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Resolution passed in 1833 for the establishment of a Port of Entry at Fernandina Harbor and for establishing and providing for a Naval depot at the Port.
Harbor of Fernandina – 1833 Read More »
Proclamation Re Election by Governor Duval [July 23, 1826] William P. Duval, Governor of the Territory of Florida, announces that an election for thirteen members of the Legislative Council will be held on the first Monday of October. Election districts are established. 9th District – within the following assigned limits, “the boundary lines of Nassau County.” Four precincts – 1st precinct at Roses Bluff, judges, James T. Oneil and William Mathews jun. 2d precinct – at the house of D. Higginbottom judges, D. Higginbottom, Ridgon Brown and Lewellen Williams. 3d precinct – at Amelia Island – Fernandina, judges, Chas Seaton, Thomas Reynolds and Domingo Acosta 4th precinct – at Wm. Frinks house, judges, William Frink, Britton Knight and James G. Smith Reference: Florida Territorial Papers, Vol. XXIII, p.p. 619, 622. Acting Governor McCarty to the President of the Legislative Council [January 28th 1828] William M. McCarty, the Acting Governor Florida, sent a letter to the President of the Legislative Council nominating the following people in Nassau County for office: James McCormickGustavus CoxDaniel McDanielThomas BackhouseChas Canto Magistrate for the Upper DistrictMagistrate for the Middle DistrictMagistrate for the Amelia DistrictAuctioneerLumber Measurer Reference: Florida Territorial Papers, Vol. XXIII, p. 1016 1833 Appointments to Office by the Governor [February 17, 1833] Nominations were considered and confirmed “yesterday”. Nassau County Judge of the county court – James T. O’NeilJustices of the Peace – Robert Miller, John Middleton jr, John Braddock, Charles Seaton, William Braddock, William Buford, Zachariah MoatNotaries Public – John Evertson, John Middleton jrAppraisers
Nassau County Nominations and Appointments found in the Florida Territorial Papers Read More »
A memorial signed by the inhabitants of Florida in 1831. This memorial can be considered a census of the free male population at that time since it appears that all men in each area signed this memorial.
Memorial to the President by Inhabitants of the Eastern Judicial District Read More »
Names stricken from Registration Book, by the Board of County Commissioners of Nassau County, October 6th, 1882.
Names Stricken from Registration Books – October 1882 Read More »
Fernandina was the last city platted by the Spanish in the New World, thirty years after the plat of Los Angeles. The plat of what is now known as Old Town follows the traditional elements of city planning in the New World by the Spanish. A town plaza faced the harbor with streets laid out in a grid pattern with lots measuring 46 feet wide and 96 feet deep. The Spanish Governor’s order to rezone Fernandina was signed on May 10, 1811, and read as follows: “Whereas, for the purpose of regulating the town of Fernandina on the Island of Amalia in this province, which town your Governor has observed to grow day by day, and in Order to lend it greater usefulness, comfort and beauty, I, Governor (White) ordered the Surveyor General, George I. F. Clarke, to prepare a plat of that establishment and of possible improvements which could be made in it.” The land grants given here were originally published in the American Guide Series, “Seeing Fernandina: A Guide to the City and its Industries,” in 1940. The material was compiled from documents in Spanish land grants. Square 1 Half Lot 1: Granted to Miguel Mabrite, at some time previous to 1814, presumably to build a dwelling house. Half Lot 2: Granted to Jose Jimenez, who built an eating place on it about 1813. Half Lot 3: Granted to James Cashen, Subaltern (military) Judge of the Island of Amalia and the Frontier for the Spanish Government, about 1809....
Old Town Fernandina Land Plats – 1811-1821 Read More »
An extraction of a letter to The Florida Mirror published on February 14, 1880. This letter describes the writer's thoughts on the changes within Nassau County since the Civil War. The writer uses the pseudonym of "Sug Yek."
The Territorial Papers of Florida which have been transcribed and published by the National Archives hold a wealth of information about Florida during the territorial period from 1821 to 1845..
Territorial Papers of Florida Read More »
Building up to the Spanish-American war the port of Fernandina was used as a base of operation for those sympathetic to the Cuban plight. Arms, ammunition, and recruits were shipped from her port to Cuba. Once War was declared Fort Clinch was prepared for up to 10,000 soldiers and the economy of Fernandina began to grow again. But it was short lived as additional railroads built out in the early 20th Century to cities like Jacksonville and Savannah. Finally, in the late 1930s, the mills arrived in Fernandina and released the citizens of the community from their reliance on cotton and tobacco to timber and industry.
Pro Cuba and City Expansion, 1895-1937 Read More »
Fort Clinch was an immediate target of acquisition for the Union during the Civil War. The Union Navy arrived on 2 March 1862 firing cannon volleys at the last two retreating railroad ships of citizens from evacuated Fernandina. As in most wars, not all citizens evacuated, and those left behind found themselves in an occupied territory once again, with limited freedom. But freedom did come to the black slaves of Fernandina which far outnumbered their white owners. And when the reconstruction period began after the War it was the "black" county of Nassau which rose to power in the government offices of Nassau County, while the white citizens still held the land and controlled the jobs. It was this inimical system that led to the strikes in the 1880s by the black workers until again the Yellow Fever broke out and all citizens were to busy nursing, to think of other troubles.
War Between The States and Reconstruction, 1860-1895 Read More »
In 1818, Fernandina comprised of about 40 wooden houses which sheltered a population of around 150 people. The town was incorporated the same year as Nassau county was created, 1824. It wasn’t until the Railroad arrived on the Island from Cedar Keys did the growth of Fernandina and Nassau County appear promising. Then all Hell broke loose with the start of the Civil War.
American Proprietors, 1818-1860 Read More »
