José Ramon Fernández, 1st Marquis of La Esperanza (1808–1883), was the wealthiest sugar baron in Puerto Rico in the 19th century. He was also one of the most powerful men of the entire Spanish Caribbean. He owned an immense plantation of nearly 2300 acres on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, and a sugar mill with an advanced steam engine. His wealth and political connections gave him the power to convince the Spanish Colonial government in the island to split the municipality of Manati in two, and thus found the municipality of Barceloneta. The Hacienda La Esperanza steam engine has been designated a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. Today the entire property is owned by the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust, which preserves and protects it, including some of the only coastal forest left in the region. Early years Fernández (birth name: José Ramon Fernández y Martínez) was one of three siblings born to Fernando Fernández and Francisca Martínez in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fernández's father was a Spanish naval captain from Castile who fought against pirates and English merchant ships. In 1797, the Spanish Crown granted him large plots of land in the towns of Bayamon and Manati in recognition of his service to Spain. In Bayamon he planted sugar cane and raised cattle. He named the property the "Santa Ana Plantation". Like other planters, he depended on imported African slaves for labor on the plantations. In 1804, the senior Fernández used a mixture of sugar and honey to process and distill rum. He aged his product in special barrels imported from Europe. The rum he produced was only for his own personal use and that of his family and friends, and he served it with pleasure. Fernández received his primary education in Puerto Rico. In 1819 when he was eleven years old, his father sent him to Spain for schooling and to study business. When he was seventeen, the young Fernández went to England to continue his education, where he became fluent in the English language. He went to the United States in his early twenties and continued his education in New York City. There he befriended various businessmen who in the future would help him in his commercial endeavors. Return to Puerto Rico Fernández returned to Puerto Rico in 1826 and helped his father to administer La Esperanza sugar plantation. He met and befriended George C. Latimer, the