Fort Mose: Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose

Declining Indian populations, a Spanish disdain for manual labor, and the defense requirements of an extended empire had created an early demand for additional workers. Blacks cleared land and planted crops, built fortifications and domestic structures, and provided a wide variety of skilled labor for Spanish colonists. By the 16th century, they had become the main labor force in Mexican mines and on Caribbean plantations. Also by that time, the Spanish had organized them into militia companies in Hispanola, Cuba, Mexico, Cartagena, and Puerto Rico. (Landers FM 9)

“In 1670 the English launched plans to create Carolina Colony and sent settlers to found Charles Town. The Spanish Crown protested that English settlers were intruding into areas claimed by Spain. Spanish officials also agreed with Florida Governor Manuel de Cendoya that it was time to strengthen St. Augustine’s defenses, and built the Castillo de San Marcos, a fortress made of coquina stone (begun 1672; completed 1695).” (Source lost) [The colony was a critical component in Spain’s Caribbean defense, and, when British colonists established Charles Towne in 1670, it represented a serious challenge to Spanish sovereignty. No major response by the weakened Spanish empire was feasible, but when the British incited their Indian allies to attack Spanish Indian missions along the Atlantic Coast, the Spaniards initiated a campaign of harassment against the new British colony. (Landers)] St. Augustine had just passed its hundredth birthday when more English headed over to settle Charleston in 1670. This one was only 250 miles away from St. Augustine. That year, Spain and England signed the Treaty of Madrid* to clarify who owned what in the New World. With that treaty, La Florida’s top edge dropped from Canada to latitude 32°, modern-day Savannah.

“Like other areas in the Spanish Caribbean, Florida suffered from early and dramatic Indian depopulation and a shortage of European manpower, and this demographic imperative created a demand for black labor, artisan, and military skills. Florida’s first slaves came from Spain, but thereafter, royal officials and private owners imported slaves from nearby regions of the Caribbean, primarily Cuba. The Crown considered slave labor indispensable in Florida, noting that the work of cutting and sawing wood for fortifications and ships was unceasing, and the entire government subsidy would not have been sufficient had wages to be paid.” (19) The government found many other uses for its royal slaves, such as quarrying coquina from Anastasia Island, making lime, loading and unloading government ships, and rowing government galleys. Private owners of slaves employed them in domestic occupations, as cattlemen and overseers on Florida’s vast cattle ranches, and in a myriad of plantation jobs. In times of crisis, slaves were also incorporated into militia units and expected to help defend the colony. The hard and dangerous work demanded of them, and various “pests and contagions,” kept the slave and free black populations of Florida low through the 16th and 17th centuries. Population figures are scarce through the early years, but a census of 1600 counted only 27 royal slaves in a non-Indian population of 491 people (SD 231 AGI). By the end of the 17th century, however, numbers were up, augmented by imports from Cuba and incoming runaways from Carolina. By 1683, the free black militia boasted a complement of 48 men, and numbers of both fee and enslaved blacks rose slowly through the 18th century.” (20) For a comprehensive look at the demographics of the triracial South, see Wood’s. In Florida, too, Spaniards depended on Africans to be their laborers and to supplement their defenses. Black laborers and artisans helped establish St. Augustine, the first successful Spanish settlement in Florida, and a black and mulatto militia was formed there as early as 1683. Note: Roster of black Mulatto militia for St. Augustine, September 20, 1683 (Landers FM 9)

After the Spanish raid of 1686, in which 13 of Landgrave Morton's slaves were carried off, his brother-in-law killed, and "great desolation... made inteh South part of this Settlemt," Gov. Colleton reopened trading relations so quickly that eyebrows were raised. "The truth is," confirmed a later report, "there was a design on foot to carry on a Trade withthe Spaniard." Strategic considerations finally outweighed commercial interests, however, and no regular profits came to the English from selling slaves to their nearby Spanish rivals. Note: Two of the slaves escaped and returned. The others included eight men named Peter, Scipio, Doctor, Cushi, Arro, Emo, Caesar, and Sambo, plus three women listed as ffrank, Bess, and Mammy. The eleven remained in St. Augustine and were rumored to be "actually imployed in buildinge a Fort." Note: Assemblymen informed Seth Sothell when he arrived to replace Colleton in 1690: "wee are of oppinion wee ought not to be angry at a trade with the Spaniards, but as Englishment... [we wonder] yt soe exercrable a barbarity... should be buryed in silence for the hopes of a little filthy lucre." (Wood 50) In 1686, a Spanish raiding party including a force of 53 Indians and blacks attacked Port Royal and Edisto. From the plantation of Governor Joseph Morton, they carried away "money and plate and thirteen slaves to the value of L1500." Note: Morton's stolen male slaves included Peter, Scipio, Doctor (whose name suggests a specialized function or skill) Cushi, Arro, Emo, Caesar and Sambo. The women included Frank, Bess, and Mammy. Sambo was the Hausa name for a second son, while in Mende or Vai it meant "disgrace." Cushi may have been "Quashee," the Twi day name for Sunday, which also came to signify "foolish" or "stupid." (Landers FM 10)

Florida held great strategic significance for the Spanish; initially, for its location guarding the route of the treasure fleets, later, to safeguard the mines of Mexico from the French and British. The colony was a critical compondent in Spain's Caribbean defense, and, when British colonists established Charles Town in 1670, it represented a serious challenge to Spanish sovereignty. No major response by the weakened Spanish empire was feasible, but, when the British incited their Indian allies to attack Spanish Indian missions along the Atlantic coast, the Spaniards initiated a campaign of harrassment against the new British colony. In 1686, a Spanish raiding party including a force of 53 Indians and blacks attacked Port Royal and Edisto. From the plantation of Governor Joseph Morton, they carried away “money and plate and 13 slaves to the value of 1500 pounds.” In subsequent negotiations, the new governor of Carolina, James Colleton, demanded the return of the stolen slaves as well as those “who ran dayly into your towns,” But the Spaniards refused. These contacts may have suggested the possibility of a refuge among the enemy and directed slaves to St. Augustine, for the following year, the first recorded fugitive slaves from Carolina arrived there. Governor Diego Quiroga dutifully reported to Spain that eight men, two women, and a three-year-old nursing child had escaped to his province in a boat. According to the governor, they requested baptism into the “true faith,” and on that basis he refused to return them to the British delegation that came to St. Augustine to reclaim them. The Carolinians claimed that one of Samuel de Bordieu’s runaways, Mingo, who escaped with his wife and daughter (the nursing child), had committed murder in the process. Governor Quiroga promised to make monetary restitution for the slaves he retained and to prosecute Mingo, should the charges be proven. Quiroga housed these first runaways in the homes of Spanish townspeople and saw to it that they were instructed in Catholic doctrine, baptized, and married in the church. He put them to work as ironsmiths and laborers on the new stone fort, the Castillo de San Marcos, and employed the women in his own household. All were reportedly paid wages: the men earned a peso a day, the wage paid to male Indian laborers, and the women half as much. (Landers FM 10)

