Domingo de Ureña Céspedes was the son of Domingo de Ureña and Juana Céspedes. He was born about 1744. He had two sister known, Mariana de Ureña Céspedes, wife of Gonzalo Rodríguez Rosario and María de Ureña Céspedes, second wife of Gonzalo's father José Rodríguez. Domingo married Juana Valerio León, daughter of Fernando Valerio and Isabel de León.

On the morning of May 20, 1792, Domingo traveled to a hermitage in Sabana Grande. That day, two enslaved couples who were owned by Teniente de Dragones José de Ceballos were married. After mass around 1:30pm, there was a commotion in the house of Francisco Espaillat where some of the parishioners arrived to see the slaves being separated by Espaillat's bursar, Santiago Montaño, a Frenchman. Another Frenchman and Espaillat's mayordomo, Pedro Armagnac, was also there and Domingo noticed the two having a conversation before the slaves were armed with sticks and Armagnac went to shoot Montaño. Montaño was struck in the head damaging his hat and the man fell to the floor as if he had died. Soon after, Montaño got up and went for his assailant who equiped a second pistol firing it at Montaño. Montaño was able to grab onto Armagnac, fight him for a while knocking the shooter to the ground. One of the slaves then struck Montaño with his stick stunning him. Domingo did not recognize which of the slaves stuck the bursar, but overheard that it was a slave named Juan Colé. After this was general mayhem where the slaves began fighting amongst themselves and the whites (even the local priest, José Ruiz) went to sperate those fighting. Domingo described it as:

"... que parecía un día del Juicio porque ya los negros se havían enfurecido unos con otros que quasi no atendían y duraría más de media hora la batalla..."

"... it looked like Judgment Day because the blacks were already enraged with each other that they almost did not pay attention and the battle lasted more than half an hour..."

Seeing Pedro Armagnac armed with loaded pistols and slaves given weapons, Domingo de Ureña made the opinion that the event was premeditated on Armagnac's part.

Following this, Armagnac had the priest go to Teniente José de Ceballos to demand the release of two blacks who were prisoner declaring that if they were not freed, Armagnac and the slaves under his command would take back them by force. Domingo noted that the priest was effectively interested in the release of the two blacks to appease Armagnac. The two slaves were released and left outside the palisade with Doña Petronila Velilla, Francisco Espaillat's wife, and the priest, José Ruiz, with them.

Finally, Domingo declared that no one aside from Santiago Montaño was seriously injured. Twice he was shot in the head and then struck in the body leaving him covered in blood from head to toe, though he did live. Domingo declared he was 48 years of age and signed his statement before the alcalde ordinario, Don Andrés López de Villanueva and Antonio López, public notary. 

• Motín de esclavos en los ingenios de Sabana Grande, Santiago, 1792 (pages 509-549)

  • Domingo's statement is from page 512 to 514.

• Church records

  • Baptisms, Marriages, Burials and Marital Dispensations from the Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic.