Memories still exist in Flagler County.  The distant sounds of the past still quietly resonate in street names and places, Indian Trails, Matanzas, Turnbull Woods, Pellicer, St. Joseph, Seminole Woods, Graham Swamp, Moultrie, Bulow.  They trace a very real thread that passes by them all :Old Kings Road. The violent past that shaped this area is in the far past. Old Kings Road today is mostly a paved, wandering bypass that might annoy busy drivers with its curves, and the heavy cross traffic that inches past as Old Kings crosses the modern Palm Coast Parkway and St. Joseph’s shopping plaza. Long lines with  slowly moving traffic now  impatiently await the green stop light at  the black-topped-over intersections that cover the memories of our now distant history.

Things were not always peaceful in Flagler County. This was once a violent area, full of war, death and struggle. Prior to the Civil War era, what is today Flagler County was almost depopulated.

If you drive north on U.S. Route 1 nearing the Flagler County north border line, where it ends near Pellicer Creek, you are passing one of the most historic corners in the United States. At one time, Route 1 was the main avenue into Florida. Here the 1960 era cars would zoom by an then unknown dirt road turnoff that had a small sign designating it as “Old Kings Road”. Today this dirt road was once remaining bit of the original Old King's Road, an antique byway. It is now totally paved.

It began as a road before the American Revolution!

In 1765 Colonel James Grant, the first Governor of British East Florida recognized the need for a road to link his command together. Florida was a wilderness place, but British investors saw the profit in building plantations along the east coast. Plans begun to make a roadway following old Indian trails. Thus began one of the first major roads in America.

Clearing tractors plus surveyors today point toward paving and improving this old tract thru Flagler County; soon it will lose its character as an unpaved dirt road that journeys through the past. Here soldiers, investors in land, travelers, Florida Crackers, Indians warriors, desperate Minorcan settlers plus seekers of the Florida Live Oak tree marched across this southerly turn from Pellicer creek, traveling thru a border of what is now Flagler County or “Mosquito County,”…. For this is the name by which our area was once called. Along this road grew huge commercial enterprises, some with English shareholders, developing large areas of Flagler County as far back as the Revolutionary War days.

As you travel towards the Princess Place, and the new Florida Agricultural Museum you are moving along one of the oldest roadways in North America. Flagler County has a rich history, much of it has flowed past this turn in the road. This small piece of unpaved Old Kings extends along one of the oldest known roads in North America. Most of Old Kings Road today consists of paved highway winding through the modern developments, housing, and shopping districts of Palm Coast. Some of Old Kings has been relocated many times, but the present dirt road near Flagler’s Princess Place Preserve is dead on the original route!

In 1767 the British Lieutenant Governor John Moultrie had stated that a road from St. Augustine to Turnbull’s new plantation at Mosquito inlet was blazed by “his Indian friend Grey Eyes.” He was a Creek Indian, probably part of the Alachua people under their leader Cowkeeper. Grey Eyes had to be a remarkable man being a friend of the Governor Moultrie and one to whom he entrusted the job of scouting the existing Indian Trails down to new the settlement of  Smyrna being planned by Dr. Turnbull.  The Indian trails avoided the low spots in the swamps and wetlands and thus were of a wandering, winding nature. Grey Eyes appears again in the account “Mullet on the Beach The Minorcans of Florida” by Patricia C. Griffin. He was reported as driving a herd of cattle down the trail toward the Turnbull estate when the Minorcans first arrived! Grey Eyes then vanishes from history, although an internet web search shows it is a common Indian family name.

Most Florida Indians had arrived from the north, being pressured by the influx of white settlers. They were often known as Seminoles, which could mean “stranger, or wanderer”.  The Indian trails extended across Florida, used by Indians moving from their settlements. Often the Seminoles kept cattle, horses, raised food on their small farms and traded with the plantations being developed along the St. Johns River. They had arrived in this area from various Indian tribes, being pressured by white settlers moving into Georgia and the Carolinas, or displaced by war. For the most part, they got along well with the Plantation managers and could work for wages or trade during the harvest seasons or supply needed game.  They did fear the influx of white settlers as a danger to land they believed to be theirs.

In March of 1765 East Florida’s Lt. Governor, John Moultrie planned to start a road southward to reach an anticipated settlement of Dr. Andrew Turnbull, who wished to make a massive development near Mosquito Inlet. Governor Grant had returned to England, obtained authority for funds and directed the road begun to the south.