These contacts may have suggested the possibility of a refuge among the enemy and directed slaves to St. Augustine, for the following year, the first recorded fugitive slaves from Carolina arrived there. Governor Diego Quiroga dutifully reported to Spain that eight men, two women, and a three-year-old nursing child had escaped to his province in a boat. According to the governor, they requested baptism into the “true faith,” and on that basis he refused to return them to the British delegation that came to St. Augustine to reclaim them. (Landers via Diego de Quiroga to the king, February 2, 1688) [[The various petitions of Carolina fugitives gathered together by Governor Manuel de Montiano are found in SD844 at PKY. They mention groups arriving in 1688, 1689, 1690, 1697, 1724, in 1725 (Landers)]

In subsequent negotiations, the new governor of Carolina, James Colleton, demanded the return of the stolen slaves as well as those “who ran dayly into your towns,” But the Spaniards refused. These contacts may have suggested the possibility of a refuge among the enemy and directed slaves to St. Augustine, for the following year, the first recorded fugitive slaves from Carolina arrived there. Governor Diego Quiroga dutifully reported to Spain that eight men, two women, and a three-year-old nursing child had escaped to his province in a boat. According to the governor, they requested baptism into the “true faith,” and on that basis he refused to return them to the British delegation that came to St. Augustine to reclaim them. The Carolinians clamed that one of Samuel de Bordieu's runaways, Mingo, who escaped with his wife and daughter (the nursing child), had committed murder in the process. Governor Quiroga promised to make monitary restitution for the slaves he retained and to prosecdute Mingo, should the charges be proven. Quiroga housed these first runaways in the homes of Spanish townspeople and saw to it that they were instructed in Catholic doctrine, baptised and married in the church. He put the men to work as ironsmiths and laborers on the new stone fort, the Castillo de San Marcos, and employed the women in his own household. All were reportedly paid wages: the men earned a peso a day, the wage paid to male Indian laborers, and the women half as much. Note: Diego de Quiroga to the king, February 2, 1688. ... The men who stole the canoe were named Canano, Jesse, Jacque, Gran Domingo (Big Sunday), Cambo, Mingo, Dicque, and Robi. Woods suggests that forms of the name Jack derived from the African day-name for Wednesday, Quaco. Names of two women and a little girl were not given. The owners of the fugitives who escaped in the canoe were: Samuel de Bordieu, Mingo, his wife and daughter, John Bird, two men; Joab Howe, one man; John Berresfor, one woman; Christopher Smith, one man; Robert Cuthbert, three men. (Landers FM 10)

[The various petitions of Carolina fugitives gathered together by Governor Manuel de Montiano are found in SD844 at PKY. They mention groups arriving in 1688, 1689, 1690, 1697, 1724, in 1725 (Landers)]

[The various petitions of Carolina fugitives gathered together by Governor Manuel de Montiano are found in SD844 at PKY. They mention groups arriving in 1688, 1689, 1690, 1697, 1724, in 1725 (Landers)]

[The various petitions of Carolina fugitives gathered together by Governor Manuel de Montiano are found in SD844 at PKY. They mention groups arriving in 1688, 1689, 1690, 1697, 1724, in 1725 (Landers)]

Governor Joseph de Zúñiga reported that his predecessor, Governor Laureano de Torres y Ayala, on August 8, 1697, returned six blacks and an Indian who had escaped from Charleston that year, to avoid conflicts and ruptures between the two governments. Joseph de Zuniga to the king, October 10, 1699.

In subsequent negotiations, the new governor of Carolina, James Colleton, demanded the return of the stolen slaves [from the 1686 raid] as well as those “who ran dayly into your towns,” But the Spaniards refused. Note: Letter from Mr. Randolph to the board, June 28, 1699 (Landers FM 10)

[…when many slaves joined the Yamasee Indian war against the British, they almost succeeded in exterminating the badly outnumber whites. Indians loyal to the British helped defeat the Yamasee, who with their black Allies headed for St. Augustine. (Landers)] [British planters claimed that the Spanish policy, by drawing away their slaves, would ruin their plantation economy. Arthur Middleton, Carolina’s acting governor, complained to London that the Spaniards not only harbored their runaways but sent them back in the company of Indians to plunder British plantations. The Carolinians set up control systems and placed scout boats on water routes to St. Augustine, the slaves still making good their escapes on stolen horses and in canoes and piraguas. (Landers)] When Manuel the Montiano became governor in 1737, their fortunes changed. Captain Menendez once more solicited his freedom, and this time his petition was supported by that of a Yamasee cacique day named Jorge. Jorge related how Menendez and three others had fought bravely for three years in the Yamasee rebellion, only to be sold back into slavery in Florida… Note: Memorial of Chief Jorge [Jobospo?]. Jorge claimed to be the chief who had led the Yamassee uprising against the British. Jorge stated that he and the rest of the Yamassee chiefs commonly made treaties with the slaves, and that he now wanted to help Menenedez and the three others who fought along with him to become free. Mad Dog sold them into slavery for some casks of honey, corn, and liquor (aguardiente). (Landers FM 13)

In 1724, ten more runaway slaves reached St. Augustine, assisted by English-speaking Yamassee Indians. According to their statements, they were aware that the Spanish king had offered freedom to those seeking baptism and conversion. The royal edict of 1693 was still in force, and Governor Antonio de Benavides initially seems to have honored it. Several of the [later] reenslaved men were veterans of the Yamasee war in Carolina, and one of these, Francisco Menendez, was appointed by Governor Benavides to command a slave militia in 1726. Note: Governor Antonio de Benavides to the king, November 11, 1725. (Landers FM 12) Note: [..eight] of these] slaves... were sold to Havana [in 1729] included "Antonio, an English slave from San Jorge (the Spanish name for Charlestown), another of the same name, Clemente, Andres, Bartholome Chino (the term for a mixed-blood), Juan Francisco Borne, Juan (English), Jose, who's other name is Mandingo, all of whom are from San Jorge." (Landers FM 15) The various petitions of Carolina fugitives gathered together by Governor Manuel de Montiano are found in SD844 at PKY. They mention groups arriving in 1688, 1689, 1690, 1697, 1724, in 1725 (Landers) Several months later, Menendez filed a second, shorter petition. It was customary for an illiterate person to sign official documents with an X, and for the notary or witnesses to right underneath, “for———, who does not know how to write.” Note: The proprietary royal account for St. Augustine was Don Francisco Menendez Marquez. The Menendez Marquez family is the subject of several works by Amy Turner Bushnell. See... (Landers FM 20)

[The various petitions of Carolina fugitives gathered together by Governor Manuel de Montiano are found in SD844 at PKY. They mention groups arriving in 1688, 1689, 1690, 1697, 1724, in 1725 (Landers)]

Several of the re-enslaved [in 1729] men were veterans of the Yamassee war in Carolina, and one of these, Francisco Menendez, was appointed by Governor Benavides to command a slave militia in 1726. (Landers FM 13) Governor Montiano commended all his troops to the king but made the rather unusual gesture of writing a special recommendation of [how] Francisco Menendez... had displayed great zeal during the dangerous reconnaissance missions he undertook against the British and their Indians. (Landers FM 19) “In 1726 Francisco Menendez was appointed by Governor Benavides to command a slave militia. They defended St. Augustine against Col. John Palmer who invaded Florida in 1728.” He and his men had to petition the Crown several times and wait until 1738 before being declared free. [picture: Francisco Menéndez and his wife Ana María Escovar]

