Kingsley Plantation - Fort George Island, Florida

Kingsley Plantation House

This is part two of a Black History Month series on key African American heritage sites in Florida

 Hidden on coastal island almost within site of the skyline of Jacksonville, the historic Kingsley Plantation holds tremendous significance in American History.

With a main house that was built using slave labor in 1798, the plantation was established during the days of when Florida was still a Spanish colony. In 1814 it was purchased by Zephania Kingsley and his African wife, Anta (Anna) Madgigine Jai. He had first come to Florida in 1803 and purchased her as a slave in Cuba in 1806. The two fell in love, however, and Kingsley set Anta and her children free in 1811. They were married and Zephaniah Kingsley, even though he continued to own slaves, became a major proponent for the rights of free blacks in America.

Florida was transferred from Spain to the United States in 1821 and the Kingsleys found themselves facing major changes in the laws affecting African Americans. Restriction after restriction was handed down and Zephaniah railed against these and debated lawmakers on the subject of the rights of free blacks. He also wrote a major treatise on the subject that was read and discussed both North and South.

By 1830, however, Kingsley realized he was fighting a lost cause. Deciding that there was no immediate hope of changing laws in the United States, he freed 50 of his slaves and took them to Haiti where he established a free settlement. He died in 1843, but Anta (Anna) lived until the 1870s and eventually returned to Florida to live out her days.

To learn more about their fascinating home and its many unique features, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/kingsley.

Events at Pensacola - The Accounts of Mrs. Slemmer & Mrs. Gilmer

Mrs. Caroline Slemmer

When state forces from Florida and Alabama had occupied Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee and the Pensacola Navy Yard in January of 1861, a number of the wives and children of soldiers were present. These, along with U.S. servicemen taken prisoner and paroled and other noncombatants, went aboard the storeship U.S.S. Supply. The vessel made its way out of Pensacola Harbor and set sail, arriving in New York 150 years ago today.

Aboard the Supply were the wives of Lieutenants Adam J. Slemmer and J.H. Gilman, the two principal officers now commanding the besieged garrison of fewer than 100 U.S. soldiers and sailors at Fort Pickens. They provided to northern newspapers a unique account of the situation at Pensacola as it had been when they left the harbor in January:

Statements of Mrs. Slemmer and Mrs. Gilman.

Mrs. Lieutenant Slemmer and Mrs. Lieut. J.H. Gilman, two ladies who have arrived at New York in the Supply, from Pensacola, have furnished the Times with some particulars attending their departure from that place. We quote:

The exodus from the Barrancas Fort was made necessarily in much haste, there being little time except to hurriedly pack up the most valuable articles of furniture and wardrobe. No personal violence was offered to three retreating women and children, but the sudden and peaceable breaking up of so many peaceful households, and the violent separation of family ties, were cause of great distress. To many the parting of husband and wife was as if for the last time, and tears bedewed many a hardy cheek when the last “good-bye” was spoken.

Fort Barrancas

During the day and night of the evacuation of Barrancas, and the transfer of the garrison to Fort Pickens, every person – men, the officers and their wives – performed prodigies of labor, and never obtained a wink of sleep for nearly twenty-four hours; and the hard work fell about equally upon all, without regard to rank or sex. The ladies cheerfully performed their part throughout the trying ordeal. On the day following the embarkation of the families on board the Supply, Mrs. Gilman and Mrs. Slemmer, accompanied by officers from the storeship, went on shore under a flag of truce to obtain a last interview with their husbands.

Lieut. Slemmer asserted that he could hold the place against five thousand men, and declared he would do it.

All the prisoners in the navy-yard were permitted to leave after giving their parole, and those who could get away left. Such as decided to remain were compelled to take the oath of allegiance to serve the State of Florida.

The United States steamer Wyandotte is kept constantly under steam, at a safe distance from the reach of enemies, and in readiness to co-operate in the defense of the fort. In case of an emergency she will be at hand ready to receive on board the garrison, should they be overpowered and obliged to abandon the fort to the enemy. There are arrangements by which the entire forces will be able to escape through a covered way to the beach, where they can take the boats and go on board any vessel that may be in waiting to receive them. In such event it will probably be blown up.

It is stated that every one of the lieutenants and most of the other officers on board the Wyandotte have resigned, and that with the exception of the engineers, Capt. Berryman has been left entirely alone. - Pittsfield Sun, February 6, 1861.

To learn more about the historic sites in and around Pensacola Bay, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pensacola1.

 

Black History Month in Florida - Fort Mose Historic State Park

Fort Mose Historic State Park

This is part one of a Black History Month series on key African American heritage sites in Florida.

Fort Mose Historic State Park

Visitors to historic St. Augustine often overlook Fort Mose, which is the focal point of a historic state park on the north side of the city. The park does not offer the towering stone walls of the Castillo de San Marcos or charming streets of America's oldest city, yet it is a historic site of enormous national importance.

Established in 1738 by the Spanish to serve as a first line of defense for the colonial city of St. Augustine, Fort Mose holds distinction as the first settlement ever established for free blacks in the continental United States.

Artist's Conception of Fort Mose

Designated as a National Historic Landmark, the fort was initially occupied by 100 free African Americans, many of whom had escaped from slavery in the Carolinas. The Spanish in Florida, however, offered them freedom if they would adopt the Catholic faith and join the local militia. The policy brought so many escaped slaves across the line into Florida that Fort Mose was established to give them a place to build homes and clear fields of their own. The settlement grew to become a significant part of the St. Augustine landscape.

The fort was the scene of an important battle during the English invasion of 1740, but was rebuilt and provided a home survived as a key settlement for free African Americans until 1763, when Spain surrendered Florida to England at the end of the Seven Years War. The inhabitants of the Fort Mose settlement were evacuated to Cuba, where their descendants live today.

It is truly sad to note that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) now proposes closing Fort Mose, a site of great historical importance and a landmark of black history, to save money. The DEP is recommending that 56 Florida State Parks be closed to save $6.5 million (out of a total DEP budget of over $1.4 BILLION). Among them are many, like Fort Mose, that are significant to Florida's African American heritage. To voice your opinions on this, please click here to email Rep. Trudi K. Williams, who chairs the subcommittee considering the closure recommendation.

To learn more about Fort Mose, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortmose2.

The park is hosting a special "Flight to Freedom" event to celebrate Black History Month on Saturday, February 12th. Cost of admission is $2 per person and reenactors will recreate life at the settlement with events including drumming demonstrations, cannon fire and more.