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Forgotten Florida: An Engaging Story of the Building of Tallahassee, the Establishment of Key West, and the Settlement of Sanibel Island
FORGOTTEN FLORIDA, tells the story of the Florida peninsula from the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819 up to the beginning of the Second Seminole War in 1835. The story is told from the perspective of well-documented men who took part in the development of the Gulf coastal areas from Pensacola to Key West and include Commodore David Porter, Colonel James Gadsden, Colonel George Brooke, Colonel Duncan Clinch, and Major Francis Dade as well as Captain William Bunce of the Aristocrat and Captain Fred Tresca of the Margaret Ann—both of whom sailed the Gulf coast from Key West to Pensacola and served to connect the various settlements.
The book begins with the New York lawyer, Richard Hackley, who had been a consul in Cadiz, Spain, and had—purchased the entire west side of Florida from the Spanish Duke Alagon, who had received it as a gift from King Ferdinand of Spain before the peninsula had been given to the United States for the forgiveness of Ferdinand’s five-million-dollar debt to the U.S. Believing the purchase to be legal, Richard Hackley sends his son, Robert, to the Tampa Bay area to set up a homestead and open the land to settlement. Braving the pirate-ridden waters surrounding Key West and fall storms, Hackley arrives at Tampa Bay and builds a plantation home in November 1823.
Heading to Pensacola for supplies in late December, Hackley returns to Tampa Bay to discover that—following the Treaty of Moultrie Creek—the U.S. Army had designated the same area in which he has built his home as a base on the western side of the new Seminole territory and has taken over his home and land for Cantonment Brooke. Action continues from the new base to the building of Tallahassee, the establishment of Key West, and the settlement of Sanibel Island—with the Hackley family attempting to settle and sell their land—during the Seminole unrest threatening the territory culminating with the massacre of Major Dade’s Companies on December 28, 1835, and the beginning of the second Seminole War.
The book begins with the New York lawyer, Richard Hackley, who had been a consul in Cadiz, Spain, and had—purchased the entire west side of Florida from the Spanish Duke Alagon, who had received it as a gift from King Ferdinand of Spain before the peninsula had been given to the United States for the forgiveness of Ferdinand’s five-million-dollar debt to the U.S. Believing the purchase to be legal, Richard Hackley sends his son, Robert, to the Tampa Bay area to set up a homestead and open the land to settlement. Braving the pirate-ridden waters surrounding Key West and fall storms, Hackley arrives at Tampa Bay and builds a plantation home in November 1823.
Heading to Pensacola for supplies in late December, Hackley returns to Tampa Bay to discover that—following the Treaty of Moultrie Creek—the U.S. Army had designated the same area in which he has built his home as a base on the western side of the new Seminole territory and has taken over his home and land for Cantonment Brooke. Action continues from the new base to the building of Tallahassee, the establishment of Key West, and the settlement of Sanibel Island—with the Hackley family attempting to settle and sell their land—during the Seminole unrest threatening the territory culminating with the massacre of Major Dade’s Companies on December 28, 1835, and the beginning of the second Seminole War.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2022
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August 11, 2026
This was an interesting ready but not what I expected when I checked it out from the library. I'm doing some background research on the founding of Florida and its early history, so during a deep dive into reading on the subject, I came across this in a reference text.
I expected it to be a history book, and while it was historically-driven, it read a bit like fan-fic. The author tells a story about some of the early travelers to Florida by way of fictionalized storytelling. I'm not entirely sure I personally liked the style, but I could also understand how this would be perhaps more attractive to people that don't read a lot of history books. (I'm not that person, in case it isn't obvious.) It felt like the book couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a fictionalized story or a history novel - there were a lot of asides explaining who people were and their historic significance in a way that just isn't how normal people talk or think.
I expected it to be a history book, and while it was historically-driven, it read a bit like fan-fic. The author tells a story about some of the early travelers to Florida by way of fictionalized storytelling. I'm not entirely sure I personally liked the style, but I could also understand how this would be perhaps more attractive to people that don't read a lot of history books. (I'm not that person, in case it isn't obvious.) It felt like the book couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a fictionalized story or a history novel - there were a lot of asides explaining who people were and their historic significance in a way that just isn't how normal people talk or think.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review