José Antonio Salcedo

General José Antonio Salcedo y Ramírez, "Pepillo" (1816–1864) was born in Madrid, Spain from creole parents of Spanish heritage who had been born in Santo Domingo, and moved to Spain in the year 1815.[1] The names of his parents were José María Salcedo and Luisa Ramírez y Marichal. Leaving Spain, the family moved to Cuba when Salcedo was a year old before settling in the Cibao valley. He grew up near the border of Haiti where he managed large tracts of land, herds of livestock, and a rich timber business in the towns of Hatillo Palma, Estero Balsa, and Botoncillo in the northwest.

Salcedo led a civil war which aimed at the restoration of the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Restoration War began on August 16, 1863, and by September 14, 1863 a Provisional Government was established, over which the general presided. After he became the 1st head of state of the Dominican Republic, the general was opposed by the Nationalist movement, who viewed his policies as favoring those supporting the annexation of the country. On October 15, 1864, Head of State Salcedo sent word to his wife (who lived in Guayubín) with a young soldier who was nearly in his mid-twenties named Ulises Heureaux, he was later assassinated on the same day by Gaspar Polanco, also a general at the time.

Salcedo married Águeda Rodríguez of Guayubín, Monte Cristi. Together they had at least three children: José Tomás (born 1841 and married Rosa Elvira Brea in 1869[2]), Antonia (born 1846[3]), and Cristina (born 1851[4]) Salcedo y Rodríguez. Antonia Salcedo married and had a daughter with another Restoration figure, Dionisio Troncoso (1834-1891), named Antonia María Troncoso y Salcedo.[5] A great granddaughter of his, Genoveva Cruz, was 95 in 2017.[6]

The town of Pepillo Salcedo, in Monte Cristi province, was named in his honor.

References

1. Chaljub Mejia, Rafael (2007). Diccionario biográfico de los restauradores de la República. Santo Domingo: BanReservas. pp. 260–261, 277–281, 295–296. ISBN 978-9945-8591-2-6.
2. "República Dominicana, matrimonios, 1743-1929," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLSN-MW5 : 11 February 2018), Jose Antonio Salcedo in entry for Jose Tomas Salcedo and Rosa Elvira Brea, 24 May 1869; citing Santa María De La Encarnación, Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic, reference ; FHL microfilm 636,860.
3. "República Dominicana, bautismos, 1726-1924," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLS8-248 : 8 March 2018), Jose Antonio Salcedo in entry for Antonia Salcedo, 24 Oct 1846; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 624,480.
4. "República Dominicana, bautismos, 1726-1924," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLSD-D6K : 8 March 2018), Jose Antonio Salcedo in entry for Cristina Salcedo, 20 Sep 1851; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 624,480.
5. "Caribbean Births and Baptisms, 1590-1928," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLKT-TJQ : 10 February 2018), Antonia Salcedo in entry for Antonia Maria Troncoso Salcedo, 20 Jan 1865; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 624,448.
6. domingo, G. Soluciones-Desarrollo web en santo (2017-11-12). "Bisnieta del presidente Pepillo Salcedo anhela orden que existía antes en RD". AlMomento.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-09-30.