THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW SMYRNA BY THE ANCESTORS OF A MAJORITY OF THE
PRESENT POPULATION OF ST. AUGUSTINE.--THE HARDSHIPS ENDURED BY
THESE MINORCAN AND GREEK COLONISTS.--THEIR REMOVAL TO ST. AUGUSTINE
UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNOR.
The proclamation of Governor Grant, and the accounts which had gone
abroad of the advantages of the province, and the liberal policy adopted
by the British in the treatment of colonists, induced some wealthy
planters from the Carolinas to remove to Florida, and several noblemen
of England also solicited grants of land in the province. Among the
noblemen who secured grants of land in Florida were Lords Hawke, Egmont,
Grenville, and Hillsborough, Sir William Duncan, and Dennys Rolle, the
father of Lord Rolle. Sir William Duncan was a partner with Dr. Turnbull
in importing a large number of Europeans for the cultivation of their
lands south of St. Augustine, on the Halifax River. The persons whom
these two gentlemen then induced to come to Florida are the ancestors of
a large majority of the resident population of St. Augustine at the
present day. In the early accounts of the place I am satisfied that
gross injustice was done to these people in a reckless condemnation of
the whole community. I have myself heard their descendants unreasonably
censured, and their characters severely criticised. These unfavorable
opinions were doubtless generated by the unfortunate position in which
these immigrants found themselves. Friendless in a strange land,
speaking a different language from the remainder of the inhabitants, and
of a different religious belief, it was but natural that they should
mingle but little with the English residents, especially after they had
experienced such unjust treatment at the hands of one of the most
influential of the principal men of the colony. The reader will
understand the position of these Minorcans and Greeks, and the feelings
they must have entertained toward the great men of the colony, after
reading Romans’s account of the hardships they were forced to undergo,
and the difficulty they had in breaking their onerous contract. Romans
says: “The situation of the town, or settlement, made by Dr. Turnbull is
called New Smyrna from the place of the doctor’s lady’s nativity. About
fifteen hundred people, men, women, and children, were deluded away from
their native country, where they lived at home in the plentiful
corn-fields and vineyards of Greece and Italy, to this place, where,
instead of plenty, they found want in the last degree; instead of
promised fields, a dreary wilderness; instead of a grateful, fertile
soil, a barren, arid sand, and in addition to their misery were obliged
to indent themselves, their wives and children for many years to a man
who had the most sanguine expectations of transplanting bashawship from
the Levant. The better to effect his purpose, he granted them a pitiful
portion of land for ten years upon the plan of the feudal system. This
being improved, and just rendered fit for cultivation, at the end of
that term it again reverts to the original grantor, and the grantee may,
if he chooses, begin a new state of vassalage for ten years more. Many
were denied even such grants as these, and were obliged to work at tasks
in the field. Their provisions were, at the best of times, only a quart
of maize per day, and two ounces of pork per week. This might have
sufficed with the help of fish, which abounded in this lagoon; but they
were denied the liberty of fishing, and, lest they should not labor
enough, inhuman taskmasters were set over them, and instead of allowing
each family to do with their homely fare as they pleased, they were
forced to join altogether in one mess, and at the beat of a vile drum to
come to one common copper, from whence their hominy was ladled out to
them; even this coarse and scanty meal was, through careless management,
rendered still more coarse, and, through the knavery of a providetor and
the pilfering of a hungry cook, still more scanty. Masters of vessels
were forewarned from giving any of them a piece of bread or meat.
