Gabriel Milan ( – 26 March 1689) was a colonial administrator and planter who served as governor of the Danish West Indies from 7 May 1684 to 27 February 1686. Though he mainly went by the name of 'Gabriel Milan', he identified himself as "Don Franco de Tebary Cordova" in his correspondence with King Frederick III of Denmark-Norway. Like many of the early Danish West Indies governors, Milan's term was short, as he disagreed with the Danish management on several issues. He was called to Denmark after less than two years and executed after a lengthy trial.
Early life Milan came from a reputable Sephardic Jewish family, likely from Spain, and had connections in Portugal, Flanders, and Hamburg. Some genealogists note that he is the son of Manuel Cardoso de Milão and Sara de Cáceres.Heymann, Heymann Family Web Site, accessed February 13, 2007 At some point, his family was forced into a Catholic baptism,Terslin, Milan, 9 however, they had re-assumed their Jewish identity by the time of Milan's life.Locker, 'Yehūdīm', 138.
Milan was first married to the daughter of Benjamin Musaphia, a Jewish scholar and author of a number of scientific works regarding archaeology, Semite philology, and alchemy. His wife's given name was not recorded in any sources, except that her last name was De Castro and her family's coat of arms depicting a moor's head.Terslin, Milan, 10 Thus, his family was related by marriage to the well-known Portuguese-Jewish houses of da Costa. Among the people connected to this family was Emanuel Teixiera Cardosa de Milan (also known as Isaac Haim Senior Teixeira – d. 1705), a wealthy merchant of the Portuguese Jewish community in Hamburg who was Milan's uncle by marriage. Another of Milan's uncles was Moseh Abenzur, a shipowner and jeweller who was also known by the names, Paulo de Milao, Milan, and Poul Didricksen.Terslin, Milan, 13 Moseh's oldest son, Josua Abenzur, was the brother-in-law of Milan and in his early dealings, Milan often borrowed money from Josua.
According to a letter to the King of Denmark, Milan begun his career as a soldier, notably as a colonel in the Spanish cavalry in Flanders (1654–55). He participated in the Thirty Years' War on the Spanish side against France in 1657, and fought at the Battle of Dunkerque. During this period, Milan was living in Brussels and later served under Cardinal Mazarin.
In 1667, Milan was an Amsterdam merchant, concerned with financing Prince George of Denmark. In 1668, he was made Danish Factor, and, in 1670, Factor-General in Amsterdam. In this capacity, Milan composed reports on political and commercial matters, which afforded him confidential relations with various important people at the Danish Court. By this time, Milan was corresponding in Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Dutch.
Milan's first wife died in 1675, leaving behind two children. Shortly thereafter, Milan married the widow Juliane Regina von Breitenbach. With Juliane, Milan had five children (see The children of Gabriel Milan).
By 1684, the affairs of St. Thomas were moving too swiftly for the comfort of the directors at Copenhagen. George Iversen, the first Governor of St. Thomas, recounted that he was forced to conform to Adolph Esmit and later, Esmit's older brother, Nicolai, and was held in his office until a new incumbent was secured. The patience of the English government was exhausted, and they had no interest in hearing Esmit's complaints. At a shareholders' meeting on March 10, the directors of the Danish company were asked to choose a new Governor.
Two candidates presented themselves, Balthasar Lachmann, who was an auditor, and Gabriel Milan. Milan was selected because for his linguistic knowledge and business ability.Krarup, Milan, 3. The recommendation, dated March 14, was signed by the executive committee of the directors, consisting of Albert Gyldensparre, a brother of the disgraced Count Griffenfeld; Abraham Wüst, later to become a member of the Board of Trade; and Edward Holst. On May 7, 1684, the King issued an order that deposed Adolph Esmit and named Gabriel Milan as Governor of St. Thomas.Christian V. to A. Esmit. A. E., 1682-89.
Governorship To take the new governorship and his retinue over to the West Indies, the King set aside the warship Fortuna, armed with forty guns, and provided the ship with a crew of eighty men. Captain George Meyer, a German-speaking officer who was in the Danish-Norwegian service for five years, commanded the boat. Milan brought his family (his wife; his grown son, Felix; and his other four children), a governess, three maids, three lackeys and laborer, and a Tartar.Krarup, Milan, 5. The directors also sent Niels Lassen as Lieutenant Governor of sorts, and John Lorentz to serve as an assistant.
