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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
In November 1834, Mary Robinson Hunter sailed to Rio de Janeiro with her husband William, a prominent Newport lawyer and newly appointed chargé d'affaires to the Imperial Court, and five of their six children. President Andrew Jackson had named Hunter to the post in June 1834 on the recommendation of their son, William, a clerk with the State Department. The Hunters had experienced financial difficulties over the years, and a diplomatic assignment offered them a steady income, prestige, and a unique travel opportunity.
The experience of living in a Latin and tropical culture inspired Mary Hunter to record her impressions in six diaries which she kept during a residence of fourteen years. These journals are part of a larger collection of Hunter family papers that are located in the Newport (RI) Historical Society. The volumes were carefully scanned by her daughter, Elizabeth Hunter Birckhead, who crossed out passages which shed light on family quarrels; they were ultimately deposited by her great granddaughter, Anna Dunn, in 1945. These diaries, written in medium sized script, in brown ink and a firm hand, are thoroughly legible and in good condition, given their age. They serve as the main source for her memories of life in Brazil, since her letters to female friends in Newport do not survive.
1 William Hunter (1794–1849) was a native of Newport, RI. He graduated from Brown University, read law in London, and served in the Rhode Island State Legislature from 1799–1812 and again from 1823–1825, and in the U.S. Senate from 1811–1820. Elizabeth Hunter (1807–1890), Thomas Hunter (1809–1890), Mary Hunter (1811–1872)., Charles Hunter (1813–1873) and Katherine Hunter (1821–1846) accompanied their parents to Brazil.
2 A number of women travelers visited and lived in Brazil during the nineteenth century and subsequently published their reminiscences. Some of the most noteworthy volumes are: Graham, Maria C., Journal of a Voyage to Brazil and Residence There During Part of the Years 1821, 1822, 1823 (London, 1824);Google Scholar Thérèse, Bayern, Prinzessin Von, Meine Reise in den Brasialianischen Tropen (Berlin, 1897);Google Scholar Touissaint-Samson, Adele, A Parisian in Brazil (Boston, 1891);Google Scholar Bishop, Elizabeth, The Diary of Helena Morley (New York, 1957)Google Scholar and Mulhall, Marion McMurrough, From Europe to Paraguay and Matto-Grosso (London, 1877).Google Scholar
3 George H. Proffit served as minister to Brazil from December 1843 to August 1844.
4 Mary Hunter’s obituary appeared in The Newport Mercury on March 21, 1863.
5 Gloria Church was built in 1791 and contained a wooden altar decorated with blue tiles. The favorite church of the Imperial family, Dom Pedro II was baptized there.
6 Mrs. Andrews, a Brazilian woman married to an Englishman, was a neighbor of the Hunters.
7 The three days prior to Ash Wednesday were devoted to festivities and pranks, including throwing colored wax balls filled with perfumed water at passersby. The custom was outlawed in 1853 as it led to urban violence.
8 Corpus Christi is a feast of the Catholic Church which commemorates the Eucharist. It falls on the Thursday after Pentecost.
9 Dom Pedro II (1825–1891) was Emperor of Brazil from 1840–1889. His reign was marked by prosperity and wars with Paraguay and Argentina. Deposed after the abolition of slavery in 1888, he left for Europe where he died in exile.
10 St. Christavão was the imperial residence on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
11 Maria de la Gloria (1819–1853), daughter of Dom Pedro I, was Queen of Portugal from 1834–1853.
12 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, USN, headed the naval squadron tasked with surveying and exploring in Antarctica, Australia, the South Pacific, and the Northwest coast of the United States. The squadron docked in Rio in 1838.
13 The Marchioness of Santos (1798–1867), mistress of Dom Pedro I, was the daughter of an army officer. She met the Emperor in 1822 and bore him five children before he remarried in 1829.
14 Scarlentina or Scarlet Fever.
15 I Puritani was the last opera composed by Vincenzo Bellini in 1835.
16 Conselheiro is a counselor or advisor.