From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Immigration from the West Indies to Kentucky, USA [1890]
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---------------------1890-----------------------------------
* January 10, 1921. Most of the 1890 population census schedules was damaged during a fire in the basement of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Other sources have been used to locate those who immigrated from the West Indies to Kentucky in the 1890s. SOURCE: "1890 Census," National Archives webpage, 02/07/2005 (online).
* Created from the 1891 Immigration Act was the United States Office of the Superintendent of Immigration that was within the Treasury Department. The Immigration Office was responsible for processing immigrants and enforcing restrictions. SOURCE: Origins of the Federal Immigration Service, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services webpage (online).
* February 24, 1895 - December 10, 1898. Cuban War of Independence. There were an estimate of 30,000 to 40,000 Cuban rebel soldiers fighting against 80,000 Spanish soldiers and 60,000 Cuban militia. SOURCES: "Cuban Independence Movement," a Britannica webpage (online); Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898 by Ada Ferrer; A Black Soldier's Story edited and translated by Mark A. Sanders.
* April 21, 1898 - December 10, 1898. The United States entered the Cuban War of Independence and it became known as the Spanish-American War. From the U.S., there were 280,564 sailors, soldiers, and marines who participated in the war. Among them were 3,000 African American soldiers. There were 6,065 soldiers from Kentucky. SOURCES: "World of 1898: International Perspectives on the Spanish American War," a Library of Congress research guide (online); Livingston, Rebecca. "Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines of the Spanish-American War: the legacy of USS Maine. Prologue Magazine. Genealogy Notes. Spring 1998, v.30. no.1. (online at National Archives webpage); The Roughest Riders: the untold story of the Black soldiers in the Spanish-American War by Jerome Tuccille; "The Spanish-American War, 1898-1899," a National Guard emuseum webpage at Ky.gov (online).
* In 1897, the community of Rosebud, KY, was renamed Maceo in honor of Captain Alonzo Maceo, a Cuban mulatto killed during the Cuban revolt against Spain. The community was founded by emancipated Africans in Daviess County, KY, some of whom were the formerly enslaved or relatives who were brought from the West Indies to Kentucky. SOURCES: Kentucky Place Names, by R. M. Rennick, p.183; see (S.O.) slave owners in 1850 and 1860 above.
* October 18, 1898. Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States. Spain relinquished authority over Cuba at the end of the Spanish-American War and U.S. forces occupied Cuba until May 20, 1902. There were 25,553 Cubans who migrated to the United States between 1891-1900. SOURCES: "Puerto Rico and the United States," a Library of Congress article (online); Our Rightful Share: the Afro-Cuban struggle for equality, 1886-1912 by Aline Helg; A Cultural History of Cuba During the U.S. Occupation, 1898-1902 by Marial Iglesias Utset, translated by Russ Davidson.
* The Spanish-American War marked the start of the period when Cuban and Puerto Rican children were brought to the United States by various means and methods. The names of those brought to Kentucky are included below and noted with the word (CHILD) written in bold letters. See sources below.
* The affair of Kentucky soldiers bringing home children after a war was not new. As early as 1848, a Mexican child was brought to Kentucky by Leslie Combs when his regiment of Kentucky volunteers returned home from fighting in the Mexican-American War, 1846-1848. The child was enslaved and given the name Peter White.
NAMES:
(CHILD) No Name, In May of 1899, the Hopkinsville (Christian County) members of the Third Kentucky Volunteer Regiment returned home with a 10-year-old Cuban boy. The child was referred to as the regiment's mascot in the newspapers.
(CHILD) No Name, In May of 1899, the Henderson Company of the Third Kentucky Volunteer Regiment returned home and Lieutenant Samuel F. South brought home a Cuban boy. The child was referred to as a mascot and a pet in the newspapers. Lieutenant South had helped organize the Henderson division of the Third Kentucky Volunteers (Henderson County).
(CHILD) Manual Carreno (b.1887), In 1899, Carreno was brought from Matanzas, Cuba, to Owensboro, KY (Daviess County), by Richard Tennelly. According to the newspaper report, Carreno had come from an orphan home in Cuba and Tennelly had gotten permission from the government to bring the child to the U.S. The child had been secured by Leo Mattingly, Company G, 1st US Infantry. Mattingly, from Owensboro, KY, was working on Tennelly's behalf with Major Dr. William Dolz, governor of a Cuban province. Richard Tennelly forwarded to Dolz $27 for the child's transportation, $5 for the child's clothes, and $5 was sent to Leo Mattingly for his help in securing the child. Richard Tennelly and his father, J. R. Tennelly, were frequent travelers to Cuba. Prior to his travels in 1899, Richard Tennelly, as with others in the United States, had forwarded a request to Major Dolz for a Cuban child. Major Dolz made the selection and the child, Manual Carreno, was brought to Owensboro, KY, by Richard Tennelly. Major Dr. Wm. Dolz had served with the U.S. Army as the acting assistant surgeon during the Spanish-American War. His service started in October of 1898 and he was discharged in April 1899. The child, Manual Carreno, was enumerated in the 1900 U.S. Census as white and born in Cuba.
James R. Cunningham (1853-1943), see in 1860 above.
