"I've a large plot that's particularly hard to manage," one said. "If someone would work it for me, I'd give them a quarter of it."
He was overheard by Frederico Sanchez, a hard-working immigrant from Mexico that the locals called Mexican Fred. Frederico approached the group and said that he would take those terms, if the man were serious. They reached an agreement, and Frederico began the rough work of moving rocks, irrigating, and cultivating the land. It took several seasons for the land to become profitably productive, but Frederico was determined and did his job well. At the end of the term he approached the landowner to collect the title for the portion of the land promised to him. Now that the land was tamed the man was reluctant to part with the quarter. It was significantly more than what others paid over for the same services where the ground was not so hard. He hedged on the original agreement and offered a smaller amount of land instead. Frederico was not about to accept anything less than what was offered him originally. He didn't have the agreement in writing, but many men had overheard the verbal contract.
"We should discuss it with the bishop," offered the landowner. He was a high priest in the church and was reasonably sure the bishop would decide in his favor. What he offered was fair, even if it wasn't what he'd originally agreed to.
Frederico wasn't a member of the church, so he hesitated. "Who is the bishop?" he asked.
"Daniel Matthews," the man replied.
Frederico knew him. He was a fair man. "If he isa your bishop, then heesa my bishop too!" Frederico exclaimed in thickly accented English. The two went to Daniel Matthews, the grandson of Joseph Matthews from earlier posts. He listened to them both and talked to some others who had been there at the time the agreement was made. Much to the landowners surprise, he sided with Mexican Fred.
Frederico Sanchez outlived many of the others in this story. I never met him personally, but my grandmother did. He is buried in the same cemetery as many of the Matthew's clan.
