​Location: Maunabo
Date Established: 1900
Date Ceased Operations: 1928
Annual Production Graph
Average Annual Production: 6,197 Tons
Best Production Year: 1917/7,234 Tons
Family Ownership: Fantauzzi, Clauzel, Vergés, Riefkholl

 Hurricane San Ciriaco of 1899 destroyed most, if not all, of the southeast Puerto Rico sugar estates creating an opportunity for a central sugar mill in the area.  As a result, Central Columbia was organized on July 3, 1900 by the mercantile partnership C. & J. Fantauzzi with 50%, Sucn. Otto Julius Riefkohl Baetcke with 16.7% and the firm Clauzel & Vergés with 33.3%. 

C. & J. Fantauzzi was the firm established by the Fantauzzi brothers, owners of Central Lafayette in Arroyo.  The Sucn. Otto Julius Riefkohl Baetke was a firm established to manage the estate Otto Julius Riefkohl Baetcke (1823-1895), a German immigrant from Langendorf who emigrated to St. Thomas in 1844 and arrived in PR in 1846 where he established Hacienda Orleanesa in Maunabo.  Clauzel & Vergés was a firm established by François Félix Clauzel de Boyrie and Eugène Marcelin Vergés Lepelleux (1835-1913).

François Félix Clauzel de Boyrie (1821-1886).  He was the son of Frenchman from Bordeaux, France Benjamin Clauzel (1794-1866).  Benjamin came to Puerto Rico to join his cousin Luis Deville in the administration of Hacienda Carlota and on March 19, 1821 married Marie Félicie de Boyrie (1806-1881) in Guayama.  Marie Félicie was the daughter of Jean Baptiste de Boyrie (1778-1845), owner of Hacienda Algarrobo.

The Vergés family of the other partner in Clauzel & Vergés, Eugène Marcelin Vergés Lepelleux (1835-1913), was split between France and Spain.  Eugène Marcelin hailed from the Puerto de Santa Maria, Cádiz, Spain part of the family.  He was the son of Francisco Vergés Gonzalez-Nandín (1803-1839) and New Orleans, LA born Emma Lepelleux de Boyrie (1810-1861).  Emma was the daughter of Aimé de Boyrie Bernard, the sister of Jean Baptiste de Boyrie, therefore Benjamin Clauzel and Francisco Vergés were married to 1st cousins making both partners in Clausel & Verges (François Félix Clauzel and Eugène Marcelin Vergés) 2nd cousins.

In addition to the above family relationship, in 1854 François Félix Clauzel married Marie Élisabeth Agathe de Laage de Meux (1834-1916) and from that marriage was born in Citran, France a son named Jean Baptiste Paul Clauzel (1856-1906).  Jean Baptiste Paul married his cousin Marie Emma (Mita) Vergés Ramú (1865-1905) born in Puerto Rico to Eugène Marcelin Vergés Lepelleux and Adele Adrienne Ramú Moret (-1875).  Paul and Mita returned to live in France sometime ca. 1900.  

The Riefkohl and Vergés families were also related since Eugene Marcelin Vergés second wife was Karoline Adelheide "Carolina" Riefkohl Mourier (1863- ), whom he married in 1861 after the death of his first wife Marie Louise  "Luisa" Sandoz y Cugnier (1832-1858) borm in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.  Carolina was the daughter of Otto Julius Riefkohl Baetke and his second wife St. John Danish VI born Louise Mourier (1836-1910).  Another of the nine children born from Otto's marriage to Louise Mourier was Ottilie Ostgeba "Estella/Ella" Riefkohl Mourier (1868- ).  Ella married Antonio S. Alcaide Baiz (1863- ) who was also in the sugar business and one of the owners of Central Providencia and of Central Machete. 

Central Columbia did not own any land except where the factory was located.  Its sugarcane was to come from the three plantations owned by its members;

• Hacienda Bordalesa, co-owned by Eugene Marcelin Vergés Lepelleux as to ⅔ since ca. 1880-1900 and the Clauzel family 

• Hacienda Garonne,  owned by Fantauzzi Hnos. was where the processing plant was built 

• Hacienda Orleanesa, owned by Otto Julius Riefkohl Baetcke and upon his death by his estate known as Sucn. Otto Julius Riefkohl

Sugarcane was also to come from colonos or local area growers such as José Maria Ortiz of Hacienda Carolina and Dr. Antonio José Amadeo Antonmarchi of Hacienda San Isidro. 

The organizers of Central Columbia at some point in time also had ownership in other sugar mills in the area.  Guillermo Riefkohl Mourier (1862-1920), son of Otto Julius Riefkohl Baetcke, Eugene Marcelin Vergés Lepelleux and Sucrs. C & J Fantauzzi had ownership interests in Central Providencia in Patillas; C & J Fantauzzi owned Central Lafayette in Arroyo and Luis Francisco Vergés Ramú* (1869-1910) the son of Eugene Marcelin Vergés Lepelleux had ownership interest in Santa Isabel Sugar, Co., Machete Sugar Co. and Borinquen Sugar Co.

A brief history of Columbia sugar mill can be found starting on page 4 of the Batey Columbia Railroad Bridge study by Engineer Luis Pumarada O'Neil.  Central Columbia operated only for twenty seven years but the production numbers available are missing from 1924 to 1928.  It is unbeknown to us why these figures are unavailable since following a period of labor unrest, Columbia enjoyed a period of relative good labor relations during that period of time.

A February 1929 letter from Caroline Riefkohl Mourier (1864- ) to her son-in-law John Harvard Castle, the husband of Adele Vergés Riefkohl (1893-1950), states the financial issues of Clauzel & Vergés that led to its dissolution in the 1930s: (1) Huricane San Felipe of 1928 destroyed Central Columbia which was a total loss, (2) Hacienda Bordalesa then valued at $700,000 and subject to a $250,000 mortgage had to be sold to Sucrs. C & J Fantauzzi for a mere $400,000 and, (3) Hacienda Felicia was sold in 1927 for $250,000 to Genaro Cautiño Insua who incorporated it to his Central Guamaní. 

According to a neighbor we talked to, and confirmed by the above said study, Columbia ceased operations in 1928 due to damage caused by Hurricane San Felipe which made landfall on the southeast coast of the island, precisely where Columbia was.  After the hurricane, its machinery was moved to Central Lafayette in nearby Arroyo and all the sugarcane until then processed at Columbia was thereafter processed at Central Lafayette.  The above said neighbor told us that the owners of Columbia changed the course of the Maunabo River to have closer access to a water source needed in the manufacturing process and for irrigation.

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*This link is to an article published in the Diario de Cádiz on July 5, 2020 written and provided to me by Dr. Bernardo Rodriguez Caparrini, member of the Grupo de Estudios Históricos "Esteban Boutelou" at the University of Cádiz in Spain with the contribution of Richard del Rio Vergés who also contributed valuable information for this webpage on the history and life of the Vergés and Clauzel families and Central Columbia.