvin
McKnight, claimed the dubious distinction of inventing an
improved distillation method for making pinga, or Brazilian
rum, from sugar cane. McKnight also may have brewed the
first whiskey in Brazil. James M. Keith, a former Texas
Ranger, became a pioneer in the scientific search for gem
and mineral deposits in South America.
Because of the long term results of emigration by
the McMullan colonists to Brazil, it must be termed a
xviii

success. The colony was a failure, however, as a settle­
ment. If one should go to the spot today, he would find
himself in a tropical rain forest where, along the banks
of the Sao Lourencjo River, coffee and other crops are har­
vested by a still sparce population of farmers. Despite
the charm of the place, no one would guess today that one
time, many years ago, 154 Texan emigrants called it "El
Dorado" and considered it their one chance to live in Eden.
Their tenure there was short-lived; indeed, some never
arrived with the colony. Yet, like all of the elusive
quests for happiness, contentment, adventure, and gold
that have taken place through the centuries, the search
was intense, the commitment was genuine, and the hope for
success was real.
It may properly be said that although a single
author is usually listed on a title page, no historical
study is the work of one individual. The historian must
draw on the compositions of those who have gone before and
the assistance of those who help us in our scholarly en­
deavors. This work is certainly no exception to that rule,
and appreciation is therefore expressed to the following
persons: Adelaide Alba of the Institute Historico e
Geografico Brasileiro in Rio de Janeiro; Margaret Ross of
the J. N. Heiskell Library of the Arkansas Gazette Founda­
tion, Little Rock; Sharon E. Knapp and Robert L. Byrd of
xix

the William R. Perkins Library of Duke University; Ann
Graham of the Benson Latin American Collection, The Uni­
versity of Texas at Austin; Kent Keech, director of The
Texas Collection, Baylor University; Raul Lima, Director-
General of the Archivo Nacional in Rio de Janeiro; John
Thweatt, the Tennessee State Library and Archives; and
Carolyn Wallace, the Southern Historical Collection at
the University of North Carolina. Also, the Archives of
the State of Sao Paulo; the Bridwell Library of Southern
Methodist University; and Virginia J. H. Cain, the Robert
W. Woodruff Library for Advanced Studies at Emory Univer­
sity. Special Thanks are extended to Blanche Henry Clark
Weaver, formerly of Vanderbilt University, who generously
made available her extensive collections.
The author also wishes to acknowledge Professor
Alwyn Barr, who, as chairman of my committee at Texas Tech
University, was of incalculable assistance in reading and
correcting the manuscript for this book. Professor Robert
Hayes's help was of real value, especially in the evaluation
of Brazilian historical events. Professors Joseph King,
Jacquelin Collins, and Dan Flores provided valuable criti­
cism. Professor Emeritus Ernest Wallace gave much-needed
critical evaluation to this work in its early status. The
retirement of Professor Seymour Connor did not allow him
to remain as my committee chairman; however, it is he who
XX

must receive credit for the first suggestions for research
on the McMullan Colony.
Finally, my thanks go to my wife, Joan, and my
children, Nancy and John, for their understanding during
the innumerable miles of travel and the long hours of work
spent in the search for information about Frank McMullan
and his Brazilian Eden.
XXI

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii
Chapter
I. DESIGN AND DESTINY 1
II. SETTING THE STAGE 38
III. THE SEARCH FOR LANDS 64
IV. PREPARATIONS AND PROBLEMS 109
V. GATHERING AT GALVESTON 149
VI. THE WRECK OF THE DERBY 186
VII. DELAYS IN CUBA AND VIRGINIA 20 4
VIII. NEW YORK TO BRAZIL . 239
IX. DEATH AND DISILLUSIONMENT 26 5
X. LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS 29 3
XI. DEVELOPMENT, DOGMA, AND DEMORALIZATION ... 318
XII. THE END OF EL DORADO 36 6
CONCLUSIONS 40 5
BIBLIOGRAPHY 421
APPENDICES 44 3
xxii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
1. Location and limits of the McMullan
lands in Sao Paulo Province 10 2
2. Frank McMullan, New Orleans, 1867 173
XXlll

CHAPTER I
DESIGN AND DESTINY
From the beginning of European settlement in North
America farmers, profit-seekers, and adventurers began a
movement toward the frontier of civilization. The nine­
teenth century saw the zenith of this movement as huge
areas of land were forcibly cleared of native-American
inhabitants and opened to settlers. With the availability
of vast quantities of agricultural acreage, particularly
in the southern part of the nation, came a need for labor
that was filled by the importation and sale of African
slaves. The institution of slavery, promoted as a panacea
for the South's economic problems, became instead a curse
which was to eventually result in the disruption of the
region as it was known in the first one-half of the cen­
tury. By 1850, conflict between the North and the South
over the geographic boundaries of slavery in the West had
set an irreversible course toward war. In a vain effort
to secure more pro-slavery representation in Congress so
that the southerners could achieve a political majority,
some sought to annex lands in Latin America, a potential
slavery frontier. Other expansionists, carrying the theme

of manifest destiny to its extreme limits, sought to con­
quer whole nations with private armies with personal gain
as their primary consideration. Frank McMullan, born in
Georgia but raised on the frontiers of Mississippi and
Texas, became a part of the pro-slavery expansionist move­
ment. Unlike most of the pre-Civil War filibusters,
however, McMullan was to eventually plant a colony in
Latin America. He did not do so by force of arms, but as
an enthusiastic citizen of his adopted country, Brazil.
Frank McMullan was born in 18 35 in Walker County,
Georgia. He came from a venerable and respected family,
for tradition relates that his grandfather, John McMullan,
was an Irish baron who emigrated to the United States
during the Revolution to serve as a military advisor to
the Americans. He left family and fortune in Ireland, it
is said, when it became apparent that his wife had no
desire to come to the new world. John McMullan's son,
Hugh Milton, married Nancy Dyer, the daughter of Wiley
Dyer of Virginia, in 1834. The couple settled in northern
Elizabeth Ann Wright, comp., James Dyer: Descendants
and Allied Families ([Dallas]: n.p., 1954), p. [58];
Rachel McMullan White, Needham, Mass., to William C. Griggs,
interview, April 20, 1975, MS notes in possession of William
C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas. A search of passenger lists of
incoming Irish emigrants shows that a Hugh McMullan sailed
from Belfast in 1811 aboard the Perseverence. However,
positive evidence has not been found that this is John
McMullan's son; see Dominick Hackett and Charles Montague
Earty, Passenger Lists from Ireland (Baltimore: Geneological
Publishing Company, 1965), pp. 16, 22.

Georgia and were among the first to live in the village of
Chesnut Flat, a farming community northeast of La Fayette.
Although Hugh McMullan was a farmer and a stock raiser, he
also served as a lawyer for those who lived in that remote
section of Georgia. McMullan became the "local advocate
of the Whig cause," and frequently engaged in heated contro-
2
versies with neighbors who championed the Democrats.
As a boy in Georgia, Frank McMullan had already
begun to exhibit personal qualities which were to serve him
well in later years. He was a natural leader, an outstand­
ing student, and a close companion to the sisters and
brothers who were also born in Walker County. His real
name was Francis, but he always preferred being called
Frank. None of the McMullan children normally used their
real names, preferring nicknames which they felt gave them
a certain extraordinary character. Sister Martha Ann, two
years younger than Frank, was affectionately called "Matt."
Milton, born in 1840, became "Bud," and Eugene, the young­
est who was born in 1843, was dubbed "Nuck." Frank has as
a companion and friend when he was a boy a young Negro
slave named Jasper. Like the other children, he had a
2
James Alfred Sartain, History of Walker County,
Georgia (1932; reprint ed., Carrollton, Georgia: A. M.
Matthews and J. S. Sartain, 1972), pp. 45, 211; United
States, Census of 1840, Manuscript Population Schedules,
Walker County, Georgia (Microfilm Publication, National
Archives).

3
nickname—"Jap"—which he kept the rest of his life.
In about 1840, a young man named Alfred Iverson
Smith came to the McMullan home at Chesnut Flat. Exhausted,
weak, and pale. Smith explained that he had returned to
Georgia from western Alabama where for the past few months
he had held a job as an overseer on a cotton plantation.
Homesick for Georgia and wanting to be a teacher rather
than a farmer, the young man had been on the trail for
weeks. He asked Hugh McMullan where he might find room
and board for the night. Smith was told that he could
stay at the McMullan house until he was rested. The two
men liked each other from the start and McMullan persuaded
Smith to locate at Chesnut Flat. A job as a schoolteacher
was arranged, and McMullan even helped young Alfred prepare
his lesson plans. Smith stayed at the McMullan home until
he was settled and became a close friend of the entire
family. Frank became one of Smith's first pupils, and the
two developed a rapport that was to extend first to Texas,
4
then to Brazil.
3 Wright, James Dyer, pp. [57-58]; Hill County,
Texas, Affidavit of Simpson C. Dyer, Deed Records, 121
(February 24, 1910): 154-155; Hill County, Texas, Affidavit
of Jasper McMullan, Deed Records, 121 (April 29, 1909):
155-156; Virginia McMullan Clark, "Lines to My Old Home,"
MS poem in possession of William C. Griggs.
4 Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "The American Colonies
Emigrating to Brazil," Times of Brazil, December 18,
19 36, p. 41; Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No
Brasil: Educadores, SacerdotesT" Covos, e Reis (Sao Paulo:
Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1972), pp. 44, 46, 79.
4

About 1844, Hugh McMullan decided that the time
had come to move farther west. Like many nineteenth cen­
tury frontiersmen, he could not resist the temptation to
sell property at a high price in older, established areas,
and to buy cheap uncleared land in new settlements. In
Mississippi, Nancy and Hugh found a home that suited them
as well as Georgia. The country was still relatively un­
settled, land was cheap, and they found neighboring pioneer
families to their liking. The birth of three more children
added to the joy of the new surroundings. In 1845 another
daughter, Victoria, arrived, and two years later she was
joined by sister Virginia. By 1849, the McMullans had
another daughter who they named Louise. The tradition of
nicknames soon changed the correct names of the three to
"Vic," "Jennie," and "Lou."^
In 1839, Nancy McMullan's father Wylie Dyer became
convinced of the future of Texas and resolved to leave his
home in Walker County, Georgia, and go there permanently.
In preparation for the move, he sold some of his Georgia
property as well as land acquired years before in Lawrence
County, Kentucky. Dyer went to Smith County, Texas, where
in about 1842 he purchased 640 acres of land for fifty cents
Jasper McMullan, affidavit; Wright, James Dyer,
p. [57]; United States, Census of 1860, Manuscript Population
Schedules, Hill County, Texas, Residence Number 440
(Microfilm Publication, National Archives), pp. 55-56.

an acre. He brought five slaves to the Texas farm to help
construct a house, then prepared to buy land for each of
his sons so that they might follow him to Texas. In 1847,
Dyer started back to Georgia to get his family. Near
Daingerfield, in Cass County, his horse stumbled and threv/
Dyer to the ground. His gun discharged when it hit the
turf, killing Dyer instantly. He was buried on the side
of the trail.
One of Wiley Dyer's sons, James Harrison Dyer,
followed his father west and became one of the most impor­
tant early citizens of north central Texas. With his wife
Amanda, he moved from Cherokee County, Georgia, to Hender­
son County, Texas, before 1846. Five years later, lured
by the prospect of cheap grazing land for their cattle,
the Dyers, with four-year-old daughter Harriet, moved to
western Navarro County where he purchased land within the
limits of the Mercer Colony. After he decided that the
new area had promise, he asked his brother, Simpson Cash
Dyer, and his brother-in-law, Hugh McMullan, to bring their
families there. Dyer hoped to establish a dam and mill on
the Brazos River because there was none within a fifty mile
radius, and he needed help in the enterprise. Although
r
Wright, James Dyer, pp. [7-9]; Nancy Dyer (Owen
Dyer's daughter and a niece of Nancy McMullan), MS affidavit,
c. 1860, in possession of Ella Beatrice Hill,
Hillsboro, Texas.

McMullan was not interested in the business venture,
Simpson Dyer was.
As the mill and dam were to be located on a navi­
gable waterway, the Dyers had to acquire state permission
for its construction. After a trip to Austin, they re­
ceived
The privilege of owning and construction of a grist
and flouring mill, south of Fort Graham, on said river
and on the western boundary of Hill County, with the
executive right of one mile above and one mile below
said mill, provided that the dam shall not interfere
with the navigation of said river.
Lacking machinery for such a project, the two Dyer brothers
ordered a huge mill wheel from France. After its arrival
in Galveston, it was floated up the Trinity River to
Liberty, then carried by ox wagon to the site the brothers
had selected. The Dyer mill and dam became the first ever
8
constructed on the Brazos River.
When Hill County was formed out of the western
part of Navarro County in January, 18 53, James H. Dyer
decided to run for election as county judge. He had been
the justice of a court in Cherokee County, Georgia, before
7 Wright, James Dyer, p. [63]; Ella Beatrice Hill,
"The Hill and Allied Stories," in The Gathering of the
Clans (n.p.: n.d., 1957), p. 26; Edna Rutherford Davey,
"The Rutherford Story," in The Gathering of the Clans, pp
22-23; Jules Loh, "A Church Survives Brazos Challenge,"
Waco Tribune Herald, August 5, 19 56, sec. 2, p. 1; Nancy
Ethie Eagleton, "The Mercer Colony in Texas, 1844-1883,"
Southwestern Historical Quarterly 39 (October 1935): 275.
g
Wright, James Dyer, p. [17].

coming to Texas, and felt himself to be qualified for the
post. In the election set for May 19, 1853, Dyer faced
opposition from one Tom Bell. Emotions were high, but Dyer
polled a majority of the votes. After the election a sup­
porter of Dyer named John McCoy became involved in a fight
with Bell's brother-in-law, John Beaty. A Mr. Romaines,
in sympathy with Beaty, struck at McCoy with a butcher
knife but the blow was deflected by an onlooker. Judge
Dyer, enraged by the assault, "ran up with a bull dog
pistol and shot Romaines across the stomach." It appeared
the man was mortally wounded, and a runner went to Fort
Graham for Dr. J. M. Steiner, the post surgeon. Friends
of Bell and Romaines would have killed Judge Dyer had he
not escaped on a friend's horse with about eight men in
hot pursuit. Luckily, Romaines's wound proved only super­
ficial. The new judge, although unharmed, missed the first
9
session of the court and did not preside until June 3.
Although the McMullans were not interested in the
Dyer milling venture, they became very enthusiastic about
9 Texas, 4th Leg., Special Sess., Journals of the
House of Representatives of the State of Texas (Austin:
J. W. Hampton, 1853), p. 94; Davey, "The Rutherford Story,"
p. 35; A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson and
Hill Counties, Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company,
1892), p. 408; A. Y. Kirkpatrick, The Early Settlers Life
in Texas and the Organization of Hill County ([Hillsboro]:
A. Y. Kirkpatrick, [1909]), p. 38; James V. Reese, "The
Murder of Major Ripley A. Arnold," West Texas Historical
Association Yearbook 41 (October 1965): 144-155.
8

descriptions of outstanding grazing and farming lands
available in the new country. In mid-1853, after selling
their Mississippi property, they moved to Texas, arriving
after the election. Within weeks of their settlement, a
new son, Edwin Ney, was born. With another addition to
the already large family, they were hard-pressed for
shelter. Some stayed with each of the Dyer brothers while
a search was made for land and housing. Fortunately for
the McMullans, a house with 320 acres of land became avail­
able. It was the E. S. Wyman home, located on Pecan Creek,
facing the "old government road running from Fort Smith,
Arkansas, through Texas. ..." The house, one of the
oldest in the county, had been the site of the 1851 elec­
tion of Dr. George W. Hill to the Texas legislature. Al­
though the structure had only two rooms with a "dog trot,"
it served the McMullan family satisfactorily until additions
could be constructed. Hugh McMullan purchased an addi­
tional 640 acres of land shortly after his arrival in Texas
History of Johnson and Hill Counties, pp. 235-
236; Kirkpatrick, The Early Settlers Life in Texas, p. 34;
"Notes From the Field," The Hillsboro Mirror, April 27,
1921; Texas, General Land Office, File 1831, Hill County,
contains the following items relating to the E. S. Wyman
320 acres: Abstract 9 73, Martha Wyman pre-emption of 320
acres showing patent to Hugh McMullan, August 15, 1861;
Martha Wyman to Charles S. Davis, transfer for 320 acres,
filed November, 1852; Martha Wyman, pre-emption certificate,
Robertson 3rd Class, filed December 11, 1857; Martha Wyman,
Special Report, July 24, 1861; Martha Wyman, Field Notes
320 acres, Robertson 3rd Class, filed January 31, 1854;
Charles S. Davis & wife to Hugh McMullan, transfer for
320 acres, filed November 1854.

from John A. Carothers. This property, which soon became
one of the most controversial sections in Central Texas,
was located about seven and one-half miles west of the new
family home.
On August 25, 1853, a special session of the Hill
County Commissioners Court met to determine what site to
submit to the voters for approval as the new county seat.
Several men proposed various tracts of land, hoping for
the windfall profits which ordinarily accrued in such cases.
Thomas Steiner, a member of the commissioners court, offered
200 acres, and Hugh McMullan agreed to donate seventeen
acres of the former Carothers property to square the
12
tract. Although the two other men made offers of large
amounts of land, the voters approved the Steiner-McMullan
property. The new town, to be called Hillsboro, was
Texas, General Land Office, File 2432, Hill
County, contains the following items relating to the John
Carothers 640 acres: John Carothers, Mercer's Colony Certificate
filed January 12, 1856; John Carothers to Hugh
McMullan, transfer for 640 acres, filed January 12, 1856;
John Carothers, Field Notes, 640 acres, filed January 12,
1856. Notes in this file show that the property was
patented to Hugh McMullan on June 6, 1856.
12
History of Johnson and Hill Counties, pp. 229,
278; Hill County, Texas, Deed Records 121 (February 1910)
contains several notarized affidavits which refer to the
seventeen acres and note it as "the McMullan donation to
the City of Hillsboro." Also, see Hill County, Texas,
Deed to Hugh McMullan for twenty town lots, Deed Records 1
(February 27, 1855): 316; George L. Clark, "George L.
Clark's Ancestors," unpublished typescript, April, 1913,
in possession of William C. Griggs.
10

started shortly thereafter. Arvin Wright was appointed
surveyor and Hugh McMullan and Haywood Weatherby were named
as his assistants. McMullan also constructed the town's
first courthouse, a log structure for which he was paid
13
thirty dollars.
The happiest days of the McMullan family were spent
at their new home near Hillsboro. The children, particu­
larly, liked the area around Pecan Creek. They waded the
waters of the little stream, played in a natural grapevine
swing, and drank from the waters of a little spring that
bubbled from the ground to the west of the house. Like
all children, they carved their names in the soft rocks by
the creek and on the many trees that dotted the "bottoms,"
and stalked the deer and partridges that abounded in the
area. When winter winds forced them indoors, the family
often enjoyed sitting by the fire, eating pecans and play­
ing "hullgull." Jasper, the slave, was remembered as a
full-fledged member of the family. "White and black were
treated alike, as we joined in one play, and earth seemed
filled with mirth and joy, and life a very bright day."
But like all good things, the happiness of the McMullan
family was short-lived. Hugh McMullan died two days after
Christmas, 1855, and the charm of the little house on Pecan
279.
History of Johnson and Hill Counties, pp. 231,
11

14
Creek was never again the same.
The changes that occurred in the life of the central
Texas family after the death of Hugh McMullan were infini­
tesimal, however, compared to those which were on the
American horizon. The problems caused by slavery were
beginning to alter forever the innocent condition which
seemed to typify the United States during the first half
of the nineteenth century. At the forefront of the issues
in dispute was slavery, and particularly the extension of
that "peculiar institution" into the territories and new
states of the nation. The problem first became serious in
1819 when Missouri asked to be admitted to the Union. After
the usual bills for enabling a territory's entrance had been
introduced, an amendment to the bill was offered which
barred the introduction of slaves into the new state. In
addition, the amendment provided for the freedom of slave
children already there upon their twenty-fifth birthday.
The proposed change, introduced by Representative James
Tallmadge of New York, set off the first major constitu­
tional debate on slavery. In the meantime, Maine also
applied for admission as a state, and set the stage for
compromise. It was proposed that Maine be allowed to enter
as a free state, and that Missouri could come into the Union
Clark, "Lines to My Old Home"; Hill County,
Texas, Affidavit by A. Y. Kirkpatrick, Deed Records 121
(February 1910): 159.
12

as a slave state. In addition, territory in the Louisiana
Purchase north of 36° 30' would in the future be free, while
all south of that line would be slave. Known as the Mis­
souri Compromise, the bill became law on March 2, 18 20.
The annexation of Texas and the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo which ended the Mexican War in 184 8 put a severe
strain on the Missouri Compromise. New territories
acquired as a result of the treaty were not in the Louisiana
Purchase and therefore not subject to the provisions of the
act. Many southerners felt that the 36° 30' line should
be extended all the way to the Pacific, therefore including
New Mexico, Arizona, and California in slave territory.
Others, including John C. Calhoun, argued that southerners
should be allowed to take slaves into any territory because
of their constitutional rights to property. Northerners,
on the other hand, felt strongly that none of the new
public lands should be slave. The feelings of the two
groups grew so strong that the very existence of the Union
was threatened. To effect a new compromise and prevent
secession of southern states, Stephen A. Douglas of Illi­
nois and Henry Clay of Kentucky introduced a measure which
could at least temporarily solve the problem. They pro­
posed that California be allowed to enter as a free state
The best study of the Missouri Controversy is
Glover Moore, The Missouri Controversy: 1819-1821 (n.p.:
The University of Kentucky Press, 19 53).
13

and that Utah and New Mexico be allowed to enter as terri­
tories, to decide for themselves whether they would be
slave or free when their constitutions were written prior
to becoming states. To complete the proposal, a more
stringent fugitive slave law was written and the slave
trade was abolished in the District of Columbia. After
considerable debate. Congress adopted the Compromise of
1850.^^
Many people, including Frank McMullan, were still
dissatisfied with the ever-decreasing role of the South in
Washington and were eager to extend the radius of slave-
holding territory in the Union. In 1850, Narcisso Lopez,
a Cuban exile who allied with New York expansionist John
0'Sullivan and the Havana Club to promote the annexation
of Cuba to the United States, found southern as well as
northern sentiment to foment revolution on the Spanish-owned
island. An 1850 Lopez-led invasion of the country near the
port of Cardenas resulted in dismal failure, as did another
attempt, also led by the former Cuban, at the port of Bahia
Honda in 18 51. Despite the military failures, however, an
organization called the Knights of the Golden Circle was
formed in 1854 which proposed to establish a slave empire
within a 1,200 mile radius of Havana with particular
16
Holman Hamilton, Prologue to Conflict: The
Crisis and Compromise of 1850 (n.p.: The University of
Kentucky Press, 1964).
14

emphasis on Mexico. The organization claimed membership
from California to New York, from Texas to Michigan. Al­
though probably never a tremendously large organization,
its founder, George W. L. Bickley, claimed as many as
17
115,000 members at one time.
Northern participation in the Lopez filibustering
expeditions and the Knights of the Golden Circle were not
just isolated instances of pro-slavery sentiment north of
the Mason-Dixon line. Some northerners believed in the
concept just as adamantly as their southern brethern.
Almost all white Americans believed Negroes to be of an
inferior race. Most who lived in the North, however, felt
that blacks should have "substantial legal equality" and
that slavery should be abolished. This proposed equality
did not always include suffrage. Both New York and Iowa
Republicans turned down by large majorities proposals to
allow the Negro to vote. Even Abraham Lincoln, while
17
Charles H. Brown, Agents of Manifest Destiny:
The Life and Times of the Filibusters (Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1980), pp. 77-108;
Callender Irvine Fayssoux, "Callender Irvine Fayssoux,"
manuscript A-1, autobiographical notes written November 1,
1889, in the Callender I. Fayssoux Collection of William
Walker Papers, The Latin American Library, Tulane University,
New Orleans, Louisiana; Ollinger Crenshaw, "The
Knights of the Golden Circle: The Career of George
Bickley," American Historical Review 47 (1941): 23-50;
Dallas Herald, November 14, 1860, p. 1; Roy Sylvan Dunn,
"The K G C in Texas, 1860-1861," Southwestern Historical
Quarterly 70 (1967): 543-573; an excellent book on southern
expansion is Robert E. May, The Southern Dream of Caribbean
Empire: 1854-1861 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University
Press, 1973) .
15

insisting that the Negro should have equal civil and per­
sonal rights under the Constitution,"announced his opposi­
tion to negro suffrage, and to everything looking towards
placing negroes upon a footing of political and social
18
equality with the whites. ..."
A large number of northerners, while supporting
the ideas of free states emerging from western territories,
did so not because of their desire for free Negroes in
those areas, but because they wished the new political
divisions to be white only. Even Daniel Wilmot, author
of the 1846 "Wilmot Proviso" which barred slavery from the
Mexican cession, "told the House [of Representatives] that
by barring slavery ... he intended to preserve the area
19
for the 'sons of toil, of my own race and color.'"
The issues of race in the North, therefore, created
a quandary for those who desired freedom and constitutional
rights for Negroes, yet had no desire to associate with
them. One solution, supported by well-known politicians
including Salmon P. Chase, Daniel Webster, Millard Fillmore,
Edward Everett, and Cassius Clay, was that free Negroes be
sent to colonies in Latin America. There, said one
18
Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men:
The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1970), pp. 285-287,
294.
19
Ibid., pp. 116, 267.
16

journalist, they would establish American influence and
even physically and intellectually improve "the dwarfed
20
and imbecile natives."
Because of the eventual adoption by the Republican
Party of a plank opposing slavery in the territories in
1860, it is obvious that there was considerable sympathy
for the southern Negro in the North. The so-called Radicals,
variously defined but in general a group of persons who
determined "not to compromise the issue of non-extension
[of slavery] before the Civil War, or of emancipation and
civil rights during the war and Reconstruction," led the
fight against slavery. Charles Francis Adams, the son of
President John Quincy Adams and an avowed Radical, expressed
the opinion that slavery was "the greatest wrong now exist-
21
ing in the world."
In the South, several factors were beginning to
exert influence on attitudes toward slavery. Although both
the price and the production of cotton were up in the 1850s,
profit levels were relatively low. Increased demand for
slaves pushed prices for human chattel far above what they
had been in the past, thus putting their purchase out of
the reach of most small landowners. To combat the profit
squeeze, farmers clamored for lower slave prices--an event
^^Ibid., pp. 268-270, 273.
^^Ibid., pp. 103-104, 111.
17

which could occur only with the reopening of the slave
trade—and increased amounts of land. Although inexpensive
property was available on the frontier for those who were
willing to move, the likelihood of lower prices for slaves
was remote. Racial factors, including fear of a slave re­
volt, also influenced expansion of farm holdings. Southern
farmers, consequently, would not endorse radical demands
for civil rights for Negroes, much less their emancipation.
As a result, southerners began to become more and more
sympathetic to renewed suggestions of secession from the
Federal Union, an alternative which had been discussed but
22
generally discarded before the Compromise of 1850.
While discussion about economics and slavery con­
tinued in the North and the South, wealth in another form
captured the imagination of thousands. The discovery of
gold at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848 created the
dream of a new El Dorado, and would-be millionaires from
all over the world flocked to the west coast of the United
States. Scores of ships, many of which should have seen
scrapyards years before, transported excited workers to the
gold fields. Others utilized the overland route, traveling
first the Santa Fe Trail, the Kearney's Trail, to Califor­
nia. Still other "forty-niners" took advantage of a Central
22
William L. Barney, The Secessionist Impulse:
Alabama and Mississippi in 1860 (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1974), pp. 3-10.
18

American passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific which
was weeks shorter than the conventional route around the
tip of South America. Travelers sailed from eastern or
southern ports to San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua, then up
the San Juan River to Lake Nicaragua. From the western
shores of the lake only a twelve mile strip of land had
to be traversed before ships could be boarded on the
23
Pacific.
The importance of the Nicaraguan route made the
small country extremely desirable both the the United
States and to Great Britain. England made an effort to
secure control of the country's Atlantic coast and even
set up a loyal government called the "Mosquito Kingdom."
It enthroned a native named "Robert Charles Frederick" as
the "King of Mosquitia." The English also ordered Nicaragua
to vacate San Juan del Norte, the principal Atlantic port,
by January, 184 8. The United States, wary of English in­
tentions, negotiated an agreement—the Clayton-Bulwer
Treaty—which supposedly was to prevent domination of
Central America by either nation. The treaty was inter­
preted loosely in America, however, and England continued
to try to exercise a protectorate over the Nicaraguan
coast as well as to continue its arbitrary interpretation
23
James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages
and Papers of the Presidents: 1789-1897 (10 vols.;
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1897), 4: 436.
19

of boundaries.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, an American shipowner and
industrialist, ignored the international joust for Nicaragua
and established a shipping firm to carry passengers over
the isthmus. Called the Accessory Transit Company, the
Vanderbilt firm established a virtual monopoly, much to the
chagrin of England. A British attempt to impose port duties
on the American company, along with the destruction of a
United States flag by British supporters, resulted in the
bombardment of San Juan del Norte by the American battle-
w n 25
ship Cyane.
The retaliation of the United States against England
allowed Accessory Transit Company ships to operate freely in
Nicaraguan waters, but the international crisis was soon
24
William F. Wells, Walker's Expedition to
Nicaragua: A History of the Central American War, and the
Sonora and Kinney Expeditions, Including All the Recent
Diplomatic Correspondence, Together With a New and Accurate
Map of Central America (New York: Stringer and Townsend,
1856), pp. 135-138; John H. Wheeler, Unites States Minister
Resident in Nicaragua, to Mateo Mayorga, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Nicaragua, June 18, 1855, in William R.
Manning, ed. , Diplomatic Correspondence of the United
States: Inter-American Affairs, 1831-1860 (8 vols.; Washington:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1934),
4: 467-468; William O. Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers:
The Story of William Walker and His Associates (New York:
Russell & Russell, 1969), pp. 72-73, 94-98; Brown, Agents
of Manifest Destiny, pp. 232-233; The full text of the
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty is printed in Wells, Walker's Expedition
to Nicaragua, pp. 128-133.
25
Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers, pp. 74-79.
20

followed by internal problems in the Central American
nation. Liberal Nicaraguan leader Francisco Castellon,
defeated in a presidential election, resolved to take
charge of the country by force. To do so, he made a con­
tract with San Francisco newspaperman Byron Cole to bring
300 Americans to assist in an attempt to overthrow the
newly-elected government. William Walker, the editor of
the Cole-owned Commercial Advertiser and a veteran fili­
buster, agreed to lead the Americans and was not long in
26
assembling a fifty-eight man "army."
On May 4, 1855, Walker and his men sailed from
San Francisco for Nicaragua on the brig Vesta. Despite
an early defeat in a battle for the city of Rivas, Walker
and his men won a decisive military victory in a fight for
Virgin Bay. The resulting publicity brought additional
recruits and prestige. The death of Castellon, combined
with an alliance with opposition leader Ponciano Corral
and a major victory in a battle for the city of Granada,
allowed Walker to become Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
Shortly after, Patricio Rivas, a conservative, became
president. The lack of loyalty of Corral to the new regime
26
Ibid., pp. 31-51, 60-61; William Walker, The War
in Nicaragua (New York: S. H. Goetzel & Co., 1860); Wells,
Walker's Expedition to Nicaragua, pp. 24-40; James Carson
Jamison, With Walker in Nicaragua, or Reminiscences of an
Officer of the American Phalanx (Columbia, Missouri: ET W.
Stephens, 1909), pp. 21-24.
21

esulted in his execution. Walker gained full power,
especially after the Liberals introduced "constitutional
27
reforms" which effectually solidified their control.
The control of Nicaragua by William Walker seemed
to be to the advantage of the Accessory Transit Company.
As an American, Walker probably would support the firm's
interests above those of foreign rivals which might appear.
In order to insure Walker's attention to the health of the
company, however, Vanderbilt ordered free passage for
Walker recruits on Accessory Transit chips. Cornelius K.
Garrison, Vanderbilt's San Francisco manager, even loaned
$20,000 to Walker, who by late 1855 was sorely in need of
cash. The minister of the United States to Nicaragua,
John H. Wheeler, supported the efforts of both the Acces­
sory Transit Company and of Walker, and he enthusiastically
recognized the new government in the name of the United
States.
2 8
Cornelius Vanderbilt, in Europe during the Fall of
1855, gained unexpected problems when Garrison and Charles
Morgan, the company's New York manager who assumed the
firm's presidency upon Vanderbilt's departure, decided to
27
Ibid., pp. 25-37; Scroggs, Filibusters and
Financiers, pp. 108-116; Wells, Walker's Expedition to
Nicaragua, pp. 50-59.
2 8
Wheeler to Marcy, August 2, 1856, in Manning,
Diplomatic Correspondence, 4: 553; Scroggs, Filibusters
and Financiers, pp. 125-126.
22

enrich themselves through manipulation of company stock.
When the Commodore returned to the United States, he
learned of the chicanery and vowed to break the two former
associates. "I won't sue you," Vanderbilt is quoted as
stating, "for the law is too slow, I will ruin you." In
conference with Morgan and Garrison, Walker resolved to
cancel the Accessory Transit Company's charter as soon as
possible and to reissue it to a new corporation headed by
the former managers. The decrees were signed on February
18, 1856. Nine days later, 250 new recruits left New York
under the command of Domingo de Goicouria, a Cuban who sup­
ported Walker in Nicaragua in return for a promise of
future help in the liberation of the Spanish-held "Pearl
of the Antilles." Ironically, since Vanderbilt did not
yet know of the cancellation of his charter, he allowed
the passage of Walker's men to be paid by a draft on the
29
Accessory Transit Company.
When Vanderbilt learned of the actions of Walker
in concert with the shipowner's former lieutenants, he
began efforts to ruin Walker, just as he vowed to finish
Morgan and Garrison. He immediately withdrew his ships
from the Nicaraguan route, sending them instead to Panama.
29
Walker, The War in Nicaragua, p. 41; Scroggs,
Filibusters and Financiers, p. 151; James P. Baughman,
Charles Morgan and the Development of Southern Transportation
(Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1968), pp.
76-85.
23

He wrote Secretary of State Marcy about the developments
and demanded government protection for the assets of the
United States firm. Perhaps the most damaging action,
however, was Vanderbilt's decision to encourage and aid
other Central American nations in their plans for military
action against Walker. Meanwhile, Walker believed that
his progress was satisfactory. On June 29, he had been
elected President of Nicaragua and was inaugurated on
July 12. Minister Wheeler, still friendly to Walker,
again recognized the new Nicaraguan government on July 17.
Hundreds of new recruits arrived, giving the army its
strongest position ever. It seemed likely that the Anglo-
Szxon takeover of the Central American nation was all but
1 ^ 30
complete.
When conditions began to change, however, they did
so rapidly. Walker's emissary to Washington, Parker H.
French, was not recognized by the United States. Costa
Rica, after urging from Vanderbilt, declared war on Walker
and his American army (but not on Nicaragua). Guatemala,
El Salvador, and Honduras joined Costa Rica within a short
time. Unfortunately for Walker, General Goicouria resigned
in November, 1856, because of bad feelings between the two
men. To cap the problems faced by Walker, Minister Wheeler
Wells, Walker's Expedition to Nicaragua, p. 95;
^^own. Agents of Manifest Destiny, p. 30 7.
24

was recalled to Washington and the United States abrogated
his dubious recognition of Walker. With no ships arriving,
the situation became even more desperate as food became
extremely short, desertions became epidemic, and cholera
broke out among Walker's troops. Vlhen the United States
sloop-of-war St. Mary anchored in the harbor of San Juan
del Sur and demanded his surrender on May 1, 1857, Walker
was forced to accept. Besieged on all sides by troops of
the Central American coalition. Walker and his men reluc­
tantly boarded American ships and were transported to the
31
United States.
Frank McMullan, like most southerners and many
prominent persons throughout the nation, sympathized with
Walker and supported the plan for the takeover of Nicaragua.
Since the death of his father, McMullan had been anxious
to leave home but hesitated to do so because of the respon­
sibilities he faced as the executor of the estate. The
routine sales of land, surveying, and title transfers
which took much of his time seemed mundane to the bright
young man whose interests went far beyond the farms and
ranches of central Texas. He read of the enthusaistic
welcome which was given the "grey-eyed man of destiny" on
31
Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers, pp. 217-224;
General Maximo Jerez, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Nicaragua, to March, July 3, 1856, in Manning, Diplomatic
Correspondence, 4: 538.
25

his arrival in New Orleans and yearned to be a part of the
exciting events which he felt were having a tremendous
effect on the future of the South.
By the summer of 1857 it was no secret that Walker
had resolved to return to Nicaragua with another army in
an attempt to regain control. He established a recruiting
organization called the Central American League with offices
in many parts of the United States. Colonel William K.
Rogers, a long-time officer and confidant of Walker, led
the effort in New Orleans, where in late October or early
November of 185 7 Frank McMullan decided to join. After his
mother Nancy became the executor of his father's estate,
he left Texas eager for adventure and, hopefully, wealth.
He was to have much of the first wish, but none of the
33
second.
McMullan's meeting with Colonel Rogers in New
Orleans must have been an amiable one, for the recruiting
officer not only accepted the twenty-two year old McMullan
as a member of the new Nicaraguan army but also offered
him a commission as first lieutenant. There is no question
that McMullan was both mentally and physically qualified
32
The origin of the term "Grey-eyed Man of Destiny"
was apparently in an old Indian tradition that they would
someday be freed from the Spanish by a grey-eyed man. See
Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers, pp. 218-129.
33
Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers, p. 318.
32
26

for the rank. He had received a first rate, although
informal education, and was a born leader. He was over
six feet in height and muscled from years of hard field
work.
McMullan was discreetly told that the army would
gather in New Orleans on November 11 and that a ship would
be ready to sail shortly thereafter. As the new Nicaraguan
filibusters began to gather in New Orleans, extreme care
had to be taken not to expose the group as anything other
than an emigration party. The press did not know that an
expedition was in preparation, and had no inkling that
Walker was even in the vicinity. A telegraphic dispatch
from New York, however, revealed that the filibustering
party was preparing to leave within a week. When the news
was published in the New Orleans newspapers, federal
authorities moved quickly to prevent any violation of
neutrality laws. Just before midnight on November 10,
they arrested Walker in his quarters on Custom House Street
and took him to the St. Charles Hotel. There a federal
judge told Walker to appear the next morning and, after
he posted a $2,000 bond, directed him to return on
O A
Edwin Ney McMullan (Frank McMullan's brother),
"Texans Established Colony in Brazil Just After Civil War,"
Semi-Weekly Farm News (Dallas), January 25, 1916; United
States, Congress, House, "Nicaragua—Seizure of General
Walker," 35th Cong., 1st sess.. House Exec. Doc. 24, p. 79.
27

the 19th. "^^
Federal authorities also knew that the steamer
Fashion was in port, and that it had been advertised as a
regular packet of the Mobile and Nicaragua Steamship Com­
pany. The customs officials searched the Fashion, as well
as her cargo, but found nothing which was incriminating.
Because of this, they had no grounds for detaining the
vessel in New Orleans, and it lifted anchor for Mobile a
few hours after Walker's arrest. That afternoon Walker,
ignoring the bail that had been posted, boarded a mail
boat for Mobile with a large number of his followers,
36
including McMullan.
New Orleans authorities telegraphed officials in
Mobile as soon as it was known that Walker had departed.
Orders were given to rent a steamer, board it with the
marshal and a posse, and catch the Fashion. The message,
for an unknown reason, was never delivered. Mobile port
inspectors did make a cursory inspection of Walker's ship,
but found the cargo to be "above suspicion" and the men
aboard to be "lawful emigrants." The Fashion left the
322.
35
Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers, pp. 320-
36
Ibid. The fact that McMullan was on board the
Fashion at that time is confirmed in James Jeffrey Roche,
The Story of the Filibusters; to Which is Added the Life
of Colonel David Crockett (London: F. Fisher Unwin, 1891),
p. 165.
28

United States with Walker and 19 5 men and officers on
November 14.
As soon as the ship was at sea. Walker organized
the men into a battalion of four companies, and training
was given the new recruits by veterans of the previous
campaign. In order to ease the tedium of shipboard life,
the men on board were encouraged to compete with each
other in various sporting events, especially wrestling.
Each company had its champion, and the winners met each
other to compete for the title of "Champion of Walker's
Army." To the surprise of many, it was not one of the
toughened veterans of former wars who won the distinction,
38
but Frank McMullan of Texas.
On the morning of November 24, the Fashion dropped
its anchor at the mouth of Nicaragua's Colorado River,
just south of the San Juan River, and Captain McMichael's
company, including Colonel Frank Anderson, landed in three
boats during a driving rainstorm. The balance of the
37
Fayssoux, "Callender I. Fayssoux"; Callender
Irvine Fayssoux, Notebook kept by C. I. Fayssoux aboard
the Steamship Fashion from Mobile, Alabama, to San Juan
del Norte, Nicaragua, November 14, 18 57, to January 12,
1858, Manuscript number 136, the Callender I. Fayssoux
Collection of William Walker Papers.
38
Thirty of those aboard were with Walker when he
surrendered in May, 1857. Six men on the Fashion were
with Walker in an earlier campaign in 1853 in Sonora,
Mexico. See Scroggs, Filibusters and Financiers, pp.
324-325; E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony."
29

contingent continued to Punta Arenas, the sandy point
opposite San Juan del Norte, where they landed on November
25 in full view of the United States sloop-of-war Saratoga.
The quick landing by Walker and his men came as a complete
surprise to the commander of the Saratoga, Captain Frederick
Chatard, who believed that the Fashion had been sent to open
the transit route. Chatard had received a circular which
had advised him of the possible arrival of the filibusters
and which contained general instructions as to how the ship,
39
cargo, and men should be handled.
Chatard found himself unprepared for the situation
as it developed. A lieutenant went aboard the Fashion to
check her papers. Unexpectedly, he found that all were in
correct order; it had proper clearance from Mobile, the
cargo was as listed, and the number of passengers was cor­
rect. "My position," wrote Chatard in a letter to Flag
Officer Hiram Paulding, "was one of much embarrassment."
Chatard explained that he had been powerless to act under
the circumstances, although he stated that he had person­
ally told Walker that "any outrage by him on American
property at that place [Punta Arenas] or Greytown will
call from me immediate punishment, which I would not hesi­
tate to inflict." Finding nothing wrong with the papers
of the Fashion, Cottreel, the English port officer for
39
Fayssoux, "Notebook."
30

Greytown, was forced to clear the ship for New Orleans.
On December 1, Chatard dispatched Lieutenant
Greenleaf Cilley of his command to Walker's camp with an
armed boat crew. The officer failed to acknowledge the
hail of the sentry; neither did he receive permission to
enter from Walker's officer of the day. Cilley stated
that he had orders only to communicate to General Walker.
Walker's men repeated the order to keep out, but the com­
mand was once again disregarded, whereupon the filibusters
seized their carbines and offered a more substantial chal­
lenge. They told Cilley that if he disregarded the orders
one more time, the sentries would be ordered to fire.
Cilley, having accomplished his apparent purpose in endeav-
41
oring to provoke an argument, returned to the Saratoga.
The next day. Walker received a letter from
Chatard "complaining of the national indignity and insult
offered through Lt. Cilley." Chatard told Walker that he
had acted "with very little policy, for surely if you were
to dare to touch one of my officers, I would feel justified
Frederick Chatard, Commander of the United
States Ship Saratoga, to Flag Officer Hiram Paulding,
Commander of the United States Home Squadron, on board
the Frigate Wabash, November 27, 1857, in "Nicaragua—
Seizure of General Walker," pp. 58-59.
"^•^William Walker, Commander-in-Chief of the "Army
of Nicaragua," to Paulding, November 30, 1857, in
"Nicaragua—Seizure of General Walker," pp. 60-61; Walker
to Paulding, December 2, 1857, in "Nicaragua—Seizure of
General Walker," p. 65.
31

to retaliate in the extreme, and would not hesitate to do
so." He promised to lay the entire matter before Paulding,
42
who "will feel the insult more deeply than myself."
Since he had no legal authority to attack Walker's
troops, Paulding wrote a note to Walker in which he de­
manded his surrender. "Now, sir," he stated.
You and your followers are here in violation of the
laws of the United States, and greatly to its dishonor;
making war upon a people with whom we are at
peace; and for the sake of humanity, public, and private
justice, as well as what is due to the honor and
integrity of the government of the United States, I
command you, and the people associated with you, to
surrender your arms without delay, and embark on such
vessels as I may provide for that purpose.
Walker contended that his clearance papers proved that he
was not in Nicaragua illegally. Furthermore, the United
States was acting outside international law by attempting
to "maintain the police of this port." Walker realized,
however, that his army was critically under strength as
compared with Paulding's forces, and that if pushed too
43
far, he might be forced to surrender.
At 2:30 P.M. on December 1, Paulding made an
attempt to provoke a serious incident by which he could
42
Chatard to Walker, December 1, 185 7, in
"Nicaragua—Seizure of General Walker."
43
Paulding to Walker, December 7, 1857, in
"Nicaragua—Seizure of General Walker," p. 65; Walker
to Paulding, December 2, 1857, in "Nicaragua—Seizure
of General Walker," p. 63; Fayssoux, "Notebook."
32

justify an attack on Walker's forces. He landed six armed
boats from the Saratoga at the lower edge of the filibuster
camp and began firing howitzers and small arms as if in
practice. In order to prevent a chance collision between
the two forces. Walker ordered his men to move away from
the point to a camp further up the peninsula. At 10:30 A.M.
the next day, the exercise with guns and small arms began
44
once more.
On Saturday, December 5, Walker received a dispatch
from Colonel Anderson, who had been left on the Colorado
River. The note, dated December 4, had been sent from
Castillo, the first fort of any size up-river. Anderson
stated that he had captured the fort without the loss of
a man and that he had seized the installation's arms and
ammunition. Further, he had captured three river steam­
boats and had good prospects of taking a lake boat. Walker
and his men hailed the success of Anderson, but despaired
45
at not being able to take any action themselves.
The next day increased activity among American as
well as newly-arrived English ships was noted by Captain
Callender I. Fayssoux, Walker's naval commander in the
1855-1856 campaign. Fayssoux wrote that at 7:30 A.M. the
steam frigate Wabash "hove into sight, coming up the coast.
44
Fayssoux, "Notebook."
45
Ibid.
33

At 12 [a.]m. the English steam line of battle ship
Brunswick and side wheel steamer Leopard came in." On
December 7, the following day, the Leopard left port, but
was replaced by the United States steamer Fulton. At eight
thirty in the evening, Fayssoux headed up-river in an
attempt to make contact with Anderson, but was prevented
from doing so by Lieutenant Cilley from the Saratoga who
was evidently stationed to stop such a move. The captain
made no attempt to debate Cilley's orders, realizing that
46
to do so would be futile.
At 1:30 P.M. on December 8, William Walker ordered
the Nicaraguan flag hauled down and surrendered to the
vastly superior United States forces. At 1:40 P.M. an
officer from the Saratoga came to ask when it would be
convenient for Walker and his officers to come aboard ship.
Walker answered "when ever he [Paulding] shall order."
Within a short time Walker and most of the men went on
board the Fulton. Twenty of the officers boarded the
Saratoga. Among those included on the official listing
was one "Lt. McMullen." Thus ended William Walker's
47
second campaign in Nicaragua.
On January 5, 18 58, the Saratoga arrived at the
Ibid.
47
Ibid.; Paulding to Isaiah Rynders, United States
Marshal for the Southern District of New York, December 11,
1857, in "Nicaragua—Seizure of General Walker," pp. 77-79.
34

navy yard in Norfolk, Virginia. On board were most of the
officers and men of William Walker's army, including Frank
McMullan. At 12:00 P.M., they learned from a Lieutenant
Bryson that they were at liberty to go ashore and to travel
where they pleased. To the lieutenant's surprise, the
former filibusters informed him that they planned to stay
aboard ship on orders from General Walker. Fayssoux then
asked the officer if they would be forced to leave. At a
loss for words, Bryson said that he did not know and would
have to ask for instructions from Commodore Dornin, then
commanding the ship. At 3:00 P.M. Dornin sent a note that
said the Secretary of the Navy had given the filibusters
permission to leave and that the government had no
48
authority to detain them.
At 3:30 P.M., Lieutenant Bryson wrote to his com­
mander that the officers and men positively had refused to
leave the Saratoga. According to Fayssoux, the men claimed
they "were forcibly brought on board," and "did not wish to
be landed among strangers, without means." The real reason
was another message from Walker, who believed that the con­
tinuing presence of his men on the Saratoga would serve to
emphasize his belief that the filibusters had been picked
up illegally. At 5:00 P.M. Bryson received a communication
in which Dornin stated that "Walker's officers and men [may]
48
Fayssoux, "Notebook."
35

emain on board until I can receive instructions from the
Secretary of the Navy, but you had better advise them to
49
leave of their own accord."
Colonel Thomas Henry, who claimed to be senior
officer among the filibuster troops, disagreed with most
of the other officers as to the course that should be fol­
lowed. He saw no real advantage to be gained by staying
on the ship and, on January 9, decided to leave with as
many officers and men as wished to follow him. Evidence
suggests that McMullan was among those who left. Only
eight officers, all longtime Walker subordinates, remained
on board. On January 12, they, too, were "turned out" of
the Saratoga. Walker's defeat in the 185 7 campaign did
not, however, discourage him. In 1860, he and a number
of loyal followers sailed for Nicaragua. After his capture
by the English navy, he was turned over to Honduran troops
50
and was executed by a firing squad.
The decades from 1840 to 1860 were decisive in the
shaping of the destiny of Frank McMullan, as well as that
of the South. The westward movement of the McMullan family
from Georgia, then Mississippi, to Texas set up Hugh
McMullan's participation in the organization of the town
of Hillsboro in 1853. Settlements in other frontier areas
49
Ibid.
50-p, . ,
Ibid.
36

such as Kansas and Nebraska were not so peacibly estab­
lished. The issue of slavery in the territories was a
volatile one which provoked strong feelings in both North
and South and was only temporarily settled by the Com­
promise of 1850. Southern expansionist ideas also extended
into Latin America, and Frank McMullan was philosophically
in agreement with filibusters who attempted armed takeovers
He joined William Walker's army for the 18 57 campaign in
Nicaragua, only to be captured with the rest of the Walker
troops by United States naval forces and returned to Amer­
ica. It is significant that the central American adventure
introduced McMullan to persons such as Domingo de Goicouria
and Cornelius K. Garrison who would play a part ten years
later in the emigration of a colony of Texans to Brazil.
37

CHAPTER II
SETTING THE STAGE
The wanderlust that Frank McMullan experienced
before he left Texas in November, 1857, had been at least
temporarily satisfied when he returned to the state in
early February. The long ride home after association with
the Walker filibusters also gave him time to reaccess his
plans for the future. He remained unsure as to what he
eventually wanted to do with his life but was convinced
that before he could be successful in any field he needed
first to acquire more academic skills. Therefore, after a
reunion with the McMullan family at the farm on Pecan
Creek, he resolved to go to college. McMullan's higher
education was to be interrupted, however, by the political
events of the time. The question of slavery in the terri­
tories played havoc with established political parties and
provoked regional conflict in Kansas. The issue of popular
sovereighty sparked emigration to the territories from both
northern and southern states, and conflict and intimidation
kept both sides from achieving a clear-cut victory at the
polls. Subsequent events throughout the South, provoked
principally by racism and slavery, soon resulted in
38

secession and war. Frank McMullan, extremely ill with
tuberculosis, spent the years of conflict in Mexico where
he actively supported the Confederate cause. The beginning
of Reconstruction accentuated southern fears of northern
retribution for treason. This apprehension, enhanced by
anxiety about the role of Negroes in the new society,
caused many southerners to consider seriously emigration
to a myriad of other countries, especially Mexico and
Brazil.
The largest school of higher learning in Texas in
1858 was McKenzie Institute, a college owned by John
Witherspoon Pettigrew McKenzie, the school's "Professor of
Mental and Moral Philosophy." The East Texas Conference of
the Methodist Church sponsored the college which was located
three miles west of Clarksville, Red River County, and was
staffed by "a full corps of experienced teachers." The
institution boasted a primary and preparatory curriculum
in addition to a regular four-year course of study which
led to a Bachelor of Arts degree. A Master of Arts also
could be earned if the graduate would devote three years
to "literary pursuits" and then submit an essay "on some
scientific subject, or deliver a written address, approved
by the Faculty, sustaining a good moral character." Charges
for a forty week session ranged from $110 to $143 and in­
cluded "board, washing, room rent, fire-wood, tuition, etc."
Exempted from tuition were "licentiates for the ministry,
39

and the sons and daughters of travelling preachers."^
On Monday, October 1, 1858, Frank McMullan arrived
at McKenzie Institute to enroll. He chose the "Lingual and
Mathematical Department" and paid $130 for board and tui­
tion. He registered for courses in geometry, algebra,
philosophy, and Spanish, as well as both courses in Latin.
The restrictive new life must have seemed strange to some­
one like McMullan who already had ventured into a violent
world. Like all students, he was required to be in his
room every morning and was forbidden from "playing at cards,
billiards, or other unlawful games, or raffling." College
rules also prevented a student from being absent or tardy
at prayers or recitation and condemned smoking and the pos-
session of firearms.
Frank McMullan, described by a fellow student as
"a remarkable young man of cool courage [and] undaunted
resolution," enrolled for the second year at McKenzie
Institute in the fall of 1859. His studies were proceeding
on schedule and he genuinely enjoyed the mental challenges
Annual Catalogue of the Students and Faculty of
McKenzie College, Near Clarksville, Texas, for the Session
of 1860-61 (Nashville: Southern Methodist Publishing
House, 1861), pp. 1-20; Northern Standard (Clarksville,
Texas), July 2, 1859, p. 4; Northern Standard, October
27, I860, p. 4.
2 John Witherspoon Pettigrew McKenzie, Principal
of McKenzie Institute, Account Book, 1857-1858, p. 245,
McKenzie College Papers; Annual Catalogue of McKenzie
College, pp. 17-19.
40

which could be found only in a college environment. Too,
he had developed a real liking for the "Old Master," a name
which had been affectionately given to the headmaster of
the school. Course work became more difficult. In addi­
tion to the studies of Tacitus and Homer, McMullan studied
surveying and navigation, Greek testament, the "Bucolics
and Georgics of Virgil," and "Xenaphon's Cyropoedia,
Anthon's." Plane and spherical trigonometry were added
as a bonus.
Columbus Wasson of Grimes County, "a conspicuous
fellow" who was "into all sorts of mischief but nothing
vicious," became Frank McMullan's closest friend at
McKenzie Institute. The two men saw eye to eye on the
political situation, especially slavery and southern rights,
and soon established a genuine rapport with each other.
When breaks between semesters occurred, the two often
traveled together to Hill County where Wasson met the
McMullan and Dyer families. During the visits, Wasson
3 John H. McLean, Reminiscences of Rev. Jno. H.
McLean, A.M., D.D. (Nashville: Smith and Lamar, 1919),
p. 77; Annual Catalogue of McKenzie College, p. 7. On
October 16, 1858, McKenzie sold a small Bible to Frank
McMullan in which the following was written: "Frank
McMullan's Book. Bought of 'Old Master,' October 16,
1858." Underneath the inscription is a note written by
Ney McMullan, Frank's brother, which says "Old Master
was the name given to the President of the College where
he [Frank McMullan] was educated, by the young men students."
The Bible is now in the possession of Rachel
McMullan White, Cumberland, Rhode Island.
41

ecame very attracted to young Harriet Dyer, James and
Amanda's pretty daughter. As a result, Wasson became
4
an even more regular visitor to the Hillsboro area.
The controversial events of the time heightened
political discussion in Texas, particularly among students,
during the decade of the 1850s. The passage of the Kansas-
Nebraska Act in 1854 repealed the old Missouri Compromise
and opened once more the question of slavery in the terri­
tories. The bill further provoked northern abolitionists
who regarded the whole issue of popular sovereignty in
western areas as a betrayal of trust. A coalition of
persons with varying political viewpoints but united in
opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill went so far as to
call for a nev; political organization. On July 6, 1854,
at a state convention in Jackson, Michigan, the group
adopted the Republican Party as its name. In its platform
the new organization declared slavery to be a moral, social,
and political evil and condemned the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise as "an open and undisguised breach of faith."
On many issues, however, the Republicans were not in agree­
ment at all. Most party members were formerly Whigs,
4 McLean, Reminiscences, pp. 77-78; Columbus Wasson
was the son of Wylie B. Wasson of Anderson, Grimes County,
Texas. Like McMullan, he enrolled at McKenzie Institute in
October, 1858, although he began his studies there one year
earlier. See Rupert Nerval Richardson, Adventuring With A
Purpose: Life Story of Arthur Lee Wasson (San Antonio:
The Naylor Company, 1953), p. 4.
42

Democrats, or Free Sellers, and their only real unity was
in the opposition to slavery in the territories.
When the Kansas-Nebraska Bill passed in 1854, most
observers believed that Nebraska eventually would become a
free state and that Kansas, because of its geographical
position, would be slave. In conformance with general
belief, the first Kansas settlers came from areas such as
Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Most were pro-slavery
and some even brought their slaves with them. Sensing that
"popular sovereignty" would be interpreted as the ability
to vote on whether a territory would be slave or free, some
New Englanders even formed an emigrant aid society to assist
potential settlers whose sentiments were anti-slavery and
whose votes might overbalance the huge numbers of pro-
slavery emigrants who were already there. The vote for the
election of legislators in March, 1855, produced a flare of
emotion between the two groups that could not be subdued.
Worried about the possibility that imported anti-slavery
forces might win, over 500 Missourians invaded Kansas on
election day, guaranteeing the election of a pro-slavery
legislature.
5 Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The
Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1970), pp. 125-126.
James A. Rawley, Race and Politics: "Bleeding
Kansas" and the Coming of the Civil War (Philadelphia:
J. B. Lippincott, 1969), pp. 25-27, 81-94.
43

After a group of anti-slavery sympathizers forcibly
freed a free-state man and took him to Lawrence, violence
came close to exploding. "Border ruffians," pro-slavery
men from Missouri, headed for Lawrence in force to recap­
ture the man. They were surprised, however, when they
found that earthworks had been constructed and that the
town's inhabitants were armed with Sharps carbines. The
military preparations prevented an attack and allowed more
logical discussion to prevail. A Free-state Party subse­
quently held its own elections on January 15, 1856, then
adopted a memorial asking for admittance to the Union as a
free state. To end the rivalry between the opposing groups.
President Pierce issued a proclamation on February 11, con­
demning both sides and warning armed groups to disperse.
He also called for citizens of states outside of Kansas to
"abstain from unauthorized intermeddling in the local
affairs of the territory." Violence continued in Kansas,
however, and even spread to the floor of the United States
Senate. Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner made a vehe­
ment speech against the South, slavery, and pro-slavers in
Kansas. When he went so far as to criticize Senator Andrew
Butler of South Carolina, however, he went too far, and
Preston Brooks, Butler's nephew, beat Sumner into insensi-
7
bility on the floor of the Senate.
"^Ibid. , pp. 125-134
44

Another matter which was to have profound influence
on the question of slavery was the Dred Scott case, a law
suit which was acted upon by the United States Supreme
Court in its December term of 1856. Dred Scott, a slave,
claimed that travels with his owner in Illinois and the
Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was outlawed because of
the Northwest Ordinance, made him a free man. Scott filed
suit to prove his case and it ended in the nation's highest
tribunal. The issue which was of most far-reaching impor­
tance, however, was not whether Dred Scott was free, but
whether Congress had the power to outlaw slavery in the
territories. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court
ruled that Scott, as a Negro, was not a citizen and there­
fore could not sue in federal court. Furthermore, the
ruling declared that since Scott had left Illinois and
returned to Missouri, he was no longer covered by Illinois
law. Most important, however, was the ruling that the
Missouri Compromise was illegal because in it Congress
deprived slave owners of liberty and property without due
process of law, a violation of the fifth amendment. In
invoking this constitutional solution, the Supreme Court
also concluded that a territory could not decide for itself
whether it would be slave or free. The concept of popular
sovereignty was destroyed by the Dred Scott decision. Even
before the announcement. President Buchanan, attempting to
appease the South, had urged Americans to accept whatever
45

verdict the court might give. While most southerners
praised the decision, the majority of northerners were
appalled by the outcome of the Dred Scott case. Many
even believed that it was a southern plot to extend
slavery to every part of the nation.^
In June, 1857, a constitutional convention was
convened at the town of Lecompton, Kansas. The meeting was
a farce, however, as free-state voters refused to partici­
pate in the selection of delegates. The pro-slavery con­
vention easily adopted a constitution but refused to submit
it to a vote of all Kansas settlers. Despite the obvious
lack of support for the Lecompton constitution by the citi­
zens of Kansas, President Buchanan urged Congress to admit
the territory to the Union. Anxious, once more, to please
southern supporters, Buchanan clashed with fellow Democrat
Stephen A. Douglas over the issue. Douglas, long an advo­
cate of popular sovereignty, joined with Senate Republicans
to defeat the proposal to admit Kansas to the Union under
the questionable charter. Undismayed, Buchanan foolishly
persisted in his effort, but finally had to settle for a
Rawley, Race and Politics, pp. 187-193; Don
Fehrenbacher, The Dred Scott Case, Its Significance in
American Law and Politics (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1978); Benjamin C. Howard, Report of the Decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Opinions
of the Judges Thereof, in the Case of Dred Scott versus
John. F. A. Sandford, December Term, 18 56 (Washington:
Cornelius Wendell, 1857).
46

compromise bill which offered Kansas huge amounts of public
lands if its citizens voted to accept the Lecompton consti­
tution. To Buchanan's chagrin, voters in Kansas rejected
both the constitution and the lands by a vote of 11,300 to
1,788. In October, 1859, Kansans finally accepted a free-
state constitution which had been framed at the town of
Wyandotte. Kansas was admitted to the Union on January
29, 1861.^
Another act in the bitter sectional drama opened
in the east when John Brown, already famous for an anti-
slavery raid in Kansas, attacked the town of Harpers Ferry,
Virginia. In October, 1859, with only eighteen men. Brown
captured the United States arsenal as well as a nearby
rifle factory, hoping that slaves would revolt and join
his crusade against slavery. When none came forward. Brown
was captured by Federal troops after a two-day siege.
Charges of murder, conspiracy, and treason were filed.
Virginia courts found Brown guilty and he was hanged, much
to the horror of northerners. Many southerners believed
that Brown was an instrument of the abolitionists and felt
no remorse at the quick execution of the religious fanatic.
Brown's capture and execution heightened fears of slave
'Rawley, Race and Politics, pp. 177-179, 250-252.
47

evolts and forced sectional tensions to new heights.
Frank McMullan became energetically involved in
the Democratic Party. He was strongly pro-slavery and
deplored the actions of the abolitionists in Kansas.
Although he was still enrolled in McKenzie Institute, he
obtained leave to return to Kill County in February, 1860,
when the local Democrats scheduled a convention in prepara­
tion for the forthcoming statewide meeting. On Saturday,
February 11, the Hillsboro gathering was called to order
by Pines H. Shelton. He brought the proceedings to a quick
start by appointing ten men, including Frank McMullan, to
a committee which would "draft resolutions expressive of
the object of the convention." The group retired and
formulated the following principles:
1st. That the Democracy of Hill County endorse
the resolutions adopted by the Democratic State Convention,
in May, 1859, as embracing the only current
principle upon which Democrats, North and South, can
unite.
2nd. That we reassert and adhere to the principle
"that the Southern States have the indefensible right
• to carry their slaves into any territory belonging to
the United States, and there to enjoy all the rights
of ownership and property as freely and fully as in
the states from which they emigrate; and that any interference
with, or obstruction, to the enjoyment and
exercise of their rights, as Southern citizens, by the
Government of the United States or the inhabitants of
any Territory, would be a violation of the rights of
the Southern States, which they possess as Sovereign
States and co-equal member of the American Confederacy.
Stephen B. Gates, To Purge This Land with Blood:
A Biography of John Brown (New York: Harper & Row, 19 70) ,
pp. 278-361.
48

3rd. That we deny the existence of any power in
the Legislature of any Territory, whilst the Constitution
prevails, by unfriendly legislation or otherwise,
to defeat the rights of property in slaves, or
practically refuse protection thereto; but hereby
declares that it is entitled to adequate protection
of the Federal Government.
4th. That the Chairman appoint 22 Delegates (two
from each beat) to represent Hill County in the State
Convention in Galveston, with power to appoint proxies.
5th. That we especial[ly] re-affirm that timehonored
tenet of the Democratic party, 'principles,
not men,' and therefore express no preference for any
particular favorite at the State Convention [and] to
cast their votes for such men only as represent Texas
in the Charleston Convention as they know will submit
to no compromise of the rights of the South in the
Territories.
6th. That the manifest hostility of the mass of
the people in the Northern States to the institution
of slavery, as it exists under the Constitution, in
the South, and their continued and determined efforts
to abolish it, render it necessary, and require that
the Southern States meet in convention, to consult
upon the means necessary to secure their peace, security,
and safety.
7th. That whilst we claim to be second to none in
patriotic love and devotion to the Constitution and
Union of the States, nevertheless, it is our solemn and
deliberate opinion that, without all the rights to all
the states, which that instrument guarantees, the Union
is not worth preserving.
The last three resolutions dealt with local issues includ­
ing the renomination of candidates for state office. As
the final action of the Democratic meeting in Hillsboro,
Chairman Shelton named the delegates to the state conven­
tion in Galveston, including Frank McMullan and Judge James
H. Dyer.-^-^
"Democratic Meeting in Hill County," Dallas
Herald, February 15, 1860, p. 2.
49

The Dallas Herald, one of the largest daily papers
in north central Texas in 1860, editorially supported the
Hill County Convention in its February 15 issue:
We have received and published the proceedings of the
Democratic meeting in Hill County. The resolutions
are full and to the point, and will meet the approbation
of Democrats in every part of the state. They
are explicit in respect to the policy to be pursued
in regard to Territorial matters, and in accordance
with the sentiments of a very large majority of the
people of the South. They express a firm devotion to
the Union, but . . . demand all the rights of sovereign
States guaranteed by the Constitution, and express the
opinion that without the Constitution, the Union is not
worth saving.12
McMullan, Dyer, and the other Texans who attended
the Hill County Democratic meeting were philosophically in
tune with a majority of southerners. They believed that
through the Constitution the Union was formed by a coali­
tion of states, which, although allied with others for
governmental purposes, retained their individual sovereignty,
Thus, if an issue with which they disagreed arose, such as
slavery in the territories, they could and should separate
from the Union. Disunion then would "not be revolution,
but a mere dissolution of partnership, and ought to involve
no more trouble than making an equitable division of common
,.13
property and common liabilities.
"^^"The Democracy of Hill County," Dallas Herald,
February 15, 186 0, p. 2.
"^•^Theodore Clark Smith, Parties and Slavery, The
American Nation, A History, vol. 18 (New York: Harper &
Row, 1906), p. 302.
50

The Galveston convention of the Democratic Party
in Texas echoed the feelings of the meeting in Hill County
and sent like-minded represnetatives to the national con­
vention in Charleston, South Carolina. Stephen A. Douglas
of Illinois was the principal candidate for the Democratic
presidential nomination. It was soon evident, however,
that Douglas would have to make extreme pro-slavery commit­
ments in order to please the party's southern wing. The
principal demand, for Democratic party endorsement for
federal government protection of slavery in the territories,
was more than Douglas and northern Democrats could support.
Because of Douglas's long-standing support of popular vote
in such determinations, he could not adhere to the southern
imperatives. Northern Democrats realized that party en­
dorsement of federal protection of slavery in the terri­
tories was tantamount to conceding the 1860 elections in
their geographic area to the Republicans. When northern
Democrats began to vote against pro-slavery resolutions
introduced by southerners, all chances for the convention's
unity were shattered. Southern Democrats began to walk out
in large numbers. Without their support, Douglas was unable
to salvage enough votes to secure the presidential nomina­
tion. In an effort to unify the party, another attempt was
made to select a nominee and write a platform. This second
convention, held in Baltimore, also failed, and the two
factions met separately. The northern wing chose Douglas
51

as its candidate; the South picked John C. Breckinridge
of Kentucky. The splintered party offered no real chance
for the election of either candidate.
Despite Frank McMullan's adamant feelings in favor
of slavery, the attitude of the McMullan family toward
slaves was in sharp contrast to what many northerners be­
lieved was universal in the South. Jasper (Jap) and his
wife Caroline were the only adult slaves the family owned
in 1860. Jap had lived with the McMullans since he was a
baby and knew no other family. The two slaves shouldered
much of the responsibility for management of McMullan farm
and ranch properties in Hill County. Since about age
eighteen, Jap had been entrusted with the obligation of
driving the family's cattle, as well as his own, to New
Orleans. He sold the beeves, received payment, and returned
with the money to Hillsboro. Jap was always allowed to keep
the cash received from the sale of his own cattle. It never
occurred to him to steal the money from the sale of the herd.
Asked in later years why he remained honest, Jap replied
that "it was Ole Marster's money, I was his slave." Jap
and Caroline's freedom of movement was not, however, typical
of most southern slaves. Almost all were much more re­
stricted and had little if any opportunity to earn their
14 Ollinger Crenshaw, The Slave States in the Presidential
Election of 1860 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins
Press, 1945), pp. 12-16.
52

