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mmi mm-Se*hai?s^e iM^^npirfeable and■alan the most pathetic chapter of Florida’s history may Tjo found in that of a colony brought over from theMediterranean Isle of Minorica, whosedescendants to day are among the best of Florida’s citizens.In the year 1766, when Florida was an English colony, a company of English capitalists, decided to colonize the eastern part of the- State for the purpose of engaging largely in the business of sugar-making and the indigo culture. They owned a large grant of land particularly adapted to the crop they proposed to raise, and all that was wanted was workers. Dr. Andrew Turnbull was at the head of the company. Ambassadors were sent to Minorica. and 1,500souls readily agreed to remove Florida, upon conditions named. Their willingness to leave is explained by the fact that the country at that time was in a state of insurrection, and poor, many finding it hard to live, and their minds wereeasily impressed with the stories told of the marvelous country beyond the 6ea, with a clime like their own, skies and seas as blue, and fertile andbeautiful.The brave little colony set out in high hopes, inspired with the vision of the prosperity and happiness that awaited them Over sunny seas they sped, and in due time, in the year above mentioned, they came to their new home, named New Smyrna, after the Grecian Smyrna, the birthplace of Mrs. Turnbull.yrnaintothe4 mmfamily effectiou and. Taelat pride caused them to recognized as a very desirehle element of societyand good government, and so descendants to this day had everregarded.The sugar fields around NewSn went to paste and the mills fell decay. Over them clambered yellbw jessamine and the passionflower, and years afterwards the wildorange dropped Its yellow fruit intothe rustled boilers of the sugar mill.The company disbanded, but duringthe first part of this century anothereffort was made to establish the iu-dpstry. which was again interruptedby the Seminole wars, and for even years the Indians ruled supremeamong the ruins of the deserted settlement. A portion of an old rock wall is the only monument left to commemorate Turnbull's cruelty andthe introduction into this country of the sufferings and maltreatment of one of the finest people in the world.For awhile all went well. The sunshine was never failing, and there will a glory in it that was like wine to the sunny-natured Southerners. There was a splendid tropical growth and a mid-summer heat tempered by the breezes from the South that swept over grape-stained, vanilla scented isles in southern seas. Above all there was the promise of prosperity and homes. No wonder that they reveled and were happy in a land in so many respects like their own. Little homes were built, jessamine and oleander bowers were cultivated, vinesand tig trees grew in rank profusion, and the magnolias and the live oaks spread their stately shadows over all, and the Minoricans began to grow sugar-cane and indigo, encouraged by the promise of the company to give to every settler after three years’ toil a fanm of fifty acres.As time went by a few of the Minorcans settled in other parts of Florida, though St. Augustine has ever been the nucleus around which they have f athered, and all the other traditions of the city are cherished by them, and a halo, as of something sacred in their estimation hangs over the town and love for and pride in the quaint old city inherent in the soul of every Minorcans descendant.this inscription, the Minorcans bad at least education enough to anderstaM.and comprehend the unfcomplementarytone of Mr. Sewall’s allusion to them; and when the edition of sketches came to hand they showed their enterprise by mobbing the store where the books were, bent on the destruction of the whole lot. They were only restrained by a pledge, faithfully kept, that the obnoxious pages should be torn fromevery book.Among the customs of the nativeland retained to a recent period by the Minorcans, was the singing of ahymn in honor of the Virgin by a*group of young men, who went about the streets serenading their friends on the evening before Easter. This hymn, called the “Fromajardis,” was in the Mahonese dialect. It was handed down orally from one generation to another, and what fidelity to the original may be inferred from this incident of Dr. Anderson’s visit to Minorica in the summer of 1888, as related in a letter:ifBuNgreed came in and the company did notNkeep its promises. Slowly but surely the cruel meshes of a hateful serfdom closed around the colonists, oppression beat upon them sorely, and In a few years the light and hope died, and the unfortunate Minoircans were forced to admit a bondage worse than, death to their freedom-living souls This serfdom was never legalized, as many, ignorant of the true conditions, believe it to have been, but it was a