Harbrook is the constable of Abeto Rojo and highest authority of its region, a butcher and smokehouse master holding delegated powers of judge, executioner and lord under the West India Company.
| Type | Character |
| Office | Constable of Abeto Rojo |
| Spanish entry | Harbrook |
Description
A gray-haired, gray-bearded man, “probably almost 60”, in a cuirass with two sabers; his sword “has a good crossguard”. Four assistants in vests serve as slaughterhouse hands and armed force.
Seat of power
Butcher shop, smokehouse, home and court are one place; the smokehouse is a wooden shed with metal hooks for smoking meat. The shop, also his home, belongs to his wife; he “is the butcher” because he lives there. “It is my town, it is my place.”
Delegated authority
He invokes his delegated power with a fixed formula: “In the name of the constables of New Amsterdam and the justices of the West India Company, the power of judge, executioner and lord has been delegated to me.” The system is semi-feudal and Dutch, with no authority between him and New Amsterdam. His rule covers “the region”, and all dealings with the town pass through him.
Locals call him “El Álamo” (“the Poplar”), “el árabe” (“the Arab”) and “el alma” (“the soul”), unexplained.
Open questions
- His wife’s name and authority are unknown.
- The extent of “the region”, and whether and how he reports to New Amsterdam, are not recorded.
- Whether he has ever acted as executioner is not recorded; his assistants have no names or ranks.
- “Abeto Rojo” and “Red Larch” are used as one place, but no document says so.