A very different practical activity which derived from similar sources was the poisoning of streams to catch fish. The drugging of fish was well known in West Africa and was also practiced in the West Indies, first by Island Caribs and later by Negro slaves. They dammed up a stream or inlet and added an intoxicating mixture of quicklime and plant juices to the water. They could ten gather inebrieated but edible fish from teh pool almost at will. Inhabitants of South Carolina in the early 18th century exploited a similar tactic, for in 1726 the Assembly charged that "many persons in this Province do often use teh pernicious practice of poisoning the creeks in order to catch great quantity of fish." The legislature imposed a public whipping upon any slave convicted of the act, but teh misdemeanor seems to have continued. Such an activity implies an awareness of available herbs and their effects, and a knowledge of fish as well. (Wood 122) On African fishing techniques in the colonial southeast, see Wood, “It was a Negro Taught Them: A New Look at African Labor in Early South Carolina,” Journal of Asian and African Studies, 9. (Landers FM 32)

This black militia helped defend St. Augustine against the British invasion led by Colonel John Palmer in 1728, but, despite their loyal service, the Carolina refugees still remained enslaved. Meanwhile, the Spaniards continued to send canoes of Carolina fugitives and Yamasee Indians north in search of British scalps and live slaves. Governor Middleton charged that Governor Benavides was profiting by the slaves’ sale in Havana, a charge that seems well-founded. Note: Petition of Francisco Menendez, November 21, 1740. On the role of the black militia in 1728, see Te Paske, Fugitive Slave, 7. (Landers FM 13) [Cuban reinforcements finally relieved St. Augustine in July. Shortly thereafter, Oglethorpe and his troops returned to Georgia and Carolina. Governor Montiano commended all his troops to the king but made the rather unusual gesture of writing a special recommendation of Francisco Menendez. Montiano extolled the exactitude with which Menendez had carried out royal service and the valor he had displayed in the battle at Mose. He added that, on another occasion, Menendez and his men had fired on the enemy until they withdrew from the castle walls and that Menendez had displayed great zeal during the dangerous reconnaissance missions he undertook against the British and their Indians. Moreover, he acknowledged that Menendez had “distinguished himself in the establishment and cultivation of Mose, to improve that settlement, doing all he could so that the rest of his subjects, following his example, would apply themselves to work and learn good customs.” (Landers)]

Note: The noted citizens who acquired the slaves filed various memorials to record their concerns about British threats to come take the slaves and the fact that British forces outnumbered Spanish. In 1729... Benavides sold these [10] newcomers at public auction to reimburse their owners, alleging that he feared the British might act on their threats to recover their losses by force. Some of the most important citizens of St. Augustine, including the royal accountant, the royal treasurer, several military officers, and even some religious officials, thus acquired valuable new slaves. Others were sold to owners who took them to Havana. In justifying his actions, Benavides explained that these slaves had arrived during a time of peace with England and, further, that he interpreted the 1693 edict to apply only to the original runaways from the British colony. Note: Governor Benavides then authorized their auctionand gave the proceeds to a British envoy, Arthur Hauk, June 27, 1730. (Landers FM 12) Montiano also wrote the governor and captain general of Cuba, attempting to retrieve eight Carolinians who had been taken to Havana during the Benavides regime. At least one, Antonio Caravaggio, was returned to St. Augustine, against all odds. Note: The eight slaves who were sold to Havana included "Antonio, an English slave from San Jorge (the Spanish name for Charlestown), another of the same name, Clemente, Andres, Bartholome Chino (the term for a mixed-blood), Juan Francisco Borne, Juan (English), Jose, who's other name is Mandingo, all of whom are from San Jorge." (Landers FM 15)

Governor Benevides then authorized [the 1724 runaway slaves'] auction and gave the proceeds to a British envoy, Arthur Hauk. (Landers FM 12)

Perhaps in response to continued reports and diplomatic complaints involving the fugitives, the crown issued two new edicts regarding their treatment. The first, on October 4, 1733, forbade any future compensation to the British, reiterated the offer of freedom, and specifically prohibited the sale of fugitives to private citizens. (Landers FM 13)

The second edict, on October 29, 1733, commended the blacks for their bravery against the British in 1728; however, it also stipulated that they would be required to complete four years of royal service prior to being freed. But the runaways had sought liberty, not indenture. Led by Captain Menendez of the slave militia, the blacks persisted in attempts to secure complete freedom. (Landers FM 13)

Led by Captain Menendez of the slave militia, the blacks persisted in attempts to secure complete freedom. They presented petitions to the Governor and to the auxiliary bishop of Cuba, who toured the province in 1735, but to no avail. (Landers FM 13)

Francisco Garzia and his wife, Ana, fled together from Carolina and were among the original group freed by governor Montiano. Francisco was black, and Ana, Indian. As slaves in St. Augustine, they had belonged to the royal treasurer, Don Salvador Garzia. Garzia observed the church requirement to have his slaves baptized and privately married, for the couple’s children are listed as legitimate. Francisco and Ana’s daughter, Francisca Xaviera, was born and baptized in St. Augustine in 1736, before her parents were freed by the governor. Her godfather was a free mulatto, Francisco Rexidor. This man also served as godfather for Francisco and Ana’s son, Calisto, born free two years later. Garzia died sometime before 1759, for in that year his widow, Ana, married a black slave named Diego. Calisto disappeared from the record and presumably died, while Francisca Xaviera married Francisco Diaz, a free black from Carolina. Their two children, Miguel Francisco and Maria, were born at Mose, and Francisco Diaz served in the Mose militia. Note: Baptism of Francisca Xaviera, August 30, 1736. (Landers FM 25)

Note: In 1738, Francisco and Ana were the slaves of Don Salvador Garzia. (Landers FM 25)

Francisco Garzia and his wife, Ana, fled together from Carolina and were among the original group freed by governor Montiano. Francisco was black, and Ana, Indian. As slaves in St. Augustine, they had belonged to the royal treasurer, Don Salvador Garzia. Garzia observed the church requirement to have his slaves baptized and privately married, for the couple’s children are listed as legitimate. Francisco and Ana’s daughter, Francisca Xaviera, was born and baptized in St. Augustine in 1736, before her parents were freed by the governor. Her godfather was a free mulatto, Francisco Rexidor. This man also served as godfather for Francisco and Ana’s son, Calisto, born free two years later. Garzia died sometime before 1759, for in that year his widow, Ana, married a black slave named Diego. Calisto disappeared from the record and presumably died, while Francisca Xaviera married Francisco Diaz, a free black from Carolina. Their two children, Miguel Francisco and Maria, were born at Mose, and Francisco Diaz served in the Mose militia. Note: Baptism of Francisca Xaviera, August 30, 1736. (Landers FM 25)

baptism of Calisto [Francisco and Ana Garzia's son] (Landers FM 25)

