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[FL43] FL-42 1935 Fermin Souto (Spaniard) Ybor City Tampa, Florida (Cigar worker; secretary Spanish Club) FERA Sociological Survey of Ybor City)
FERMIN SOUTO
I was born in the little village of Ferrol de Galicia, Spain in June of 1858. I have reached the advanced age of 77 years. My father was a stone-cutter, toiling from sun up until night. My mother was born and raised in the country. I am, therefore a plebeian. My parents were poor people, and in those days a poor man could only look forward to a very meagre education. This was the education that I acquired. I never obtained a degree or title of any kind. I was especially interested in Universal History and Geography. These were my pet studies.
"On October 30th of 1870, a friend took me to Havana, Cuba, although usually the people from Galicia (my province) went to Argentine and Uruguay; while the Asturianos and those from the region of Santander went to Cuba. I was then only twelve years of age. This friend put me to work, at that tender age, in a hat factory situated in Monte Street No. 165. I was very badly treated during the time I worked at this place. Part of my duties consisted in going every day to a coal-yard and fetch coal with which to heat the flat irons. The owner of this coal-yard was a kind and sympathetic man. I made him a confidant of all my troubles,
(l) Mr. Souto is Secretary of the Centro Bspanol (Spanish Club).
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telling him of the ill treatment I was receiving at the hat factory. This man had a nephew who owned a variety store in the town of Santiago de las Vegas, some seventeen miles from Havana. One day, to my immense joy, he took me there to work for his nephew. In a comparative short time I knew everyone in town, and was much esteemed by all. Here I passed the best years of my life.
"It was the custom of the owner of this variety store to purchase old newspapers at a very low price. With these newspapers he would wrap the different articles that were sold. I remember that I used to dig into this pile of old newspapers, reading avidly every scrap of news I could find. One day, while looking over these newspapers, I came upon a very old number of the Baceta de la Habana (Gazette of Havana) in which I found many interesting articles of the Civil War of the United States, depicting the various battles that had been fought between the North and the South. From then on I would seek every bit of news from the United States, reading with the keenest interest anything about Washington or Lincoln; in fact anything I could get a hold of that dealt with the United States.
" I remember well a song in Spanish that once appeared in a newspaper, and which I memorized word for word: (I was then eighteen years of age.)
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SONG TO WASHINGTON
I remember when very young a beautiful forehead I saw, A man standing near your image, one day I disclosed. Candid, ignorant, with stuttering lips: "Who is he?" I asked, "His name I implore."
And while with his right your image he showed, With radiant joy, his face to me he turned. With sonorous accents, that pride denoted: "That is Washington," he said, "for him I am free today,"
(1) "At about this time I met a cigar-maker by the name of Don Federico, who had been in New York for many years. I told him that I was very desirous of going to the United States, but did not know what to do, for although I should be able to save a little money, what was I to do in New York when this money gave out, not even knowing how to speak English. He then told me that the best thing I could do was to learn how to make cigars. In that manner I could easily find work in New York. I, therefore, decided to learn the trade, and come to the United States.
"When I imparted my decision to the owner of the variety store, he told me that it was pure foolhardiness, that the cigar-makers were always needy, and that I should remove such a foolish idea from my head. He took the whole thing hard, but nothing daunted me. I went to see a cigar manufacturer, who was a friend of mine, in Santiago de las Vegas, and he told me that I must pledge myself to work two years as an apprentice. There and
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then I signed the contract, and bent all my energies to the learning of the cigar business. As soon as I left the variety store, the owner closed that store and another branch he had.
''At the end of the two years I was well versed in the cigar industry. It was about this time that I came across a friend of mine, who had been a co-worker with me at the variety store. He was at that time planning on setting up a general variety store, and asked me if I would go to work with him. I foresaw that this was the very thing I needed in order to obtain sufficient funds for my trip to New York. I worked one year and eleven months at this place, during which time I saved everything I could.
(1) Recuerdo que my nino, a un hombre vi la frente, delante de tu imagen un dia descubri. Y candido, ignorante, con labios balbucientes: "Quien es" ose decirle, "su nombre puedo oir?"
Y en tanto que su diestra tu imagen sanalaba, con jubilo radiante, su rostro a mi volvio; Y con sonoro acento, que orgullo demostraba: "Es Washington," me dido, "por el soy libre yo."
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Another thing that proved favorable to me was that Mr. Diego Lopez Trujillo was established in New York City, operating a small cigar factory. He had been a resident of Santiago de las Vegas, so I procured myself with a recommendation to him. As soon as I reached New York City (the place of my dreams) I was employed by Mr. Trujillo, and my worries for the present were over.
"One of the first things I did was to become a citizen of my chosen country. My citizenship papers were issued on October 13th, 1886. (1)
"It was in this same year that I married the daughter of Mr. Diego Lopez Trujillo. We had three children in New York: two daughters and one son. Of these, two died: a girl and a boy. The little girl died of scarlet fever, due to a very/crowded apartment house, which my brother had chosen for me. For several days we were unable to bury her due to a terrible blizzard, and a great amount of snow that had fallen. We had to wait until the railroad tracks between Broadway and Williamsburg to Cypress Hill Cemetery had been cleared.
(1) Mr. Souto showed me the citizenship paper, approved by the Court of Common Pleas of New York City, a very old document showing yellow in some places. Then he carefully refolded it, and placed it back in the safe of the Spanish Club.
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