Catalina Pryor Dickey (1888-1949), enumerated as white and born in Baracoa, Cuba. She was the daughter of Ida McElrath Pryor and Henry Giltner Pryor who served as a U.S. Commercial Agent in Baracoa, Cuba. Henry G. Pryor's family returned to the U.S. at the start of the Spanish-American War in May of 1898. They lived in Carrollton, KY (Carroll County), with the McElrath family. Henry G. Pryor resigned his position in Cuba in July of 1898 and joined his family in Kentucky. The family left Carrollton, KY, to live in Johnson City, TN, on September 1, 1890. Henry and Ida came down with typhoid fever, and Henry died on November 8, 1890. The family returned to Kentucky. Catalina Pryor would become the wife of Howard Starr Dickey who was a music salesman and merchant. The couple lived in Newton, KS. They had two children. Catalina P. Dickey died and is buried in Newton, KS.
(CHILD) Pedro Gusman (b.unknown), he was brought from Puerto Rico to Louisville, KY (Jefferson County), by Captain William Colston of the 1st Kentucky Volunteers. In 1899, Pedro Gusman was accused of breaking into a home at 2nd and Chestnut Streets. Pedro claimed he was innocent. In 1901, Pedro Gusman was arrested again, this time at Phoenix Hill Park in Louisville for taking a $5 bill from a customer and not giving back any change. Louisville Judge Buckley sentenced Pedro to 15 days in the workhouse.
Adele Combe Hawes (1823-1892), see in 1850 above.
Aurelia Josephine Hawes (1822-1894), see in 1850 above.
(CHILD) Andrew Deno Knight (1891-1953), enumerated as white and born in Matanzas, Cuba. Said to have been an orphan in 1899, Andrew D. Knight was brought to Kentucky after the Spanish American War by two soldiers from Muhlenberg County, KY. In 1900, Andrew was enumerated as Andra Ydeno who lived with the Samuel F. Knight family in Muhlenberg County. Samuel F. Knight was a farmer. In 1910, Andrew D. Knight was enumerated as living with his brother Arlas A. Knight and family in Wheeler, TX. Arlas A. Knight was the son of Samuel F. Knight. He too was a veteran of the Spanish American War. By 1920, Andrew D. Knight had returned to Kentucky. He lived in Henderson, KY (Henderson County), with his wife Martha Miles Knight and their daughter. Andrew Knight worked for the L & H and St. L Railroad. The family moved to Louisville, KY (Jefferson County), in the 1940s. Andrew D. Knight died in Louisville and is buried in Henderson.
(CHILD) Andrea "Andrew" Lopez (b.1886), enumerated as white and born in Cuba. He was brought from Cuba to Owensboro, KY (Daviess County), by 21-year-old Rufus Eli Walp who was a Kentucky volunteer soldier during the Spanish-American War, 1898. Andrew Lopez is noted as the adopted son of Walp in the 1900 U.S. Census. In August of 1900, Andrea Lopez was returned to Cuba to live with his relatives. He visited Owensboro, KY, in 1904.
(CHILD) Enathereal Perrah (Enathiel Perry) (b.1886), enumerated as white and born in Cuba. He was brought to Vanceburg, KY (Lewis County), by Corporal Cornelius Angel. Corporal Angel was a volunteer with Company M of the Third Kentucky Volunteer Regiment during the Spanish-American War, 1898. Enathiel Perry is enumerated in the 1900 U.S. Census as the grandson of Cornelius Angel.
SOURCES: "Enlisting men," Owensboro Weekly Messenger, 04/02/1898, p.4; "Army orders," The Evening Star (Washington, D. C.), 04/03/1899, front page; "Corporal Neale Angile [Angel] ...," Daily Public Ledger, 05/05/1899, front page; "The many friends of Mrs. Henry E. Pryor ...," The News-Democrat, 05/11/1889, p.5; "A Joyous occasion," The Courier-Journal, 05/19/1899, p.3; "Brings a Cuban boy home with him." The Frankfort Roundabout, 05/27/1899, p.4; "Has a little Cuban with him," The Daily Leader, 06/02/1899, p.7; ""Yankee Doodle" in Spanish," The Sunday Leader, 07/02/1899, p.3.
SOURCES: "Will get a Cuban boy," Owensboro Daily Inquirer, 07/05/1899, front page; "Dick Tennelly's Cuban boy," Owensboro Daily Messenger, 07/06/1899, p.3; "He is catching on," Owensboro Daily Inquirer, 07/19/1899, p.4; "A Cuban boy," Owensboro Daily Messenger, 07/22/1899, front page; "Henry Pryor and his wife and child ..., The News-Democrat, 07/26/1890, p.5; "Henry G. Pryor Dead!" The News-Democrat, 11/15/1890, p.5; "Brought a Cuban boy," Owensboro Daily Messenger, 02/23/1900, p.8; "Returned to Cuba," Owensboro Daily Messenger, 08/23/1900, front page; "Our own Andrew," Owensboro Daily Inquirer, 04/27/1904, p.5.
SOURCES: The United States in Puerto Rico, 1898-1900 by Edward J. Berbusse; Jorge Duany. "Cuban communities in the United States: migration waves, settlement patterns and socioeconomic diversity," Pouvoirs dans la Caraïbe, Revue du CRPLC, 11/1999 (online); Puerto Rico: What Everyone Needs to Know by Jorge Duany; Ancestry.com; "Population and Area" a U.S. Census publication (online); "The Spanish-American War, 1898-1899," a Kentucky National Guard History webpage (online); "Buffalo Soldiers and the Spanish-American War," a National Park Service webpage (online); "Porto Rican arrested," The Courier-Journal, 07/28/1899, p.5; "Porto Rican gets 15 days," The Courier-Journal, 08/30/1901, p.12.
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