As new fugitives arrived, the Governor placed these in Menendez’s charge as well. A group of 23 men, women, and children arrived from Port Royal on November 21, 1738, and were sent to join the others at the new town. Among the newcomers were the runaway slaves of Captain Caleb Davis of Port Royal. Davis was an English merchant who had been supplying St. Augustine for many years, and it is possible that some of the runaways had even traveled to St. Augustine in the course of Davis’ business. (Landers)] On November 21st, 23 runaway slaves arrived in St. Augustine.* Montiano learned that they had come from Port Royal, and nineteen of them belonged to Davis.* They included men, women and children.* Eight of them were laborers.* With the fifteen negroes already there, this raised St. Augustine’s black population to 38 people.* Montiano was able to give them sanctuary according to Spanish law.* However, they also needed a roof over their heads.* An old Indian village sat vacant about a mile north of the Castillo.* The village was called Mose.* Following Caribbean precedents (Landers 6), Montiano offered the village to the negroes to have for their own little settlement.* He told them they could cultivate the land there.* He assigned Don Sebastian Sanchez to direct them.* The settlement was composed of former slaves, many of West African origin, who had escaped from British plantations and received religious sanctuary in Spanish Florida. Although relatively few in number (the community maintained a fairly stable size of about 100 people during the quarter-century between 1738 and 1763, while St. Augustine’s population grew from approximately 1500 people in the 1730s to approximately 3000 by 1763, these freedmen and women were of great contemporary significance. By their “theft of self,” they were a financial loss to their former owners, often a serious one. Moreover, their flight was a political action, sometimes effected through violence, that offered an example to other bondsman and challenged the precarious political and social order of the British Colonies. The runaways were also important to the Spanish colony for the valuable knowledge and skills they brought with them and for the labor and military services they performed. (Landers FM 4) Note: Corbett noted that St. Augustine, the largest of the borderland settlements, also had the most blacks, slave and free, in the Spanish borderlands. As late as 1763, St. Augustine was larger than any other town in the southern colonies except Charleston. Corbett, Population Structure in Hispanic St. Augustine, 1629-1763. (Landers FM 4) In harboring the runaways and eventually settling them in their own town, Spanish governors were following Caribbean precedents and helping the crown to populate and hold territory threatened by foreign encroachments. The ex-slaves were also served by this policy. It offered them a refuge within which they could maintain family ties... They adapted to Spanish values where it served them to do so and thereby gained autonomy. They also reinforced ties within their original community through intermarriage and the use of the Spanish mechanism of godparenthood (compradrazgo). Finally, they formed intricate new kin and friendship networks with slaves, free blacks, Indians, “new”Africans, and whites in nearby St. Augustine that served to stabilize their population and strengthen their connections to that Hispanic community. (Landers FM 6) That runaways became free in Spanish Florida was not in itself unusual. Frank Tannenbaum’s early comparative work shows that freedom had been a possibility for slaves in the Spanish world since the 13th century. Spanish law granted slaves a moral and judicial personality, as well as certain rights and protections not found in other slave systems. Among the most important were the right to own property, which in the Caribbean evolved into the right of self-purchase, the right to personal security, prohibitions against separating family members, and access to the courts. Moreover, slaves were incorporated into the Spanish charge and receive its sacraments, including marriage. Slaves in the Hispanic Colonies were subject to codes based on its earlier body of law. (Landers FM 6) Although the Spanish legal system permitted freedom, the crown assumed that its beneficiaries would live among the Spaniards, under the supervision of white townspeople (vecinos). While the crown detailed its instructions regarding the physical layout, location, and function of white and Indian towns, it made no formal provisions for free black toans. But Spanish colonizers throughout the Americas were guided by an urban model. They depicted theirs as a civilizing mission and sought to create public order and righteous living by creating towns. Urban living was believed to facilitate religious conversion, but beyond that, Spaniards attached a special value to living a vida politica, believing that people of reason distinguished themselves from nomadic "barbarians" by living in stable urban situations. Royal legislation reflected a continuing interest in reforming and settling so-called vagabonds of all races within the empire. (Landers FM 7) To teach the negroes the Catholic doctrine, Montiano thought of Don Joseph de Leon.* Leon was the Bishop’s notary and manservant.* He was studying to become a priest.* The Bishop liked Montiano’s idea.* To show his pride and faith in Leon, (the Bishop/Montiano) appointed him parish priest of Mose until the king chose to assign him elsewhere.* The negroes got to work building up some protective walls around the Mose village * In his letter of July 28th, 1740, Montiano complimented the quality construction of the fort: “although the fort is capable of much resistance.”* Montiano received some comfort that there were now a lot of eyes on the northern edge of St. Augustine to keep an eye out for spies and would-be attackers.* Soon, there would also be a fort there, which would give soldiers a place to fight off attackers before they reached the city.* The “two republics” of Spaniards and Indians gave way to a society of castes, which increasingly viewed the unforeseen and unregulated groups with hostility. Spanish bureaucrats attempted to count these people and to limit their physical mobility through increasingly restrictive racial legislation. Officials prohibited blacks from living unsupervised, or worse, among the Indians. Curfews and pass systems developed, as did proposals to force unemployed blacks into fixed labor situations. The crown also recognized with alarm the increased incidence of cimmaronage, slaves fleeing Spanish control. Communities of runawy blacks, mulattoes, Indians, and their offspring were common to all slaveholding societies, but they challenged the Spanish concept of civilized living, as well as the hierarchical, racial, and social order the Spaniards were trying to impose. Despite repeated military efforts, the Spaniards were no more successful than other European powers at eradicating such settlements.... When maroon communities... were too remote or intractable to destroy, the Spaniards granted them official sanction. (Landers FM 8) Nevertheless, the silence from that enemy was inexplicable and scary. It had been over two months since Guemes had said he thinks the crowns are working on a peaceful resolution. What could all those soldiers in Georgia be doing, other than burning through the provisions that were sent for battle? Just after the new year, Montiano sat down and wrote to Guemes.* He expressed his respect for Guemes’s opinion, but shared his doubts and continued vigilance about the English. He relayed his conversation with Davis, and the tidbit that Davis had possibly hidden from him.* He also updated Guemes on the new Mose village.* [Montiano to the king, February 16, 1739. The name is a composite of an existing Indian place name, Mose, the phrase that indicated that the new town was established by the king, Gracia Real, and the name of the town’s patron saint, Teresa of Aviles, who was the patron saint of Spain. (Landers)]

Davis went to the Spanish City in December, 1738 and spotted his former slaves, whom he reported laughed at his fruitless efforts to recover them. The frustrated Davis eventually submitted a claim against the Spanish for 27 of his slaves “detained” by Montiano, whom he valued at 7600 pesos, as well as for the launch in which they escaped and supplies they had taken with them. He also listed debts incurred by the citizens of St. Augustine. Among those owing him money were Governors Antonio de Benavides, Francisco Morale Sanchez, and Manuel de Montiano, various royal officials and army officers, and Mose townsmen Francisco Menendez and Pedro De Leon. There is no evidence that Davis ever recouped his losses. (Landers FM 17)

