subject: Early Settlers: Minorcans Set Sail To Florida [print this page] Florida was given to the British in 1763 by The Peace of Paris. When they came to the land they found it unpopulated. Dr. Andrew Turnbull, a Scottish physician, took advantage of the Proclamation of 1763 which offered easy terms of settlement to those who desired land grants.
The doctor felt that people from the British Isles might have found it difficult to adjust to the heat in Florida. Instead, he went to Greece hoping to find colonists. The Greeks were accustomed to humid, hot conditions and he felt they would do a good job of cultivating olives, cotton, madder and tobacco.
Dr. Turnbull acquired land near Ponce de Leon Inlet near present day Daytona. He planned to have 500 Greek settlers come back with him and would call his new colony New Smyrna. He arrived in June of 1767 at the port of Mahon on Minorca.
There he chose to delay his trip to Greece and vied instead for the attention of Italians in Leghorn Italy, of whom he heard some were interested in migrating to the New World. Sure enough several Italians males signed up to become inhabitants of New Smyrna.
Alongside the Italians, a few Greeks from Levant joined the voyage. These Greeks were from the island of Corsica, about 200 came from Mani in the Peloponnesos and other places nearby.
As the doctor collected his new immigrants he sailed back to Mahon in February of 1768. There he found the Italians he had recruited had married Minorcan women.
On April 17, 1768 he sailed from Minorca with eight ships carrying a total of 1,403 settlers. This doubled the number he'd originally hoped for and then some. Unfortunately, 148 of the colonists died during the voyage from Minorca to Florida.
New Smyrna Residents Arrive
Upon arrival, the colonists' met with rough conditions in New Smyrna. The land had yet to be cleared of trees and thick bush.
Two of the biggest obstacles were Indians and alligators. Food had to be gathered, hunted or caught by fishing, and they had to work the swamps for their very survival. Malaria from the mosquitoes quickly took its toll on the new settlers.
Settlers had several options to get food, but little time was allotted to the people to forage. They were forced to spend much of their time building homes for themselves.
These conditions led 300 of the colonists to revolt. They seized a ship and sailed south. A British Frigate found the ship and captured its passengers; taking them to St. Augustine. Most were returned to the colony, but two were executed.
In the first year, 450 colonists perished. Despite many of the hardships New Smyrna was one of the better colonies in North America at the time.
What to Expect in New Smyrna Today
The indentured Greek and Italian servants, who through their blood, sweat, tears made the colony successful are honored by The Odyssey Monument. Every year on the first Saturday after Labor Day there is a commemoration in their honor at the monument.
In St. Augustine Florida, the St. Photios National Shrine honors the settlers. There you will find exhibits that adjoin a chapel. The stories of the people and their plight are told in wonderful detail.
