For 15 years, they tried to have children. Dona Esperança became pregnant four times but lost all the babies in the first months. The doctors of the time could not explain the successive losses, attributing them to the woman’s delicate constitution. For Colonel Augusto, the absence of heirs represented more than a personal tragedy; it meant the end of a dynasty.
Without children, his immense fortune would be disputed by distant relatives after his death. The social pressure was immense. In the patriarchal society of the 19th century, a man without descendants was considered incomplete. It was in December 1863 that everything began to change.
The Colonel received a letter from his cousin in Salvador, telling him about unorthodox practices that had resulted in the birth of heirs on other farms. What was written in that letter would plant the seed for the most controversial decision of his life. The letter arrived on a hot December morning, brought by a messenger who had ridden for three days from Salvador.
The Colonel’s cousin, Joaquim Ferreira da Silva, was known for his creative solutions to family problems. The correspondence brought a detailed account of how other families of the Bahian elite had resolved inheritance issues. “My dear cousin Augusto,” the letter said, “I know of your difficulties in generating offspring.
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