15
own money.
After the state Democratic Convention, Frank
McMullan returned to McKenzie Institute to continue his
studies. But the strained excitement of the Galveston
meeting, combined with the moist sea air of the coastal
city, had a devastating effect on his health. His physical
condition deteriorated rapidly, and before long he could
no longer keep up the vigorous pace which was required of
a full-time student. His breath was short, his weight fell
drastically, and occasional spells of coughing racked his
body. Although it became obvious that McMullan had tuber­
culosis, probably contracted in Nicaragua, he did not wish
to admit it. He consulted J. W. P. McKenzie, with whom he
had developed a close friendship, as to what he should do.
McKenzie suggested to McMullan that he should seek a high,
dry, climate, preferably Mexico. There, he could be treated
by "the celebrated Doctor Knapp." In addition, he also
could pursue his study of Spanish, a course for which the
young man had shown high proficiency. Still unconvinced
as to the seriousness of his condition, McMullan returned
15
Ellis Bailey, A History of Hill County, Texas:
1838-1965 (Waco: Texian Press, 1966), pp. 115-116; Patsy
Miles, Van, Texas, to Thelma Griggs, Lubbock, Texas, March
8, 1973, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.
By 1870 Jasper and Caroline McMullan had six children ages
one to eighteen. See United States, Census of 1870, Manuscript
Population Schedules, Hill County, Texas, family
number 99, Microfilm Publication, National Archives, p. 15.
53

home in August, hoping that some change in his health might
16
occur which would make a foreign trip unnecessary.
Always robust and healthy, Frank could not recon­
cile himself to the fact that his condition was so serious
that he should leave Texas at such a critical time. He had
periods when he recuperated to a certain extent and, since
he was by nature an optimist, fancied that he was improving.
Besides political affairs, there were financial and real-
estate matters that he felt that he should personally
handle. With Jap's help, along with that of eighteen-year-
old Bud and fifteen-year-old Nuck, he believed that he could
continue.
A crisis arose, however, when in 1859 the family
decided to move to Towash, the small village on the Brazos
River where NanCy McMullan's two brothers lived. Frank
gave his all to the task, trying hard not to appear sick
and unable to do his share. The effort backfired when
Frank nearly collapsed. He remained bedridden for days
and except for constant care from his mother and his sis­
ters might have died. The scare finally convinced him of
the wisdom of McKenzie's advice, and he left for Mexico as
17
he was physically able to do so.
16
Edwin Ney McMullan (Frank McMullan's brother),
"Texans Established Colony in Brazil Just After Civil War,"
Semi-Weekly Farm News (Dallas, Texas), January 25, 1916.
•^"^Ibid. , United States, Census of 1860, Manuscript
54

Abraham Lincoln, the Republican nominee for Presi­
dent in 186 0, gained more than anyone else from the break
between the northern and southern elements of the Democratic
Party. The Republicans offered a regional party structure
which opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories
and easily captured the support of most anti-slavery fac­
tions. Douglas, nominated by northern Democrats, could
almost write off the South because of Breckinridge's nomi­
nation by the southern branch of the party. A new organi­
zation, the Constitutional Union Party, was formed rapidly
in an attempt to save the Union from division over the
slavery issue. It nominated John Bell of Tennessee for
President, although Sam Houston of Texas tried hard to win
the right to carry the party's banner.
The November polls reflected the problems of the
Democrats and Lincoln won the election handily, although
he received relatively few southern votes. In Texas Breck­
inridge garnered 47,548 votes while Bell tallied 15,465.
Douglas received only 410 votes and Lincoln received none.
The decisive vote against the Republicans in Texas might
be traced to fears that Lincoln's election could be the
first step toward the emancipation of slaves. This feeling
was widespread despite the fact that Republican leaders
Population Schedules, Hill County, Texas, family number
379, Microfilm Publication, National Archives, pp. 378-379.
55

conceded that the federal government had no power over
slavery in the South. Too, it is likely that many Texans
were apprehensive about the possibility of slave uprisings
or even raids by abolitionists such as John Brown and
feared that Lincoln and the Republicans might be sympa­
thetic to such attacks. Also, secessionists controlled the
state political machinery, and large numbers of Texans be­
longed to secessionist organizations such as the Knights
of the Golden Circle. The extent of their influence is
18
unclear but may have been significant.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from
the Union and started a chain of events which would eventu­
ally result in the formation of a new southern Confederacy.
The next month, five more states broke away. In Texas, a
mass meeting in Brazoria called upon each county to elect
delegates to a January 8 convention to determine the posi­
tion of the state and in all likelihood to secede. Gover­
nor Sam Houston did his best to slow the emotional pace but
was unsuccessful. On January 28, the convention, by a vote
of 152 to 6, called for Texas to leave the Union. In addi­
tion, the convention repealed the United States annexation
18
Crenshaw, The Slave States in the Presidential
Election of 1860, pp. 18-35, 284-294, 298; Dallas Herald,
November 21, 186 0, p. 1; Dallas Herald, February 20, 1861,
P- 1; Dallas Herald, November 14, 1860, pp. 1-2; "Editorial
Correspondence," Dallas Herald, April 4, 1860, p. 2; Roy
Sylvan Dunn, "The K G C in Texas, 1860-61," The Southwester:
Historical Quarterly 70 (1967): 543-573.
56

agreement, adopted a list of reasons for leaving the Union,
then drafted a secession ordinance. It then set February 23
as the date for a statewide referendum on the issue. The
election was decisive; 76 percent of those going to the
polls favored secession. The vote was 46,129 to 14,69 7.
On March 23 the convention adjourned after ratifying the
19
constitution of the Confederate States of America.
Texas quickly rallied to the Confederate banner
and Hill County was no exception. As early as December 8,
1860, Judge James H. Dyer had joined John T. Eubank and
Jackson Puckett in a plea to Governor Houston to call the
legislature into session "for the purpose of taking into
. . . deliberate consideration the best mode of action for
the safety of our property, lives, and honor." After Texas
left the Union, Joseph Wier, a delegate to the Secession
Convention and the editor of the Hillsboro Express, melted
down his type to make bullets and organized a military unit
which later became Company A, Twelfth Texas Cavalry. John
B. Williams, Frank McMullan's brother-in-law and an early
merchant in Hillsboro, organized Company D, Nineteenth
Texas Cavalry. Jackson Puckett and J. R. Goodwin organized
19
Ernest W. Winkler, ed., Journal of the Secession
Convention of Texas: 18 61 (Austin: Texas Library and Historical
Commission, 1912), pp. 252-261.
57

20
units composed partially of Hill County men.
Frank McMullan, in Mexico when the war began, was
still in no position, physically, to return to Texas and
enlist in the Confederate army. He was able to help behind
the scenes, however, and perhaps made an even larger con­
tribution than if he had been in Texas. His association
with a Dr. Knapp, his physician, gave him the opportunity
to serve as an intermediary in negotiations between pro-
Confederate Mexican merchants and John T. Pickett, the
Confederate Consul. Little is known of this highly-
confidential association, however, and only scraps of cor­
respondence and family tradition link him to the southern
21
effort. He remained in Mexico until the end of the war.
McMullan's health, as predicted by J. W. P.
McKenzie, improved drastically during his stay in Mexico.
Although his cough remained, it became less severe. Too,
he gained weight and began to resemble the Frank McMullan
of old. He also continued to study and to practice his
20
John T. Eubank, James H. Dyer, and Jackson
Puckett, Fort Graham, Texas, to Governor Sam Houston,
December 8, 1860, "Petition [of citizens of Hill and
Bosque Counties] to his Excellency Gen[era]1 Sam Houston"
(MS, Governor's Letters [Houston]], July-December, 1860),
as quoted in James Verdo Reese, "A History of Hill County
to 1873" (Masters thesis. University of Texas, 1962), p. 121.
21
Confederate State Department Records, Dispatches
and Legation Records of the Confederate Minister to Mexico,
John T. Pickett, Ramsdell Collection, Microfilm rolls 192,
193, and 19 8, The Eugene C. Barker Texas History Center,
The University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
58

Spanish. His proficiency advanced to the point that he
spoke almost as well as a native and even wrote a Spanish
22
grammar textbook before he went back to Texas.
When Frank McMullan returned to the United States
in mid-1865, he found a terrible feeling of uncertainty
about what would happen to southerners. Yankee troops
began to occupy the South and, although President Andrew
Johnson seemed to be following a generally conservative
line, his amnesty proclamation of May 29 left many un­
answered questions. Fourteen classes of persons, including
those who had held civil or diplomatic offices within the
Confederacy, as well as those with taxable property worth
in excess of $20,000, would have to seek individual par-
23
dons.
The popular northern periodical Harper's Weekly
vehemently demanded that "traitors" should be brought to
the bar of justice. Its editorial writer argued that if
the law was not to be enforced, then it should be changed.
If "public conviction" did not dictate that the law should
punish treason with the death penalty, then the statute
"should be re-written." "If it is to be unchanged," the
2 2
E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony."
The Galveston Daily News, January 8, 186 7, p. 2;
James D. Richardson, comp., A Compilation of the Messages
and Papers of the Presidents: 1789-1897 (10 vols.; Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1897), 6: 310-312.
59

journalist continued, "it is not necessary for the vindi­
cation of the law that all convicted traitors shall be
hung; but it is surely necessary for the purpose of the
24
law that all shall not escape."
Although there were large numbers of northerners
who were not as vindictive as Harper's, there was consid­
erable public pressure for legal action as called for by
the news magazine. The courts, however, moved slowly on
the issue of treason, preferring instead to prosecute
persons who had committed criminal rather than political
acts. One of Morgan's Raiders, a man named Champ Ferguson,
faced arrest and trial for alleged murders while pursuing
guerilla activities for the Confederacy in Tennessee and
Kentucky. He was found guilty and hanged on October 20,
1865. On November 10, Captain Henry Wirz met the same
punishment for mistreatment of prisoners in Andersonville
Prison. Some northern periodicals, although not question­
ing whether or not such men as Ferguson and Wirz should be
executed, began to wonder how widespread retribution should
be. "The question," said one journal, "really becomes a
serious one—are all the traitors par excellence to be par-
25
doned while these cheap scoundrels are sternly executed?"
"The Fate of Davis," Harper's Weekly 9 (June 17,
1865): 374.
2"^
"Champ Ferguson," Harper's Weekly 9 (September
23, 1865): 593; "The Execution of Champ Ferguson," Harper's
l^eekly 9 (November 11, 1865): 716.
60

Southern newspaper humorist Bill Arp expressed the
thoughts of many former Confederates. Writing to his fic­
tional friend "Mr. Happy," Arp discussed the situation in
easy to understand but exaggerated terms:
How is it now, Mr. Happy? They conquered us by the
sword, but they haven't convinced us of nothing much
that I know of. All is lost save honor, and that
they can't steal from us nor tarnish. If they had
held out the hand of friendship, we would have made
friends and buried the hatchet. But the very minit
they whipped us, they began to holler treason from
one end of the country to the other just like they
had made a bran new diskovery. It seemed to strike
them all of a sudden like an X-post facto law, and
they wanted to go into a general hangin business and
keep it up as long as they could find rope and timber.
Although Arp, in reality C. H. Smith of Rome, Georgia, had
a way of making a desperate situation humorous, there was
little to laugh about in much of the South. Whole towns
lay in ruins. Former slave owners worried about confisca­
tion of land and scarcity of labor. Even more critical,
farmers lacked seed for planting or the money to buy it
if it were found.
One northerner, traveling on a survey mission in
the South in 186 5 for the President, said that the southern
landscape.
Looked for many miles like a broad black streak of
ruin and desolation—the fences all gone; lonesome
smoke stacks, surrounded by dark heaps of ashes and
cinders, marking the spots where human habitation had
^^"Letter From Bill Arp to His Old Friend, John
Happy," Dallas Herald, February 10, 1866, p. 4.
61

stood; the fields along the road wildly overgrown by
weeds, with here and there a sickly patch of cotton
or corn cultivated by Negro squatters.27
Although Texas had been spared much of the destruc­
tion suffered by other parts of the Confederacy, dispair
was widespread and Texans shared a feeling that the freedom
of the slaves would create a new and somehow impossible
social order in which Negroes would have not only equality,
but legislated superiority. The feeling was reinforced by
the arrival of Negro occupation troops in some areas soon
after the surrender at Appomattox. Rumors of Negro atroci­
ties, most fictional but some true, fell on anxious ears
and further increased feelings of dispair. One southern
girl expressed a general sentiment when she wrote that
"there is complete revulsion in public feeling. No more
talk about help from France and England, but all about
emigration to Mexico or Brazil. We are irretrievably
ruined." The fears, as it turned out, were excessive in
comparison with the events that actually transpired in the
South. But the massive changes in society, combined with
the inability of southerners to predict the events that
27
Carl Shurz, as quoted by John Hope Franklin,
Reconstruction After the Civil War (Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1961), p. 2. A recent study which
minimizes the idea of an avenging North is Kenneth M.
Stampp, The Era of Reconstruction (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1965) .
62

2 8
were to come, made their apprehensions seem legitimate.
The emergence of sectionalism in the United States
in the 1850s had a profound influence on Frank McMullan.
The questions of slavery in the territories, the status
of Negro slaves, and the future of slavery led McMullan
to a firm commitment to the cause of the South. His
participation in the Walker expedition to Nicaragua in
1857 undoubtedly soldified his philosophy and reinforced
his strong support of the Democratic Party's pro-slavery
stance before and during the 1860 election. After illness
cut short his academic ambitions at McKenzie Institute,
McMullan spent the Civil War Years in Mexico where he
continued to support the southern effort. Upon McMullan's
return to Texas in 1865, he found a general feeling of
uncertainty about the future among southerners which he
undoubtedly shared. By mid-1865, Frank McMullan began to
seriously consider emigration to Brazil.
John Cardwell, "Letter to the Editor," Galveston
Tri-Weekly News, December 16, 1866, p. 3; Eliza F. Andrews,
Wartime Diary of a Georgia Girl (New York: n.p., 1908),
pp. 153-155.
63

CHAPTER III
THE SEARCH FOR LANDS
The end of the Civil War found the former Con­
federacy in a chaotic state. Negroes, formerly a source
of the South's wealth as slaves, were free. Crops were
almost non-existent as were markets for their sale. Many
southerners who before the war had fortunes were virtually
poverty-stricken. Speculation was rife about who the
Union might prosecute for treason. Jefferson Davis was
in prison, and other prominent Confederate government
figures fled to Europe, Canada, or Cuba to escape arrest
and an unknown future. Some "imagined that the whole power
of the United States was bent upon their capture" and
sought to join Joseph Shelby's command en route to exile
in Mexico. Other former Confederates, for various reasons,
looked toward Brazil as their sanctuary. Frank McMullan
already had decided by late 1865 that the South American
country would be his new home. In partnership with William
Bowen of Navarro County, Texas, he traveled to Brazil,
located the lands he desired, and received provisional
title from the empire. He concluded an extensive report
to the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture then returned to
64

Texas to recruit his colony.
Discussion of Brazil as a possible haven for Con­
federates grew from a long history of relations between
the South American nation and the United States. Reverend
Daniel P. Kidder wrote a best selling two-volume book en­
titled Sketches of Residence and Travels in Brazil which
found a place in many pre-war southern libraries. Southern
intellectual Matthew P. Maury told of the outstanding qual­
ities of Brazil in such esteemed publications as De Bow's
Review which prompted a United States study to determine
the feasibility of forcibly opening the Amazon River to
international trade. As early as 185 3, Maury called for
a conference to be held in Memphis for that purpose. He
suggested that the Amazon basin might also serve as a sat-
2
isfactory place for the disposal of surplus slaves.
The Brazilian government let it be known as early
as 1860 that it welcomed free and self-governing colonies
John N. Edwards, Shelby's Expedition to Mexico.
An Unwritten Leaf of the War (Kansas City: Kansas City
Times Book and Job Printing House, 1872), p. 14; McMullan's
report to the Secretary of Agriculture is found in Ballard
S. Dunn, Brazil, The Home for Southerners, or A Practical
Account of What the Author, and Others, Who Visited That
Country, For the Same Objects, Saw and Did While in That
iiEEire (New Orleans: Bloomfield & Steel, 1866), pp. 153-
179. It will henceforth be cited as McMullan, "Official
Report."
2 David P. Kidder, Sketches of Residence and Travels
in Brazil, Embracing Historical and Geographical Notices of
the Empire and its Several Provinces (2 vols.; Philadelphia
Sorin & Ball, 1845); Charles Lee Lewis, Matthew Fontaine
?iaur^ (Annapolis: n.p., 1927), p. 118.
65

of emigrants. As a geographically huge but sparsely set­
tled nation, Brazil welcomed the technological expertise
and the increase in the labor force. Colonies of emigrants
would open roads, harness rivers, and increase agricul­
tural production. To implement this policy, the Immigra­
tion Law of September 27, 1860, was passed. The statute
declared that established colonies could receive support
in the form of roads, schools, and even churches. It pro­
vided for free land surveys for prospective colonies and
even allowed the government to subsidize construction of
temporary colony buildings. Although the 1860 law origi­
nated primarily as an aid to immigration from Europe, the
southern defeat in the United States Civil War caused
Brazilian liberals to become even more zealous in their
support of a policy which would bring new blood to their
country. In 1866, the International Society of Immigration
was formed in Rio de Janeiro to create new interest in and
to spur legislation for new and beneficial immigration
programs.
The idea of immigration from the South to Brazil
was a logical one. Throughout the Civil War discussion
Aureliano Candido Tavares Bastos, Os Males do
Presente e as Esperanqas do Future (Sao Paulo: Companhia
Editora Nacional, 1939) , pp. 91-97 contains the basic
provisions of the September 27, 1860, law; Blanche Henry
Clark Weaver, "Confederate Emigration to Brazil," The
Journal of Southern History 27, no. 1 (February 1961):
JT.
.66

about possible cooperation between the Confederacy and
Brazil persisted. As late as December 8, 1864, the Rich­
mond Enquirer editorially discussed the possibility of an
alliance between the two countries. With the war's end,
official encouragement of the defeated South by Emperor
Dom Pedro II was a natural progression. Southerners felt
a kinship with another country which was agricultural in
its economic base, allowed slavery, and more important,
was willing to specify favorable terms and advantages for
the emigration of former Confederates. They were particu­
larly pleased with the low prices of land and the extended
payment terms offered by Brazil. Other economic benefits
such as agreements to allow payment of ship passage over
a period of several months were also inviting to poor
southerners. In addition to the advantages of low prices
and credit terms, many from the South felt a kinship with
Brazilians that they did not sense so strongly in other
nationalities. One South Carolinean, after an extended
trip to South America, remarked that in Brazil,
There is a dignity and a hospitality . . . that correspond
[s] in many respects to the lofty and generous
bearing which characterized the Southern gentleman in
former times. We find people in Brazil capable of
appreciating the Southern character, and ready to extend
a cordial greeting to all who come.^
Richmond Examiner, December 8, 1864, as quoted
in Douglas Grier, "Confederate Emigration to Brazil" (Ph.D
dissertation. University of Michigan, 1968), p. 62; James
67

The reasons for emigration to Brazil were as
varied as the people who elected to go there. One rela­
tively wealthy emigrant expressed his sentiments in this
way: "I left . . . because of anarchy which I expected to
prevail—of the poverty that was already at our doors and
the demoralization which I thought & still believe will
surely cover the land." Another colonist to Brazil said
that he fled to escape "an obscure existence, with a . . .
constant struggle against poverty." Brazilian sociologist
Jose Arthur Rios, discussing the reasons southerners chose
Brazil rather than some other country, concluded that the
geographic similarity and a farm-based culture were the
principal magnets. "Brazil was chosen because of the cul­
tural traits it possessed in common with the Old South."
"Like the antebellum South," Rios continued, "Brazil was
governed by a rural aristocracy which has as the main sup­
ports of its power and prestige the latifundia—the cotton,
sugar, and coffee farms."^
McFadden Gaston, Hunting a Home in Brazil: The Agricultural
Resources and Other Characteristics of the Country. Also,
The Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants (Philadelphia:
King & Baird, Printers, 1867), p. 374.
Julia L. Keyes, "Our Life in Brazil," The Alabama
Historical Quarterly 28 (Fall and Winter, 1966): 324;
George S. Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Brazil, to Julia
Von Schwartz, Kingston, Georgia, January 20, 1874, Manuscript
Section 204, Tennessee State Library and Archives,
Knoxville, Tennessee; Jose Arthur Rios, "Assimilation of
Emigrants from the Old South in Brazil," Social Forces 26,
no. 2 (December 1947): 146.
68

It is sometimes argued that large numbers of Confed­
erate emigrants to Brazil were planters—agriculturalists
who owned (or had owned) at least twenty slaves—who wished
to reestablish the antebellum plantation system. Although
the thesis provides a neat explanation for the exodus of
southerners to Brazil, the facts simply do not justify
that conclusion. Within the seven important southern col­
onies, less than five percent of the families could be
classified as planters. The McMullan colony had none who
fit that description, including Frank McMullan himself.
Of all the entrepreneurs who established colonies in
Brazil, it is likely that only one, George Grandioson
Gunter, could qualify as a planter under the standard
definition. One Brazilian publication confirms the con­
clusion that few southern emigrants aspired to be slave-
holding "planters."
Only a small part of the group of settlers, contrary
to popular belief, were members of landed gentry or
the old southern aristocracy, most were middle-class
farmers. ... An estimated ten families who came
with the immigrants bought land in Brasil with slaves.
Three of these ten families bought larger pieces of
land, each with a large number of slaves, but they
shortly abandoned the slavery system. In fact some
historians claim these southerners aided Brazilians
in the abolition of slavery by speaking against it
or by donating money to send some of the freed Brazilian
slaves back to Africa.6
The principal arguments for the "planter" thesis
are in James L. Roark, Masters Without Slaves: Southern
Planters in the Civil War and Reconstruction (New York:
w. w. Norton & Company, 1977), pp. 120-131. Roark's
69

Most planters in the South were actually discouraged
when they made serious inquiries about the possibilities of
financial success in Brazil. The most disheartening factor
that they encountered was the "shaky status of slavery."
Other objections, however, were almost as impelling.
Exhausted soil, primitive agricultural methods, and back­
ward people were condemned by one prospective emigrant,
Andrew McCollum, who declared that social arrangements
were "sickening" and that "a sense of white mastery was
missing." McCollum's final decision to stay in the United
States was based on the lack of stability of slavery in
Brazil.
Reverend Ballard Dunn of Louisiana, the founder of
a colony in Sao Paulo Province, made a similar observation
as to why planters did not choose to go to Brazil in large
numbers. Dunn remarked that.
The energetic, money-making, money-loving planter who
. . . cannot brook the present state of things in the
South, chiefly because the labor system is deranged
. . . has his representative in Rio de Janeiro. On
the subject of a reliable system of labor, he has
grown morbid. He looks for some token of permanency
in the present system of Brazil, but it unable to find
definition of a planter is found in ibid., p. ix. The five
percent figure on "planters" in Brazil may, in fact, be too
high. It was estimated after extensive review of manuscript
material written by southern emigrants. Also, see
"Americana in Sao Paulo State Still Has Vestiges of Confederate
Americans," Brazilian Business, May, 1962, pp. 39-40.
Roark, Masters Without Slaves, pp. 128-129.
70

it. On the contrary, he reads more fearful symptoms
of disruption, and violent change, in the politic report
of a minister of state [of Brazil] than he was
ever able to find, in the fanatical speeches, and
incendiary books, of those who destroyed the South.^
One of the principal reasons for the assumption
that emigrants to Brazil were "planters" probably lies in
a comparison of the exodus of southerners to Mexico. Emi­
gration to the country south of the Rio Grande was vastly
different than emigration to Brazil. Southerners in the
Trans-Mississippi areas could go to Mexico on impulse and
often did so. The Confederates in the west had "relatively
easy access" which may have "tipped the scales in favor of
exile." It is significant that large numbers of civil and
military leaders, many of whom were accurately classed as
"planters," elected to go to the Mexican settlements, while
almost none made the major commitment that was necessary to
go to Brazil. There were no counterparts in Brazil for the
likes of Matthew Maury, Sterling Price, William Gwin, Isham
Harris, Joseph Shelby, or Jubal Early. The national promi­
nence of the leaders of the Mexican emigration movement
explains, to some extent, the reasons they expressed for
leaving the South. It was difficult for a previously in-
luential leader to become a common emigrant; his ego demanded
a higher purpose. Thus Matthew Maury expressed a desire to
establish a "New Virginia," then requested,
8 Dunn, Brazil, The Home for Southerners, p. 78.
71

The setting aside of existing immigration regulations
for his proteges on the grounds that the earlier regulations
'were made for ordinary colonists and consequently,
would not encourage the class of men of which
I speak, to come.'
General Joseph Shelby soberly stated: "We are the last of
9
the race but let us be the best as well."
Another very important comparison of emigration to
Mexico and to Brazil is in the elapsed time after the end
of the war. By the end of 1866, almost all of the former
Confederates who went to Mexico were already there; a
large number had even returned to the United States. On
the other hand, only a small number of southerners were in
Brazil before January, 186 7. Most of those who were in
South America by that time were advance prospectors or
colony enterpreneurs. The first large groups of Americans
did not arrive until May, 1867. The exodus to Brazil was,
on the whole, more systematic, more purposeful, and less
impulsive than the movement to the settlements in Mexico.
Brazilian sociologist Jose Arthur Rios described the
southern emigration to Brazil in these words:
It is common to think of a migration as a kind of jump.
People start moving all of a sudden and do not have any
clear idea about why they move and where they go. This
is not true, at least, as far as the southern migration
to Brazil is concerned. It was a highly rationalized migration
and it involved careful thinking and discussion.
Robert E. Shalhope, "Race, Class Slavery, and the
Antebellum Southern Mind," Journal of Southern History 37
(November 1971): 562; Edwards, Shelby's Expedition to
Mexico, p. 14.
72

In short, those who went to Brazil had much more time to
ponder their actions. Many later believed that their deci­
sion had been incorrect and returned to the United States,
but a large number of former Confederates remained in
self-appointed exile.
In view of the comparisons that have been and will
be made of the various southern colonists and individuals
who went to Brazil, an overview of the more important col­
onies is in order. By September, 1865, a writer for the
New York Herald suggested that as many as 50,000 persons
might leave Dixie, and commented that already twenty agents
had been sent to Brazil by southern organizations to look
for potential colonization sites. One of the first to
leave on such a trip was General William Wallace Wood, a
multi-talented Mississippian who became the emigration
agent for southerners from Louisiana, Virginia, and Missis­
sippi. By the time he sailed from New York on the Montana
in August, 1865, nineteen other agents from across the
South had entrusted their business to him. Wood, who
There is a possible exception to the statement
that Americans did not arrive in large groups until May,
1867. It is unclear exactly when the families guided by
William Hutchinson Norris sailed for Brazil. One account
says that they left New York on January 10, 1865. This
is unlikely as it would have been before the end of the
Civil War. It is probably that the year was 1866 or 1867.
See Mrs. E. Broadnax, MS, "My Father, Cornal [sic] Norris,"
copied by Mame A. Minchen, Nova Odessa, Brazil, September
29, 1935, Blanche Henry Clark Weaver Papers, in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.
73

claimed to represent eleven thousand families, selected a
large entourage to travel with him.
Wood and his party met an enthusiastic reception
from Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro in October, 1865, includ­
ing a brass band playing "Dixie" and the Brazilian national
anthem, and were treated to three days of entertainment
before actually going to the field. Even then an over-
generous Brazilian government furnished an engineer, a
guide, and an interpreter for assistants. In addition.
Wood received letters of introduction to all provincial
officials who might conceivably be of service to the Amer­
icans. Wood and his examining party left Rio on October 17
en route to Santos by packet steamer, then proceeded to Sao
Paulo by railroad. There, traveling on horses and mules,
they examined a huge block of land on both sides of the
Jahu and Tiete rivers. Thoroughly impressed with the agri­
cultural lands, the climate, and the abundance of timber.
Wood cancelled plans to visit other Brazilian provinces
and returned to Rio de Janeiro almost immediately to dis­
cuss acquisition of the land he had seen. After the comple­
tion of the pact. Wood and his followers boarded the steam­
ship South America and sailed for New York. Following
their arrival there on January 25, 1866, they returned to
the South to make a report. Interestingly, Wood lost all
Weaver, "Confederate Emigration to Brazil," p. 37
74

interest in Brazil after his return and dropped out of the
12
emigration picture, much to the dismay of Brazilians.
Almost contemporaneously with Wood's prospecting
expedition in Sao Paulo Province, another Confederate in­
vestigated colonization prospects on the Amazon River
nearly 1,00 0 miles away. The entrepreneur in this case
was Lansford Warren Hastings, the famous trailblazer of
Oregon and California. After his chances of gaining a
presidency, or at least a governorship, in California
vanished, Hastings attached himself to the southern cause.
He supported slavery in the territories and quickly joined
the Confederacy in the Civil War. He devised a scheme to
capture both Arizona and New Mexico for the South but his
plan was rejected by Confederate leaders. Undismayed,
Hastings continued to support the Lost Cause and became
13
one of the first to endorse emigration after the surrender.
12
Ibid., pp. 37-38; Joaquim Maria Nascentes de
Azambuja, Minister of Brazil to the United States, New-
York, to Antonio Francisco de Paula e Souza, Secretary of
State for Trade for Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works
Rio de Janeiro, January 24, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao
e Coloniza9ao 4 (June 1943): 274-277; Dunn, Brazil, The
Home for Southerners, p. 79.
•"•^Hastings was an attorney from Mt. Vernon, Ohio,
who went to Oregon with the first large expedition of settlers.
After a disagreement concerning the train's leader,
Elijah White, Hastings became the new captain, a position
he retained all the way to Oregon. Soon dissatisfied,
Hastings went from Oregon to California where he developed
dreams of a presidency. To do so, he encouraged wagon
trains to abandon the Oregon Trail and go, instead, to
California on the Hastings Cut-Off, a desert trail. He
75

In December, 1865, while other southerners still
debated the ethics, opportunities, and fears of leaving
the defeated Confederacy, Hastings was already on his way
to Brazil with a colony. He chartered the schooner Neptune
at Mobile, Alabama, and sailed on the 27th for Rio de
Janeiro with forty-two colonists. On January 4, the ship
was wrecked by a storm twenty-six miles from Havana after
a defect in the schooner's compass took it off course. The
Americans made their way to the Cuban capital where they
dispersed. Some continued from there to Mexico, while
others went to Florida. A few of the passengers, wishing
to return to Alabama, boarded the steamship Guiding Star
for New Orleans and thence to Mobile. According to
Hastings, most of the colonists vowed to renew the effort
14
to go to Brazil after a visit to former homes and friends.
hoped that a large Anglo-American population would set the
stage for a Texas-like revolution with him at its head.
See Lansford Warren Hastings, The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon
and California (1845; reprint ed., Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1932); Charles Kelly, Salt Desert
Trails; A History of the Hastings Cutoff and Other Early
Trails Which Crossed the Great Salt Desert Seeking a
snorter Road to California (Salt Lake City: Western
Printing Company, 19 30).
14
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Jose Antonio
Savaira, June 18, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao e
Colonizagao. p. 290; A. Foster Elliot, Vice Consul of
Brazil, New Orleans, to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja, New
York, May 23, 1866, in ibid., pp. 291-292; Martim Francisco
Rebeiro de Andrade, Honorary Consul of Brazil, Havana, to
J. M. Nascentes to Azambuja, New York, May 31, 1866, in
ibid., pp. 292-293; "Shipwreck of a Brazilian Colony," New
Orleans Daily Crescent, January 29, 1866, p. 2; Lansford
76

The Brazilian government expressed concern about
the wreck of the Neptune and the possibility of losing the
persons aboard as colonists. It began an effort to locate
the passengers and made an official offer to provide free
transportation for any of them to continue to Brazil. in
a letter to the Brazilian Consul in New York, the Imperial
Secretary of Agriculture advised that he should ascertain
if the emigrants still wanted to go to Brazil. If so, the
consul was to "offer them in the name of the government,
passage gratis to this country, where they will have liberty
to choose such mode of life and place of location as may
suit them." Although the passengers of the Neptune were so
scattered that the effort was generally unsuccessful, no
question existed about the intentions of Lansford Warren
Hastings. He would start for Brazil again as soon as pos­
sible with another contingent of colonists.
On March 26, 1866, Hastings and thirty-five colo­
nists left Mobile on the steamer Margaret bound for Brazil.
Bad luck seemed destined to plague his efforts, however,
for only a few days from shore, illness on board ship was
Warren Hastings, On Board the Steamship North America, near
Para, Brazil, to William Matthews, in Dallas Herald, December
1, 1866, p. 2.
15
Antonio Francisco de Paula e Souza, Rio do
Janeiro, to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja, New York, "Order
Number 3," March 9, 1866, in the Dallas Herald, December
1. 1866, p. 2.

diagnosed as smallpox. The captain turned back to the
United States to face a quarantine in Mobile Bay. Before
16
it was lifted, eleven of the would-be colonists had died.
By the summer of 1866, Hastings was back in Brazil,
this time 1,00 0 miles up the Amazon. He obtained a huge
provisional grant of sixty square leagues of land at the
confluence of the Tapejos and Curea rivers with the Amazon.
The price of the tract was to be only twenty-two and one-
half cents per acre, payable at the end of the third year
by the first colonists to the area. Hastings also received
other inducements to settle in Brazil and declared himself
"fully satisfied with what the government proffers to do,
and is doing for the encouragement of emigration." He
said that he was "satisfied with the country and the gov­
ernment," and had decided to make Brazil "his permanent
17
future home."
Hastings returned to the South in the fall of 1866
16
Weaver, "Confederate Emigration," p. 43; A. M.
Smith, "Still in Exile, 61 Years After War; Pot of Gold
They Sought in Brazilian Jungle Never Found, Say Confederate
Colonists," The Detroit News, January 6, 19 29, p.
12.
17
Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas, President of the
Province of Para, and Lansford Warren Hastings, "Termo de
Contracto celebrado com o Major Lansford Warren Hastings,
para establecer uma colonia de compatriotas seus nesta
provincia," Archives of the Brazilian Institute of History
and Geography, Lata 632, Pasta 2, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Hastings to Matthews, Dallas Herald, December 1, 1966,
p. 2.
78

and immediately began recruiting colonists for the Amazon
River tract. In July, 1867, he left Mobile for Para with
109 persons on the Red Gauntlet, an iron steamer which had
long been on the South American run. The ship had mechan­
ical problems at the island of St. Thomas and was unable to
proceed further. Consequently, the Hastings emigrants were
forced to board the regular packet to Brazil, then complete
the voyage on an Amazon River steamer. Hastings later
assembled another shipload of emigrants for his colony, but
18
he died on board ship as it made its way to Brazil.
Another early colonization venture in Brazil began
in late 1865 when William Hutchinson Norris and his son
Robert C. Norris of Alabama went to Sao Paulo Province in
search of lands. They bypassed Sao Paulo, preferring in­
stead to go about eighty miles into the interior where
they located on flat table lands which were easily adapted
to American style agriculture. They then sent for their
wives and children, as well as other southerners from their
home in Alabama who desired to emigrate. The Norris family
sailed from New Orleans in a small ship, the Talisman,
accompanied by twenty-six other Alabama families. The men
18
Weaver, "Confederate Emigration," p. 43. The
Red Gauntlet was previously on the New York-San Francisco
run; The ship was sold at auction in November, 1866,
shortly before Hastings's last trip. See The Texas Baptist
(Anderson, Texas), March 5, 1856, p. 3; New Orleans Times,
November 2, 1866, p. 3.
79

and women were quartered in separate compartments and, for
comfort, the women exchanged their hoop skirts for more
leisurely attire. The hoops were stored in a forward com­
partment, just under the ship's wheel. After several weeks
at sea, the Captain discovered that the ship was far off
course; it was approaching the Cape Verde Islands, near the
coast of Africa! The metal in the hoops had caused a major
variation in the ship's compass. After eighty-nine days
19
at sea, the Talisman finally docked at Rio de Janeiro.
James McFadden Gaston, a southerner from an old,
aristocratic family in South Carolina, sailed for Brazil
in late 1865 to look for lands to colonize. He arrived
there at the same time as the prospecting party headed by
General William Wallace Wood and at times worked in concert
with the Mississippian in land exploration. Gaston eventu­
ally decided on lands in Sao Paulo Province on the upper
19
Lawrence F. Hill, "Confederate Exiles to Brazil,"
Hispanic American Historical Review (May 1927): 192-210;
Cicero Jones, Vila Americana, Brazil, to J. N. Heiskell,
Little Rock, Arkansas, September 25, 1915, J. N. Heiskell
Library, Arkansas Gazette Foundation, Little Rock, Arkansas;
Robert Norris, Sitio Cinco Palentes, Province of Sao
Paulo, Brazil, to the Editor of the Elmore Standard
(Wetumka, Alabama), June 21, 1867, p. 1, copy in Weaver
Papers; Mark Jefferson, "An American Colony in Brazil," The
Geographical Review 18, -no. 2 (April 1928): 226-231; Martha
Norris, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Peter A. Brannon, Editor
of the Alabama Historical Quarterly, February 5, 19 26, copy
in the Weaver Papers; Mrs. E. Broadnax, MS, "My Father,
Cornal [sic] Norris," copies by Mame A. Minchen, Nova
Odessa, Brazil, September 29, 19 35, Weaver Papers; Joseph
Long Minchen, "A Confederate in South America," MS copied
by Mame A. Minchen, January 3, 19 36, Weaver Papers.
80

Juquia River near the town of Xiririca. He kept an exten­
sive log of his travels and, upon his return to the United
States to recruit colonists for his site, wrote a detailed
book entitled Hunting a Home in Brazil which later became
a standard reference work for many who considered emigrate
tion.
Another Alabamian, Charles Grandioson Gunter, made
plans to take an extensive colony to the Doce River near
the beautiful Lake Juparanao, north of Rio de Janeiro.
Gunter, described as a "tremendously large man with a
voice like the rumblings of a distant thunder," predicted
that "fifty Southern families from Alabama, Florida, Loui­
siana, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia would go with him
to the tropics." Gunter was so vehemently anti-United
States that after his arrival in Brazil he instructed his
son in Alabama to "settle my affairs as if I were dead in
the United States. I shall never go there again, unless I
go on business for this government." After extensive
negotiations with Brazilian officials, Gunter purchased
five million acres of land which he planned to develop
into twenty settlements. Gunter never actually organized
a colony, however, but instead tried to attract Americans
20
William F. Pyles, Vila Americana, Brazil, to
J. N. Heiskell, Little Rock, Arkansas, September 28, 1915,
J. N. Heiskell Library; Gaston, Hunting a Home in Brazil;
William F. Pyles, Vila Americana, Brazil, MS, Weaver
Papers.
81

21
who were adrift in the capital of Brazil.
One of the most carefully planned efforts to plant
a colony in South America was formulated by the Southern
Emigration Society of Edgefield, South Carolina, with
Joseph Abney as president. The society sent two men.
Major Robert Meriwether and Dr. Hugh A. Shaw, to Brazil
with instructions to explore the entire southern part of
the country for a suitable location. After the completion
of their survey, they recommended the area around the town
of Botucatu in Sao Paulo Province. Yet the Southern Emigra­
tion Society never actually sent emigrants as a colony to
22
Brazil, although both Meriwether and Shaw remained.
21
Lawrence F. Hill, The Confederate Exodus to Latin
America (Austin: The Texas State Historical Association,
19 36), pp. [53]-[67]; Peter A. Brannon, "Southern Emigration
to Brazil, Embodying the Diary of Jennie R. Keyes, Montgomery,
Alabama," The Alabama Historical Quarterly 1, no. 2
(Summer Issue, 1930): 74-75; ibid., 1, no. 3 (Fall Issue,
1930): 280-305; Julia L. Keyes, "Our Life in Brazil," pp.
127-399; "Return of the Confederate Colonists from Brazil,"
The Talldega Watch Tower (Talldega, Alabama), August 11,
1869, p. 2; "With Alabama Emigres in Brazil—1867-70," The
Montgomery Advertiser, August 4, 1940, p. 2.
22
Agatha Abney Woodson, Edgefield, South Carolina,
to My Dear Miss Owen, [address not given], March 21, 1930,
copy in Weaver Papers; "Shall Southerners Emigrate to
Brazil," De Bow's Review, After the War Series 2 (July,
1866): 30-38; [Cornelius K.] Garrison and Allen, Agents,
the New York Mail Steamship Company, New York, to Hugh A.
Shaw, Augusta, South Carolina, as published in the Edgefield
Advertiser (Edgefield, South Carolina), December 19,
1866, p. 1; James E. Edmonds, "They've Gone, Back Home!"
The Saturday Evening Post, January 4, 19 41, pp. 30-4 7;
also, see several articles in the Edgefield Advertiser from
August 16, 1865, to December 14, 1866.
82

Another early attempt at Confederate settlement in
Brazil began in the summer of 1865 when Colonel M. S. Swain
and Horace Lane of Louisiana selected property on the
Assunguay River in Parana Province in the southern part of
the country. By October, the two men were joined by thirty-
five other southerners, most of whom were from Missouri.
This American colony continued to grow, principally on the
basis of letters to the editor of the Daily Missouri Repub-
li^^" by Dr. John H. Blue, who constantly urged the home
folks to leave the "radicals" and come to Brazil. Several
families accumulated large land holdings and others became
financially independent after starting a firm to manufacture
barrels to hold Herva-mate. ^"^
On November 11, 186 5, the Reverend Ballard S. Dunn,
Rector of St. Phillips Church, New Orleans, and during the
war a chaplain and ordnance officer in the Confederate army,
left Rio de Janeiro in an effort to locate lands for a
colony for those southerners who "from manly motives" were
"seriously contemplating emigration." Dunn's plans called
for a search of the Province of Rio de Janeiro as well as
23
"The Southern Emigration to Brazil," The Mobile
Weekly Advertiser, November 4, 1865, p. 3; "Brazilian News,"
The Mobile Register and Advertiser, July 18, 1865, p. 1;
^^11/ The^Confederate Exodus to South America, pp. [40]-[41].
Herya-mate, sometimes known as "Brazilian tea," is a stimulating
native drink. See Brazil 1940/41: An Economic,
Social and Geographic Survey (Rio de Janeiro: Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 1941), pp. 132-133.
83

the southern part of Espirito Santo Province. After a long
and unfruitful search, Dunn and his companions finally went
to Sao Paulo Province where, on February 2, 1866, he found
lands which he believed would be suitable, the "magnificent
valley of the Juquea [Juquia River]." Here, Dunn planned
to establish a colony which he would call "Lizzieland" after
his late wife Elizabeth. In late May, Dunn returned to Rio
de Janeiro in preparation for his return to the United
24
States to recruit his colonists.
While searching for lands on the Juquia, Dunn en­
countered Texan Frank McMullan, in Brazil also looking for
the site for a colony. Since his return from Mexico, Frank
McMullan had considered the idea of leaving the United
States for Brazil. The prospects of northern occupation
and free Negroes were unappealing to him, and he saw Latin
America as a new frontier. His knowledge of Spanish and
Portuguese gave him confidence that few other Americans had
concerning emigration. He confidently believed that Brazil
was one of the most likely countries in the world for a
24
Dunn, Brazil, The Home for Southerners, p. i;
The Reverend Sidney Vail, New Orleans, to Blanche Henry
Clark, Nashville, Tennessee, October, 19 42, Weaver Papers;
Herman Cape Duncan, The Diocese of Louisiana: Some of Its
History, 1838-1888 (New Orleans: A. W. Wyatt, 1888), p.
232; Andrew B. Booth, comp.. Records of Louisiana Soldiers
and Louisiana Confederate Commands, 3 vols. (New Orleans:
^•P., 1920), 2: 716; Eliza Kerr Shippey, "When Americans
Were Emigrants," Kansas City Star, June 16, 1912, sec. B.,
p. 4.
84

determined and industrious person to make his fortune. In
addition, he was intrigued with stories he had heard, prob­
ably from sailors when he sailed to Nicaragua, of huge
deposits of gold and silver which might yield thousands—
perhaps hundreds of thousands—in dollars for the person
who might find them.
One legend particularly interested McMullan as it
seemed, perhaps more than others, to have a ring of truth.
The story told of a mysterious lake hidden in the coastal
mountain range of Sao Paulo Province. On the beach of the
lake, the narrative claimed, lay large numbers of gold
nuggets, available for the taking. The legend of the Lagoa
Dourada, the Lake of Gold, began in the middle sixteenth
century soon after the arrival of Jesuits from Europe.
According to the story, Joao Aranzel, a man of considerable
importance living in the village of Sao Paulo, committed a
murder and was sentenced to death. He managed to escape
and fled into the sertao, or back woods, making his way
south through the mountains and down to the coastal town
of Conceicao. From there he followed the coast northeast
to Peruibe, a small Indian village, where he met Jesuit
missionary Jose de Ancheita, whose persistant efforts in
behalf of the Indians eventually earned him the title of
"Apostle of Brazil." According to tradition, the accused
murderer told his story to the priest, who advised him to
flee to the mountains once again rather than risk execution,
85

The criminal quickly departed, following a river into the
back country. Deep in the mountains, Aranzal stumbled
into sight of the fabled lake. He was fascinated by what
he saw and was able to gather the precious metal at will.
Yet he felt reluctant to return to the settlements because
of the charges against him. Thus he remained at the Lagoa
Dourada for two years, surviving on the abundance of nuts
25
in the area and relishing the mild climate.
Aranzel became anxious about his family, however,
and decided to attempt a return to civilization, whatever
the price. He gathered as much gold as he could carry and
started down the river, then up the coast to Sao Paulo.
After his long absence he found that feelings against him
had softened and with his new-found wealth purchased a
pardon. He then reunited with his family and provided a
large dowry for each of his two daughters. Aranzel was
questioned repeatedly about the source of his fortune, but
he refused to divulge the secret until he was on his death­
bed. Only then did he consent to write down the directions
to the lake of gold:
The way to the Lake of Gold: From the village if
Iguape, take canoes to the rio Una, go up the river
to the foot of the serra behind the peak of the
"The Lake of Gold," Brazilian Bulletin 1, no. 2
(September, 1898): 88-89; Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros
Americanos No Brasil: Educadores, Sacerdotes, Covos e Reis
(Sao Paulo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1972), pp. 125-138.
86

S. Lourenco; there leave the canoes, because the rapids
do not permit their use, go on foot to the top of the
serra, keeping along the banks of the stream which is,
above the rapids, again navigable; and on the 2d day a
great Figueira [fig tree] will be found, covered with
saucupemos, due north, about a league and a half is
the Lake of Gold.26
The peak which was referred to in the di^ctions
to the lake may be the one which today is called the Dedo
de Deus—the finger of God—and is situated nearly due
north of the city of Iguape. It is 1,350 feet in height
and can be seen from any point on the coast of Brazil be­
tween Conceicao and Iguape. It is said to glisten like
polished metal in the mid-day sun and to resemble a gigan­
tic fly on the arched neck of a horse. The Guarani Indian
name of the peak is Botucarahu, which means "horse and fly."
The directions of the Lagoa Dourada, which were written by
the dying Aranzel, are said to have first appeared in the
hands of a Captain Alexander who lived in Iguape. He was
a boat builder, and supposedly received the document from
the son-in-law of the discoverer. It is not known, how­
ever, whether or not an attempt was made by Alexander to
27
find the site of the treasure.
In the nineteenth century, however. Dr. Carlos
Rath made a serious attempt to find the Lake of Gold.
Using directions which were supposed to be an exact copy
^^"The Lake of Gold."
27
Ibid.
87

of those written by Aranzel, Rath went into the sertao in
1854 from the Town of Conceicao. He had with him several
men as well as food and arms for a prolonged trek. The
party traveled several days through very difficult terrain,
then finally reached a large lake in the middle of the
Itatin Mountains on the coast of Sao Paulo Province. As
they attempted to enter the water from the wooded side to
cross over to the sandy beach, they were attacked by enor­
mous jacares (alligators). The men immediately lost courage
and refused to proceed. The doctor decided that it was
impossible for him to go on alone and reluctantly accom­
panied his men back to the coast. He never returned, but
claimed to have found the El Dorado. "I found the lake of
gold, but through the cowardice of my companions, could
not explore it." He added ironically, "I went to Rome, but
did not see the Pope." Rath planned another attempt to
find the lake, but died before the expedition could be
accomplished.
28
McMullan wanted to pursue the possibility of mineral
wealth, but he also recognized that the chances of finding
it were meagre, to say the least. Thus, if he went to
Brazil, he had to have assurance that he could count on
the more traditional means of making a living. The terms
offered to prospective emigrants were good. Land was
Ibid.
88

available for as low as twenty-two and one-half cents per
acre, payable over a five year period. Brazil promised
relatively inexpensive ship passage from the United States
and lodging once the emigrant arrived in Rio de Janeiro.
Agricultural and industrial equipment could be brought
into the country duty-free. Citizenship was available
with a minimum of effort. For those so inclined, slavery
remained legal in Brazil.
Of course, McMullan and his family could have gone
alone, but the idea of a colony seemed much more practical.
A larger amount of property could be secured and transpor­
tation probably would be less expensive for a large group
than for a few individuals. Too, the companionship of
friends and neighbors from Texas appealed to all concerned.
Consequently, McMullan decided to seek a group of people
who shared his views and aspirations. One of the first
persons who discussed the matter with McMullan was Colonel
William Bowen, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence,
the Mexican War, and the Civil War. Like McMullan, Bowen
believed that the time had come to move to the frontier
once again and that the area with the most potential was
Latin America, rather than the American West. Bowen also
believed that Brazil, because of the opportunities that
seemed to be available there, would be an outstanding
89

29
place to raise his five children.
Bowen, unlike Judge Dyer or other members of
McMullan's family, wanted to leave for Brazil with Frank
for the purpose of surveying the country and determining
if South America was really the outstanding place that it
was reputed to be. Because of their similarity of interest,
the two men decided on a partnership. As soon as McMullan
and Bowen made up their minds to go, they developed plans
rapidly. First, they needed to discuss their ideas with the,
Brazilian Consul in the United States. Since his office was
in New York, they sailed from Galveston by coastal steamer
and by mid-October, 1865, were in the office of Joaquim
Maria Nascentes de Azambuja, the Brazilian minister. The
consul assured them of the interest and genuine commitment
of the Empire of Brazil to American emigration.
29
McLennan County, Texas, "Inventory of Community
Property of Elizabeth Bowen, Deceased," Probate Records,
Vol. E, pp. 184-185; Frank McMullan, "Letter to the Editor,"
Galveston Tri-Weekly News, November 14, 1866, p. 3.
Edwin Ney McMullan, "Texans Established Colony
in Brazil Just After Civil War," Semi-Weekly Farm News
(Dallas), January 25, 1916. Joaquim Maria Nascentes de
Azambuja first came to the United States in 1840 when he
was appointed Brazilian Secretary of Legation in Washington.
By 1841, he was Charge d' Affairs and Consul-General.
He returned to Brazil in 1842 and became.the chief clerk
of the State Department in Rio de Janeiro, then, five years
later, became Secretary of State. In 1865, Dom Pedro II
appointed him to be the Brazilian Minister to the United
States. See "Chevalier d'Azambuja, The New Minister From
Brazil," Harper's Weekly 9, no. 466 (December 2, 1865):
765. ^ ^
90

On October 21, 1865, McMullan and Bowen boarded
the steamer North America and by December 9 were in Rio
de Janeiro. Their first stop, as outlined to them by
Nascentes de Azambuja, came at the office of the First
Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works,
Antonio Francisco de Paula e Souza. The Brazilian was
delighted to see McMullan and Bowen and did everything
possible to ensure the success of their search for lands.
On January 8, Paula e Souza wrote a letter to the president
of the coastal steamship line authorizing free passage for
both men. He also notified authorities that McMullan and
Bowen were to be "honored as guests of the Imperial govern­
ment, and given free transportation on all public thorough­
fares." They also received letters of introduction to "the
heads of all municipal governments through which they might
pass, with instructions [to the Brazilians] to furnish in­
formation and facilitate their movements as much as pos-
31
sible."
On the afternoon of January 9, they boarded the
coastal steamer Dom Affonso in preparation for sailing the
next morning. With them was an old friend from Central
31
Antonio Francisco de Paula e Souza, Rio de
Janeiro, to the President of the Intermediate (Coastal)
Steamship Line, Rio de Janeiro, January 8, 1866, Section
of Executive Authority, Simbolo IA^3, Caixa F V, The
National Archives of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro; E. N. McMullan,
"Texans Established Colony."
91

Texas, Major S. S. Totten of Bosque County, who they unex­
pectedly met in Rio de Janeiro. Totten agreed to travel
with McMullan and Bowen, at least in the preliminary in­
vestigation of colony lands. Captain A. M. Hanson, a "very
enterprising [man] with a fine presence and copious flow
of good language," also joined the party. On the morning
of January 10, they began the 400 mile trip down the coast.
At 4:00 P.M. on the 13th, after what one passenger called,
"a most unpoetical voyage in a slow, and comfortless
steamer," they reached their destination, the little town
of Cananeia. There, McMullan and Bowen met Major Ernesto
D. Street, the Inspector-General of Public Lands for the
Province of Sao Paulo. Major Street promptly made plans
for their taking a trip into the interior. At the sug­
gestion of a man described by McMullan as "our friend.
Captain [Alfonso] Buhlaw," Street appointed Louis Donker
Van der Hoff to accompany the Americans in their explora­
tions. Buhlaw, an ex-Confederate already living in Brazil,
had persuaded the Emperor to commission him to supervise
the surveying and mapping of public lands in Sao Paulo
32
Province.
Frank McMullan, "Official Report." S. S. Totten
was famous for his leadership as a Confederate Captain in
the battle of Dove Creek on January 8, 1865. See William
C. Pool, "The Battle of Dove Creek," Southwestern Historical
Quarterly 53 (April 1950): 367-385. Totten, rated as
a "1st Class Machinest," later became a partner in a
92

After five days in Cananeia, McMullan, Bowen,
Totten, Hanson, and Van der Hoff secured horses and set out
for the interior. Four miles from the city they reached
the Itapetininga River, where the "whole face and character
of the country are changed to a rich mulatto, sticky soil,
and a fine, thrifty growth of timber." Crossing the Itape­
tininga, a "beautiful, clear, bold-running creek," the
party went about two and one-half miles up the valley to
the home of their host. Van der Hoff, who put them up for
the night. "Mr. Van der Hoff," said McMullan,
is a Dutchman and lives in the good old 'milk and
butter' style, his being the only place in Brazil
where we found those excellent Tnot to say luxurious)
articles of food, notwithstanding the peculiar adaptation
of the country for them in plenty and to spare in
all seasons.
McMullan and Bowen spent the following day looking at Van
der Hoff's crops of coffee trees, pineapples, and potatoes.
sawmill on the Garahu River which employed more than 100
persons and did a volume of about $120,000 yearly. See
Tavares Bastos, Os Males do Presente e as Esperancas do
Future, p. 71n; George Barnsley, "Original of Reply to a
Circular asking for information of the Ex-Confederate
emigrants, April, 1915," George Scarborough Barnsley Papers,
Southern Historical Collection, The University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Barnsley describes
Hanson as "very intelligent and enterprising with a fine
presence and a copious flow of good language," whose son
became "perhaps the first dentist in Sao Paulo." Barnsley
characterized Buhlaw as a "jolly good companion" who
always stuck close to his national German drink of beer,
which at that time happened to be Bass Brothers & Co. of
England, excellent and the only kind."
^"^McMullan, "Official Report," pp. 154-155.
93

Beginning January 22, the travelers set forth to
explore further. They followed a tributary of the Garahu,
the Jacupiranga, to a village named Botujuru and then, two
days later, to the head of navigation. They retraced their
route down the Jacupiranga, then made a futile search of
the Bananal River valley before returning to Botujuru.
McMullan described the countryside adjacent to the town as
of "excellent quality, resembling somewhat the Red River
lands of Texas and Louisiana of the United States, and
well-situated up to the falls; but the margins of the
34
rivers are all private property."
After another fruitless foray up another tributary
of the Jacupiranga, the explorers shifted their quest to
the Ribeira de Iguape in the vicinity of Xiririca. This
final leg of the trip covered some of the most rugged coun­
try they had traversed. The route followed a "dim trailway,
often barely perceivable for the first eight miles." The
group of six men, including cameradas to carry baggage, had
only two horses, and these, said McMullan, "without bridle
or saddle—our blankets answering for the latter, while
thongs of bark, tied to the under jaw of the animals, made
substitutes for the former." One and one-half days after
leaving Botujuru, the party reached the "lovely and invit­
ing village" of Xiririca. Here, they were met by Bernardo
^"^Ibid. , pp. 157-161.
94

Jose Cabrel, who offered the hospitalities of his house in
the same gracious manner that seemed to be common to all
Brazilians. The others whom they met in the town proved
equally friendly and expressed a desire that the prospec­
tive colonists would locate a municipio in their area. To
insure future hospitality for the travelers, the delgado
and sub-delgado of Xiririca gave letters of recommendation
to McMullan and Bowen that they might show to others as
35
they proceeded up the Ribeira.
One of those to whom they carried letters of intro­
duction was a man named Franco who lived at the falls of
the Batatal, a tributary of the Ribeira. To get there,
the group found it necessary to ascend the Ribeira about
twenty miles, then go up the Batatal about another twelve.
Going by canoe, the men eventually arrived at Franco's
house where they received the usual courteous reception.
Franco made the necessary arrangements for the McMullan
party to continue into the interior. After a short dis­
tance up the Batatal, the good horse trail left the river
and led the travelers up the slope of a large mountain and
into a valley, "surrounded on all sides by steep m.ountains
from 1,500 to 2,000 feet high," that was the home of
3 R
Ibid. Although McMullan and Bowen did not decide
to locate their colony at Xiririca, another southerner, Dr.
J- M. Gaston, brought about 100 Americans to the area. See
Barnsley, "Reply to a Circular asking for Information," for
a short account of Gaston's activities.
95

36
Franco's son.
After leaving the younger Franco, the search party
spent several strenuous yet futile days of exploring other
adjacent watersheds. To see areas recommended by local
residents, they even climbed small mountains "much like
the mesas of western Texas." Although additional river
valley were highly praised by Brazilians who lived nearby,
McMullan and Bowen elected to go to the village of Xiririca
once more, explaining that they were "a little unwell, there
being no road, and desirous of finding a place a little
nearer navigation." They arrived in the little town on
March 9, 1866."^"^
During their second stay in Xiririca, McMullan and
Bowen had their first taste of family life in Brazil. They
visited with a man named Guerra, his wife, and two daughters
McMullan, "Official Report," pp. 157-158. Canoes
were the usual method of travel on the rivers of Brazil in
the nineteenth century. Roy Nash, The Conquest of Brazil
(New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 19 26), p. 211, says that
"the pure and unimproved dugout canoe varies between a
craft twelve inches broad and ten feet long, popularly
labeled 'suicide cradle,' and one sixty to seventy feet
long by six broad and half as deep. It is turned up at
the ends; reinforced by cross-braces amidships. The weight
is terrific, and they [the canoes] answer the helm with
great reluctance."
Ibid. Although it is not mentioned in McMullan's
"Official Report," he evidently made a trip to Rio de
Janeiro shortly after this. He arrived there from Santos
on March 13. See Correio Mercantil (Rio de Janeiro), March
14, 1866, as stated by Betty Antunes de Oliveira, Rio de
Janeiro, to William C. Griggs, June 23, 1980, in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.
96

in the parlor of their home. Questions about life in the
United States were numerous, as this was the first oppor­
tunity that the Brazilians had had to talk to North Amer­
icans. Before the evening ended, the Guerras expressed
the desire to have American neighbors. McMullan said that
they "had a pleasant evening, and had it not been for the
difference in language, might easily have imagined our­
selves in an American family." This was the only time on
their trip that McMullan and Bowen talked socially with any
38
of the ladies of Brazil.
After spending some time in Xiririca, the Texans
followed the Ribeira downstream about ten miles to the
fadenza of Miguel Antonio Jorge, the largest planter on
the Ribeira. Jorge owned "large quantities of slaves, and
probably several hundred thousand acres of land. He has a
spacious dwelling, an iron sugar mill, a saw-mill, grist­
mill, distillery, &c.; and is quite fixed, after the Bra­
zilian style." McMullan noted that Jorge exported rice
^^^ aguardiente, a native liquor made from sugar cane.
Armed with a letter of introduction to one Manoel
Alves, the exploring party continued to his home at the
junction of the Ribeira and the Juquia. Not finding Alves
38
McMullan, "Official Report," p. 166.
39
Ibid.; Dunn, Brazil, The Home for Southerners,
pp. 44-54; William C. Davis, "Confederate Exiles," Amerigan
History Illustrated 5 (June 1970): 31-43.
97

at home, McMullan and Bowen, undecided where to go next,
followed the river to the little town if Iguape. There
they met the Reverend Ballard S. Dunn of New Orleans.
Dunn had selected lands on the Juquia River where he
planned to build "Lizzieland," and spoke of the land in
that area in glowing terms. Without telling Dunn of the
legends of gold in the Juquia area and of his plans to
inspect the headwaters of that river, McMullan made arrange­
ments to meet Dunn on the Ponta Grossa, another tributary
of the Ribeira, in about four days. During the interim,
the party, except for Major Totten who here left for
Cananeia, went to Botujuru to take care of business matters.
Upon their arrival there. Van der Hoff, the guide and host,
received notice from the government that he was to withdraw
40
from the McMullan and Bowen group.
Upon the conclusion of their business in Botujuru,
the small party returned downstream to the Ribeira and
thence to the Ponta Grossa where they had agreed to meet
Dunn. The Louisiana parson accompanied McMullan and Bowen
up the Ribeira to the Juquia, the future site of Dunn's
colony lands. The country was the most impressive they
had seen. At the mouth of the Juquia, McMullan noted that
the river was 150 yards wide and deep enough for large
"^^McMullan, "Official Report," pp. 168-169. No
reason is given for Van der Hoff's recall, nor is it
stated by whom he was summoned.
98

steamers. On the upper reaches of the waterway, McMullan
and Bowen found the largest tributary of the Juquia, the
Sao Louren90. Here the search ended. "On the upper
Juquia and Sao Lourengo," wrote McMullan, "we found a
country that did our hearts good, and made us feel that
we had at long last found the place we had been looking
for for so long. There, in this delightful region, we
determined to locate." Not unexpectedly, the properties
selected by the Texans lay almost exactly within the
limits of the area described in Aranzel's legend of the
41
Lake of Gold.
Since the lands available for colonization were
not directly on the river, McMullan and Bowen immediately
began talks with government representatives about acquiring
the legal right-of-way to the banks of the Sao Lourenco.
After receiving verbal assurances, they set out for Rio de
Janeiro to ask the Emperor to appoint a competent person to
make the grants, as well as all other agreements, in writ­
ing. "We are not suspicious," said McMullan, "of any
'intentional' fraud on the part of the people, but were
only desirous of seeing our way clear, and guarding against
future contingencies." McMullan worried that his caution
would be misinterpreted by his "Brazilian friends" but the
request was granted. In addition, McMullan asked for the
"^•^Ibid. , p. 170.
99

answers to several questions which he believed might pos­
100
sibly cause future problems if, like the grants themselves,
they were not in writing. He solicited answers to the
following queries:
1. Please state again the price of lands, including
the price of measurement.
2. Restate, in writing, that McMullan and Bowen are
to have sole regulation of the amount of land that
each emigrant will be able to buy.
3. Provide assurance that the lands received by
McMullan and Bowen will have provisionary title,
clearly written, with the limits clearly outlined,
and that this title can be exchanged for others which
which be definitive after the payment of the value of
the lands purchased.
4. Say in writing that the emigrants who come will be
able to import, free of duty, all of their farm implements,
manufactured items, utensils, and other objects
which they carry with them for their use.
5. Acknowledge in writing that the government will
unilaterally make arrangements for the reception of
the emigrants upon their arrival.
6. Concerning transport. Please say again that the
government will pay the cost of leasing one or two
ships that will be leased by McMullan and Bowen to
carry emigrants. Or, as an alternative, say that the
government agrees to pay the cost of passage of the
emigrants after their arrival in Brazil, and that we
will be allowed to repay this money over the period of
three or four years. Please acknowledge that this
responsibility will become effective upon the assumption
of lands that are purchased in the Empire.
7. Please state again that the emigrants will be able
to dock at Iguape without passing through Rio de
Janeiro. Any communications are to be received through
the intermediary of the Brazilian Consul, or Vice Consul,
of the mode and time needed to expedite the precise
orders to this end, without visiting the customhouse
of that port.
8. Please acknowledge that McMullan and Bowen have
guarantees concerning the unexplored lands that exist

on the Sao Louren9o River and its tributaries, as
indicated on the map that is on file in the archives
of the Secretary of Public Lands and Colonization.42
On April 5, Ernesto Street wrote to Joaquim
Francisco de Toledo, the Vice-President of the Province
of Sao Paulo, with the news that he had on that day passed
provisional title to the lands on the Sao Lourenco River
to McMullan and Bowen "to the end of their purchasing them
for the settlement of North American emigrants." Although
a detailed survey had not yet been made. Street also in­
cluded a preliminary legal description of the property:
To the north of a line limited on the south by the
Dunn property a length of four leagues, the boundary
continues then two leagues on the bank of the River
Juquia. North from that point on the west side of the
river will be a line that has a north south direction
a length of five leagues. From the original point of
beginning, there ought to be a horizontal line with an
easterly direction with a length of five leagues. The
eastern boundary of this will be determined by a line
from south to north with a length of twelve leagues;
from the northern limit will be a line parting from
the northeast boundary to the west with a length of
three leagues, making the superficial measurement of
the perimeter fifty leagues.43
101
42 .J
Bernardo Augosto Nascentes de Azambuja, Third
Director of Public Lands and Colonization, Rio de Janeiro,
to Frank McMullan and Guilherme Bowen, "Response to the
Nine Questions Presented by Frank McMullau [sic] and
Guilherme Bowen," June 2, 1866, Lata 6 32, Pasta 4,
Brazilian Institute of History and Geography.
^"^Ernesto Dinez Street, Inspector General of Public
Lands of Brazil, to Joaquim Floriano de Toledo, Vice President
of the Province of Sao Paulo, April 5, 1866, ord. 9 30,
0. 135, p. 2, D. 9 8, Archives of the State of Sao Paulo.

