Charlemage Péralte and Hinche

Due to Charlemagne Péralte's origins in a part of Haiti was once Spanish colonial territory, we decided to check what remains of the libros parroquiales of colonial Hincha (available on the Family Search website) for anyone with the Peralta surname. Unsurprisingly, there was indeed a Pedro de Peralta, the husband of a Juana de Medina (whose parents were Bartolome de Medina and Beatriz Moron). One of their children's baptism was registered in the 1780s and identified as a free, legitimate child of Pedro and Juana. The parents also had another child in this period, a Thomas.

Unfortunately, surviving parish records only cover part of the 1780s and 1790s, but these individuals are likely the ancestors of Charlemagne Péralte. According to historian Roger Gaillard, Charlemagne's great-grandfather was a Juan Peralta who was the commandant of nearby Lascahobas in 1822, a fact mentioned by Thomas Madiou. Is it safe to assume Juan Peralta was a son of Pedro Peralta and Juana de Medina? If the Peralta were an established family in the surrounding area of Hincha in the late 18th century, then perhaps so. Indeed, Pedro Peralta was also a slaveholder, as indicated by the baptism of a child born to his chattel, Agustina, in 1788. 

The birth record of a child of Juan Peralta, or Jean Peralte, was also made in the 1820s, when he was still commandant of Lascahobas. When his name was Gallicized is unknown, but presumably that change in the surname's spelling was made in the 1820s. According to Gaillard, Jean Peralte was the father of Santiague or Saintyague Peralte. Santiague was probably born in c.1809, if indications of the ages of his son who married in the 1884 at the age of 44 and the marriage of another child are any indication. Santiague was the father of Remi Massena Peralte, who married Marie Claire Emmanuel, the mother of Charlemagne.

So, from what remains of the Hincha parish books, our theory is that Juan Peralta was probably a son of Pedro de Peralta and Juana de Medina. It would explain the family's local prominence in Hinche well into the next century. And unlike other prominent families in Hinche, like that of Dominican president Jose Maria Cabral, the Peralta stayed in Hinche. Juan Peralta, his son, Santiague, and grandson Remi Massena all served in the military or government of Haiti.

If, however, Santiague was born in or around 1809, then his father Juan was possibly born in Hincha in a year before those of the surviving parish books for the town. The father of Juan was probably Pedro de Peralta, but without direct confirmation, it is only a likely theory. Nonetheless, it would fit the other evidence we know of the Peralta in Hinche and Lascahobas. 

Hinche, Haiti in 1935

Source

A photograph from 1935 of Hinche's public square. One can see the Haitian-styled architecture of Hinche. Hinche was one of the centers of Toussaint's volte-face after entering the service of Spain with other early leaders of the slave unrest in the north of Saint Domingue. Ada Ferrer's new book on Haiti and Cuba actually delves deeper into the presence of Cuban soldiers in Saint Domingue during the Haitian Revolution, and the complete dependence of Spain on these black 'auxiliaries,' which made it quite easy for Toussaint Louverture's forces to recapture Saint Dominguan towns occupied by Spain, as well as seize new cities along the border of the Spanish colony (Hincha became Hinche).