“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ... “MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...
operations lay in ruins across the border. Like Picant, however, Fernandez still possessed substantial assets in the Brazilian borderlands, particularly around Alegrete. Picant sought to use his commercial ties to Prado Lima and other Farrapos in the town to recover his lost funds. 45 Upon receiving the letter, Prado Lima sprung into action. He issued an embargo on Fernadez’s assets in the town. He then ordered Fernandez to appear before him in a reconciliation proceeding (a necessary procedural prelude to litigation). When the reconciliation failed, Prado Lima ordered Fernandez to appear in a formal hearing regarding the debt. In preparation for the litigation, Picant retained Francisco de Sá Brito, a local lawyer and former judge that was also Prado Lima’s personal friend and political ally. As we will see in detail in chapters four and five, local factional politics may have influenced Prado Lima’s and Sá Brito’s decision to assist Guarch and Picant. Specifically, the two men formed part of a faction increasingly at odds with Bento Ribeiro and his family in Alegrete. Obtaining a verdict for Guarch and Picant, one of Ribeiro’s old trading partners prior to his defection, might bolster their own position and personal prestige while publicly manifesting their hold on local legal institutions. Whatever the rationale, prior reciprocal allegiances clearly benefited Guarch and Picant. In front of a friendly judge and represented by one of his local allies, the outcome of the case was never in doubt. Picant received title to assets subject to the embargo, ensuring at least a partial recovery from his loses across the border. 46 As Guarch and Picant used factional alliances in Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul to expand their cross-border commercial trading networks in the 1830s and 1840s, another Brazilian merchant, Francisco de Lemos Pinto, was pursuing similar strategies to move in the 45 Don Luis Miraglia por Doña Augustina Guarch y Don Julian Subsiela sobre liquidación y arreglo de cuentas. 46 Ibid. 86
opposite direction from Porto Alegre out into the Uruguayan borderlands. Lemos Pinto’s initial commercial activities began when he entered into a partnership with Bernardino Martins de Menezes to operate a meat salting plant in the city of Triumpho in central Rio Grande do Sul. While Menezes was a prominent rancher in Triumpho, Lemos Pinto possessed substantial ties to the merchant community in Porto Alegre. Through the agreement, the two men brought their respective local connections together within a single commercial enterprise. From this base, the two partners then pushed their economic operations westwards over the next ten years. They purchased slaves, cattle and lands around Alegrete throughout the 1830s. Finally, in 1836, the men acquired land from Adão Carvalho, Manoel José de Carvalho’s son, across the border in Uruguay. 47 Much like Guarch’s land transaction with Manoel Carvalho, the fact that Lemos Pinto chose to purchase the Uruguayan property from Adão Carvalho was no accident. The Carvalhos possessed close personal and commercial ties to the Ribeiro family in the Brazilian borderlands and the colorado faction around Salto through their transactions with Guarch, Rivera and Vázquez. Lemos Pinto’s purchase provided access not only to the economic assets necessary to administer his commercial operations, but also to the local networks of factional allies necessary to protect it. It further reflected the increasingly intertwined nature of borderlands economic relationships. The cross-border commercial linkages that extended outwards from Montevideo and Porto Alegre overlapped through repeated property sales, personal affiliations and factional ties. These economic and political associations formed the basis of the reciprocal obligations at the heart of commercial dealings and ultimately factional affiliations. 47 Francisco de Lemos Pinto c. Maria Guedes de Menezes e outros, APRGS. Triumpho. Cartório Civil e Crime. Ordinarios, No. 414, Maço 15 (1846). Lemos Pinto and Menezes purchased the land around Bella Union, Uruguay. 87
- Page 45 and 46: defend its possessions, peninsular
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- Page 81 and 82: simmering struggles. By 1840, local
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opposite direction from Porto Alegre out into the Uruguayan borderlands. Lemos Pinto’s<br />
initial commercial activities began when he entered into a partnership with Bernardino<br />
Martins de Menezes to operate a meat salting plant in the city of Triumpho in central Rio<br />
Grande do Sul. While Menezes was a prominent rancher in Triumpho, Lemos Pinto<br />
possessed substantial ties to the merchant community in Porto Alegre. Through the<br />
agreement, the two men brought their respective local connections together within a single<br />
commercial enterprise. From this base, the two partners then pushed their economic<br />
operations westwards over the next ten years. They purchased slaves, cattle and lands<br />
around Alegrete throughout the 1830s. Finally, in 1836, the men acquired land from Adão<br />
Carvalho, Manoel José de Carvalho’s son, across the border in Uruguay. 47<br />
Much like Guarch’s land transaction with Manoel Carvalho, the fact that Lemos<br />
Pinto chose to purchase the Uruguayan property from Adão Carvalho was no accident. The<br />
Carvalhos possessed close personal and commercial ties to the Ribeiro family in the Brazilian<br />
borderlands and the colorado faction around Salto through their transactions with Guarch,<br />
Rivera and Vázquez. Lemos Pinto’s purchase provided access not only to the economic<br />
assets necessary to administer his commercial operations, but also to the local networks of<br />
factional allies necessary to protect it. It further reflected the increasingly intertwined nature<br />
of borderlands economic relationships. The cross-border commercial linkages that extended<br />
outwards from Montevideo and Porto Alegre overlapped through repeated property sales,<br />
personal affiliations and factional ties. These economic and political associations formed the<br />
basis of the reciprocal obligations at the heart of commercial dealings and ultimately<br />
factional affiliations.<br />
<br />
47 Francisco de Lemos Pinto c. Maria Guedes de Menezes e outros, APRGS. Triumpho. Cartório<br />
Civil e Crime. Ordinarios, No. 414, Maço 15 (1846). Lemos Pinto and Menezes purchased<br />
the land around Bella Union, Uruguay.<br />
87 <br />
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