Hacienda Boquerón

Hacienda Boquerón was established ca. 1850 in Barrrio Boquerón of Cabo Rojo by French immigrant from Paris Charles Marie Joseph François “Francisco” Wys Garecher du Rocher (ca.1830-1899) who installed a steam mill in the hacienda.  Francisco married France born Maria Amelia Elvira Menusier from which marriage no children were born, after her death he married a second time to Maria Cristina Marini Correa (1876- ) who was some forty six years younger.  Upon Francisco's death in 1899, the hacienda was inherited ½ by his widow Maria Cristina and the other ½ by Francisco's nephews, the sons of his sister Marie Louise Dorothée Wys as of ⅛ each.  Marie Louise lived in Paris and all her children were born there; Henri (Enrique) Renón (1858-1908), Alexandre (1849-1915), Gonzague (1855-1941) and Stanislas(1858-1919), all de la Baume Wys.  Henri came to Puerto Rico but the other three siblings always lived in France.

Enrique Renón married a first time Saint-Omer, France born Maria Alejandrina Menoitt de Cizancoure (1859-1889) and after her death, on February 8, 1901 married his aunt Maria Cristina of which marriage three children were born; Maria Genoveva de la Baume Marini (1901-1935), Enrique de la Baume Marini (1904-1962) and Ena Luisa de la Baume Marini (1907-1999).  In 1927, Ena Luisa married Oscar Nevares López whose father, José Nevarez Landrón owned Hacienda Media Luna in Toa Baja.  After their marriage, Enrique Renón continued operating the hacienda which then became known as Hacienda de la Baume.   

On February 9, 1909 the case Maria Cristina Marini vs. Enrique Renón de la Baume Et Al was decided by the US District Court for Puerto Rico.  The case states that Maria Cristina and Enrique Renón had been in possession of Hacienda Boquerón since approximately 1899 of which hacienda they were owners as to ⅝ and Enrique Renón's three siblings who lived in France; Alejandro, Gonzague and Stanislaus de la Baume, owned the remaining ⅜.  As a result of the court ruling, the then one thousand seventy one acre hacienda was split between the four owners with five hundred acres being awarded to Maria Cristina Marini and her then deceased husband Enrique Renón and the rest in equal parts between Alejandro, Gonzague and Stanislaus.  As a result of the split, a balance owed to Enrique by his three siblings was evidenced by a lien on the share awarded to each of the three until paid.  

A 1909 report ordered by the Court and prepared by Superintendent May of the Government Experiment Station in Mayagüez, reports that "the general appearance of the farm is one where everything possible has been sold from the place and nothing added and no improvements kept up.  The old sugar mill is a ruin, parts of the wall standing, but with no roof.  A small detached building has been covered with grass and is being used as a stable.  The machinery that was in the mill has been destroyed by fire and rust, and is worthless.  The dwelling house is in very bad condition and liable to collapse."

As of the date of the Court's decision, the sugarcane grown at the hacienda was processed at the Guanica Centrale as the case required from the sugar mill an accounting to determine if any amounts owed to the estate could be used to pay the balance owed to Enrique Renón and Maria Cristina by Alejandro, Gonzague and Stanislaus.

Hacienda Boquerón was located on PR-101 in Boquerón, in the general area where today there is a residential development known as Hacienda de la Baume.