pt

muito nublado
16°
muito nublado aguaceiros, chuva fraca
vento W 21 nós
humidade 88%

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Dabney Family

1804-1892

Entrepreneur, diplomatic, cultured, polite and generous, the Dabney family have played an important role in the economic, social and cultural life of Faial Island for three generations.

Regarding diplomacy, John Bass Dabney became, in 1806, the first U.S. Consul to the Azores. He was succeeded by his oldest son, Charles William Dabney, in 1826 and later by his grandson Samuel William Dabney, in 1872.

As for business, the Dabney family has enhanced the role and the importance of Horta's harbour through the export of Pico wine and other goods, such as liqueur, orange and whale oil. They also started providing ship repair services and coal supply, following the evolution of steam boats, simultaneously assuring the connections between the Azores and the United States of America.

In hard times, the Dabney family has helped the local people, namely in hunger periods, and they have also become mediators in local conflicts, including those triggered by struggles between liberals and absolutists. They have welcomed to their homes many naturalists, travellers, journalists and illustrious figures of the Portuguese royalty. Therefore, their parties and soirées became famous, such as the ball in honor of King Pedro IV (1832) and the ball in honor of Prince Luís, during his official visit to Faial in 1858.

From the three Dabney houses, two have been restored: Fredónia, property of Charles William Dabney from 1835, is today a kindergarten; and the Cedars house, built in 1851 by John Pomery Dabney, is currently the official residence of the President of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores. The family summer house in Porto Pim, bought by the second U.S. Consul in the second half of the 19th century, is currently under restoration.

After eighty-six years, the Dabney family left the island. On the municipal cemetery the graves of their dearest ones remain facing Pico and the sea.