Daniel Wright Frost, uncle of Samuel Frost Haviland, went to Chile and sent for his nephew, Samuel, and in a letter dated June 12, 1822, Samuel writes to his parents in New York State from Coquimbo, Chile, "My uncle and his family are here and I have engaged to stay with him and do his writing one year.   I am very much pleased with my new aunt, and in fact with all the family that I have met.  My aunt has a mother, two sisters, and they have the name of being one of the first families in Coquimbo."  Samuel in 1825 would marry one of those sisters.  He was the first man to start a bank in Chile, and he was United States Consul General for many years until his death.   Long after he died, his house was considered by genealogist Josephine Frost one of the handsomest in Santiago, and the first house built in modern European fashion, in contrast to the old adobe Spanish house of that period.

Samuel Frost Haviland, born at Peekskill, NY December 22 1798, sailed for the west coast of South America in the winter of 1821 - 22, reaching Valparaiso, the chief seaport of Chile, about March 1822.  After visiting for four or five weeks Santiago, which he describes in a letter to his parents as being nearly as large as New York, he took a ship to Coquimbo, a small seaport important on account of its copper mines, and located about two hundred and fifty miles north of Valparaiso.

His uncle, Daniel Wright Frost, a prosperous merchant of the place, who carried on an extensive trade with China, had resided here for some time, and two years earlier had married Dona Paola Osandon e Irrebarren, the daughter of Don Diego Irrebarren and Don Diego's wife Maria, herself daughter of Martin de Iribarren. The families were recorded, in the terms commonly applied by their class in that place, as the best families of the place, being of pure Spanish descent.  Samuel accepted a position with his uncle at a salary of six hundred dollars plus board for one year, after which, as he wrote his parents, having learned the language, there would be some prospects of his doing something for himself.  He found Coquimbo (or La Serena as it is sometimes called, though La Serena was actually some miles distant), a most charming place, with a delightful climate (presumably after his experience of the weather in Peekskill, New York), a quaint old world society with simple habits, kindly and hospitable, and through his connections was thrown most intimately into it.   It is not surprising, therefore, that on August 1st 1825 he married his aunt's younger sister, Maria Feliza Ossandon e Irriberren (1803 - 1893), then aged 18.  Another much older sister had married in 1807 Dr George Edwards, whose son, Augustin, would become one of the greatest bankers and capitalists of the South American Continent.

Sixteen months after Samuel's marriage to Maria, uncle Daniel Wright Frost died in December 1826.

In 1830 Samuel founded in La Serena the first mining bank in Chile, and it was he who issued the first bank notes in that country.   The highest denomination was of one dollar, and bore the vignette of a horse; the next lower, of fifty cents, than of a cow, and still another of twenty-five cents, that of a calf.  It is interesting to speculate on the significance of those animals, and perhaps also of their relative values in the context of nineteenth 1830s Coquimbo.  These banknotes were current throughout the mining region around Coquimbo, being as acceptable and more portable than gold coin.  

On 1st March 1839, Samuel was appointed US Consul at Coquimbo.

By 1842 we finds him referred to by his Chilean friends as Don Samuel, and in this year he relocated to Santiago, the capital.   He built a magnificent mansion on the "Alameda" between the streets Calle Ahumada and Calle Estado, which "Chile Illustrado", a standard work of the nineteenth century, published 1872, described as the first well constructed and elegant residence of the capital.

Don Samuel was described at this time as most hospitable, entertaining lavishly, his house being the rendez-vous for distinguished foreigners visiting the capital.   Each Fourth of July there was a banquet to which American and English friends were invited.   His toast, on these occasions, turning in particular to one of his more intimate friends, the Englishman Mr Eastman who never missed being present, was "Here's to the day we licked you," and Mr Eastman never failed to respond, "Here's to the day we got rid of you."

Samuel Frost Haviland died December 18th, 1858 at 5.30 in the morning, and "El Ferrocarril" published the following text in its death notice:

This distinguished gentleman established himself in Chile many years ago.   Owing to his enterprise and industry he had acquired a considerable fortune and his merits had won for him a very high and honorable social position.   He was the first who founded a bank in this country, showing us practically the importance and advantages of these institutions of credit.  He always took a part in all those great enterprises which in the last few years have been introduced into this country, wishing to contribute with his wealth to the always increasing development and progress of the land of his adoption.

Mr Haviland was one of those enterprising foreigners. who associate themselves in such a manner to our customs, interest and prosperity that he may well be considered as a true Chilean citizen.