In March 1739, envoys from Carolina arrived in St. Augustine to press for the return of their runaway slaves. Governor Montiano treated them with hospitality but referred to the royal edict of 1733, which required that he grant religious sanctuary. (Landers FM 17) On March 9th, a sloop sailed into the St. Augustine harbor.* The launch went out and retrieved the visitors.* They included a lieutenant-colonel from St. George, a member of Parliament, and an interpreter.* The interpreter presented Montiano with three letters.* The first letter was from certain citizens of the Georgia colonies.* It contained instructions and authority for the envoy to represent them in this mission to St. Augustine.* The second letter from Mr. James Oglethorpe himself, General Commander of all the provinces of Carolina.* The third letter was from Mr. William Bull, governor of St. George.* All three letters asked Montiano to hear out these ambassadors as they presented an offer to Montiano.* They had found Montiano’s eight escaped convicts, and wanted to trade them for the runaway slaves who had come to St. Augustine.* Did Montiano know that Georgia settlers were forbidden to keep slaves? Did he know that a group in Savannah had petitioned the trustees for the right to keep slaves? If the convicts were in Georgia and Georgia was not able to have slaves, who exactly was initiating this trade? Montiano graciously hosted the three ambassadors in his own house for seven days.* In his mind, he had no intentions of making the trade.* The one interpreter was not enough to ensure solid communication, so Montiano brought in two more.* During their visit, he listened to the ambassadors and showed appreciation for their point of view.* He was quite pleased with how well his diplomacy was creating a good rapport despite his rejection of their mission.* In turn, the Englishmen listened to his response with open minds.* Montiano apologized heartily for not being able to grant their wish.* He explained the standing Spanish laws that prohibited him from returning the slaves.* The law was very clear that runaway slaves who came to St. Augustine were to receive freedom.* He had no authority to even contemplate the issue.* He invited the Englishmen to appeal to their court for provisions which would allow a reciprocal exchange of runaways.* He even promised to submit a report of their request to the Spanish court.* Montiano told the men that if the Spanish court ordered it, he would not hesitate to follow orders.* The men could not argue with Montiano’s stand.* They complimented his devotion to his government.* They never left his side for a moment during the entire week of their visit, and continued to praise his governance and hospitality.* When they left on March 16th, they showed complete contentment for the results of their mission, despite the fact that it was a failure.* Once again Montiano wasn’t buying it.* He never let on that he felt this way.* But their words didn’t match the actions of hired killings, encroachment, and military buildup.* On the second day of April, Montiano sat down and wrote the story to Guemes and attached the letters that had come with the ambassadors.*

In August, an Indian ally in Apalache sent word to Montiano that the British had attempted to build a fort in the vicinity but that the hundred black laborers had revolted, killed all the whites, and hamstrung the horses before escaping. Several days later, some of the blacks encountered the Indians in the woods and asked directions to reach the Spaniards.(Landers FM 18) At some point before August 19th, some dispatches from Apalache arrived in St. Augustine to bring a message that Quilate had told Don Diego Pablo.* Quilate said the English had set out with more than 100 negroes to build a fort.* The negroes revolted and killed all the English and hamstrung the horses.* Two large bodies of Indians had appeared, one going by the road to St Marks the other toward St. Augustine.* Quilate said he was investigating the situation and surveying the site where the English intended to build the fort.* He said the English were determined to avenge themselves on every one.* The negroes had scattered.* Two of them (Portillo says four) had arrived at a Pueblo of the Provinces, but quickly disappeared again.* Someone searched for the negroes with an Indian they met in the woods, and they guarded this secret with great care.* Someone had encountered a few Indians in the woods and asked for the road to the Spaniards.* This news caused someone great anxiety.* Montiano thought about it and interpreted the story for himself.* He figured the English were going to build a fort near Carolina to help prevent slaves from escaping.* The slaves rebelled and got away, so the English sent Indians hunt and capture them.* This did not pose a threat to the Spaniards, so Montiano did not get much anxiety over it.* In fact, it had the potential to benefit if the runaways opted to join the Spaniards. However, there was a threat if the intended fort was to be located in Spanish territory, which would violate the Convention he had forwarded to them.* He needed to send scouts and find out if the English were out of bounds.* Montiano sent Don Jose Leonar to reconnoiter at St. Mary’s and other spies elsewhere.* What actually did bother Montiano in all this was the fact that Quilate was apparently staying at the Apalache fort, and Don Diego Pablo was hiding that fact.* Montiano sent Juan Ignacio with three other Indians and two or three friendly Uchees to clarify that in Apalache.* He expected them back soon enough for him to send the update on the bilander to Havana.* On the 19th, he went ahead and wrote what he knew so far.*

In the first weeks of 1740 the castillo’s tall watch tower was completed, but Montiano figured that at the rate he was going it would take “at least eight years for the rehabilitation of the castillo.” He didn’t have that much time. In the same month that the sentinels could first climb the watch tower and look east for signs of trouble, Oglethorpe came down the St. Johns River, far to the west, to attack the twin forts of Pupo and Picolata and established his own garrison there while the Spanish forces retreated to St. Augustine. From the St. Johns, Oglethorpe returned to Georgia, and proceeded to assemble a force of Carolinians, Indians and Georgians. Error! Bookmark not defined. In January 1740, Governor James Oglethorpe of Georgia raided Florida and captured Forts Pupo and Picolate on the St. John's River west of St. Augustine. These initial victories enabled Oglethorpe to mount a major expeditionary force, including Georgia and South Carolina regimetns, a vast Indian army, and seven warships for a major offensive against the Spaniards. (Landers FM 18) ADDRESS OF HON. WALTER G. CHARLTON. Returning on Jan 1, 1740, he burnt the latter and reduced the former. It never occurred to Oglethorpe to stay whipped. Driven off today, he was back on the morrow—a practice which the Spanish governor [Montiano] took much to heart as unreasonable, with a touch of discourtesy to a successful antagonist. From COLLECTIONS OF THE Georgia Historical Society, Vol. VII. (in Struggle for the Georgia Coast)

[Date assumed by Amy to coincide with Castillo construction] Shortly thereafter, Menendez petitioned for remuneration from his king for the “loyalty, zeal and love I have always demonstrated in the royal service, in the encounters with the enemies, as well as in the effort and care with which I have worked to repair two bastions on the defense line of this plaza, being pleased to do it, although it advanced my poverty, and I have been continually at arms, and assisted in the maintenance of the bastions, without the least royal expense, despite a scarcity in which this presidio always exists, especially in this occasion.” He added, “my sole object was to defend the Holy Evangel and sovereignty of the Crown,” and asked for the proprietorship of the free black militia and a salary to enable him to live decently (meaning in the style customary for an official of the militia). (Landers FM 20) AN488 The frustrated Davis eventually submitted a claim against the Spanish for 27 of his slaves “detained” by Montiano, whom he valued at 7600 pesos, as well as for the launch in which they escaped and supplies they had taken with them. He also listed debts incurred by the citizens of St. Augustine. Among those owing him money were Governors Antonio de Benavides, Francisco Morale Sanchez, and Manuel de Montiano, various royal officials and army officers, and Mose townsmen Francisco Menendez and Pedro De Leon. There is no evidence that Davis ever recouped his losses. (Landers)