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102

103
The same day. Street wrote a declaration about the measure­
ment of the lands in which he said that the McMullan-Bowen
lands encompassed sixty square leagues, or five hundred
thousand square bragas. He stated once more that provi­
sional title had been issued and declared the property
eligible for measurement in order to determine definitive
44
legal ownership.
After receiving provisional title from the
Inspector-General, McMullan and Bowen left Rio de Janeiro
on April 6 for the Juquia-Sao Lourengo area to "make a more
thorough examination of the Government lands included in
the survey which we had selected." The men went up the
S^o Lourengo "half a day's run" to the home of Joaquim
Pedroso, who invited them to spend the night. With Pedroso
as guide, they took canoes and went about eight miles where
they left the water and proceeded on foot to colony lands.
Upon arrival, they found the site to be of "very superior
quality, well situated, and above all overflow." The land,
they felt, could easily support twenty families, and just
as important, they could unhesitatingly recommend it to
their friends. The Bigua, a "beautiful creek" that ran
through the lands, flowed over "a bed of clean, white sand.
44 Street, "Declaration of the Inspector General
about the Public Lands of the Province of Sao Paulo,"
ord. 930, D. 98C/2, f. 1 (anexo), Archives of the State
of Sao Paulo.

with a delightful valley spreading out on each side a dis­
tance of from three hundred yards to more than a mile, and
104
this skirted by high hills covered with fine, large timber."
Returning to their canoe after a strenuous and tiring walk,
McMullan and Bowen stopped for the night. The next morn­
ing by 10:00 A.M. they were descending the river and within
a short and uneventful time period returned to the home of
45
Pedroso.
After refreshments and rest, the Texans that same
morning again headed their canoe up the Sao Lourengo to
look at the remainder of the lands. Throughout the day,
they passed farms and coffee fadenzas on the river's edge
and marveled at the beauty of the area. By early evening
they were "snugly resting under the friendly roof of Sr.
Captain Lui Leite." This gentleman, "being well acquainted
with the country above, volunteered to accompany us," said
McMullan, "and on the morning of the 30th of April we were
off up the river again."
Within two hours after leaving Leite's home they
found themselves at the head of steamboat navigation on
the Sao Lourengo and at the mouth of a tributary called
the Itarare. After a stop for the night they proceeded
up the smaller stream where they saw several falls and
^^McMullan, "Official Report," p. 170.
46
Ibid., p. 172.

passed the mouth of the Peixe (Fish) River. By noon they
were at the mouth of the Rio de Azeite (River of Oil),
"decidedly the clearest, most transparent, and purest
water we have ever seen in any country. As small a thing
as a pin is as clearly perceiveable at a depth of ten feet
47
as though it were on the surface."
Going up the Azeite one and one-half miles, the
prospective colonizers found an extensive level plain of
105
from four to ten miles wide and twelve to fifteen in length,
"covered with large, straight timber, and a hundred rivulets
dancing over their beds of yellow gold-like sand. The
land," said McMullan, "will be easier to clear than any
others we have seen in the country, being of loose, yellow
loam, and with plenty of sand to make them pleasant to
cultivate." He also noted that the lands at this point
were dry and always above the river during overflow. This
day. May 1, 1866, was, according to McMullan,
. . . the happiest day we had spent in the Empire; we
felt that our hopes were realized, that the great
Giver of all good had blessed our honest endeavors to
find and secure homes for a brave but unfortunate
people. Here the homeless may find a home, and the
outcast 'a resting place, with none to molest or make
him afraid.' Here are lands equal to any in the world
and within three or four day's run from the great
Capital of the nation, a climate unsurpassed, neither
not nor cold, and where frost is never known, water as
Ibid., p. 173. At this point, McMullan and Bowen
actually entered what were to become the McMullan-Bowen
lands.

106
cold as the mountain spring, and so equally distributed
as to allow almost every man to run his plantation
machinery from it. Here alm.ost everything grow, and
grows well, too, that is calculated to minister to the
health and comfort, not to say luxury, of man.4 8
After spending several days in what would be their
new home, McMullan and Bowen began their trek back down
the river. On their way to Iguape, they stopped long
enough for Frank to purchase, for cash, a small fadenza
on the Ribeira de Iguape which McMullan proposed to use as
a headquarters for colonists when they arrived from Texas.
Called Mouro Redondo (Round Mountain), the farm boasted a
large number of well-cultivated coffee trees. From there,
the two men continued to Iguape where they said good-bye.
Bowen agreed to stay in Brazil to make any final arrange­
ments with the government as well as to begin the prepara­
tions for the arrival of the colonists from Texas. McMullan
boarded a packet steamer bound for Rio de Janeiro, where he
arrived on March 14 and made his final report to the Minis­
ter of Agriculture. Near the end of the document, McMullan
expressed his faith in the Brazilian government and voiced
his hope for the future.
We have the best system of government known to man;
while it combines all the elements of strength
requisite to insure its stability against every
emergency, it guarantees PRACTICAL EQUALITY to ALL
its citizens, and administers justice with a firm
and willing hand. V7e have a monarchy (thank God!)
Ibid.

in name, and a TRUE Republic in practice; and under
the wise administration of our good Emperor, our
destiny must be onward and upward to a degree of
prosperity unknown to other countries.49
The paper chronicled almost every movem.ent that McMullan
had made from the day of his arrival in Brazil until his
return to Rio de Janeiro. It was beautifully written and
presented an in-depth analysis of the geography, the people
encountered, and the prospects for success in the new land.
It consumed nearly two months in preparation, but was
finally delivered on May 24, 1866. On June 2, McMullan
107
received a definitive letter from Bernardo Augusto Nascentes
de Azambuja, the Third Secretary of Public Lands and Colo­
nization, which satisfactorily answered all of the questions
about the colony that had been asked for on April 4. Thus
the stage was set. The site for the colony had been located
and provisional title had been obtained. Frank McMullan
could finally return to Texas.
The long-time interest of many southerners in
Brazil finally seemed to be culminating in a joining of
peoples of the two continents. The end of the Civil War
caused many former Confederates to consider emigration to
the Empire of Brazil. Reasons were varied. Many desired
49
Ibid., p. 178.
50
B. A. Nascentes de Azambuja to McMullan and
Bowen, "Response to Nine Questions."

to go there to escape free blacks, poverty, or real or
imagined Yankee persecution. Others went there as profes­
sionals to start their careers or to begin again. A few
emigrated in a quest for the lost style of life that would
never again be seen in Dixie. Still others were lured to
Brazil by the hope of mineral wealth. The advance men who
sailed for South America in 1865 and 1866 were to pave the
way for hundreds who would come later. They were the
heralds of a second wave of emigration from the South.
The first year after the surrender had been in favor of
Mexico; the second year would be for Brazil.
108

CHAPTER IV
PREPARATIONS AND PROBLET^S
Frank McMullan's successful completion of the
search for lands for his colony in Brazil and his return
to the United States signaled the beginning of several
confused and difficult months before the Texan emigrants
could consider leaving for South America. Unexpected
problems such as leasing a ship and the failure of ship­
owners to honor Brazilian promises to pay for rentals
could not yet be anticipated. McMullan was consequently
forced to use most of his remaining personal capital to
lease the brig Derby to carry his colonists to Brazil.
To add to McMullan's personal frustration, he felt forced
to answer newspaper editorial criticism of southern emi­
gration. Even more demoralizing to McMullan was the fail­
ure of imperial officials to make provisions for emigrant
ships from southern ports while they made it easy for
European emigrants and unemployed New Yorkers to sail
almost without cost directly to Brazil.
But when McMullan sailed on the North America on
June 3, 1866, from Rio de Janeiro to New York, he could
not yet foresee the gloomy second one-half of the year.
109

He had completed his six-month inspection of lands in
Brazil and had submitted a comprehensive report to the
Brazilian Secretary of Agriculture. In addition, McMullan
and William Bowen now possessed provisionary title to
110
fifty-five leagues of land on the Sao Lourengo River. Pre­
liminary surveys of the property were finished and boundar­
ies were delineated by metes and bounds. Bowen elected to
remain in Brazil rather than return to the United States
with his partner. In the interim before McMullan and the
other colonists returned, Bowen agreed to construct a large
temporary structure where the former Americans might live
until they could build their own houses. In addition,
Bowen promised to begin negotiations with officials of Sao
Paulo Province concerning the construction of a wagon road
from colony lands over the Serra do Mar, a coastal mountain
range, to the port city of Santos. McMullan agreed to re­
turn to New York to conclude travel arrangements with the
Brazilian minister. He would then go to Texas to make
final plans with prospective colonists.
Correio Mercantil (Rio de Janeiro), June 4, 1866,
as quoted by Betty Antunes de Oliveira, Rio de Janeiro, to
William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas, June 23, 19 80, in possession
of William C. Griggs; Ernesto Dinez Street, Inspector-
General of Public Lands of the Province of Sao Paulo, Sao
Paulo, Brazil, to Joaquim Floriano de Toledo, Vice-
President of the Province of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
April 4, 1866, Ord. 930, C. 135, p. 2, D. 98/1 fl.; Ernest
Dinez Street, "Declaration of the Boundaries of the McMullan-
Bowen Grant," April 5, 1866, Ord. 930, C. 135, p. 2, D. 98
C/2 fl. (anexo); Ernesto Dinez Street, "Validity of Title

As a naturalized citizen of Brazil, McMullan felt
eager and confident of success when he arrived in New York
on June 28. Consequently, he was disappointed when, after
Ill
arriving at the Brazilian Legation, he learned that because
Minister Joaquim Maria Nascentes de Azambuja was out of the
city, he would not be able to conclude the business at hand.
The minister's aides created more anxiety for McMullan when
they told him of an understanding which was being considered
between Secretary of Agriculture Paula e Souza and the
United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company. This pro­
posed agreement outlined a pact whereby the steamship com­
pany would become the only carrier authorized to transport
American emigrants to Brazil. It contained a table of
prices, including rates from southern ports. The accord
would state that the emigrants who were chosen should be
principally agriculturalists who possessed adequate capital.
A special agent was to be appointed by the company who would
clarify all conditions to prospective emigrants, as well as
[of the McMullan-Bowen lands]," April 18, 1866, Ord. 930,
C. 135, p. 2, D. 98D/3 fls. (anexo); Jose Joaquim M. de
Oliveira, Department of Public Lands and Colonizations of
the Province of Sao Paulo, to Joaquim Floriano de Toledo,
Vice President of the Province of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo,
Brazil, April 26, 1866, Ord. 930, C. 135, p. 3, D. 8/1 fl.;
Jos^ Joaquim de Oliveira to Joaquim F. de Toledo, May 4,
1866, Ord. 930, C. 135, p. 3, D. 9/2 fls.; Jos^ Joaquim M.
de Oliveira to Josd Tavares Bastos, President of the
Province of Sao Paulo, March 12, 1866, Ord. 9 30, C 135,
P- 4, D. 2A/1 fl. (anexo). The Archives of the State of
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

issue Brazilian passports, which would be a condition for
boarding company ships. The Imperial Government of Brazil
would agree to ratify the appointment of the agent and to
give him all instructions as to how qualified emigrants
112
should be selected. The Brazilian government was to agree,
further, that if passage money was advanced to an emigrant
by an agent, the emigrant would have to repay that amount
within a five-year period after arrival at Rio de Janeiro.
If the emigrant did not agree to five-year repayment terms,
however, the empire would not be obligated to reimburse the
company. Minister de Azambuja's aides indicated that the
suggested new agreement probably would apply to all emigra-
2
tion efforts, including McMullan's.
2
United States, National Archives, List of Passengers
Arriving in New York, 1820-189 7, Microfilm Publication,
Microcopy 237, Roll 268. A confirmation of the
waiver of the citizenship residence requirement for McMullan
as well as for Ballard S. Dunn, is found in Marquez de
Olinda to Antonio Francisco de Paula e Souza, Secretary of
State for Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works, Rio de
Janeiro, June 26, 1866, Simbolo IA64, Caixa 33V, The National
Archives of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Joaquim
Maria Nascentes de Azambuja, Minister of Brazil to the
United States, New York, to Antonio Francisco de Paula e
Souza, Rio de Janeiro, July 5, 1866, in Revista de
Imigragao e Colonizagao 4 (June 1943): 296-297. The complete
text of the agreement between Brazil and the New York
and Brazil Mail Steamship Company is found in "Contracto
que celebram, de um lado o governo imperial do Brasil, do
outro B. Caymari como represente da compania United States
and Brasil Steam Ships, para o transporte de emigrantes,"
June 20, 1866, Lata 632, Pasta 1, Brazilian Institute of
History and Geography, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

McMullan countered that he was not affected by the
new pact; as a naturalized citizen of Brazil, he was no
longer an emigrant. Furthermore, his official letter from
Bernardo Augosto Nascentes de Azambuja, the Third Secretary
of Public Lands and Colonization in Rio de Janeiro, specif­
ically stated that he was authorized to lease a ship, the
cost of which would be reimbursed the the imperial govern­
ment when the colonists arrived in Brazil. McMullan also
stated that he did not desire to dock at Rio de Janeiro as
provided in the proposed contract. Rather, he wished to
land at the port of Iguape, a city much closer to colony
lands. This concession, too, had been granted to McMullan
in Secretary Bernardo Nascentes de Azambuja's letter of
June 2. Finally, McMullan told consular officials that any
contract with C. K. Garrison's company would be a sham be­
cause the steamship line president had no intention of
113
beginning service for emigrants from southern ports, regard­
less of a rate structure outlined for such a service.
McMullan correctly guessed that Garrison had no desire to
expand his base of operations and that the proposed agree­
ment was really only Garrison's means of increasing the
3
number of passenger boardings from New York.
3 Bernardo Augosto Nascentes de Azambuja to Frank
McMullan and William Bowen, Official Letter, June 2, 1866,
^ata 632, Pasta 4, Brazilian Institute of History and
Geography; Joaquim Maria Nascentes de Axambuja to Manoel
Pinto de Souza Dantas, Minister of the Secretary of

With Minister de Azambuja absent, his staff could
not reconcile the pending contract terms with those pre­
sented by Secretary de Azambuja in the letter carried to
the United States by McMullan. To clarify the situation,
114
they suggested that McMullan write a letter to the minister,
outlining his objections, and ask for a clarification of
potential policy differences. Before leaving New York on
July 2, McMullan did as the aides requested, although he
hesitated to return to the South without the answers he
needed. When Minister de Azambuja returned to New York on
July 5, he promptly wrote a reply to McMullan, by that
time enroute to Texas. The correspondence did not, how­
ever, provide answers to the questions which had been
raised. Minister de Azambuja wrote that he regretted he
did not have the opportunity to see McMullan personally,
because he could have "explained better the instructions I
received from my government on the subject of emigration."
The minister then outlined the terms of the proposed con­
tract in considerable detail, but stated that he had no
special orders which authorized him to act in McMullan's
case. He did, however, promise that he would correspond
with officials in Rio de Janeiro to learn more so that he
could discuss the matter more intelligently. Minister de
Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works, Rio de Janeiro^
September 30, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
pp. 295-296.

Azambuja also advised McMullan that he was aware that many
southerners would find it difficult, if not impossible, to
get to New York and promised that he would "do everything
115
in . . . [his] power to give all the assistance and solici-
4
tude they may want from this Legation."
True to his word, the minister did write to Secre­
tary of Agriculture Paula e Souza to request detailed infor­
mation about McMullan's case. He complained that he was
confused by what seemed to him to be contradictory policy.
He said it appeared that McMullan, in Secretary Bernardo
de Azambuja's letter of June 2, had been officially autho­
rized by the Imperial Government "to lease ships for emi­
grants." This permission seemed to be in direct opposition
to Imperial policy as the proposed new agreement would
limit all emigrant travel to the ships of the United States
and Brazil Mail Steamship Company. Consequently, Minister
de Azambuja said he would not recognize McMullan's authority
to contract independently until he received further instruc­
tions from Rio de Janeiro. On the other hand, de Azambuja
reasoned that McMullan's plan seemed to.
Promote emigration directly from Louisiana or other
states of the South without the necessity of bringing
them to New York to approve grants, passports, and
other favors that are today at the disposal of the
Imperial Government to confer.
Joaquim Maria Nascentes de Azambuja to Frank
McMullan,. July 5, 1866, Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
pp. 295-296.

In another letter of the same date. Minister de Azambuja
concluded that allowing emigrants to board steamships at
southern ports would be more reasonable than having them
board at New York. The minister also asserted that the
116
"sacrifices of the Empire would be much less, notwithstand­
ing the reductions [in rate] that is obligated to make by
the contract [of June 24, 1865]. ..." The tone of
Minister de Azambuja's letters, although expressing loyalty
to his superior, reflects a bias toward the more logical
5
approach suggested by McMullan.
Obviously the various agencies of the Brazilian
government were working at cross-purposes in the emigration
program. Not only did the proposed new agreement with the
United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company conflict
with McMullan's official letter from Secretary de Azambuja,
it was also at odds with another contract which presumably
remained in force. Dated June 24, 1865 and negotiated with
company owner C. K. Garrison, the earlier pact set up a fee
structure based on three classes of emigrants. First-class
citizens (those who were wealthy) were eligible for a 30
percent discount as well as free shipment of machinery and
equipment. Second-class citizens, those who had limited
Joaquim Maria Nascentes de Azambuja to Antonio
Francisco de Paula e Souza, (letter no. 1), July 5, 1866
ibid., p. 296; J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Paula e
Sousa, (letter no. 2), July 5, 1866, ibid., p. 296.

117
wealth because of losses in the war, received no price dis­
count and were expected to purchase land upon arrival in
Brazil. They did qualify for extended payment terms. The
third class (poor laborers) were entitled to pay out their
tickets, but were not expected to purchase land. The new
contract made no mention of rate reductions for "first
class" citizens. Obviously, the new pact, if interpreted
as being without any price discounts, was to Garrison's
advantage.
To complicate interpretation of contracts even more,
a July 6 letter from Minister de Azambuja to vice-consuls
seemed to junk the whole idea of fares. The minister de­
clared that free passages would be allowed on board the
steamers of the United States and Brazil Mail Steamship
Company to all agricultural- laborers, single or married,
who showed moral character and who by their past actions
demonstrated that they repaid their debts. In order to
"participate in this liberality," said de Azambuja, all
who intended to emigrate had to purchase public lands
which would be mortgaged for their value as well as the
amount of advanced passages. No mention was made concern­
ing leasing of ships by colonists. Clearly, the intent of
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Manoel Pinto de
Souza Dantas, September 22, 1866, ibid., p. 308; J. M.
Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas, October 22, 1866,
ibid., p. 309; J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas,
October 31, 1866, ibid., p. 311.

7
the Brazilian government seemed hopelessly confused.
As might be expected, at least one Brazilian
vice-consul wrote to Minister de Azambuja pleading for a
clarification of official policy. He specifically inquired
about legal authority for transportation of emigrants, re­
lations with the United States and Brazil Mail Steamship
Company, and the methods to determine whether or not emi­
118
grants were of "high moral character." Minister de Azambuja
advised the vice-consul of the basis for legal authority.
He informed the vice-consul that he might, under certain
circumstances, act as an agent for the steamship company
in recruiting emigrants. As to the third question, the
minister told the vice-consul that,
A greater part of the individuals that are represented
in the Southern States who are disposed to emigrate
offer references to allow us to know of their morality
and precedents and that they are really agricultural
workers and have some means of making their first
installment.
References, declared de Azambuja, should be required in
ail cases.
-J
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja, "Circular to Brazilian
Vice Consuls," Form letter, July 6, 1866, ibid., p. 311.
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Luiz Henrique
Ferreira de Aguiar, July 9, 1866, ibid., p. 298. De
Aguiar's position is not known, but it is believed that
he was a Vice Consul in another American city. Also, see
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to L. H. Ferreira de Aguiar,
August 9, 1866, ibid., p. 299.

Minister de Azambuja assumed that any contract
negotiated by his government would provide specific assur­
ances that transportation for emigrants would be available
from southern ports. He was therefore dismayed when he
learned from Garrison that a contract had been concluded
on June 20 that did not contain these assurances. De
Azambuja wrote a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Paula
e Souza, who signed the agreement for Brazil, in which he
declared that his office did not have complete knowledge of
119
what was happening and that "the convenience of facilitating
passage directly from the ports of the South disappears with
the contract celebrated by . . . [Paula e Souza's] agency."
He was clearly distressed by what he considered a major
9
mistake in emigration policy by his government.
On June 30, ten days after Paula e Souza and the
United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company completed
their pact. Secretary Bernardo de Azambuja wrote an offi­
cial letter to Ballard S. Dunn which was almost identical
to the one addressed to McMullan and Bowen on June 2. Like
the Texans, Dunn specifically received permission to act
as his own contractor, including permission to lease a ship,
for bringing emigrants from the South to Brazil. Obviously,
confusion still reigned supreme in the Brazilian
9 J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Paula e Souza,
August 26, 1866, ibid., p. 297.

10
bureaucracy.
Within thirty days after the signing of the pact
between Garrison's steamship company and the imperial
government, difficulties began to surface which neither
party anticipated. To Garrison's chagrin, the Brazilians
clarified their position by stating that the new contract
did not invalidate the old agreement of June 24, 1866,
which called for a 30 percent discount for "first class"
citizens. Garrison complained that he could not operate
profitably under those terms and refused to answer further
correspondence from Minister de Azambuja on the subject.
Garrison also declined to implement other provisions of
the June 24 contract. The problem festered when three men
from Arkansas were refused tickets by the steamship company
under the reduced fare. Minister de Azambuja attempted to
discuss the matter with Garrison, but, once again, was
ignored. In a letter to Rio de Janeiro, de Azambuja sug­
gested that the legation in New York be given the power to
contract all passages of emigrants (presumably with the
30 percent discount) because of "the apparent prejudice of
the company against emigrants from the South."
120
Bernardo de Azambuja's letter is printed in its
entirety in Ballard S. Dunn, Brazil, the Home for Southerners
(New Orleans: Bloomfield & Steel, 1866), pp. 47-49.
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas, September
22, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao, p.
30 8. —

The questions of steamship service to southern
ports, discounts on tickets, and extended payment terms
were of immense importance to the Confederate emigration
movement. No doubt these and other questions were in
Frank McMullan's thoughts as he left New York for Texas to
complete final arrangements with prospective emigrants for
his colony in Brazil. Another reason for going home was
to be present at the wedding of his sister, Virginia, to
George L. Clark, a former Mississippian who farmed and
taught in a small school at the town of Bosqueville, north
of Waco, where the McMullan family moved during the Civil
War. The couple had timed the ceremony so that the young
lady's favorite brother could attend the rite on August 9,
1866. Present also were the other members of the McMullan
clan, including Frank's mother, Nancy, and his youngest
brother, Ney. In addition, Frank saw his sister Victoria
and her husband of one year, affable William T. Moore, a
Bosqueville dentist. He also enjoyed renewing ties with
his brother-in-law John Odell, a former Hill County neigh­
bor, and his sister Louise. It is likely that McMullan's
sister xMatt (Martha Ann) and her husband John B. Williams
12
were present for the happy occasion.
"Biography of George Lafayette Clark, Written
by Himself During the Year A.D. 1913," unpublished typescript,
copy in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas.
121

122
Frank McMullan's uncle. Judge James H. Dyer, became
one of his most active relatives in efforts to assemble the
colonists for South America. Dyer, already living in New
Orleans so he could facilitate arrangements for departure
for Brazil, reported to his nephew that interest in emigra­
tion was extremely high and that he did not anticipate any
problems in enrolling a number adequate to fill a small
ship. Most of McMullan's family, as well as other families
from Hill, Navarro, Limestone, Freestone, Grimes, and
Brazos counties, already had determined to follow the young
leader to Brazil. One of the first to join the prospective
colonists was Parson Elijah H. Quillin, a crippled Baptist
preacher from Hill and Navarro counties who also had been
trained as a teacher. Like many Texans, Quillin was bitter
about the defeat of the Confederacy and determined that he
could not, with clear conscience, remain in the occupied
South. The well-known Quillin, his wife Sarah, and their
five children represented a notable beginning for the
colony rolls and undoubtedly were influential in the deci-
13
sions of others who decided to follow McMullan.
13
A contemporary New Orleans business directory
lists a James Dyer as a painter living at Lyon, between
Jefferson City and New Orleans. Although this entry may
not be Judge Dyer, another entry must certainly be the
Judge's wife. Amanda W. Dyer is listed as living at a
boarding house at 174 Camp Street, New Orleans. See
Gardner's New Orleans Directory for 1867, Including Jefferson
City, Gretna, Carrollton, Algiers, and McDonough; With
L-Street and Levee Guide, A Complete Map of the City,

Another large and important addition to the pros­
pective colony was the Alfred I. Smith family. Smith,
123
Frank McMullan's former teacher from Chesnut Flat, Georgia,
had come to Texas at McMullan's suggestion. Before he knew
of the proposed McMullan Colony, Smith decided to emigrate
to Mexico. When the two men met in a chance encounter.
Smith quickly changed his destination to Brazil. One
account related that McMullan made the following appeal:
Don't run away . . . until I tell you about the real
South—this new land under the Southern Cross where a
gentleman is treated like a gentleman and there are
thousands of rich acres waiting for us progressive
farmers. I tell you we're going to empty the Old South
for the Yankees, let them have it if they think they
know how to run it better than we did. I'm taking my
family to Brazil, the empire of freedom and plenty.
The two men were very close friends, for Smith's daughter
Business Directory, and an Appendix of Much Useful Information
(New Orleans: Charles Gardner, 1867), p. 49. Also,
see Ella Beatrice Hill, comp., "The Hill and Allied Stories,"
in The Gathering of the Clans (n.p., n.p., [1957]), p. 26;
R. P. Thomas, Santa Barbara, Sao Paulo Province, Brazil, to
H. A. Tupper, April 26, 1886, Archives of the Southwestern
Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. Elijah H. Quillin
came to Hill County, Texas, in 1850 and by 1858 he was
minister at the Missionary Baptist Church of Christ in
Hillsboro. He was also pastor of Providence Baptist Church
at Bush Creek, Navarro County, and at Chatfield Baptist
Church, Navarro County. He was clerk of the Richland Baptist
Association in 1858. In 1859, he was pastor of the
Pin Oak Baptist Church, Richland Crossing, Navarro County.
Ben Rogers, Archivist at Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, to William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas, July 11, 1979, in possession of William C. Griggs.
Other information about Quillin's life before the Civil
War may be found in The Texas Baptist (Anderson, Texas),
October 21, November 18, 25, 1858; March 31, December 22,
1859; January 26, August 23, 1860.

124
later recalled that Frank's father, "old Hugh McMullan, had
been a father to my dad when he first started in life, and
finally gave him a homestead in Texas." She recollected
that her father would "follow Frank to the end of the world
and die for him if need be, and Frank was truly worthy of
14
[his] affection."
Several other Central Texas families and individuals
had little trouble making up their minds to join the
Quillins and the Smiths. Columbus Wasson, McMullan's old
friend from McKenzie College days, became one of the first
14
Alfred I. Smith was born on November 4, 1818.
As a young man he settled in Walker County, Georgia, where
he taught school and became a close friend of the McMullan
family. He moved to Navarro County, Texas, in about 1856,
where he was given a homestead by Hugh McMullan. He served
as a private in a reserve company commanded by Captain M. T.
French, Beat No. 5 (Navarro County), 19th Brigade, Texas
Militia, enlisting in August, 1861. For more detailed information
on Smith and his family before they emigrated to
Brazil see Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen
Colony," M.S, May 29, 1935, in the Blanche Henry Clark
Weaver Papers, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas; Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "The American Colonies
Emigrating to Brazil," Times of Brazil (Sao Paulo), December
18, 1936; "Emigrating to Brazil," Farm and Ranch
(Dallas, Texas), Decmeber 2, 1916; Betty Antunes de
Oliveira, Rio de Janeiro, to William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas, August 3, 1979, in possession of William C. Griggs;
Texas, Militia Muster Rolls, 19th Brigade, Texas State
Archives, Austin, Texas; Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros
Americanos No Brasil: Educadores, Sacerdotes, Covos e
iiei_s (Sao Paulo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1972) , pp.
44-45; Vera Smith Lowrie, "Yankee-Hating Southerners
After Civil War Vainly Sought to Establish Brazilian
Homes," The Dallas Morning News, August 20, 1939, p. 8.

125
15
to decide to emigrate. It is likely that his enthusiasm
for Brazil was matched, however, by his infatuation with
Judge Dyer's daughter Hattie. As the young lady was leav­
ing for Brazil with her family, Wasson had more than one
16
reason for wanting to go. T-wo brothers, Cortez and Zeno
Fielder from Navarro County, looked upon the Brazilian
emigration as a great adventure. Both in their early twen-
17
ties, they joined the colony early in its planning stages.
Several other families, including the Wrights, the Weavers,
and the McKnights were seriously considering Brazilian
plans by the end of August, 1866, as were a number of
single men. McMullan estimated as many as thirty families
15
Columbus Wasson served during the Civil War in
Co. C, 2nd Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel
Ashbel Smith. He enlisted August 13, 1861, at Camp
McCarver, Texas, for the duration of the war. Wasson was
from Anderson, Grimes County, Texas. See Texas, Muster
Rolls, 2nd Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry, Texas State
Archives, Austin, Texas; Rupert Nerval Richardson, Adventuring
With a Purpose: Life Story of Arthur Lee Wasson
(San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1953).
16
Harriet Ann Dyer was born March 13, 1847. It
is probable that she met Columbus Wasson when he visited
Frank McMullan's home in Hill County, Texas. See Richardson,
Adventuring With a Purpose, p. 4; Mrs. Elmo Wasson,
Big Spring, Texas, to William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas,
MS notes of telephone conversation, December 18, 1978, in
possession of William C. Griggs.
17
Cortez Fielder was a private in Captain Thomas
J. Haynes Reserve Company, Beat No. 1, Navarro County,
Texas, 19th Brigade, Texas Militia. He enlisted in
August, 1861. See Texas, Militia, Muster Rolls, 19th
Brigade, Texas State Archives, Austin, Texas. No service
record or pre-Civil War information on Zeno Fielder has
been located.

18
were interested at that time.
In late September, 186 6, Frank McMullan left Texas
for New Orleans. The task of securing a ship was still
ahead of him and he wished to be sure that he had allowed
himself sufficient time. He wanted to buy or lease a
vessel, have it outfitted for the long ocean voyage, and
leave Galveston by December 1. This task would have been
reasonable under ordinary circumstances, but once in the
Crescent City, McMullan encountered a myriad of problems
which might have discouraged a less persistent man. The
most pressing difficulty for McMullan was his health.
Although he had managed to endure the six months travel
in Brazil, the problems that are inherent in tuberculosis
began to take their toll. The humid, warm atmosphere in
New Orleans compounded his'breathing problems and forced
him to stay in bed much more than he wished. A photograph
of McMullan taken at the time shows a pale, hollow-faced
individual who must have been a far cry from the strapping
wrestler in Walker's army ten years before. But McMullan
continued in his colonial pursuit with the fervor of an
18
Additional data on emigrant families is included
as they are introduced in this work. For estimates of numbers
of families, see Frank McMullan to Joaquim Maria
Nascentes de Azambuja, October 23, 1866, in Revista de
Imigragao e Colonizagao, p. 315. J. M. Nascentes de
Azambuja wrote that sixty families were planning to emigrate
from New Orleans. See J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja
to Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas, October 19, 1866, ibid.,
p. 307.
126

127
19
evangelist, despite the permanent damage to his health.
On a visit to the office of the Brazilian Vice-
Consul in New Orleans, McMullan learned of the June 20
pact between the empire and the United States and Brazil
Mail Steamship Company. He immediately wrote to Minister
de Azambuja in New York to protest the agreement, arguing
that the instructions of the contract were "so restrictive
that they do not produce the advantages the Imperial Govern­
ment has in sight." In a September 30 letter to Souza
Dantas, de Azambuja agreed with McMullan, particularly in
regard to the requirement that southerners go to New York
in order to board ships for Brazil.
His [McMullan's] provisions do not seem to me entirely
without foundation if you consider the antagonism which
exists between Northerners and Southerners, the adversity
of their voting, and the differences in attracting
them to this city, where, according to the last orders
of Your Excellency, they [must come] to arrange passage
to Brazil.20
A communication from Souza Dantas finally confirmed,
for the first time, that the imperial government approved
19
Frank McMullan to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja,
October 23, 1866, ibid., p. 315; The photograph of Frank
McMullan was secured by William C. Griggs from Rachel
McMullan White, Needham, Massachusetts. Mrs. White is
the granddaughter of Ney McMullan, Frank McMullan's youngest
brother. Rachel McMullan White, Needham, Massachusetts, to
William C. Griggs, Lubbock, Texas, August 7, 19 76, in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas, September
20, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
P. 305.

of McMullan's plans to contract independently for the
passage of his colonists. In his reply to Souza Dantas,
Minister de Azambuja noted that he had mailed McMullan
written authority containing strong guarantees which
would be sufficient to convince shipowners that the former
Texan had the full backing of the Brazilian government.
De Azambuja informed Souza Dantas that he had sent copies
of the letter of support to both Texas and to New Orelans,
so that they would "without doubt arrive in the hands of
that gentleman in time for him to be able to complete,
before December, the arrangements he must make in these
States." De Azambuja further stated that "McMullan and
all of his people are intelligent and industrious, in
whose energy and precedents the Imperial Government is
21
able to place confidence."
The efforts of Frank McMullan to provide passage
for his colonists to Brazil became known also to a group
of families in Atlanta who called themselves the "Society
of Georgia." Led by a Mr. Watkins, they contacted McMullan
and asked for his assistance in reaching Brazil. Never one
to turn down an honest appeal for aid, especially when it
concerned emigration, McMullan replied with a promise to
do whatever he could to help. Other groups of prospective
colonists from South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and
Ibid.
128

Louisiana contacted Minister de Azambuja, all united in
their desire to secure transportation to the empire. De
Azambuja knew that it was impossible for all to come to
New York and consequently realized more cogently than ever
22
the folly of the June 20 contract with C. K. Garrison.
By October 17, Frank McMullan heard through the
vice-consul in New Orleans that Minister de Azambuja had
mailed the letter of guarantee that was needed in order to
lease a ship. As it had been over a month since the letter
had been dispatched from New York, however, McMullan began
to worry that it had been lost. He sent an urgent telegram
explaining his situation to Minister de Azambuja, then fol­
lowed it with a detailed letter the following day.
129
Your excellency will pardon me for writing again, but
I begin to be apprehensive, that your answer have [sic]
miscarried; and as my position just now is a very responsible
one, so many people looking to, and depending
upon me, I feel constrained to request of Your Excellency
that a duplicate of your letter be sent to me by
return mail, to the care of the Consulate here. Be
kind enough to send it in such official form as will
enable me to use it in chartering vessels—such form
as to be considered a guarantee, that the promises
of the Brazilian Government to me will be fulfilled
immediately on the landing of the emigrants in
Ibid. It is probably that the Mr. Watkins with
the Society of Georgia is the same person as a Colonel
Watkins, also of Georgia, who obtained a grant in British
Honduras in the summer of 1867. He took sixty Georgians
with him after obtaining 150,000 acres. See Lawrence F.
Hill, The Confederate Exodus to Latin America (Austin:
The Texas State Historical Association, 1936), p. [77].

Brazil. I would respectfully urge this matter as the
people expect me to have everything ready for them to
sail about 1st. December.23
Continuing, McMullan noted that the amount of time
remaining to complete the business at hand was growing
smaller and smaller. He explained to the minister that he
had gone to a "great deal of trouble about this matter, and
all to accommodate my friends and encourage the cause of
emigration, and without the hope, promise, or desire of
renumeration. " McMullan said that he hoped those reasons
would be a sufficient apology for his earnestness. In case
the minister had any doubts as to whether or not McMullan
could really find enough emigrants to fill a ship, the
Texan offered to secure "a certificate from any County
130
Court in Texas, with the County seal to it, to this effect."
If he only had the minister's endorsement, he added, he had
the promise of a vessel. As to the quality of the persons
who planned to join the colony, McMullan informed de
Azambuja that they would be "first class citizens, the
most of whom possessed fortunes before the war." Finally,
McMullan repeated his conviction that he regarded it as a
great pity that the Brazilian government did not have a
line of steamers from New Orleans to Rio de Janeiro. "If
23
Frank McMullan to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja,
October 18, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
pp. 313-314; J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas,
October 19, 1866, ibid.

131
they had," stated the Texas colonizer, "a stream of emigra­
tion would carry with it the energy, intelligence, and
24
chivalry of this country."
After receiving McMullan's telegram. Minister de
Azambuja immediately wrote Souza Dantas to inform him of
the problem. He reported to his superior that he had
answered McMullan the same day and repeated his previous
guarantees. De Azambuja also informed Souza Dantas that
he had offered the Reverend Ballard S. Dunn, who was in
New York, the same assurances that he had sent to McMullan.
De Azambuja reiterated his confidence in McMullan and Dunn,
remarking that.
These empresarios to whom I refer seem to have extensive
relations with important and respectable people
of the South and I believe that their diligence in
attracting emigrants to the Empire will compensate
for the imposters Wood, Waley, and other speculators
who so badly repaid the benevolent treatment which
was given to them by the Imperial Government and all
Brazilians.25
McMullan received the long awaited letter of
guarantee on October 19, the day after he wrote to de
Azambuja asking for assistance. Delighted, he went imme­
diately to several maritime brokerage houses with which
he had been conferring and attempted to finalize the
Frank McMullan to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja,
October 18, 1866, ibid.
2 ^
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas,
October 19, 1866, in ibid., p. 307.

charter of a suitable vessel. Without exception, however,
the firms refused to honor the assurances written by de
Azambuja. They declared that the paper, by itself, was
insufficient, and that they could honor the warranty only
if adequate security in the United States was pledged in
their favor. Moreover, they all insisted that the passage
for the emigrants be paid to them immidiately upon landing
132
in Brazil. The brokers, all businessmen with a realization
of the potential for loss, declared that they did not know
how well the Brazilian government paid its bills and that
they could not afford to risk the large sums of money which
would be required in such an undertaking.
When McMullan realized that his efforts to convince
shipowners were useless, he returned to the Brazilian Vice-
Consul in New Orleans and asked for assistance. Not wish­
ing to place himself in a precarious position, however, the
agent declined to help with the excuse that he could not
assume the responsibility. In a quandary, McMullan wrote
another letter to de Azambuja, entreating him to provide
answers to his questions. Furthermore, he reviewed the
multitude of problems he would face if a solution to his
transportation dilemma was not found quickly.
My situation is awkward and embarrassing. I am in
New Orleans, and my friends are in middle Texas,
depending upon me to furnish transportation. They
have sold their lands and expect to sail with me
from Galveston, Texas, about 1st December. I feel
the weight of responsibility resting on me. The
people are ready to go at the appointed time; but

not the means of conveyance. I have acted in good
faith, and have promised them, on the faith of promises
made to me by the government that their passage
should be paid, and they should have 3 or 4 years to
refund the money. The small amount of funds we have
on hand, we wish to lay out in machinery, implements
of agriculture, etc. etc., before leaving, so as to
take these with us now. On the faith of promises,
30 families will be at Galveston, Texas, on the 1st
of December, ready to sail. More than this number
in Georgia are looking to me to furnish transportation.
They ask me for a vessel.26
Almost desperate, McMullan told the minister that
he knew that he understood the problem, but asked for
action. "What is to be done?" McMullan queried.
I have never failed in anything in my life that energy
and perseverance would accomplish and I cannot think
of failing now. Should I not receive the necessary
assistance from Your Excellency I can only do the best
I can. I must get off to Brazil soon, and I must, if
possible, take my friends with me.27
McMullan then reviewed, once again, his plea that
the Brazilian government institute a steamship service
from southern ports. "I repeat what I have before said,"
McMullan remarked, "if the Brazilian Government intends to
turn this emigration matter to account, there must be some
system adopted instead of from New York; we want a line of
steamers from the South; this is the only course that will
ever effect anything." No change in policy was in sight,
however, and on October 22, Quintino de Souza Bocayuva, a
^^Frank McMullan to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja,
October 23, 1866, in ibid., pp. 315-316.
27
/ibid.
133

Brazilian who had been appointed special agent to assist
the steamship company, arrived in New York. Southern ship
28
service for emigrants seemed more and more remote.
While Frank McMullan searched for a way to get out
of the country, at least one Texan proclaimed his strong
opposition to emigration in a long letter to the Galveston
Tri-Weekly News. John Cardwell of Columbia, Texas, consid­
ered taking a group of Central Texans to Brazil, but after
134
29
a short trip to South America, decided against the project.
The anti-emigration News devoted four columns on page one
to Cardwell's reasons against leaving the United States.
Cardwell argued principally that emigrating Texans would
be subservient to "an inferior Africanized race, and at
the same time become their pliant tools." He pointed to
what he termed an "alarming decrease" in the number of
slaves in Brazil and predicted that the trend would lead
to the "utter annihilation of the institution in a very
few years." In Brazil, he said, "there is no other prospect
but that of a thoroughly Africanized government." Physical
28
Ibid., J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas,
October 31, 1866, in ibid., p. 311.
^^Cardwell left Brazil early in 1866 with plans to
return by Christmas. Cardwell's colony, had its leader
not decided against emigration to Brazil, would have left
in April, 1867. Josephine Henry (Mrs. William Henry),
Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas, to Aunt [Laura Perry?],
[Madison, Georgia?], undated letter in the Laura L. Perry
Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco,
Texas.

conditions, too, he described as being undesirable, with
thousands of poisonous insects, as well as unendurable
heat and excessive rainfall. The diseases of leprosy and
elephantitus, Cardwell inferred, would surely infect any
North American who dared to venture to that country.
Furthermore, Cardwell had a low opinion of Brazilians in
general. They were, he claimed, already a mixed race
before leaving the old world, and the worst on the European
135
continent. "They are the most inferior of the Latin races,"
said Cardwell,
And during the long occupation of the Iberian peninsula
by the Mohammedans their blood was deeply tinged
with that of the Moor; this compound settled Brazil,
and as neither its moral or intellectual standing was
good, as soon as the African came in contact with it,
an affinity was created, which has resulted in a
thorough amalgamation.
Cardwell then warned southerners to beware of colonization
agents. "Southern men," said Cardwell, "for the sake of
gold, will advise you to sell out your all here, and pursue
your way seven thousand miles to live in misery, and to
entail upon your children a life of shame."
Frank McMullan, still in New Orleans seeking trans­
portation, read Cardwell's arguments in the newspaper within
days of its publication and quickly replied. He wrote a
long letter to the Tri-Weekly News, parts of which were
published on November 14, 1866. The editor, claiming that
30 Galveston Tri-Weekly News, October 19, 1866, p. 1.

McMullan's rebuttal was "not quite just to our correspon­
dent [Cardwell]," nevertheless agreed "in justice to the
writer," to "state the points of interest to the public."
McMullan was quoted as saying that Cardwell wrote "like
one who had never traveled through the country [Brazil],
and was too much affected by the change of homes to give
his new location an impartial judgment." McMullan main­
tained that the Brazilian government "never offered a penny
to an agent of emigration," and that "agents never advised
any one to go to Brazil." He stated that he knew of no
anti-slavery agitation in Brazil and that he foresaw no
problems concerning the Negro. McMullan said that some of
those southerners who were already in Brazil, including
Colonel William Bowen, "an old soldier . . . [who] helped
[Texas] in her first struggles, . . . and P. B. Hockaday,
formerly a partner of the Great Henry Clay," were also
happy. Further, argued McMullan, if Cardwell would "come
to Galveston about the 10th or 15th of next month, he will
see between twenty and thirty families who believe as I
One month later, on December 16, 1866, the Tri-
Weekly News published, in full, Cardwell's answer to
McMullan's statements. After repeating many of his
^"^Frank McMullan, "Letter to the Editor," ibid.,
November 16, 1866, p. 3.
136

original arguments, Cardwell charged that McMullan and
Bowen were "in a co-partnership in a scheme of some kind."
Cardwell then returned to his wrangling about the race
situation in Brazil and predicted that eventually the
whites would have little or no control over government or
their own affairs. Emigrants would not escape from what
they were fleeing, for soon the Negro would be their social
and political equal, if not superior, in Brazil.
I think it proper that people should be permitted to
know that those very things which they would flee from
here as a possible evil of the future will be found
there fully developed, both politically and socially;
that the black, whom some admit will one day be our
equal here, will already be found there occupying the
foremost and most honorable walks in society; that
although the white fears he will some day cast his
ballot in the same box with him here, he will find
him not only voting there, but making laws—laws to
govern whites who go there; that he will have to shut
his doors against all social intercourse, or admit
the negro to his bed and board.
P. B. Hockaday, Cardwell wrote, was an imbecile, "at one
time a smart man, who was wandering about in an unsettled
condition." Cardwell predicted that "of the 20 or 30
families he [McMullan] speaks of, 15 or 20, and probably
all, will return, if able, in less than two years."
No other letters on the subject from Cardwell
appear in the Tri-Weekly News, but in the New Orleans Times
of January 24, 186 7, Frank McMullan had the last word.
32
John Cardwell, "Letter to the Editor," ibid.,
December 16, 1866, p. 3.
137

McMullan's letter, addressed "To my friends in Texas, and
to all good Southerners who think of going to Brazil,"
began by cautioning his readers "against paying any atten­
138
tion to the combined opposition of the press, South as well
as North, to emigration to Brazil." He then struck back at
Cardwell.
Some editors are like the politicians of the day,
public parasites, who feed upon the vital energies of
the honest laboring classes, and whose business it is
to stir up strife and oppose every enterprise which
does not advance their private interests. There is
another sort of opposition—that which comes from
designing men, such as John Cadwell [sic] of Brazoria
[County], of this state, who has written much against
Brazil, and who during the two months he remained out
of the country, (at Rio) was never out of sight of
salt water but once, and then only about eight hours,
when he rode out on a railroad and back the same day.
This fact being known, his communication will have no
effect on sensible men. Now, I ask, if it is our desire
to go to Brazil, whose business is it? Would it
not be more honorable to bid us go in God's name, and
wish us well in the end? If others do not wish to go,
we say let them stay, and joy be with them. We persuade
no one to to.33
There is no doubt but that both Cardwell and McMullan
were sincere in their arguments for and against emigration
to Brazil. However, Cardwell was a journalist and a poli­
tician and as such received preferential treatment from
his peers. McMullan, relatively unknown, had real reason
to be unhappy that his letters were edited while Cardwell's
were not. It is likely that Cardwell's articles were a
•5 "3
Frank McMullan, "To my friends in Texas, and to
all good Southerners who think of going to Brazil," New
Orleans Times, January 24, 1867, p. 4.

deterrent to many who might have otherwise considered emi­
139
grating to Brazil. In 1871 Cardwell, at the request of the
Democratic Executive Committee, became editor of the new
Austin Statesman, a position he retained for fifteen years.
But editorial correspondence was of no assistance
in helping Frank McMullan secure a ship. The refusals of
shipowners to honor the guarantees written by Minister de
Azambuja were a severe blow to McMullan's efforts. De
Azambuja was also distressed when he received a letter with
the news from New Orleans. In a communication to McMullan,
the minister complained that.
It seems to me very strange that my own signature in
the official document I sent to you in triplicate
would not be considered as sufficient security for
the fulfillment of the concessions made to you and
Mr. Bowen by the Government of his Majesty, the
Emperor of Brazil.
De Azambuja continued that Reverend Ballard S. Dunn
"Assures me that you may carry out your vues [views] by
performing his instructions." In the same letter, de
Azambuja implied that a compromise was imminent in nego­
tiations with the United States and Brazil Mail Steamship
Company, and that soon southerners from New Orleans would
be able "to prevail [avail] themselves of this advantage
[sailing from southern ports]." He told McMullan that he
"^^Walter Prescott Webb, ed. , The Handbook of Texas,
3 vols. (Austin: The Texas State Historical Association,
1952), 1: 295.

had received this news from Agent Bocayuva, "who just
arrived from Rio de Janeiro to attend to all business
35
on emigration."
The encouraging news from Minister de Azambuja had
not yet been written, however, when McMullan found a solu­
tion to his problems. On November 6, McMullan, Dyer, and
other prospective emigrants completed an agreement in New
140
Orleans with J. M. Oriol, "commission merchant, ship broker,
and importer of Mexican and Havana produce," with offices
at 127 Old Levee Street. Oriol, almost bankrupt and des­
perate for cash, leased the English brig Derby to the
Texans for $7,500 in United States currency. McMullan
wrote de Azambuja that the agreement had been accomplished
by advancing $6,000, "which several of us, by putting our
means together, have been able to raise." Obviously
pleased with the transaction, McMullan remarked that.
No other vessel, carrying 150 passengers, will ever
be chartered at these low figures. The owner is very
much embarrassed financially and needed this money;
besides, he wishes to put a line of good sail vessels
between New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro and wants to
secure my influence here and what little I may have
with the Brazilian Government.36
The Derby, rated at 213 tons burden, provided
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Frank McMullan,
November 16, 1866, Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
p. 317.
"^^Frank McMullan to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja,
November 6, 1866, ibid., pp. 317-319.

enough space to accommodate at least thirty families, as
well as baggage and moderate amounts of farm equipment and
implements. It normally carried a crew of eight or ten
men and was commanded by Captain Alexander Causse. In
order to make the brig capable of sleeping as many as 150
persons, Oriol agreed to construct bunks in the hold to
supplement the sparce cabin space. The commission agent
promised McMullan that all of the carpenter work would be
completed no later than December 5, 1866. McMullan ex­
pected the ship to sail between December 10 and 15 for
Galveston where the emigrants would be waiting. He noti­
fied de Azambuja that the Derby would clear New Orleans
for Iguape, and asked that the Brazilian government be
notified of that arrangement "so that we may not be dis­
appointed on landing there." "I have already suffered so
many disappointments," McMullan continued, "that I am half
37
becoming disheartened."
141
37
Frank McMullan, "To my friends in Texas"; Foreign
Clearance, Ships Sailing from the Port of New Orleans, June,
1862, to January, 1875, bound volume located in Record
Group 36, National Archives of the United States; Works
Progress Administration, Survey of Federal Archives in
Louisiana: Passenger Lists Taken from the Manifests of the
Customs Service, Port of New Orelans, 1864-1867 (Carbon copy
of typescript), 1941, p. 186-E, located in the Louisiana
Collection, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. A
further search for inforamtion on both the Derby and Captain
Causse has been fruitless. The Public Record Office in
England has no information. R. R. Miller, Search Departnient.
Public Records Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England,
to William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas, October 18, 1978, in
possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas. Also, see

McMullan also expressed concern about the availa­
bility of passports for the Texan emigrants as there was
no Brazilian Consulate in Texas. Writing to de Azumbuja,
McMullan asked if anyone in Galveston was authorized to
issue them. If not, he queried, "are they absolutely
necessary? Could not Your Excellency send me something
#
of this kind, which would do as a passport to all those
going with me?" McMullan explained that there was no way
the entire complement of the colony could go to New Orleans
142
to complete the necessary paperwork for passport credentials.
He estimated the cost to do so at a prohibitive $1,500,
38
money that could not be spared.
McMullan's concern for the Texans who planned to
follow him to Brazil was almost matched by his worry about
the Georgians who also wanted to emigrate. In his November
6 letter to de Azambuja, he asked the minister what could
be done for them.
We in Texas have much less money than we expected,
and as our Georgia friends suffered more during the
war than we did, they will have less than we have.
There is no money, nobody to buy, and what is sold
•does not bring h of its value.
Frank McMullan to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja, November 6,
1866, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao, pp. 317-319.
John Robinson is listed in Gardner's New Orelans Directory
for 1867 as a carpenter who lived at the town of Liberty.
"^^Frank McMullan to J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja,
November 6, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
pp. 317-319.

McMullan, in his continued correspondence with Watkins and
the Society of Georgia, promised that until more news
arrived from Brazilian authorities he would do what he
39
could to help.
Although he already had secured a lease on the
Derby to transport the emigrants to his colony site on the
Sao Lourengo River, McMullan continued to question de
Azambuja about arrangements for ships from southern ports
in general and New Orleans in particular. McMullan ex­
plained that the Brazilian Consul in the Crescent City
knew nothing about embarkation from the South. The agent
for the New York and Brazil Mail Steamship Company in New
143
Orelans, William Creeny, also claimed that he had no knowl­
edge of any arrangements that had been made. To secure
concrete information, McMullan also wrote directly to C. K.
Garrison of the New York and Brazil line, although he must
40
have expected that he would not receive a reply.
On November 17, de Azambuja drafted an answer to
McMullan, but remained vague in his approval of the actions
Ibid.
^^Ibid. An advertisement in the Daily Picayune by
Creeny on November 27, only a few days later, said that the
company was "Forming a Regular Semi-Weekly Line of Fine
Ocean Steamships" which would provide service to Brazil.
For freight or passage, persons interested were to apply
to "William Creeny, Agent, 33 Carondelet Street, New
Orleans." The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), November 27,
1866, p. 4. By the date of the advertisement, however,
McMullan already had returned to Texas.

that the Texan had taken to secure a ship. "it is not
for me to say anything about this transaction as you know
better the concessions made by the Imperial Government to
you, Mr. Dunn, and some other gentlemen." De Azambuja
worried that the total expense might exceed the dollar
amount per person approved in previous agreements and in­
formed McMullan that expenses would "be provata the rate
of passage per head." He promised to forward McMullan's
letter to Rio de Janeiro for evaluation. In regard to
McMullan's preference for Iguape as a port of arrival, de
Azambuja promised to inform the Brazilian government, so
that "the necessary order be issued to Iguape to meet you
there." The consul reiterated that he did not yet know of
the plans of the New York and Brazil Mail Steamship Company
in regard to beginning service at southern ports and made
144
an effort to wash his hands of the entire controversy. "The
Agent Mr. Bocayuva attends to this matter," said de Azambuja
coldly. The minister did, however, tell McMullan that he
had informed Bocayuva "of the good disposition of your
friends in Georgia and recommend with earnestly [sic] Mr.
41
Watkins as a worthy, substantial man."
J. M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Frank McMullan,
November 17, 1866, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
P- 319. Quintino de Souza Bocayuva arrived in New York
in November, 1866, with B. Caymari, the Brazilian who
negotiated the June 24, 1866, contract with C. K. Garrison
and the United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company.
J- M. Nascentes de Azambuja to Souza Dantas, November 27,
1866, ibid., pp. 319-320.

The new agent, Quintino de Souza Bocayuva, wasted
no time in accelerating efforts to recruit emigrants to
Brazil. Rather than concentrate on possible colonists
from the South, however, Bocayuva immediately began a
drive to enlist men from the streets of New York, including
some persons just arrived from Germany and Ireland. The
Brazilian Emigration Agency, operated by Bocayuva and lo­
cated on Broadway opposite the Brazilian Legation, began an
intense advertising campaign in mid-November, 1866, offer­
ing low steamship rates and other inducements which were
superior to those given to McMullan and other southern
entrepreneurs. Travel costs from New York to Brazil were
pegged at only $50.00, with children to be transported at
half-price. Exemption from military service in the regular
army, a provision not included in either the McMullan or
Dunn agreements, was to be given New York enrollees. The
mortgage on land, according to the Brazilian Emigration
Agency advertisement, was to be only for $50.00, the cost
of steamship fare. The prospective emigrant would be re­
quired to pay only a $5.00 deposit which was refundable by
42
the purser of the ship after the vessel sailed.
On November 25, a letter appeared in the New York
Times which questioned the offers being made by the
"Emigration to Brazil," The New York Times,
November 25, 1866, p. 1; "Letter to the Editor," The New
lo^ Tribune, November 30, 1866, p. 1.
145

Brazilian Emigration Agency for "free passage to Brazil, a
homestead, and Confessional liberty." These inducements,
146
particularly the likelihood of freedom of religion in Roman
Catholic Brazil, were openly questioned by the press. One
reporter claimed that about 60 0 men had gone to the emigra­
tion agency offices seeking information, but that none
received "satisfactory" answers. Concluding that the
claim of confessional liberty was untrue, the reporter
then declared that the other promises—free passages and
homesteads—were also false. A New York Tribune writer
expressed journalistic sentiment when he concluded that.
It is surely a strange thing to see [the emigrants]
leave this country on so doubtful an invitation, for
a land where white labor is not appreciated because
of the superabundance of slave labor, and consequently
where it is ill-paid.'^^
A New Orleans Times editorial, however, enthusi­
astically supported settlement in Brazil. It heartily
denounced the profiteering of steamship lines and their
promotion of emigration to Brazil by Yankees and European
immigrants. It also attacked the Brazilian Emigration
Agency in New York, questioning the value of such a bureau
in a place where men are "prosperous, victorious, and happy
at home." "The whole affair," expostulated the Times, "is
a smart Yankee trick . . . designed to draw many a poor
"Emigration to Brazil," The New York Times,
November 25, 1866, p. 1; "Emigration to Brazil," The
New York Tribune, November 26, 1866, p. 1.

man to New York, there to find, when his little purse of
gold is exhausted, that this free passage is a myth." The
Times condemned those newspaper editors who denounced the
opportunities in South America and stated that it had "no
wish to listen longer to the vain bubbling of such as talk
'prodigiously' on subjects they do not understand."^^
Oblivious of the storm over the emigration of
individuals to Brazil from New York, Frank McMullan con­
tinued with his plans. On the evening of November 6, he
finally left New Orleans for Texas, naively confident that
most of the arrangements for transportation to Brazil for
his colonists were not complete. Had he known of the
troubles still in store for himself and his followers, it
is questionable whether or not he could have found the
physical strength and endurance to continue.
Lack of planning, a confused bureaucracy, and a
severe lack of communication by Brazilian consular offi­
cials did not completely abort plans for emigration from
the South, but there is no question that the movement was
severely damaged by the end of 1866. The worst blunder
was Brazil's refusal to provide inexpensive transportation
from southern ports. Had it done so at the correct time
it is likely that thousands of persons would have availed
44
"The Emigration From the South Destined to Prove
A Success," New Orleans Times, February 10, 186 7, p. 3.
147

themselves of the opportunity to sail for South America.
In the case of McMullan's colony, the failure of the
Brazilians was almost fatal. Had Frank McMullan not made
148
arrangements for the lease of the Derby at the precise time
that he did, it is probably that he would have had to can­
cel his plans completely. The lack of success by the
Brazilians no doubt was an educational experience, but by
the time the lessons had been learned, it was too late to
put them to use in the South.

CHAPTER V
GATHERING AT GALVESTON
Although Frank McMullan and his prospective colo­
nists already had devoted several months in preparation
for their trip to Brazil, many problems were yet to be
solved. An immediate difficulty, getting from central
Texas to the port of Galveston, was to be remedied in a
relatively easy manner. More vexing would be the challenge
of getting the Derby out of port in New Orleans while the
ship's captain and port officials plotted to wrest fines
and other fees from McMullan. In Galveston, the extortion
game was to continue and to delay the ship's departure
until demands were met. Frank McMullan's original goal
was to leave for Brazil by December 1, 1866. By the time
the problems with the Derby were solved, departure was to
be nearly two months overdue.
In preparation for the planned sailing of the Derby
from New Orleans early in December, scores of prospective
colonists began to make their way to Galveston. In most
cases, they sold land, houses, and equipment at sacrificial
prices to accumulate the amounts of money necessary to pur­
chase supplies, clothing, and farm implements for use at
149

their new homes. Many of the emigrants made plans to
assemble at the town of Millican, the northernmost station
of the Houston and Texas Central Railway in Brazos County,
Texas. In order to conserve passage money during the trip
to Galveston, McMullan's followers, none of whom had ever
150
ridden in a train, made arrangements to rent a baggage car.
Although such a means of transportation would be less than
comfortable, it could easily carry several families as well
as trunks and large bulky items.
The Alfred Iverson Smith family, including forty-
eight-year-old Alfred, his wife Sarah, and their seven
children left the little village of Spring Hill, Navarro
County, Texas on November 19. Smith, according to his
daughter, was "a staunch secessionist and of Southern
principles to the back bone." He "never owned a Negro
slave in his life, but believed in States Rights, there­
fore he could not make up his mind to submit to Yankee
rule." Smith, it will be remembered, had been Frank
McMullan's. teacher in Chesnut Flat, Georgia, before both
Millican, because of its railroad connection to
the Gulf of Mexico, was an important shipping point during
the Civil War. In 186 7, it had a population of 60 0. It
is located about twelve miles southeast of College Station,
Texas. See Walter Prescott Webb, ed., The Handbook of
Texas (2 vols.; Austin: Texas State Historical Association,
1952), 2: 199; Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to ^
Brazil in 1866-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen Colony,"
MS, May 29, 19 35, Blanche Henry Clark Weaver Papers, in
possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.

families came to Texas in the early 1850's. The Smiths
loaded all of their possessions into an ox-drawn wagon
and began a two-week journey to the railroad head at
Millican. In preparation for the trip to Brazil, the
151
Smiths constructed tents of heavy canvas to use as lodging,
both in transit to South America and as a temporary shelter
after they arrived. These received their first use as the
family camped on the prairie on the way to Millican. The
Smith children, Eugene, Preston, Pennington (Penny),
Masserly (Marsene), Sarah Bellona, Virgil, and Fulton (Fully),
saw the trip to Millican as a lark, "a jolly pic-nic, an
exciting adventure." From oldest to youngest, however,
they sensed that they were a part of a very unusual and
wonderful excursion that would significantly change their
lives.
2
Only a few scattered houses remained at the site
of Spring Hill when visited by the author in 19 78. It was
Navarro County's oldest settlement, dating to 1838. See
Webb, ed.. The Handbook of Texas, 2: 564; Betty Antunes de
Oliveira, Rio de Janeiro, to William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas, August 3, 19 79, in possession of William C. Griggs;
William R. Bowen, Homesite on Ariado River, McMullan-Bowen
Grant, to Joaquim Saldanha Marinha, President of the Province
of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 9, 1867,
Ord. [930], 29 fls.. Archives of the State of Sao Paulo.
This letter contains a census of the colony of that date
prepared by Bowen for the president of the province. In
subsequent citations it will be referred to as the Bowen
Census. Alfred Iverson Smith was a private in a reserve
company of the Nineteenth Brigade, Texas Militia, during
the Civil War. This brigade was composed of men from
Navarro, Ellis, Freestone, and Limestone counties, Texas.
See Texas, Militia, Muster Roll, Reserved Company, Beat No.
5, Navarro County, August 17, 1861, located in the Texas

152
Before the Smith family reached Millican, they were
overtaken by widower A. J. Green, his two daughters and
three sons. Driving horses rather than oxen, the Green
family moved significantly faster than the Smiths. "Old
Man" Green and his brood traveled in a carryall, a lighter
and less bulky means of conveyance. The amiable Green's
oldest son, Lewis, was nineteen years old, followed by
daughters Jurilla, fifteen, and Angeletta, twelve. B. H.
Green was Ten years old, and young Joseph was only eight.^
State Archives, Austin, Texas. Also, see Ferguson, "Emigrating
to Brazil in 1866-67"; Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson,
"The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil," Times of Brazil
(Sao Paulo), December 18, 1866, p. 18. Other listings
of members of the McMullan Colony also show the Smith family.
See George Scarborough Barnsley, "Original of Reply
to a Circular asking for information of the Ex-Confederate
emigrants, April, 1915," George Scarborough Barnsley Papers,
Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina,
Chapil Hill, North Carolina. Also, see a list by Martha
Norris compiled on February 5, 1926, and published by Peter
A. Brannon, "Southern Emigration to Brazil," The Alabama
Historical Quarterly 1 (Summer, 1930): 81-82, hereafter
referred to as the Norris List. Also, see Thomas H.
Steagall and others, "Lista de Americanos Vindos ao Brasil,"
in -Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil (Sao
Paulo: Livraria Pioneiro Editora, 1972), p. 107, hereafter
referred to as Steagall List. Also, see Alfredo Ellis, Jr.,
Un Parlamentar Paulista Da Republica; Subsides Para A Historia
Da Republica Em S. Paulo e Subsides Para A Historia
^conomica de Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo: n.p., 1949), p. 41.
3 Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67." The
Green family, like the Smiths, is included in Barnsley,
"Original of Reply to a Circular"; Bowen Census; Ellis,
On Parlamentar Paulista. A photograph of one of the Greens
is found in Julia McKnight Jones, Soldado Descansal: Uma
gpopeia Norte Americana Sob Os Ceus Do Brasil (Sao Paulo:
Jarde, 1967), p. 155.

153
When the Greens and the Smiths arrived at Millican,
they joined several other families who had agreed to the
rendezvous. Saddlemaker Jesse R. Wright, his wife Sarah,
and children Ambrose, William, and Boregard, were already
camped and waiting. Among the things to go with the Wrights
to Brazil stood a huge crate which housed two large coon-
hunting dogs. Accompanying the Jesse Wright family was
Thomas Wright, Jesse's uncle from Cooke County, Texas.
Also ready to continue to Galveston was Thomas Garner, his
widowed daughter Rachel Russell, and relative Napoleon
Bonaparte (Bony) McAlpine. The three teamed together as a
family group.
Brothers Calvin and Thomas Steret McKnight and
their families also gathered at Millican for the trip to
the coast. Calvin, his wife Isabel, and their two sons
and five daughters were from Hill County. During the Civil
War, Calvin served as captain of a volunteer company of
mounted men in the Nineteenth Texas Brigade. Like the
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1867"; Bowen
Census; Norris List; Steagall List; Barnsley, "Original of
Reply to a Circular." Considerable information about
Thomas Wright is available in Elizabeth Ann Wright, James
Dyer, Descendants and Allied Families (n.p., n.d., 1954),
pp. [50]-[51]. The Wrights were distant relatives of the
McMullans. A J. R. Wright is listed in Texas, Militia,
Muster Roll, Mile Creek Cavalry Company, 19th Brigade,
Texas State Troops, Ellis County, Texas State Archives,
Austin, Texas. In the same muster roll are listed two men,
who of whom may have been the husband of widow Rachel
Russell. One is named E. Russell; the other is Henry E.
Russell.

154
other would-be emigrants, Calvin and his wife determined to
leave the country rather than face the real and imagined
terrors of Reconstruction. Calvin's brother, Thomas Steret
McKnight, lived in adjoining Navarro County with his wife.
Like his brother, Thomas Steret McKnight had served as a
Confederate officer.
Two other large groups who also met the colony
members at Millican were the S. F. Haynie family and the
Thomas Cook family. Haynie and his wife Mary had six chil­
dren, four sons and two daughters, who ranged from Hugh,
at age nineteen, to little Mary, only one year old. Thomas
and Ann Cook also had a large contingent, with seven chil­
dren rangeing in age from three-year-old Pet to eighteen-
year-old Mary. Susan, Samuel, Nancy, Lilly, and Edward
followed the eldest by age.
Calvin McKnight's name appears in the land records
of Hill County in the General Land Office, State of Texas,
Austin, Texas. Thirty-six years old at the time of his
enlistment in April 1862, at Dresden, Navarro County,
McKnight was described as five feet, ten inches in height,
with grey eyes and black hair. A later photograph of
McKnight shows him as a pleasant-looking man with large
side-whiskers. See Jones, Soldado Descansal, p. 118; Texas,
Militia, Muster Roll, Volunteer Company of Mounted Men,
Beat No. 8, 19th Texas Brigade, Texas State Archives.
McKnight is also shown in Norris List; Ellis, Um Parlamentar
Paulista; Steagall List, and Barnsley, "Original of
Reply to a Circular." Military records of Thomas Steret
McKnight may be found in Texas, Militia, Muster Roll, 19th
Brigade, Reserve Company, Beat No. 4, Navarro County, Texas
State Archives, Austin, Texas. Also, see Barnsley, "Original
of Reply to a Circular"; Norris List.
^Bowen Census; Steagall List, Ferguson, "Emigrating
to Brazil in 1866-67."

By the time the train prepared to leave, fifty-two
persons were camped in Millican sharing their worries,
their hopes, and their dreams of a new life in Brazil.
Not knowing what they should take to their new home, they
loaded the baggage car with "a heterogenous mass of old
boxes, grindstones, pieces of mills, old feather beds,
boxes with scraps of iron, old horse-shoes, old chairs
. . . and stools." They only knew that they would try to
take all that they possibly could, because it seemed likely
that the commonplace articles to which they were accustomed
might be scarce in the future. By the time the baggage car
was filled with luggage and freight, little space remained
for people. "There was scarcely room for the folks," said
one account, "except a very uncomfortable mix-up, on such
7
places as could be found on the baggage."
As the train got underway, the travelers foresaw a
long ride to Houston, the train's first stop. The wind
was cold, and with little heat the November air created a
chill which was difficult to overcome, even by donning
extra clothing. With the large number of young children
in the car, meals and sanitation became chaotic, the noise
155
was sometimes nerve-rending, and usually placid dispositions
George Scarborough Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization
in Brazil: The American (and English) Attempt at Colonization
in Brazil—1866-67," Brazilian American (Rio de
Janeiro), March 10, 1928, p. 6; Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67."

egan to wear thin. To alleviate the situation, widow
Rachel Russell led the group in singing "some old Metho­
156
dist hallelujah hymns, which relieved the strain somewhat."
The train arrived in Houston late in the evening and
stopped for about an hour, providing a welcome relief to
the would-be emigrants who had been confined since noon.
The trip to Galveston lasted the rest of the night. The
final leg of the journey, made in bitter cold, allowed
g
little sleep, although all were near exhaustion.
As the sun rose, the port of Galveston came into
view. None of the Texans had ever been there and they
delighted at the beautiful bay with its scores of ships at
anchor "looking like a denuded forest." Announcing their
arrival, the engineer noisily clanged the bell as the
train pulled into the station. When the baggage car door
opened, the bewildered emigrants dropped to the ground,
completely out of place in the busy depot. As the young
ones cried for their breakfast, parents asked questions as
to where a restaurant could be found. They were directed
to "a little shabby eating place" where they obtained hot
coffee and bread for the women and children. Meanwhile,
the men made inquiries as to the location of the emigrants
who were already there.
^Ibid.
^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1866, p. 18.

