1888 Cuban Administrative Expediente Concerning the Detention and Investigation of a Chinese Man in Matanzas Suspected of Being an Escaped Presidio Prisoner

On offer is a rare archive of fourteen Cuban government manuscript documents concerning the detention and investigation of a Chinese man in Matanzas, Cuba, in November 1888, who was suspected of being an escaped prisoner from the Presidio de La Habana.

The documents record the bureaucratic process through which municipal authorities, provincial officials, and the command of the Havana presidio attempted to determine whether the detained man was a fugitive who had deserted from the prison system two years earlier. Cases such as this illustrate the precarious legal position of Chinese residents in late nineteenth-century Cuba, who were frequently subject to surveillance, detention, and identity verification by colonial authorities even after the formal end of the coolie indenture system.

The case centres on a Chinese man who stated that his name was Lucio Memolien. The file begins with his detention by local authorities after he was discovered without identification papers. Because Chinese residents were required to carry documentation, the man was taken into custody while officials attempted to determine his identity and place of residence.

Two letters dated November 1 and 3, 1888 document the earliest stage of the case. These communications show that the man had been detained by the Guardia Civil for lacking identification papers (“indocumentado”). Acting under a government circular of 13 October 1887, provincial officials instructed the police to provide the detainee with a temporary pass so that he could travel to his place of residence and obtain the legally required cédula personal. One of the letters also admonishes a municipal official for forwarding the detainee improperly rather than following the procedures established in the circular.

In these early communications the detainee is again described: “el asiático que dice llamarse…” [Translation: “the Asiatic who says his name is…”], reflecting the uncertainty authorities often had when recording Chinese names in Spanish documents. The surname appears with minor variations in the file (most commonly Memolien, but also Mamelion in one communication), a common issue in files such as these where clerks attempted to approximate names phonetically.

Shortly after his detention, authorities began to suspect that the detainee might actually be José Rey, a prisoner who had “desertó el día 23 de Octubre de 1886” [deserted on the 23rd of October 1886] from the Havana presidio. This suspicion triggered an administrative investigation, and the man was transferred through several levels of the colonial bureaucracy while officials attempted to confirm whether he was the escaped convict.

Several documents record that the detainee repeatedly identified himself as “el asiático que dice llamarse Lucio Memolien” [the Asiatic who says his name is Lucio Memolien], though he remained in custody while officials attempted to verify his identity. One communication notes that he was being held “para la identificación que estime más procedente” [for the identification that may be considered most appropriate] while authorities investigated the possible connection to the fugitive.

The documents also trace the suspect’s movement through the local administrative system. Municipal and district officials were instructed to locate and present him for examination. One report explains that he initially “no se halló en el lugar que Vuestra orden indicó” [was not found in the place that your order indicated], though he was eventually secured and brought before the authorities. Another document records that “a las tres de la tarde del día de hoy ha tenido ingreso en este establecimiento el asiático Lucio Memolien” [at three o’clock in the afternoon of this day the Asiatic Lucio Memolien was admitted into this establishment].

Because the suspected fugitive had escaped from the Havana prison system, the provincial authorities ultimately referred the matter to the Presidio de La Habana for confirmation. A letter issued from the Comandancia del Presidio de La Habana reports that the detainee had been brought to the prison command for identification:

“En el día de ayer… se incorporó a este Presidio un asiático que dice llamarse Lucio Memolien, por presumirse que fuese el penado José Rey que desertó el día 23 de Octubre de 1886.”

[Translation: “Yesterday… an Asiatic who says his name is Lucio Memolien was brought to this Presidio, as it was presumed that he might be the prisoner José Rey who deserted on the 23rd of October 1886.”]

After examining the detainee and comparing him with the description of the escaped prisoner, the presidio authorities concluded that the man was not the fugitive:

“y como el individuo citado después del oportuno reconocimiento resulta no ser el referido desertor.”

[Translation: “and since the said individual, after the appropriate examination, proves not to be the aforementioned deserter.”]

The investigation therefore closed with the determination that Lucio Memolien was not the escaped prisoner José Rey. The final summary of the file, preserved on stationery of the Secretaría del Gobierno Civil de Matanzas, records the outcome:

“Expediente promovido a consecuencia de haber sido detenido el asiático que dice llamarse Lucio Memolien, por creer ser el prófugo José Rey que desertó del Presidio Departamental de la Habana; y que después del reconocimiento resultó no serlo.”

[Translation: “File initiated as a consequence of the detention of the Asiatic who says his name is Lucio Memolien, believed to be the fugitive José Rey who deserted from the Departmental Presidio of Havana; and who, after examination, was found not to be the same person.”]

Taken together, the documents preserve the complete administrative chain of custody of the investigation.

The Chinese coolie trade, a system of indentured labor targeting young, poor Chinese men, operated between 1847 and 1874. The trade ran largely between Macao (then under Portuguese rule) and Havana, Cuba (then under Spanish control). Laborers were transported on ships, many of which had previously been used in the African slave trade (Yun & Laremont, 2001). These vessels often carried names associated with slavery or ironically hopeful titles such as Africano, Mauritius, Dreams, Hope, Live Yankees, and Wandering Jew (Yun & Laremont, 2001, p. 110). Conditions were frequently brutal. An estimated 16,400 Chinese laborers died aboard coolie ships traveling to Cuba during a twenty-six-year period, representing mortality rates between 12% and 30%, though some voyages saw death rates as high as 50%.

Although indenture ended in 1874, tens of thousands of Chinese laborers remained in Cuba in the decades that followed. Many lived under close surveillance by colonial authorities, particularly when suspected of desertion from labor contracts or involvement in the penal labor system. This 1888 investigation into Lucio Memolien, detained in Matanzas after being mistaken for the escaped prisoner José Rey, reflects that broader system of monitoring and control.

Physical Description and Condition

Fourteen manuscript leaves (approximately 20 pages of text) forming an administrative case file from the Civil Government of Matanzas concerning the detention and identification of a Chinese man in November 1888. Eleven leaves measure approximately 6 × 8 inches, with several larger leaves measuring approximately 8 × 12 inches. All are written in Spanish manuscript ink in clear nineteenth-century cursive hands. Most leaves bear district mail stamps, and many are signed by the issuing official.

One leaf is on “Presidio de La Habana – Comandancia” letterhead and another on “Secretaría del Gobierno Civil de Matanzas.” One sheet bears the printed fiscal paper notation “Papel Oficio clase 14 – 40 centavos cada cien pliegos – Habilitado para el año 1888.” Two additional letters issued in Havana on 1 and 3 November 1888 concern the initial detention of the same individual by the Guardia Civil for lacking identification papers and the issuance of a temporary pass so that he might obtain a cédula personal in accordance with the government circular of 13 October 1887.

Likely removed from a larger governmental expediente. Age toning, minor bending, small tears, and light edge fraying, though all text remains fully legible. Two leaves retain small pieces of Scotch tape applied by a previous collector as makeshift binding. Overall Good condition.