systematic effort to become possessed of the entire fruits of the labor of the colonists. Their task-masters were unrelenting, and they were forced to labor from early morn till late at night, unrewarded, receiving not even enough food, and in the mean time the company became immensely wealthy.What could the toilers do? No redress could be bad, no tribunal could be appealed to, as thgy were isolated, and too strictly watched to be able to seek one elsewhere. Silent, sorrowful endurance was the sole alternative.IThey grew stern and bitter. The genial blood had been chilled in their veins, and their warm tender impetuous natures were crushed beneath the heel of gross injustice. For nine long years they bore this inhuman treatment, and through overwork, disease, and poverty their numbers had diminished down to 600.Grown desperate with seeing somany of their number miserably perish three men at last made their escapefrom tlje village, and started out in search of assistance. It was a dangerous quest, for had they been discovered. means would have been employed to put them to a speedy death. These men, history doe* not give their names, proceeded to St. Augustine,and after explaining their position, succeeded iu procuring the assistance and protection of the Governor, on condition that they would come to St. Augustine. Promises were also made that upon the condition their old contract with Turtfbull should be canceled inasmuch as he had broken hispart of it.%The three returned to New Smyrna and a couple of days later witnessed the exodus of the colony, under coverof darkness, for the old Spanish city.They arrived at sunset on the third day of their march, a march througn wilderness and jupgle, over hill and dale, “O’er moor and feu, o’er crag and torrent,” under sunlight and star-shine in hope at once of rest and/ *prosperity. Here they found both.They settled in St. Augustine, and,• assured of the protection of the Governor defied the furious company that had practically enslaved them. By reason of their thrift, good^ conduct, and splendid characteristics they succeeded, and won the love and* approval of their sponsors. When in E:;peition of trust they proved theirThey are a somewhat clannish people to this day. their manner to those not of their blood, just a little tinged with hauteur and they do not usually intermarry, being jealous of a drop of Minorcan blood in other veins than their own. They are devout, their religion is the Roman Catholic faith, aDd they are of quick temper and hot blood not slow to resent wrong but with all very tender and strong in their attachments, equally strong in their aversions and faithful in their performance of their vows.Intensity is their racial characteris-*tic and beauty of person is another almost equally marked. They are small of stature, well made, graceful in their movements and not infrequently of a somewhat sensuous type,but by no means slothful or negligent in business. On the contrary they accumulate rapidly and occupy any and all positions of trust, and maintain the confidence and esteem of their compatriots.They are swarthy-cheeked, full, redlipped and with langurous beautiful “eyes that speak.” and their mannerisms are charming. Their presence in St. Augustine is one of its attractive features. Quaint, little old women with bright beadlike eyes come and go, similar little old men do likewise. Handsome young men are numerous while the young women are generally ravishingly beautiful. About the only oeople iu the State not of their own blood whom the Minorcans think fit to mate with are a few of the old Hugenot descendants, and as physical perfections go the combination's certainly a success, pure Southernblood, good looks, sound intelligence, and just enough poetry, music and art to result in the highest culture and ex-cellenc e.At sundown we stopped at a small village which was as clean as a new pin, every house whitened to the last degree, and had a Junch of bread, cheese, oranges,' cherries, and native wine—all tlie house afforded. As we rode along through the hills by the light of the pale new moon, I sang to the driver the “Fromajardis,” as sung in St. Augustine. He seemed surprised, and he said lie did not know that any foreign gentleman knew that song. 1 told the interpreter to tell him that over a hundred years ago that song was carried over the ocean, and now 1 brought it back among it’s native hills. He said that it was not sung as much now as twenty years ago. Thus the old customs are dying.”Only by the older and more devoutin St. Augustine is it now remembered at all.Blood will tell, and from‘the evidences, we judge that the Minorican popujation of St. Augustine is descended from the gentlest of all the gentle races of the Levant, the handsome poetic “bloods” of the Balearic Isles.