157
The McMullan colonists who had arrived in Galveston
established their camp on the beach, as close as possible
to the pier where they expected to see the ship which would
take them to their new home in Brazil. With the new
arrivals, a tent city materialized. Trails of smoke rose
from camp fires as a vigil began for those colonists who
had not yet arrived, including Frank McMullan, Judge Dyer,
and their families.
The colonists were still in a good mood by mid-
December. The Houston Daily Telegraph reported that the
Brazilian emigrants were "in fine health and spirits" and
while camped on the beach were "perfectly independent of
hotels and boarding houses." A December 16 news item in
the Telegraph commented that fifty-five persons already had
arrived in Galveston, and that a hundred more were "expected
in a day or so. These emigrants . . . [are] among the best
citizens in Brazos, Milam, Navarro, and the adjacent
counties."^^
The editor of the Houston Daily Telegraph did not
agree with the idea of leaving the United States to go to
another country, but, unlike some anti-emigration journa­
lists, he did not condemn them for their actions. He
^Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."
•^•^The Daily Telegraph (Houston, Texas), December
16, 1866, p. 4.

lamed the emigration sentiment on those in Washington
whose actions created unrest.
We are sorry to part with any of our true-hearted
citizens of Texas, and we still insist that this is
a better country than any other. But the course of
Radical disunionists in Congress is having the effect
to wean many a noble spirit entirely from his native
land, and to drive them to other countries, like the
Hugenots of France. We are sorry to part with them,
but we wish God's blessing upon them wherever they
go. 12
158
The Galveston News also commented on the emigration
movement and attempted to convey the philosophy behind it,
stating that it was,
A prevailing apprehension that the radical programme
of depriving the people of the South of the last vestige
of liberty is about to be carried out, and that
our unhappy country is to be made the theatre of the
most despotic rule the world has ever witnessed in
modern times.
Yet, the editor declared that he did not think leaving the
country was the intelligent thing to do. "We cannot pre­
dict the future, but we cannot approve the policy of flying
13
from anticipated evils to those we know not of."
Those who would go to Brazil, however, felt so
strongly that they could not stay that they remained unaf­
fected by editorial rhetoric. McMullan, in fact, estab­
lished strong criteria for the persons who would settle on
his Brazilian grant. They will be required, he said, to
12
Ibid., December 13, 1866, p. 4.
13
The Galveston Daily News, January 8, 186 7, p. 2

"give satisfactory references that they are Southern in
159
feeling, pro-slavery in sentiment, and that they have main­
tained the reputation of honorable men." Continuing,
McMullan said that "every one must come prepared to estab­
lish this evidence, before he can gain admittance to the
lands which have been set apart to us and our friends."
Those who came prepared to offer the required credentials,
stated McMullan, "will receive a hearty welcome from
friends of their own 'sort' and a Christian prayer for
their future welfare."
By January 1, 1867, it is probable that all of the
persons who planned to sail on the Derby for Brazil had
reached Galveston to await the brig's arrival. The camp
on the beach grew until a total of 154 persons prepared to
leave on the little ship when it arrived from New Orleans.
Writing about the diverse character of the crowd nearly
fifty years after the event, one emigrant still hesitated
to make a full description of them.
Too little time has elapsed since the occurrance of
these events portrayed, to allow a description of the
varied character that composed this composite hive—
suffice to say that it is doubtful if since the crusades
there ever was such a jumble of men and women
so different in origin, custom, and habits.15
Two of the arrivals, George and Lucian Barnsley
from Georgia, doubtless learned of the McMullan colony
14 II
Frank McMullan, "To My Friends in Texas.'
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil," p. 6

from the Brazilian Consul. George had long contemplated
emigrating to South America and wrote letters to the lega­
tion requesting information. In them, he asked for infor­
mation about the climate, soil, means of transportation of
emigrants, and other advantages which might be offered.
Apparently satisfied with his first reply, Barnsley wrote
another letter twelve days later indicating that he was
organizing a colony of a thousand persons who wanted to
locate in the valley of the Amazon River. He asked about
the aid and protection given by the Brazilian government
in general, and about soil and climate in the Amazon valley
in particular. It is likely that Joaquim Maria Nascentes
de Azambuja, the Brazilian Consul, wrote to Barnsley sug­
gesting that he contact McMullan for some of the answers
he sought, and that the Georgian then decided it would be
easier and more efficient to join an established group.
George Barnsley attended Oglethorpe University
before the Civil War as a medical student. During the
conflict, he rose from the rank of private in Company A,
Rome Light Guard, Eighth Georgia Regiment, to the position
16 ~
"Relacao das cartas revebidas pela Legacao e
Consulado Brasileiros em o anno de 1865 de Habitantes das
Estados Unidos que depois da guerra tern amnifestado o^
desejo de emigrar para o Imperio," Revista de Imigragao e
Coloniza9ao 4 (June 1943): 280. Woodlands, the old estate
of the Barnsley family, still exists a few miles west of
Adairsville, Georgia. In November, 19 79, when visited by
the author, it was owned by Earl McCleskey.
160

of assistant surgeon. His experience and training enabled
him to pass the examinations as a medical doctor. After
his discharge, Barnsley incurred a number of debts because
of bad investments and dreamed of a way of recouping the
fortune his family possessed before the war. His father,
Godfrey Barnsley, was an English subject whose sentiments
during the war were with the South. Godfrey, who owned a
large estate called Woodlands in northwest Georgia, acted
17
as a cotton broker in both Savannah and New Orleans.
George Barnsley had another reason for wishing to
161
"hit it rich." He hoped to marry Jennie Norton of Norfolk,
Virginia, and felt he must have money in the bank before
asking for her hand. Deciding that the affluence he needed
might come his way in Brazil, he joined the McMullan Colony
as its official doctor, with a promise of $2.50 per day for
his services. George Barnsley, although intelligent, was
inconsistant and always a dreamer. He remained constantly
aware of his social status and could not resist downgrading
his friends. Evidently Barnsley did not gain wealth
quickly enough for Miss Norton, as he later wrote to his
George Scarborough Barnsley, Rezendi, Province
of Rio de Janeiro, to Julia Baltzelle (Barnsley's sister),
Kingston, Georgia, September 14, 1879, Barnsley Papers,
Tennessee State Library and Archives, Knoxville, Tennessee;
Nelson Miles Hoffman, Jr., "Godfrey Barnsley, 1805-1873:
British Cotton Factor in the South" (Ph.D. dissertation.
The University of Kansas). This work is an excellent study
of Godfrey Barnsley, but touches only very marginally on
the emigration of George and Lucian Barnsley to Brazil.

sister, Julia Baltzelle, that Jennie had rejected his
proposal.
George's younger brother, Lucian, did not seem to
162
have the confidence of his brother, and probably felt over­
shadowed by him most of his life. Lucian also served in
the Civil War, in the same unit with his brother, and seems
to have followed him in the plans to go to Brazil.
When Frank McMullan was in New Orleans making
arrangements for the Derby, he visited the father, Godfrey
Barnsley, at his cotton offices on Camp Street. McMullan
explained the plans for the colony and reassured the elder
Barnsley about the future for his sons, stating that the
boys "would do well, with industry and economy." In a
letter to George, Godfrey Barnsley worried about the com­
panionship his sons would experience and urged them to
remember their heritage. "In going you will I expect have
rough associates, but [I] have no doubt you will retain
that self-respect which belongs to gentlemen by position
and education." In another note, the boys' father worried
about their lack of first class accommodations on the
Derby and offered to provide extra money for them if neces­
sary. "I do not like the idea of your being put in steerage
George Scarborough Barnsley, Quatis de Barra
Mansa, Province of Rio de Janeiro, to Julia Baltzelle,
Kingston, Georgia, January 20, 1874, Barnsley Papers,
Tennessee State Library and Archives.

with the class of people that will probably be going and
would sooner pay $75 each in currency for you to go in the
163
cabin." For supplies the two young men would need, Godfrey
Barnsley authorized them to draw on a Mr. Davis in Galveston
19
for $50 in gold.
Soon after December 1, Frank McMullan's family
arrived at Galveston. The natural leader of the clan, with
McMullan still in New Orleans, was Judge James H. Dyer.
With his wife Amanda, sons Wiley and James and daughter
Harriet, Dyer had few doubts as to his future in Brazil.
He had been successful as a pioneer on the frontier of
Texas and saw no obstacle to doing the same in South America.
Vowing to accompany the family to Brazil was the Judge's
former personal slave, a Negro named Steve. The freedman
who had been a part of the Dyer family since it left Georgia
before 1850 determined to stay with it on the move to an­
other land. Like the Judge, Steve was a deeply religious
man who was never known to swear. Steve and Judge Dyer
probably had much in common despite their racial and
Godfrey Barnsley, New Orleans, to Lucian Barnsley,
Galveston, December 11, 1866, Barnsley Papers, Southern
Historical Collection, University of North Carolina;
Gardner's New Orleans Directory for 1867 (New Orleans:
Charles Gardner, 1867), p. 49; Godfrey Barnsley, New
Orleans, to Lucian Barnsley, Galveston, December 11, 1866,
Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University
of North Carolina; Godfrey Barnsley, New Orleans, to
George Barnsley, Galveston, December 4, 1866, Barnsley
Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University of North
Carolina.

cultural differences and for that reason were very close.
Both realized that Steve might not be able to enter the
country when the landed in Brazil; laws there prevented
blacks from emigrating but both believed that the chance
20
was worth the risk.
William Turner Moore, a dentist, was married to
Frank McMullan's sister, Victoria. Billy and Vic, as they
were called, became a lively addition to the group—a
welcome contrast to the sternness of the judge and the
164
quiet demeanor of his wife, Amanda. Born in North Carolina,
Moore came to Texas with his family after the Civil War
from Mississippi and settled at Bosqueville, McLennan
County, where he met the McMullans. Romance bloomed
quickly for the two, and they were married on July 27,
1865. About a year later, the Moores had a child who was •
afflicted with hydrocephalus, commonly called "water on
the brain" at that time. The baby was never normal, but
seemingly the couple overcame their grief and maintained
21
an active life.
20^
George Scarborough Barnsley, "Notes and Information
about the Emigrants from the U. States of 1867-68,"
Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University
of North Carolina; Joaquim Maria Nascentes de Azambuja, New
york, to J. S. Diggs, Cahaba, Alabama, January 12, 1867,
^^ Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao, p. 325.
21
Clarence E. Moore (William Turner Moore's greatnephew).
Fort Worth, Texas, to William C. Griggs, Lubbock,
Texas, December 20, 1973, in possession of William C.
^^iggs. Canyon, Texas; United States, Census of 186 0,

Troubles seemed to plague the Moores. Just before
their departure from Bosqueville, Billy accidentally fired
his pistol as he was cleaning it, and the bullet caused a
serious wound in his knee. The damage was so bad and the
risk of infection so great that, upon his arrival in Gal­
veston, physicians recommended that the limb be removed.
Moore agreed with the diagnosis and submitted to the sur­
165
gery on January 7, 1867. Moore's condition became critical,
and until the time of the sailing his wife remained unsure
22
whether or not he would live, much less be able to leave.
Another of McMullan's sisters, Louise, was married
to a former Hill County neighbor, John Odell. The couple
had no children and probably went with the rest of the
family because of the adventure and excitement the trip
offered. Little is known of the Odells before they decided
23
to join her brother's colony.
Manuscript Population Schedules, McLennan County, Texas,
Residence number 276 (June 19, 1860), Microfilm Publication,
National Archives; Effie Smith Arnold (Granddaughter
of William T. Moore and Virginia McMullan Moore), San
Antonio, Texas, to William C. Griggs, Lubbock, Texas,
interview, March 20, 19 73, tape recording in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.
^^Barnsley, "Notes and Information"; Frank McMullan,
Galveston, to Joaquim Maria Nascentes de Asambuja, New York,
January 6, 186 7, in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao,
P. 327; Hill County, Texas, Affidavit of Jasper McMullan,
Deed Records, 121 (April 29, 1909): 155-156.
^"^Robert Shaw to Hugh McMullan, Deed of 320 acres.
Land Certificate 854, Robertson 3rd, January 6, 1855, File
3187 (Hill County, Texas), General Land Office, Austin,
Texas.

166
Nancy McMullan, Frank's mother, may have had second
thoughts about the Brazilian venture but decided to go be­
cause of her oldest son's determined enthusiasm. Like her
brother, Judge Dyer, she had pioneered new land twice before
in Mississippi and Texas and saw no insurmountable problems
in going to Brazil. It is likely that her biggest regret
was leaving two daughters in Texas. Virginia (Mrs. George
L. Clark) lived in Johnson County and Martha Ann (Matt) was
married to merchant John B. Williams who lived in the Hill
County village of Towash. Nancy's youngest son, thirteen-
year-old Ney, stayed constantly at his mother's side and
would not have considered remaining in Texas.
Leonidas Sanders Bowen, affectionately called "Lon"
by his friends, was the eldest child of Colonel William
Bowen. Along with his sisters Mary, Susan, and Elizabeth,
and brothers Adam and William, he came to Galveston with
the McMullan family. Nancy agreed to care for the youngest
of the brood until they could join their father in Brazil.
24
Several other persons also reached Galveston by
mid-December. They included Othniel Weaver, at seventy-
two the oldest of the emigrants, and his family of three.
United States, Census of 1860, Manuscript Population
Schedules, Milam County, Texas, Residence number 36 2,
P. 1358; McLennan County, Probate Records, Vol. E. pp. 184-
185. The probate records list one of the children as Susan,
as does the Bowen Census, although the 1860 census lists
her as Sarah.

16 7
Widow Sarah Garlington and her thirteen-year-old son, Allen,
were present, as were Mrs. Garlington's good friends, the
W. A. (Billy) Gill family. W. E. Parks, Sarah Quillin's
father, accompanied preacher Elijah Quillin and the rest
of the family. Jacob Wingutter, his wife Susan, and ten-
year-old Amy also joined the campers on the Galveston
beach. Nelson Tarver, his wife Sarah, and their four chil­
dren, all formerly of Hill County, were early arrivals.
25
The entire group eventually numbered 154 persons.
Although a majority of those who waited at Galves­
ton for the brig Derby were small farmers, there were a
considerable number of professional men in the group. Of
those persons whose occupations can be determined, there
were three ministers, two judges, a teacher, an engineer,
a physician, a pharmacist, and a saddlemaker. In addition.
25
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67";
Bowen Census; Barnsley, "Notes and Information"; George
Scarborough Barnsley, "Original Reply to a Circular asking
for information of the Ex-Confederate emigrants, April,
1915," Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
Ellis Bailey, A History of Hill County, Texas 1838-1965
(Waco: Texian Press, 1966), p. 38. One of the Tarver
children was named Ben F. Tarver. It is not known whether
or not any connection exists, but Callender I. Fayssoux
and other officers who served under William Walker in 1857
stayed in the home of a Ben F. Tarver in Alabama in 1858
after their capture and release. See Callender I. Fayssoux,
Notebook kept aboard the Steamship Fashion from Mobile,
Alabama, to San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua, November 24,
1857, to January 12, 1858, Manuscript number 136, the
Callender I. Fayssoux Collection of William Walker Papers,
The Latin American Library, Tulane University, New Orleans,
Louisiana.

168
the emigrant ranks included a miner, a former Texas Ranger,
and a gambler. There were at least two stock raisers. It
is likely that most of the men were Confederate veterans,
although military records have been located for only about
fifteen of the emigrants. Of the sixty-seven men, twenty-
seven were bachelors, including several young men who still
lived with their families. As far as may be determined,
only four of the colonists received any college-level edu-
26
cation.
There were twenty-four families in the McMullan
colony which included twenty-seven women and sixty children
under the age of eighteen. Ages of all persons ranged from
one-year-old Mary Haynie to seventy-two-year-old Othniel
Weaver. The average age of all adults was thirty-three.
All of the emigrants except two, the Barnsley brothers
from Georgia, were Texans. Apparently, all of the colo­
nists except two were of southern birth. Calvin and Thomas
McKnight were born in Pennsylvania but moved to Texas long
At one time, Frank McMullan listed some of the
professions in the colony ranks, including farmers, stockraisers,
mechanics, civil engineers, ministers, school
teachers, a physician, and former soldiers. "No politician,"
he remarked. See "Loss of the Brig Derby," Flake's
Daily Galveston Bulletin, March 6, 1867, p. 2; Bowen Census;
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67"; Various state
militia muster rolls in the Texas State Archives, Austin,
Texas; McKenzie College Papers, Theological Library,
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas; Barnsley,
"Notes and Information about the Emigrants from the U.
States of 1867-68," Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina.

169
before the Civil War. Both served in the Confederate army.
One former slave. Judge Dyer's former servant, went to
27
Brazil.
It is difficult to determine how many persons who
went to Brazil with McMullan were slaveowners before the
Civil War, but it appears that the number was small. Most
emigrants would have been under twenty-five years of age
in 1860. Unless inherited, it is unlikely that many persons
of that age would have accumulated the estates necessary to
own and support slaves. None of them owned large blocs of
land that would have required quantities of slave labor.
The McMullan family, with about 1,000 acres in Hill County,
had the largest property holdings. Judge James H. Dyer
owned about one-half that amount. Although records show
that William Bowen was granted fourteen separate tracts in
Navarro County before the war, he patented none of them.
In 186 2, he owned only seventy-five acres. Wiley Beasley
patented 320 acres in Navarro County in 1856 and was
granted a like amount in Ellis County in 1860. Nelson
Tarver patented 640 acres in Freestone County in 1851 and
320 acres in Hill County in 1856. George and Lucian
Barnsley, from Cass (later Bartow) County, Georgia, owned
Bowen Census; Barnsley, "Notes and Information
about the Emigrants from the U. States of 1867-68,"
Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University
of North Carolina.

no property, although their father, Godfrey Barnsley, had
about 1,200 acres in northwest Georgia. However, he owned
28
only six slaves.
It is evident that none of the McMullan colonists
could be classified as "planters" with large plantations.
Neither does Frank McMullan's statement that many of the
colonists "possessed fortunes before the war" seem to be
valid. On the whole, the McMullan emigrants were young,
middle-to-low income southerners who saw Brazil as a chance
to get away from a new way of life in the South that they
felt might offer poverty, race problems, and possible
humiliation. On the other hand, they saw Brazil as a new
frontier, a place where determination, hard work, and cheap
29
land would allow them to prosper.
The anti-emigration editor of the Galveston News,
noticing the growing contingent of colonists wandering the
170
28
No attempt has been made to search all of the
land records of Hill, Navarro, Freestone, Limestone, Grimes,
Milam, McLennan, and Brazos counties. However, a diligent
examination has been made of Abstract of Land Titles of
Texas; Comprising the Titled, Patented, and Located Lands
in the State (2 vols.; Galveston: Shaw & Blaylock, 1878),
which lists all grants and patents of the period. Also,
see Hoffman, "Godfrey Barnsley, 1805-1873."
29
'George Scarborough Barnsley, Quatis de Barra
Mansa, Brazil, to Julia Von Schwartz, Kingston, Georgia,
January 20, 1874, Manuscript Section 204, Tennessee State
Library and Archives, Knoxville, Tennessee; Frank McMullan,
"Official Report to the Minister of Agriculture," in
Brazil, The Home for Southerners, pp. 174, 178-179;
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."

streets of Galveston, commented on their rural appearance
and expressed the fear that the emigrants did not realize
the trials and hardships they were to suffer.
171
We noticed a number of persons on the street yesterday
destined for Brazil. The party consisted of women and
children, convoyed by several men with guns on their
shoulders. All were evidently from the country, and
as we gazed upon them, could not help experiencing a
feeling of sadness, partly from thinking of the causes
that induced them to leave the land of their nativity,
and partly because they were about entering upon a life
new to them; and we fear, little think of the dangers,
trials, and hardships incident to being a stranger in
a strange land.30
The journalist's observations were, of course, correct.
But many more months were to pass before the emigrants
themselves would realize the wisdom of his words.
Frank McMullan left Central Texas in time to arrive
in New Orleans by December 6, one day after J. M. Oriol
had promised that the Derby would be ready to sail. Locat­
ing the ship, McMullan found that none of the promised work
had been completed. Worse, he learned that the ship had
been attached for an alleged debt of $1,257.23 against
Oriol. McMullan was forced to make bond for the claimed
indebtedness before the brig could even be moved. On
December 9, however, he had the ship towed to a dock "up
town" where work could be performed by John Robinson, a
31
ship's carpenter hired by McMullan
Galveston Daily News, January 18, 1867, p. 3.
31
Frank McMullan, "To My Friends in Texas, and to

It is certain that the Texans confronted Oriol and
asked him to explain the circumstances behind the seizure.
Although no record of the conversation has been found, it
is probable that the shipowner convinced McMullan that his
financial condition was indeed precarious and that he could
not have prevented the problem which occurred. Without
the means to lease another ship, McMullan was forced to
make the best of a bad situation. The longer the Derby
remained in New Orleans for fitting up, however, the worse
the picture became. The little brig was seized four more
times before it could leave the port, each legal action
32
necessitating the payment of fines by McMullan.
The real reason for the detention of the Derby is
unclear, but narratives of some of the participants specu­
172
late that the brig's commander. Captain Causse, the sheriff,
Harry Hays, and the owner, J. M. Oriol, conspired against
the hapless Texans in an attempt to keep them from leaving
the United States. The schemers probably sought to enrich
their own purses as much as possible. No advertisements
of a lien or sheriff's sale concerning the Derby appear in
New Orleans newspapers of December, 1866, although it was
common practice to publish such notices. Frank McMullan's
all good Southerners who think of going to Brazil," New
Orleans Times. January 24, 1867, p. 4.
Ibid.

.f%.
••-'*s^
.A"^ *
;
-j*;«r:i
F--^'t.\ r-*
'fl^ V* i
•»? »r •»•
,:4£.»ac;.:ic.'
%'*,•' -y-.
i,*'' ••11. '• ,5» ".'' •!

174
brother, Ney, recollected in later years that Captain Causse
"was implicated in these seizures and shared in the money
accruing from them." "The authorities . . . did everything
possible to prevent our sailing," Ney stated," seizing the
ship four times for false debts, which we were forced to
pay." Bellona Smith Ferguson also recalled the circum­
stances under which the troubles occurred and remarked
that "some say he [Causse] was bribed by the Yanks."
McMullan's own comments, although less positive, indicated
questionable acts by Oriol. "Besides being irresponsible,
insolvent, and entirely devoid of principle, [Oriol] is
33
incapable of fulfilling his contracts."
Because of the overwhelming expense of chartering
the Derby and paying the fines levied against it, it became
obvious that those who traveled on her would have to pay '
their passage in advance. Although this expedient would
not reimburse McMullan and others who had expended large
amounts, it would at least spread the burden. Based on
promises made to him by the Brazilian government, McMullan
confidently expected that everyone would be repaid after
their arrival at Iguape.
Although all of the necessary work on the Derby
33
Edwin Ney McMullan, "Texans Established Colony
in Brazil Just After Civil War," Semi-Weekly Farm News
(Dallas), January 25, 1916; Ferguson, "The American Colonies
Emigrating to Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 18;
Frank McMullan, "To My Friends in Texas."

had not been completed by mid-December, McMullan resolved
to get the ship underway as soon as it could be cleared
from New Orleans. This opportunity came on December 22
when the Derby, under Captain Causse, "sailed for Rio de
Janeiro under the British flag, 214 tons, crew of ten."
No one doubted, however, that the brig's first stop would
be Galveston.
McMullan noted with dismay that while fines de­
tained the Derby, another J. M. Oriol ship, the British
schooner Favorite, was supposedly accepting passengers for
Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, Brazil. According to a December
8, 1866, advertisement, the Favorite was to sail on the
15th "positively."
This vessel has been detailed at the request of a
great many of her passengers, but will certainly leave
as advertised. She can accommodate a few more passengers,
should they apply early and secure their passage
at [the office of] J. M. Oriol, 35 Natchez Street.
McMullan believed that the delay of the schooner was
another scheme of Oriol to defraud potential emigrants.
He consequently wrote a letter to the New Orleans Times
in which he warned that:
175
J. M. Oriol . . . , under the pretense of having vessels
up for Brazil, is decoying persons to that city.
Foreign Clearance, Ships Sailing from the Port
of New Orleans, June, 186 2, to January, 18 75, Bound Volume,
Record Group 36, The National Archives of the United
States, Washington, D.C.; Godfrey Barnsley, New Orleans,
Louisiana, to Lucian Barnsley, Galveston, Texas, December
24, 186 7, George Scarborough Barnsley Papers, Southern
Historical Collection, University of North Carolina.

176
collecting passage money from such as he can persuade to
pay him, by false statements that a vessel will leave on
such a day—then on another day—and so on—thus forcing
them, after a stay of some weeks, either to return to
their homes, or to seek transportation in some other
quarter.
Probably confused by Oriel's advertisements, the Daily
Picayune erroneously reported on December 21 that the colo-
nists in Galveston were waiting for the Favorite rather than
the Derby. "The Brazilian emigrants," it commented, are
camped outside the city, where they seem to be enjoying
themselves . . . patiently awaiting the arrival
of the English schooner Favorite, from this city,
chartered to take them to their new homes.^^
On November 15, weeks before the Derby was sched­
uled to arrive but after colonists began to gather in
Galveston, the Collector of the Port, General Loreh Kent,
issued orders that all vessels "carrying passengers, arriv­
ing or leaving port, shall be provided with all the require­
ments of the law, for insuring the comfort and safety of
those on board." It was an unusual order for a tax collec­
tor to issue, especially in light of the events which were
36
to occur in the weeks to come.
The Daily Picayune, December 8, 1866, p. 4; Frank
McMullan, "To My Friends in Texas"; The Daily Picayune,
December 21, 1866, p. 1.
^^The New Orleans Times, November 15, 186 7, p. 13;
Kent succeeded a Dr. Peebles in this job. He served until
the summer of 1867 when he died of yellow fever. Michael
E. Wilson (assistant archivist, Rosenberg Library), Galveston,
Texas, to William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas, July
"7^ 1979, in possession of William C. Griggs.

The arrival of Frank McMullan from Louisiana soon
after January 1, 1867, provided the occasion for relief and
guarded optimism among the persons who were camped on the
Galveston beach. McMullan told them that the Derby had
sailed from New Orleans on December 22 and that it should
arrive in Texas about January 7. McMullan also discussed
the problems that he had faced with Oriol. He apologized
177
to the emigrants but stated that the delay and inconvenience
were "... not attributable to any fault or neglect of
mine . . . [and] the difficulties arose from dealing with
an irresponsible party." Writing from Galveston to the
New Orleans Times, McMullan stated that he was "willing to
submit to these little inconveniences looking forward to
the great good. I have no fears for the future. I know
the country I am going to." If any of the colonists had
misgivings, the heavy investment already spent made it too
late to turn back. An amount in excess of $7,50 0 had been
spent on leasing the ship, including the fraudulent fines,
and another $23,00 0 had been expended for machinery, agri­
cultural implements, seed, and other supplies. The entire
sum was furnished by the colonists, a large percentage by
McMullan and Dyer.^"^
Meeting with the colonists, McMullan painfully
announced his decision that everyone would have to pay
^"^Frank McMullan, "To My Friends in Texas"; "Wrecked
Emigrants," The New York Times, March 28, 186 7, p. 2.

their passage in advance, to be returned upon arrival in
Brazil. As everyone had counted on the promises of the
Brazilian government that passage could be repaid over a
four-year period, they were extremely disappointed. They
did not blame McMullan, as they realized his critical cash
problem, but nevertheless "discontent and grumbling
38
abounded in the camp."
On January 26, Frank McMullan addressed another
letter to Minister de Azambuja in New York. He notified
the minister that the Derby finally had sailed from New
Orleans "after many perplexities and disappointments" and
was expected hourly in Galveston. "One hundred fifty-four
persons are here," said McMullan, "and have been here more
178
than five weeks on heavy expenses, awaiting the happy moment
when they could set sail for our new 'land of promise.'"
Continuing, the Texan leader talked of his brother-in-law's
firearms accident.
In his debilitated condition, the chances are against
his recovery. His heart is set on Brazil, and he says
he will go with us, even if he has to be buried in the
ocean a day after we leave shore. This man fought four
years for the South, and received no injury. How hard
it is to be stricken down thus.
McMullan asked his pardon for "speaking of domestic affairs,"
but remarked that "my troubles of all kinds have weighted
heavily on me, and my health is fast failing me. I am
38 Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."

hardly able to be up." The mental stress of the problems
in New Orleans clearly had added an additional burden to
39
McMullan's deteriorating physical condition.
In an effort to avoid possible problems in the
future, McMullan asked that Minister de Azambuja remind
the government authorities in Brazil to be sure that the
conditions were fulfilled. "I hope to find our lands sur­
veyed as agreed on," said McMullan,
179
With 640 acre tracts, on arriving at them; also, that
I hope to find shelter for my people, as agreed on.
I have promised them these things, on the strength of
the promises made to me by the Government. Their
detention here has caused them so many disappointments,
and such heavy expenses, that I hope they meet none on
arriving at Brazil.^0
McMullan also noted that Reverend Ballard S. Dunn
was still in New Orleans when he left on the 22nd. Dunn,
like McMullan, was making arrangements for a ship and
finalizing lists of emigrants who wanted to settle at
"Lizzieland." Dunn also wrote de Azambuja and offered
encouraging news regarding his efforts in New Orleans.
"Everything moves as well as could be expected," said Dunn.
"Our emigration will prove a success." Dunn said that his
book, Brazil, The Home for Southerners, "is stirring the
best in our people tremendously." The parson stated that
Frank McMullan, Galveston, Texas, to Joaquim
Maria Nascentes de Azambuja, New York, January 6, 1867,
in Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao, pp. 327-328.
Ibid.

he was receiving as many as twenty-five letters per day
asking for information about ordering the little volume.
Dunn further told de Azambuja that he planned to leave
New Orleans about the last of March with one or two hun­
180
dred families. "The opposition is strong," Dunn continued,
"but the feeling to go is intense."
In Galveston, McMullan was asked by other potential
emigrants about reliable transportation to Brazil. With
the Derby already filled, McMullan made inquiries about a
reliable agent whom they could contact. After warning
would-be Brazilians that they should have a perfect under­
standing with any contractor with whom they decided to deal,
McMullan contacted a reputable passenger line in an effort
to arrange for a ship. He was evidently successful, for
on January 6, the Galveston Daily News published an announce­
ment which declared.
Those bound for Brazil will be glad to see that they
have an opportunity to secure a passage by calling on
Le Baron Drury & Son. We understand that there are
several persons now in this city desiring such a passage,
and that others are constantly coming from the
country with their families on the way to Brazil.
Ballard S. Dunn, New Orleans, to Joaquim Maria
Nascentes de Azambuja, New York, January 14, 1867, in
Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao, p. 328.
42 Frank McMullan, "To My Friends in Texas " .
Galveston Daily News, January 8, 186 7, p. 2.

By January 8, the watch for the Derby ended. The
little ship sailed into Galveston harbor and was anchored
"in the stream," the area north of the island proper near
the docks. McMullan and the other colonists were delighted
to see the brig and immediately began making arrangements
to get on board. A committee of the older men in the party
purchased supplies, including bacon, flour, hard tack, corn
meal, beans, and vinegar. In addition, they bought two
barrels of kraut to help tide the party over until they
reached Brazil. The emigrants checked their baggage one
last time, then began to dismantle the little tent city
43
prior to getting aboard.
The colonists, including Frank McMullan, were un­
prepared for the events which were to delay them once more.
The captain's steward, probably at the instigation of
Captain Causse, went almost immediately after arrival to
General Kent, the Collector of the Port, with the charge
that the brig leaked badly and generally was unfit for sea.
In view of his announcement on November 15 in which he had
declared that ships must be "Provided with the requirements
of the law, for insuring the comfort and safety of those
on board," Kent immediately declared that the Derby could
^ 44
not sail until those requirements were met.
Galveston Daily News, January 8, 186 7, p. 3.
"^^George Scarborough Barnsley, "Notes on Brazil,
181

Frank McMullan could hardly believe that he was to
be faced, once again, with problems in leaving port for
Brazil. He immediately went to Kent and demanded to know
the real reasons behind his restrictions on the Derby.
When the general did not give what McMullan considered to
be a satisfactory answer, the Texan demanded an inspection
of the brig by an impartial team of experts. His hand
called, Kent reluctantly agreed to appoint such a survey
board.
The inspection team consisted of three men. Kent
named Peter Norris as the representative of the United
States Government. M. W. Danton was appointed in his
capacity as a master ship carpenter, while James E. Havi-
land represented the interests of the marine underwriters.
The three men consumed nearly three weeks of precious time
in their survey of the Derby, an inspection which revealed
few problems on board and suggested that perhaps the pro­
hibition against sailing was more fabricated than real.
Declaring that they had no part in the controversy
regarding the seaworthiness of the vessle, the three men
issued the following statement:
Especially with reference to its adaptability to English
and American Emigrants," Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina; New Orleans Times, November
15, 1866, p. 2.
182

183
We find her tight, and after boring her [the Derby] many
places find her comparatively sound, strong, and staunch,
and has good spore and rigging, one good suit of sales
[sic]—require extra mainsail and topsails. We find the
upper rudder pintle requires to be repaired by bushing
or otherwise; that her house pipes are insecure and will
have to be put in good condition; anchors and chains
good; we find one boat and recommend that her master procure
two more; we find no ventilators in the deck and
recommend one to be put in, to ventilate the after portion
of the berth deck; we find that she has an ample
number of water casks on board, part filled, balance requires
to be filled; also has an ample stock of provisions,
a physician and stock of medicine; good sanitary
and police regulations, well arranged for the comfort
and safety of passengers on board bound for Brazil.45
The report of Norris, Danton, and Haviland did not change
the opposition of General Kent to the departure of the
Derby. As a result of the inspection, however, McMullan
attempted to repair what could reasonably be done without
the expenditure of huge sums of money. Additional ventila­
tors in the decks, for instance, would have been a prohibi­
tive expense. Although it is not known whether an addi­
tional set of sails was added, they probably were not. One
additional life boat was added. Despite the emigrant's in­
ability to act on all of the recommendations of the inspec­
tion team, the Derby finally received clearance to leave on
January 26. One colonist later wrote that the release was
achieved after the payment of "a big sum that impoverished
our people very much."
^^Daily Evening Bulletin (Flake's Evening Bulletin,
Galveston), January 22, 1867.
Ac
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," Times of Brazil, December 18, 19 36; Ferguson,
"Emiarati nrr -i-o Pr-a-7-;i -JI-. 1866-67."

The mass of baggage, equipment, implements, and
personal belongings was loaded into the Derby as quickly
as possible. It soon became apparent that space was at a
184
premium and that if storage was not handled more efficiently
there would not be sufficient room for passengers. McMullan
pleaded that the emigrants leave behind those items which
served no real purpose, but they ignored the appeal and the
mass of miscellaneous baggage was moved to the rear of the
ship's hold. An adequate amount of room was made. Every­
one at last got aboard and preparations were made to cast
47
off for Brazil.
Finally, the colonists were in the position to
contemplate the words of an unreconstructable rebel who
tongue-in-cheek wrote the following lines:
How sweet all day, on diamond reefs to lie;
While 'long the wanton waves, sweet mermaids lie;
While far above, the condor (bird most rare I)
Proud breathes his native air.
Sweeping in circles there!
Oh, give me a ship, with sail, and with wheel.
And let me be off to happy Brazil!
Home of the sumbeam—great kingdom of Heat,
With woods ever green—and snakes forty feet!
Land of the diamond—bright nation of Pearls,
With monkeys plenty, and Portuguese girls!
How sweet all night, on a hammock to swing.
While grief and woe to the devil are fling;
Up, 'mong the leaves of a lofty cocoa
Unceasingly to go
To and fro, to and fro!
47 Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."

Oh, give me a ship, with sail and with wheel.
And let me be off to happy Brazil!
I long to rest 'neath her broad-spreading palm,—
Gaze at her rivers, so placid and calm,—
Pluck her gold fruits, so delicious and sweet.
And try a taste of her guanaco meat!
How sweet in death, in dismal swamps to sleep!
While 'bove you, buzzards sad vigils keep!
While o'er your bones, slimy reptiles crawl—
Eating—devouring all;
Till you in pieces fall!
Oh, give me a ship, with sail, and with wheel.
And let me be off to happy Brazil!
I yearn to feel her "perpetual spring,"
And shake by the hand, Don Pedro, her King;
Kneel at his feet—call him 'My Royal Boss!'
And receive in return, 'Welcome, Old Hoss!'^^
By late January, 1867, another set of problems had
finally been resolved by Frank McMullan and his colonists.
A ship, the Derby, had been leased at New Orleans and,
although a myriad of troubles were faced before it could
clear the port, it finally sailed for Galveston. There,
once again, it was detained by authorities for nearly a
month. Finally, near the end of January, the 154 prospec­
185
tive emigrants who had been camped on the beach for as long-
as sixty days were finally allowed to board the ship. The
trip to Brazil and a new home was at hand.
The South-Western (Shreveport, Louisiana), September
13, 1865, p. 1. Lawrence F. Hill, The Confederate
Exodus to Latin America (Austin: Texas State Historical
Association, 1936), p. [18], cites a revised version of the
poem from the New Orleans Daily Picayune, March 18, 1866,
which was supposed to have come from the Galveston News.

CHAPTER VI
THE WRECK OF THE DERBY
By the time Galveston authorities finally decided
to release the brig Derby from port, Frank McMullan was
virtually exhausted and looked forward to the month-long
sea voyage to renew both his outlook and his health. If
he had known that the trip was to be yet another even more
serious problem, it is unlikely that he would have con­
tinued. A showdown with Captain Causse loomed soon after
the Derby sailed and, except for the lack of a qualified
replacement, the indignant colonists probably would have
removed him from command. A ferocious winter storm soon
churned the Gulf waters and the little brig was tossed
onto Cuba's shore, perhaps with some help from Captain
Causse.
On January 25, 1867, the Derby was ready to sail.
Food and water had been put on board, repairs had been
completed, and most baggage, equipment, and supplies had
been placed in the hold. Bunks had been constructed in
steerage and, for those who could afford them, cabins had
been assigned. The only impediment was the reluctance of
General Kent to give permission for the emigrants to leave
186

This he grudgingly issued late in the afternoon. Although
the day was too nearly spent for clearing port that day,
McMullan issued orders to the colonists that they should
be ready to sail as soon as possible on the 26th. Before
the sun rose, breakfast campfires already were burning as
they made final preparations to leave. The emigrants said
good-byes to the friends they had made on the island, and
by mid-morning families made their way to the pier.
Loading delays and final adjustments on board kept
the Derby at the pier until mid-afternoon, when the crew at
last raised the anchor, cast off the ropes, and unfurled
the sails. The little brig slowly made her way through the
narrow channel between Fort Point and Fort Bolivar in the
bay and crossed the bar into the open sea. Although the
anticipation for leaving had been building for weeks, there
were few persons on board "whose heart did not grow sad as
187
Frank McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby," Flake's
Daily Galveston Bulletin, March 6, 186 7, p. 2; George
Scarborough Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New
Orleans Times," February 15, 186 7, in "Notebook," George
Scarborough Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North
Carolina. Other dates of sailing varied considerably.
Eugene B. Smith set the date at February 22, 1867, and
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson erroneously remembered, in
different accounts, both March 18 and January 22, 1867.
See Eugene B. Smith, "Sailing Down to Rio in 1866-67,"
Brazilian American (Rio de Janeiro), March 9, 1931, pp.
o-y; Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil
in 1866-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen Colony," MS,
May 29, 19 35, Blanche Henry Clark Weaver Papers, in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.

the land faded in the dim distance as the sun's last rays
glitter[ed] on the sandy beach and lingered on the far off
prairies." The reality of actually going away seemed dif­
ferent, somehow, than the talk that had consumed them for
months, and was "as chilling as the icy hour of death."
In order to thwart any further attempts by port
188
authorities to keep the Derby from leaving, Frank McMullan,
Judge Dyer, and others had not publicly discussed the im­
plication of Captain Causse in the scheme which had caused
the payment of false fines in New Orleans. No doubt, if
such accusations had been made, it would have been diffi­
cult, if not impossible, for McMullan to have obtained
permission for the ship to leave for Brazil. Once away
from United States shores, however, the leaders felt no
qualms about bringing the entire affair to light. The
ship had been away from the port only a matter of hours
when McMullan called a meeting of the emigrants to discuss
3
the matter.
The saloon of the Derby was the only area on board
large enough to hold a large meeting. Located in the
middle of the ship, the room contained a long wooden table
George Scarborough Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization
in Brazil: The American (and English) Attempt at Colonization
in Brazil—1866-67," Brazilian American (Rio de
Janeiro), March 10, 1928, p. 6.
^Ibid.

nailed to the floor. In lieu of chairs, a row of trunks
surrounded the table. The room had no windows, and venti­
lation was obtained by opening the fore and main hatches.
Small halls, too tiny for two persons to pass each other
easily, linked the saloon with the "staterooms"—accommoda­
tions one writer described as "nothing else but boxes with
4
shelves for human bundles."
It seemed obvious that the colonists would discuss
serious business as they filed into the saloon. Neither
the captain nor the crew attended at first, as the entire
sequence of events had to be explained in detail to every­
one so that a concensus could be reached. Everyone present
soon came to the same verdict; the evidence seemed clear
that Causse had been behind most of the problems both in
New Orleans and in Galveston. It seemed obvious to the
5
colonists that the captain was not to be trusted further.
The emigrants dispatched a message to Captain
Causse ordering him to the saloon so that they might dis­
cuss the charges against him. Leaving his cabin with the
messenger, Causse no doubt knew the reason for the summons
and was determined to contest the charge. The colonists
^Ibid.
^Ibid. Also, see Edwin Ney McMullan, "Texans
Established Colony in Brazil Just After Civil War," Semi-
Weekly Farm News (Dallas), January 25, 1916; Barnsley,
Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans Times."
189

carefully explained the case to the shipmaster and pointed
out to him that they distrusted his intentions. They for­
bade him to enter any United States port, a m.aneuver
190
planned by Causse "to take on water." In plain words, they
told Causse that they considered the officers of the United
States "inimical to their emigration" and that they sus-
pected he planned to wreck the ship rather than continue
to Brazil. They told the captain they were aware that the
ship's owner was deeply in debt and that the vessel was
heavily insured. This represented one more reason, they
said, for their distrust of him. As Causse continued to
deny the charges against him, the emigrants made more and
more speeches, "some angry and violent," as the weeks of
frustration finally found an outlet for relief. One pas­
senger finally suggested that the problem could be solved
easily by dumping the captain overboard, a cry some quickly
seconded. Others suggested that he be shot or hung.
Realizing the deepening seriousness of the situa­
tion. Captain Causse finally began to show signs of repent­
ance. Tearfully, he asked how the ship would be operated
if he were done away with. No one else on board, he
pleaded, knew how to navigate, a necessary skill if the
Derby were to ever reach Brazil. George Barnsley was
^Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans
Times"; Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."

detailed to question the balance of the crew on the sub­
191
ject. Surely, someone else on board had studied navigation
at some time and could assume the captain's duties. After
questioning the first mate and the cook, Barnsley reported
back to the emigrants that Causse's claim was correct.
Obviously the captain must be retained. Barnsley later
said that he had studied navigation while in college, but
evidently for Causse's sake had not admitted the skill at
7
that time.
In order to impress upon Causse the seriousness
and resolve of the emigrants, McMullan told the captain
that he would be closely watched and that any deviation
from the wishes of the colonists, especially in regard to
docking at a United States port, "would be summarily dealt
with." Causse, according to one account, "took the matter
philosophically, made a little speech to the passengers in
which he bowed to the inevitable and promised to plumb the
straight and narrow path for the rest of the trip."
Causse's later actions were to prove, however, that he
still was not to be trusted. One colonist commented that g
"from that hour the vessel was doomed, if chance occurred."
The problem of adequate water to make the trip
"^Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil";
McMullan, "Texans Established Colony."
^E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony";
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."

ecame evident when the colonists discovered that only
two casks had been filled before the ship sailed from
Galveston. Because such a small quantity could create
problems, the emigrants decided the Derby should proceed
to the mouth of the Mississippi River opposite New Orleans
where fresh water could be obtained. A lingering worry
about the problems Captain Causse could create if the ship
were boarded by United States officials, however, soon
caused a change of heart. When, after one week at sea,
the Derby approached the delta, the Texans gave orders to
proceed as quickly as possible for Havana. With careful
use, they determined that water on board could be stretched
for five days. In addition to the drinking water dilemma,
a leak which developed in the hull of the Derby on its
trip from New Orleans to Galveston began to increase
slightly and added to the concern of those on board. The
colonists decided that the ship should be put in the
9
Havana dry dock for repair before proceeding to Brazil.
192
Frank McMullan, "Loss of Brig Derby," attributes
the shortage of drinking water to leakage of casks. Barnsley,
"Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans Times," says
only two casks were on board. Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson,
"The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil," Times
of Brazil (Sao Paulo), December 18, 1936, pp. 18-19;
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil," says that adequate
water was available for only five days. The same
writer, in "Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans Times,"
says there was enough for fourteen days. The five day
figure is more believeable. If water for two weeks had
been available, there would have been little need for
concern.

The first day after the Derby left "the yellow
waters of the delta" at New Orleans, it sailed a southeast
course. A fair wind was blowing which bade well for a
quick trip. Within five days the ship would be in Havana.
The second day out from the Crescent City the winds began
to become "baffling and variable" and continued in that
manner until February 8 when they became calm. The sails
"flopped lazily against the mast" and the little brig was
virtually adrift, moving only as fast as the waters of the
Gulf Stream could take it. The "ominous cry for water
arose on all sides," and rations became "scarcer and
scarcer." If it had not been for a rain a few days earlier
when a hogshead of water had been caught, the situation
would have become serious.
As the Derby sailed closer and closer to Cuba, the
colonists felt gentle warm breezes, a sharp contrast to
the mild winter weather they experienced in their camp at
Galveston. Time passed slowly and the emigrants searched
for activities with which to fill the long hours on board
ship. Some lounged on deck, taking advantage of the tropi­
cal sunshine. A few of the women and children, probably
led by teacher Alfred I. Smith or widow Rachel Russell,
193
sang songs. Some of the Texans, uninterested in the company
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil";
Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans Times."

of others, snoozed between decks. A few, wishing to be
better prepared for their arrival in Brazil, took lessons
in Portuguese from Frank McMullan. The older members of
the party "conversed on the hopes of seeing the land yet
uncursed by misrule."
George Barnsley preferred a more dramatic spot to
spend his time and climbed into the chains which graced
the ship's bowsprit. From this vantage point, he "watched
the scintillations of the sun-fish down deep in the clear
gulf-stream." Barnsley's eloquent description of the scene
years later bears retelling. "The air was soft," he re­
called,
A delicious languor pervaded the body; dreamy thoughts
of the isles of the Lotus Eaters came; chanting their
melodies in unison with the gentle whispers of the
zephyrs; minute waves lazily lifted up their voices
as they beat against the vessel's side or danced in
wild delight of eddying whirls in the rear.12
In another, less poetic mood, Barnsley described
the scene in a more realistic tone.
Away to the home of summer we scude for seven days and
nights amusing ourselves in the meantime with the mental
occupation of idle talks and quarrels, besides in
the physical digestion of balls of fat and toughest of
stuff worthy of patent by the New York Guttapercha Co.
The last gentle and wholesome occupation produced
diarrhea and other ills.^^
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."
Ibid.
Ibid.
194

On February 9, there was no inkling that any prob­
195
lems might be encountered. The day was still and beautiful.
In the distance two sailing ships could be seen and "a
great whale lay in full view, basking on the great waters."
Most of the passengers had "passed the initial stages of
sea sickness, and the youngsters were having the time of
their lives." Early in the afternoon, however, the wind
began to quicken and "the vessel ploughed along gallantly."
The breeze was welcomed, as it would only hasten their
trip. Tomorrow, they would be in Havana. By 3:00 P.M.,
however, the breeze had turned into a high wind as a squall-
line bore down on the Derby from the northwest. As the
norther hit, the sea quickly assumed the proportions of a
tropical storm. Even with the sails reefed. Captain Causse
14
could hold the wheel only with great difficulty.
After dark the fury of the storm increased. The
waves became "mountains high" and huge quantities of water
poured over the decks of the Derby and spilled into the
hatchways, filling the lower decks to ankle-depth. "The
good ship Derby," recalled Dr. Barnsley, "danced over and
through the angry waste of waters." All at once Captain
Causse began to move quickly, ordering the brig's sails
unfurled. This was highly unusual in that other ships in
14
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil"; McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby"; Barnsley,
"Foreign Colonization in Brazil."

the area had furled all sails, and "seemed to be trying to
get away from some point to which . . . [the Derby] was
headed." By 9:00 P.M. the "yardarms were touching the
water, and the sails, except for the flying jib, had to be
furled once more." The wind became steadily more furious
and "the chant of the Norseman's song was howled and
screeched through the rigging." Parson Quillin walked the
swaying deck, shaking his head and saying, "0 we are gave
196
up, we are gave up!" "Scared?" said Bellona Smith, "There's
no name for it. " Captain Causse expressed much distress
and told those who would hear that all "would be in Heaven
15
or Hell within twenty-four hours."
The leak in the hull of the Derby, suffering be­
cause of the intense battering of the waves, continued to
worsen. Water poured from a crack, adding depth to that
which had spilled below deck from the open hatches. Be­
cause of the increasing threat, some of the passengers
began to take turns on the hand pumps, as there were not
enough sailors aboard to man them. Eugene Smith and Cortez
Fielder took the first shift from 8:00 to 10:00 P.M. When
the time came for relief, none was found. Smith cautiously
crawled toward the back of the cabin to look for help. He
E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony";
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil"; Ferguson,
"The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil"; Barnsley,
"Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans Times."

located no assistance, but did discover that the helm had
197
been tied down and abandoned by the captain and that every­
one had gone below to go to sleep. The only person on
deck was Smith's friend and bunk-mate, Walter Schofield.
When Smith asked if he was not going to join the others
and go below to bed, Schofield replied that he was "going
to stay right there till the day or something else hap­
pened." Smith declared that he was too sleepy for fear to
have any influence on him and, after trying unsuccessfully
to rouse his and Fielder's replacements for the pumps,
headed for his bunk. Smith later recalled that he took
16
off no clothes except his hat and was soon fast asleep.
Lucian Barnsley, George's younger brother, was
unable to sleep and ventured onto the deck during the
height of the storm. He saw that no one was manning the
pumps and realized the the problem of leakage had become
grave. Moreover, he found the tied ship's wheel and real­
ized that the captain had deserted his post. About 1:00
or 2:00 A.M., Lucian called his brother to inform him of
the situation. Alarmed, George got out of bed and, within
minutes, climbed through his cabin window to the deck. He
quickly analyzed the situation, then went below to rouse
others to assist in manning the pumps, "an exercise," said
Barnsley, "which was attended with waste of time and
^Smith, "Sailing Down to Rio."

curses." Two men did volunteer to help, however, and "a
17
desultory pumping was kept up" until about 3:30 A.M.
The storm continued to roar into the night and
many of those who found sleep earlier could no longer stay
in their bunks. Young Ney McMullan, once of those who was
awake, later described the scene:
The waves towered in maddening heights; their summits
were torn away by the force of the wind and scattered
and driven like blinding rain over the face of the
deep, making it impossible to see but a short distance
beyond the ship. The night was made hideous by the
incessant roll and plunge of the ship, its creaking
timbers, which seemed to groan under the strain of
the mighty waves; and the intermittant shrieks of the
wind through the rigging grated on our nerves like a
death dirge portending our impending doom.^^
The fury of the storm also awakened Frank McMullan and
Judge Dyer who ventured onto the deck to view the effects
of the high seas and wind. When the men found that the
helm had been tied and the captain had deserted his post,
they tried to correct the situation. With drawn pistols,
they and several other men went to Causse's cabin, called
him out, and forced him to untie the ship's wheel and try
19
to guide the Derby through the tempest.
About 4:00 A.M. one of the passengers on deck saw
the rocks of Cuba, no more than one thousand yards away.
•^"^Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."
•^^E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony."
"^^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil. "
198

"Land! land!," he cried, in an attempt to rouse the pas­
sengers and crew. McMullan, realizing that the situation
was critical and that the Derby probably would strike the
rocks within minutes, returned to his cabin, then woke his
sister and brother-in-law. Dr. Moore, and told them to get
dressed. He informed them of the dangerous situation but
told his sister not to get excited. He then went toward
his mother's cabin, intending to say the same to her and
other members of his family. About the time he reached
the cabin door the Derby struck a reef. "The awful crash—
such a one as I never heard or felt before—came, driven
by the breakers of the angry ocean." Continuing, McMullan
recounted that he was,
Knocked down with a force which seemed to jar every
bone in me—my whole person badly bruised—it seemed
that an ocean of flood spray swept over me-—and I
caught at random some of the rigging to keep from
going overboard. I thought the vessel was crushed
and dashed in a thousand pieces, and that all were
lost. These impressions rushed through my mind in
less than a second of time.20
After assuring himself that his mother and the
rest of his family were safe, McMullan rushed back to the
199

demanded that they stop immediately. They reinforced their
orders with drawn revolvers and the crew watched as the
waves dashed the boat to splinters against the hull of
w 21
the ship.
The women and children rushed to the saloon, the
only room on board large enough to hold them all at one
time. There was little panic "outside of a few women who
screamed and clung to their husbands." Ney McMullan
described the scene and recollected the heroics of all
on board:
200
Every man, so far as I know or ever heard, proved himself
a hero. Among the most conspicuous was Judge
J. H. Dyer, who lectured the women on their behavior,
making them take the most advantageous positions possible,
and bidding them to be perfectly calm, telling
them if they were saved it must come through the
efforts of the men, and that these must be free to use
both body and mind to the best advantage possible, which
they could not do if excited by the cries of their wives
and children. After this lecture every woman became a
heroine, and stood her post like a stoic.22
The huge waves continued to pound the Derby against
the rocks. She was taking on water rapidly and seemed to
be sinking fast. The "flood of water was so overwhelming
and the shock so terrific that many . . . believed that
E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony." It
is interesting that Frank McMullan mentions neither the
lifeboat incident or the trip to the captain's cabin with
drawn pistols. Both accounts come from very reliable narratives.
It is likely that McMullan did not want to be
accused of mutiny and did not want to make any statement
which might be considered to be an admission of such.
^^E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony."

the ship had gone to pieces and [that they] were adrift
among its timbers." In a last ditch effort to save the
ship. Captain Causse,
Shouted to the crew above the roar of the storm, 'Cut
away the mast!' repeating it time and time again, with
a long string of wild, reckless oaths; but the axe
could not be found in time to avail anything. Crash
after crash came, as the long rolls of angry, whitecrested
waves broke in rapid succession over us, dashing
the vessel against the stubborn rocks.
201
23
"The Derby," said Frank McMullan, "would soon be no more."
The crewmen and passengers remained remarkably
quiet. Some prayed, asking the "Work of Waves and Creation
to take them ... to his care." Others, veterans of the
Civil War, "were amused, accustomed as they had been to the
dangers and deaths of a hundred battles." But none had
long to ponder his fate, for another gigantic wave carried
the Derby pell-mell toward the rocky shore. Dropping the
ship as if it were a toy, the wave left it almost on the
beach, solidly wedged between boulders. Despite repeated
onslaughts by the sea, the ship held together, although
its timbers groaned under the pressure of the waves. Its
rigging crashed against the masts, and the cargo, loose
24
from its moorings, thudded against the shattered hull.
George Barnsley, after checking to be sure that
^^McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby"; Ferguson,
"The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil."
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."

his brother Lucian had not been washed overboard, rushed
to the cabin of William T. Moore to check on his patient's
202
condition. On entering the room, he found Moore, his wife,
and their child, calmly sitting on a mattress. The three
were covered, however, with the contents of the captain's
pantry, which had been driven aft by the concussion of
the wreck. Describing the scene, Barnsley said that it
was a compound mess.
Of macaroni, pickles, flour, molasses, etc., which
mingled with contents of a part of my medicine chest;
a box of chloride of lime burst open; the floor being
smooth with oil carpeting, at every lurch of the ship
a general race on the steeplechase principle would
commence; and I must say that my patient generally
came out victorious although the chloride of lime did
well, the molasses jug always coming in last, while
the pickles performed sundry fine leaps.
One other passenger, however, was not so fortunate. When
the Derby struck the rocks, C. A. Crawley, formerly of
Fairfield, Texas, fell off the table where he was sleeping
and broke his collar bone. Although Crawley was in pain,
his injury was not extremely serious. Barnsley treated
the man as best he could and tried to make him as comfort-
2S
able as possible.
Frank McMullan was extremely proud of the conduct
of the passengers on the Derby during the storm and wreck.
In a letter to the New Orleans Picayune, he stated that
it was
^^Ibid.; Smith, "Sailing Down to Rio"; McMullan,
"Loss of the Brig Derby."

203
With particular pride that I can say I do not believe
a single man among the passengers was excited. Everyone
was calm, and in full exercise of his reason.
There was no confusion or rush anywhere. And God bless
our ladies. I venture that, in the whole history of
shipwrecks, their conduct has no parallel. They had
been told to stay below until called upon, and they did
it in every instance. They were calm, resigned, and
confiding. Who, that was not present, can realize that,
when experiencing a shipwreck, such perfect order could
prevail! Will not such people be an acquisition to
Brazil or any other country?26
Another step had been taken on the road to Brazil.
In this case, however, the step had been backward. The
Derby was irretrievably wrecked. Fortunately, no one had
been killed. The conduct of Captain Causse in abandoning
his post during the height of the storm had justified the
fears of many of the colonists who, in the general meeting
in the saloon, had not believed the master's promise that
he would cause no more problems. Be as it may, the wreck
of the Derby necessitated a new assessment by the colonists
of their future course of action.

CHAPTER VII
DELAYS IN CUBA AND VIRGINIA
The shipwreck of the Derby on the coast of Cuba
was to be a discouraging and disappointing turn of events
for the Texan colonists who were endeavoring to get to
their new homes in Brazil. Yet, the accident was still
not to be the end of their troubles. A lengthy wait was
in store for them at a generous landowner's plantation
before they could once more board a ship. Even then, they
were to find that they could not go directly to South
America; they would be forced to sail for New York in order
to secure a Brazil-bound steamer. If they had known that
they would suffer the torment of high seas, violent winds,
icy rain, and fog, it is possible that some emigrants might
have felt that the penalty was not worth the price. An
even more harrowing experience was in store as they were
to barely escape a collision with another vessel before
docking first at Norfolk, then at Newport News, Virginia.
From there, they had to muster the nerve, once again, to
go to sea on their way to New York. They could only hope
that arrangements would be made by the Brazilian Emigration
Agency for them to board a ship for Brazil.
204

205
As the sun's rays streaked the horizon on the morn­
ing of February 10, the remnant of the storm lingered and
the breakers that crashed in a deafening roar over the
rocks of Bahia Honda were a sight to behold. The waves
were ten to fifteen feet high and a beautiful blue color,
their crests topped with brilliant blue foam. "It was a
grand scene," said one colonist, "old ocean in its grandest
phase. " The beach of irregular coral sometimes formed a
shelf-like flat and at other places thrust up or down pre­
cipitously creating an extremely dangerous sawtooth shore.
The Derby wrecked at an extermely fortuitous loca­
tion, lodging between boulders which held the brig in an
upright position and prevented the waves from dashing the
little ship and her cargo into bits. Had the storm beached
her a quarter of a mile east or west, she likely would have
sunk in twenty fathoms of water. As it was, the green
shores of Cuba beckoned the "shipwrecked crowd," taunting
them with a short but threatening stretch of swirling water
Bahia Honda is a small bay on the northwest coast
of Cuba. A July 2, 190 3 agreement between the United States
and Cuba allowed the Americans to lease Bahia Honda as a
coaling and naval station along with Guantanamo Bay. The
lease option was not extended and was allowed to lapse.
See United States, Department of the Interior, Boundaries,
Areas, Geographic Centers and Altitudes of the United
States and the Several States, 2nd Ed., Geographical Survey
auiietin 817 (Washington: Go"vernment Printing Office,
1932), p. 56; George Scarborough Barnsley, Plaza de Banes,
Cuba, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, February
19, 1867, Barnsley Papers, Manuscript Department, William R.
Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

and sharp rocks. With every breaker, too, the ship rocked
to and fro, making the task of reaching land seem more and
2
more difficult.
Captain Causse, his aspect almost completely
changed from his scowling appearance at 4:00 A.M., buoyed
the scared and hopeless-feelings of the Texans with smiles
and cheering words. He called to his crew and summoned a
sailor to his side. The skipper nimbly tied a bowline
around the man's waist and with the help of Second Mate
Abies lowered the seaman over the railing. After the first
crewman was safely on the rocks, Causse let down several
more men, making sure that there would be plenty of assist­
ance as the women and children left the ship in the same
206
manner. Reaching the boulders below the deck of the wrecked
craft, however, formed only one part of the journey to the
shore. To reach land, the passengers had to leap into the
surf just at the right minute, then ride the waves onto the
beach. This was an extremely difficult maneuver even for
a strong man, much less the already exhausted women and
children. Two colonists, eager to reach land, were almost
killed as the tide swept them into jagged rocks. Although
2 George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, February 19,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University; Edwin Ney McMullan,
"Texans Established Colony in Brazil Just After Civil War,"
Semi-Weekly Farm News (Dallas), January 25, 1916; Frank
McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby," Flake's Daily Galveston
g^letin, March 6, 1867, p. 2.

they made it to shore with their lives, their hands and
3
bodies were severely lacerated.
Transporting small children to the beach proved
even more difficult. Once again Captain Causse showed the
colors of a hero. Taking the sleeves of a child's coat in
his teeth, Causse climbed down the rope and on reaching
the rocks handed the babe to its father. The first child
safe, he took another, then another, until all were off of
the ship and into the cautious hands of parents and crew
members. Second Mate Abies also performed laudably, taking
207
many women and children in his arms and "bearing them safely
4
ashore against the heavy surf."
Wet, tired, hungry, and frightened, the Texan colo­
nists stood on the shore looking almost unbelievingly toward
the Derby and watched their few treasured possessions wash
out of a gaping hole in the ship's bow into the sea. With­
out waiting for orders, several men waded back into the
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "The American Colonies
Emigrating to Brazil," Times of Brazil (Sao Paulo),
December 18, 1936, p. 19; E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established
Colony."
^E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony"; Also,
see George Scarborough Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of
the New Orleans Times," February 15, 1867, in "Notebook,"
George Scarborough Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
North Carolina; Frank McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby";
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil,"
December 18, 19 36, p. 19; George Scarborough Barnsley,
"Foreign Colonization in Brazil: The American (and English)
Attempt at Colonization in Brazil—1866-67," Brazilian
^H£i£an (Rio de Janeiro), March 10, 1928, p. 8.

surf in an effort to save as much of the cargo and baggage
as they could. Luckily, the old oak-sided English vessel
held together and consequently much remained salvageable
after the storm began to fade away. The long process of
dragging personal effects ashore continued and anxious
hands spread watersoaked belongings on the sunny sand to
dry.
Although the wreck occurred on a desolate shore
with no dwellings in sight, persons who lived nearby soon
appeared, then spread word to the nearby settlement of
Plaza de Banes of the fate of the Derby and two other ships
which were wrecked in the storm. One of the vessels carry­
ing 500 Chinese laborers miraculously suffered the loss of
only one life.
Don Juan Vermay, a wealthy brick and tile manufac­
turer and plantation owner, heard of the tragedy of the
Derby and moved quickly to provide assistance. Vermay's
carts, pulled by oxen and driven by Coolie employees, were
soon creaking their way to the beach to offer help and to
begin the task of moving the colonists to his hacienda
three miles away. The Cuban ordered a beef killed for the
Texans and quickly made available generous stores of rice
5 Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 19.
^George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, February 19,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
208

and potatoes. Until tents could be recovered from the
Derby, Vermay moved the women and children into his com­
modious home where they occupied "his saloon, sleeping
apartments, and varied other rooms." Mrs. Vermay, a gentle
lady of French ancestry, was particularly helpful in sooth­
ing the sorrow of the women as she offered an island of
civilization in a strange and foreign land. Soon a degree
7
of order was established.
The rigors of the shipwreck and the exertion of
salvage and transfer of their belongings from the Derby
left the colonists physically exhausted at the end of the
day on February 10. Most of the baggage remained on the
beach, however, and many of the colonists elected to remain
on the site to work at retrieval and to guard what already
had been salvaged. Vermay, as well as other Cubans who
lived nearby, warned McMullan of possible thievery and
g
suggested that a guard be posted at all times. Jesse
Wright, an expert shot with his Colt revolver, received
7 Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19; Sarah Bellona Smith
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67; An Account
of the McMullan-Bowen Colony," MS, May 29, 19 35, Blanche
Henry Clark Weaver Papers, in possession of William C.
Griggs, Canyon, Texas; Frank McMullan, "Loss of Brig
Derby"; George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, February 19,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University. A sketch of
Vermay's home also appeared in George Barnsley's February
19; 1867, letter.
Times."
209
8,
'Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans

orders to take the first watch. Before long the shore was
dark and still, with only the rhythmic sounds of the now
9
calm surf to break the silence.
When it looked as if the entire company was fast
asleep, two stealthy figures appeared from the brush at
the edge of the beach and slowly and carefully began to
inspect the salvaged baggage from the Derby. One of the
men donned clothing and even a hat before the two turned
to a full trunk, which they hoisted and started to carry
into the underbrush. Wright watched the entire incident
and, when confident that the two men were strangers rather
than part of the Derby party, yelled for them to stop. The
thieves ignored the command and rapidly continued on their
way with the stolen articles. Wright, described in one
account as a very passionate man, leveled his pistol and
fired, killing one of the Cubans instantly. The other
thief, spurred by the deadly turn of events, fled empty-
210
handed at top speed. The entire camp awoke in an immediate
uproar, and there was little sleep for the balance of the
night. Early in the morning of February 11, McMullan sent
for the authorities from Plaza de Banes to reconcile the
situation. The Cubans were not altogether pleased with
Wright's explanation, translated to them by McMullan, but
P. 8.
^Ibid.; Barnsley, Foreign Colonization in Brazil,"

McMullan's facility with the Spanish language enabled him
to settle the incident without criminal charges.
211
After convincing the Cuban police that Jesse Wright
was blameless in the death of the thief, Frank McMullan
left the colonists in the hands of Judge Dyer and headed
for Havana to request assistance from the Brazilian Consul.
With almost no money, the situation looked more desperate
than ever for the young leader. When McMullan began the
thirty mile journey at twelve noon on February 11, he had
a heavy heart and marginal hope for ultimate success. Of
one thing he remained sure, however. He would never appeal
for aid from United States authorities. On the morning of
February 12, McMullan arrived at the Brazilian Embassy in
Havana. Although received courteously, he learned that no
assistance was available because the Brazilian Consul had
died several days before. The staff suggested that McMullan
go instead to the Portuguese Embassy and confer with Consul-
General Fernando de Gavez, who had agreed to manage Brazil­
ian affairs until a new consul could arrive from Rio de
Janeiro. On his arrival, McMullan was at once directed
to the ambassador's chambers where he told his pathetic
Frank McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Darby";
Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans Times";
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil," p. 8; E. N.
McMullan, "Texans Established Colony."

story in detail.
Gavez e Finaz voiced sympathy in response to
McMullan's appeal for assistance but was reluctant to act
because of the large costs involved in transporting over
150 persons. Too, the Portuguese Consul expressed concern
that all of the passengers of the Derby were not Brazilian
citizens. In a letter of February 13 to the Interior
Secretary of the Brazilian Legation in New York, Luis
Augosto de Padua Fleury, Gavez e Finaz said that he had
directed McMullan there by steamship, "with the end of
talking with Your Excellency for whom he has high resolve
and respect." He concluded by expressing the hope that
his failure to assist the Americans would not be inter­
preted unfavorably and the desire always to be of service
12
to the subjects of Brazil.
McMullan felt very disappointed at not being able
to make direct arrangements with the imperial government
while at Havana. A trip to New York would take time and,
perhaps more important, money. After all the fines, ad­
vances, and bribes had been paid in New Orleans and Galves­
ton, he had only $130 remaining. This he gave to his
Frank McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby"; George
Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, February 19, 186 7, Barnsley
Papers, Duke University; Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor
of the New Orleans Times."
Times."
212
•^^Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans

mother for safekeeping on board ship, but even it was lost
in the wreck. Fortunately, Portuguese Consul Gavez e Finaz
advanced the steamship fare from Havana to New York, and
Judge Dyer and others gave McMullan small amounts of cash
13
before he left the scene of the shipwreck.
213
Frank McMullan arrived in New York City on February
18 aboard the steamship Eagle and immediately contracted
Quintino de Souza Bocayuva, the Agent of Emigration for
Brazil. After a conference between the two men, Bocayuva
drafted a pleading letter to his superior, Henrique Caval-
canti de Albuquerque, Director of Brazilian Trade with the
United States. He decried the condition of the would-be
emigrants and pointed out that they were being sustained
only by the inhabitants of Cuba. "Citizen McMullan," said
Bocayuva, "is at a critical juncture . . . for himself and
his companions. He traveled to this city to invoke the as­
sistance and protection of the functionaries of the Empire,
and unquestionably should receive help." Bocayuva continued
by making an emotional appeal for the Brazilian colonists.
I entreat you to take the liberty of thinking whether
or not the Imperial Government promotes and aids emigration
from this country to the Empire. . . . Must
they go to reclaim the protection of the country
which they abandoned? It is sad that these emigrants
lack the equality and protection of the new country
they search for and prefer.14
"^"^Frank McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby."
United States, National Archives, List of

Bocayuva also reminded Cavalcanti that there was precedent
for extending aid to the shipwrecked Texans. An identical
case had occurred before, he said, and free transportation
had been furnished to Brazilian shores. Bocayuva asked
that the director "transmit . . . the results of his delib­
erations in order to soothe the minds of the emigrants."
Cavalcanti received the communication on February
20 and immediately replied to Bocayuva that he, too, was
restricted in what he could do for McMullan's colonists.
He declared that he would draft a letter at once to the
Minister of Foreign Relations, "for the necessary orders to
proceed under these circumstances." He also gave implied
permission to Bocayuva to provide assistance without offi­
cial orders.
214
With the intelligence, patriotism, and good offices
that Your Excellency has expressed in performing your
commission, that was conferred on you by the Imperial
Government, I hope that you will take measures by which
these unfortunate ones are to be saved.1^
Passengers Arriving in New York, 1820-1897, Microfilm Pubiication.
Microcopy 237, Roll 276; Quintino de Souza
Bocayuva, Agent for Emigration for Brazil, New York, to
Henrique Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Director of Trade of
Brazil with the United States, New York, February 19, 1867,
in Revista de Imgragao e Colonizagao 4 (June 1943): 330-331
15
Quintino de Souza Bocayuva to Cavalcanti de^
Albuquerque, February 19, 1867, in Revista de Imigrayao e
golonizapao. pp. 330-331.
"^^Henrique Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, New York, to
Quintino de Souza Bocayuva, New York, February 20, 186 7, in
^vista de Imigracgao e Colonizagao, p. 332.

