His businesses were neglected, debts accumulated, and the farm’s production declined drastically. In a matter of months, one of the region’s most prosperous properties transformed into a symbol of moral decay. In June 1866, the Ouro Preto City Council passed a resolution removing Colonel Augusto from all public offices he held. Officially, the removal was justified by administrative negligence.
In practice, it was a form of social ostracism. The family’s financial situation deteriorated rapidly. Creditors began to call in loans. Suppliers suspended deliveries, and the farm’s production became insufficient to cover operational costs. The empire built over three generations crumbled in less than two years.
In August 1866, Dona Esperança made the final decision. During a silent morning, she poisoned herself with tea prepared with toxic plants from the farm’s own vegetable garden. She left a letter confessing the terrible sins she had been forced to commit and asking forgiveness from God and her children.
Dona Esperança’s suicide publicly confirmed all the suspicions circulating about the family. Colonel Augusto, discovering his wife’s body and reading her confession, suffered a complete mental breakdown. He was found three days later, wandering through the coffee fields, murmuring incoherently about agreements with the devil and cursed children.
The São Sebastião Farm was auctioned in September 1866 to pay off debts. Colonel Augusto was admitted to an asylum in Barbacena, where he died two years later. The children, Maria da Conceição and Joaquim Augusto, were raised by distant relatives who refused to keep them after they turned 16. The story of Colonel Augusto Ferreira da Costa and his diabolical agreement represents one of the darkest chapters of the Brazilian slave-owning mentality.
Leave a Comment