Imagine to yourself an African--one of a class of men whose hearts are
generally callous against the softer feelings--melted with the wants of
these wretches, giving them a piece of venison, of which he caught what
he pleased, and for this charitable act disgraced, and, in course of
time, used so severely that the unusual servitude soon released him to a
happier state. Again, behold a man obliged to whip his own wife for
pilfering bread to relieve his helpless family; then think of a time
when the small allowance was reduced to half, and see some brave,
generous seamen charitably sharing their own allowance with some of
these wretches, the merciful tars suffering abuse for their generosity,
and the miserable objects of their ill-timed pity undergoing bodily
punishment for satisfying the cravings of a long-disappointed appetite,
and you may form some judgment of the manner in which New Smyrna was
settled. Before I leave this subject I will relate the insurrection to
which those unhappy people at New Smyrna were obliged to have recourse,
and which the great ones styled rebellion. In the year 1769, at a time
when the unparalleled severities of their taskmasters, particularly one
Cutter (who had been made a justice of the peace, with no other view
than to enable him to execute his barbarities on a larger extent and
with greater appearance of authority) had drove these wretches to
despair, they resolved to escape to the Havannah. To execute this they
broke into the provision stores and seized on some craft lying in the
harbor, but were prevented from taking others by the care of the
misters. Destitute of any man fit for the important post of leader,
their proceedings were all confused, and an Italian of very bad
principles, but of so much note that he had formerly been admitted to
the overseer’s table, assumed a kind of command; they thought themselves
secure where they were, and this occasioned a delay till a detachment of
the Ninth Regiment had time to arrive, to whom they submitted, except
one boatful, which escaped to the Florida Keys and were taken up by a
Providence man. Many were the victims destined to punishment; as I was
one of the grand jury which sat fifteen days on this business, I had an
opportunity of canvassing it well; but the accusations were of so small
account that we found only five bills: one of these was against a man
for maiming the above said Cutter, whom it seems they had pitched upon
as the principal object of their resentment, _and curtailed his ear and
two of his fingers_; another for shooting a cow, which, being a capital
crime in England, the law making it such was here extended to this
province; the others were against the leader and two more for the
burglary committed on the provision store. The distress of the sufferers
touched us so that we almost unanimously wished for some happy
circumstances that might justify our rejecting all the bills, except
that against the chief who was a villain. One man was brought before us
three or four times, and, at last, was joined in one accusation with the
person who maimed Cutter; yet, no evidence of weight appearing against
him, I had an opportunity to remark, by the appearance of some faces in
court, that he had been marked, and that the grand jury disappointed the
expectations of more than one great man. Governor Grant pardoned two,
and a third was obliged to be the executioner of the remaining two. On
this occasion I saw one of the most moving scenes I ever experienced;
long and obstinate was the struggle of this man’s mind, who repeatedly
called out that he chose to die rather than be the executioner of his
friends in distress; this not a little perplexed Mr. Woolridge, the
sheriff, till at length the entreaties of the victims themselves put an
end to the conflict in his breast, by encouraging him to act. Now we
beheld a man thus compelled to mount the ladder, take leave of his
friends in the most moving manner, kissing them the moment before he
committed them to an ignominious death. Cutter some time after died a
lingering death, having experienced besides his wounds the terrors of a
coward in power overtaken by vengeance.”[26]
The original agreement made with the immigrants before leaving the
Mediterranean was much more favorable to them than Romans describes it.
At the end of three years each head of a family was to have fifty acres
of land and twenty-five for each child of his family. This contract was
not adhered to on the part of the proprietors, and it was not until, by
the authority of the courts, they had secured their freedom from the
exactions imposed upon them that any disposition was shown to deed them
lands in severalty. After the suppression of this attempt to escape,
these people continued to cultivate the lands as before, and large crops
of indigo were produced by their labor. Meantime the hardships and
injustice practiced against them continued, until, in 1776, nine years
from their landing in Florida, their number had been reduced by
sickness, exposure, and cruel treatment from fourteen hundred to six
hundred.