Two days later, on February 22, Cavalcanti wrote
the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Antonio
Coelho de Sa e Albuquerque. In the correspondence, Caval­
canti expressed the opinion that the legation did not have
215
the authority to make a decision in the case. Neither were
they able to satisfactorily explain to McMullan why they
were unable to act. "We cannot take the responsibility,
the consul wrote, "of making dispensations without the
express orders of the Imperial Government." The cost,
which likely would total 16 contos, also became a factor
in the delays and refusal to furnish assistance and alter-
17
nate ship passage to Brazil.
Frank McMullan, an eternal optimist, felt certain
that the imperial government would not abandon him or his
charges. Despite his poor health and the myriad of mis­
fortunes which surrounded his efforts to get to Brazil, he
managed to write a long letter to the editors of the New
Orleans Picayune concerning the wreck of the Derby. He
sub-titled the communication, "For the information of the
public generally, but more particularly for that of the
relatives and friends of the shipwrecked of the South."
McMullan described the wreck in detail, told of the series
Henrique Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, New York, to
Antonio Coelho de Sa e Albuquerque, Rio de Janeiro, February
22, 1867, in Revista de Imigra9ao e Colonizagao, pp.
328-329.

of events that delayed the departure from New Orleans and
Galveston, then discussed the extremely human assets of
the colony.
216
Perhaps so large an expedition of emigrants never set
sale [sic] before under more favorable prospects, if
we except the thousand difficulties under which we
labored in getting off, and the many impediments thrown
in our way by designing parties of whom I will speak
in the proper place. We formed all the elements of an
independent, self-sustaining settlement. We had farmers
and stock-raisers, mechanics of every branch, prepared
to build a steamboat or a steam engine, civil engineers,
ministers of the Gospel, school teachers, capable of
founding a university, a physician, quite a number of
ex-Confederate officers and soldiers who wish to till
the soil and live in peace, but when needed, can fight
the battles of their adopted country—no politician.
We can edit a newspaper or work a gold mine.18
George Barnsley, ever the writer with a flair for
news, also took pen and paper in hand and addressed a
letter to the editor of the New Orleans Times. Seated next
to Vermay's brick kiln, Barnsley titled his epistle, "Camp
near Guanehay [si£] , Cuba, 15th February, 1867." He traced
the misfortunes of the Derby from the time she left New
Orleans until the date of the writing, then placed the
account with a letter to Godfrey Barnsley in Georgia.
Barnsley asked his father to forward it to the New Orleans
Times and any other newspapers he thought might be favor-
19
able to their cause.
•^^Frank McMullan, "Loss of the Brig Derby."
•^^Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New Orleans
Times"; George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, February 19,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

The friends and family of the Barnsley brothers in
Bartow County, Georgia, although sympathetic to the idea
of emigration, did not see it as a practical solution to
the problems faced by former Confederates. His sister,
Julia Baltzelle, had not learned of the shipwreck by Febru­
ary 16, when she expressed concern for the well-being of
George and Lucian. In a letter to her father, she said
that she hoped that the pair would arrive safely in Iguape
and that she would "be very anxious until further intelli­
gence from them." Commenting on an expression of concern
from one of George's friends, Julia noted that it would
have been wrong for her brother to have remained in the
United States. "He had a hankering for Brazil," she
20
philosophized, "and maybe it's for the best."
217
The Texas colonists continued to depend on Vermay's
generosity while McMullan arranged for passage to Brazil.
They had no other choice. Some were almost penniless and
others might have faced starvation without assistance.
Vermay, who was described by one colonist as "the noblest
of men," offered two substantial meals per day without
expectation of reimbursement, as well as most of the other
20
Julia Baltzelle, Bartow County, Georgia, to
Godfrey Barnsley, New Orleans, February 16, 186 7, Barnsley
Papers, Robert W. Woodruff Library for Advanced Studies,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; C. Berrian, Rome,
Georgia, to Godfrey Barnsley, New Orleans, March 1, 186 7,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

necessities of life. But the concern of Vermay for the
would-be Brazilians went even farther. On the morning of
February 19, he announced that he was leaving for Havana
where he planned to raise money to purchase a ship so that
the American travelers might continue on their way. On
his arrival there, accompanied by Judge Dyer and other
colony leaders, he learned that McMullan had already tenta­
tively booked passage on the Merrimac, scheduled to sail
from New York on April 22, and that another steamer, the
Mariposa, would be routed to Havana from its New Orleans-
New York run to pick up the stranded colonists. His
charity presumably unneeded, Vermay returned to Plaza de
Banes. The emigrant leaders remained in the capital,
determined to sell the remains of the Derby to the highest
bidder for salvage, and in doing so, to recoup what they
could of the thousands of dollars which were invested.
There was little market for wrecked ships, however, and
they returned to Vermay's plantation with only $350 from
the sale.^-^
The Texans resolved to make the best of their stay
in Cuba and spent time in exploring the countryside around
Plaza de Banes. For the first time, some observed the
processing of raw sugar. Others enjoyed looking at the
218
^•^George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, February 19,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

219
natural wonders of the countryside and "becoming acquainted
with the queer customs of the people." They described the
February climate as "delicious" for sightseeing; however,
the sun was much hotter than that to which they were accus­
tomed. "The nights are cool," one man wrote, "making it
pleasant to sleep under a blanket."
George Barnsley, who because of his background was
very conscious of the cultural differences between himself
and his fellow colonists, began to question his choice of
companions. "Many are very rough in their ways," he stated
in a letter to his father, "and partake of the wildness of
a former life in Texas; with all they are very pretentious
toward being polished people." The communication was for­
warded to Barnsley's sister and brother-in-law, who, like
George,were mindful of social considerations. Captain
J. P. Baltzelle, commenting on the situation in a note to
Godfrey Barnsley, said he would recommend that if George
and Lucian were going to Brazil, "not to wait for that
motley crew that they have gotten with. . . . By remaining
on the island they will not only spend their money but most
II23
likely get sick exposed in their kind of camp life."
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19; George Barnsley to
Godfrey Barnsley, February 19, 1867, Barnsley Papers,
Emory University.
^"^J. P. Baltzelle, Bartow. County, Georgia, to
Godfrey Barnsley, New Orleans, March 18, 1867, Barnsley
Papers, Emory University.
22

Baltzelle believed that the decision of George and
Lucian to leave the United States was a wise one, although
he did not personally feel that it would have been danger­
ous for his brothers-in-law to have stayed. "i doubt if
such small fry as the boys or myself would be troubled,"
he said. Baltzelle welcomed the advent of a military
regime in Georgia as an alternative to anarchy.
It is the only kind of government that will keep a
certain class of bush-whackers, marauders, and envious
scamps in the country in order. If we can get a
good commander, I doubt if the law-abiding and quiet
men to the South will be molested.24
Although Captain Baltzelle believed that the deci­
sion of the Barnsleys to go to Brazil was a wise one, some
in Texas remained extremely dubious of the move. The anti-
emigration editor of Flake's Bulletin in Galveston could
not resist the temptation to comment unfavorably on the
fate of the former Texans.
220
The brig Derby, with emigrants from Galveston to Brazil,
has been lost on the reefs off Cuba, as will appear
from the telegraphic dispatches. It will be remembered
that there was no little talk about the unseaworthiness
of the vessel at the time she sailed, and that Gen.
Kent, the Collector of the Port, detained her until surveyors
certified as to her seaworthiness. There has
been too much misfortune attending the Brazilian emigration
scheme not to cause thought. We all recollect how
the misguided emigrants were detained here, week after
week, while the vessel was detained in New Orleans, and
subsequently at this port. How she attempted to put to
24^.,..
Ibid.

sea when unseaworthy and without water, and the circumstances
of her detention by the Collector of the
Port. There has been some chronic bad luck attending
this scheme that is not understood.25
221
Despite the seemingly endless succession of perplex­
ing and frustrating problems which confronted the Texans,
they expressed little desire to return to the United States.
Only two persons elected to go to their former homes after
the shipwreck in Cuba. Major W. E. Penn decided to return
to his law practice in Jefferson, Texas, and Thomas Wright,
Jesse Wright's uncle, determined that he had made a mis­
take and returned to Comanche County, Texas. Of course.
Captain Causse and his crew went back to the United States
as soon as possible after the passengers of the Derby were
safely ashore. Causse himself returned to New Orleans on
the schooner Mischief, a ship with a fitting name for the
questionable captain. But even injured C. A. Crawley
elected to continue to South America. His collar bone
was mending satisfactorily and his enthusiasm for Brazil
26
was as high as ever.
^^"The Brig Derby," Flake's Daily Galveston Bulletin,
February 23, 1867, p. 3.
'^^Elizabeth Ann Wright, James Dyer: Descendants
and Allied Families (n.p., n.p., 1954), p. [51]. Thomas
Wright moved to Comanche County, Texas, in 1870. He died
there on August 6, 1880. See ibid., p. [40]. Causse
sailed on the schooner Mischief, M. Oliphant, Master, and
arrived in New Orleans on March 18. See United States,
Works Progress Administration, Survey of Federal Archives
in Louisiana, Passenger Lists Taken from Manifests of the

The amount of baggage which the colonists saved
seemed miraculous in view of the difficulty of its re­
trieval from the ship and the severity of the damage to
the brig's bow. Approximately three-fourths of the cargo
was salvaged, in various states of condition. Most was
soaked with salt water, but a thorough scrubbing made it
useable again. The expensive monogrammed linens which
belonged to the Martin Felix Demaret family, although
thoroughly impregnated with brine, were saved after they
were carefully unfolded and spread to dry. Even a feather
bed belonging to the Alfred I. Smith family was rescued to
222
continue the trip to Brazil. George Barnsley found his .
27
supply of medicine to be intact although badly scattered.
One lost item, however, created a controversy which
caused hard feelings and bitter accusations. When the
Derby left Galveston, Albert G. McMahon approached Nancy
McMullan and asked if she would consider packing a small
Customs Service, Port of New Orleans, 1864-1867, Typescript,
1941, p. 186-E, Louisiana Collection of the
Library of Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana;
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."
^"^Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New
Orleans Times." A later account by the press lowered this
figure to one-half and stated that the amount salvaged was
so damaged by sea water that it was almost worthless. See
"Wrecked Emigrants," The New York Times, March 28, 186 7,
P. 2; Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67"; Barnsley,
"Notes and Information about the Emigrants from the U.
States," Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina; George Barnsley to Godfrey
Barnsley, February 19, 186 7, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

uckskin bag filled with gold with her baggage. He rea­
soned that if anyone should consider stealing it, the
gold would be safer in Nancy's trunk than in his own. She
did as he asked, not considering the possibility that she
might be held responsible if a loss should occur. After
the Derby hit the rocks, the trunk in which the bag of
gold had been hidden was located, but McMahon's treasure
had disappeared. McMahon became furious. He would not
believe that the gold alone could be missing while the
balance of the contents remained in place. He confronted
Nancy McMullan and charged her with taking his savings.
She was heartbroken at the accusation and at the same time
chagrined that a person she considered to be a friend would
accuse her of thievery. McMahon himself solved the mystery
when he found the pouch wedged between rocks as he searched
for it and other missing items. Apologies were forth­
coming, but relations between the two continued to be
strained.^^
Another group of items which were salvaged after
having been presumed lost included a large number of
"private delicacies, such as oysters, wines, jellies,
canned fruits, etc.," which were to be used in the first
year in Brazil until a crop could be harvested. With a
Wright, James Dyer, p. [57]; E. N. McMullan,
"Texans Established Colony"; Frank McMullan, "Loss of
Brig Derby."
223

value of more than $1,000, such a loss would have been de­
moralizing, especially since little money remained for
29
purchase of replacement foods.
Frank McMullan's February 21 letter to the New
224
Orleans Picayune surprisingly did not mention the scandalous
conduct of the crew in attempting to desert the ship during
the storm or that McMullan and Dyer forced Captain Causse
with drawn pistols to return to his post on the bridge.
Instead, McMullan actually commended the captain and crew.
"With regard to the capacity of those in command of our
vessels for their respective positions," said McMullan,
I do not know that I am capable of forming such judgment;
but, during the scene of the wreck, notwithstanding
my utter want of confidence in the captain, as a
man, his conduct and that of the other officers and
crew, was certainly very becoming, for which they have
our sincere thanks.
One can only conclude that McMullan wished to speak only
of the performance "during the scene of the wreck" and not
before or after. Perhaps he wished to say as little as
possible of the severe problems that had been encountered,
believing them detrimental to the overall position of the
colonists should they find it necessary to return to the
United States. Too, such a confession of violence against
the captain of a ship on the high seas could be interpreted
by a court of law as mutiny—a charge that would not easily
29 Frank McMullan, "Loss of Brig Derby."

e disproved.
225
After the Texans' temporary campsite was well estab­
lished on the Vermay plantation, assistance from yet another
quarter was offered. The governor of the City of Guanajay
arrived on the scene, inspected the tent village, and offi­
cially offered his aid. The colonists accepted the offer
without hesitation and soon received food and clothing free
of charge.
In New York City, Frank McMullan continued his dis­
cussions with the Brazilian Emigration Agency, which
finally decided to provide assistance to the emigrants
although official permission to do so still had not been
received. The old Collins Hotel, located opposite Pier
Forty-two. North River, on Canal Street, stood empty and
available for use. It was rented for the emigrants by
General Domingo de Goicouria, William Walker's old Cuban
comrade-in-arms from Nicaraguan days who in 1867 was an
agent for the Brazilian Emigration Agency. Although
McMullan and Goicouria were never in Nicaragua at the same
time, there is little doubt that the two men reminisced
about the days in Central America before the Civil War.
When all necessary arrangements were complete, McMullan
Ibid.
^^Barnsley, "Letter to the Editor of the New
Orleans Times. "

oarded a steamer for Cuba, eager to return to his charges
32
and bring them to New York.
Upon his arrival in Havana, McMullan immediately
made inquiries as to the status of the Texans. He con­
tacted Cuban Felipe de Goicouria, Domingo de Goicouria's
brother, who provided significant assistance by helping
McMullan make arrangements for food, clothing, and shelter
226
in the Cuban capital. The two men met with Juan A. Colomie,
the manager of the horse-drawn City Railroad, and asked for
aid in transporting the Texans when they arrived in Havana.
Not only did Colomie agree to furnish free conveyance for
the North Americans, he also offered the use of one of his
terminals for shelter. This structure, although located
out of the city proper at the community of Carmeleo, proved
33
sufficiently large to house the entire party.
McMullan eagerly told the colonists of the arrange­
ments that he had been able to make for them. He had
almost miraculously secured all necessary assistance for
"Wrecked Emigrants"; The Constitutionalist
(Atlanta, Georgia), April 6, 1867; E. N. McMullan, "Texans
Established Colony"; Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating
to Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19.
"^"^"Wrecked Emigrants"; George Barnsley, "A letter
[undated], published in Havana Papers, about the time we
left that city for New York, to resume the voyage to Brazil
(at request, by Dr. Barnsley)," "Notebook," Barnsley Papers,
Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina,
hereafter cited as "Letter Published in Havana
Papers."

the remainder of the stay in Cuba, as well as transporta­
tion to New York. The Texans expressed delight and relief
when they heard the good news. They did not relish the
prospect of having to return to their homes, bankrupt and
destitute, but many would have been forced to do so if
McMullan had not secured expense-free assistance from
Brazilian and Cuban authorities.
227
Undoubtedly, Vermay was glad to hear that the Texans
would be leaving. Ever a gentleman, however, he unhesitat­
ingly offered the use of his wagons once again to carry the
McMullan colonists and their belongings to Guanajay, where
rail transportation connected with Havana. The emigrants
accepted his offer, but with the hesitancy which accom­
panies an obligation for which compensation cannot be given.
"I could almost defy the world to cite another such instance
of generosity and true manliness," wrote Frank McMullan.
"But for a debt, which we were unable to pay in gratitude,
34
we should have been happy."
Vermay's carts proved insufficient both in size
and in number to carry all of the Americans at one time,
so several trips were made., each carrying as much baggage
and as many persons as possible. One ten-year-old girl
later recalled that her family traveled at night and
^ A
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19; Frank McMullan, "Loss
of the Brig Derby."

emembered the unusual circumstances.
Again it was ox-carts and only a few could go at a
time—so it was some days before we reached to railroad
station. We traveled at night over the worst
roads imaginable. Driven by coolies, whose queer
call to the oxen were so 'triste [sad].' And what
with the jolts, even a child could not sleep, but
just before we were 'kilt entirely,' the day dawned
and found us in Joanahai [sic], where, after a day's
wait, all took the train to Havana.35
Guanajay, a samll town with an excellent climate
situated in the hills of western Cuba, was used an an
acclimatization station for Spanish troops upon their
arrival on the island. It also served as the terminus of
the United Railway which ran from Guanajay to Havana,
thirty miles to the northeast. When everyone arrived at
228
the small resort town, the problem of food supplies appeared
once again. The governor of the city was true to his ear­
lier promise, however, and support came quickly and at no
cost. Large supplies of beans, rice, meat, and potatoes
were soon unloaded at the colonists' temporary camp in the
open town square. To prepare the food, the Cubans provided
large iron cooking pots. At first, no one in the crowd
volunteered to prepare the meal for the large group. But
as the food was raw and the emigrants were hungry, a chef
soon appeared. Alfred I. Smith stepped forward, rolled up
his sleeves, and went to work. Mrs. Smith tried to help.
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19.

ut her husband sent her away; he was determined to do the
chore himself, alone. Lewis Green, the nineteen-year-old
son of widower A. J. Green, also offered assistance, but
was refused. Although there had been little enthusiasm
about food preparation, everyone appeared when the stew
was ready to eat. "Such is human nature," commented
Smith's daughter as she recalled the event in later years.
229
The McMullan colonists eagerly anticipated the last
leg of the journey to Havana, the train ride from Guanajay.
Only one day was spent in the little town before baggage
and supplies were loaded. Then, boarding passenger cars,
they were on their way to the capital. The trip was a
beautiful one as the train passed through seemingly end­
less forests of banana trees, a sight which made a particu­
larly strong impression on the children in the group. Upon
their arrival in the capital on March 1, they were met by
Felipe de Goicouria, who assured them that everything was
in order. The ship to New York was on its way, tickets
were on hand, and sleeping and eating accommodations in
Havana were available. Finally, Frank McMullan must have
thought, everything seemed to be progressing satisfac­
torily.^"^
Ibid. George Barnsley recalled the meal at
Guana jay as a "public dinner." See Barnsley, "Foreign
Colonization in Brazil."
^"^"Wrecked Emigrants."

The horse railroad terminal at Carmeleo where the
Americans were to stay was only a short distance from
Havana, but transportation had to be provided in shifts.
As it would be nearly two weeks before the Mariposa was
due to arrive, the colonists also found it necessary to
transport all of their baggage and equipment. The old
building, although allowing almost no privacy, provided a
dry refuge from cool evening winds. George Barnsley, in a
March 1 letter to his father, remarked that he was pleased
with the situation and called the accommodations "comfort­
able. " Continuing, Barnsley noted that they remained
unsure whether or not the fare for passage to New York and
Rio de Janeiro would be borne by the Brazilian government.
"Whether we will have to repay it," he explained, "depends
on circumstances." Obviously, Barnsley referred to the
fact that McMullan did not know, when he left New York,
38
what the official Brazilian position would be.
When it became general knowledge in Havana that
the shipwrecked Texans had lost many of their belongings
and that some were almost destitute, they received wide­
spread offers of assistance. The Ladies Benevolent Society
volunteered food and clothing. The Sisters of Charity
"brought gifts of clothing, shoes, and stockings—cloth
George Barnsley, Havana, to Godfrey Barnsley,
Bartow County, Georgia, March 1, 1867, Barnsley Papers,
Duke University.
230

for dresses, and many other useful articles." A Countess
O'Reilly, through the lady president of the Parish of
Monserate, offered aid, as did many others. Portuguese
Consul Gavez e Finaz raised money for the purchase of
clothing. In addition, several hundred dollars were
donated by generous Cubans. At the request of Frank
McMullan and others, George Barnsley composed the follow­
ing letter of thanks to be forwarded to Cuban newspapers.
231
We, the emigrants for Brazil, under the guidance of
Col. McMullen [sic], recently cast away upon the coast
of C\aba, having received much kindness and attention
from the government and citizens of the Island in supplying
our necessities and wants from the occurance of
our misfortune to the time of our departure, do hereby
desire to express our warmest gratitude to our benefactors,
among whom we have the honor to mention the
following: To her Excellency, Countess O'Reilly,
through the Lady President of the Parish of Monserate;
the Lady President of the Ladies Benevolent Society,
for food, necessary clothing to our needy. To Sen. Don
Juan A. Colomie, Manager of the City R. R. for commodious
shelter at Carmeleo and for transportation through
the city; To Sen. Don Fernandez de Gavare Toscar, Consul
de Portugal, for his varied important services; to Sen.
Don Felipe Goicouria for many attentions; to the Governor
of the city of Guanahay [sic]; to Sen Don Juan
Vermay for his noble hospitality in transporting free
of cost our entire party and their effects to his mansion
from the place of the wreck, where for nearly a
month our women and children found shelter; And to all
our unwearied friends; to many others and to all our
most heartfelt thanks are given. Exiles from our
nation's shores; refugees from political oppression,
emigrants to an untried land, Cubans, our souls are
too full of gratitude for worthy expression [,] yet at
the footstool of our common God we will never cease to
beg that you be always the recipients of his blessing
and providences.
signed 39
Emigrants to Brazil
39 Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to

On March 13, the side-wheel steamship Mariposa
232
arrived in Havana. Commanded by a Captain Quick, the 1,082
ton ship belonged to the New York Mail Steamship Company—
"The Star Line." It cleared New Orelans on March 8 with a
crew of forty men. Like the other vessels of the United
States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company, the Mariposa was
owned by Cornelius K. Garrison, who, in 1855-57, had aided
filibuster efforts in Nicaragua. Although both men had
once supported a common cause, McMullan had little use for
the shipowner. He believed Garrison had influenced the
Brazilian government's decision not to provide passenger
40
service from southern ports for former Confederates.
The Texan emigrants, eager to resume their fre­
quently interrupted journey to Brazil, gathered on the
pier, ready to board the Mariposa as soon as the steamer's
purser announced that the ship was ready to sail. Only a
few cabins were available; the ones who did not receive them
had to be content with beds in steerage in the hold of the
ship. George Barnsley wrote that approximately 130 men.
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19; Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization
in Brazil"; Barnsley, "Letter Published in Havana
Papers." it is not known why Barnsley referred to the
Consul of Portugal as Don Fernandez de Tavare Toscar. All
other available evidence names Fernando de Gavez e Finaz.
Departures from the Port of New Orleans, U.S.
Vessels Cleared July 1865 to Aug. 1886, Record Group 36,
National Archives of the United States, Washington, D.C.
Also, see The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), November 27,
1866.

233
women, and children huddled in a small room "with as little
regard to comfort as if we had been so many slaves being
brought from Africa." Despite the physical discomfort,
however, the first night at sea was smooth, warm, and
41
generally pleasant.
But the soft winds of the tropics soon began to
shift as a huge arctic front moved into the waters of the
Atlantic off the east coast of Florida. Within hours,
everyone aboard ship severely felt winter's cold blast.
With the frigid weather came high winds, turbulent seas,
ice, and sleet. Without adequate stoves or blankets, the
whole of the company and crew of the Mariposa soon felt
miserable, the steerage passengers, particularly. The
rolling of the ship added to the discomfort of those in
the party with limited maritime experience. Still, most
took the discomfort as philosophically as possible, con­
soling themselves with the expectation of being in "the
42
land of eternal spring" within six weeks.
About three days out of Havana, the weather became
even worse. The wind reached near gale force, and the
waves buried the bow in water, then raised it from the sea,
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."
42
Ibid.; Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating
to Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 19; E. N. McMullan,
"Texans Established Colony"; Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67"; Eugene B. Smith, "Sailing Down to Rio
in 1866-67," Brazilian American, May 9, 1931, p. 8.

only to drop it again into the brine. One huge wave rolled
completely over the steamer, nearly foundering it and forc­
234
ing volumes of water into the hold and steerage area. After­
ward, all suffered from cold and wet feet, and some had
frostbite. An awful fog then encompassed the vessel and
made an unpleasant situation even worse. As the ship plowed
through the cloud-like mist, the watchman could hardly see
past the bow. The ship's whistle "made the most doleful
sounds, ever and anon, all night." To make the dismal sit­
uation more unpleasant, the infant child of William T. and
Victoria Moore died and was buried at sea. Physician
Barnsley attirbuted the death to "hydrocephalus." If the
diagnosis was accurate, the loss probably could not have
43
been prevented, even with adequate medical facilities.
As the Mariposa passed Cape Hattaras, North Caro­
lina, early in the morning of March 19, another steamer
hailed her, announced that it was in distress, and asked
for assistance. Captain Quick, because of the responsi­
bility for the large number of passengers on board his ship,
elected to proceed rather than risk their lives in a rescue
attempt. He set the wheel for Norfolk, Virginia, where he
planned to take on coal and secure a short respite from
the heavy northeast gale, the raging sea, and the fog.
^"^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 19.

Soon after the Mariposa arrived at the pier, another
steamer, the Charles W. Lord, appeared in the harbor
44
towing the disabled ship that had requested aid.
The cold, the water, the disappointment, and the
frustration took their toll on the William B. Nettles
family at Norfolk. The family of seven concluded that it
was no longer worth the effort to be rid of free Negroes
and Yankees and decided to return to Texas. The family
members could not endure the thought of boarding the
Mariposa again to face the sea and its storms. It is
likely that other emigrants had second thoughts, too, but
45
none elected to quit.
On March 21, even though the storm still raged.
Captain Quick decided to attempt to leave port and con­
tinue to New York. The extermely severe gale caused the
ship's master to change his mind, however, and he returned
to land, this time docking at Fortress Monroe, opposite
Norfolk. When news of their return was telegraphed to
235
Texas, the Galveston News once again grasped an opportunity
to condemn the ill-fated colonization venture.
Smith, "Sailing Down to Rio"; "Marine Intelligence,"
The New York Times, March 27, 1867, p. 5; "Wrecked
Emigrants."
"^^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19.

236
Texas Brazilians.—A Fortress Monroe dispatch says the
steamship Mariposa, from New Orleans to New York, which
had put in there, sailed hence on the 21st, but was
forced to return on account of a heavy northeast gale
prevailing outside. The Mariposa had on board 150
Texian immigrants for Brazil, who had been wrecked on
the coast of Cuba, and had embarked again at Havana.
These are the same who left here, some time since, on
the brig Derby, under charge of Mr. Frank McMullen [sic].
We guess that they will soon begin to imagine that
providence objects to their leaving Texas for Brazil.
They had better come back to first principles, before
something happens.^^
On March 22, the steamer Merrimac sailed for Rio
de Janeiro from New York, but without the emigrants from
Texas who had looked forward with so much anticipation to
being aboard. Instead, the colonists found themselves
still stranded at Fortress Monroe with no idea when they
would be able to board another ship for Brazil. With
little or no money, even the proximity of the town of
Hampton Roads offered no appeal. In addition, the real
or imagined possibility of intimidation from northern
authorities caused most of the Texans to remain on ship.
They wished no further obstacles to appear which might
47
delay their trip once more.
Two days later, on March 24, Captain Quick deter­
mined once again to attempt to leave port. Although the
"Texas Brazilians," The Galveston Daily News,
April 1, 1867, p. 2.
^"^George Barnsley, New York, to Godfrey Barnsley,
Bartow County, Georgia, March 27, 1867, Barnsley Papers,
Duke University.

Atlantic storm still raged, the weather calmed just enough
that the Mariposa safely made it into the open sea. Only
a few hours out of the bay, however, tragedy once again
came alarmingly close. Sailing without lights in dense
fog at top speed, the Mariposa came near to calamity when
another large steamer nearly hit her amidships. The crew,
as well as the passengers, were visibly shaken. When
48
would troubles end?
Perhaps good food provided the only saving grace
in the life of the passengers on the Mariposa. George
Barnsley complained to the ship's officers, however, that
although palatable, the meals were served "brutally." He
objected to the lack of cleanliness but received no re­
sponse. As the colony's only official doctor, Barnsley
felt an obligation to the emigrants and was determined to
correct the situation. A threat to report the infractions
to the Sanitary Commission of New York finally caused some
49
improvement.
The March 26 arrival in New York of the Mariposa
was announced in a column entitled "Marine Intelligence"
in the New York Times.
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil."
^^Ibid.; Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating
to Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 19.
237

238
Steamship Mariposa. Quick, New Orleans March 9, Havana
13th, Norfolk 19th, and Fortress Monroe 24th, with mdse
and passengers to C. K. Garrison. Experienced heavy
weather the entire passage; was detained 5 ds. at
Fortress Monroe by N. E. gales and thick weather. The
Mariposa has on board 150 Brazilian emigrants, wrecked
on the brig Derby, off Cuba.50
Luck must have played a part in salvaging baggage,
equipment, food, and supplies from the hulk of the Derby
as it lay wedged in the rocks on Cuba's north coast. They
could have lost everything, including their lives, had
good fortune not have been with them. The delay in Cuba,
although a waste of another month, perhaps enabled the
former Texans to gain a second wind before tackling their
second stormy voyage along the Atlantic coast on the way
to New York. There, they hoped that they would board
another south-bound ship which would take them, at last,
to Brazil.
"Marine Intelligence."

CHAPTER VIII
NEW YORK TO BRAZIL
The arrival of the McMullan colonists in New York
was to be yet another scene in what must have seemed like
an unreal drama. The unwilling players were asked to be
actors in the play, but they could not have anticipated the
complexity of the plot. Because of stormy North Atlantic
seas, they were to miss the sailing of the ship on which
they were scheduled to leave, then wait for another month
before they could board the next steamer. Upon their
arrival in Brazil, they could anticipate a short but pleas­
ant stay in Rio de Janeiro before boarding a coastal steamer
for Iguape, the last town they were to see before going up
the river to colony lands. Success finally seemed imminent.
But when the Mariposa was tied to a pier in New
York harbor on March 26, 1867, a cold, tired and bedraggled
group of former Texans stepped ashore. Some of the trav­
elers were virtually in rags and none wore heavy clothing;
a cold north wind added to their discomfort. Only the
prompt appearance of General Domingo de Goicouria from
the Brazilian Emigration Agency gave the emigrants encour­
agement in an otherwise dismal situation. Goicouria
239

informed them that transportation would be available to
carry their baggage to the Collins Hotel, at the foot of
Canal Street, which had been rented for the McMullan
party. The hotel had not been a first-class establishment
for many years and was anything but luxurious. In fact,
it had been empty for quite some time. It had little to
240
offer but space and the Texans received one complete floor.
The hostelry had neither fireplaces nor cooking facilities,
and its owner had stripped it of all furniture. The
would-be Brazilians nevertheless found it a welcome sight
as it was away from the ocean, it was dry, and it offered
a shelter from the frigid winds. With blankets provided
by Goicouria, the colonists decided that the structure
would serve very well for the twenty-five days before
another ship was scheduled to leave for Rio de Janeiro.
Saturday morning, March 27, brought continued cold
and snow, a considerable contrast from the sunny and humid
days spent in Cuba. In order to stay warm, the emigrants
donned several sets of clothes as they had no winter
apparel. Since the Texans determined to make as good an
appearance as possible among their recent northern enemies,
they put their best attire on top. The majority of men
"Wrecked Emigrants," The New York Times, March 28,
1867, p. 2; George Barnsley, New York, to Godfrey Barnsley,
Bartow County, Georgia, March 27, 186 7, Barnsley Papers,
Manuscript Department, William R. Perkins Library, Duke
University, Durham, North Carolina.

owned uniforms and proudly donned the Confederate gray.
Those who did not wore good broadcloth suits. The women
dressed in clothing described as being of fine texture,
"but now sadly worn and frayed—relics of more prosperous
times." That afternoon, the colonists received a visit
by a reporter from the New York Times. Despite the recent
war, the northern journalist's article treated the Texans
well. In a column entitled "Wrecked Emigrants" which
appeared on March 28, the writer discussed the problems
which had been encountered, including the shipwreck, the
stay in Cuba, and the journey to New York. All of the emi­
grants, stated the reporter, "are native Americans, and
appear to be possessed with more than normal intelligence.
They are principally agriculturalists, a few being machin­
ists and mechanics." The article continued with a general
description of the health and physical needs of the party.
Two or three of the men were sick with fever, and one
tall youth—an unmistakable Southerner—appeared to be
dying of consumption. As a general thing, however,
they looked remarkably well in health for people who
had undergone the perils and hardships of a protracted
and stormy voyage. ... In the meantime the women and
children are suffering for the comforts, if not the
necessities of life, and the charitably disposed will
find a field for the exercise of their philanthrophy.
Contributions addressed to Mr. McMullen [sic], at
Collins Hotel, Canal Street, or the Brazilian Emigration
Agency, No. 26*$ Broadway, will reach the persons
for whom they are intended.2
^"Wrecked Emigrants." There is little question
that the "tall youth" mentioned in the article who was
reported to be dying of consumption was Frank McMullan.
241

Assistance soon arrived as a result of the appeal
in the Times. The Methodist Church proved particularly
helpful. In their donations, the Methodists included two
large boxes of religious books, including "song books and
old fasion [sic] question books." No one knew at the time
3
how valuable this gift would be.
Finally settled in their new quarters, the south­
erners determined to take advantage of their stay in the
metropolis by wandering around the city and taking in the
sights. The New Yorkers treated them kindly, calling them
"poor shipwrecked creatures." One Texan, however, became
the victim of a prank which nearly caused serious trouble.
Jesse Wright kept his hounds in his room at the hotel
242
where they soon became a topic for general discussion among
the Yankees who dropped in on the Texans for polite conver­
sation. Probably in pure mischief, one visitor decided
to steal the dogs, never guessing the personality and
resolve of the animals's owner. When Wright learned of
the theft, he took revolver in hand and started up Canal
Street in search of the pets and the thief. Wright,
described as "a very tall, large man, with a booming
voice," made an imposing figure. He dressed in Confederate
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen
Colony," MS, May 29, 1935, Blanche Henry Clark Weaver
Papers, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.

gray with a heavy shawl streaming from his neck. He cor­
243
nered every stranger on the street and demanded information.
As Wright still clutched his pistol, one may imagine the
fearful responses he probably received from the innocent
pedestrians he encountered. As he passed a saloon, the
hounds heard his voice. From behind the bar where their
abductor had hidden them, they at once set up a howl. Jesse
barged through the door, leaped over the bar, and claimed
the dogs; he then triumphantly trooped out of the saloon.
His victory was largely unseen, however, as most of the
patrons of the drinking establishment ducked out of sight
4
when the ruckus began.
Unlike the main body of the emigrants, George and
Lucian Barnsley did not choose to stay in the austere
Collins Hotel. George borrowed $50.00 in greenbacks from
T. M. Rooker, a New York business associate of his father,
and the two brothers moved into the European Hotel, 16 3
Hudson and the corner of Laight Street. Barnsley described
the place as "a cheap house where we pay $1.50 each per
diem." George promised, in a letter to his father of
March 27, to "try to get a cheaper place, if possible."
Ibid. The Mobile Daily News, April 3, 1867, reported
that "350 Texas emigrants bound for Brazil are
stranded in New York." Also, see Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson,
"The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil," Times
21 Brazil (Sao Paulo), December 18, 1867, pp. 19-20.
^George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, March 27,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

Barnsley had doubts as to whether or not he should
continue to Brazil with the rest of the colonists, consid­
244
ering instead going to London to study medicine for several
months. He remarked that his time in Europe could be of
great service to him, for with it, he "could enter Brazil
like a gentleman next year." He asked his father's advice
in making the decision, and enumerated the reasons for con­
tinuing with the colony.
But there are serious considerations which go against
absenting myself from this party now; they are: I
started with them. I have preserved, with God's help,
every life except that of one child; they all desire
me to remain with them. I have accepted Brazilian
Govm't transportation to New York; I am expected to
go on. I have a good deal of influence among the emigrants,
and I think they generally look up to me; . . .
I have all of McMullan's influence, which separating I
may loose [sic] . If I go [to London] now I get into a
manner of life too easy. I am now poor and rough; my
hands are hard and muscles tough, and I am by recent
and present adversity better prepared than ever to
battle with the world. With the first colonists I
shall have a foothold, and as they increase in numbers
and wealth I will grow too.6
It is likely that George and Lucian already had decided to
continue with the colonists to Brazil, despite the request
for advice on the matter. The principal reason for their
decision, not outlined by George, was lack of cash either
for an ocean voyage or for study. The brothers had the
alternative of going to Brazil or returning to Georgia.
While in the northeast, however, the Barnsley
brothers had the opportunity to visit old friends and
^Ibid.

245
acquaintances from their school days in Rhode Island before
the war. On April 17, George wrote his father that he had
been able to locate a Mrs. Green, his old school teacher.
Both brothers saw friends in Greenwich, Connecticut, who
"would accept no excuse" for their not staying a few days.
Other Texan emigrants also used their time well
during the delay in New York. Calvin and Thomas Steret
McKnight spent several days visiting relatives and friends.
In Pennsylvania, they saw their mother who they had not
seen since they left there for Texas many years before.
The Alfred I. Smith Family, like many others, took advan­
tage of the interval between ships to tour the city. The
Smith's daughter, Bellona, later outlined her recollections
and remembered that the Texans were considered a novelty by
their hosts.
Of course we took the opportunity to see the other
sights of the great city of which so much has been
said—a never failing astonishment to those Greenhorns
from Texas. But if New York was a sight to us, we were
a ten-cent show to the New Yorkers, and they certainly
enjoyed it.^
While the southerners were in New York, the news
arrived that the mammoth steamship Great Eastern was to
arrive from Liverpool. This ship, the wonder of its time.
George Barnsley, New York, to Godfrey Barnsley,
Bartow County, Georgia, April 17, 186 7, Barnsley Papers,
Duke University.
^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," p. 20.

could carry up to 2,500 passengers and cross the North
Atlantic in only fourteen days. The Texans all climbed to
246
the roof of the Collins Hotel to watch the huge ship arrive,
"towed by little steam crafts that looked like a lot of
ants on a grasshopper." From the top of their lodging,
the emigrants could also see Central Park, which they had
visited with "open-eyed wonder." About the middle of April,
however, an event occurred which virtually stopped the
pleasant activities and nearly became the final tragedy of
the McMullan emigrants. One of the colonists became ill
and exhibited characteristics which George Barnsley diag­
nosed as smallpox. No one else became infected, however,
and no new symptoms occurred. To be safe, Barnsley
9
vaccinated the entire party.
As the Texans made plans to leave for Rio de
Janeiro aboard the North America on April 22, another emi­
grant leader in Georgia made plans for his group to join
them. Like McMullan, James McFadden Gaston has been in
contact with Minister de Azambuja at the Brazilian Consulate
and Quintino Bocayuva at the Brazilian Emigration Agency.
In reply to a query about transportation, Bocayuva offered
Gaston's party passage with the Texans on the North America.
"We will not receive," said Bocayuva, "any emigrants but
your party and McMullin's [si£] . They have only Southerners
^Ibid., p. 19.

and people of the same class." Bocayuva also offered
accommodations to Gaston "at small cost in the Collier
[sic] Hotel, opposite Pier 42, North River." Despite
Bocayuva's statement that no others could sail with the
McMullan and Gaston groups, he did offer to include
Dr. H. A. Shaw and his family from South Carolina who had
also been in correspondence with the imperial government
about colonization. Bocayuva also told Gaston that any
persons who could not be in New York by April 22 could
sail with Reverend Ballard S. Dunn's party on May 16 from
New Orleans. In a letter to Shaw, Gaston stated that he
and about 100 others planned to accompany McMullan and
that they would leave Savannah for New York on April 13.
Shaw, who with his partner Robert Merriwether represented
the Southern Colonization Society of Edgefield, South
Carolina, also decided to sail with the Texas emigrants.
By April 20, all were in New York and ready to depart for
their new country.
247
The North America was originally constructed by
Sneeden, New York City, in 1851. Its tonnage was 1,440
lbs. and it had a vertical beam engine with cylinder diameter
of 66 inches and a stroke of 12 feet. See James P.
Baughman, Charles Morgan and the Development of Southern
Transportation (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press,
1968), p. 243. The North America arrived in New York from
Rio de Janeiro on March 23, 186 7, commanded by Louis F.
Timmerman. See United States, National Archives, Passenger
lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, 1820-1897, Microfilm
Publication, Roll 276, Microcopy 237, February 12-March 20,
1867 (List nos. 105-206), The National Archives and Records

The prospects for a pleasant journey from New York
to Rio de Janeiro seemed limited. Although the North
America was one of the best and largest steam ships on
the South American run, she did not have a good reputation
248
for courtesy, service, or comfort even for cabin passengers,
much less those in the steerage area where most of the
colonists had been assigned. Philosophically, George
Barnsley predicted "miserable accommodations," then rea­
soned that it "would not make much difference ... as it
is only for one month. " When the time came to board ship,
the Texans and their new friends from Georgia, Florida,
South Carolina, and Alabama felt exuberant. They were very
anxious to leave the Collins Hotel, cold weather, and Yan­
kees in general. The Dallas Herald later reported their
departure with a brief note.
The Steamship North America of the Brazil line, sailed
from New York a few days ago, for Rio, taking about
240 passengers, most of whom are from the Southern
States. Included are 138 from Texas, 30 from Florida,
and about as many from Georgia and Alabama. •'•1
In addition to the Americans, a considerable number
of Irish nationals traveled on board the ship. Most had
Service (Washington: 1958). Also see George Barnsley to
Godfrey Barnsley, April 17, 1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke
University; James McFadden Gaston to Dr. H. A. Shaw, April
2/ 1867, as printed in the Atlanta Constitutionalist,
April 6, 1867.
•'"•'"George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, April 17,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University; Dallas Herald,
June 8, 1867, p. 1.

immigrated to New York. When they failed to find a hoped-
for Utopia there, they responded to Brazilian promises of
happiness in South America. Although none of these former
Europeans were probably asked to join the American colo­
nists, one young man named O'Reilly became a fast friend
of one of the southerners in Gaston's party named Dillard.
George Barnsley made the only other meaningful contact with
the Irishmen by providing medical care for them in addition
to his assistance to the McMullan, Gaston, and Meriwether
12
and Shaw parties.
The conditions aboard ship proved to be, if any­
thing, worse than had been predicted. The crew paid no
attention whatsoever to cleanliness, even in the steamer's
galley. George Barnsley described the food as "excerable,"
and sickness was common. The purser's time, according to
249
Barnsley, "was altogether occupied in private flirtations."
The officers of the vessel engaged in "constant bickerings
and insults" toward the passengers. The only exception
among the crew, the Chief Engineer, "did all in his power
to alleviate the condition of the sick." Fortunately the
weather remained good and there were no delays. The North
The Irish, according to some obersvers, were one
of the main reasons that it was generally reported that the
"Americans" were destitute in Brazil. See Lucian Barnsley,
Tiete, Province of Sao Paulo, to Godfrey Banrsley, Bartow
County, Georgia, August 5, 1871, Barnsley Papers, Duke
University.

America arrived in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro on May 20,
even after making the usual stops at St. Thomas, Para,
Pernambuco, and Bahia. The trip lasted only twenty-eight
days.
The black cloud which seemed to follow McMullan's
Texans still lingered with them. As the North America
entered the bay outside Rio de Janeiro, she carelessly
250
came too close to a large steamer and a collision occurred,
knocking a large hole in the bow of the American ship. To
avoid panic among the passengers, the crew minimized the
damage until they could lower a large sail as a patch. This
maneuver significantly reduced the amont of water which was
pouring into the hold. The makeshift repair proved ade-
14
quate to get the ship to the dock.
Immediately upon arrival, George Barnsley, acting
in his official capacity as physician for the American
passengers, lodged a strong protest with port authorities,
condemning the health conditions on board the ship. After
an investigation, the New York and Brazil Mail Steamship
Company, the owner of the North America, received a fine
George Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil:
The American (and English) Attempt at Colonization in
Brazil—1866-67, " Brazilian American (Rio de Janeiro),
March 10, 1928, p. 9; George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, May 23, 1867,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
•^^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 20.

of five contos, although it is not known whether the
15
penalty was collected.
251
The reactions of the various colonists upon arrival
in Rio de Janeiro varied. Bellona Smith Ferguson expressed
her feelings in this way:
My impressions of Brazil when we first entered . . .
the Bay of Rio was [sic] extremely disappointing. The
contrast after New York was certainly great. Everything
seemed too small. Houses too low, and out of
sight behind hills. And way off on a green mountain
we saw a toy train winding out of sight, not much like
the great thundering American engines we last saw as we
sailed away. . . . Then, the streets of Rio—narrow,
dirty, and winding up hill and down with no drays, mule
carts, or wheeled vehicles of any kind, but great husky
Negroes staggering under their heavy loads.16
In contrast, George Barnsley expressed pleasure
with the capital of his adopted country. He quickly praised
the city, its natural surroundings, and its commercial pos­
sibilities. "The scenery is too beautiful and grand for
description," he said.
Such combinations of objects of grandeur and beauty
I venture can be found no where else. . . . Rio resembles
. . . Havana, and has all the modern improvements
of gas, hydrants, sewers, etc. The shops are
well filled and very cheap are the contents.17
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil," p. 9
Five contos amounted to $2,500 in United States currency.
See Julia L. Keyes, "Our Life in Brazil," The Alabama Historical
Quarterly 28 (Fall and Winter, 1966): 274.
•^^Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."
•'"'^George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, May 23,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

After initial processing by port authorities, the
252
colonists received instructions to proceed to the so-called
Emigrant Hotel, also termed Government House, or Casa de
Suade, which had been converted into temporary quarters for
the expected arrivals from the United States. Lieutenant
Colonel James A. Broome, formerly of the 14th Alabama
Infantry, who lost his left leg in the Battle of the Wilder­
ness, managed the hotel, which was a beautiful, huge mansion
18
located on a hillside.
The poverty-stricken Texans could find no way to
get to the government-furnished accommodations other than
by walking, even though such a strenuous hike was extremely
tiring for persons who had just completed a long sea
voyage. The approached the hotel by way of a wide road
paved with large white stones. The highway made a broad
curve up a mountainside, terminating at a huge iron gate
which was the entrance to the grounds of the mansion.
Along either side of a walk from the gate to the building
stood trim rows of imperial palm trees which lent an almost
incomprehensible tropical beauty to the scene. On
Peter A. Brannon, "Southern Emigration to Brazil:
Embodying the Diary of Jennie R. Keyes, Montgomery, Alabama."
The Alabama Historical Quarterly 1 (Summer, 1930):
95. Brannon states that Broome was probably from La Grange,
Georgia, and that he was termed as being "very gallant."
Also, see Edwin Ney McMullan, "Texans Established Colony
in Brazil Just After Civil War," Semi-Weekly Farm News
(Dallas), January 25, 1916.

oth sides of the pathway were large marble basins where
253
fountains once played, and marble benches under vine-covered
arbors beckoned the weary travelers. Beautiful flowers
growing in manicured beds added to the unbelievable scene.
Colonel Broome wasted no time in showing the new
arrivals to their apartments. Neat and clean, each con­
tained a light iron bed and a wash stand, all painted green.
There were also enough tables and chairs to make the colo­
nists comfortable in the almost elegant surroundings. Many
of the rooms, according to one description, "were beauti­
fully papered, some with frescoed and gilded ceilings."
Because of the striking contrast to both the living condi­
tions aboard ship and the hotel in New York, the Texans
must have felt that they had finally reached the promised
1 A 20
land.
The McMullan colonists learned that they were not
the first to reach Brazil despite Frank McMullan's sincere
wish to be the initial group from the United States. Four
days before, the Marmion, with Ballard S. Dunn's emigrants
as well as those of Colonel Charles Grandioson Gunter, came
into port. With the addition of the 240 passengers from
the North America, the number of guests at the hotel in
Rio rose to over 500 persons. All were free to stay for
•^^E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established Colony."
^°Julia L. Keyes, "Our Life in Brazil," p. 139.

thirty days, or until furnished transportation to colony
21
lands, with plain, healthy food thrown in at no cost.
On Sunday morning. May 23, the colonists received
a message that Dom Pedro II, the Emperor of Brazil, was
254
coming to the Emigrant Hotel to visit the new arrivals from
the United States. Excitement swept through the Americans
and a frenzied effort went into making the rooms and kitchen
look their very best. Of course, everyone donned their
finest clothing in order to present the best possible appear­
ance to their new ruler. Toward the middle of the afternoon,
the children were allowed to stand on the balconies of the
old mansion, while the adults began to gather on the porch
and grounds. At four o'clock a shout went up as they saw
the royal coach entering the main drive. The imperial
procession stopped short of the building itself, and Dom
Pedro ascended the steps on foot, followed by his aides.
The Emperor was about forty-six years old. His hair and
beard were graying. He had blue eyes and a prominent,
aquiline nose. He was dressed in a plain, black suit, with
only a star on his left breast to denote his royal position.
"His countenance," according to one account, "was modest
A diary of the journey of the Marmion may be
found in Brannon, "Southern Emigration to Brazil." Also,
see George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, May 23, 186 7,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University; Sarah Bellona Smith
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil," Farm and Ranch (Dallas),
December 2, 1916; E. N. McMullan, "Texans Established
Colony"; Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."

and unostentatious." The Americans pushed closer, hoping
for a good look at a real emperor, until the entire square
was jammed with people. From time to time a balloon pur­
chased for the occasion would rise into the air. Other
Americans, to celebrate the event properly, fired sky­
rockets. Spontaneously, Columbus Wasson threw his hat
into the air and shouted, "McMullan's Colony gives three
cheers for the Emperor of Brazil." Three times three soon
turned to "Viva! Viva! Dom Pedro Segundo!" from all of
the new arrivals. More hats went into the air as a feeling
of reckless relief swept through the crowd. For many, this
occasion became the culmination of months of misery, pain,
A 22
and worry.
At the end of the demonstration of respect, the
Emperor began a tour which took him through all of the
lodging facilities. He first walked around the grounds
of the estate, then to the kitchen. There he tasted the
255
bread and declared that it was v/ell made. From the kitchen,
he went to some of the rooms and expressed his satisfaction.
Leaving the interior of the building, Dom Pedro stopped on
the front porch where some of the Americans, probably
22
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67";
Keyes, "Our Life in Brazil," pp. 140-141; Josephine Foster,
Letter to the Editor, New Orleans Times, April 26, 186 8, as
quoted in Lawrence F. Hill, "The Confederate Exodus to South
America," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 39 (October
1935, January 1936, and April 1936): 113.

256
McMullan, Dunn, Gaston, Shaw, Meriwether, and Gunter, were •
waiting. He held a short conversation with them and said
that he was well-pleased with the appearance of the Amer-
leans. Seeing a young boy standing nearby, the Emperor
walked to him, placed his hand on the lad's head, and said
a few kind words. The boy felt himself immortalized by
the ruler's action and probably remembered it for the rest
of his life. Before the crowd realized it, Dom Pedro was
gone, leaving before many were really conscious that they
23
had been in his presence.
The evening of May 23, George Barnsley wrote to his
father, telling of the royal visit. Barnsley remarked that
Dom Pedro was "a fine looking gentleman" and that the ruler
was "especially interested" in McMullan's colony. Continu­
ing, Barnsley said that the Texas colony had received compli­
mentary notice in the newspapers. The favorable welcome
given the Texans also gave Barnsley encouragement in his
belief that additional help would be forthcoming. "We have
some reasons to hope that not only will our passage money
be remitted by the Govm't, but also that aid will be ex­
tended us." Barnsley concluded his letter with the request
that his father write to him "Care of Col. Frank McMullen
II2 4
[sic], Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, via Rio de Janeiro.
^^Keyes, "Our Life in Brazil," pp. 140-142.
^^George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, May 23,
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

Five days after their arrival in Rio de Janeiro,
the McMullan colonists received word that the coastal
257
steamer Marion was ready to transport them and their baggage
and equipment to Iguape. There they were to wait until
river transportation was available to carry them to colony
lands. Most were anxious to proceed and quickly packed
their belongings to make ready for what they hoped would be
their last ocean voyage. Others, however, decided for
various reasons to go no farther. Gambler McKnabb saw no
real future for himself in the backwoods of Sao Paulo Prov­
ince and elected to stay in Rio with his wife and daughter.
Reportedly, McKnabb relieved a Mexican companion of all of
his gold and "got rid" of him soon after leaving the emi­
grant party. Presumably using the wealth he had extracted
from his erstwhile friend, McKnabb opened an American style
bar in Rio de Janeiro which was reported to be highly suc­
cessful. After his death a few years later, McKnabb's
family left the capital and was not heard from again.
Calvin and Isabel McKnight's little daughter, Emma, became
ill on the voyage from New York. Even after several days
in Rio, the girl showed no improvement and the McKnights
felt that they had no choice but to remain where competent
medical care was available. Calvin's brother, Thomas,
also elected to stay until the crisis was over. William
T. McCann, a close friend of the McKnight families, also
decided to remain, as he was in no hurry to reach the

colony site. The decision of McCann and the McKnights to
remain proved of little help to Emma, however, for she
25
soon died, probably from pneumonia.
Another of the McMullan Colony bachelors, a Mr.
Maston, also determined to stay in Rio de Janeiro. At the
Emigrant Hotel, he met and fell in love with Anna Miller,
who, with her parents Irving and Sophie Miller, was set to
go to Colonel Gunter's colony on the Rio Doce. Maston pro­
posed to Anna and she accepted, despite the fact that she
had been seeing another young man for quite some time and
was generally assumed to be "spoken for." Regardless, the
family set a date for the Maston-Miller wedding and made
all the preparations. When the day and hour arrived, how­
ever, Maston was nowhere to be found. Guests and family
258
at the event felt mortified and the bride hurt and dejected.
When a friend went to locate the missing groom, he found
that Maston had been murdered. Miss Miller's first lover
later admitted the crime with the statement that "if he
could not marry Miss Anna, she should not have another
man."^^
George Barnsley, "Original of Reply to a Circular
asking for information of the Ex-Confederate emigrants,
April, 1915." George S. Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
North Carolina; Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating
to Brazil, December 18, 1936, p. 20.
26 Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."

Several other former Texans also elected to remain
in Rio de Janeiro. There is no record that a Mr. Lee, a
bachelor, went on to Iguape or the colony site. Another
single man, a Mr. Glen, also presumably stayed in the capi­
tal. It is likely that another young man, a Mr. Johnson,
decided to remain in Rio when the others sailed for Iguape.
A Mr. Henderson also stayed in Rio de Janeiro where he
adopted a little Brazilian orphan girl. Henderson and his
new daughter remained in Brazil only a few months before
they returned to Texas. There, the young lady was educated
and learned North American ways and the English language.
27
When grown, she married her foster father.
"Dad" McMains, a Scotsman who lived and worked in
the California gold fields in 1849, also elected to leave
the McMullan group at Rio de Janeiro. Always a loner,
McMains wasted neither words nor money. On board ship
from New York, George Barnsley, a Major Braxton, and others
often solicited McMains advice, which he usually gave in
terse, yet genial phrases. McMains and Braxton went to the
Rio Doce where they formed a partnership for the purpose of
exporting fine furniture woods to Rio. The venture proved
successful but ended when Braxton failed to return from a
trip to the capital where he sold a quantity of hardwood
for a sum of ten contos. Braxton boarded a coastal steamer
27
Ibid.
259

to return to the Rio Doce, but he never arrived. Most
people assumed that he was robbed and murdered. Later,
McMains traveled alone to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then
Paraguay, before trekking across the wilds of Matto Grosso
Province to Rio de Janeiro. The trip through the wilder­
ness with no roads took six months. Disappointed at not
finding a bonanza gold mining claim, McMains eventually
28
returned to Texas.
Martin Felix Demaret and his family never offici­
ally joined the McMullan Colony, even though Mrs. Demaret
and the children sailed to Brazil on the same ships all
the way from Galveston. Demaret, a former resident of
Louisiana, lived in Grimes County, Texas, for eleven years
prior to his first trip to Brazil in 1866. He traveled
all over the empire from the Amazon River to Sao Paulo
Province and finally selected lands near Santa Barbara,
northwest of the city of Sao Paulo. Convinced that he had
made the correct decision in coming to Brazil, Demaret
proclaimed that he was now engaged in "selecting the best
from the best." Demaret, his wife, and his children re-
amined in Rio de Janeiro when the time came for their
260
Texas friends to board the ship for Iquape. George Barnsley
had high praise for Demaret, describing him as a "fine
George Barnsley, "Notes and Information about the
Emigrants from the U. States of 1867-68." Barnsley Papers,
Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina

gentleman, of the old, courteous, gallant type, and his
family well educated and thoroughly refined in manner,
which later merits were very much at discount among most
of our American emigrants of that epoch." Like "Dad"
McMains, James Monroe Keith sought gold and did not choose
to stay with the would-be agriculturalists of the McMullan
party. A former Texas Ranger and Confederate soldier,
Keith briefly remained in Rio rather than go to Iguape,
then set out on his own into the sertao to find his
29
fortune.
On May 25, the Marion lifted anchor from Rio de
Janeiro. The ship first stopped at Santos, the port town
nearest the city of Sao Paulo. Here, some Americans who
were not members of the McMullan Colony disembarked before
the little steamer left once again enroute to Iguape, the
port at the mouth of the Ribeira de Iguape and the nearest
town to the lands selected for settlement. The general bad
luck of the Texans continued aboard the Marion when,
approaching the city at low tide, the ship struck a sand
bar as it neared the docks. Although the little steamer
was not damaged, it could not move and had to wait until
high tide before it could continue to dry land.
Ibid.; Ballard S. Dunn, Brazil, The Home for
Southerners (New Orleans: Bloomfield & Steel, 1866),
P» 70; Barnsley, "Notes and Information."
30 George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, May 23,
261

Unlike Rio de Janeiro, no arrangements had been
made for housing in Iguape, as it had been presumed that
transportation to take the colonists up the river would
be available almost immediately. This was not the case,
however. The river steamer would not be ready to sail for
nearly a month. Obviously, the Texans would have to "make
do" and find shelter wherever they could. A scout of the
town soon produced a large empty house and the colonists
obtained permission for many of them to live in it for the
262
duration of their stay. Those who were unable to find room
in the old dwelling were forced to set up camp in the
^ ^ 31
street.
Those who found it necessary to live in tents in­
cluded the Alfred I. Smith family. The first day, however,
a benevolent Brazilian man approached Mrs. Smith and asked,
in Portuguese, if she and her family would like to live in
his house. As Mrs. Smith had not yet learned any of the
language she understood nothing of what he said. Fortu­
nately, her son Eugene had attended Frank McMullan's lan­
guage lessons aboard the Derby and was able to translate
the proposal to his mother. The Smiths gladly accepted
1867, Barnsley Papers, Duke University; Ferguson, "The
American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil," December 18, 1936,
p. 20.
^•^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 20; Ferguson, "Emigrating
to Brazil in 1866-67."

his offer and were soon "domiciled quite comfortably."
Physician George Barnsley and Dentist William T.
Moore and his wife, Victoria, also found themselves unable
263
to stay in the large house. Rather than camp in the street,
however, the three shared what Barnsley described as "a very
good house with four rooms, a kitchen, and other rooms for
servants (which we have not) all for $3.00 per month." Like
many of the other colonists, Moore and Barnsley were virtu­
ally penniless. They survived on bananas and bread while
the men sought unsuccessfully to establish an unlicensed
practice in dentistry and medicine, respectively. The situ­
ation continued to deteriorate to the point that breakfast
consisted of only bananas and water, causing Barnsley to re­
mark that it looked as if they would have to "get enough
Portuguese aboard to beg." The versatile Moore cautioned
his wife and friend to "hold on awhile" and left for the day,
not returning until late in the evening. When he arrived,
he held a candle and carried a loaf of bread. He presented
his wife with a sack of denups—small copper coins—he said
he had won from a party of Brazilians while gambling at a
club. "This fortunate luck," stated Barnsley, "started our
wheels to grinding, and [we] prospered." Evidently, the lack
of provisions became widespread, however, and soon the Bra­
zilian government began furnishing rations, including rice,
sugar, pork, farinha, mandioca, beans, and beef. The dona­
tion of food supplies increased speculation among the

colonists that before long additional support, including
tools and perhaps even money, would be forthcoming."^^
Some members of the McMullan party, annoyed at the
264
delay at Iguape, decided that this inconvenience represented
the last straw and returned to Rio de Janeiro before river
transportation was available. The thought of going into an
unfamiliar forest area in the strange, unknown land probably
seemed too frightening to some, despite the manifold hard­
ships they had endured since leaving Texas. By the middle of
June, however, some of the Texans were already on their way
33
to the lands Frank McMullan had located over a year before.
The weeks spent in New York, aboard the steamship
North America, in Rio de Janeiro, and in Iguape were anxious
ones for the McMullan colonists. Although this period was a
relatively pleasant respite from the violent storms in the
Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic, the continued waiting
must have been nerve-wracking to emigrants who had already
experienced repeated delays. Anticipation of actually going
to colony lands provided renewed enthusiasm, however, as the
former Texans waited for the steamer that was to take them
up the Ribeira de Iguape.
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67";
George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to Godfrey Barnsley,
Bartow County, Georgia, June or, 1867, Barnsley Papers,
Duke University; Barnsley, "Original of Reply to a Circular."

