KEYS HISTORY
KEY WEST WEEKLY / MARCH 28, 2019
Dark History Honoring Manuel Cabeza
A KWPD and MCSO honor color guard stands at attention during a memorial service held at the City Cemetery that, in City Commissioner Samuel Kaufman’s words, served as ‘a day of atonement’ for the island-born man who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. CAROL TEDESCO/ Contributed
On March, 23, residents and officials of our island gathered for an unusual purpose — even for Key West. Mourners met at Key West Cemetery to hold a funeral for a man who died nearly a hundred years ago: Private Manuel Cabeza. Cabeza was a Key West native and World War I veteran who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan on Christmas Day in 1921 because of his involvement with a woman with dark skin, known to us only as “Angela.” Cabeza was never provided a proper gravestone or service, but now a new gravestone has been placed. Mayor Teri Johnston opened the ceremony and Commissioner Clayton Lopez delivered the eulogy, an excerpt of which follows. It can serve as a history lesson, a homage, a hundred-years late obituary, and a meditation on the most admirable and most evil features of our shared history and character. —Weekly staff report
Company B 10th Engineer Regiment
Excerpt from the eulogy for Manuel Cabeza
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Left to right, Key West Mayor Teri Johnston, Commissioners Clayton Lopez, Samuel Kaufman, and Gregory Davila, and Deacon Marvin Hunt stand as Wes Dudley, second from left, plays 'Silent Night' during the memorial service.
REMEMBER MANUEL CABEZA. When you remember Manuel Cabeza, don’t think about the way Manuel Cabeza died. Think about the way Manuel Cabeza lived. Manuel Cabeza was born in Key West on June 17, 1887. He was the fourth child of Tomas Cabeza and Clara Peraza Cabeza and became brother to Willie, Clara, Dominica, Frank and Mary. Both of Manuel’s parents were born 4,000 miles away in the Canary Islands of Spain, but it was right here in Key West that Manuel was born and raised, a true Conch, with true Conch blood flowing through his veins. Manuel grew up on Louisa Street in a Key West that was much different than the island we know today. It was a time when the cigar industry was overtaking salt production and fishing as the major economic source. Key West was a true island at the time, and it would be 25 years before the Overseas Railway was constructed connecting us to the mainland.
There is much about Manuel Cabeza we do not know, but there are stories about him that have been passed down through our island tradition. Through these stories, we can see that Manuel Cabeza was a kind man, a brave man, a man who stood up for what he believed in, a man with a big sense of humor and a man with an even bigger heart. Cabeza once described to a newspaper how he came to be called Manuel Head. It all started when he was brought into the police station on minor charges and he recalled the famous “Chicken & Rice” case where a Cuban gambler told the arresting officer his name was Arroz Con Pollo. The name stuck in the dockets and the town had a good laugh. Cabeza paid tribute to the “Chicken & Rice” case by reporting his last name as “Head.” It went in the docket, and from there, it stuck. Manuel Head was 30 years old in 1917. He was working as a cook at The Roger Harris Restaurant and living on the corner of Virginia and Thomas Streets when he was ordered to report to the local board for military duty. The United States joined World War I several months prior. Manuel Cabeza trained at Camp Jackson, S.C. He was assigned the numerical designation 1873913 and departed for France from the docks of Hoboken, N.J. on the transport continued on page 36