At that time it happened that some gentlemen visiting New Smyrna from
St. Augustine were heard to remark that if these people knew their
rights they never would submit to such treatment, and that the governor
ought to protect them. This remark was noted by an intelligent boy who
told it to his mother, upon whom it made such an impression that she
could not cease to think and plan how, in some way, their condition
might be represented to the governor. Finally, she decided to call a
council of the leading men among her people. They assembled soon after
in the night, and devised a plan of reaching the governor. Three of the
most resolute and competent of their number were selected to make the
attempt to reach St. Augustine and lay before the governor a report of
their condition. In order to account for their absence they asked to be
given a long task, or an extra amount of work to be done in a specified
time, and if they should complete the work in advance, the intervening
time should be their own to go down the coast and catch turtle. This was
granted them as a special favor. Having finished their task by the
assistance of their friends so as to have several days at their
disposal, the three brave men set out along the beach for St. Augustine.
The names of these men, most worthy of remembrance, were Pellicier,
Llambias, and Genopley. Starting at night they reached and swam Matanzas
Inlet the next morning, and arrived at St. Augustine by sundown of the
same day. After inquiry they decided to make a statement of their case
to Mr. Young, the attorney-general of the province. No better man could
have been selected to represent the cause of the oppressed. They made
known to him their condition, the terms of their original contract, and
the manner in which they had been treated. Mr. Young promised to present
their case to the governor, and assured them if their statements could
be proved, the governor would at once release them from the indentures
by which Turnbull claimed to control them. He advised them to return to
Smyrna and bring to St. Augustine all who wished to leave New Smyrna,
and the service of Turnbull. “The envoys returned with the glad tidings
that their chains were broken and that protection awaited them. Turnbull
was absent, but they feared the overseers, whose cruelty they dreaded.
They met in secret and chose for their leader Mr. Pellicier, who was
head carpenter. The women and children with the old men were placed in
the center, and the stoutest men armed with wooden spears were placed in
front and rear. In this order they set off, like the children of Israel,
from a place that had proved an Egypt to them. So secretly had they
conducted the transaction, that they proceeded some miles before the
overseer discovered that the place was deserted. He rode after the
fugitives and overtook them before they reached St. Augustine, and used
every exertion to persuade them to return, but in vain. On the third day
they reached St. Augustine, where provisions were served out to them by
order of the governor. Their case was tried before the judges, where
they were honestly defended by their friend the attorney-general.
Turnbull could show no cause for detaining them, and their freedom was
fully established. Lands were offered them at New Smyrna, but they
suspected some trick was on foot to get them into Turnbull’s hands, and
besides they detested the place where they had suffered so much. Lands
were therefore assigned them in the north part of the city, where they
have built houses and cultivated their gardens to this day. Some by
industry have acquired large estates: they at this time form a
respectable part of the population of the city.”[27]
It will be seen by the date of their removal to St. Augustine that the
unfavorable comments of Romans and the Englishman whose letter he quotes
upon the population of the town at the cession to Great Britain, could
not have referred to the immigrants who came over under contract with
Turnbull. It will also be seen that Williams speaks in very
complimentary terms of these people and their descendants. I am pleased
to quote from an earlier account a very favorable, and, as I believe, a
very just tribute to the worth of these Minorcan and Greek settlers and
their children. Forbes, in his sketches, says: “They settled in St.
Augustine, where their descendants form a numerous, industrious, and
virtuous body of people, distinct alike from the indolent character of
the Spaniards and the rapacious habits of some of the strangers who have
visited the city since the exchange of flags. In their duties as small
farmers, hunters, fishermen, and other laborious but useful occupations,
they contribute more to the real stability of society than any other
class of people: generally temperate in their mode of life and strict in
their moral integrity, they do not yield the palm to the denizens of the
land of steady habits. Crime is almost unknown among them; speaking
their native tongue, they move about distinguished by a primitive
simplicity and purity as remarkable as their speech.”[28]
Many of the older citizens now living remember the palmetto houses which
used to stand in the northern part of the town, built by the people who
came up from Smyrna. By their frugality and industry the descendants of
those who settled at Smyrna have replaced these palmetto huts with
comfortable cottages, and many among them have acquired considerable
wealth, and taken rank among the most respected and successful citizens
of the town.
[1771.]