CHAPTER IX
DEATH AND DISILLUSIONMENT
In order to complete one of the agreements which
had been made with Frank McMullan and William Bowen, the
imperial government continued in its efforts to complete
surveys of lands on the Juquia and Sao Louren9o rivers.
Although measurements were still incomplete in mid-186 7,
the colonists from Texas began their journey upriver. To
the American emigrants the trip up the Ribeira de Iguape
must have seemed almost a fantasy—an unreal world in which
they were suddenly participants. Upon completing the first
stage of the trip, a stop at the temporary staging area at
Mouro Redondo, they once again faced a period of waiting,
but this time the delay was of their own choosing. Their
leader, Frank McMullan, lay critically ill. They elected
to wait for a change in his health, whichever way it turned.
McMullan's death resulted in a leadership conflict between
William Bowen on one side and Judge Dyer and George Barnsley
on the other. The majority of the colonists were behind
Bowen, for various reasons, and the provincial authorities
also backed McMullan's former partner. Bowen then turned
his attention to the construction of a road to the coast,
265

a critical link to markets that had to be completed if the
colony was to survive.
Although more complicated and expensive than esti­
mated by government officials, the measurement of the
McMullan colony lands continued in 1867. Ernesto Dinez
Street, the Inspector General of Public Lands of Sao Paulo
Province, received a contract from the imperial government
on August 25, 1866, to survey the lands ceded to McMullan
and Bowen, as well as to Ballard Dunn, on the Sao Louren90
and Juquia rivers. To accomplish this task. Street, on
266
October 18, 1866, asked the National Treasury for an advance
payment of 95 contos de reis. Although the contract did not
provide for such a preliminary payment, it was granted. In
making his appeal. Street stated that he believed the entire
job would -entail the measurement of close to 3,0 00,000
lineal bracas. In an accounting report by Hygino Jose
Xavier, Chief Accountant of the Plantation of Sao Paulo,
of March 5, 186 7, he estimated that when all expenses were
submitted in July, 1867, Street would be due approximately
40 contos de reis over and above his advance payment. This
total would cover all expenses incurred in the year begin­
ning July, 1866, including actual measurement costs, ex­
penses incurred in accompanying prospective emigrants
around the province, and porters to carry baggage and
equipment. On March 12, a supplementary report detailing
past and future expenses was dispatched to the President

of Sao Paulo Province, Jose Tavares Bastos, by Jose J. M.
267
de Oliveira of the Department of Public Lands. The follow­
ing day, March 13, Bastos wrote a note authorizing payment
to Street to Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas, Minister of the
Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works. Still,
Street's progress was extremely slow. Despite repeated
inquiries by William Bowen about completion dates of the
survey, it was unfinished in June, 1867.
Colonel William Bowen, who stayed in Brazil when
Frank McMullan returned to the United States in June, 1866,
constructed a small house at Mouro Redondo, the McMullan
property on the banks of the Juquia River near its conflu­
ence with the Sao Lourengo. With Brazilian government help,
Bowen built a large building in the open area which would
at least provide shelter from the frequent tropical rains.
Bowen's small house, the large building, and the ground for
tents would provide temporary homes for the colonists as
they went upriver to the lands on the Sao Lourengo River
Jos^ Hygino Xavier, Accountant of the Plantation
Of Sao Paulo, Accounting Report, March 5, 1867, Archives
of the State of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Jos^ Joaquim
de Oliveira, Department of Public Lands and Colonization of
the Province of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, to Jos^ Tavares
Bastos, President of the Province of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo,
March 12, 186 7, Archives of the State of Sao Paulo; Jos^
Tavares Bastos to Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas, Minister of
the Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works,
Rio de Janeiro, March 13, 1867, Register Book of Correspondence
of the Governor with the Minister of Agriculture,
Commerce and Public Works, 1861-1869, Archives of the State
of Sao Paulo.

and its tributaries the Ariado, the Peixe, the Guanhanha
2
and the Azeite.
As soon as the Americans landed in Iguape, Frank
McMullan, Judge Dyer, and other leaders went upriver to
locate Bowen and to be sure that everything was in readi­
ness for the former Texans. Although disappointed that
surveys were still incomplete, they were satisfied with
Bowen's other arrangements and sent word for the colonists
to join them as soon as possible. By mid-June, 186 7, the
movement to Mouro Redondo was well underway. The colonists
pressed into service a dilapidated make-shift little river
steamer which took load after load up to the fall line,
where passengers were forced to disembark and then board
3
dugout canoes for the final leg of the trip.
Around the end of June, the last contingent of
Americans prepared to leave Iguape for "El Dorado," as
the McMullan Colony was by that time called. The landing
2
Guanhanha, in Guanari Indian language, is said to
mean "the land without evil." See "Articles Taken From a
Brazilian Newspaper Shortly Before the Centennial of the
Arrival of the Americans in Brazil," typescript included
in a letter from Nattie Quillin Jacobs (Elijah H. Quillin's
granddaughter), Ontario, California, to William C. Griggs,
Canyon, Texas, March 3, 19 80, in possession of William C.
Griggs.
^George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao Paulo Province,
Brazil, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, June
14, 1867, Barnsley Papers, Manuscript Division, William R.
Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina;
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating
to Brazil," Times of Brazil (Sao Paulo), September
18, 1936, p. 21.
268

where the steamer docked lay several miles from town, so
269
baggage and supplies were loaded into two-wheeled Brazilian
carts. The colonists elected to walk, however, rather than
pay for additional wheeled transportation. Upon arrival at
the pier, they found that the boat would not leave until
morning so all bedded down for the night. Early the next
day they boarded the small craft and with wide-eyed wonder
finally began the last leg of their trip up the jungle-
bordered river. The last boatload consisted of only four
families. Alfred I. Smith with his nine-person clan joined
the equally large group of J. Thomas and Ann Cook. Jacob
and Susan Wingutter and their daughter Amy accompanied
4
Parson Richard Ratcliff and his pregnant wife Eunice.
After a full day's ride, just at sundown, the
steamer came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the river.
As none of the colonists could speak Portuguese, they were
unable to question the boatmen as to the reason for the
halt. The answer came quickly, nevertheless, when three
large canoes pulled alongside the larger craft. On each
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil
in 1866-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen Colony," MS,
May 29, 1935, Blanche Henry Clark Weaver Papers, in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas; Ferguson, "The
American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil," September 18, 19 36,
P- 21. Information on J. Thomas Cook, his wife Ann, and
their children may be found in Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67"; Julia McKnight Jones, Soldado Descansal:
^a Epopeia Norte Americana Sob Os Ceus Do Brasil (Sao
Paulo: Jarde, 1967), pp. 133, 139.

end of the dugouts stood a native, each with an oar and a
pole. Two of the canoes received the American women and
children, as well as baggage; the men boarded the third
boat. The ladies, recalled one American many years later,
took the entire experience in fine style. Some of the
young ladies flirted with the young men, while others were
fearful of the approaching night and storm clouds which
5
began to fill the sky.
The coming of darkness also brought a cold, chill­
ing rain which imparted a real sense of helplessness to
the Americans and probably made some seriously question
their rationale in being there. Bellona Smith felt terri­
fied because of the combination of night and bad weather.
Imagine us out in open dugouts in the middle of a
great river; ignorant of when or where we would land—
it was no fun, dark as Egypt except when flashes of
lightning showed nothing but water. The rain became
heavy and threatening and thunder added to the
situation.
She recalled that all were quiet and "took the storm with
bowed heads, trusting to Providence and the brave camaradas
who never slackened their poleing."
About midnight, two of the dugouts finally arrived
at a small dock where the women and children, joyfully and
thankfully, were allowed to disembark. There they met an
Jones, Soldado Descansal, pp. 133, 139
^Ibid.
270

Englishman, a Mr. Wilmot, as well as several men of the
McMullan party who had arrived earlier. The men helped
the wet and bedraggled emigrants up a long slippery path
to the home of a fazendeiro—a rice planter—who offered
shelter to the travelers. Wilmot took them to a large
storage building filled with rice. He told the women to
cover their children's heads, especially their ears, then
crawl into the rice. All slept soundly and emerged "dry
as powder" the next morning.
The canoe carrying the men missed the small pier
in the rain and darkness and docked a short distance up
the river where they found a small hut. Unlike the women
and children, they were wet and cold and had no place to
sleep. Fortunately, one of the Smith children had a single
match in his pocket and the men were able to start a fire.
They spent the night huddled around the flames hoping that
their families were enjoying a more favorable evening.
The morning of the 17th dawned clear and bright, much to
the relief of the colonists. When the men made their way
down the river to the fadenza, they felt tremendous relief
to find that their wives and children were safe and well.
After a meal, cooked in the open by the women, all prepared
to climb into the canoes once more for the final leg of the
7 Ibid. According to Bellona Smith Ferguson, Wilmot
later established a cotton gin, or "factory" near Villa
Americana. See Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-
67."
271

272
trip upriver. The Ratcliffs and the Wingutters left first,
followed a short time later by the Smith and Cook families.^
Few settlers, even Brazilians, lived on the upper
Juquia River near its juncture with the Sao Lourengo.
Only occasionally did the Americans spy small huts built
on the steep banks. The few dwellings there were covered
with palm leaves and "looked more like a poor excuse for
a corn crib than a house." As the Smith and Cook families
approached one of these small buildings, they were surprised
to discover that the other two families, the Ratcliffs and
the Wingutters, had taken shelter. Mrs. Ratcliff, long
expectant, had given birth to a daughter. The only assist­
ance she received in her labor came from her friend Susan
Wingutter. The new baby, named Maude, became the first
child born in Brazil whose parents were members of the
McMullan party. Assured by the Ratcliffs and the Wingutters
that no assistance was needed, the Smith and Cook families
9
continued their trip up the Juqui£.
8 Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."
Ibid. Jacob Wingutter is well established as a
member of the McMullan Colony. He, his wife Susan, and
their daughter Amy are shown on a listing by Sarah Bellona
Smith Ferguson in "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67." Also,
see George Barnsley, "Original of Reply to a Circular asking
for information of the Ex-Confederate emigrants, April,
1915," George S. Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
North Carolina; George S. Barnsley, "Notes and Information
About the Emigrants from the U. States of 1867-67," Barnsley
Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University of North

Little Eddie Cook, seven years old, was considered
by some to be a "bad boy." He proved a continual distrac­
tion and throughout the trip his antics had created bad
feelings among those who believed that children should be
seen and not heard. Eddie continued in his undisciplined
273
manner when he boarded the dugout canoe, alternately sitting,
0
then standing, yet receiving no admonition from his parents.
Suddenly, without warning, the boy toppled overboard and
into the swirling river waters. J. T. Cook, Eddie's father,
panicked and stood up in the boat yelling, "Save my child,
save my child." The father did not jump into the river
himself, perhaps because he could not swim. One of the
camaradas quickly dived into the water and after a short
time caught the child and brought him safely back. "None
but his own family," recalled Bellona Smith, "would have
cared had he been drowned but he lived to be a very nice
young lad. I saw him years after in Santos and hope his
Carolina. According to Barnsley, Wingutter married again
in later years to a Brazilian and became a colporteur,
selling Bibles and religious tracts. Richard Ratcliff,
a Baptist minister, and his wife Eunice are well-documented
members of the McMullan group. Like Wingutter, they are
listed in Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67." Also, see Peter A. Brannon, "Southern
Emigration to Brazil," The Alabama Historical Quarterly 1
^(Summer, 1930): 81-82; Thomas H. Steagall and others,
"Lista de Americanos Vindos ao Brasil," Frank P. Goldman,
Qs Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil (Sao Paulo: Livraria
Pioneiro Editora, 1972), p. 107; Jones, Soldado Descansal,
pp. 101, 133, 201, 202, 216, 244.

manners have improved as much as his looks."
The next landing the colonists reached stood adja­
cent to a small settlement "where the river takes a bend
to the right." There, once again, a gentle rain fell on
the dense forest, but the colonists were by that time so
used to the moisture that they paid little attention to it.
"there was no room to set up the tent," wrote one American,
"so each took such covering as he had [to] spread a kind of
shelter from one small sapling to another, crawled under,
and slept with the rain dripping all around, too tired and
sleepy to fear the 'oncas' [leopards]."
Finally, the dugout canoes with their passengers
reached their destination, the small hut William Bowen
built for himself at Mouro Redondo and the large structure
called "government house" where some of the colonists were
to stay. The large building was constructed of palm slats,
set up "picket fashion" three inches apart, then covered
with palm leaves. The barracks-type dwelling had no inside
divisions, no windows, and a door at each end. It hardly
represented a welcome sight but was better than no housing
274
at all. The Quillin and Garner families, as well as others.
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67";^^
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil,"
December 18, 1936, p. 21.
•^•'"Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 41.

had already filled it to capacity. Several tents, includ­
275
ing one owned by Bony Green, stood in the clearing. Within
days, the colonists believed, all would be able to continue
up the river where they would select their own plots of
land in "El Dorado. "-^^
Parson Quillin's personal library, which contained
a considerable number of Sunday-school lesson books and
music books, as well as some story books and books of
poetry, received extensive use by many of the emigrants.
Quillin took advantage of the situation and began a Sunday-
school. Alfred I. Smith, the former music teacher, led the
singing and the Americans "woke the echoes with songs never
13
heard in those valleys before."
The Brazilian government made arrangements for
food. A commissary was constructed and each family drew
foodstuffs on a regular basis, "just like soldiers, in
camps." Without the support of the Brazilians, the situa-
14
tion would have become dire, indeed.
While the colonists waited for Frank McMullan's
health to improve, activity continued at the camp on the
Juquia. They planted crops in areas which did not require
extensive clearing of trees. Some of the men went upriver
•^^Ibid.
Ibid.
14 Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."

to make preliminary explorations of colony lands and to
attempt to locate parcels which they wished to purchase.
For those who lingered behind, the two boxes of books
acquired from the Methodist Church in New York "helped
15
pass a weary life . . . in a weary unknown forest."
In Iguape, George Barnsley began studying Portu­
guese and reading the requirements for certification as a
physician in Brazil. From his home in Iguape, Barnsley
could see the overall picture much better than most of
those upriver. He noted that a considerable number of
young men who came to Brazil were returning to the United
States dissatisfied. Most of them, however, were "gener­
ally of the class of young men who have been used to good
company and ease or are mere adventurers. Of our party
[McMullan's] every solid man is pleased and all are pre­
paring to settle on lands."
In a letter to his father written on July 13,
Barnsley commented on the diversity of the people in Brazil
"Some of the people here are very intelligent," he said,
"but the mass are a mongrel set, unhealthy of appearance
and of all shades from pure white with blue eyes to inky
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 41; Ferguson, "Emigrating
to Brazil in 1866-67."
^^George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, to
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, July 13, 186 7,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
276

inkiness of black negro." Barnsley continued with the
remark that the nation could progress and "be made a
delightful country to live in provided enough white people
came here to settle it and make society, build roads, and
develop the country." The former Georgian also said that
getting a start in Brazil, even for Anglo-Saxons, was not
an easy task. "We have all ranks of officers from the Con­
federacy here, many . . . making a hand to mouth liveli­
hood." As an end to his letter, Barnsley stated that his
brother Lucian who lived with him was "awaiting the arrival
of a gentleman from Rio (one of our colonists) who wishes
him to distill rum on shares." The prospective partner,
undoubtedly Calvin McKnight, had invented a new method for
making the beverage locally called pinga. Although Lucian
Barnsley engaged in numerous enterprises over the years, it
is not clear whether he and McKnight ever became partners
17
m the distilling business.
The wait of the colonists at Mouro Redondo, ex­
pected to be,a short delay so that Frank McMullan could
regain his strength, slowly turned into an extended lay­
over. Frank McMullan, so long sick, lay critically ill.
The exposure, the weather, the humidity, and the worry
finally had taken their combined toll. Shortly after he
arrived at Bowen's house, Frank found that he no longer
Ibid.
277

had the strength to do even the simplest tasks. He coughed
almost continually and sometimes found it impossible to
rise from his cot.
278
In early June, McMullan's condition became so seri­
ous that he felt that he must see a doctor. Accompanied by
family members, he made the long trip down the river to
Iguape where he located George Barnsley, who had elected
to remain on the coast rather than go to colony lands.
Despite the fact that he was not licensed to practice medi­
cine in Brazil, Barnsley gave McMullan as much help as he
could, although he probably knew that his friend would soon
succumb to his illness. Barnsley suggested that McMullan
see Dr. Octaviano da Rocha, a Brazilian doctor who lived
upriver and might be better able to cope with the Texan's
serious malady. Before returning to Bowen's house at Mouro
Redondo, however, McMullan wrote to the Minister of Agri­
culture requesting that Barnsley receive legal permission
18
to practice medicine "at once."
Although Barnsley strongly urged his friend to
remain in Iguape where he could receive hospitalization,
McMullan insisted on returning to his colonists. He did
write to Dr. da Rocha, however, and requested a visit with
him at the home of a mutual friend, Joao Martin. In a
George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, to
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, June 14, 1867,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

279
letter to McMullan, da Rocha suggested July 8 as a possible
date. When the day arrived, McMullan found that he was
unable to move. He wrote a note to da Rocha explaining the
situation and suggested that the doctor come to Bowen's.
"I have your note," said McMullan. "Just now I arrived
from Iguape. I have been sick for a long time, diseased,
and it is impossible that I can go today to Mr. Joao
Martin's home. I would appreciate it if you could come
here. I can't go there. If you wait," continued McMullan,
"I will go there tomorrow to see you." No other corre­
spondence has been found which verifies whether or not
McMullan was able to see da Rocha. If he did, the visit
proved to no avail as the thirty-two year old leader's
health continued to deteriorate. The colonists settled
in for whatever wait was necessary, either to see McMullan
19
regain his strength or to see him die.
By September 15, Frank McMullan's health was so
bad that Judge Dyer resolved to take the young leader back
to Iguape in hopes of medical treatment which would at
least ease the pain. Little could be done, however, and
McMullan suffered immensely before the end finally came on
Frank McMullan, Mouro Redondo, on the Juquia
River, Sao Paulo Province, to Dr. Octaviano da Rocha,
Home on Juquia River, Sao Paulo Province, July 8, 1867,
National Archives of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. A photocopy
of this correspondence was included in a letter from Betty
Antunes de Oliveira, Rio de Janeiro, to William C. Griggs,
August 3, 19 79, in possession of William C. Griggs.

September 29. McMullan's entire family was present, as
well as George Barnsley, who by that time had become
Frank's closest friend. When the family attempted to
locate a burial plot, its members felt chagrined. The
Roman Catholic Church controlled the only cemeteries and
emphatically refused burial of the Protestant American.
The family's plight soon became known and a German immi­
grant came to them with the offer of a spot in his quintal,
or back yard. With no other options available, the family
quickly and thankfully accepted the offer. Another problem
emerged when family members found that there were no Prot­
estant ministers in Iguape and that the burial would have
20
to be performed by a layman.
280
George Barnsley volunteered to perform the service.
Although he had never led a burial ceremony before, he had
seen it done many times during the Civil War and believed
that he could do a creditable job for his friend. A coffin
was secured and a wagon carried the young man's body to its
final resting place. With friends and family present,
Barnsley read the service from the Episcopal prayer book.
Obviously moved, he recalled the event in later years.
Antonio Augosto de Costa Aguiar to Joaquim
Saldanha Marinha, November 28, 1867; George Barnsley,
"Foreign Colonization in Brazil—1866-67," Brazilian
American (Rio de Janeiro), March 10, 1928, p. 28.

281
Over his tomb I read the service of the Episcopal
Church, and as I said 'Dust to Dust,' we heaped the
fresh earth over him—and thus for ever, as far as we
were concerned, the light of a noble soul faded into
night. 01 horrible night1 Strange is that what we
call Life! In the flower of youth and just ripening
into the flush of manhood; just on the eve of grand
events, just dreaming he had found a home where he
might rest his head and amid the glorious beauties of
the tropics gave his mind the food it craved, he failed;
we covered him with the sod. Alone he sleeps where the
palm tree rustles its drooping leaves—where the orange
shakes her fragrance to the morning dew; where those
stars of the Southern Cross he loved, shine sweetly
down upon the loved one's bier. By him pass no busy
feet; on his grave no kindred hand places the withering
flowers—already the grass rises up in shame to hide
his grave from the unhallowed eyes of native fanaticism,
and when the wind comes to visit it gently bends the
long stems to kiss the grave of a Christian, to whom
the Christian denied the right of burial in consecrated
ground. 01 Christ, what mockeries come in thy hallowed
name—Adieu 1 21
In a eulogy written years later, Barnsley continued
to praise his friend Frand McMullan. "He was gifted by
talents of no inferior order; of a warm and generous nature,
enthusiastic as a poet, and as usual in such characters a
shadow of melancholy pervaded his whole action and life."
Barnsley always put Frank in a separate category from the
other Texans who went to Brazil. "He was incapable," said
Barnsley,
he
Of swerving from the path of honor and rectitude; h
knew of no guile, and was as far removed from most
all that came with him to this country as selfishne ss
Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil";
George Barnsley, "Notes on Brazil: Especially With
Reference to its adaptability to English and American
Emigrants," Barnsley Papers, Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina.

and little meanness are from virtues and grandeur of
soul. He deceived no one but himself, he worked with
unceasing energy for the benefit of those who surrounded
him,22
The news of Frank McMullan's death traveled
quickly. In early November, 1867, the Anglo-Brazilian
Times, an English language newspaper in Rio de Janeiro
edited by former British subject William Scully, reported
his demise. By November 23, the Two Republics in Mexico
picked up the news item. On December 1, Josephine Foster,
a member of the Gunter colony in the Rio Doce, wrote of
the event in a letter to the editor of the New Orleans
Times. Like others, Mrs. Foster had nothing but praise
for the former Texan. "Strictly upright and honest in his
dealing, he gained the respect and confidence of all who
knew him. May his soul rest in peace, and the blessing of
God attend those who cast their lots with him, is our sin-
23
cere prayer. "
After Frank McMullan's funeral, none of the family
were eager to return to their lands on the Juquia or the
Sao Lourengo, at least until the grief over the untimely
^^Barnsley, "Foreign Colonization in Brazil";
Barnsley, "Notes on Brazil."
282
^•^The Two Republics, November 27, 1867, as quoted
by Frank A. Knapp, Jr., "A New Source on the Confederate
Exodus to Mexico: The Two Republics," Journal of Southern
History 19 (February, 1953): 372; Josephine Foster, Gunter
Colony, Espirito Santo Province, to the Editor of the New
Orleans Times, April 26, 1868.

death subsided. William T. Moore, his wife Victoria, and
their new daughter Juanita stayed for a short time in
Iguape, then moved to Campinas, a prosperous city north of
Sao Paulo. Louise and John Odell moved to Sao Paulo, as
did Nancy McMullan and young Ney, before all followed the
Moores to Campinas. Although Judge Dyer returned to the
0
Juquia River settlement, his wife, Amanda, and their chil­
dren Hattie, Wiley, and James remained in Iguape. Columbus
Wasson, who by that time had developed a serious romance
24
with Hattie Dyer, also decided not to return upriver.
While McMullan had been sick, the authority for
the colony's leadership logically fell on William Bowen,
McMullan's original partner in the enterprise. But Bowen,
who was not a forceful individual, did not take control as
he should have done. Therefore, Judge Dyer quickly pre­
empted the leadership vacuum and arbitrarily assumed the
second-in-command role. The Judge's "hard, overbearing
manner," in direct contrast to the approach of the gentle
McMullan, created problems within the community. Most of
the Americans gravitated to Bowen, perhaps to spite the
judge rather than because of any personal attraction held
25
by McMullan's partner.
^"^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 20.
Ibid.
283

Judge Dyer continued to criticize Bowen's failure
to provide leadership for the colony and made an increas­
ingly strong effort to assume control. Dyer's manner,
however, rankled most of the other Americans and they
thwarted his efforts at every turn. As the former Texans
turned against Dyer, his mood became worse and he caused
many problems. The judge was later described as "an extra­
ordinary man; ... a philanthropist, but positive in
manner, warmly loving to his friends and equally cold to
his enemies." He began to concentrate on legal methods
26
whereby he might take over the colony.
284
After Frank McMullan's burial. Judge Dyer discussed
with Barnsley his ideas concerning a takeover of the set­
tlement and asked the doctor to be his partner. Both men
knew of the legends of gold on the property and that with­
out the sanction of the government they might never be able
to exploit either the land or the treasure, if found.
Barnsley obviously had little love for Bowen who he saw
as a weak leader. Thus, Dyer and Barnsley formed a partner­
ship. Dyer write a letter of appeal to Secretary of Agri­
culture Paula e Souza asking for an official transfer of
27
leadership.
A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson
and Hill Counties, Texas (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing
Company, 1892) , p. 215.
^"^Although Dyer's letter itself has not been

By October 28, William Bowen had received word
from Paula e Souza of the request for a transfer of colony
rights to Barnsley and Dyer. Bowen expressed outrage and
immediately called a meeting of the members of the colony
to discuss the situation. All agreed that a change in
leadership at that juncture would be fatal. The colony
already rested on shaky ground and its members had no
desire to be under the thumb of the aristocrat Barnsley,
much less the severe judge. They composed an emphatic
appeal to Paula e Souza begging for rejection of the
Barnsley-Dyer request.
285
Most Excellent Sir, we, the subscribers would represent
to y[our] Honor that a certain man at Iguape, an
American calling himself a Doctor by the name of G. S.
Barnsley, prompted as we believe by (others) designing
spekulations [sic], are makeing [sic] by false representations,
efforts to get into their or his possession,
the management of the affairs and interests of
our new settlement on the head waters of the Sao
Lorenso [sic] River in the District of Iguape, Known
as McMullans and Bowens Collony [sic], and to remove
William Bowen, the only survivor of the firm as above
written. He being now our agent we have no disposition
to change him for another[,] G. S. Barnsley, to the
management of our affairs will be against the will and
interest of the people of this settlement, and will be
the means of braking [sic] up the Collony [sic] which
is now promising, and in which we wish to live, if the
said G. S. Barnsley is not put at the head of affairs
located, the appeal by him is mentioned in Guilherme
[William] Bowen, American Settlement, Sao Lourengo River,
Sao Paulo Province, to Joaquim Saldanha Marinha, President
of Sao Paulo Province, Sao Paulo, November 9, 186 7,
Archives of the State of Sao Paulo.

here. There is not a man in the Collony [sic] who
will submit to him. Praying for your ExcelTe^ncy's
good health and the prosperity of the Empire, we
remain your most humble and obliged servants.
A. I. Smith N. B. McAlpine
Nelson Tarver J. R. Wright
Othniel Weaver L. M. Bryan
Daniel Weaver J. C. Cobb
Riley Weaver Thomas Garner
William A. Gill C. A. Crawley
John Hickman William Davis28
S. F. Haynie
W. T. Smith
In the meantime, Bowen received a request from
Joaquim Saldanha Marinha, then president of Sao Paulo
Province, for a census of the colony and a description of
the colony's boundaries with particular emphasis on its
location in relation to rivers and natural borders. Bowen
prepared an excellent survey of the persons under his con­
trol, including a number for each family, names, sexes,
and ages. As a preface to the document, Bowen noted that
he was also including a petition from colony members in
his favor. He apologized that some persons were not in­
cluded, noting that the omission was partly
On account of the scarcity of provisions and also on
account of efforts makeing [sic] by one G. S. Barnsley
at Iguape to get into his possession the affairs
Guilherme [William] Bowen, American Settlement,
Sao Lourenco River, Sao Paulo Province, to His Excellency,
the Minister of Agriculture of the Empire of Brazil
[Antonio Francisco de Paula e Souza], Archives of the
State of Sao Paulo.
286

of the Collony [sic]. I enclose to your Excellency
an instrument signed by all the settlers (except six:
those I did not see). . . ."29
Continuing his letter to Saldanha Marinha, Bowen
explained that "This man Barnsley, together with the Uncle
of my former Partner (Mr. F. McMullan), James Dyer is
makeing [sic] by lies and false statements efforts to get
into their possession the interests of this settlement."
Bowen also told the president that one of the colonists
was writing an expose of the whole scheme which very soon
would "be published to the World, in the Journals of Brazil
St also the U.S.A." As an addition to the census, Bowen
also included a letter to the president in which he sought
sympathy for himself and bitterly denounced the former
leadership of the colony, perhaps including but not naming
McMullan. "Your Excellency will understand that these
people are not paupers but were unmercifully robbed by
those who brought them out from the U.S.A. having paid
out over twenty thousand dollars. ..."
Bowen's problems extended far beyond the attempt
by Dyer and Barnsley to take over the colony. For an unex­
plained reason, the food supply was unexpectedly cut off
completely. An appeal by Bowen for assistance to Saldanha
^^Ibid.; Bowen to Saldanha Marinha, November 9,
1867, Archives of the State of Sao Paulo.
"^^Bowen to Saldanha Marinha, November 9, 1867,
Archives of the State of Sao Paulo.
287

288
Marinha resulted in money being sent to the delgado (mayor)
of Iguape, but the items purchased and sent upriver were of
very poor quality. The meat was spoiled and uneatable,
•^be farinha (flour) proved to be so bad that it was drawn
only as food for pigs. No coffee or sugar was supplied.
Despite the resentment expressed by Bowen toward
Barnsley because of his attempt to gain colony leadership,
several men went to Iguape and asked the physician for
help. Barnsley had no money to buy supplies but was sympa­
thetic to the plea for assistance. He went to the camara
(city council) of Iguape with a request for aid. He also
made a request to the citizens of the seacoast town, asking
for contributions. Both appeals resulted in help and
Barnsley was able to fill two or three canoes with provi­
sions. He even made out a list of how food was to be
divided upon arrival and appointed men in the colony to
see that the equal division was honored. Those who had
32
money, said Barnsley, gave thier allotment to the needy.
The colonists did receive some good news. The
Legislature of Sao Paulo Province, in response to a
Guilherme [William] Bowen, American Colony, Sao
Lourengo River, Sao Paulo Province, to the President of
Sao Paulo [Joaquim Saldanha Marinha], November 10, 1867,
Archives of the State of Sao Paulo,
32
Barnsley, "Notes and Information about the
Emigrants from the U. States of 1867-68," Barnsley Papers,
Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina.

equest made by McMullan and Bowen on June 13, allocated
five contos de reis to Bowen for the construction of the
road between colony lands and Santos. Even though he had
been extremely ill, Frank McMullan had been concerned that
the Brazilians had not yet authorized the construction of
a road between Sao Lourengio watershed and the coast, a
link which he believed to be essential to the future wel­
fare of the Americans. McMullan and Bowen had written to
Jose Tavares Bastos, the President of Sao Paulo Province,
requesting his assistance. They explained that they had
come to Brazil with more than a hundred emigrants to settle
on a large expanse of land "situated between the cities of
Iguape and Santos, " and that they had brought with them
among other things the equipment to construct a sawmill.
To have a market for the wood they planned to cut, a perma­
nent cart road needed to be constructed "from the center of
the area where we are situated on the headwaters of the
Sao Lourengo River, in the Iguape District, to the city of
Santos, a distance of sixty miles." "This road," explained
McMullan and Bowen, "we propose to construct in a straight
line as possible, but through the city of Peruibe because
of the difficulty of cutting through rugged mountainous
areas." Continuing, the two men declared the road to be
,,33
"an indispensible item for our colony's existence.
"^"^Frank McMullan and William Bowen, Mouro Redondo,
289

On June 17, 1867, McMullan and Bowen had written
to the provincial legislature expressing a similar appeal
and requesting funds to begin construction. The petition
explained that both men had become naturalized citizens of
Brazil. "It is obvious," the men appealed, "that great
benefits will accrue to the Province of Sao Paulo . . .
from the establishment of routes of communication. It will
be of service to the colonists, as well as the rest of the
population." Bowen had personally carried the letter to
Sao Paulo in hopes of a quick decision. The effort proved
unsuccessful at that time as consideration of the request
34
was postponed to the fall session of the legislature.
Work started in earnest on the road with Leonidas
Bowen as superintendent and some progress was made. Bowen
soon determined, however, that the amount given was much
too small to allow the completion of the route, even with
much of the labor being done by colonists at virtually no
290
on the Juquia River, Sao Paulo Province, to Jose Tavares
Bastos, President of Sao Paulo Province, Sao Paulo, June
13, 1867, in a letter from Antonio Augosto de Costa Aguiar,
Sao Paulo, to Joaquim Saldanha Marinha, President of Sao
Paulo Province, November 28, 1867, Archives of the State
of Sao Paulo. Obviously, Saldanha Marinha became president
of the province between June and November, 186 7.
"^^Frank McMullan and William Bowen, Mouro Redondo,
on the Juquia River, Sao Paulo Province, to the President
[Jose Tavares Bastos] and Members of the Provincial Legislative
Assembly, Sao Paulo, June 17, 186 7, in a letter
from Antonio Augosto de Costa Aguiar to Joaquim Saldanha
Marinha, November 28, 1867, Archives of the State of Sao
Paulo.

charge. In a letter to President Saldanha Marinha on
November 10, Bowen explained that the route proved much
more difficult than he had anticipated, and that it would
291
cost at the least calculation 20$000 [twenty contos de
reis] ... to make a good road, as there is a great
deal of . . . wet land which will have to be cropswayed
[filled], also many bridges to make and hills to cut
down, but this must be done as my people have no way
to get to market. ..."
Bowen implored the president to lay his request before the
35
next legislature.
As crops matured, Bowen's appeal for a road took
on even more meaning. Although some farm produce was of
good quality, there were absolutely no buyers. Desperate,
the farmers sold for a pittance or gave away the results
of several month's labor. For many this setback became
the last straw, for they packed their bags to return to
Iguape, Sao Paulo, or the United States. On November 7,
the four-member George A. Linn family boarded the steamer
Ella S. Thayer for New Orleans. "Gradually, day after day,"
said George Barnsley, "men dropped down the river to Iguape
seeking some new outlet. My house became sort of a ranch
and it was all I could to to keep going, as I never refused
to help." Clearly, the McMullan Colony was close to
Antonio Augosto de Costa Aguiar to Joaquim
Saldanha Marinha, November 28, 1867; Bowen to Saldanha
Marinha, November 10, 186 7, Archives of the State of
Sao Paulo.

falling apart.
Thus, the Brazilian adventure took on a new aspect
for all concerned. The colonists left Iguape and went
upriver to establish themselves on colony lands, only to
292
be delayed once more by the fatal illness of Frank McMullan
The power struggle between Bowen, on one side, and Dyer
and Barnsley on the other, served to split the colony even
more. When food supplies became exhausted, crops found no
market, and road construction slowed, some must have known
that the end of the venture was at hand. El Dorado no
longer seemed enticing even to the McMullan family; only
Judge Dyer had enthusiastic hopes for ultimate success.
Faded were many of the fervent dreams for an exciting new
life in an unexploited new land.
36
Barnsley, "Notes and Information about the Emigrants
from the U. States of 186 7-68"; United States,
Works Progress Administration, Survey of Federal Archives
in Louisiana, Passenger Lists Taken from Manifests of the
Customs Service, Port of New Orleans, 1864-186 7, Carbon
Copy of Original Typescript, 1941, p. 186-E, Louisiana
Collection, Library of Tulane University, New Orleans,
Louisiana.

CHAPTER X
LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS
The condition of the McMullan Colony in late 1867
was much better than might have been expected under the
circumstances. Over two-thirds of the original group were
still together and had plans to settle permanently on the
grant. The attempt by Judge Dyer and George Barnsley to
gain control of the colony came to naught, and selection
of land by the colonists got under way. Like all frontiers­
men, the former Texans encountered a new way of life and
had to devise new methods of coping with change. Life
went on, and even romance, followed by marriages, bloomed
on the Sao Louren90. But even camaraderie could not hold
the colony together. Wistfulness, isolation, and homesick­
ness, combined with poor crops and lack of markets, caused
more and more of the colonists to leave the McMullan grant
for other, more enticing places.
The efforts of George Barnsley and Judge James
Dyer to take over the McMullan Colony remained unsuccessful
by early December, 1867. Neither of the men had received
a reply from Secretary of Agriculture Paula e Souza and
both were beginning to question the likelihood of approval
293

for the request. Barnsley was further discouraged by a
letter from his father which expressed doubts about the
property's value.
I cannot see what advantage it will be to you to have
a transfer of the grants which were held by Major
McMullan, of whose death I regretted to learn, as the
land lies I think 150 miles or more above Iguape and
the Colony would not receive your personal attention—
but as you have applied for them [I] infer you considered
it desirable to have them and therefore shall be
glad to learn you have been successful.
By mid-December, Dyer and Barnsley received word that their
request had been denied. In a letter to his father, Barns­
ley remarked that to his "infinite satisfaction" he had,
escaped the agency of the colony—the people refused,
and are now reaping their reward. Most of them are
leaving the Govm't lands and settling in various localities.
I am quite satisfied with helping Americans
and do not wish more from the same plate.1
Still in Iguape, Barnsley wrote his father that he
294
had just received, through a special act of the government,
his Brazilian citizenship. Barnsley told his father that
he would have nothing to do with other McMullan colonists.
"They acted very meanly after all my trouble in procuring
provisions." Paradoxically, Barnsley wrote his father
again in February, 1868, to say that much of his time was
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, to
George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, Brazil, December
12, 1867, Barnsley Papers, Manuscript Division, William
R. Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina;
George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, to Godfrey
Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, February 6, 186 8, Barnsley
Papers, Duke University.

used in assisting Americans and aiding their projects,
despite the fact that their conduct in Brazil had,
295
not been creditable to themselves or the nation which
they represent. There is plenty of bad faith shown,
and many persons who in their own land would scorn to
stoop to low deeds here swindle when they get a chance.
The Brazilians are not a stupid people and are fast
learning.2
Judge Dyer felt more disappointed than Barnsley
when he received word of the rejection of the request to
take over the McMullan Colony. He had sincerely wanted
the opportunity to run the settlement. He still believed
that a large quantity of gold was there and in time could
be found. Therefore, in an effort to accomplish the same
purpose in another way, he decided to approach the poten­
tial bonanza in the same manner he believed the legendary
Joao Aranzal had done many years before. Dyer believed
that the Una de Prelado River mentioned in Aranzal's
itinerary was the Una River which flowed into the Ribeira
de Iguape just north of that coastal port. The location
matched, he believed, even to the fall line and to a large
mountain which could easily be called Sao Lourengo Peak.
At this place Dyer and his family, Columbus Wasson, and
the Negro Steve decided to purchase land (this property
George Barnsley to Godfrey Barnsley, February 6,
1868, Barnsley Papers, Duke University; George Barnsley,
Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow
County, Georgia, March 9, 186 8, Barnsley Papers, Duke
University.

was adjacent to but not within the boundaries of the
McMullan grant), and constructed a sawmill. They antici­
pated that they would need a considerable amount of time
to locate mineral deposits, if they existed, and that they
would need a source of income in the meantime. The falls
provided a perfect power source for the mill and the river
became a highway for transporting newly-cut wood. As the
falls and a large acreage adjacent to them including the
mountainous area to the north were government lands, they
were available for purchase. With the assistancce of
George Barnsley, they filed deeds in Iguape before December
31, 1867. They hoped for a double bonanza, one in gold and
3
the other in fine furniture woods.
The Dyers, Columbus Wasson, and Steve operated
their sawmill and, when time was available, continued their
search for gold. Initial contacts with lumber distributors
in Rio de Janeiro indicated that large amounts of money
might be made if they could only get the finished wood to
296
"5
One reason for the apparent confusion as to the
site of the Aranzal treasure was that there were two
Prelado Rivers near Iguape. One was near the coast north
of Iguape and the other was a tributary of the Juquia near
the McMullan grant. See map entitled "South America:
Sheet IV, South Brazil with Paraguay and Uruguay" (London:
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1837). For
information regarding the purchase of lands by Dyer and
Wasson, see W. S. Dyer, C. L. Wasson, and Helen Domm Curry,
Power of Attorney to E. N. McMullan, Hill County, Texas,
February 8, 1916, in possession of Rachel McMullan White,
Cumberland, Rhode Island.

market, which they could not do because of the lack of
river transportation. To solve the problem. Dyer and
Wasson borrowed $60,000 from a British firm, ordered a
river boat, and began to cut trees, saw them into lumber,
and prepare it for shipping to Rio. On May 24, 186 8,
George Barnsley wrote his father that "some of the emi­
grants to Brazil are now on the roat to vast fortunes."^
The romance that had begun nearly ten years before
between Hattie Dyer and Columbus Wasson continued to bloom
on the Rio Una de Prelado. Finally, the two decided to
marry, and after approval by the stern judge, they wed on
April 30, 186 8, in Rio de Janeiro. After a brief stay in
the capital, the newlyweds returned to their family land
and built a home. Wiley Dyer, Hattie's brother, attended
a native Roman Catholic school where he almost immediately
had problems with regulations which required bowing before
images of saints. Young Dyer refused with the remark that
we would bow if any of the images would bleed when pierced
with a knife. The boy was suspended and his education
continued at home.
4 Rupert Nerval Richardson, Adventuring With a Pur-
Life Story of Arthur Lee Wasson (San Antonio: The
Naylor Company, 1953), pp. 5-6; George Barnsley, Iguape,
Sao Paulo Province, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County,
Georgia, May 24, 186 8, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
^Richardson, Adventuring With a Purpose, p. 4;
Elizabeth Ann Wright, James Dyer: Descendents and Allied
families (n.p., n.p., 1954), pp. [65]-[67].
297

Of the 154 persons who left Galveston in January,
1867, ninety-six remained on the Sao Lourenco River on
McMullan Colony lands when the Bowen census was completed
on November 9. Considering the never-ending troubles that
all of the colonists had faced in the past ten and one-half
months it is nothing short of a miracle that about two-
thirds of the original group were still willing to make an
298
effort at settling "El Dorado." Even before Frank's death—
as early as August, 186 7—some Americans started up the
river to locate parcels of land within the colony's bounds
for their own use. At first, they went in large groups,
several persons to a dugout canoe. They soon found that
method impractical, however, and each family began to pros­
pect alone. The colonists were in an almost virgin land and
consequently had no lodging at night other than in camps. A
favorite spot became a huge rock shelter on the edge of the
Sao Lourengo called 0 Porto (the port). Virtually all of
the former Texans could lay out their beds on the floor of
the cave with room for more. On their last trip upriver from
Mouro Redondo, several Americans were stranded in the shelter
for two days and nights because of tropical rains.
William Bowen, American Settlement, SSo Lourengo
River, Sao Paulo Province, to Joaquim Saldanha Marinha,
President of Sao Paulo Province, Sao Paulo, letter including
a census of the McMullan Colony, November 9, 1867,
Archives of the State of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo; Sarah Bellona^^
Smith Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil,"
Times of Brazil (Sao Paulo), December 18, 1936, p. 41.

Where the Prelado meets the Itarare River, the
three huge waterfalls slowed the progress of the explorers
just as they had done others who had attempted to guide
dugout canoes upriver. In the main channel, the water fell
straight down about twenty feet with terrific force, while
a side stream offered a "gradual descent over rocks and
boulders, for one hundred yards or more, waters foaming
along between, leaving the rock bare." The wooden canoes,
too heavy for portage, had to be pushed, pulled, and lifted
with poles to get up each fall. The slightest mistake, re­
called Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "meant death, for the
boat had to be lifted by the poles and forced by main
strength seemingly beyond human power. The baggage had to
7
be carried from boulder to boulder in jumps. ..."
The main tributaries which fed into the Itarar^,
called the Peixe, the Guanhanha, and the Azeite, all sup­
plied huge amounts of cold, clear water to the Itarar^ and
the Sao Lourengo. On these three streams the McMullan
colonists settled. They first encountered the Peixe, so
0
299
called because of the large number of fish that it harbored,
The second was the Guanhanha, or "land without evil," and
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen
Colony," MS, May 29, 1935, in possession of William C.
Griggs, Canyon, Texas; Ferguson, "The American Colonies
Emigrating to Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 41; Sarah
Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil," Farm and
Ranch (Dallas), December 2, 1916.

the third was the Azeite, or "river of oil." Dense, green
forests enveloped all of the waterways and made them seem
to be the outer limits of the world to the former Texans.^
Alfred I. Smith and his family went all the way to
300
the Azeite, then to its confluence with a small creek called
the Ariado. There, they were surprised to see a typical
Brazilian river dwelling, "a dried mud-daubed house sur­
rounded with orange trees and [a] mandioca patch and other
plants." They became even more surprised, however, when
they found two American sailors living there, hunting for
gold. The men, one named Bob Smith and the other named
Croney, had quarreled for some reason and decided that
they could not live on the same side of the river. Crony
had therefore set up a crude shelter in an area he cleared
on the other side of the stream, coming back to the hut
only for meals. One of the men "soon drifted back [to the
9
coast] and the other followed later on."
On August 11, 186 7, Alfred Smith decided that this
spot on the Ariado would serve satisfactorily for a home­
stead, at least temporarily, and christened it "the head of
Catfish navigation." He brought his family to the new
home soon after Frank McMullan's death. An inspection of
^Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil," Farm and Ranch,
December 2, 1916.
^Ibid.; Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating
to Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 41.

the vicinity revealed other crops including sugar cane,
rice, and bananas in addition to the already noted oranges
and mandioca. The first nights proved traumatic for the
large family, especially the younger ones, as the sounds
of the jungle night conjured visions of all kinds of fero­
cious animals. Sleep came faster as they finally realized
that most of the chatter came from noisy birds and monkeys.
William Bowen, his children, and a new Brazilian
wife, twenty-three-year-old Anna Martins, also went up the
Ariado and settled beyond the Smiths. The Nelson Tarver
family also chose the little branch of the Ariado and built
a house near its junction with the main Azeite River. On
the Guanhanha, the next stream west following the Itarar^
back to the Sao Lourengo, were several other American fami­
lies. Parson E. H. Quillin and his family settled there,
as did the Fielder brothers, the Greens, and the Beasleys.
Bachelor William Hargrove built a house on the river's
301
bank. Jesse Wright and his family, as well as his infamous
hounds, also found a home on the Guanhanha. The Weavers
decided to homestead on the Piexe, the first tributary of
the Itarare, as did the Garners and the Cooks. Several
others also settled on the Peixe, but no record has been
•^°Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil," Farm and Ranch,
December 2, 1916.

located as to exactly who they were.
302
Parson Quillin wasted no time in once again starting
his Sunday school. For a long time, only those families
who lived on the Guanhanha attended the services, but even­
tually the word spread up the valleys and rivers about the
religious services which became the one social event that
brought the different families together. Quillin, an elo­
quent preacher, held the colonists spellbound during his
services. There was no church, only the shade of the trees
and rude seats, but "the lessons were just as interesting
and the hymns just as sweet" as if the service had been
held in a cathedral. The Americans "made the woods ring
with 'There is a Happy Land' and many other traditional
Baptist hymns." They were often accompanied by a Mr.
Stampley, who "could make a fiddle talk, and when he
played the old hymn 'Show Pity Lord' he could make the
12
tears flow from a rock."
The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), November 2,
1867, carried a news brief about Bowen's marriage. "Southerners
going to Brazil will have a good crop of children,"
the newspaper editorialized, "Col. Bowen is about to lead
to the alter a blooming rosebud of Brazil. He has joined
the Roman Catholic Church." Also, see Ferguson, "Emigrating
to Brazil in 1866-67."
"^^"Articles Taken From a Brazilian Newspaper
Shortly Before the Centennial of the Arrival of the Americans
in Brazil," Typescript included in a letter from
Nattie Quillin Jacobs (Elijah H. Quillin's granddaughter),
Ontario, California, to William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas,
March 3, 1980, in possession of William C. Griggs;
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."

Soon the A. I. Smith family learned of the Sunday
services and made their way to them, first up the rivers
then on an old trail over the mountains. They found that
they could shorten the distance by cutting a new path, thus
having only one mountain to climb, rather than three. Even
then, however, they had to begin their hike early in the
morning or they would not get to services on time. The
Smith children all read Pilgrim's Progress and thus named
landmarks on the route for those in the book. "One was
303
hill 'Difficulty,' then beyond, the 'Valley of Humiliation,'
and so was born in our early minds the aspiration to follow
13
Christian to the celestial City of God."
Lon (Leonidas) Bowen continued his work on the road
to Peruibe from the colony site. It began at the Smith
home on the Ariado, then went past Bowen's on the way south.
The road became a real convenience at the times the Bowens
and Smiths wished to visit, but the children were scared
to travel it alone. They were terrified of the oncas
(leopards) which were a common sight and imagined one of
the cats behind every tree. Monkeys were a common sight
and large bands of them passed overhead. Although the
road was wide, "the branches of the great trees met above,
,.14
and easily gave the monkeys the chance to cross.
•^"^Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."
•'"^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 24, 1936, p. 14.

A few Brazilians also lived on the McMullan grant,
but as there was an almost unlimited amount to land avail­
able, the Americans made no attempt to remove them. One
account said that "though few in number, [they were] still
kind and ready to help the stranger. They lived mostly on
fish, black beans, and mandioca farinha." On the Peixe
River lived the few exceptions, a tribe of Indians who con­
sidered themselves to be the owners of the land, regardless
of government surveys, grants, or sales. Resentful of the
intrusion, they filed a written protest, through an agent,
with the government, but there is no record of any
15
response.
The Brazilian family of "Old Man Camargo," who
lived near the Smiths on the Ariado, became especially
close to some of the settlers. Camargo had a large plot
of cleared land—a roca—planted with all of the necessary
staples such as rice, corn, sugar cane, bananas, potatoes,
and "the inevitable mandioca." Smith bought Camargo's
entire crop as well as his buildings for $50.00. The old
caboclo (mixed blood, or backwoodsman, see footnote) told
Smith that the money was the largest amount of cash he had
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67";
Joaquim Saldanha Marinha, President of Sao Paulo Province,
Sao Paulo, to Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas, Minister of
the Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce and Public Works,
Rio de Janeiro, November 7, 1867, Oficio (official letter)
rio. Ill, Livro (letterbook of Joaquim Saldanha Marinha),
P. 227, Archives of the State of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo.
304

305
ever owned in his life. Mrs. Tarver, in another trade, let
Camargo have her precious feather bed which had been brought
from Texas with so much difficulty. The old Brazilian cared
nothing for the item as a bed—he wanted only the ticking—
and he emptied the contents into the river which "floated
16
white with goose feathers."
The Fielder brothers, not content to live off of
the land which they had picked on the Guanhanha, spent a
considerable amount of time exploring the scores of tribu­
taries and rivulets at every turn. "With fool hardy courage
[they] went poling up the rivers, each on his own resources,
hoping to find the long promised land." Zeno Fielder was
unhappy with his situation and yearned for home. He wrote
to his father in December, 1867, and outlined the disadvan­
tages of living in Brazil. He said that the colonists were
"nearing starvation" and asked his father for $250.00 to
come home. He noted in his appeal that Brazil was "not a
white man's country." But unlike his brother, Cortez
Fielder was pleased with the situation. He married Bony
Green's daughter Sarah, built a comfortable house, and
began clearing land for a farm. On Sundays when rain
threatened Parson Quillin's services, the Fielder couple
Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 19 36, p. 41. A caboclo is a mestizo
of mixed white and Indian blood. See Brazil 1940/41: An
Economic. Social, and Geographic Survey (Rio de Janeiro:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1941), p. 26.

offered their home as a sanctuary.
Another romance bloomed among the colonists as
Eugene Smith and Sue Bowen began to visit more often. They
became engaged, and twenty-year-old Eugene went over the
mountains to a spot near Peruibe where he cleared the land,
built a hut, and planted a crop. The two then asked Parson
Quillin to perform the marriage ceremony at the Bowen home.
The celebration lasted into the second day for a large
306
meal was prepared by the two families. About mid-afternoon,
C. A. Crawley came to visit while on his way to Peruibe to
purchase supplies. All were delighted to see their old
friend, especially Quillin, who was dissatisfied that the
wedding had not been witnessed by anyone other than the
families. To correct the situation, he called the newly-
weds into a room in Bowen's house, made them pronounce the
vows again, and had Crawley sign the wedding certificate.
Crawley also married soon after arrival at the colony site
to widow Rachel C. Russell. Within a short time after
their wedding, the pair moved close to Peruibe and for a
few months were neighbors of Eugene and Sue Smith. Still
dissatisfied, the Crawleys eventually moved to Santos.
Sue Bowen Smith's sister Molly (Mary H.) also married at
the Bowen home on the Ariado to John Johnson. They left
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67";
Flake's Semi-Weekly Bulletin (Galveston, Texas), December
25, 1867.

colony lands soon after the wedding, living in various
parts of the empire for several years before making a semi­
permanent home at Santa Barbara, the American settlement
18
north of Sao Paulo.
The Alfred I. Smith family quickly made a home of
the little shack on the Ariado River. The house had only
one long room; the walls were made of palm slats, set
three inches apart and interwoven with palm leaves. It
had only one door,, and the floor was dirt. The area set
aside for cooking was in one corner. Trivits hung over
the firepit to hold clay pots which, according to one colo­
nist, did an excellent job. Smith and his sons began re­
307
modeling the structure almost immediately. They constructed
two inside walls which created two rooms with a hall in
between. A lean-to was added on one end, and the kitchen
was moved to it, along with a small cast iron stove the
family had purchased in New York. By driving posts into
the ground, then adding palm slats for springs, they
19
improvised beds for the entire family.
The way in which Alfred I. Smith and his family
adapted to life in the Brazilian jungle is a story worth
telling. After readying the house, they faced the pressing
"^^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 24, 19 36, p. 14; Ferguson, "Emigrating
to Brazil in 1866-67."
•^^Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."

308
task of preparing farm lands for planting to ensure a supply
of food. They felled and removed huge trees, then planted
crops of rice, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, mandioca, and
onions. When the crops were harvested, methods for process­
ing them had to be developed or learned from the natives.
A cane press, already on the place when they arrived,
0
enabled the Americans to make molasses. The primitive
machine was described in detail by Smith's daughter Bellona.
There was a mill which consisted of two palm logs
about five feet long, set up horizontally, and supported
by two upright posts. It was turned by hand
and each roller ... at the opposite ends, had two
cross pieces set in for hand holds, and required a
man or boy at each end. [It worked in this manner:]
The cane knots had to be smashed first with an axe or
club. One held the cane while the other turned the
. . . [roller]; the juice fell into a wide wooden tray.
It was my task to boil down the juice to molasses—one
tank in the morning, another in the evening.20
As soon as possible, they planted a little hill of
coffee trees. A rice house and mill were constructed so
that rough grains could be cleaned for market. Next to
the road to Bowen's house, they constructed a dam and water
wheel which turned a six-mortar mill. The paddle boards of
the wheel were sawed by hand, then covered with "ever ready
palm leaves." This mill allowed the children to stop their
daily routine of beating rice by hand.
After the first six months in their new home, the
Smiths were able to enrich their diet somewhat with chicken.
Ibid.

acon, and ham. These delicacies added immensely to meals
of fish, caught in baskets in a manner learned from the
natives, and tatu, a type of armadillo cooked in its own
shell. Describing the menu in more detail, Bellona Smith
noted that "of flour we had none and when hungry for
chicken pie we made 'canja.' We had sweet potatoes and
cara, also vegetables and onions—also mandioca, mansa,
and learned to make 'parvilha' cakes and on the whole
T /. 4=- 21
lived fine.
The Smith children quickly devised ways to amuse
themselves when not doing their chores. They made swings
of hanging vines. The young ones set traps for small
animals on the trails and poled up and down the rivers in
dugout canoes. The huge number of birds in the forest
were a special delight and all enjoyed.
Watching and hearing the kingfishers call and the
sapsuckers tap tapping. Also the great tucanas
[toucan's] queer honk-honk away up in the trees,
robbing little birds' nests. Then the lone sad
notes of the 'perdiz' while the white anvil-birds
clanging bell rang out now and then. The cooing
wood dove's plaintive note, and at twilight the
whippor-will sent thrills along the spine. And
when the night birds opened up, the symphony was
complete.22
Ibid. Cara is actually cara tare, a foodstuff
introduced from Africa. "Parvilha" is polvilho, a product
of manioc. Canja is a corn dish. See Brazil 1940/41,
pp. 112, 115.
Ibid., p. 112.
309

After the Smith family had lived on the Ariado
River for nearly three years, its members decided to begin
the difficult task of building a real American-style house.
After a long search, a kind of tree was located which
could be easily split. Smith, with his sons. Penny and
Marsene, worked at this task, while Eugene, Preston, and
a Brazilian worker sawed the lumber for posts, doors,
joists, rafters, and floors. The job of transporting the
completed boards back to the building spot was a job for
daughter Bellona and son Marsene. In later years Bellona
described the task.
To get these boards hauled to the house site was the
next question. This was done on the backs of . . .
two horses and Marsene and I were the drivers. We
would ride bareback to the place, tie a dozen boards
together—a dozen for each side, mule pack fashion—
scramble on any old way into place, mount again on
top of the boards and ride away down the narrow trail,
singing as loud as you please, happy as kings.23
Real ingenuity was also necessary in making such
common items as shoes, unavailable at any price. Smith,
described as a "jack of all trades," resolved to make foot­
wear for all of the family. He set out to find a tanning
material, and located an excellent tan bark in the jungle
by tasting samples from scores of trees. Smith then dug a
trough in a log, filled it with his home-concocted tannic
acid, and had useable deer skin within the week. He
23
Ibid.
310

hand-carved lasts for each of the family, then stretched
and hammered the leather, attaching the tops to the soles
. ^ ^ 24
with wooden pegs.
By the time the Smiths' new house neared comple­
tion, the other remnants of the McMullan Colony had moved
from the headwaters of the Sao Lourengo. The reasons were
varied, but the isolation, wistfulness, and in some cases,
homesickness, had begun to tell on many of the families.
As the road to Peruibe was never completed, it remained
extremely difficult to get crops to market. Stories of
the relatively successful American settlement at Santa
Barbara could not help but lure some who wished to live,
once more, in a town. The Cooks went over the mountains
to Santos, but had to bury their young son. Pet, beside the
311
trail. Cortez Fielder and his wife Sarah, with two children,
headed for the coastal serra-cima (high coastal plain)
country. N. B. "Bony" McAlpine, who married Sue Tarver,
headed for the region of the Norris Colony near Santa
Barbara. William Hargrove married. Julia Beasley and the
two returned to the United States. C. A. Crawley and his
wife Rachel Russell Crawley went to Santos, then Santa
Barbara. Rachel's father, Thomas Garner, followed the
couple to their new home. Parson Quillin moved to a spot
on the railroad from Sao Paulo to Santa Barbara which was
24^, -^
Ibid.

locally called "The Station."^^
The movement of most of the former Texans to the
area near Santa Barbara finally began to tell on Alfred I.
312
Smith. Although the new house was nearing completion, crops
were beginning to mature, and life was beginning to be
easier. Smith resolved to leave the lonely forest. About
the end of the third year at "El Dorado," Smith surprised
his entire family one morning when he abruptly said to his
wife, "Sarah, this won't do—we got to get back out of here
somehow." His astonished wife and children, although
astounded by the sudden declaration, excitedly agreed to
the proposal.
For several reasons, but principally because they
lacked adequate money to pay for ship passage from Iguape
to Sao Paulo, the Smiths elected to follow many of their
friends over the mountains to Peruibe, then to Santos, on
their way to Santa Barbara. Rather than attempt to take
everyone before adequate arrangements could be made. Smith
and his son Penny set out on foot to find the other Amer­
icans. They traveled to Santos, then boarded a train to
the town of Jundiahy, at that time the railroad's terminus.
From there, the two walked to Campinas, then on to the
^^Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."
^^Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 24, 1936, p. 15.

313
station of Rebougas. Meeting an American there (whose name
was also Smith), Alfred learned how to locate his old
friends. Upon arrival at Santa Barbara, Smith rented a
fadenza, left Penny with an American called "Old Man
Perkins," then returned for the rest of the family. The
journey of the Smith family, which proved to be a herculean
task, was well-described by Bellona in these words.
All our baggage had to be carried over the mountains
by hand and it took many days. Two men were employed
to help our boys, two days for each trip and one day
to rest before the next. At last the whole of us
started, each with a load. I shall never forget that
trip, over mountains, down in the valleys, crossing
creeks waist deep and small streams galore. My shoes
were soon lost, one after the other, first one kicked
off, the other left in the next mud hole. We passed
the place where the Cooks had camped and their little
baby boy died. We saw the grave of the lonely child
left, to wait forgotten till God is pleased to call
him out of death into his glorious kingdom. Tired and
completely exhausted we at last came to a river [then]
crossed over in boats to Pernibe [Peruibe]. We stayed
there a day or two with a kind family with several nice
girls, and we would take long walks in the low scattered
bushes and white sandy soil. Just beautiful. Then in
boats down a long, long river, through a canal to
Conceicao. There we got a cart and traveled . . . some
40 miles on the beach till we came in sight of Santos,
beyond a body of water.27
The following day, the family crossed over the
inlet to Santos. There, they unexpectedly met the Cook
and Haynie families, who were preparing to leave for the
United States. The Smiths then boarded the train to
Jundiahy and on the way passed Sao Paulo, "a small town
^"^Ibid. , p. 20; Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil
in 1866-67."

with low scattered houses on a hill, quite a distance from
the station of the same name." After they reached the end
314
of the railroad, the Smiths fortunately met an old Brazilian
who had two empty carts and was returning to the town of
Campinas. A bit of negotiation convinced the cart-owner
to carry both the Smith family and their luggage directly
to the farm that Smith had rented, Fazenda de Bocudo.
Recalling the experience, Bellona Smith said that the final
leg of the journey consumed a week or more. At first they
enjoyed seeing the open country after living in the sertao
for three years, but the travel soon became tiresome.
There was so much red dust and the squeaking carts
and pack mules—camping each night at one or another
of the mule shelters on the roadside. The cartman
had his wife along to do the cooking, but we cooked
for ourselves and afterwards, sat around the camp
fires trying to talk to each other and learning new
words of Portuguese.28
Other McMullan Colony families like the Cooks and
the Haynies gave up on the idea of trying to remain in
Brazil and resolved to return to the United States. The
three members of the John Baxter family, without money and
desperate, were allowed to return to North America on the
United States warship Guerierre on May 31, 1869. On Novem­
ber 1, 1869, the Gills, the Weavers, and the Garlingtons
boarded the British Lion at Rio de Janeiro en route to New
Orleans. John Johnson, his wife Molly, and one of their
28 Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."

sons died at sea, leaving the only surviving child, a boy,
in care of the ship's captain, who shipped the child from
29
New York to relatives in Texas.
Even as some former Confederates were returning to
the United States, another colonizer, a relative newcomer
called Charles Nathan, brought more Americans to Brazil.
Nathan, an English subject who at one time lived in New
Orleans, received a seventeen-condition contract from the
Brazilian government on J.uly 23, 1867. The empire, in
dealing with Nathan, finally discarded its long-standing
agreement with the New York and Brazil Mail Steamship Com­
pany and provided in the new contract that the new American
emigrants would be transported on steamships which navi­
315
gated between New Orleans, Mobile, and other southern ports,
and Rio de Janeiro. It called for the transportation of
one to five thousand persons within a twelve month period.
29
A passenger list of the Guerriere is found in
Flake's Semi-Weekly Bulletin, July 3, 1869. Also, see
United States, Works Progress Administration, Survey of
Federal Records of Louisiana, Passenger Lists Taken from
Manifests of the Customs Service, Port of New Orleans,
1864-1867, Carbon copy of typescript, 1941, in the Louisiana
Collection, Library of Tulane University, New Orleans;
Ferguson, "Emigrating to Brazil in 1866-67."
•^^Carlos Nathan and Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas,
Minister and Secretary of State of the Business of Agriculture,
Commerce, and Public Works, "Contracto celebrado
entre o Governo Imperial de uma parte e Carlos Nathan da
outra, para o transporte de mil familias precedents dos
Estados do Sul da Uniao Americana, por vapores dos portos
abaixo declaradas," July 23, 1867, Lata 632, Pasta 72,

In late April, 1868, the Tartar sailed with the
first contingent of colonists under the Nathan contract.
The ship's arrival on June 22 was noted in a letter from
George Barnsley to his father. "The Tartar and her emi­
grants arrived safely and the people and govrn't have been
much pleased with the class of passengers, and it is gener-
ally conceded that as a body they are far ahead of any
other emigrants which have yet arrived at Rio.""^^
The arrival of Nathan's ship came too late, how­
0
316
ever, to infuse new life into any of the established coastal
colonies. In most cases, they already had bloomed and were
beginning to wither. Nathan's colonists were just in time,
nevertheless, to add a new vitality to the upland gather­
ing of Americans at Santa Barbara. It was to this destina­
tion that most of those in Nathan's group set their course.
By 1870, all of the original McMullan colonists
had moved off of the grant on the Sao Lourengo River. As
closely as may be determined, sixty-four of the ninety-six
persons who were on colony lands in November, 186 7, remained
in Brazil; documentation exists that thirty-two of those
listed on the Bowen census had returned to the United States
Archives of the Brazilian Institute of History and
Geography, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"^"^George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, to
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, June 22, 186 8,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

Of the total of 154 persons who boarded the Derby in Gal­
veston, ninety-two were probably in Brazil in 1870. Twelve
of the total number of colonists are not accounted for, and
at least two were dead by that date. Nine of the 154 Derby
passengers returned to the United States before the colo­
nists arrived in Brazil. Assuming that these figures are
approximately correct, 63 percent of the Americans who
arrived in Brazil in 1867 with the McMullan emigrants were,
at the end of three years, still in the empire.
The three years after the arrival of the McMullan
colonists in Brazil were crucial ones for the emigrants who
actually settled on colony lands. They learned, at least
to some extent, to overcome the problems of a primitive
society. All of the colonists, whether or not they went
to the lands on the Sao Lourengo, continued to search for
their own Elusive Eden. Some, obviously, did not find it
in Brazil and returned to the United States. Those who
moved to the Santa Barbara settlement had perhaps the best
chance for contentment, as the community offered excellent
lands, good transportation facilities, and perhaps more
important, the opportunity to live among a large number of
former Americans.
317

CHAPTER XI
DEVELOPMENT, DOGMA, AND DEMORALIZATION
While the steadily decreasing number of McMullan
colonists on the Sao Lourengo River continued their efforts
to eke a living from their small farms, other Texans worked
in other parts of Sao Paulo Province. Some were farmers,
and others began to practice in professional careers.
Those who moved to Santa Barbara, the upland settlement
that became the center of ex-Confederate activity, were
perhaps the most contented of all. There, they formed an
American enclave where they established churches, organized
a masonic lodge, and introduced efficient agricultural
methods. Although many southern colonists found satisfac­
tion in their work and expressed no desire to leave Brazil,
others returned to the United States. The number of
southern emigrants who did so, however, was exaggerated by
the United States press, principally because of the number
of non-southern North American emigrants who went to Brazil
during the first two years after the Civil VJar.
Calvin and Isabel McKnight, whose daughter Emma's
illness prevented them from following other McMullan colo­
nists to the Sao Lourengo River grant, purchased a small
318

319
coffee plantation. It was located on Ilha Grande, a thirty-
mile-long by eight-mile-wide island southwest of Rio. A
good house already stood on the property, and McKnight was
given three years to pay off the loan. By December, 1867,
the family reportedly had gathered 15,500 pounds of "excel­
lent" coffee which McKnight sold for $4.50 per aroba of
100 pounds.
McKnight hoped for continued good fortune in 186 8.
With luck, he believed that he could gather another 1,50 0
arobas of coffee which would clear the plantation's entire
cost the second year. Help was plentiful, and Calvin em­
ployed "good male hands" at from $3.00 to $10.00 per
month. Women could be hired for as little as seven to
thirteen cents per day. In a report published in the
Mobile, Alabama, Advertiser and Register, McKnight said
that the Brazilians "worked well, when certain of pay."
Commenting on the productivity of the soil and climate,
McKnight remarked that "tobacco grows spontaneously and
oranges, bananas, and other fruits grow in abundance."
Although it is not known whether McKnight's crop for 1868
was of the size he hoped for, he eventually left Ilha
Grande and went to Santa Barbara where he joined the other
Ilha Grande is located west-southwest of Rio de
Janeiro and is in the State of Rio de Janeiro. For more
information on Calvin McKnight's farming efforts, see
"From Brazil," Advertiser and Register (Mobile, Alabama),
December 13, 1867, p. 4.

2
Americans.
Calvin McKnight's brother, Thomas Steret McKnight,
also settled for a time on Ilha Grande but soon moved to
Bom Retire, a town on the mainland near Santa Barbara,
where he bought a farm for $150.00. There he built a house
as well as a blacksmith shop. He cleared the lands and
planted eighteen acres of corn and forty acres of cotton.
Although the crop was put in the ground late in the season,
he still netted five bales of cotton the first year. in
partnership with McKnight in his blacksmithing business
was John Domm, another American emigrant who came first
from Germany before joining Frank McMullan."^
Thomas McKnight also planned a partnership with
Lucian Barnsley in the distillation of pinga, or Brazilian
rum. This improved liquor distillation process did not
represent, however, the most significant contribution of
McKnight to Brazil. He owned the first iron mouldboard
plow in Sao Paulo Province, and probably in all of Brazil,
which eventually revolutionized farming in the nation.
320
2
Ibid.; George S. Barnsley, "Notes and Information
about the Emigrants from the U. States of 1867-68," Southern
Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, North Carolina. Also, see numerous references in
Julia McKnight Jones, Soldado Descansal: Uma Epopeia Norte
Americana Sob os Ceus do Brasil (Sao Paulo: Jarde, 1967).
3 Flake's Semi-Weekly Bulletin (Galveston, Texas),
September 29, 1869; Jones, Soldado Descansal, pp. 223-224.
4 Henry 0. McKnight, Santa Barbara, State of Sao

William T. McCann, formerly of Waco, McLennan
County, Texas, also purchased land at Bom Retire. The
first year, he cleared trees from an eighty acre tract
then planted it, in part, with twenty-eight acres of cotton
and twelve of corn. In his first harvest McCann gathered
eight bales of cotton. McCann, like most of the other
Texan colonists, probably moved to Santa Barbara.^
James Monroe Keith, like Judge Dyer and George
Barnsley, showed great interest in the possibilities of
the mineral wealth of Brazil. After leaving the other
colonists at Rio de Janeiro in 1867, he began to prospect
in the forest not only within the limits of the McMullan
colony, but also in the areas further inland where he
located deposits of gold, tin, silver, copper, and other
metals. The former Texas Ranger traveled all through the
backwoods without a gun. He carried a long knife and a
knapsack in his wanderings, eating palmetto cabbage and
321
Paulo, to Mary Helen Clark, Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo,
MS notes of interview, c. 19 39, Blanche Henry Clark Weaver
Papers, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.
This^note states that "Tom McKnight had the first iron plow
in Sao Paulo, others used wooden plows. He also had a still
and for the first time, perhaps, whiskey was made in Brazil."
Also, see Brazil 19 40/41: An Economic, Social, and Geographic
Survey (Rio de Janeiro: Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
ii^41), p. 98.
Flake's Semi-Weekly Bulletin, September 29, 1869;
Thomas H. Steagall and others, "Lista de Americanos Vindos
ao Brasil," in Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No
Brasil: Educadores, Sacerdotes, Covos e Reis (Sao Paulo:
i^ivraria Pioneira Editora, 1972), p. 107.

the few small animals he could catch in a trap. He avoided
snakes and other animals which could conceivably hurt him
and they usually stayed away from him.
322
On one occasion, however, an animal surprised Keith
while he was sleeping. That night the prospector, who was
very tired, had picked a spot for his blanket under a large
tree. After cooking his supper, he stretched out and went
to sleep. In the night, he awakened when something pulled
on his blanket. On opening his eyes Keith saw that an
onga, or leopard, was tugging at his cover. Keith later
declared that the animal would not have bothered him while
he was awake, "but when the onca got so intimate as to run
off or pull of his blanket that was too much cheek for a
Texas Ranger." Keith reached for his skillet, and with
his knife "beat a music that the onca had never heard and
there was a great crashing of taquaros [canes]." A friend
commented later that "the onca was not educated to the
land."^
Dentist William T. Moore, his wife Vic, and their
new little daughter, Juanita, moved to Campinas, a good
town on the railroad northwest of Sao Paulo, where he set
Barnsley, "Notes and Information"; Although the
major source of information on Keith is supplied by Barnsley,
additional data is located in Jones, Soldado Descansal,
pp. 127, 298-299, 390; Steagall, "Lista de Americanos
Vindos ao Brasil."
"^Barnsley, "Notes and Information."

up a dental clinic. After about a year they moved to
Santa Barbara where he gained a thriving practice among
the scores of Americans who were moving to the area.
Moore's business became so brisk that he even brought in
apprentices for training and assistance. Before long,
Nancy McMullan and her son, Ney, joined the Moores in
Santa Barbara, as did John and Lou Odell.^
On the Rio Una de Prelado, the lumber business of
Judge Dyer and Columbus Wasson progressed nicely. By July
1, 1869, they operated two sawmills and had contracts for
the sale of timber to lumber companies in Rio de Janeiro.
As the steamboat they had ordered had not yet arrived,
they made tentative arrangements for transportation with
local shippers to carry the lumber to Iguape, then up the
coast to the capital. If the quality of the wood met ex­
323
pectations, there was a prospect of a larger, more lucrative
business deal. The enthusiasm of Judge Dyer was lessened,
however, by the death of his wife Amanda on July 4, 1869.
o
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 1866-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen Colony,"
MS, May 29, 1935, Blanche Henry Clark Weaver Papers in
possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas; Barnsley,
"Notes and Information"; Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "The
American Colonies Emigrating to Brazil," Times of Brazil
(Sao Paulo), December 18, 1936, p. 20.
Q
Rupert N. Richardson, Adventuring with a Purpose:
Life Story of Arthur Lee Wasson (San Antonio: The Naylor
Company, 1953), pp. 506; Elizabeth Ann Wright, James Dyer:
Descendants and Allied Families (n.p., n.p., 1954), p.
TsTT.

