Person:Ramón Carvajal Y Colón (1)

(by permission of the government)

13th Duke of Veragua, Marquis of Jamaica, 15th Admiral of the Indies.

A cavalry officer, Duke Ramón fought in Spain's African campaign and served in the Royal Guard; he retured in 1931 on the proclamation of the Republic. He was arrested and confined by the Republican government in 1937 but was released by U.S. intercession, went briefly into exile, and then fought in the Nationalist rebel army under Franco until the defeat of the Republic.

"Veragua" is today the western part of Panama, near the Costa Rican border. An end to the peaceful rule of the Colón family as marquises of Jamaica came in 1655 when Cromwell, having declared war on Spain, sent a fleet to the West Indies under Admiral William Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania. Penn captured Jamaica in June 1655 and the last Spanish settlers were evicted in 1658. Britain thereby deprived the descendants of the Discoverer of their principal assets. The dukes of Veragua continued their income from the revenues of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines until the U.S. war with Spain in 1898. As a last irony, the Spanish commissioners proposed in the draft Peace Treaty that the U.S. take over responsibility for the Veragua annuity in the amount of $7,400 per year, but this was rejected by the American commissioners.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Schoenrich, Otto. The Legacy of Christopher Columbus: Three Centuries of Disputes, Lawsuits, Struggles for Rewards and Inheritances, Brands by the Admiral of Aragón and Others, Spoliations by Sir Frances Drake and Others, Claims of Ilegitimates and Black Sheep, Resulting from the Discovery of America. (Glendale, California: A.H. Clark Co., 1949-50).