inside kingsley plantation

took a trip to historical site for summer vacation

facts : In the early years of the nineteenth century many people came to Spanish Florida. Some, like Zephaniah Kingsley, sought to make their fortunes by obtaining land and establishing plantations. Others were forced to come to Florida to work on those plantations, their labor enriching the men who owned them. Some of the enslaved would later become free landowners, struggling to keep their footing in a dangerous time of shifting alliances and politics. All of these people played a part in the history of Kingsley Plantation.

In 1814, Zephaniah Kingsley moved to Fort George Island and what is known today as the Kingsley Plantation. He brought a wife and three children (a fourth would be born at Fort George). His wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was from Senegal, West Africa, and was purchased by Kingsley as a slave. She actively participated in plantation management, acquiring her own land and slaves when freed by Kingsley in 1811. With an enslaved work force of about 60, the Fort George plantation produced Sea Island cotton, citrus, sugar cane and corn. Kingsley continued to acquire property in north Florida and eventually possessed more than 32,000 acres, including four major plantation complexes and more than 200 slaves.

The United States purchased Florida from Spain in 1821. The Spanish had relatively liberal policies regarding issues of race, but American territorial law brought many changes. At a time when many slave holders feared slave rebellions, oppressive laws were enacted and conditions for Florida’s black population, free and enslaved, deteriorated. Kingsley was against the restrictive laws, arguing that more humane treatment would ensure peace and the perpetuation of slavery. In 1829, he published his opinions in A Treatise on The Patriarchal, or Co-operative System of Society As It Exists in Some Governments. . . Under the Name of Slavery.

To escape what Kingsley called a “spirit of intolerant prejudice,” Anna Jai and their sons moved to Haiti in 1837. There, Kingsley established a colony for his family and some of his former slaves. In 1839, Fort George Island was sold to his nephew Kingsley Beatty Gibbs. Zephaniah Kingsley died in New York City in 1843.

While Kingsley amassed land and wealth, others strove for freedom. The slave Gullah Jack took a dangerous route. Gullah Jack was stolen from Kingsley by Seminole Indians. Later, he reappeared in Charleston as an important lieutenant of the Denmark Vesey slave uprising— and was hanged.

Somewhat less dramatic was the life of Abraham Hanahan. Although a slave, Hanahan managed plantation operations and was completely in charge in Kingsley’s absence. When freed by Kingsley, Hanahan became a river pilot, trader, and farmer, who went by the name “Free Abraham Hanahan.” He eventually joined those seeking a better life in Haiti.

Kingsley Plantation symbolizes a time and a place in history. More than that, Kingsley Plantation represents people, free and enslaved, ordinary and extraordinary, and their efforts to survive in a changing land. The stories of these people, often heroic, and their contributions to history can be explored at Kingsley Plantation.

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