324
The Dyer family did not join the American colony at
Santa Barbara and consequently did not feel the comradeship
and permanence that living with friends can bring. They
continued to live on the Rio Una de Prelado and remained
optimistic about the possibility of wealth in the lumber
business, although their hopes of finding gold had dimin­
ished for lack of any discoveries. The boat they had
ordered finally arrived, however, and they busily engaged
in fitting it out to begin shipping fine furniture woods
in quantity to fulfill their contract with a Rio de Janeiro
firm. Although warned about tricky river currents and sand
bars. Dyer and his son-in-law Columbus Wasson took the
admonition too lightly. Before they completed even a small
percentage of the contract, the new vessel hit a shoal and
sunk. Retrieval and refitting of the boat was out of the
10
question.
Although lumbering was not proving to be a highly
profitable business for Dyer and Wasson, Thomas Steret
McKnight was proving to be tremendously successful in his
blacksmithing venture in cooperation with John Domm. The
two began the manufacture of steel mouldboard plows, an
item not used in Brazil until its introduction there by
McKnight. Although a variety of plow had been used in
Brazil for perhaps hundreds of years, it was of a medieval
10 R ichardson. Adventuring With a Purpose, pp. 5-6.

variety and had little practical use. The Brazilians did
325
not readily comprehend, however, the vast difference between
the steel plow and the old-style implement. "That which
. . . struck the attention of the first [southern] immi­
grants was the poor use of the land. They reasoned that
if it produced so well treated in such a crude manner, it
would give much more with a scientific agriculture."
Ballard Dunn described the first plow that he saw in Brazil
as "very large, very clumsy, and as nearly as I can judge,
after the pattern in use in Europe two centuries ago."
George Barnsley described an experience in which he pro­
moted the American plow and in turn learned what the natives
of the country believed such an implement to be:
I was in Tatuhy almost preaching and begging some
farmers to see the new American plow, and to try it
as the whole country around only used a hoe. '0!'
they replied, 'we know what a plow is. Have you not
seen one in the street, before a certain house?' I
replied that it was queer that I had not noticed. So
one fellow went with me to the spot. I had seen it
often, and was somewhat vexed because the thing was a
bother in passing. He showed me a tolerably straight
log about 12 to 15 feet long with a prong at more or
less [a] 35° angle, to which I found on the log, nailed
on the end, which was rounded and sharpened bluntly, a
pointed piece of iron say 12 inches long ... by three
feet wide. The thing had some sort of handle, I think.
It was drawn by one or more yoke of oxen.H
•^^Barnsley, "Notes and Information"; Jose Arthur
Rios, "Assimilation of Emigrants From the Old South in
Brazil," Social Forces 26, no. 2 (December 1947): 145-152;
Ballard S. Dunn, Brazil, The Home for Southerners (New
Orleans: Bloomfield & Steel, 1866), p. 128.

The results that were achieved by Americans in the
Santa Barbara region with the new plow soon made converts
among many Brazilian farmers. They flocked to learn how
to use the new tool, and at least one former American made
a considerable profit from his efforts to teach proper
326
utilization of the implement. One account says that William
H. Norris earned $5,000 by offering instruction to farmers.
In the mid-1870's, American Secretary of State H. T. Blow,
in a report on the commercial relations of the nation with
foreign countries, said that in Brazil, "the most skillful
planters are from the United States, where their improved
method of working [with the mouldboard plow] has attracted
12
great attention."
The agricultural change that resulted from the
introduction of improved farming methods continued for the
remainder of the nineteenth century and well into the
twentieth. In a letter written from Santa Barbara by colo­
nist Cicero Jones in 1915, "the leven sown by them [the
American emigrants] has transformed a country whose area
is larger than the U.S. By transformation, I mean agri­
culture, and that means all." Jones stated that the
12
Douglas A. Grier, "Confederate Emigration to
Brazil, 1865-1870" (Ph.D. dissertation. University of
Michigan, 1968), pp. 157-158; United States, Congress,
House, "Reports of Mr. H. T. Blow, Policy in Regard to
Trade Between Brazil and the United States," 41st Cong.,
3rd sess.. Executive Document No. 93, September 30, 1870
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1870).

Americans,
327
introduced the plow for the first time in Brazil
which enabled them to buy lands and reclaim them [sic]
that were lost to the Brazilian except for grazing^rposes.
At present the Federal Government has twenty of
our American boys teaching plowing, one in each state.
And one day Brazil will have to send to you your principal
beef supply.
As late as 1941, a Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
publication noted the effects of the introduction of the
plow. "It is of interest to note," the article stated.
The progressive effect of foreign immigration of [on]
the agriculture of this country. After the Civil War,
the North Americans came to Brazil and introduced in
the state of Sao Paulo and in the Amazon Basin, the use
of the plow and other modern implements in their wellorganized
farms.13
In addition to the introduction of American-style
agricultural methods, the residents of Santa Barbara also
retained other practices and institutions of which they
had been a part in the United States. One of these was the
Masonic Lodge, an important part of the cultural life of
the Protestant South. Although Free-Masonry existed in
Brazil, it became extremely controversial in the early
1870's, despite the fact that Dom Pedro himself had been a
Grand Master and that most Roman Catholic churchmen, only
a few years before, had been members. In 186 4, Pope Pius IX
issued an encyclical which formally condemned Masonry. The
1 *?
Cicero Jones, Vila Americana, State of Sao Paulo,
to J. N. Heiskell, Little Rock, Arkansas, September 25,
1915, J. N. Heiskell Library, Arkansas Gazette Foundation,
Little Rock, Arkansas; Brazil 1940/41, p. 98.

Emperor, utilizing a constitutional prerogative, refused
to circulate the edict from Rome, and thus he kept many of
the clergy from learning of the Pope's decree, at least
until the word circulated among church leaders by word of
mouth. A power struggle erupted which eventually resulted
in the 1874 jailing of several priests who failed to recog-
14
nize Dom Pedro's constitutional right.
The same year, 1874, several of the men who lived
in the Santa Barbara area, including Bony Green, Marsene
Smith, N. B. McAlpine, John Domm, and Martin Felix Demaret,
organized the first "American" Masonic organization. A
York Rite institution, they named it the George Washington
Lodge. The first Master was William H. Norris, in 1858
the Worshipful Master of the Fulton Lodge in Montgomery,
Alabama.
328
The centuries-old domination of Brazilian religious
life by the Roman Catholic Church was at least cracked by
the Masonic controversy as well as the influence of Posi­
tivism, a philosophical creed "on which the Protestant
faith could readily build—individual liberty, the constant
development of human personality, and the importance
Mary Wilhelmine Williams, Dom Pedro and Magnanimous:
Second Emperor of Brazil (New York: Octagon Books,
1978) , pp. 178.
"^^Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil,
pp. 166-167; Jones, Soldado Descansal, pp. 226-227.

attached to morality and the development of a feeling of
responsibility and justice." Although periodic attempts
329
began as early as 1557 to introduce Protestantism to Brazil,
none made a lasting impact until the nineteenth century.
In 1810, a British-Portuguese treaty provided for private
Protestant congregations if the exteriors of the buildings
did not resemble churches. As a result, the first Anglican
church was constructed in Rio de Janeiro in 1819. It was
the Constitution of 1824, however, that assured limited
religious freedom. As a result, a German Lutheran church
was established in 1845 and, by 1855, a Congregational
16
church had opened its doors.
As early as 1835, the Methodists from the United
States evidenced interest in Brazil and sent a Tennessean,
Fountain E. Pitts, to survey the situation and make recom­
mendations. Based on Pitts' suggestions, four persons
were sent to Brazil. They opened a mission which survived
until 1842. The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., opened
another mission in Brazil in 1859 which was to be "the
first Protestant Church of the United States permanently
rooted in Brazil." One authority reasons, however, that
this success could conceivably have been impossible with­
out "the influx of Confederate immigrants within a few
Blanche Henry Clark Weaver, "Confederate Immigrants
and Evangelical Churches in Brazil," Journal of
Southern History (November, 1952), pp. 446-448.

17
years after its establishment."
Southern settlers in Brazil brought their beliefs
with them, just as they imported other segments of their
culture. In June, 1869, two Presbyterian missionaries
330
settled near Campinas, sponsored in part by Charles Nathan,
the promoter who was responsible for the arrival of emi­
grants on the Tartar on June 22, 1868. In August, 1871,
former Confederate Junius Newman organized the first
Methodist Church in Brazil, known as Igreja de Campo, near
18
Santa Barbara.
It was the destiny of the former Confederates who
sailed with Frank McMullan, however, to establish the Bap­
tist Church which ultimately became one of the largest
Protestant denominations in Brazil. Reverend Richard
Ratcliff, whose wife Eunice had borne the first child of
a McMullan colonist, established, on September 10, 1871,
the First North American Baptist Missionary Church at
Santa Barbara. In a letter to the corresponding secretary
of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist
Church, Pastor Ratcliff and Secretary Robert Meriwether
stated that twenty-three persons, "with letters from vari­
ous Baptist churches, ... [in the United States], did
unite and organize . . . with a pastor and such other offi­
cers as Baptist churches usually have." The letter to the
•^^Weaver, "Confederate Immigrants," p. 452.

Foreign Mission Board also presented a resolution by the
congregation which called for American missionaries to come
to Brazil.
331
In another letter calling for missionaries, the new
Baptist church promised;
If you do come . . . our homes shall be open to you, our
progress, our influence and labors will be for and with
you. We hope a large Baptist community in this country
will be added to the great Baptist family of the world,
teaching, preaching and practicing the faith once
delivered to the saints.
The correspondence continued with a brief statement about
Reverend Richard Ratcliff.
The Pastor of this church has been in this country five
years or more, hailing from Louisiana, and having been
a pupil of the late Rev. Mr. Hartwell. He is well
qualified for his position and very acceptable to the
members; preaches once a month, with one hundred and
fifty dollars salary per annum.
Although an attempt had been made before the Civil War to
start a Baptist Church in Brazil, the Santa Barbara congre-
20
gation became the first to be permanently established.
The Santa Barbara church continued to grow through
Richard Ratcliff and W. H. [Robert] Meriwether,
Santa Barbara, Sao Paulo Province, to Corresponding Secretary,
Foreign Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention,
Richmond, Virginia, January 11, 1873, in Henry Allen
Tupper, The Foreign Missions of the Southern Baptist Convention
(Richmond: Foreign Mission Board of the Southern
Baptist Convention, 1880), p. 10.
^^Robert Meriwether, Robert Broadnax, and David
Davis, Santa Barbara, Sao Paulo Province, to [Corresponding
Secretary, Foreign Mission Board, Richmond, Virginia],
n.d., in Tupper, Foreign Missions of the Southern Baptist
Convention, pp. 10-11.

the 1870's, but received a severe challenge when its
pastor, Richard Ratcliff, decided to return to the United
States about a year after the death of his wife. With
four young children, Ratcliff believed that he could not
give them proper care in Brazil and moved to Mexia, Lime­
stone County, Texas. Parson Elijah H. Quillin took over
332
the church's ministry, however, in mid-1878. But Ratcliffs
interest in the establishment of a strong Baptist Church in
Brazil remained undiminished. On October 1, 1878, he wrote
a letter to Elder H. A. Tupper, head of foreign missions
for the Southern Baptist Convention, in which he encouraged
Brazil as a missionary field for the United States. He
cited the toleration of Free Masonry and the legality of
civil marriage as reasons for increased activity and pointed
out the growth of a Liberal party which wished to separate
the Roman Church from the government of the empire. Con­
tinuing, Ratcliff pointed out that the Santa Barbara church
was composed of English-speaking people which could be used
as a nucleus for mission activity. In this manner, said
Ratcliff, "the [Foreign Mission] Board could accomplish
more with the same amount of means than in any other
field. "^•'•
Richard Ratcliff, Minden, Louisiana, to H. A.
Tupper, Richmond, Virginia, October 1, 1878, in Tupper,
Foreign Missions, pp. 12-13, 479; "Report of the Committee
on New Fields," Proceedings of the Southern Baptist Convention
[1879] (Atlanta: Franklin Publishing House, 1879),
P. 54.

Ratcliff had high praise for the First Missionary
Baptist Church and stated that the Americans under Parson
Quillin's leadership would assist the United States Church
without pay. "Their present pastor authorized me to say
to the Board, that he would accept an appointment to the
Brazilians (he is a teacher of their language), and make
quarterly reports to the Board, without charging one cent."
The 1879 Southern Convention reviewed correspondence from
Quillin which assured the North Americans that the Santa
Barbara Church would be of assistance should the appoint­
ment be made. "The members," Quillin stated, "are prosper­
ous in their basket and their store, and are on the highway
to wealth." Based on the pleas from Ratcliff and Quillin,
the 1879 convention passed twenty-one resolutions in favor
of opening South American activity and officially appointed
Quillin as its missionary. On Sunday, December 7, 1879,
the second Baptist Church was opened near Santa Barbara.
Named "The Station Church," it boasted twelve members and
was located on the railroad leading into the interior.
22
E. H. Quillin became the missionary pastor.
333
The 1880 Southern Baptist Convention received addi­
tional information about the Station Baptist Church from
Tupper, Foreign Missions, pp. 12-13; "Report of
the Committee on New Fields," Proceedings of the Southern
Baptist Convention [1879], p. 54; Tupper, Foreign Missions,
pp. 13-14, 479.

Brazil. In a letter to the North American Baptists, the
Station membership said that their little church "will ere
long occupy some prominence in your Brazilian mission, and
be able to render some assistance in the dessimination of
334
Spiritual Truth," despite the fact that they were surrounded
by "the inveterate [sic] hostility and antagonism of Roman-
0
ism. " They urged that another missionary "be sent to their
'land of perpetual spring' to stand by their devoted pastor.
Rev. E. H. Quillin, in defense of truth." Continuing, the
letter lauded Quillin as being.
Able in the pulpit, exemplary in daily life, sound in
doctrine, simple in manners, esteemed by the Americans
and popular with the Brazilians; perhaps more conversant
with Brazilian affairs than any other one known
to them, and adapted in every respect to the missions .23
Quillin wrote a letter to the 1880 Convention in which he
exhorted its members to see, as he did, the future of the
vast South American nation. "Take into consideration the
inexhaustible resources of this country, both as to rich­
ness and accessibility, and you will be startled at the
magnificance of national greatness that is embosomed in
the future history of Brazil." Quillin continued with a
prediction that the nation was "coming forth from the
nightshade of Romanism, that for three centuries has hung
in settled darkness upon its moral and political horizon.
^^"The Station Baptist Church," Proceedings of the
Southern Baptist Convention [1880] (Louisville: 1880),
p. 51.

The clouds are fast receding. The sky is brightening up;
civilization is abroad in South America; the land of the
Southern Cross is lighted by its gleamings." In a call to
the Southern Baptist membership, Quillin concluded by
asking for help. "Is there not a pastor and his church
who wish to make a grand move in the mission field? Come
while the time of immigration is moving westward to take
possession of the rich lands of Brazil. Immigration is
onward. The world moves onward." Frank McMullan himself
24
could not have made a more eloquent plea.
General A. T. Hawthorne, both a Texan and a Con­
federate emigrant who had returned to the United States,
served in 18 80 as the chairman of the Southern Baptist
Committee on South American Missions. In his work in this
field, Hawthorne became acquainted with three persons who
were to become crucial in the work of the Baptist Church
in Brazil. The first, William B. Bagby, was born in
Coryell County, Texas, on November 5, 1855. He received
his early education under the tutelage of an older sister,
then attended Waco University (later Baylor) in Waco,
Texas. He was ordained at the Plantersville, Texas, church
on March 16, 1879. Anne E. Luther, later to become Bagby's
335
wife, was born on March 20, 1859. She became interested in
foreign missions early in life and determined to go to
24 "Rev. E. H. Quillin," in ibid., p. 52.

336
Burma. Zachary Clay Taylor, born near Jackson, Mississippi,
in January, 1857, was the third. His family moved to Texas
after the Civil War. He attended Baylor where he graduated
25
in 1879.^
In his work in the foreign mission field, A. T.
Hawthorne met Ann Luther and convinced her of the magnifi­
cent opportunities for service in Brazil. Anne discussed
her desire to go there with W. B. Bagby, who was also a
friend of Hawthorne's and whose attention was also drawn
to Brazil by the general. The two young people, already
infatuated, decided to go to Brazil together and were mar­
ried in October, 1880. After a stay in Corsicana, Texas,
where Bagby was briefly the pastor of a church, the pair
sailed for Brazil on January 13, 1881.^^
On March 12, 1881, Bagby wrote a report to the
Southern Baptist Convention in which he described his
arrival in Brazil.
I have been over several times to see Bro. Quillin,
who is living in the village of Santa Barbara, two
miles from my stopping place, teaching school. This
25
Ibid., p. 24; A. R. Crabtree, Baptists in Brazil
(Rio de Janeiro: The Baptist Publishing House, 19 53), pp.
36-41; Everett Gill, Jr., Pilgrimage to Brazil (Nashville:
Broadman Press, 1954), pp. 22-24; Samuel B. Hesler, A
History of Independence Baptist Church, 1839-1969, and
Related Organizations (n.p.. The Executive Board of the
Baptist General Convention of Texas, 1970), pp. 89-93,
99-104.
26
Hesler, History of Independence Baptist Church,
pp. 99-100.

337
village is about five miles from the railway station
of the same name. Bro. Quillin welcomed me most cordially,
and expressed himself much gratified that the
Baptists of the South at last are turning their prayers
and their efforts toward this benighted land.
Bagby expressed optimism about his coming work in the Sao
Paulo area, and noted that he expected to have opportuni­
ties "to preach often to the Americans (and they surely
need it), and I shall carefully reconoitre the whole field,
and study the customs and habits of the people." Bagby
continued with a request for several more preachers. "Can
you send some other to this field very soon? The work is
urgent. Where is Bro. Z. C. Taylor? We need him down
27
here."
Taylor, a friend of Bagby when both were at Waco
University, already planned to go to South America. In
the summer of 18 81, he had conversed with General Hawthorne,
Dr. William Carey Crane, and Dr. John Hill Luther, all of
whom urged him to go to Brazil as Bagby's helper. Inter­
estingly, the presbytery which ordained Taylor at the
Independence, Texas Baptist Church on June 7, 1879, in­
cluded Pastor Richard Ratcliff, formerly of Santa Barbara.
After marrying Kate Stevens Crawford on December 25, 1881,
Taylor and his bride sailed for Brazil to join Quillin and
the Bagbys. An 1881 report to the Southern Baptist
^"^"Report of Bro. Bagby," Proceedings of the
Southern Bap aptist Convention [1881] (Cincinnati, 1881),
pp. 41-42.

Convention listed W. B. Bagby, Mrs. Bagby, and Z. C. Taylor
338
as Brazilian missionaries. Churches, the same document con­
tinued, included Santa Barbara, Station, and Campinas.
Total membership was listed as fifty-three persons and
contributions for the first three months totaled $125.00.^^
The increase in missionary activities by the Bagbys,
Z. C. Taylor, and others who followed resulted in more and
more involvement in educational affairs by Parson Quillin.
He gave an increasing amount of time to teaching, both in
schools and in private lessons. According to one account,
Quillin was "especially called on to tutor students who
were preparing to take their examinations in engineering,
medicine, accounting, and economics." He also taught at
a Methodist school at Piricicaba, Sao Paulo Province, which
had been founded by Reverend Junius Newman and his daugh­
ters, Annie and Mary. There, Quillin daught Dona Ana
Morals, the niece of the man who later became the first
civil president of Brazil, Prudente de Morals Barros.
Because of Dona Ana's educational opportunities at
Piricicaba, Morals developed an enduring interest in educa­
tion first in Sao Paulo, then in other parts of Brazil.
H. C. Tucker, a Methodist minister who spent half-a-century
in Brazil, commented that Morals "showed by word and deed
Hesler, History of Independence Baptist Church,
pp. 89-91; "Brazilian Mission," Proceedings of the Southern
Baptist Convention [1881], p. 68.

his appreciation of contacts enjoyed in his home town,
339
Piricicaba, with Americans from the Santa Barbara colony."^^
In connection with the establishment of Protestant
churches in Brazil, a recurring need arose for a non-Roman
Catholic cemetery. Upon the death of Beatrice Oliver, her
husband A. T. Oliver dedicated an area of approximately 260
feet by 325 feet for burial purposes. Mrs. Oliver, who
died on July 13, 186 8, became the first to be interred
there. Ten years later, the cemetery was growing rapidly.
Even after the death of A. T. Oliver, the new owner of the
surrounding property encouraged its use for the burial of
Americans and agreed when a proposal was made to construct
a small chapel near the grounds. Baptists, Presbyterians,
and Methodists used the little church extensively after
1 ^. 30
Its completion.
Although immigrants of the McMullan Colony founded
the first Baptist congregation in Sao Paulo Province, by no
means all of the Texans were Baptists. In 1871, several
listed themselves as members of the Methodist Church of
Sao Paulo. Included were Alfred I. Smith, C. C. Johnson,
Frederick G. Williams and Roberta S. Rohwedder
(Elijah H. Quillin's great granddaughter), "Brazil's Confederate
Exiles: Where Are They Now?" California Intermountain
News, March 22, 1973, p. 1; H. C. Tucker, "Confederates
in Brazil," p. 10.
•^^Betty Antunes de Oliveira, North American ^Immigration
to Brazil: Tombstone Records of the "Campo"
Cemetery, Santa Barbara D'Oeste—Sao Paulo State, Brazil
(Rio de Janeiro: n.p., 1978), p. 11.

Thomas Steret McKnight, Bellona Smith, Eugene C. Smith,
340
L. D. Smith, Rachel Crawley, Susan Smith, Josephine McKnight,
Madora McKnight, E. Fulton Smith, and Virgil S. Smith. The
31
pastor of the congregation was Junius E. Newman.
As the end of the decade of the 1860's neared its
close, the former Americans' interest in Brazilian affairs
broadened. They were still concerned with local affairs,
including religious activities, agriculture, and the profes­
sions, but they were also more aware of national happenings.
Perhaps because of their recent involvement in the United
States Civil War, they found the War of the Triple Alliance
of particular interest. Against the wishes of Paraguayan
dictator Solano Lopez, Brazil intervened in the internal
affairs of Uruguay, its neighbor to the south. Backed by
60,000 troops, Ldpez protested the action and demanded
that Brazil change its policies. The action brought about
an invasion of Paraguay by Brazil, and an alliance of
Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay finally defeated Paraguay
in 1870. During the conflict, George Barnsley wrote his
father, expressing satisfaction with the direction of the
war. "We are jolly over the good news from Paraguay.
The Brazilian forces have pushed thro' the enemy's forts
^^Jones, Soldado Descansal, p. 217.

"3 0
and are now nearing the capital Asuncion."
Two Americans, however, died because of their par­
ticipation in the war. Dillard, the young southerner who
sailed with the McMullan colonists from New York, and
O'Reilly, the young Irishman from the streets of New York
who had become his friend, saw the conflict as an adventure
and as a chance to gain a few dollars. They joined the
Brazilian army, taking advantage of the large cash bonuses
offered by the empire. Once in the Brazilian service, how­
ever, they deserted to the Paraguayans, again intrigued by
large bonus offers. Unfortunately for them they were cap­
tured by Brazilian forces and shot for their infidelity by
a firing squad. It is possible that other Americans also
served in the war against Paraguay, as the breakup of the
various colonies left many men adrift in Brazil's cities.
Certainly, enlistment would have been one incentive to
some former soldiers. One reliable study reports, how­
ever, that southerners "did not feel themselves to be
II3 3
sufficiently Brazilian for that. ..."
North Americans were slow to become Brazilians,
George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao Paulo Province, to
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, March 9, 1868,
Barnsley Papers, Manuscript Department, William R. Perkins
Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Donald
Marquand Dozer, Latin America: An Interpretive History
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962), pp. 347-353.
^^Barnsley, "Notes and Information"; Rios,
"Assimilation of Immigrants," p. 152.
341

preferring instead to remain within enclaves of other emi­
grants from the same cultural background; even so, almost
all of the colonies eventually failed. The reasons for
this were varied. George Barnsley intimated that many
were unsuccessful because of the lack of integrity of the
promoters. "In the precipiency of emigration," said
Barnsley, "a number of places were chosen by American
speculators as suitable locations for our Southern emigra­
tion. I will only exculpate Major McMullan; with regard
to the rest simply say that some were more noble than
others." In an 1868 letter to his father, Barnsley eval­
uated most of the other colonial attempts and outlined the
principal reasons he believed that each failed or would
34
survive.
Lansford Warren Hastings's colony, commented Barns­
ley, "attracted much attention and a number of emigrants
settled near him, but either through the climate, or rains,
or insects, or more probably laziness, his colony came to
nothing." Actually, the Hastings colony was in fairly
good condition at that time, and it survived for many more
years. In 1888, twenty years after Barnsley's doleful
statement of the colony's condition, Methodist minister
H. C. Tucker found ninety-two settlers and their children
^ A
George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to Godfrey
Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, June 22, 186 8, Barnsley
Papers, Duke University.
342

still on the Hastings grant. As late as 1940, one writer
found three aged persons, one man and two women, at the
35
Santarem settlement.
Speaking of George Grandioson Gunter's Rio Doce
colony, Barnsley said that it failed because of an unfavor­
able climate. Gunter's location, he commented was "cele-
0
brated by the Brazilians for its sickness and fertility of
soil. After the first year," Barnsley asserted, "near all
the people . . . [returned] to Rio, with injured health
and straightened fortunes." Another observer agreed with
observation, but added that lack of transportation facili-
36
ties added to the failure.
In discussing the James McFadden Gaston colony on
the Ribeira de Iguape near Xiririca, Barnsley was more
gentle. Most of the colonists, he said, left the colony
site, but "those who remain are doing well, and speak in
high terms of the future." One Brazilian publication re­
ported that the Gaston colonists "planted their crops on
land they didn't own and were driven off." Without ques­
tion, faulty land titles were a significant factor in the
37
failure of the Gaston colony.
35 Ibid.; Tucker, "Confederates in Brazil," p. 22.
343
George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to Godfrey Barnsley,
Bartow County, Georgia, June 22, 1868, Barnsley Papers,
Duke University; Tucker, "Confederates in Brazil," p. 22.
^"^George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to Godfrey
Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, June 22, 186 8, Barnsley

Many of the emigrants that left New Orleans with
the expectation of settling at Ballard Dunn's "Lizzieland"
changed their minds and went, instead, to other colonies.
Many decided on the Gunter lands on the Doce River. Of
those who did settle on the Juquia River with Dunn, many
disliked their new surroundings. George Barnsley described
the site as "extremely picturesque, but with the slight
defect of being without good lands and in the rainy season
half under water." Another source confirms this evaluation
of the property, and stated that the "top soil was very
thinly spread over low-grade sub-soil." Realizing his
mistake, Dunn mortgaged his property for $4,000 and re­
turned to the United States, ostensibly to locate addi­
tional emigrants. He never again appeared in Brazil.
Soon after Dunn's departure, flood waters inundated Lizzie­
land and wiped out virtually every permanent improvement as
well as the first year's crops. The colonists thereupon
38
scattered in every direction.
The settlement at Santa Barbara, originally colo­
nized by William H. Norris' emigrants, became the most
Papers, Duke University; "Americana in Sao Paulo State
Still Has Vestiges of Confederate Americans," Brazilian
Business, May, 1961, p. 39.
"^^George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to Godfrey
Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, June 22, 186 8, Barnsley
Papers, Duke University; Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos
No Brasil, p. 25.
344

345
populated North American gathering place. According to one
evaluation, it "was the most flourishing in the Empire.
The crops have been good and the health excellent." George
Barnsley stated that "three Brazilians living near them
[the southerners] have recently come to Rio to purchase
goods and speak highly of their brisk trade, etc., with
the Americans." Among the most attractive features to
former Confederates were the area's good farm lands which
were adapted to American-style agricultural implements.
This, combined with the community atmosphere in which Amer­
icans could continue to associate with each other on a daily
basis, constituted the main reason for Santa Barbara's
39
success.
On the whole, Barnsley believed that most of the
emigrants who came to Brazil were expecting too much and
were unprepared for the hard work that was necessary to be
successful. "They find the streets are not paved with
gold nor [is] the astute Brazilian ready to open his cof­
fers to every needy stranger." He continued with a con­
demnation of the Americans who would not make the adjustment
to the new life.
I am sometimes sickened at the want of manliness shown
by our people. I cannot now recall a single instance
of any man who has acted as a man but is doing well. Of
-^^George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to Godfrey
Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, June 22, 1868, Barnsley
Papers, Duke University.

course removing from our native land we find trouble,
sorrow, and many vexations of spirit; we had these in
the States; but there we had no hope and were crushed
by the Government; here we are with every hope and are
fostered by the Government.40
But even if a person was willing to expend the
effort that was necessary in order to be successful, there
were occasions when outside influences still caused severe
problems. By late 1870, for instance, agricultural pros­
pects in Sao Paulo Province appeared grim because of a
general slowdown in the economy. By September, it was
reported that business was at a standstill. "Cotton has
346
fallen from $2 to 80

season of 1870-71 was "a year of bitter losses to the
farmer. First a killing frost, second the war—thirdly
low prices and utter stagnation of business, and fourthly,
army worms, wet weather, etc. All live in hopes of some
42
better changes soon."
But changes did not come soon, and consequently
many small farmers, including some former southerners,
found themselves in a difficult situation. There is little
doubt but that some Americans probably decided to return
to the United States during this period. The economic
picture certainly provided an excuse if one was needed.
Some of the Americans who did not have the means to return
to North America but wanted to do so congregated in Rio de
Janeiro in hopes of financial assistance from the United
States government. It is almost certain that large numbers
of those who asked for help were New Yorkers, including
Irish and German immigrants, who had sailed for Brazil
43
without money or the prospects for making it.
George Barnsley, Tiete, Sao Paulo Province, to
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, March 10, 18 71,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University; Lucian Barnsley, Tiete,
Sao Paulo Province, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County,
Georgia, March 28, 1871, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
^"^Lawrence F. Hill, "Confederate Exiles to Brazil,"
Hispanic American Historical Review (May 1927): 192-210;
United States, Congress, "Papers Relating to the Foreign
Relations of the United States," 42nd Cong., 3rd sess.,
House Executive Document 1 (Washington: Government Printing
Office, 1873), pp. 90-91; Blanche Henry Clark Weaver, "Confederate
Emigration to Brazil," The Journal of Southern
History 27 (February 1961): 51-53.
347

The number of southerners who settled in Brazil is
usually estimated at between 2,500 and 4,000 persons. More
often, the latter amount is used. After a simple analysis
of the available figures, it quickly becomes obvious that
this estimate is highly exaggerated. The McMullan colo­
nists, joined by those with Gaston, Meriwether, and Shaw
in New York, totaled only 240 persons. When in Rio de
Janeiro they met the Gunter and Dunn colonists who had
arrived on the Marmion four days before, the total number
of persons at the Emigrant Hotel was estimated at about
500 persons. According to best estimates, a maximum of
200 persons settled on the Hastings Colony at Santarem,
and probably no more than that settled at the Parana set­
tlement. The total of the above numbers 900 persons. An
optimistic estimate by promoter Charles Nathan in 186 8
included 2,070 persons, including Americans "in and about
the capital." In his guess, however, Nathan grossly over­
348
estimated the number of southerners on the Ribeira (McMullan
and Dunn) at 800 persons, an exaggeration of at least 500.
He also overstated the number of colonists in Espiritu
Santo, primarily Gunter's Colony, at 400 persons, a figure
at least double what the total number actually was. With
the corrections in the numbers in the Ribeira and Espiritu
Santo colonies, Nathan's total would come to about 1,300
southerners, a number that is probably correct. Richard
Burton, in his 1868 book. The Highlands of Brazil, notes

that in the "official list of immigrants into Rio de
Janeiro in 1867," the year in which by far most emigrants
came to Brazil from the South, the total was only 1,575
persons. This figure also included an undetermined number
of New Yorkers including Irish and German immigrants.
When it is considered that at one time the United
States Legation in Rio de Janeiro reported that there were
1,232 "destitute" Americans in the capital who had no money
to return to the United States, the contradiction becomes
obvious. The number reported by the legation lacked only
a few persons equaling the entire number of southerners
who emigrated to Brazil. It is certain that all of the
45
"Americans" were not southerners.
Nevertheless, a New York Times reporter in Rio
could not pass up the opportunity for a sensational story
about the problems of "southern" emigrants in Brazil. He
took dead aim on the McMullan colonists in an article en­
titled "The Exiled Southerners: Terrible Sufferings of
the Planters Who Went to Brazil," remarking that "extensive
sugar planters from the famous Red River district of
Richard Burton, The Highlands of Brazil (London:
1869), pp. 5-6; Dallas Herald, June 8, 1867, p. 1. Mistakenly,
the Charles Nathan figures cited by Burton show a
total of 2,700 persons. This was caused by an error in
addition of Nathan's totals. The total should have been
2,070.
^^"Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the
United States."
349

Louisiana and Middle [central] Texas, dazzled by the bril­
liant prospect of recuperating their depleted fortunes,
emigrated with their families to the provinces of Sao
Paulo and Espiritu Santo, in Lower Brazil." The newspaper
continued by exaggerating the extent of the exodus from
the former Confederacy, stating that "whole districts of
the finest land in the South, from Maryland to Texas, were
sacrificed for a mere song. Entire counties were depopu­
lated by the exodus of emigrants and disreputable adven­
turers, who were alike infected with the fever for Brazil­
ian colonization." If it is assumed that the figure of
1,300 persons is correct, the Times reporter missed his
mark badly. Even if higher estimates of emigrants were
accepted, entire counties could not have been "depopu­
lated.""^^
Continuing, the Times article reported that hun­
dreds of persons, who, in years gone by, "reveled in
luxury and affluence" were actually "begging from door to
door, and making a poor pitiful effort to drown their
their miseries in the nearest drinking booth . . . [con­
suming] aguardiente—the vilest decoction in Christendom."
The writer described one American, said to be a graduate of
Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, who accosted
"^^"The Exiled Ex-Southerners: Terrible Sufferings
of the Planters Who Went to Brazil," New York Times, May
21, 1871.
350

him on the street and implored him, "for God's sake, give
me only a vinte (less than a quarter of a cent) to get
something to eat." The Times reporter devoted considerable
space to an American bar in Rio de Janeiro called "The
Dixie Free and Easy Concert Saloon," operated by a man
who was "once a might among his people." There, said the
northern writer, lewd women surrounded the customers and
the bar keeps dispensed "the commonest native liquors to
as vile a set of scoundrels as ever cut a throat." The
bar was probably one owned by Jimmy Graham of Texas, cer­
tainly not a well-known public character. One southerner
recalled that "most all of us frequented [the bar] not so
much on account of the whiskey, but as a rendezvous to
compare our impressions. Mr. Graham was a very kind-
hearted man, and helped, to his private loss, a great
47
number of stranded Americans.
George Barnsley raged at what he considered to be
Yankee exaggeration about the situation of the Americans
in Brazil. On August 20, 1871, he wrote a long letter to
the New Orleans Times about incorrect reporting. He
debunked the statements in the New York Times and stated
that a thousand or even ten thousand colonists could not
^"^Ibid.; Barnsley, "Notes and Information"; George
Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro Province,
to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, September 29,
1871, in Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
351

"depopulate entire counties in such densely inhabited
states as those of the South." As for the graduate of
Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia who was begging
in the streets, Barnsley retorted that he knew every doc­
tor in the American colony and "no such person exists as
he depicts, for all that there were there are still living
0
and doing well." Barnsley continued by stating that most
of the remnants of the McMullan and Gunter colonies were
settled at Santa Barbara. "These persons," said the doc­
tor.
Are doing well and some are accumulating riches. That
any one can be permitted to die of starvation and
misery here, as depicted by the credulous writer to
whom reference is made, is simply impossible, unless
that person by his besotted habits, or idleness, puts
himself beyond the pale of humanity.4 8
George's brother Lucian was also indignant about
the Times article. The former Georgian wrote his father
that "the man who wrote about the Americans in Rio and
other parts is a fool. Where did he get the word 'wintem'
[vinte] quarter of a cent. It originated in his meagre
brain." Continuing, Lucian agreed with his brother about
the unlikelihood of any Americans starving in Brazil. He
contended that if a
George Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Rio de
Janeiro Province, to the Editor of the New Orleans Times,
August 20, 1871, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
352

decent man with common sense will only come and see
us as we are, I will guarantee him as much hog and
hominy, good milk, fresh butter and a corn crib full
of corn to feed his horse as he ever saw in the
states. . . . If New York had not shipped the meanest
cuss[es] that ever left a country we would be better
off here. The Yankees and the Irish ruined us for
awhile, but we are coming out of the mist now.
In another letter, Lucian expanded on his statement. Ex­
plaining that a large number of those who demanded passage
353
back to the United States were not southerners, he commented
that
the [ones] that returned were the scum of New York,
drank up all their money in whiskey and then swore
the Govm't had fooled them and asked Mr. Yankee
. . . consul to ship them back to the best country
the world ever saw. All I say [is that] I feel a
pity for you all—to have a miserable set of humans
let loose on you. But America now is the hell of
earth and all good devils go there.49
Obviously, Lucian Barnsley presented a southern
point-of-view in this tirade. However, much of what he
said was probably at least partially correct. For persons
living in rural areas, the supply of hominy, milk, butter,
and corn was probably sufficient to feed any southerners
who for any reason were unable to feed themselves. Also,
Lucian knew of the large number of non-southerners who
were in Brazil who probably yearned to return to the United
States. It will be remembered that a large number of
49
Lucian Barnsley, Tiete, Sao Paulo Province, to
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, August 5, 1871,
Barnsley Papers, Duke University; Lucian Barnsley, Tatuhy
Sao Paulo Province, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County,
Georgia, April 27, 1870, Barnsley Papers, Duke University

non-southerners sailed with the McMullan colonists from
50
New York on the North America.
In the United States, anti-emigration newspapers
such as the pro-Union San Antonio Express had a field day
with the news about "destitute former Americans." It pub­
lished a letter purported to be from a colonist in Brazil
which voiced a desperate plea for help. "If the government
means to take us home, hurry and do so, or it will have
the dying curse of starved Americans." Since no name was
given, it is impossible to determine whether or not the
letter was authentic or if it was in fact written by a
southerner. Another news item in the same newspaper was
somewhat more credible. It stated that Americans in
Brazil were "in poverty and distress" and had harsh com­
354
ments about Ballard S. Dunn's handling of his colony. Un-
51
fortunately, no source was supplied for either news item.
In Brazil, many former Confederates continued to
discuss the reasons for either staying in Brazil or return­
ing to the United States. George Barnsley admitted in 1871
that he believed that a large number of former southerners
planned eventually to return to the United States. "For
that end," he remarked, "they are saving means." He then
^Sallas Herald, June 8, 1867, p. 1; George Barns^
ley, Rio de Janeiro, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County,
Georgia, June 22, 1868, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
^•^San Antonio Express, March 4, 1870, p. 1.

discussed the reasons that he believed southerners were
deciding to leave Brazil. The most important arguments,
said the physician, were
dissimilarity of language and customs; difficulties
of transportation; low price for skilled labour; differences
in religion, inability to vote and be sovereign;
disgust for the Brazilian idea that a man who
sweats from work is not a gentleman; and finally—the
most potent of all, that this country offers and gives
nothing for the American, which he cannot get in his
own country—nothing worth the sacrifice of exile from
his native soil and kindred.52
Brazilian sociologist Jose Arthur Rios expanded
considerably on Barnsley's list of reasons for dissatisfac­
355
tion of southerners in Brazil. Rios concurred on Barnsley's
point concerning dissimilarity of language and customs as
well as the difficulty of transportation, which Rios
attributed to bad roads. To these he added the observation
that there was a severe lack of schools, institutions which
Americans considered to be extremely important. In addi­
tion, Rios noted a lack of effective local government, the
scarcity of cheap unskilled labor, and the fact that a
migratory tradition from the United States to Brazil did
not develop. Another of Rios's explanations for the failure
of Americans to stay in Brazil and assimilate into Brazilian
society was the lack of understanding of the relationship
between the races. Accustomed to a clear understanding of
^George Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Rio de
Janeiro Province, to the Editor of the New Orleans Times,
August 20, 1871, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.

the distinctions between blacks and whites in the South,
southerners were unprepared for the various cultural levels
of Negroes in Brazil. Rios noted that.
Southerners saw with a certain stupefaction a society
in which the criterion of color was not the dominant
one in social classification. With surprise and even
with indignation, they saw Negroes and mulattoes in
the midst of society occupying high positions and,
because of this, failing to be considered Negroes.53
356
From the North American viewpoint, failure of colo­
nization to Brazil may be blamed on two things. First, the
Brazilian government did not understand the need for trans­
portation from southern ports. It is extremely probable
that if it had been available as early as mid-1866, hun­
dreds, perhaps thousands of southerners would have made
the decision to emigrate. The second problem, related to
the first, was Brazil's failure to establish well-defined
guidelines for emigration. The fact that consular offi­
cials in New York could not coordinate with authorities in
Rio de Janeiro was extremely confusing and demoralizing to
men like McMullan who had proved themselves to be enthu­
siastic leaders in the southern emigration movement.
It is interesting to speculate on how different the
southern experience might have been had the colonists, from
the beginning, concentrated in one settlement. It probably
would have been successful, as was Santa Barbara, as it
^"^Jose Arthur Rios, "Assimilation of Emigrants,"
pp. 145-152.

would have constituted a large community of persons with
a similar cultural background. it would have eliminated
the extreme isolation that affected so many southerners.
Even now, declared Jose Rios, "the inhabitant of our
[Brazil's] interior . . . still today is a solitary and
54
abandoned individual."
But not all southerners elected to return to the
United States. Godfrey Barnsley, writing from Woodlands
Plantation in Georgia to his son George, urged the physi­
cian to stay in Brazil. The problems of Reconstruction
prompted him to remark that his son should "not return to
this country. You are in a much better one." The younger
Barnsley had little real intention of going back to
Georgia, however. He was pleased with his prospects,
having completed his examinations for a medical license
in Brazil. The problem with dealing with Brazilians was
the only factor which gave him cause for thoughts of re­
turning to the United States.
I do truly believe that if there is any earthly paradise,
it is here in Brazil, and if this present race
of people could be swept away or educated I would not
prefer any other place on earth; but my goodness, such
moral deprivation, such darkness, such lack of education
as exists now!
Brazilian sociologist Jose Rios' conclusion that "the lack
of schools and churches, above all, weighed upon the
Southerners," confirms Barnsley's statements about the
^^Ibid., p. 149.
357

paucity of morals and the lack of education in Brazil.^^
Although the complaints Barnsley expressed would
take generations to solve, important political changes
were occurring in Brazil in 1870. The establishment of a
parliamentary republic in France had, according to one
Brazilian historian, "reawakened Brazilian republicanism,
which had lain fitfully asleep since the regency." It is
significant to the study of American emigration to note
that two of the movement's leaders, Quintino Bocayuva, once
the head of the Brazilian Emigration Agency, and Joaquim de
Saldanha Marinha, former president of the Province of Sao
Paulo, had both been actively involved with the McMullan
Colony's establishment. The two men founded the first
republican club and established a newspaper to spread
republican ideas. With Bocayuva at their head, the repub­
licans issued the Manifesto of 1870, a revolutionary docu­
ment which called for the abolition of the monarchy. "We
are in America," the manifesto declared, "and want to be
55
Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, to
George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, November 15, 1869, Godfrey
Barnsley papers in possession of Mrs. Alice B. Howard,
Adairsville, Georgia, as quoted in Nelson Miles Hoffman,
Jr., "Godfrey Barnsley, 1805-1873: British Cotton Factor
in the South" (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Kansas,
1964), p. 268. At writing (1981), the author was unable
to locate the Howard Papers. Mrs. Howard was said to be
in a nursing home in Atlanta and friends did not know
where the papers were located. Also, see George Barnsley,
Tatuhy, Sao Paulo Province, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow
County, Georgia, June 8, 1870, Barnsley Papers, Duke University;
Rios, "Assimilation of Immigrants," p. 149.
358

Americans. Our form of government is in essence and in
practice both antinomian and in opposition to the rights
and interests of the American states." Some former south­
erners took great interest in this movement, and George
Barnsley was among them. "Thousands," he proclaimed "are
clamoring for constitutional liberty." Despite the fact
that the republican manifesto had studiously avoided any
mention of the abolition of slavery, Barnsley declared
that it "was doomed—a few weeks will enable the Senate to
mark the date of its gradual disappearance." In fact,
enthusiasm for republicanism in Brazil slowed soon after
its sudden ascent. Its time had not yet come, although
the fire would continue to stay alive. Bocayuva continued
to lead the movement, and nineteen years after the Mani­
festo of 1870, Brazil boasted 273 republican clubs and
56
seventy-seven republican newspapers.
Some Americans, however, expressed little interest
in the comparison of the monarchy and a republic as they
planned to return to the United States. Among these
persons were Judge James H. Dyer, Columbus Wasson, and
their families. After the loss of their river boat on a
sand bar, they decided to sell their sawmills, but found
Jose Maria Bello, A History of Modern Brazil:
1889-1964 (Stanford, California: Stanford University
Press, 1966), pp. 35-38; George Barnsley, Iguape, Sao
Paulo Province, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County,
Georgia, March 9, 1868, Barnsley Papers, Duke University
359

360
buyers to be scarce. Not finding anyone who was willing to
pay anywhere near the value of the business, they decided
to turn one of the buildings and its machinery over to
Dyer's ex-slave, Steve. Steve by that time had developed
a real liking for Brazil, knew the operation well, and had
nothing to lose if he failed. They sold the second mill
to a man from Rhode Island named Crawford Allen who had
attended school with the Barnsley brothers. One account
concludes that Allen was unsuccessful with the mill and
"threw away a lot of money, got disgusted, and went to Rio
Grande do Sul to saw pine." George Barnsley recalled that
Allen spent $80,000 on the Rio Grande operation purchasing
"the best sawing machines from the United States" before
57
returning to North America.
Nancy McMullan continued to live in Santa Barbara
with her son, Ney, but saw no future for herself there.
When her daughter, Lou, died of typhus, she also decided
to return to the United States. The Moores, Vic and Billy,
soon seconded the decision and in April, 1872, the entire
family sailed for Texas. Columbus Wasson, who was teaching
school, chose to remain in Brazil until the expiration of
his contract. Sadly, the Moore's little daughter, Juanita,
died on the way home and became the second child of the
^"^Barnsley, "Notes and Information."

couple to be buried at sea. 58
There were some Americans, including southerners,
who wanted to return to the United States but were finan­
cially unable to do so. In January, 1872, James R.
Partridge, Chief of the United States Legation in Brazil,
361
worte to Secretary of State Hamilton Fish about the problem.
He asked for assistance in returning Americans, particularly
women and children from Sao Paulo Province, to the United
States. "I venture respectfully to submit to you, the
consul suggested,
whether the President would think it expedient to
ask of Congress ... a small sum, say three or four
thousand dollars, which would secure relief and passage
home, at half rates, to the most pitiable cases,
at least, if not all who cry for help.
Continuing, Partridge made clear that he knew he was asking
the government,
to relieve persons, or rather their widows and children,
from the consequences of their deliberate folly in
leaving their own country in vain hope of finding a
better one; and if men alone were concerned, I would
be silent. But if the sad history and present condition
of many of these women and children could be
known to the President, I fell sure he would most
willingly do, in their behalf, whatever, in his judgment,
expediency and the proper policy would permit.
58. 'Ferguson, "The American Colonies Emigrating to
Brazil," December 18, 1936, p. 20; V^right, James Dyer, p
[60]; George L. Clark, "G. L. Clark's Ancestors," typescript,
April 13, 1913, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas; Richardson, Adventuring With a Purpose, p. 8; Hill
County, Texas, Affidavit of Jasper McMullan, Deed Records
121 (April 9, 1909): 155-156; Effie Smith Arnold (Granddaughter
of William T. and Victoria Moore), San Antonio,

Secretary Fisk's reply was short and unforgiving. "There
is no appropriation from which a sum to defray the passage
of these persons to the United States can properly be
drawn." Over the next few years, nevertheless, many un­
fortunate Americans "found passage home on the Guerriere,
the Kansas, the Portsmouth, the Quinnebaug, and other . . .
T ,,59
vessels.
At least one McMullan colonist fled Brazil because
of legal problems. On October 29, 1877, a seventy-five
year-old settler named Hervey Hall inspected his farm
and found that a burro belonging to his neighbor, Jesse
Wright, had destroyed a considerable amount of his crop.
It was not the first time that the animal had been found
trespassing and Hall, who was enraged, killed the animal
on the spot. Wright was indignant over the death of his
valuable animal and itched for revenge. Egged on by "Dock"
36 2
Tarver, one of Nelson Tarver's sons, Wright confronted Hall.
In a fit of temper, Wright pulled his pistol and fired,
finishing his former friend instantly. The murderer ran
away toward a nearby farm where Wilbur McKnight, Thomas
Texas, to William C. Griggs, Lubbock, Texas, tape recording
of interview, March 28, 1973, in possession of William C.
Griggs, Canyon, Texas.
^^Lawrence F. Hill, "Confederate Exiles to Brazil,"
pp. 192-210; "Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of
the United States"; Weaver, "Confederate Emigration to
Brazil," pp. 51-53.

Steret McKnight's son, was plowing. Wright told Wilber
what had happened, informed him that he was leaving the
country, and asked McKnight to look after his business
and his property. Wilber agreed to do so and consequently
incurred the wrath of the Hall family. Jesse Wright left
his wife and fled with his son Ambrose to Rio Grande do
Sul Province. Years later, Wright returned to Texas where
it is said that he turned to the church, then became the
6 0
sheriff of a central Texas county.
Sarah Elvira Quillin wanted to return to Texas
after her husband's death, but money for her to do so could
not be raised. Always a cripple. Parson Quillin's health
began to deteriorate rapidly in the middle of the 1880's
and he died of a liver ailment on March 21, 1886. Soon
after. Reverent R. P. Thomas, an occasional preacher at
the Santa Barbara Church, wrote to H. A. Tupper in the
United States and gave a brief survey of his friend's
career. Thomas explained that Quillin's only concern in
his illness had been for his family and their future.
Quillin had wished that they could return to Texas. In
his letter to Tupper, Rev. Thomas asked for support for
this purpose from the United States. "Will not the Bap­
tists of Texas help Sister Quillin to get back there? She
^°Jones, Soldado Descansal, pp. 246-247; Laura
Bennett Turner (great-grandaughter of Hervey Hall), typescript.
May, 19 42, Weaver Papers.
363

is well educated and a good teacher, and if she was back
there she could support her family. she is well-known
in Hillsborough [Hillsboro, Texas] as a teacher." Thomas
asked the Baptist newspapers in Texas to note his plea,
but no instance is found that they did. Support was not
forthcoming to send Sarah Quillin back to Texas.^^
The southerners from Texas who sailed for Brazil
under Frank McMullan made a substantial impact on their new
country. Extremely important was their introduction and
manufacture of the steel mouldboard plow, an implement
unknown in Brazil before their arrival. This tool made
possible a revolution in Brazilian agriculture in that it
allowed lands to be used which, under the old system, would
have remained useless. Equally important to Brazil was the
establishment by McMullan's Texans of the Baptist Church
in Brazil. Because of their efforts, the now huge evan­
gelism program was begun and a Texan, Elijah H. Quillin,
was its first appointed missionary. A review of numbers
of southerners who went to Brazil indicates that only about
364
1,30 0 emigrated from the United States. The McMullan colony
represented about 10 percent of this total which is far
below estimates made by many historians. A large number
R. P. Thomas, Santa Barbara, Sao Paulo Province,
to Henry A. Tupper, Richmond, Virginia, April 26, 1886,
Serials Department, Library of Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.

eturned to the United States during the period from 186 8-
1872, and detailed analysis reveals a multitude of reasons
365
for their doing so including homesickness, disillusionment,
and language difficulties.

CHAPTER XII
THE END OF EL DORADO
The dreams of gold, of a new frontier, and of
another Dixie in Brazil were all but forgotten by most of
the former McMullan colonists by the middle of the decade
of the 18 70's. Hardship, loneliness, and homesickness
caused a large percentage of those who survived to return
to North Amreica; most who remained banded together with
the remnants of other colonies at Santa Barbara in an
attempt to create a common culture reminiscent of the Old
South. Only two of the Texan colonists in Brazil, Dr.
George Barnsley and James M. Keith, were still actively
pursuing El Dorado and neither lived near the other Amer­
icans. Of those who returned to the United States only
one person, Ney McMullan, still nursed a longing to find
the hidden treasures of Brazil. His youth was to postpone
his search for over two decades.
On March 4, 1869, George Barnsley married Mary
Laniera Emerson, the daughter of Reverend VJilliam Emerson,
also a former Confederate and originally from Meridian,
Mississippi. The marriage was a happy one despite Barns­
ley's inability to remain in one place long enough to
366

establish a formal medical practice. He was besieged with
debts which he often found hard to pay and consequently
was vocally criticized by some of his creditors. One, a
man named Tross, loaned Barnsley several thousand dollars
at 12 percent interest which the doctor found very diffi­
cult to repay. On June 8, 1870, he wrote his father that
he had finally settled the debt, however, and that he had
written to Tross asking for "explanation and satisfaction"
of his verbal assaults. Barnsley reported to his father
that somehow the problem was related to "Mr. Moore, whose
life I saved by long weeks of toil without pay." Barnsley
intimated that Moore made up stories which were untrue and
passed them on to creditor Tross. "This being .the case,
and having no means to push the matter further," Barnsley
remarked, "I have concluded to let the whole matter rest
367
for the present." On December 13, 1870, Barnsley's thoughts
returned once more to the South as he learned of the death
of General Robert E. Lee. Writing once again to his father,
Barnsley called the former leader's demise,
A loss which is generally lamented amongst the few
of us here as that of a warm personal friend. It
brings sadly to remembrance the times that have
passed since our departure from the scenes in which
he as the chief and we as atoms participated.1
•^George Barnsley, "Notes and Information about the
Emigrants from the U. States of 1867-68," Barnsley Papers,
Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina; George Barnsley, Tatuhy,

The death of his father Godfrey Barnsley in June,
1873, the loss of a little daughter named Julia in August,
1873, and the death of his father-in-law W. C. Emerson in
October of the same year were devastating to Barnsley's
morale and he yearned for home, often wondering about the
reasons that took him to Brazil in the first place. In a
letter to his sister on January 20, 1874, George vented his
thoughts on the decision to leave the United States.
"Whether it was weakness of character, whether it was dic­
368
tated by spurious ambition, or by that old absorbing longing
to see the isle of the lotus eaters—the far off islands of
2
the tropics of eternal summer, I know not."
By 1878, Barnsley decided that he wanted to return
to Georgia and Woodlands plantation with his family but he
did not have the money to do so. Writing again to his
sister Julia, Barnsley emotionally expressed his desires.
"God only knows how I could hug those old oaks at the
Sao Paulo Province, to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County,
Georgia, June 8, 1870, Banrsley Papers, Manuscript Department,
William R. Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham,
North Carolina; George Barnsley, Sorocaba, Sao Paulo Province,
to Godfrey Barnsley, Bartow County, Georgia, December
13, 1870, Barnsley Papers, Duke University.
^Charles Henry Von Schwartz, Bartow County,
Georgia, to H. Howard [Bartow County, Georgia], December
10, 1874, Barnsley Papers, University of Georgia Library,
Athens, Georgia; Barnsley, "Notes and Information"; George
Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro Province,
to Julia Von Schwartz, Bartow County, Georgia, January 20,
1874, Barnsley Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives,
Manuscript Section 204, Knoxville, Tennessee.

front gate . . . , and shake the hand of such as one left
[at home]." Later the same year, Barnsley painted a dreary
369
picture of the situation of his family in Brazil. "Lucian,"
he said, "went to Rio . . . [and] waited there until he
and his family almost starved; his wife is sick. Murray
[one of Barnsley's nephews who married his wife's sister],
I suppose, is still drinking whiskey in Rio. Times are
getting harder and harder." Barnsley seemed to have re­
signed himself to his fate by 1879 although he still
regretted his inability to leave Brazil. He continually
moved about the country, going from the towns of Sao Paulo
Province to Rio de Janeiro and into the interior. His
failure to make money in medicine led him to purchase
mining lands, to tend a drugstore, and even to promote a
transcontinental railroad. None of his enterprises was
successful. Convinced that he would never be able to
return to Georgia, he wrote his sister and asked her to
care for their father's burial plot. "As long as you
keep the old gentleman's grave clean it is a matter of no
importance to me whether I am here or there—if I never
return drive a stick down close to the old gentleman's
3
dust and write on it—G. S. B. Co. A, 8th G . . . C.S.A."
George Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Rio de
Janeiro Province, to Julia Von Schwartz, Kingston, Georgia,
February 2, 1878, Barnsley Papers, Tennessee State Library
and Archives; George Barnsley, Rezende, Rio de Janeiro
Province, to Julia Von Schwartz, Kingston, Georgia, September
14, 1879, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

In 1881, both George Barnsley and James M. Keith
became tremendously excited by the publication of an arti­
cle entitled "Montanha de Ouro" in the Almanague Literario
da Provincia de Sao Paulo. The author, Jose Maria Lisboa,
indicated that perhaps the earlier accounts claiming that
the Dedo de Deus, called by the Indians the Botucavariu,
might not be the mountain referred to by Joao Aranzal in
his description of how to find the Lake of Gold. Lisboa
suggested that, according to an article published in the
eighteenth century by Carlos Ilidro da Silva, the fabled
peak lay not near the ocean in the Itatins mountains, but
near the Paranapuico mountain range within a triangle with
corners at Iguape, the village of Una, and the town of
Piedade, located a few miles due south of Sorocaba. This
supposition lent even further credence to Barnsley and
Keith's belief that the old McMullan colony lands were
4
the location of Aranzal's riches.
In partnership with Dr. Horace Manley Lane, later
the director of Mackenzie College in Sao Paulo, and Dr. R.
Coachman, another American emigrant, Keith and Barnsley
established a company to search for Aranzal's treasure and
370
4 . x-r
Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No
Brasil, Educadores, Sacerdotes, Covos e Reis (Sao Paulo:
Livraria Pioneiro Editora, 1972), pp. 133-138; "South
America, Sheet IV: South Brazil with Paraguay and Uruguay,"
Map, c. 1837 (London: Chapman and Hall, 1837), in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.

the Lake of Gold. They obtained the help of a financier
and began their search with the aid of a description of
the location, supposedly written by Aranzal himself and
recorded in the city archives of the town of Itapetininga.
In order to receive the privilege of mining on government
lands in the Iguape—Una—Piedade triangle, they requested
a legal decree from the governor of the Province of Sao
Paulo. George Barnsley received this authority in his
name on February 14, 18 81.
On July 5, 1882, Barnsley wrote his sister Julia
explaining his investments and predicting profits from his
ventures despite problems with some of those involved. He
stated that he had put together a company to handle the
operations and that he had been "very hopeful and made
large sacrifices of time, money, and interests." The
machinations of other shareholders (probably Lane and
Coachman), however, caused the breakup of the organization
which Barnsley expected at any time with the result being
"a great loss of money to the capitalist." "Both he and
I," continued the doctor, "have suffered from the villainy
and intrigue of others interested." Barnsley later claimed
that more than forty contos de reis were spent in
371
^George Barnsley, "Requerimento de Renovacao do
Decreto n° 6.079 e Prolongacao do Decreto n° 6.625, Pal^cio
do Governo da Provinca de Sao Paulo," March 16, 1881,
Archives of the Camara de Itapetininga, Sao Paulo Province,
as quoted by Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil,
p. 137.

construction of roads through the forest, as well as in
actual excavations, in company operations.
The impending collapse of his company did not
appear as a calamity to Barnsley, however, for he predicted
that a new association would soon be formed with European
capital. Explaining the extent of his investments to his
sister, Barnsley said that he had "15% in two gold mining
privileges, 15% in R.R. [railroads] of 53 Kilometers or
more, and 40% in another R.R. project of 300 Kilometers."
The larger railroad interest, said the doctor, "will be
conceded, it is said, by persons authorized to speak in a
few weeks or months." In addition to the mining and rail­
road investments, Barnsley also wrote his sister about his
interest in "three new petitions for the fabrication of
sugar from the cane, for which the Gov't will give a
privilege with guarantee of 7% on the capital employed."
Despite the impressive holdings Barnsley claimed to have,
he confessed that they were not yet yielding any results.
"At present I am poor as a church rat and involved in some
^ .,7
little trouble, out of which I trust soon to be.
372
Barnsley's fortunes, despite his optimistic forecast.
George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro
Province, to Julia [Von Schwartz], Kingston, Georgia, July
5, 1882, Special Collections, The Robert W. Woodruff
Library for Advanced Studies, Emory University, Atlanta,
Georgia; Barnsley, "Notes and Information."
"^Ibid.

did not improve. Penning a letter from the interior town
of Sorocaba on September 12, 1882, a despondent Barnsley
wrote that,
Altho my interests are thoroughly guaranteed, I have
hopes soon to have better news to communicate. At
any rate if no result comes out of these affairs before
March I shall send the whole matter to pot and
return to the States to settle down somewhere to
clinic.
Barnsley complained that he and his wife were "getting very
tired of this life out here and she is now anxious to re­
turn to the States. Times are getting worse and worse."
By 1883, Barnsley's attitude toward his adopted country
showed even more despair. In a letter to his sister,
Barnsley recalled his instability and failure to stay with
one profession until it paid off. He lamented that.
It was the greatest mistake of my life, except that
of coming to Brazil. 0! Julia, what a sad mistake
Lucian and I made by coming to this country and worse
by continuing. I frankly say that after so many years
of residence in Brazil and intimate contact with them
I am less a Brasilian today than I was a year after
my arrival.8
Continuing financial problems caused Barnsley to
intensify his determination to return to the United States.
He wrote letter after letter to Julia and her husband
asking for money for passage, even if it meant the mortgage
8 George Barnsley, Sorocaba, Sao Paulo Province,
to Julia Von Schwartz, Kingston, Georgia, September 12,
1882, Barnsley Papers, Emory University; George Barnsley,
Botucatu, Sao Paulo Province, to Julia Von Schwartz,
Kingston, Georgia, September 12, 1883, Tennessee State
Library and Archives.
373

or sale of Woodlands. In one appeal, he despaired that
Disastrous affairs have reduced me and Lucian to utter
poverty; we have no means to return to Woodlands at
present. If you can find any way to send out 2 to
5000 dollars to aid us to return it would be well to
do so at once. If so much money cannot be raised,
make some sort of contract with any of the sailing or
steam vessels from N. Orelans to Rio for our passage.9
374
The family for unknown reasons did not send passage
money to the brothers. Perhaps it could not be raised. It
is possible that, in light of the lack of financial acumen
shown by George and Lucian, the family in Georgia did not
feel that such an advance would be repaid. Four years
later George Barnsley and his family remained in Brazil,
still insolvent, and still begging for help from Julia.
In January, 18 87, George wrote a vehement letter to his
sister in which he declared that he determined to return
to the United States with or without her assistance. "It
seems impossible," he said,
that you should have hesitated on raising the money
for my expenses. I am here in an interior town and
everything amiss for you did not reply. Get back,
you better believe I will. ... I will at last prove
that I am not lost on the deserts of Egypt. I am here
in Pirrasunga [Pirrassinunga].
This letter may have had some effect for in the following
year, 1888, George and his family finally returned to
^George Barnsley, Rio de Janeiro, to Charles Henry
Von Schwartz, Kingston, Georgia, February 27, 188 3, Barnsley
Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Georgia and Woodlands.
The twenty years that George Barnsley had spent
in Brazil, however, had a telling effect after the first
joys of homecoming wore off. He was amazed at the changes
that had come over the South and no longer felt that he
belonged there. Too, the absence of social standing for
his wife among the society of northern Georgia disturbed
him. In his years in Brazil George had come to realize
that family connections were not the only factors that
determined the worth of an individual. He realized for
the first time that the Land of the Southern Cross was his
home. The possibility that Woodlands might be sold was
still a real issue, however, as Barnsley felt that he
deserved a share of the inheritance from his father's
estate. To expedite legal matters, Barnsley had executed
a power of attorney shortly before sailing from Brazil.
In it, George gave his full legal right to bargain to his
sister, Julia. Little did either know that the property
would continue to remain in family hands far into the
twentieth century.
375
George Barnsley, Pirrasinunga, Sao Paulo Province,
to Julia Von Schwartz, Kingston, Georgia, February 1, 18 87,
Barnsley Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives;
Barnsley, "Notes and Information."
•''•'•As early as 1874, Barnsley remarked that "seven
years abroad has taught me that the only aristocracy that
there is, is that of education and moral worth." See
George Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro

George Barnsley returned to Brazil and continued
his search for a very elusive Eden. On December 30, 1908,
the doctor wrote a long letter to B. F. Armington Saylor,
the husband of his sister Julia's daughter, in which he
asked for help in selling his and J. M. Keith's land or
acquiring capital to exploit the mines. After a long
explanation of the steps which had been taken by both he
and Keith to be sure than title to the land was secure,
Barnsley pointed out that some interest already had been
shown by Americans. He reported that a Mr. Lydick of
Pittsburg "came on his own account examine the mines of
my old privileges, which are contiguous with mine now."
Barnsley said that Lydick "reported favorable, and col­
lected samples to be analyzed in Pittsburg." Continuing
his sales presentation, Barnsley said that the property
was fertile, and would be "especially adapted to colonize."
He then completed his letter to Saylor with an assessment
of the costs of a professional evaluation.
376
As to expense of examination, under Mr. Keith's guidance,
a look over for general appreciation, I presume
would not cost over $1,000.00. The time best selected
to explore is from May to November which is the dry and
cold season. No option or other contract exists with
Mr. Lydick, if you are the man you once were there is
a million or more in it for you.
Province, to Julia Baltzelle, Bartow County, Georgia, January
20, 1874, Tennessee State Library and Archives; George
Scarborough Barnsley and Mary Laniera Barnsley, "Procuracao
Bastante Que Faz [Power of Attorney]," Tatuhy, Sao Paulo
Province, May 14 [?], 1886, Barnsley Papers, Emory University.

