In the male-dominated historical record of East Florida during the era of the American Revolution, a few women stand out as noteworthy. Most women in eighteenth-century East Florida were from the working classes, of whom there are scant records of individuals or their accomplishments. A few had sufficient wealth and status, enough to leave behind […]
Captain Robert Bisset arrived in East Florida in 1767. Immediately upon his coming, he set to work on establishing himself as a planter. For seventeen years, between 1767 and 1784, he and his son established and managed several plantations around East Florida. Apart from colonizing the frontier province, Bisset’s presence in the historical record is […]
In March 1777, while Andrew Turnbull was away in England, several Minorcans escaped New Smyrna and fled to St. Augustine, East Florida. They hiked seventy to eighty miles from Mosquito Inlet to the colony’s capital. Arriving there safely, they complained to East Florida Gov. Patrick Tonyn about the struggles and depravations they endured at New Smyrna. After […]
Beyond Florida’s state boundaries the history of New Smyrna is seldom mentioned.[1] Well known to the locals of New Smyrna Beach, the region’s settlement by European colonists dates to 1768 when Scottish physician Andrew Turnbull led a colonization effort to Britain’s far flung outpost in North America. After a trip to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, […]