From 1740 to 1752, the Mose group lived within the city of St. Augustine; after that time, they were forcibly removed to a rebuilt settlement. Meanwhile, new infusions of Africans continued to be incorporated into the original Mose community through ties with godparents. (Landers FM 27)

The free black milita of Mose worked alongside the other citizenry to fortify provincial defense. They also provided the Spaniards with critical intelligence reports. Note: On January 8, 1740, Montiano sent Don Pedro Lamberto Horruytiner "with 25 horsemen from his company, 25 infantry and 30 Indians and free Negroes (of those who are fugitives from the English Colonies) to scout the country." (Landers FM 18)

On January 22nd, Montiano sent Diego de Espinosa out to scout with six cavalrymen.* Diego was most familiar with the area the English were trespassing in, since his ranch was out there.* Montiano asked Espinosa to check the river landings at St. Johns, San Matheo, and St. Nicholas.* Note: Manuel de Montiano to the king, January 22, 1740. Indian militias continued to serve Florida's governors... (Landers FM 21)

On January 27th, Montiano put a large assignment on the lieutenant of cavalry, Don Romualdo Ruiz del Moral.* Moral was to take 25 horsemen, 25 Indians, and 25 free negroes to Picolata and Pupo.* If there were people at Picolata, Moral was to strategically and carefully attack and capture an Indian or Englishman alive.* Montiano was sick of getting blank reports from scouts who didn’t even try hard.* He lectured Moral on the importance of careful observation in a vigilant march.* He told Moral to examine the river carefully enough to estimate the number of people on the east side of it.* Once he knew the number fairly well, he could make a proper decision whether to attack them or not.* He might also just choose to harass those on either side of the river, as long as he didn’t take any dangerous chances.* On January 27, 1740, Montiano sent Don Romualdo Ruiz del Moral out on a similar [scouting] mission accompanied by "25 horsemen, 25 Indians, and 25 free Negroes." Montiano wrote, "The difficulty of getting information in our numerous thickets, lagoons and swamps, is so great as to make the thing almost impossible." (Landers FM 18)

In May, one of Oglethorpe’s lieutenants happened across five houses occupied by the freedmen and was able to capture two of them. Unable to protect the residents of Mose, Governor Montiano was forced to evacuate “all the Negroes who compose that town” to the safety of St. Augustine. Thereafter, the Mose militia continued to conduct dangerous sorties against the enemy and assisted in the surprise attack and recapture of their town in June. Note: One was the escaped slave of Mrs. Parker, and the other claimed to have been carried away from Colonel Gibbs by the Indians. (Landers FM 18)

A force of Spanish Regulars, dragoons, and black, Indian, convict and urban militia assulted the English garrison at Fort Mose. Out of 135 English at Mose only 24 were not killed or captured. Colonel Palmer was among the dead.37 (From Mose in Secondary Literature by Amy) The success at Mose was one of the few enjoyed by the Spaniards. It is generally acknowledged to have demoralized the combined British forces and to have been a significant factor in Oglethorpe’s withdrawal. British accounts refer to the event as “Bloody Mose” or “Fatal Mose” and relate with horror the murder and mutilation (decapitation and castration) of two wounded prisoners who were unable to travel. They do not say whether Spaniards, Indians, or blacks did the deed. Although Spanish sources do not even mention this incident, atrocities took place on both sides. Both Spanish and British authorities routinely paid their Indian allies for enemy scalps, and at least one scalp was taken at “Moosa,” according to British reports. (Landers FM 19) Cuban reinforcements finally relieved St. Augustine in July. Shortly thereafter, Oglethorpe and his troops returned to Georgia and Carolina. Governor Montiano commended all his troops to the king but made the rather unusual gesture of writing a special recommendation of Francisco Menendez. Montiano extolled the exactitude with which Menendez had carried out royal service and the valor he had displayed in the battle at Mose. He added that, on another occasion, Menendez and his men had fired on the enemy until they withdrew from the castle walls and that Menendez had displayed great zeal during the dangerous reconnaissance missions he undertook against the British and their Indians. Moreover, he acknowledged that Menendez had “distinguished himself in the establishment and cultivation of Mose, to improve that settlement, doing all he could so that the rest of his subjects, following his example, would apply themselves to work and learn good customs.” Note: For Montiano's account of Oglethorpe's siege and the victory at Mose, see Manuel de Montiano to the king, August 9, 1740 SD 845... (Landers FM 19) When the British ship Revenge captured a Spanish prize in July 1741, found aboard was a black named “Signior Capitano Francisco,” who was “Capt. of a comp’y of Indians, Mollattos, and Negroes that was att the Retaking of the Fort [Mose] att St. Augus’ne formally taken Under the command of that worthless G------ O-----pe who by his trechory suffered so many brave fellows to be mangled by those barbarians.” His captors tied Francisco Menendez to a gun and ordered the ship’s doctor to pretend to castrate him (as Englishman at Mose had been castrated), but while Menendez “frankly owned” that he was Captain of the company that retook Mose, he denied ordering such atrocities, which he said the Florida Indians had committed. Menendez stated that he had taken the commission as privateer in hopes of getting to Havana, and from there to Spain, to collect a reward for his bravery. Several other mulattoes on board were also interrogated and substantiated Menendez’s account, as did several of the whites, but “to make Sure and to make him remember that he bore such a Commission,” the British gave him 200 lashes and then “pickled and left him to the Doctor to take Care of his Sore A—se.” The following month, the Revenge landed at New Providence, in the Bahamas, and her commander, Benjamin Norton, who was due the largest share of the prize, vehemently argued before the Admiralty Court that the blacks should be condemned as slaves. “Does not their Complexion and features tell all the world that they are of the blood of Negroes and have suckt Slavery and Cruelty from their Infancy?” He went on to describe Menendez as “this Francisco that Cursed Seed of Cain, Crust from the foundation of the world, who has the Impudence to Come into this Court and plead that he is free. Slavery is too Good for such a Savage, nay all the Cruelty invented by man… the torments of the World to Come will not suffice.” No record of Francisco’s testimony appears in this account, but the Court ordered him sold as a slave, “according to the Laws of the plantation.” However, as we have seen, Menendez was a man of unusual abilities. Whether he successfully appealed for his freedom in British courts as he had in the Spanish, was ransomed back by the Spanish in Florida, or escaped is unknown, but by at least 1752, was once again in command at Mose. This incident illustrates the extreme racial hatred some British felt for Spain’s black allies, as well as the great dangers the freedmen faced in taking up Spanish arms. Other blacks captured as privateers in the same period were never returned. (Landers FM 22) [a force of Spanish Regulars, dragoons, and black, Indian, convict and urban militia assaulted the English garrison at Fort Mose. Out of 135 English at Mose only 24 were not killed or captured. Colonel Palmer was among the dead. (Source lost)] Salgado instructed the men to remain silent and stealthy until his command.* For some reason, Fort Mose was quite strong at this point.* It would be difficult to get at any Englishmen inside of it.* Salgado told the men to hold their fire until the English had fired first.* Then, while the English were busy re-loading their muskets, the Spaniards could storm the fort and catch the English in a disarmed state.* It worked like a charm.* Just before daybreak on Sunday morning, they somehow triggered the night watchman to sound an alert.* The sleeping enemy roused and scrambled for their guns.* The Spaniards waited behind trees for a round of shots.* When the shots rang out, they sprang forth from the trees and climbed the fort walls.* While the English struggled to get their muskets loaded, Spaniards, Indians, negroes, and convicts swarmed them with guns and knives.* The Spaniards swept over the village with unbridled rage.* It was a blood bath.* The leader of the English was beheaded.* I’m not sure what happened to his two sons, but Spaniards came home with their officer hats.* After much bloodshed, the English escaped to the north.* The Spaniards returned to St. Augustine with 34 prisoners.* Montiano listened to the accounts from all the fighters and the prisoners.* They reported 68 dead on the English side, and ten dead on the Spanish side.* One of the dead was the ensign, Don Joseph de Aguilera.* Some of the English prisoners claimed they had started out with 140 men.* Other prisoners claimed it was 170 men.* There was a militia company of 72 Scotchmen, including their officers.* There were 15 infantry, 40 horsemen, and 35 Indians.* The Indians were Uchees, with a white man for chief.* An Indian prisoner said he was positive that he saw Colonel Palmer dead with his head cut off.* The Indian said he thought both of Palmer’s were also dead.* He did not see them dead, but he saw Spaniards carrying the sons’ hats.* Montiano ordered the fort to be demolished and the dead buried.* Then he interrogated the prisoners he had tried for so long to capture and question.* Three or four of the prisoners mentioned hearing and seeing in a gazette that England was making preparations to send a sizable expedition to attack Havana.* It was to have 30 ships of the line and a landing party of 10,000 men.* Some prisoners also said that the armament blockading St. Augustine was composed of seven frigates.* One of them was from Bermuda and had 50 mounted guns.* Another had 40, another 27, and the rest each had 20.* None of the prisoners knew how many other, smaller boats were out there.* Some of the prisoners thought the main body of English troops contained 2,000 men.* Others estimated 1,500.* Some said 1,200.* Some said 900.* They said they brought three bronze 18-pound cannons from Carolina, plus some others.* The cannons were set up on Anastasia Island.* In his letter to Guemes on July 28th, Montiano commended the leader of this ambush: “Don Antonio Salgado, who commanded the sortie on Moze, acted like a true officer, profiting by their discharge to take them disarmed, as it were, on which he entered the work in safety, and overthrew them, although the fort is capable of much resistance. This affair destroyed the settlement of Scotchmen and people in whom Oglethorpe had complete confidence.”*