Lavish provisions were made for the Governor's comfort. Various foreign wines were on board, and place was found for six to seven dogs. The King furnished Milan with 6,000 rigsdaler (rdl) cash for Milan's immediate needs and gave him part of his salary in advance. Captain Meyer was entrusted with the secret order directing that, in case of Milan's death, Lassen would succeed him as the Governor. In case of Lassen's death, Lieutenant Christopher Heins of St. Thomas would take charge.Krarup, Milan, 6
Milan tried in vain to get an appointment to the Board of Trade on the ground that he knew the tricks of traders and money-changers, and he accumulated a list of claims against his royal master for services rendered in the Netherlands—from espionage to loans of money—which he had small chance of collecting in cash. His prospects of getting into the employ of the state were improved when, on January 18, 1682, he secured a certificate showing that he had discussed with a Hamburg Lutheran minister the relative merits of Catholicism and Protestantism, and thereby become convinced of the truth of the Augsburg Confession, and partook of the Holy Communion. In depending upon the favor of princes, he had been forced, even before his appointment as Governor, to drink deep from the cup of misfortune. However praiseworthy the King's selection of this 53-year-old soldier of fortune for service in the company might have been from motives of humanity, his choice could scarcely have been looked upon by hard-headed business men with anything but misgivings.
The Fortuna arrived at St. Thomas on October 13, 1684, after a voyage of about nine weeks.Krarup, Milan, 6. At Nevis Milan called on October 6 to pay his respects to Governor Stapleton and to receive the latter's "instruction". Sir William seems to have availed himself of the opportunity to accompany Milan and to witness Adolph Esmit's final disgrace. Esmit handed over the reins of office without delay or resistance. He also handed over a treasury so empty that when the English were ready to depart, after having been entertained for ten days, the money needed for the purchase of parting gifts for English dignitaries had to be borrowed by the government from a planter. What was worst of all, Esmit handed over to Milan an island that had become an outlaw among its more reputable neighbors. This was shown clearly enough two months before the latter's arrival, when, on May 22, a Spanish captain, Antonio Martino, landed and carried fifty-six slaves off to Hispaniola or Haiti. Lieutenant Heins had been sent over with two planters to demand the return of the loot, but without success.
That Esmit had been prepared for the present contingency there could be no doubt. The gold, silver, and other property that he was able to scrape together had been sent to the Dutch island of St. Eustatius, whence they were to be shipped to Flushing. Although Milan had been instructed only to secure the persons of Esmit and his family and to have them sent to Copenhagen, he took it upon himself to try to secure the latter's property as well, by sending Niels Lassen to Governor Houtcooper of St. Eustatius with an alleged copy of his instructions and a demand for the delivery of the goods. But neither this nor subsequent attempts availed the crafty governor. Instead of seeking redress through diplomatic channels, as his masters expected him to do, he authorized Captain Delicaet to take the company's ship Charlotte Amalie (named after Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel), find the skipper who had transported the goods and make his ship lawful prize.Personalhistorisk Tidskrift, 3 R. 2 B., 9. The skipper's name was Jochum Samuelsen. It was to avoid just this sort of complication that Esmit had been displaced. But Milan was an exponent of direct action, he sought advice from none, and the council dared not oppose his will.
Instead of sending his deposed predecessor back to Copenhagen to answer for his stewardship over the company's affairs, and to act as defendant in a suit brought by his brother Nicholas, he clapped him into confinement, first keeping him at the fort as his guest, but later putting him in a prison cell.Esmit to Gyldensparre (September 23, 1686). A. E., 1682-89. Madame Esmit had rightly decided that she could be more useful in Copenhagen than in St. Thomas and had started on her journey before Milan arrived. By this time, matters had grown rather beyond her power of control despite all her influential friends and her genius for intrigue, so she confined herself to taking measures to save what she could of the family property. She returned to St. Thomas in December to share the hardships of prison life with her husband.
The story of how Governor Milan, his sick body racked with fever almost from the first, restlessly suspicious and ofttimes with reason of his fellow men, jealous of his official power and position, administered the affairs of St. Thomas during his sixteen months' incumbency may be dealt with rather briefly. In Captain Meyer's attempt to provide the Fortuna, with a good return cargo, the governor took but an indifferent interest, and as to the Esmits' returning on the Fortuna, he would have none of it. Just why he should deliberately keep with him persons who could not but be a source of trouble as long as they were near, is difficult to explain on other grounds than cupidity. Milan had been unable to lay his hands on Esmit's gains. In his relations with his council, he showed his arbitrariness and wilfulness. In place of Lieutenant Heins, who happened to be absent on the company's business when Milan arrived, the governor promptly appointed his son, Felix.Krarup, Milan, 9. Instead of selecting permanent councilors from among the planters as he had been instructed to do under certain specified conditions, he put in now one, now another, until fourteen planters had taken part in the government with him.Krarup, Milan, 10.
With the other planters Milan was equally whimsical. For trifling misdemeanors, he instituted elaborate investigations and meted out extravagant fines and punishments where a wiser man would have overlooked the whole matter.Krarup, Milan, 12, 23, 26, 36. Offending slaves were made to feel the pressure of the governor's heavy hand. A runaway who might have been mercifully beheaded was impaled alive on a sharpened stick to die in horrible agony.Krarup, Milan, 22, 23. Another slave, arrested on a similar charge, had his foot cut off, after which he was confiscated to the governor's use and put to work in his kitchen.