—Ex.A Minute’s Chat With Young Men.Observe that pale young fellow crossing thestreet. You see a good many of that kind just now. Some folks say it is the climate. The truth is that the climate of America, with a fair chance, produces not only the best complexion, but the best health in the world.Did you notice that thing he was earring in his mouth? Well, it is that meerschaum which is doing the business for him. It is busy with three milliou of our men.At the old cathedral at mass or in “the dim religious light,” when the sweet young faces are raised in saintly purity, reflecting the religious fervor within, or at a ball on the ramparts of Fort Marion, with gay dashes of color among the girls, where military boys pass to and fro in time to soft music with only the moonlight falling upon them, are the time to study Minorcan beauty.Most travellers have spoken kindly of the Minorcans in St. Augustine from Latrobe in 1832, who gives a pretty picture of the rislierman’s cottages, festooned with nets and roses, and shaded by orange trees, and hunground with cages of mocking birds, to William Cullen Bryant, in 1843, whodescribed them as* “a mild harmless race of civil manners and abstemious habits.”^ive years later the Rev. R. K. Sewall, then the rector of Trinity Church, published his “Sketches of St. Augustine.” Should you ever come upon a copy of this book, it willalmost certainly be found that pages■39 and 40 are wanting; and inspection will show the leaf has been cub out.4The missing pages contained this reference to the Minorcans:“The present race was of servile exj traction. By the duplicity of one Turnbull they were seduced from their homes in the Mediterranean and located at Smyrna, and forced to till the lands of the proprietors who had brought them into Florida for that purpose. After enduring great privation', toil and suffering, under the most trying circumstances of servile state they revolted in a body, regained their rights, and maintained them. The women are distinguished for their taste, neatoessand industry, a peculiar light olive shade of complectiou, and a dark full eye. The males are less favored by nature and habit. They lack enterprise. Most of them are without education. Their canoes, fishing lines and guns are their main sourlt;j? of subsistence. The rising generation, is, however, in a rapid 'stateLet us study one of the meerschaum suckers. Pale, nervous, irritable, thin in chest and stomach, week in muscle, he is fast losing his power of thought and appreciation. Let us get near enough to smell of him. Even the beast of prey would not touch the corpse of a soldier saturated with the vile poison.Chewing is the nastiest mode, snuffing ruins the voice, but smoking, among those who have learned to do thorough, is most destructive.Young G. graduated at Harvard,)no devotee of the weed ever graduated with brighter honors at that institution) and soon afterward consulted his physician with reference to his pale face, emaciation, indigestion and low spirits. He weighed but one hundred and eight.“Stop smoking” was the prescription. In four months he had increas ed twenty-eight pounds, had become healthy in skin, his digestion all right, and his spirits restored.ODe or two millions of our younj and middle-aged men are in similaicondition, and would' be restored tc♦health and spirits by the same pre scription.The All-Pervading Bicycle.In my opinion the flaod-tide of thlt; cycling fever will be reached this year Hereafter the bicycle will not be sucl a popular idol, and yet I have nlt; doubt for a long time to come, it wil have many devotees, because thi wheel is not merely an instrument o: pleasure. It has great practical ad vantages and uses which will give it : place among the means of locomotioi until something better takes its place Tt has already been of vast benefit, anlt; particularly to women; it has been, think, the strongest impetus of my se toward athletics in general. It ha largely broken down the narrow pre judices against women engaged in se called mannish sports and occupation; most of which are really just as siiil able for women as for men, and it ha been a potent influence to sensibl dressing on the part of women. I d not mean by this that it has led to tin adoption of the bloomer costume whicis not being worn as much for wheelin as it was last year, but clothing is loo; er and more sensible now. Altogethe I think that we women owe a gres debt of gratitude to the bicycle flt; the facts as stated, and for the furth; important consideration that its u1 broadens our opportunities for indpendent amusement.—From “Wome......._________of tram^fion.” However big or Jittle j jn Athletics,” in Demorept’s Magifis^j^yandvthekv artistic tempera-]^ Joi^June. y.: : ^3
Newspaper Details
Plainfield Reformatory
Plainfield, Indiana, US
Sat, Jun 27, 1896
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
FL, USA 11 Feb 2023
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