Although St. Augustine was alloted a troop complement of 350 men, Montiano only had 240 men fit for service in St. Augustine when the siege of 1740 ended. (Landers FM 21)

Cuban reinforcements finally relieved St. Augustine in July. Shortly thereafter, Oglethorpe and his troops returned to Georgia and Carolina. Governor Montiano commended all his troops to the king but made the rather unusual gesture of writing a special recommendation of Francisco Menendez. Montiano extolled the exactitude with which Menendez had carried out royal service and the valor he had displayed in the battle at Mose. He added that, on another occasion, Menendez and his men had fired on the enemy until they withdrew from the castle walls and that Menendez had displayed great zeal during the dangerous reconnaissance missions he undertook against the British and their Indians. Moreover, he acknowledged that Menendez had “distinguished himself in the establishment and cultivation of Mose, to improve that settlement, doing all he could so that the rest of his subjects, following his example, would apply themselves to work and learn good customs.” (Landers FM 19) Note: Manuel de Montiano to the king, January 31, 1740

Shortly thereafter, Menendez petitioned for remuneration from his king for the “loyalty, zeal and love I have always demonstrated in the royal service, in the encounters with the enemies, as well as in the effort and care with which I have worked to repair two bastions on the defense line of this plaza, being pleased to do it, although it advanced my poverty, and I have been continually at arms, and assisted in the maintenance of the bastions, without the least royal expense, despite a scarcity in which this presidio always exists, especially in this occasion.” He added, “my sole object was to defend the Holy Evangel and sovereignty of the Crown,” and asked for the proprietorship of the free black militia and a salary to enable him to live decently (meaning in the style customary for an official of the militia). He concluded that he hoped to receive “all the consolation of the royal support… which Christianity requires and your vassals desire.” It was customary for an illiterate person to sign official documents with an X, and for the notary or witnesses to write underneath, "for _____, who does not know how to write." Both these petitions, however, were written and signed in the same hand and with a flourish, so it would seem that at some point Menendez learned how to write in Spanish--perhaps when he was the slave of the royal accountant whose name he took. Despite his good services, appropriate behavior and rhetoric, there is no evidence of a response, and the noted royal parsimony made such payment unlikely. Note: Memorial(s) of Francisco Menendez, November 21, 1740, December 12, 1740. Note: The proprietary royal account for St. Augustine was Don Francisco Menendez Marquez. The Menendez Marquez family is the subject of several works by Amy Turner Bushnell. See... (Landers FM 20)

When the Spaniards mounted a major retaliatory offensive against Georgia in 1742, Governor Montiano once again employed his Mose militia. Montiano’s war plans called for sending English-speaking blacks of the Mose militia to range the countryside gathering and arming slave recruits, which suggests that he placed great trust in their loyalty and ability, as well, perhaps, as in their desire to punish their former masters. Bad weather, mishaps, and confusion plagued the operation, and several hundred of the Spanish forces were killed at Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island. By August, the Spaniards had returned to St. Augustine. Oglethorpe mounted two more attacks on St. Augustine in 1742 and 1743, but neither did major damage. An uneasy stalemate developed, punctuated occasionally by Indian and corsair raids. (Landers FM 21)

Thomas and his first wife were Congo slaves. Thomas belonged to Don Francisco Chrisostomo, and his wife, Ana Maria Ronquillo, to Juan Nicolas Ronquillo. The couple married in St. Augustine in 1745. Pedro Graxales, a Congo slave and his legitimate wife, Maria de la Concepcion Hita, a Caravali slave, were the godparents at the wedding. By 1759, Thomas was a free widower living at Mose. The next year, he and Maria Francisca were wed. By that time, Thomas’s godfather, Pedro Graxales, was also living at Mose as a free man, but Pedro’s wife and at least four children remained slaves in St. Augustine. (Landers FM 26)

Melchor de Navarrete, who succeeded Montiano in 1749, decided to reestablish Mose. He reported his achievements in converting the newcomers, remarking that he withheld certificates of freedom until the supplicants had a satisfactory knowledge of doctrine. Navarrete also claimed to have resettled all the free blacks from Carolina at Mose. (Landers FM 28) Note: Montiano's successor also stated that the townspeople of Mose were "under the dominion of their Captain and Lieutenant." Mechor de Navarrete to the Marques de Ensenada, April 2, 1752. (Landers FM 16)