There is no record of a reply from Saylor.
While George Barnsley was endeavoring to sell or
otherwise benefit from his property in Brazil, another
emigrant. Judge Dyer's ex-slave Steve, continued to suc­
cessfully run the sawmill given to him in 18 72. After
the return of his "family" to the United States, Steve
adopted the surname of Columbus Wasson, Judge Dyer's son-
in-law, and settled down on the Rio Una de Prelado to
operate his business. Hard work, patience, and good sense
paid off handsomely for the former slave who accumulated a
considerable fortune. George Barnsley later wrote that
Steve became sort of a figure among the natives.
377
Steve worked his mill, made money enough to live on,
had [as] many wives . . . as a tolerably well off
Turkish Pasha, and died highly respected. If he had
been educated he might have turned out [to be] a Barao
[baron] of Brazil. At any rate, he ruled all that section
and had a good time. He always held that he was
a true American.
After several generations, Steve's descendents are still
in the area, although their name has evolved over the years
to "Vassao." The family is known today in the coastal
13
regions of the State of Sao Paulo along the Una River.
Although some American colonists purchased slaves
George Barnsley, Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo,
to B. F. Armington Saylor, Bartow County, Georgia, December
30, 190 8, Barnsley Papers, Emory University.
"'•'^Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil, pp.
122-123; Barnsley, "Notes and Information."

after their arrival in Brazil, only three former slaves
are known to have illegally slipped into the country with
their former masters. Steve was one. Another, known only
as Aunt Silvy, came with the John Cole family. A man came
with the Rainey family of South Carolina. "'"^
The republican ideal which developed in Brazil
and resulted in the Manifesto of 1870 grew with the years
and by the late 1880's was reaching maturity. But without
other influences, the republicans led by Quintino Bocayuva
would not have had the opportunity to gain a revolution in
Brazil. Conveniently for those anti-monarchists, three
major problems developed sufficient momentum against Dom
Pedro's government to contribute to its overthrow. One
was a religious dispute, a conflict concerning Free-Masonry
and the Emperor's control over secular affairs of the
Roman Catholic Church. Another was a military question
about whether or not officers could discuss political
affairs in public, especially with the press. The third
and perhaps most important conflict concerned the abolition
of slavery. By the mid-1880's, the spirit of abolition was
so strong that it seemed that Dom Pedro would have to take
action toward emancipation. The Rio Branco Law of 1871
378
which made some provisions for future freedom of some slaves
Goldman, Qs Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil,
pp. 122-123

had been but a stop-gap measure, and radical abolitionists
were never satisfied with it. In 1884, Dom Pedro asked
abolitionist Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas (who had been
one of the officials most involved in problems of the
McMullan colony) to form a new cabinet and propose a plan
for emancipation at some future date. Souza Dantas devised
a plan calling for a prohibition of the sale of slaves,
agricultural settlements for freedmen, and an increase in
the emancipation fund which had been created in 1871. When
the House of Deputies defeated a test vote, Souza Dantas
resigned. Although another plan was passed in 1885, slaves
were still years from actual freedom in most cases. By
1887, many fled from their masters, and some owners volun­
tarily freed their slaves. By 1888, sentiment in favor of
the abolition of slavery reached a crest. The House of
Deputies, on May 19, passed a bill outlawing it by an over­
whelming majority. Princess Isabel, acting as Regent while
15
Dom Pedro was in Europe, signed the legislation.
But the movement toward revolution and a republic
could not be stalled by the abolition of slavery. Indeed,
the manumission encouraged the movement. Unhappiness of
slaveowners about lack of compensation for freed slaves.
379
Jose Maria Bello, A History of Modern Brazil:
1889-1964 (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press,
i966), pp. 5-6, 9, 11, 22, 37-45, 50; Mary Wilhelmine Williams,
Dom Pedro the Magnanimous: Second Emperor of Brazil
(New York: Octagon Books, 1978), pp. 282-287, 321-343.

distrust of a possible future regime headed by Princess
Isabel and, most important, dissatisfaction of the military
because of its treatment by the monarchy led to a coup
d'etat that deposed Dom Pedro II and led to the establish­
ment, five years later, of a republic. Among the princi­
pals in the overthrow were Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin
Constant Coelho de Magalhaes, Ruy Barbosa, Manoel Deodoro
16
da Fonseca, and Quintino de Souza Bocayuva.
For the former Texans, the change in government
led to important results including the renunciation of
land grants made by the empire. George Barnsley, in the
380
United States at the time of the 18 89 coup, claimed to have
lost mining privileges for an area the size of Rhode Island.
James Monroe Keith, the former Texas Ranger who spent years
in the sertao searching for minerals, also lost a consid­
erable amount of land. Unlike Barnsley, however, Keith
decided to try to recover his lost properties. He went to
the new government, applied for another grant, and received
fifty square leagues of land south of Sorocaba, Sao Paulo
Province, basically the north central part of the Iguape—
Una—Piedade triangle which encompassed a large part of the
original McMullan grant. The titles to Keith's properties
were "all registered and perfectly good in law and posses­
sion. " After years of exploring his grant, Keith located
"'•^Williams, Dom Pedro the Magnanimous, pp. 327-343.

numerous mineral deposits including gold, tin, silver,
copper, quicksilver, and graphite. All of the necessary
requirements for mining, including large amounts of water
power and timber, were readily available. Despite Keith's
claims of possible riches on his property, he could not
convince "men of means" that they should invest in mining
ventures there. According to George Barnsley, potential
investors "wanted to know what the terms of working with
the State or Federal Govm't." These "terms" probably con­
381
cerned taxation on yield or investment. Barnsley remembered
that Keith "lobbied in the State Legislature of S. Paulo,"
but could get no reply. As late as 1915, there remained
"a shimmering hope that at the next session of Congress
... a Federal law [would] ... be hatched." Barnsley
purchased a tract of about 2,000 acres of wooded land from
Keith. The doctor remarked that a gold mine was on the
property, but "the land is hard to get at, and nobody
believes in the gold, and the mine, except Mr. Keith and
myself." Writing in about 1915, Barnsley still believed
in the value of the property he bought from Keith and
hoped that some of his grantchildren might "take a notion
to look at my mines, and then be so pleased to remember
Upon the return of the McMullan, Dyer, and related
^ Barnsley, "Notes and Information."

families to the United States in 18 72, all were undecided
as to where they wished to live and what they wanted to do.
Judge Dyer and his family, including the Wassons, deter­
mined to return to Hill County, as did John Odell. The
Moores moved from McLennan County to Whitney, in Hill
County. Nancy McMullan and her son, Ney, decided instead
to go to Mississippi, where they would live temporarily
with her daughter Jennie (Virginia) and her son-in-law
George L. Clark. The Clarks had moved from Texas to Attala
County, Mississippi, in 1871 to be near his elderly mother.
After a short stay with the Clarks, Nancy and Ney resolved
to move to Memphis, Tennessee, where the eighteen-year-old
young man decided to attend school. He enrolled in
Leddin's Actual Business College and received his diploma
in September, 1873. In October of that year the McMullans
18
and Clarks all returned to Texas.
Illness and death continued to plague the McMullan
family. In 1873, Victoria Moore died soon after the birth
of a daughter. Jennie, Vic's sister, died in 1882, and
Nancy died in 1886. With her death, only Ney and his
George L. Clark, "G. L. Clark's Ancestors,"
typescript, April 13, 1913, in possession of William C.
Griggs, Canyon, Texas; Leddin's Actual Business College,
Diploma to E. N. McMullan, September 22, 1873, in possession
of Rachel McMullan White, Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Judge James H. Dyer later became a United States Marshal,
then the Superintendent of the Steiner Valley Prison Farm
in Hill County. He raised prize Durham cattle until his
death in 1901.
382

sister Martha Ann (Matt) remained of the once-large familv
which lived before the Civil War on Pecan Creek east of
19
Hillsboro.
While Nancy McMullan was still in Brazil, events
transpired in Hill County which were to have a real signif­
icance on McMullan family fortunes. Without an agent from
whom McMullan land could be purchased within the old 640
acre Carothers grant south of the Hill County courthouse,
scores of squatters moved onto McMullan property. The
growth of the town and subsequent increases in land values
caused considerable concern among those who occupied unsold
and undeeded McMullan properties. When news arrived that
the owners of the lots were returning to Texas this appre­
hension increased dramatically. At least one squatter
reasoned that if all courthouse records containing land
transactions were destroyed there would be no way of deter­
mining which lots had been sold by the McMullan family and
which had not. Consequently, on September 3, 1872, while
Nancy was still in Memphis, a fire occurred in the Hill
383
Elizabeth Ann Wright, James Dyer: Descendents
and Allied Families (n.p., n.p., 1954), p. [60]; Effie
Smith Arnold, San Antonio, Texas, to William C. Griggs,
Lubbock, Texas, tape recording of interview, March 28,
1973, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas;
Virginia McMullan Clark, "For Trudie," MS poem in possession
of William C. Griggs; Virginia McMullan Clark, "Lines
to My Old Home," MS poem in possession of William C. Griggs;
Thelma C. Griggs to William C. Griggs, MS notes of interview,
June 3, 1977.

County courthouse,
destroying a few of the public records, namely, all
of the records of the District Court excepting the
minutes of 1857, and one record book (Book L) of the
County Court and all the records of the Surveyor's
office. . . Five year's records of the Probate Court
were burned. The fire was supposed to be the work of
an incendiary.
Upon her return to Hill County, Nancy McMullan expressed
concern because of the destruction of records, but did not
seek a legal solution to the problem.^°
The death of Nancy McMullan set the stage in 18 87
for an attempt to legalize the title of squatters to the
McMullan land on the Carothers grant in south Hillsboro.
William L. Booth, a native of New York who had lived in
Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan before moving to Texas in 185 3,
represented some of those who claimed title to lots within
the 640 acres. Although Booth had been a Democrat before
the war and had served in the Confederate Army, he became
a Republican and was bitterly resented by many of the Hill
County population. One account relates that during Recon-
21
struction. Booth's life was "several times exposed."
20
A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson
and Hill Counties, Texas (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing
Company, 1892), p. 217; Mary Pearl Clark, Burleson, Texas,
to William C. Griggs, Lubbock, Texas, MS notes of interview,
June 15, 1960, in possession of William C. Griggs,
Canyon, Texas.
21
Ellis Bailey, A History of Hill County, Texas:
1838-1965 (Waco: The Texian Press, 1966), pp. 115-117;
A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson and Hill
Counties, Texas, p. 270.
384

The probate records of the Hugh McMullan estate
were not the only ones lost in the 1872 courthouse fire,
although the McMullan land probably formed by far the
largest tract in question within the Hillsboro city limits.
Another estate administered by James Wornell had essenti­
ally the same legal elements as that of the McMullans.
The property owner died over twenty-five years before suit
was filed; the probate records were destroyed; the records
in the administrator's deeds were insufficient to show an
order for the sale of land of the estate. In the Wornell
case, styled White and others vs. Jones, William L. Booth
argued before the Texas Supreme Court that title should be
given to those who claimed to have made the purchase of
land. The court agreed, saying that "after twenty-five
years, the presumption Omnia recte acta must apply; and
the records having been destroyed by fire, every intendment
must be presumed in favor of the validity of the proceed­
ings." Using White vs. Jones as a precedent. Booth claimed
the decision also could be legally applied to the McMullan
estate lands, a presumption which evidently was never
proved in court. The heavy expense in opposing those who
claimed title, coupled with the relatively low value of
the property at the time, kept the heirs from pursuing
the matter. A cloud remained, and perhaps continued to
hang, over the property. McMullan heirs recall that quit­
claim deeds were still being signed for a fee as late as
385

the 1930's. An inquiry by this writer about McMullan lands
in 19 73 brought an anxious and belligerent response from
an abstractor in Hillsboro who snapped, "If you are plan­
ning to sue, forget it, you can't win."^^
386
Ever since his return from Brazil, Ney McMullan had
been unsure as to his calling in life. Although born to
a farming family, his interest turned to literature and
research. He had a way with words and wrote extensively
even after his marriage to Mabe Oldham of Iredell, Bosque
County. Ney and Mabe lived, at various times, in the towns
of Fowler, Whitney, and Iredell. Ney never decided on a
career and often depended on his wife to make a living,
even to the point of taking in washing while he wrote. The
lure of Brazil continued to pull at the young man. The
stories of gold and land he had heard from his brother and
his uncle became more romantic as he grew older and he often
thought about the riches that might have been if his brother
23
Frank had lived.
22
"White and Others vs. Jones," Supreme Court of
Texas, Southwestern Reporter 4 (April 15, 1887): 161; Roy
C. Clark, Lubbock, Texas, to William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas, MS notes of interview, June 3, 19 81, in possession
of William C. Griggs; Hill County, Texas, Affidavit of
William L. Booth, Deed Records 22 (January 25, 1889: 243;
Hill County, Texas, Affidavit of William L. Booth, Deed
Records 23 (April 9. 1889): 117.
^•^Wiley Dyer McMullan (Ney McMullan's son), Sao
Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, to William C. Griggs, Lubbock,
Texas, June 27, 1973, in possession of William C. Griggs,
Canyon, Texas; Thelma C. Griggs to William C. Griggs, MS
notes of interview, June 3, 1977.

Ney McMullan remained enchanted with the idea of
Brazil and El Dorado. In 1895, at the age of forty-one,
he resolved to return there, survey the situation, and
determine whether or not a claim to McMullan colony lands
might still be feasible. Too, he wanted to reestablish
contact with his family's friends who he had left twenty-
five years before. McMullan somehow raised the money for
passage and departed on an extended trip, leaving his wife
and three sons in Iredell. He sailed to Portugal, then to
the Canary Islands, en rotite to Brazil. After his arrival,
Ney spent eight months traveling through the country before
^ m 24
returning to Texas.
Home at last, Ney had a difficult time convincing
his wife that she and the boys should go with him to South
America. She was less than enthusiastic, but finally
agreed to accompany her husband to a spot which from his
description must be a paradise on earth, a place where
387
ownership of the huge McMullan-Bowen grant could be redeemed
and the McMullan-owned coffee plantation at Mouro Redondo
could be returned to family hands.
On the death of his sister Martha Ann in 189 4 Ney
became the last adult with the McMullan family name. The
^"^Ney McMullan kept a diary of his trip to Brazil
which, in 1975, was in possession of his granddaughter,
Rachel McMullan
m
White,
White,
Needham,
Neeanam,
Massachusetts._
incistjav^iiuocu^-o.
In
^^*
a
^ ...«.-
move^
of the White f< iamily to Bolivia, then to Bermuda, then back
to Rhode Island, id, the little notebook evidently was lost.

only other heirs remaining of the original adult clan were
Virginia Clark's children Hugh, Charles Edmond, Adolphus
Francis, and Ilieta Louise, and Martha Ann Williams's
children Eugene (Monk), Mink, Rac, Coon, Ilieta Victoria,
and Nannieta. In addition Montie Moore, Billy and Vic
Moore's daughter, was one of the remaining family members.
Although very close to his uncle Ney, Hugh Clark had no
desire to go to Brazil. Neither did Charles Edmond Clark
or Montie Moore. But to the Williams family the lure of
El Dorado remained strong. Monk volunteered to accompany
his uncle almost as soon as the trip was suggested, as did
Ileita Victoria and her husband Ivan (Swan) Hudzietz.
388
Ileita and Swan, with their children Lucia, Rie, and Coon C.
Hudzietz, were enthusiastic about the adventure and looked
forward to a new life in a new land. Ney and Mabe McMullan
already had three sons, Dana, Lorin, and Caskey. With the
five members of the Hudzietz family, plus Monk Williams,
a sizeable number of Texans were ready to sail in late
25
189 7 for South America.
Upon arrival in Brazil, the New Texan colonists
went directly to Santa Barbara. There, Ney believed, they
^^Patsy Miles (Martha Ann McMullan Williams' granddaughter)
, Van, Texas, to Thelma C. Griggs, Lubbock, Texas,
March 8, 1973, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas; Patsy Miles, Van, Texas, to William C. Griggs, Lubbock,
Texas, April 4, 1973, in possession of William C.
Griggs, Canyon, Texas.

would have the advantage of the association with former
Americans, the ability to quickly find profitable employ­
ment, and a central location from which to begin the effort
389
to reclaim the properties abandoned twenty-five years before.
Only a few days after their arrival, another child was born
to Ney and Mabe. He became the first McMullan born in
Brazil, and received the name Wiley Dyer McMullan after
his great grandfather. The final child born to Ney and
Mabe was another son. In honor of his brother, Ney named
26
the new child Frank.
Monk Williams was the only one outside of Ney's
immediate family who really seemed to enjoy the new life
in Brazil. On one occasion. Monk was asked by a friend to
go into the sertao in search of gold and precious stones.
Because they had been in Brazil only a short time. Monk
refused the offer. According to family recollections, the
friend staked a rich diamond claim near the city if
Diamantina and later became rich. Monk attributed his
27
failure to accompany his friend to "the luck of the Irish."
On another occasion. Monk told of a trip he and
another adventurous youth made into the back country of
Brazil. After several days of tracking through the jungle.
^^Wiley Dyer McMullan to William C. Griggs, June
27, 1973.
27 Patsy Miles to William C. Griggs, April 4, 1973

they sat on a remote river bank to rest. Suddenly, several
men approached and urged the Americans to follow them.
After a long walk, they came to a clearing where they saw
"the most beautiful house that one could imagine—almost
390
like a palace." The owner, a German and his wife, children,
and several servants, insisted that the two spend the night
there and served them a sumptuous meal. "Monk always
wondered," recalled his niece in later years, "how in the
world this man was ever able to build such a mansion hun­
dreds of miles from no where and in such a wilderness. He
even had a grand piano and they wondered how he got it
there."^^
The eating habits of the Brazilians were a constant
wonder to the new arrivals, especially the strange custom
of eating lizards. James McFadden Gaston earlier described
the animal as "a large lizard that corresponds in appear­
ance and proportion to a large alligator, being frequently
two and a half feet long." Gaston admitted that he had
never eaten the delicacy, but said that "he had seen the
flesh dressed, and it presented a very nice aspect." The
turn of the century immigrants also related one of the only
accounts of Americans eating a Brazilian lizard. Ileita
Hudzietz remarked that when she was in Brazil, "everyone
ate lizzards [sic]. It was most delicious—all white meat
28^, .,
Ibid

391
and tasted like chicken." Monk Williams, like James Gaston,
saw the animal as being "by no means desirable as a part
of . . . [his] bill of fare," and refused to even taste it
when it was served. One day, however, Ileita "cooked some
and told him [Monk] that it was chicken, and after the meal
he said it was the most delicious . . . she had ever
29
cooked,"
But Monk Williams' s enthusiasm for the country con­
trasted with a genuine unhappiness on the part of his sister
and her husband. Swan. They missed the family they had
left at home and wrote letters pleading for Coon, then a
dealer for the Waters-Pierce Oil Company in Cleburne, Texas,
and their younger sister Nanneita to join them in Santa
Barbara. Although he hesitated to forfeit a profitable
business in Texas, Coon agreed to m^ove to Brazil and to
bring his fourteen-year-old sister with him. Bags were
already packed when Coon suddenly died of a heart attack.
The news of their brother's death convinced the Hudzietz
family that they should return to Texas. They waited only
for the birth of a fourth child. Swan, Jr., before sailing,
supposedly to "take care" of Nanneita. Monk Williams hesi­
tated to leave Brazil and probably planned to return one
day. For many years his family wondered what Monk concealed
in a trunk that he kept for the rest of his life. It was
29
Ibid.

opened after his death and found to contain "only a few old
rocks." There is little question that the rocks were ore
from a mining claim which Monk discovered and believed to
be of value.
392
Ney McMullan soon began his attempts to regain title
to the McMullan plantation property at Mouro Redondo, the
McMullan-Bowen grant, and the property that Judge Dyer and
Columbus Wasson had owned on the Rio Una de Prelado. He
engaged a law firm in Sao Paulo in which the son of one of
the American emigrants was a partner and began to make
inquiries. But according to one account, the attorneys
made no energetic efforts to solve the problem. Instead,
they continued year after year to tell the former Texan
that "only a little more time" and a "little more money"
were necessary before they would make him rich. Ney spent
nearly all of his income for years on lawyers, never doubt-
31
ing that he would achieve his quest.
Time went by, however, with no results. In an
effort to build a stronger legal basis for his claims, Ney
wrote to all of his relatives requesting a power of attorney
A short biography of Coon Williams may be found
in A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson and Hill
Counties, Texas, pp. 39-40; Patsy Miles to Thelma C.
Griggs, March 8, 19 73.
^•^Rachel McMullan White, Needham, Massachusetts,
to William C. Griggs, Lubbock, Texas, MS notes of interview,
April 30, 1975, in possession of William C. Griggs,
Canyon, Texas.

as well as money. Although Judge Dyer died in 1901,
McMullan secured such a document from Dyer's son, Wiley
Simpson Dyer, from Columbus Wasson, and from Helen Domm
Curry, John Domm's daughter. In the document, each of the
three persons authorized Ney McMullan to act as.
393
My true and faithful attorney, for me and in my name,
my place and stead, to recover and sell all my rights,
titles and interests situated on the Rio Una de
Prelado, in the State of Sao Paulo, Republic of Brazil,
which I . . . acquired by direct purchase in the year
1867, the same being registered in the City if Iguape.-^^
About the same time, Montie Moore, the daughter of
Victoria and William T. Moore, also received a letter from
Ney asking for a power of Attorney. Although Montie
planned to forward the document, her lawyer was murdered
days later and Montie's intentions of helping her uncle
were forgotten. Ney apparently claimed that a diamond
strike had been made on lands adjacent to the original
McMullan grant. Another of Ney's nieces, Ilieta Williams
Peacock, received a letter from her uncle between 1915 and
19 20 in which he asked her to "contact all the family
(Montie, Hugh, etc.) and get $200.00 from each one and
send him. [He] said he could do something about 'our'
land in South America and could make millionaires out of
32
Wright, James Dyer, p. [66]; W. S. Dyer, C. L.
Wassom, and Helen Domm Curry, Power of Attorney to E. N.
McMullan [Rebougas, State of Sao Paulo], Hill County,
Texas, February 8, 1916, in possession of Rachel McMullan
White, Cumberland, Rhode Island.

394
all of us if he just had a little money." Ney's reputation
precluded most from forwarding cash, however, because, as
one descendant remarked, "he was something of a dreamer."
33
Another said that she "knew Uncle Ney too well."
Ney continued to write to relatives in Texas about
activities in Brazil. He owned a farm and possibly did
some farming himself, although his granddaughter did not
remember him doing so. He may have written articles for
the popular magazines Review of Reviews and World's Work,
but if he did, his name was not included in a by-line. Ney
occupied much of his time with a study of the habits of
Brazilian monkeys. No record of publication, however, has
been found. He sent a photograph of himself to his nephew,
Hugh Clark, on May 31, 1918, in which he emphasized his
position, writing the following on the back of a photo­
graph:
In the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. As I look today:
aged 6 4 years, 3 mos., and 8 days. See how inexorable
time has bleached my forehead and around my eyes scribbled
in hieroglyphics, the story of my long exile from
friends and native land.34
Another former American, Cicero Jones, continued
the assessment of the Americans in Brazil. Writing in
Effie Smith Arnold to William C. Griggs, tape
recording of interview, March 28, 19 73; Patsy Miles to
Thelma C. Griggs, March 8, 19 73.
^^Edwin Ney McMullan [Rebougas, State of Sao Paulo],
to [Hugh Clark], Burleson, Texas, May 31, 1918, in possession
of William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas.

1915, he stated that "some have prospered; some have not.
Many have died and left their families here. All are more
or less content and whereas they are still Confederates we
love and would fight for the Stars and Stripes as we would
for the Stars and Bars." This statement was confirmed
within three years when at least one American-Brazilian
died with United States troops in France during World War
1.^5
Cicero Jones's statement that many of the older
citizens had died by 1915 was indeed accurate for the
McMullan colonists. Alfred I. Smith, Frank McMullan's old
friend and teacher, suffered a stroke in 1889, then passed
away in 1892. Thomas Steret McKnight died in 1890, and
blacksmith John Domm in 1900. Sarah Parks Quillin, never
able to return to Texas, died on December 9, 1902. By 19 21,
36
Napoleon Bonaparte McAlpine was also gone.
35
Cicero Jones, Vila Americana, State of Sao Paulo,
to J. N. Heiskell, Little Rock, Arkansas, September 25,
1915, J. N. Heiskell Library of the Arkansas Gazette Foundation,
Little Rock, Arkansas. On June 23, 1917, Jones
wrote a letter to the Confederate Veteran in which he reaffirmed
his belief that the emigrants to Brazil remained
patriotic Americans. See "Patriotism of the American
Colony in Brazil," Confederate Veteran 25 (September 1917):
39 2.
36
Julia McKnight Jones, Soldado Descansal Uma
Epopeia Norte Americana Sob os Ceus do Brasil (Sao Paulo;
Jarde, 1967), pp. 305, 348, 401; Nattie Quillin Jacobs,
Ontario, California, to William C. Griggs, Canyon, Texas,
January 2, 1980, in possession of William C. Griggs, Canyon,
Texas. This letter contains a copy of a geneological chart
of the Quillin family compiled by Nattie Quillin Jacobs.
395

In 19 21 James Monroe Keith, George Barnsley's old
friend and partner in a score of mining ventures, also died
at the home of Antonio Exel at Sorocaba. Keith passed away
396
at about 85 years of age, with the cause of death officially
listed as "la grippe, cardio-pulmonary form." His only
relative was listed as Edward Currie, a nephew from Merid­
ian, Mississippi. The United States Consul who signed
Keith's death certificate stated that "Keith was poor, but
had a large grant of land from the Brazilian government
worth possible $5,000. He was possibly a naturalized citi­
zen. Has no relatives in Brazil. Died intestate." The
civil code of Brazil stated that when heirs of an intestate
decedent were unknown, the property could not be disposed
of for two years. After that time, the property could be
sold and the proceeds placed in the State Treasury. The
money could be claimed by the heirs for a period of up to
thirty years. Regulations for the administration of the
civil code, however, did provide for the disposal of
perishable goods which, in the opinion of the judge, were
liable to deterioration. Despite the law, the unimproved
land of James M. Keith, although obviously not subject to
deterioration, was sold immediately after his death.
Despite inquiries by E. M. Lawton, the American consul,
he could not learn the amount for which the Keith property

T^ 37
was sold.
397
Several heirs of Keith, through attorneys and indi­
vidually, carried on an extensive correspondence with United
States consular officials for about two years after Keith's
death. Their inquiries produced no results, however, as
United States authorities did not believe that the value
of the property was sufficient to pay attorney's fees with
the remainder to go to six or more claimants. In one
letter, Consul E. M. Lawton pointed out that there was not
even a lawyer in Sorocaba, the place of Keith's death, and
that he could not employ one in Sao Paulo without advance
guarantees of fees and costs. "Frankly," he stated, "I
question very much if it is worth while for your client to
take further action." Thus, the estate of James Monroe
Keith, which he had labored so many years to create, was
38
dissolved within days.
37
United States, State Department, Consular Service,
"Report of the Death of an American Citizen [James Monroe
Keith]," Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, November 25, 19 21,
by E. M. Lawton, Consul; E. M. Lawton, Sao Paulo, State of
Sao Paulo, to The Honorable Secretary of State, Washington,
D.C, March 26, 192 3, Record Group 59, National Archives
of the United States.
38
United States, State Department, Consular Service,
"Report of the Death of an American Citizen [James Monroe
Keith]," Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, November 25, 19 21,
by E. M. Lawton, Consul; E. M. Lawton, Sao Paulo, State of
Sao Paulo, to The Honorable Secretary of State, Washington,
D.C, March 26, 1923; Wilber J. Carr (Director of the Consular
Service), Washington, D.C, to S. W. Hughes and Company,
Brady, Texas, May 21, 1923; S. W. Hughes, Brady,
Texas, to Department of State, Division of Consular Service,

In the case of George Barnsley, little estate re­
mained to distribute on his death in 1918 at the age of
eighty-one. Barnsley spent his life in search of elusive
fortune and, in the process, probably acquired and spent
enough money to have had a considerable estate if it had
been wisely invested. Fortunately, his children proved to
be smarter or luckier for most were at least financially
comfortable at the time of their father's death. Barnsley
probably was buried at the Cemeterio da Consolacao in the
398
city of Sao Paulo. Like his friend James M. Keith, Barnsley
never found the monetary success for which he searched all
of his life. Although George remained a Brazilian after
his visit to the United States, his niece Adelaide Saylor
believed that he returned to Georgia one last time. On a
June 12, 1923; A. T. Haeberle (American Consul), Sao Paulo,
State of Sao Paulo, to The Honorable Secretary of State,
August 20, 1923; Wilber J. Carr, Washington, D. C, to
S. W. Hughes and Company, Brady, Texas, September 19, 1923;
E. M. Lawton, Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, to Aquila A.
Amos, San Diego, California, March 20, 1923; A. T. Haeberle,
Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, to S. W. Hughes, Brady,
Texas, May 17, 1923; A. M. Dobbs, Fort Smith, Arkansas, to
E. M. Lawton, Sao Paulo, State of Sao^Paulo, June 3, 1922;
A. T. Haeberle, Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, to A. M.
Dobbs, Fort Smith Arkansas, June 27, 1922; Wilber J. Carr,
Washington, D.C, to S. W. Hughes and Company, Brady, Texas,
June 22, 1923; Wilber J. Carr, Washington, D.C, to Arminius
T. Haeberle, Esquire, Sao Paulo, State of^Sao Paulo, May 31,
1923; E. M. Lawton, Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, to the
Honorable Secretary of State, Washington, D.C, November 26,
1921; S. W. Hughes, Brady, Texas, to Department of State,
Washington, D.C, May 21, 1923. All of the above located
in Record Group 59, National Archives of the United States.

ainy evening in April, 1918, Adelaide's young son Harry
answered a knock at the door of the house at Woodlands.
He ran to his mother with the cry, "Its Uncle George; It's
Uncle Georgei" Adelaide ran to the door, all the while
admonishing her son that Uncle George was in Brazil. Of
course, when she reached the entrance, no one was there.
Harry gave up his sighting as a hallucination until word
came that George Barnsley died at exactly the time he sup-
39
posedly knocked on the door at Woodlands.
Ney McMullan, the youngest of those who continued
to search for the Brazilian El Dorado, also looked for the
pot of gold at the end of the rainbow until the end of his
life. McMullan died in the early 19 30's, survived by his
five upright and hard-working sons. One, Wiley Dyer
McMullan, became a well-known dentist in Sao Paulo. The
youngest boy, Frank, spent his career with United States-
owned automobile tire companies in Brazil. The others,
Dana, Lorin, and Caskey, moved to the city of Rio Verde,
40
Goias, where all were moderately successful.
Even though most of those who came to Brazil in
399
W. Earl McCleskey, Barnsley Gardens, Adairsville,
Georgia, to William C Griggs, MS notes of interview, November
19, 1979, in possession of William C Griggs, Canyon,
Texas; Addle B. Saylor (George Barnsley's niece), "Ghosts
of Barnsley Gardens," The Atlanta Journal, January 11, 1942.
"^^Rachel McMullan White to William C Griggs, MS
notes of interview, April 20, 19 75.

1867 were dead by the second or third decade of the twen­
tieth century, Texas customs remained alive, as did the
language, the dress, and the traditions of North America.
One descendent recalled that "practically everybody lived
on the land. We had American-style buggies to run around
in—there were not buggies like that in Brazil before the
Americans came." He painted a vivid picture of everyday
life in Brazil, with particular emphasis on entertainment
and eating habits.
We did a lot of visiting back and forth. We used to
have dances in the barns. The music would be the guitar,
an accordian, and sometimes a violin. We danced
Brazilian dances mostly—our favorite was the maxixe,
which is something like the samba—but we also danced
polkas and maz.urkas. At Christmas, four or five families
would get together. We'd cut a big tree and
decorate it. It wasn't like the Christmas trees you
have in the States, but since so few of us knew the
difference, we never thought of it. We'd have Santa
Clause, too, and a great big Christmas dinner, though,
wasn't specially unusual. All our dinners were big.
We'd have two or three vegetables, two or three kinds
of pork—bacon, pork, chops, and roast—and all the
milk we could drink. There would be whole milk, separated
milk, and buttermilk on the table at every meal.
Sometimes there would be game and fish, and we had
biscuits and corn bread every day. I never heard much
talk about the South. Every once and a while one of
the old people would start telling how it was back in
Georgia or Alabama, but that wasn't often. For one
thing, most of our old people were dead. The rest of
us knew that our families had started in the South,
but I don't think we paid much mind to it one way or
another. We had become Brazilians, and that's how we
thought of ourselves. This was our country and this
was where we felt we belonged.41
400
Robert Pyles, Bauru, State of Sao Paulo, as quoted
in Hamilton Basso, A Quota of Seaweed: Persons and Places in
Brazil, Spain, Honduras, Jamaica, Tahiti, and Samoa (London:
Collins, 1961), pp. 100-101.

The North American settlement at Santa Barbara
continued to grow and progress, although by 1900 its popu­
lation included a large number of Brazilians and Italians.
The tradition of the immigrants from the United States was
so strong, however, that the native population decided the
name of the city should be changed to reflect the founding
influence. On July 30, 1904, the Legislature of Sao Paulo
officially recorded the creation of the Distrito de Paz de
Vila Americana. The entire name never received extensive
use, however, as the town's citizens preferred simply "Vila
..42
Americana.
As the years passed, Vila Americana continued to
prosper. Upland cotton, gorwn with seed imported from the
United States, became one of the area's principal crops.
The machinery for a gin was purchased and set up nearby,
although it did not prove to be extremely profitable.
Watermelons, raised from seeds brought to Brazil by "Uncle
Joe" Whitaker of Georgia, soon replaced cotton in dollar
401
volume. In answer to an inquiry from an Arkansas newspaper­
man in 1915, one immigrant named William F. Pyles declared
that "we built up the largest business of producing melons
and shipping them, existing in the whole of South America,
shipping them as far as Buenos Ayres [sic] and Montevideo."
4 2 • -1
Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil,
p. 152; Jones, Soldado Descansal, p. 346.

Pyles continued that the Americans in Vila Americana "were
generally prosperous, and comparatively contented. The
climate is, we consider, the best in any country." Speak­
ing of the size of the American colony, Pyles said that
the settlement once contained "near one hundred families,
[but] has diminished at least one half in these forty-odd
years," Ney McMullan, in a letter of October 20, 1915,
declared that the Americans in Vila Americana "are scat­
tered over considerable territory and are all farmers and
stock growers. And are mostly remnants of two Colonies;
43
that of my brother, and the Rev. Ballard S. Dunn. ..."
Old Ideas die slowly, however, and in the case of
the southern tradition in Brazil, it still lingers. Less
than thirty years ago, Mabe McMullan admonished her grand­
daughter Rachel to "marry an American; don't marry a
Brazilian." Another Brazilian-born descendent, Julia
McKnight Jones, and her husband, James Jones, organized
the Fraternity of American Descendants, a loosely-knit
group of southern descendents who cling however slightly
to the thread that binds them and the.ir families to the
century-old Dixie heritage. They have constructed a museum
to preserve the objects of the past and meet four times per
William F. Pyles, Vila Americana, State of Sao
Paulo, to J. N. Heiskell, Little Rock, Arkansas, September
28, 1915, J. N. Heiskell Library; E. N. McMullan, Vila
Americana, State of Sao Paulo, to J. N. Heiskell, Little
Rock, Arkansas, October 20, 1915, J. N. Heiskell Library.
402

year to renew acquaintances. On the fourth of July, they
have an "extra-special get-together" at which fried
chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and watermelon are
served. Even now, traces of a southern drawl are to be
heard. At the Campo Chapel near the American cemetery,
a Confederate flag still may be seen draping the small
1^ 44
altar.
Almost all of Frank McMullan's dreams are now gone
and forgotten. The new American frontier in Central and
South America is certainly gone and barely remembered.
The visions of creating a Dixie in Brazil are only a
memory to romantic descendents of the Confederacy. The
visions of gold by McMullan colonists died with the burial
of Ney McMullan. Yet, in a way, all are symbolically alive
in a vibrant, growing, dynamic country which may yet become
El Dorado as envisioned by the optimistic colonists from
Texas and the rest of the South.
In January, 1980, near the jungle city of Maraba
south of the Amazon delta, a tree blew over in a driving
rainstorm. The rocks that clung to the roots of the tree
44
Rachel McMullan White to William C Griggs, MS
notes of interview, April 20, 1975; "The Old South That
Went South," The United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine
11 (May 1948): 2; Jose Arthur Rios, "Assimilation of
Emigrants From the Old South in Brazil," Social Forces 26
(December 1947): 145-152; "Dixie City in Brazil," Ebony 22
(November 1966): 89-94; "Americana, Brazil, Residents Trace
Confederate Heritage," Lubbock Avalanche Journal, April 21,
1975, Sec. A, p. 11.
403

ared large amounts of gold and, upon their discovery,
started a new gold rush that would have exhilerated a
Keith, a Barnsley, or a McMullan. The mining areas which
developed, called Serra Pelada, attracted would-be million­
aires from all over Brazil. From Santerem, the site of
Lansford Warren Hastings' colony, came Jose Maria da Silva.
In one day he dug from his claim 700 pounds of gold. The
find was supposedly worth $4,750,000. Roger Renzo, a
medical doctor from Sao Paulo, went with his brother to
Serra Pelada. Between the two men, they found about
$6,000,000 in gold. "Serra Pelada," said one journalist
who visited the scene, "is the jewel of the Amazon's
treasure chest, which after centuries of hiding its wealth
from humans is becoming more splendid by the day. There
are constant rumors of new strikes of gold, diamonds, and
precious stones throughout the land." Perhaps Frank .
45
McMullan's El Dorado has been found at last.
404
^^Brian J. Kelly and Mark London, "Goldl Brazil's
Big Find," Parade (Houston Post), March 29, 1981, pp. 8-10.

CONCLUSIONS
'To determine the importance of Frank McMullan's
Brazilian Colony it is useful to compare the activities of
his colonists with those of other groups of southern emi­
grants during the Reconstruction period. The work of his­
torians who have completed studies of southern emigration
to Brazil explores several significant topics. The most
important areas of examination include the motivations for
leaving the United States, the inducements for choosing
Brazil, the reasons many motivated southerners did not
emigrate, the number of southerners who went to Brazil,
the causes for the return to the United States of some
emigrants, and the long-term impact of colonists on Brazil.
Finally, it must be determined whether or not emigration
to Brazil from the United States might be termed successful
From comparisons with the earlier accounts, it will become
clear that this study of Frank McMullan's Brazilian colony
has resulted in several significant new conclusions which
occasion a revised historical view of the southern exodus
to South America.
Historians have disagreed on the principal reasons
for emigration from the United States. Lawrence F. Hill,
Bell I. Wiley, and Douglas Grier all cite the equality of
405

aces after emancipation as a principal cause. Hill also
believed that disillusionment with the Reconstruction gov­
ernment was an important factor, an opinion which was
shared by most other historians of emigration to Brazil.
Hill believed that discouragement with post-war conditions
406
was integral to the decision of southerners to go to Brazil.
Jose Rios agreed with American historians to some extent,
but saw the principal causes as the abolition of slavery,
the devastation of plantations, the lack of inexpensive
labor in the South, and the "subversion" of classes (racism).
Blanche Weaver submitted that favorable publicity about
Brazil added to the desire to go there. Douglas Grier
added even more reasons to the list, citing the forced
sales of property in the South during Reconstruction, the
monetary losses suffered because of emancipation, the fear
of vengeance by federal authorities, and finally, the dis­
location that left many southerners "adrift" with no partic­
ular place to go. Frank Goldman contended that the contin­
ued existence of slavery in Brazil and Reconstruction in
the South were the main reasons for emigration.
Lawrence F. Hill, "Confederate Exiles to Brazil,"
Hispanic American Historical Review (May 19 27): 19 3; Bell
I. Wiley, "Confederate Exiles in Brazil," Civil War Times
Illustrated 15 (January 1977) : 23; Douglas Grier, "Confederate
Emigration to Brazil, 1865-1870" (Ph.D. dissertation.
University of Michigan, 1967), pp. 5-6, 7-9, 19-21; Jose
Arthur Rios, "Assimilation of Emigrants From the Old South
in Brazil," Social Forces 26, no. 2 (December 1947): 145-
152; Blanche Henry Clark Weaver, "Confederate Emigration

Although this study of the McMullan colony recog­
nizes the validity of the above points of view, it adds an
important observation bearing on the determination of
southerners to leave the United States. The decision of
many persons to emigrate resulted from their perception of
Latin America as an extension of the frontier. Other his­
torians have come close to this conclusion, but all have
stopped short of actually attributing the exodus to this
reason. Hill recognized a search for "El Dorado." William
Davis noted a yearning for "adventure," and Douglas Grier
cited "Manifest Destiny." Frank Goldman listed as one of
his reasons for emigration the desire to southerners to go
to the "Promised Land." Yet none of the foregoing recog­
nized the classic frontier features in Brazilian emigration
from the United States. McMullan and the Texans who fol­
lowed him moved to an area of virtually free land on the
western edge of settlement. They brought with them the
social, economic, and material cultures they left behind
and modified them to fit new needs and conditions. Like
the overland pioneers in the American West, southern emi­
grants to Brazil provoked a rebirth of United States
society in the western wilds of their adopted country.
to Brazil," The Journal of Southern History 27 (February
1961): 33, 35-36; Frank P. Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos
No Brasil: Educadores, Sacerdotes, Covos e Reis (Sao
Paulo: Livraria Pioneira Editora, 1972), p. 9.
407

As did their North American counterparts, the southern
frontiersmen in Brazil followed many of the Frederick
Jackson Turner stages of development. Although they
developed almost simultaneously, backwoodsmen (equivalent
to fur traders), cattlemen, farmers, miners, and even town
builders were represented in the frontier zones of Confed­
erate Brazil. Most of the McMullan colonists had been in
Texas less than fifteen years before leaving for Brazil.
The McMullan family, for example, moved to Georgia in the
1830's, to Mississippi in the 1840's, and to Texas in the
1850's. They continued migration to the frontier of Brazil
in the 1860's was a perpetuance of what had become a way
of life. In most cases, this was no less true in the case
of those who chose to follow them to Brazil.^
Some of the most important yet overlooked facets
of emigration studies are the reasons many former Confeder­
ates did not sail for Brazil at all although they wanted
very much to do so. Douglas Grier listed several reasons
2
Hill, "Confederate Exiles," p. 19 3; William C
Davis, "Confederate Exiles," American History Illustrated
5 (June 1970): 31; Grier, "Confederate Emigration," p. 12;
Goldman, Os Pioneiros Americanos No Brasil, p. 9. It is
recognized that the Turner thesis is not universally recognized
by historians. However, his definition of the frontier
and its development fits the Brazilian situation
admirably. It deserves a much more in-depth study than
it has been afforded in this work. See Frederick Jackson
Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American
History," The Frontier in American History (New York:
1920), for Turner's original thesis.
408

southerners elected to remain in the United States, includ­
ing anti-emigration statements of leaders such as Lee and
Davis, prospects of a bright outlook for southern agri­
culture, questionable racial outlook in Brazil, fears of
reprisal from Unionists should they decide to leave, and
Andrew Johnson's attitude toward Reconstruction. Grier
and Weaver both cited an anti-emigration press as a strong
deterrent. Weaver also believed that Brazilian handling
of the entire emigration matter was a major reason many
southerners did not leave. Neither Grier nor Weaver fully
recognized, however, that the principal reason former
Confederates failed to depart for Brazil was the lack of
inexpensive and available transportation from southern
ports. Without it, few southerners could leave on impulse,
as was the case with many emigrants to Mexico. Also, no
historians except Grier noted the significant impact of
Quintino de Bocayuva's failure to actively recruit south­
erners. Although he was the head of the Brazilian Emi­
gration Agency in New York, Bocayuva believed that most
southerners possessed a superior cultural and educational
background and therefore did not fit the labor needs of
Brazil. Consequently, he solicited Europeans and out-of-
3
work American laborers in New York.
"^Grier, "Confederate Emigration," pp. 17-19, 78-90,
96; Weaver, Confederate Emigration," pp. 41-4 3.
409

Until now, studies of Confederate emigration to
Brazil have sidestepped research on the number of south­
erners who left Dixie to settle on the South American
frontier. Almost all historians who have commented on
the subject tie their estimates to figures prepared by
promoter Charles Nathan for Richard Burton's 1869 book.
Explorations of the Highlands of Brazil. In it. Burton
mis-added Nathan's estimate. Consequently, he noted a
total of 2,700 emigrants rather than Nathan's actual tally
of 2,070. Even so, Nathan's count was too high. Based on
numbers cited in more reliable contemporary accounts, no
more than 1,300 southerners actually settled in the empire.
It is possible, however, that as many as 600 to 800 non-
southerners from New York may have sailed for Brazil.
These persons no doubt account for a large percentage of
those who later pleaded with American consuls for funds
4
to return to the United States.
Many southerners did return to the United States,
4 Richard F. Burton, Explorations of the Highlands
of Brazil; With a Full Account of the Gold and Diamond
Mines. . . . (London: Tinsley Brothers, 1869), pp. 5-7.
Nathan's account stated that there were 800 persons in
the Ribeira colonies, an overstatement of at least 400
persons. Only 109 persons were with Hastings on the Amazon
in 1867. See Advertiser and Register (Mobile, Alabama),
July 13, 186 7. Gunter's colony could not have totaled over
200 persons, and a liberal estimate of the colony on the
Parana would be about the same number. If 400 southerners
outside of organized (probably an exaggerated number of
persons) were added, the total would still be only about
1,300.
410

however, and their reasons for doing so were varied.
Lawerence Hill and Bell Wiley cite lack of money as a
primary cause. Hill also lists lack of determination
and disillusionment with Brazil as two of the main reasons
for return. Wiley concluded that hunger, exposure, and
sickness were principal reasons. Although these factors
may have some validity, others had a much more important
bearing on decisions to return to North America. Language
difficulties, noted by Grier and Wiley, were primary moti­
vations. Grier, however, added dissimilarity of religion
and hostility of Brazilians (a reason not proved by con­
temporary narratives). The religious reason, though real,
5
was largely overcome with the growth of Protestantism.
A thorough examination of available evidence sug­
gests that most reports of starvation, begging, and desti­
tution of Americans (but not necessarily southerners) were
the work of a sensationalist press. Most former Confed­
erates who elected to work could do so, although many were
displeased when they were forced to adapt to a lower stan­
dard of living than that to which they were accustomed.
411
The conclusions offered in 1869 by physician George
Barnsley for return to the United States still seem to have
validity. Barnsley cited as the principal reasons:
Hill, "Confederate Exiles," p. 208; Wiley, "Confederate
Exiles," p. 29; Grier, "Confederate Emigration,"
pp. 74-75.

language difficulties (unwillingness or inability to learn
Portuguese), a limited market for skilled labor, dissatis­
faction with the religious dominance of the Roman Catholic
Church, and the inability to "vote and be sovereign."
Barnsley also cited as a reason for return "the Brazilian
notion that a person who sweats and labors is not a gen­
tleman. " Finally, Barnsley related that many former Con­
federates returned to the South because Brazil offered no
"pot of gold"—nothing that they could not find at their
old homes among friends and relatives. The exile was not
worth the price.
The relative success of southern emigration to
Brazil is also in dispute although most historians have
pronounced the effort a failure. Lawrence Hill noted that
the Sao Paulo colonies (by far the largest group) were
successful. Every historian since then has either offered
no opinion or declared the colonies to be failures. Julia
McKnight Jones, although pointing out the contributions of
the colonists, offered no definitive conclusion. Jose
Rios noted that the southerners did not succeed because of
their failure to assimilate. Also, according to Rios,
they did not establish a migratory tradition in the South
George Barnsley, Quatis de Barra Mansa, Rio de
Janeiro Province, to the Editor of the New Orleans Times,
August 20, 1871, Barnsley Papers, Manuscript Department,
William R. Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, North
Carolina.
412

(a continuing flow, such as the Irish to America), a condi­
tion he considered necessary to a successful emigration
movement. Blanche Weaver cited as reasons for failure the
untimely death of some colony leaders and the isolation of
colony lands. Weaver, Davis, and Grier agreed that a poor
choice of sites led to lack of success. Grier lists ten
other reasons for failure, including dishonest promoters,
poor land titles, lack of entrepreneurial spirit, excessive
413
individualism, and lack of roads. William Davis erroneously
Cites lack of agricultural skills as a reason for failure.
There is no question that many of the problems
cited by historians of the Brazilian emigration movement
from the South have some validity and caused acute problems
for southerners. Yet it is incorrect to conclude that they
resulted in complete failure. Perhaps the key is the
definition of "success." Although all colonies except one,
Vila Americana (Santa Barbara) ceased to exist as settle­
ments, it cannot be said that the entire venture was unsuc­
cessful. Certainly, in the American experience, one cannot
declare the Spanish entrada to have been a failure because
the New Mexican settlement of San Juan, the first Spanish
attempt at town building in the American southwest, did not
Hill, "Confederate Exiles," p. 197; Rios, "Assimilation
of Emigrants," pp. 148-149; Weaver, "Confederate
Emigration," pp. 40-48; Davis, "Confederate Exiles," p. 38;
Grier, "Confederate Emigration," pp. 109-113.
•7

last. Similarly, we cannot term English settlement in
America unsuccessful because Jamestown no longer exists
as a town. With both the Spanish and English examples,
success came through accomplishment rather than the
longevity of initial settlements. The same may be said
in relation to Confederate emigration to Brazil. The
contention in this study is that the social, cultural,
and technological contributions of southerners should be
the criteria for judgment rather than sheer numbers. In
the same sense, it becomes less important how many south­
erners remained in Brazil. Thus Confederate colonization
must be considered partially successful because of the
enormous contributions that were made which were far out
p
of proportion to quantities of people.
Even the study of only one representative group of
southern emigrants such as the McMullan colony is illus­
trative of the enormous impact of Confederate emigration
to Brazil. This handful of Texans made important contri­
butions such as the introduction of the steel mouldboard
plow and the establishment of the first permanent Baptist
church in Brazil. These accomplishments alone would
warrant their niche in the history of the empire. To some
p
San Juan was established in July, 159 8, at the
junction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Chama in northern
New Mexico. See Warren A. Beck, New Mexico: A History
of Four Centuries (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1962) .
414

extent, however, the McMullan colonists participated in
many other positive changes in Brazil's nineteenth century
lifestyle. Improved educational concepts and facilities
and the introduction of new agricultural products were of
extreme importance. Although the introduction of the
American plow and the establishment of the Baptist church
have been mentioned by other historians, they were never
attributed directly to the McMullan colony. The first
utilization of the plow by Thomas McKnight and its subse­
quent manufacture by McMullan colonist John Domm resulted
in an agricultural revolution which lasted far into the
twentieth century. The establishment of the Baptist church
in Brazil gave new impetus to a religious transposition
away from the Roman Catholic church which continues even
9
today.
In a study of Confederate emigration, it is useful
to make at least a cursory review of the similarities and
variations between the movements to Brazil and to Mexico,
the only other country where large numbers of former south­
erners elected to settle after the Civil War. Among the
most important differences between the emigration to the
two nations were timing and the intensity of commitment
415
^Weaver, "Confederate Immigration and Evangelical
Churches in Brazil," The Journal of Southern History 18
(November 19 52), is an excellent overview but gives credit
to not specific colony for the establishment of the Baptist
Church in Brazil.

416
required. Those who opted for Mexico generally did so soon
after the war in 1865 or early 1866. Impulse guided the
decision of most of those who elected to cross the Rio
Grande. Because of the relatively short distance by land
or sea to Mexico, a long-term plan did not have to be
adopted. If the colonist became unhappy in his new environ­
ment, he could easily return to the United States; eventu­
ally, almost all did so. To commit oneself to a new life
in Brazil, however, was a more serious and complicated
undertaking. The distance from home and family, as well
as the expense of a long sea voyage, negated the possibil­
ities of easy return and required the colonists to take
with them a large percentage of the supplies and equipment
they planned to use in their new homes. As a consequence,
most southern emigrants to Brazil could not be ready to
leave the South until one or two years later than those
who went to Mexico. There are some similarities between
those who went to Mexico and those who went to Brazil.
Both groups, for example, elected to live under a monarchy.
Leaders in both emigration movements declared an empire to
be a superior form of government to the republic they left
behind. Matthew Maury stated that "by coming to Mexico,
we exchange an absolute democracy for a limited monarchy;
the rule of the majority, always tyrannical, for the
gentle sway of a good and wise sovereign." Frank McMullan,
also enamored with the notion of empire, declared, "VJe have

a monarchy (thank God!) in name, and a TRUE Republic in
practice; and under the wise administration of our good
Emperor, our destiny must be onward and upward to a degree
of prosperity unknown to other countries." Confederates
both in Mexico and Brazil wished to reestablish a culture
they left behind. Those who went to Mexico, however,
seemed to have had more grandiose ideas. Maury expressed
the desire to establish a "New Virginia" peopled with
"Virginia gentlemen" and "Southern gentry." General
Sterling Price, who established the Confederate settlement
of Carlota, regularly referred to the "landed aristocracy
of the South" who had settled there. McMullan's colonists,
while sharing most of the anti-Negro views of southerners
who went to Mexico, were generally from the middle class
and could not be considered to be either "aristocrats" or
"planters." There were no counterparts in Brazil for such
eminent southerners as Maury, Price, Henry Watkins Allen,
417
Jubal Early, or other well-known southern leaders in Mexico.
McMullan did require, however, that his followers "give
satisfactory assurances that they are Southern in feeling,
pro-slavery in sentiment, and that they have maintained the
^Robert E. Shalhope, "Race, Class, Slavery, and
the Antebellum Southern Mind," The Journal of Southern
History 37 (November 1971): 563; Frank McMullan, 'Official
Report of Messrs. M'Mullan and Bowen, of Texas, to the
Minister of Agriculture," in Ballard S. Dunn, Brazil, The
Home for Southerners (New Orleans: Bloomfield and Steel,
1866), p. 178.

eputation of honorable men." There is no indication,
however, that either McMullan or those who sailed with
him to Brazil expected to own slaves. Perhaps McMullan's
declaration was rooted in the general southern feeling
that even the lower white classes were far superior to
Negroes. William P. Napton, a friend of Sterling Price,
believed that slavery had given the South "a certain
degree of [in]dependence and a loftiness of sentiment
[that] pervades even the poor and humble classes, which
among the idle and higher classes, is united with intel­
ligence, taste, and refinements."
While some southern emigrants (most notably with
the Gunter colony) became slaveowners after arrival, the
overwhelming majority of them did not. One Brazilian
study indicates that only ten southern families purchased
418
land with slaves after their arrival from the United States.
Slavery was illegal in Mexico, but there were indications
that those southerners who went there had a patrernalistic
attitude toward the poorer Mexican classes and believed
the result of their employment would be de facto, if not
de jure, slavery. Matthew Maury, according to historian
Robert Shalhope, considered Mexican peons to be a "gentle
Shalhope, "The Antebellum Southern Mind," pp.
563-566; Frank McMullan, "To my Friends in Texas, and to
all good Southerners who think of going to Brazil," New
Orleans Times, January 24, 1867.

and docile race." Sterling Price believed Mexican workers
to be "faithful, lazy, and required constant watching."
Price concluded that they were "childlike" and "responded
to praise and kind treatment with better performances."
In contrast, Texans who went to Brazil with McMullan
expressed little desire to subjugate native Brazilians,
regardless of color, either through servile employment
12
or actual slavery.
Many former Confederates who sailed for Brazil,
unlike those who went to other parts of Latin America,
elected to stay in their adopted country. Those who
remained in Brazil have at last become Brazilians, but
they remain conscious of their southern heritage and of
the fervor of those who emigrated from the defeated
Confederacy after the Civil War. Although more that 115
419
years have elapsed since their arrival in an adopted country,
the following verses still express the feelings of those
who left the United States over a century ago:
With what joy our hearts are burning
As we gazed upon the Bay,
On a bright and glorious morning.
Just two years ago today 1
Round us lay a scene more charming
Than our dreams of Fairyland,
And our breasts with rapture warming
Throbbed with feelings deep and grand
"Americana in Sao Paulo Province Still Has Vestiges
of Confederate Americans," Brazilian Business (May
1961): 39; Shalhope, "The Antebellum Southern Mind," p. 572.

Thought we of the cause we cherished.
Of its short but glorious reign;
Hov7 our heros fought & perished.
Died for us, alas! in vain!
Then we thought how foul submission
Stained a once untarnished name.
Of our sad oppressed condition.
Of our bitterness and shame.
Then we fondly blessed the nation
Which with pity 'cross the sea
Looked upon our abject station.
Welcomed us & made us free.
Many changes have come o'er us.
Weeks & months have passed away.
Toils & hardships are before us.
But we'll n'er forget that day.
Still its thrill magnetic feeling.
Onward we our course pursue;
Thus ourselves for action steeling.
We will build our homes anew.
And we bless the glorious nation.
That unto our rescue came.
Saved us from humiliation.
From oppression, and from shame.
For the kindness she extended.
In our days of direst ill.
To a people unbefriended.
May God ever bless Brazil!
Confederate ^,
Rio de Janeiro, May 17, 186 9
13
From the Brazilian Reflector, Blanche Henry
Clark Weaver Papers, in possession of William C Griggs,
Canyon, Texas.
420

Archival Material
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421

422
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Who Think of Going to Brazil." New Orleans
Times, January 24, 1867, p. 4.
Norris, Robert (Sitio Cinco Palentes, Sao Paulo Province),
"Letter to the Editor." Elmore Standard (Wetumka,
Alabama), June 21, 1867, p. 1.
"The Old South That Went South." The United Daughters of
The Confederacy Magazine 11 (May 1948): 2.
"Patriotism of the American Colony in Brazil," Confederate
Veteran 25 (September 1917): 39 2.
Pool, William C "The Battle of Dove Creek." Southwestern
Historical Quarterly 53 (April 1950): 367-385.
Reese, James V. "The Murder of Major Ripley A. Arnold."
West Texas Historical Association Yearbook 41
(October 1965): 144-155.
"Relacao Das Cartas Revebidas [recibidas] Pela Legacao e
Consulado Brasileiros em o Anno de 186 5 de
Habitantes Das [Dos] Estados Unidos Que Depois Da
Guerra Tem Manifesto o Desejo de Emigrar Para o
Imperio." Revista de Imigragao e Colonizagao 4
(June 1943): 280.
"Return of the Confederate Colonists From Brazil." The
Talldega Watch-Tower (Talldega, Alabama), August
11, 1869, p. 2.
Rios, Jose Arthur. "Assimilation of Emigrants From the
Old South to Brazil." Social Forces 26 (December
1947): 145-152.
Saylor, Addle B. "Ghosts of Barnsley Gardens." The
Atlanta Journal, January 11, 19 42.

Shalhope, Robert E. "Race, Class Slavery, and the Antebellum
Southern Mind." The Journal of Southern
History 37 (November 1971): 557-574.
"Shall Southerners Emigrate to Brazil." De Bow's Review
After the War Series 2 (July 1866): 30-38.
Shippey, Eliza Kerr. "When American Were Emigrants."
Kansas City Star, June 16, 1912, Sec. B., p. 4.
"Shipwreck of a Brazilian Colony." New Orleans Daily
Crescent, January 29, 1866, p. 2.
Smith, A. M. "Still in Exile, 61 Years After War; Pot of
Gold They Southt in Brazilian Jungle Never Found,
Say Confederate Colonists." Detroit News, January
6, 1929, p. 12. ^
438
Smith, Euguen C "Sailing Down to Rio in 1866-67."
Brazilian American (Rio de Janeiro), March 9, 19 31,
pp. 8-9.
Steinberg, Alfred. "Fire-Eating Farmer of the Confederacy."
American Heritage: The Magazine of History 9
(December 1957)1 22-25.
"The Southern Emigration to Brazil." The Mobile Weekly
Advertiser, November 4, 1865, p. 3.
"Texas Brazilians." The Galveston Daily News, April 1,
1867, p. 2.
Tucker, H. C "Confederates in Brazil." The United
Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine (July
1951) : 22.
Weaver, Blanche. Henry Clark. "Confederate Emigration to
Brazil." The Journal of Southern History 27
(February 1961): 35.
. "Confederate Immigrants and Evangelical Churches
in Brazil." The Journal of Southern History 18
(November 1952): 446-468.
Wiley, Bell I. "Confederate Exiles in Brazil." Civil War
Times Illustrated 15 (January 1977): 23.
Williams, Frederick G., and Roberta S. Rohwedder, "Brazil's
Confederate Exiles: Where Are They Now?" California
Intermountain News, March 22, 19 73, p. 1.

"With Alabama Emigres in Brazil—1867-1870." The Montqomery
Advertiser, August 4, 1940, p. Y.
"Wrecked Emigrants." The New York Times, March 28, 186 7.
Newspapers
Advertiser and Register (Mobile, Alabama), 1867.
Atlanta Journal (Atlanta, Georgia), 1942.
Brazilian American (Rio de Janeiro), 1928, 1931.
California Intermountain News (Los Angeles), 19 73.
The Constitutionalist (Atlanta, Georgia), 186 7.
Correio Mercantil (Rio de Janeiro), 1866.
Daily Evening Bulletin [Flag] (Galveston, Texas), 1867.
The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 1866-67.
The Daily Telegraph (Houston, Texas), 1866.
Daily Herald (Dallas, Texas), 1860, 1866-67.
The Detroit News (Detroit, Michigan), 1929.
Diaro de Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1865.
Edgefield Advertiser (Edgefield, South Carolina), 1865-66.
Elmore Standard (Wetumka, Alabama), 1867.
Flake's Daily Galveston Bulletin (Galveston, Texas), 1867.
Flake's Semi-Weekly Bulletin (Galveston, Texas), 1867.
The Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas), 1867.
Galveston Tri-Weekly News (Galveston, Texas), 1867.
Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri), 1912.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas), 1975.
Mobile Daily News (Mobile, Alabama), 1867.
Mobile Register and Advertiser (Mobile, Alabama), 1865.
439

Mobile Weekly Register (Mobile, Alabama), 1865.
Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Alabama), 1940.
New Orleans Daily Crescent (New Orleans, Louisiana), 1866.
New Orleans Times (New Orleans, Louisiana), 1866-68.
The New York Times (New York, New York), 1867, 1871.
The New York Tribune (New York, New York), 1866.
Northern Standard (Clarksville, Texas), 1859.
Richmond Examiner (Richmond, Virginia), 1864.
San Antonio Express (San Antonio, Texas), 1870.
Semi-Weekly Farm News (Dallas, Texas), 1916.
The South-Western (Shreveport, Louisiana), 1865.
Talldega Watch-Tower (Talldega, Alabama), 1869.
The Texas Baptist (Anderson, Texas), 1856-60.
Times of Brazil (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 1936.
The Two Republics (Mexico, D.F., Mexico), 186 7.
Waco Tribune-Herald (Waco, Texas), 1966.
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United States, Department of Commerce. Census of 1840.
Manuscript Population Schedules, Walker County,
Texas. Microfilm Publication. National Archives
of the United States.
440
. Census of 1850. Manuscript Population Schedules,
Cherokee County, Texas. Microfilm Publication.
National Archives of the United States.
. Census of 1860. Manuscript Population Schedules,
^Hill County, Texas. Microfilm Publication. National
Archives of the United States.
Census of 1860. Manuscript Population Schedules,
McLennan County, Texas. Microfilm Publication.
National Archives of the United States.

441
• Census of 1860. Manuscript Population Schedules.
Milam County, Texas. Microfilm Publication.
National Archives of the United States.
• Census of 1870. Manuscript Population Schedules.
Hill County, Texas. Microfilm Publication. Nationa
Archives of the United States.
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Foreign Relations of the United States." 42nd
Cong., 3rd sess.. House Executive Document 93.
September 30, 1870. Washington: Government
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. "Nicaragua—Seizure of General Walker." 35th
Cong., 1st sess.. House Executive Document 24.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 185 8.
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States and the Several States. 2nd ed. Geological
Survey Bulletin .817. Washington: Government Printing
Office, 1932.
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in New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication.
Microcopy 237. Roll 268.
Interviews
Arnold, Effie Smith, San Antonio, Texas, to William C
Griggs, Lubbock, Texas, March 20, 19 73.
Clark, Mary Pearl, Burleson, Texas, to William C Griggs,
Lubbock, Texas, June 15, 1960.
Clark, Roy C, Lubbock, Texas, to William C Griggs,
Canyon, Texas, June 3, 19 81.
Griggs, Thelma C, Lubbock, Texas, to William C Griggs,
Canyon, Texas, June 3, 19 77.
McCleskey, W. Earl, Adairsville, Georgia, to William C
Griggs, Canyon, Texas, November 19, 1979.
Wasson, Mrs. Cecil, Big Spring, Texas, to William C
Griggs, Canyon, Texas, Telephone interview,
December 18, 1978.

442
Wasson, Mrs. Elmo, Big Spring, Texas, to William C Griggs,
Canyon, Texas, Telephone interview, December 18,
1978.
White, Rachel McMullan, Needham, Massachusetts, to William
C Griggs, Lubbock, Texas, April 20, 19 75.

APPENDICES
443

APPENDIX A: CENSUS OF THE MCMULLAN-BOWAN COLONY,
NOVEMBER 9, 18 6 71
Family 1
Second 2
Family 4
5 th
6 th
7 th
J. C Cobb
Malinda Cobb
Mary P. Cobb
Bell C Cobb
L. M. Bryan
W. H. T. Beasley
Julia Beasley
Gary Beasley
Mr. R. Smith
J. J. Green
Lewis Green
Jurilla Green
Angeletta Green
B. H. Green
Joseph Green
Cortes S. Fielder
Sarah Fielder
Zeno R. Fielder
Thomas Cook
Ann Cook
Mary Cook
Susan Cook
Samuel Cook
Nancy Cook
Lilly Cook
Edward Cook
Pet Cook
William Hargrove
William Boyles
S. F. Haynie
Mary L. Haynie
Hugh H. Haynie
C. B. Haynie
J. H. Haynie
S. Travis Haynie
W. Boothe Haynie
Mary A. Haynie
W. A. Gill
Frances R. Gill
One infant son
not named
444
male
female
do
do
male
do
female
male
do
male
male
female
female
male
male
male
female
male
male
female
do
do
male
female
do
male
do
male
do
male
female
male
female
male
do
female
male
female
male
age
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
age
do
do
do
do
do
age
do
do
age
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
47
44
16
6
28
40
17
15
60
55
19
15
12
10
8
24
21
21
50
45
18
16
14
12
9
7
T
^
28
45
43
36
19
14
11
9
6
1
24
17
2 mos

8th Othniel Weaver
Rebecca Weaver
Daniel Weaver
Riley Weaver
9th Mrs. Sarah Garlington
Allen Garlington
10th J. R. Wright
Sarah J. Wright
Ambrose Wright
William Wright
Boregard Wright
11th Thomas Garner
Rachel C Russelle
N. B. McAlpine
12th C A. Crawley
James Davis
13th William Bowen
Anna Bowen
L. S. Bowen
Mary H. Bowen
Adam L. Bowen
Susan S. Bowen
Elizabeth B. Bowen
William R. Bowen
14th E. H. Quillan
Sarah Quillan
Leroy Quillan
Leona Quillan
Aulina Quillan
Leonidas Quillan
Parks Quillan
W. E. Parks
15th John Baxter
Catharine Baxter
Oscar Baxter
John Johnson
John H. Hickman
16th Jacob Wingutter
Susan Wingutter
Amy Wingutter
male .
female
male
male
female
male
male
female
male
do
do
male
female
male
male
male
male
female
male
female
male
female
female
male
male
female
male
female
do
male
male
male
male
female
male
male
male
male
female
female
do
do
do
do
age
do
do
do
do
do
do
age
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
72
20
19
17
35
13
36
28
9
7
5
55
31
24
41
40
45
23
23
18
17
16
13
11
40
35
19
17
15
13
2
50
40
25
5
22
35
30
25
10
445

17th
18th
A. I. Smith
Sarah Smith
Eugine Smith
Preston Smith
Pennington Smith
Masserly Smith
Sarah B. Smith
Virgil C. Smith
Fulton Smith
Nelson Tarver
Sarah Tarver
Abner Tarver
James Tarver
Ben F. Tarver
Luisa
male
female
male
male
male
male
female
male
male
male
female
male
male
male
female
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
age
do
do
do
do
do
Guilherme [William] Bowen, American Settlement,
Sao Lorenso [sic] River, to His Excellency, the President
of Sao Paulo [Joaquim Saldanha Marinha], November 9, 1867,
Archives of the State of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo.
35
28
19
17
16
13
11
9
7
50
35
15
13
11
8
446

APPENDIX B: SARAH BELLONA SMITH FERGUSON
LIST, MAY 29, 1935^
Frank McMullen 7 persons Frank his mother and Ney.
His sisters Vic. and Lue.
Their husbands Dr. Moore
and Mr. Odell
Dyre, wife daughter
and 2 sons 5
Lon Bowen 6 Lon, Mary, Sue, Berry, Bill,
Bettie
Old Man Green 7 3 sons and three girls
Mr. Haynie 8 self, wife, 2 girls and
4 boys
Mr. Cook 9 self, wife, 4 girls and
3 boys
Calvin McKnight 9 self, wife, 2 sons, 5
girls
Sterit McKnight 2 self and wife
A. I. smith 9 self, wife, 6 sons 1 girl
Parson Weaver 3 Old man and 2 sons
Mrs Garlingtm his daughter and her
.^^^°^ daughter, married to
Mr. Gill, Mrs. Gill 2
Judge Tarver 6 self, wife, 3 sons, 1 girl
1 . with son in law Wright
Old Man Garner i
„ . ,^ 6 self, wife and 4 sons
Mr. Wright o
Mrs. Russell
TT /
(widow)
AAr^rr\
i
1 .. dauqhter
^*=* ^
of Garner
T self, wife and sister
Mr. Linn -^
A self, wife and 2 girls
Mr. Cobb ^
7 wife, self and 1 girl
Wingetter -^
447

Parson Quillin 7 self, wife, 5 children and
father in law—Parks
Parson Ratcliff 2 self and wife
Mr. Nettles 7 self, wife, 2 sons 2 girls
1 nephew
448
Of the Bachelors. Major Penn. McAlpin. 2 Mr Johnsons (no
kin) 2 Fielder brothers 2 Barnsley brothers, Mr Warson, Mr.
Glen, Mr Lee, Mr Henderson, Parson Carter, Mr Mason, Mr
Stampley, Mr. Schofield, Mr McCann. McMains and Mr Hargrove
and Hickman and a man named Crawley and Maston. Since
writing this I remember three more names. Sailor Smith and
Mr. Croney and an old maid. forget her name but he had a
sewing machine the first I ever saw. she was with the
Linns I think.
Sarah Bellona Smith Ferguson, "Emigrating to
Brazil in 18 66-67: An Account of the McMullan-Bowen Colony,"
Blanche Henry Clark Weaver Papers, in possession of
William C Griggs, Canyon, Texas.

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