We deeply mourn with his family the great loss they have sustained.

Early in 1911 a large packet of letters was found in an old house in Peekskill, New York.   They were mostly written by Samuel Frost Haviland to his parents during his early years in Chile.   [The present writer does not know where those letters are now (in 2003) but would dearly like to.]  The extracts quoted below are from Josephine Frost's selection.  They concentrate, in particular, on extracts of genealogical relevance.

The earliest letter is dated New York October 30, 1821, stating that he will "sail tomorrow, if they can get outside the Hook," and that he went "to see Mrs Jacob Covert and she gave him a glass of jelly," recommending it for seasickness.  He also asks to be remembered to his Aunt Patty Frost.

The second letter, dated March 14, 1822, from Coquimbo, was from Daniel Wright Frost to Samuel Frost Haviland, the latter having recently arrived in Valparaiso, telling him that if he cannot get accommodation there he should go to the "Publick House kept by Mrs Walker in Santiago," where DWF will meet him in eight or ten days.

In a letter dated March 20, 1822, from Valparaiso, SFH writes to his parents that he has arrived Valparaiso, but his uncle DWF is still in Coquimbo, and that DWF's partner is entertaining him.   SFH had sailed from New York on a ship called "Franklin", and his passage was paid by Mr Jeranto, guaranteed by Mr Field, and by his uncle Benjamin Knapp.  The letter was addressed to his father, John Downing Haviland 1769 - 1829, at Peeksill, and sent care of Captain Requa.

Writing January 10, 1823 from Coquimbo, SFH wrote to his parents of the severity of the earthquakes, saying also that he had heard, apparently with family news,  from his sister, Charlotte [Charlotte Haviland 1797 - 1874] and that his sister Sarah [Sarah Ann Haviland 1800 - 1886 who had married 1821 Steven Fowler 1798 - 1855] had moved to the home of her father in law  [Jesse Fowler] , and that Uncle Owen's family in Scipio were well, and he writes of Cousin Esther's [presumably Esther or Hester Haviland 1755 - 1838 who had married 1779 to Gilbert Strang 1753 - 1825] broken leg.

August 2, 1823, SFH writes from Coquimbo that he is anxious to see his parents, but that his uncle has just given him a half interest in a brig that will trade on the coast, and SFH will make two thousand dollars a month for at least five or six months by going south and bringing wheat and provisions to Coquimbo where these are scarce and expensive whereby they can be bought for very little in Conception and Valdivia.  Also, he is about to sail for Huasco, to despatch the brig Coromandel with a cargo of copper for New York or Boston [presumably sailing via Cape Horn] .   By her he sends the present letter and one for his cousin Ebenezer.  He boasts that he thinks nothing of mounting his mule and riding two or three hundred miles, and that he rode to Copiapo, three hundred and fifty miles away, in four days without the least fatigue.

May 14, 1825 SFH reported from Coquimbo that, among other minor things, his uncle Daniel has a son and a  daughter [presumably Mercedes Frost-Ossandón who would marry Emilio de la Soto].

June 15, 1825 SFH wrote to Ebenezer Haviland [probably Ebenezer Haviland who would die Chile 1834, a son to Gilbert Haviland 1757 - 1819 by his marriage to Phebe J Wright] telling Ebenezer that he will probably sail with Capt William Hale of the brig Carlo of New York.  The letter is addressed to Ebenezer at 131 Chatham Street, New York, and sent "by the Brig Geo.Gardner, Capt Davidson of Baltimore".   (It appears that Ebenezer turned up in Chile only in 1828, so presumably he failed to sail with Captian William Hale in 1825.)

December 10, 1825, possibly in response to an implicit or express plea to come home and settle back in New York, SFH wrote to his parents from Huasco that he "does not care to come back and sell tape and calico again".

December 10, 1825, SFH wrote to his parents and sisters from Port of Huasco that he had married August 1st 1826 Maria Felisa Osandon.   (Her name here follows anglophone usage.   Under local usage she would retain her mother's and her father's family names, and prior to her marriage would have been known as Maria Feliza Ossandon e Irribarren.)   The compiler cannot desist from wondering why SFH took over four months to write and inform the folks back home of his marriage.

March 4, 1827 SFH wrote his father that Daniel Wright Frost (DWF) had died 13th December 1826 after an illness of weeks. DWF was brother to SFH's own mother Anna Wright Frost 1776 -1851.

August 13 1828, SFH wrote his parents from Coquimbo that his wife and family are well and that there is a boy four days old.