Governor Fulgencio Garcia de Solis, who served from 1752 to 1755, refuted his predecessor's claims, stating that persistent illnesses among the blacks had prevented their relocation. When Garcia attempted to remove the freedmen and women to Mose, he faced stubborn resistance. The governor complained that it was not fear of further Indian attacks but the "desire to live in complete liberty" that motivated the rebels. He "lightly" punished the two unnamed leaders of the resistance and threatened worse to those who continued to fight the resettlement. In a familiar litany, he alluded to "bad customs," "spiritual backwardness," and "pernicious consequences" and condemned not only the original Mose settlers but also "those who have since fled teh English colonies to join them" He was determined that they would have "no pretext which could excuse them" from living at Mose and sought to isolate them from "any dealings or communication with... the town within the walls." The Spanish association of urbanization with the advance of civilization traditionally had as its corollary the idea that those living outside a city's boundaries were lacking in cultural and spiritual attainments. In his official papers, Garcia evidenced a much lower opinion of the free blacks than had Governor Montiano, and by removing them "beyond the walls" he made a visible statement about their supposed inferiority. (Landers FM 28) Garcia was no doubt angered by the rebellion he faced, and he was probably correct in contending that it actually arose from the free black desire to live in “complete liberty.” The crown had many times reiterated its commitment to their freedom, and, after living at St. Augustine for 13 years and repeatedly risking their lives in its defense, the free blacks surely recognized the eviction for the insult it represented. Possibly, after Garcia’s interim term ended, there was greater interaction between the peoples of St. Augustine and its satellite, as later governors did not display his antipathy for the free blacks. Governor Garcia may also have been disturbed by the presence and influence of unacculturated Africans (bozales) among the late comers. The “bad customs” that he alleged had so troubled his predecessors and himself might have been African cultural retentions. In 1744, Father Francisco Xavier Arturo baptized Domingo, a Caravali slave, in extremis, with the comment that his “crudeness” prevented his understanding Christian doctrine. Four years later Miguel Domingo, a Congo slave, received a conditional baptism because he told the priest that he had been baptized in his homeland, and continue to pray in his native language. (Landers FM 29) Peter Wood’s analysis of slave imports into South Carolina during a late 1730s determined that 70% of those arriving during this brief period came from Congo-Angola region. St. Augustine’s church registers suggest a similar preponderance there but within a broader context of considerable ethnic diversity. The Spanish often recorded the nation of origin for the Africans among them, and, although these designations are troublesome and must be used with caution, they offer at least a general approximation of the origins of those reported. 147 black marriages were reported from 1735 to 1763, and 52 of those married were designated as Congos – 26 males and 26 females. The next largest group was the Caravalis, including nine males and 19 females. The Mandingos constituted the third largest group and had nine males and four females. Also represented in the marriage registers were the Minas, Gambas, Lecumis, Sambas, Gangas, Araras, and Guineans. (Landers FM 29) Governor Garcia was required by royal policy to grant sanctuary to slave refugees, but he was not required to accommodate them in Augustine, and he did not. The chastened freedmen built new structures at Mose, including a church and a house for the Franciscan priest within the enclosed fort, as well as 22 shelters outside the fort for their own households. A diagram of the new fort, which had one side open on Mose Creek, shows the interior buildings described by father Juan Joseph de Solana but not the houses of the villagers. The only known census of Mose, from 1759, recorded 22 households with a population of 67 individuals. Mose had almost twice as many male as female occupants, and almost ¼ its population consisted of children under the age of 15. Thirteen of the 22 households belonged to nuclear or nuclear extended families, and 50 villagers, or 75% of the total population, lived with immediate members of their families. There were no female headed households of this outpost, and nine households were composed solely of males. At the time of the census, four men lived alone, Francis Roso, Antonio Caravallo, Thomas Chrisostomo, and Antonio Blanco, but at least two of those men, Roso and Chrisostomo, had family members among the slaves in St. Augustine. A third all-male household consisted of a father, Francisco de Torres, and his son, Juan de Arranzate. Francisco’s wife and Juan’s mother, Maria, was a slave in St. Augustine. Pedro Graxales was also separated from his slave wife and their children but had a younger man, Manuel Rivera, attached to his household. Three other all-male households included a total of 11 men living together, at least three of whom had slave wives in Augustine. Although spouses lived separately, parish registers record that children continued to be born of those unions and attest that family ties were maintained. Father Solana reported that some members of the Mose community were permitted to live in St. Augustine even though they continued to serve in the Mose militia. Several of those men appear on the 1763 evacuation lists for Mose. (Landers FM 30)

The only known census of Mose, from 1759, recorded 22 households with a population of 67 individuals. Mose had almost twice as many male as female occupants, and almost ¼ its population consisted of children under the age of 15. Thirteen of the 22 households belonged to nuclear or nuclear extended families, and 50 villagers, or 75% of the total population, lived with immediate members of their families. There were no female headed households of this outpost, and nine households were composed solely of males. At the time of the census, four men lived alone, Francis Roso, Antonio Caravallo, Thomas Chrisostomo, and Antonio Blanco, but at least two of those men, Roso and Chrisostomo, had family members among the slaves in St. Augustine. A third all-male household consisted of a father, Francisco de Torres, and his son, Juan de Arranzate. Francisco’s wife and Juan’s mother, Maria, was a slave in St. Augustine. Pedro Graxales was also separated from his slave wife and their children but had a younger man, Manuel Rivera, attached to his household. Three other all-male households included a total of 11 men living together, at least three of whom had slave wives in Augustine. Although spouses lived separately, parish registers record that children continued to be born of those unions and attest that family ties were maintained. Father Solana reported that some members of the Mose community were permitted to live in St. Augustine even though they continued to serve in the Mose militia. Several of those men appear on the 1763 evacuation lists for Mose. Note: Census of Gines Sanchez, February 12, 1759, SD. Marriage of Francisco Roso, Free Caravali and Maria de la Cruz, Caravali slave of Don Carlos Frison, January 8, 1743, CPR. Baptism of Carlos Roso, November 4, 1743, CPR. Marriage of Francisco Xavier de Torres, Mandingo, to Ana Maria, Mandinga slave of Joseph de Torres, February 1, 1742, CPR. Others with slave wives in St. Augustine were Joseph de Pena, Caravali, married to Ana Maria Ysquierdo, Conga slave of Don Juan Ysquierdo, January 29, 1743; Juan Francisco de Torres, married to Maria Guillen slave of Joseph Guillen, January 21, 1743; Joseph Fernandez, Mandingo, married to Ana Maria, Caravali slave, December 1, 1756; Juan Baptista, married to Maria de Jesus, August 17, 1757. (Landers FM 30)

TePaske described the chronic financial shortages of Florida, saying that "poverty and want characterized life in Florida and pervaded all aspects of life." Father Juan Joseph de Solana also described Florida as a destitute colony, impoverished, despite its natural resources, by the continual attack of Indians loyal to the British. Father Juan Joseph de Solana to Biship Pedro Agustin Morel de Sanchez, April 22, 1759. (Landers FM 28)