 Porto Alegre was elected general deputy in 1872 for the legislature that would be seated in that year . José Paranhos , Viscount of Rio Branco , headed a Conservative cabinet that faced strong opposition from its own party members . To widen the cabinet 's base of support , the prime minister set the 1872 elections to gain more supporters of his cabinet , even members of the Liberal Party like Porto Alegre , in Parliament . While serving as a general deputy , he lived in a hotel . He spent his time either attending Parliament or in the house of his sister Joaquina Marques de Sousa , who had married a member of the influential Carneiro Leão clan . While leaving the house of fellow Liberal João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá ( later Marquis of Paranaguá ) , Porto Alegre fell while boarding his coupé . The injury he suffered led to an abscess and subsequently gangrene . Despite the pain he complained little , other than to utter : " This is too much . " He died at 07 : 00 on the morning of 18 July 1875 . His remains were accorded solemn funereal honors in Rio de Janeiro , Rio Grande and lastly , Porto Alegre . Among the men who carried his coffin in the imperial capital were Caxias , Rio Branco , Tamandaré and Irineu Evangelista de Sousa , Viscount of Mauá . He was interred in the cemitério da Santa Casa de Misericórdia ( Holy House of Mercy cemetery ) in Porto Alegre . 
