Juan Cortada y Quintana


Juan Cortada y Quintana was a Puerto Rican politician, businessman, and landowner. He served as Ponce, Puerto Rico|Mayor] of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 27 September 1872 to 4 February 1874.

Early years

Cortada y Quintana was the son of Juan Cortada, born in Catalunya, Spain, and Monserrate Quintana. He had two brothers, Ramon and Manuel.

Hacendado

Cortada and his brother Ramón, were hacendados, landowners who owned several sugarcane haciendas like Hacienda Descalabrado, Las Mercedes, La Palmarito, and La Mallorquina, among others. They were located in the region between Ponce and Santa Isabel.
The workers in such estates were almost always slaves. Thus it is likely that Cortada owned slaves in working his sugarcane farm. Some sources confirm that Cortada in fact owned 28 slaves in 1872, one year before the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico.
Since 1868, Cortada's estate had irrigation problems, which led Cortada to ask for permits to use the waters of Río Descalabrado river to irrigate his land. After some financial troubles, and with the death of his first wife, Cortada ceded the ownership of the Hacienda Descalabrado to his two young sons, Juan and Eduardo. However, this change wasn't registered. Cortada also had debts for the mortgage of the land where Hacienda Palmarito was established. In 1874, he had to sell Hacienda Descalabrado, but he recovered it in 1884.

Lender

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

Mayoral term

Cortada served as Mayor of Ponce from 27 September 1872 to 4 February 1874. This was the time when the First [Spanish Republic|Republica Española] was declared and also the time when slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico. Cortada's municipal assembly consisted of: Rafael Pujals, Federico Capo, Jose Antonio Renta, Celedonio Besosa, Olimpio Otero, Lazaro Martinez, Marcos Fugurull, Juan Jose Mayoral, Guillermo Oppenheimer, and Gustavo Cabrera.

Personal life

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

Legacy

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