"By June 20 1772, Moultrie could inform Grant : 'I have at several times gone over the road leading from this (town) to the Matanzas Swamp and could not think much of giving it any little help it could want.'"....
The Kings Road, Florida's First Highway by Dr. William R. Adams.

By 1774 much had been accomplished, streams bridged  by contractor Robert Bissett. Sometime in 1775 the northern segment of the road was completed to Colerain Georgia. The roadway was reported to be sixteen feet across, with ditches and pine logs laid crosswise in the wet portions. It was an open door for immigrants from the northern colonies. It was reported to be an excellent, broken shell surfaced roadway, well suited to a coach and team for travel south.

Also by 1774 it was reported that the roadway now reached the colony of New Smyrna. The roadway is mentioned in several accounts concerning  the arrival of the new colonists.

In 1768 the settlement of New Smyrna had been established south of what is now Flagler (or Mosquito) County.  Smyrna was ill-starred, suffering from a rebellion of its settlers against poor management. The unhappy settlers (largely from the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean) were suffering ill treatment, starvation and death. They needed to reach the authorities in St. Augustine. The settlement was  established by Dr. Andrew Turnbull. It began with eight ships in 1768 with some 1,400 workers who traveled to the New World.

Others are reported to have journeyed by land using the trail blazed by the Indian Grey Eyes.

There were Greeks, Italians, all residents of the Island of Minorca , who signed indentures to work and escape the problems of their home. The English controlled their island, and the Minorcans, who were Catholic, hoped for more religious freedom in America. They also spoke a common language, and were known for their hard work and serious nature.

Dr. Turnbull had strong influence with the English government.  He desired the completion of the “Kings Road” along the existing Indian trails. He had traveled the Mediterranean and formed a stock company to develop a profitable plantation in Florida using indentured workers from the island of Minorca along with imported slaves. A detailed “plan for profitability” was drawn, with funds allocated for what they believed would be all contingencies. The workers were promised land of their own after their period of indenture was finished. They probably were the first Florida immigrants attracted by the glowing promises of a land developer. 

The Florida climate was terrible for the Mediterranean settlers.  Insects, disease, poor food and hard work plus brutal treatment from the English supervisors, drove the survivors to desperation. Turnbull and his partners had tried to make the colony a success, but did not improve the living conditions. By 1768 some 450 of the original group were reported dead. Desperation caused the seizure of an English supply ship in 1768. The rebels were captured. The leaders were taken to St. Augustine where they were tried and two hanged. Capture of an English flagged ship was piracy, and left the St. Augustine governor little choice. Dr. Turnbull also still had influence. One rebel, who was a Greek from Corsica, was offered his own life if he hung his other two rebels, who were of Italian decent. His fellows convinced him to proceed, and he lived.

British troops were also dispatched to the colony and had reported very difficult problems marching to the colony over the then existing trails and road. Efforts were increased, and money was then allocated to improve and extend the road from St. Augustine to the Turnbull property by the English governor.

By early 1777 three desperate men had left the colony and made their way over the 75 miles to St. Augustine to report their plight.
A new governor, Patrick Tonyn had arrived. He was more sympathetic. Legal reports were filed, the reputation of Dr. Turnbull began to weaken. There were terrible reports of murder, deaths, and ill treatment in the colony.By mid April a group of some 90 men, women and children, led by a Minorcan carpenter, Francisco Pellicer struggled in the three day trip to St. Augustine, later followed by some 600 walking north in June.

Today, the Minorcan descendents still live in St. Augustine,  proud of their ancient heritage of being survivors. Several books have been written about their suffering in Turnbull’s colony. 

Minorcans in Florida by Jane Quinn 1975 includes a detailed map of the Old Kings Road route and accounts of their mistreatment in the Turnbull colony.  Mr. Pellicer will  also appear again in the history of Old Kings Road.  He  is the ancestor of  several prominent families still living in Flagler County.

By 1774 Old Kings road had been reported as complete to New Smyrna. There is little doubt that the trail used by the surviving Minorican settlers was that of “Old Kings Road”. It was the only pathway they could have followed to St. Augustine. Again a name rings out in “Pellicer Creek” today a northern landmark of Flagler County! Marching through the June Florida heat, lacking clean water and food, suffering the biting Florida Yellow Flies and mosquitoes, it is a wonder that many survived the 75 mile trip. We can  imagine their condition as they made the turn through what is now the Flagler area to cross over the deep stream that would later be named Pellicer Creek. What joy then to encounter the broad, straight, 16-foot wide shell, road to St. Augustine and civilization as they moved past swamps and wild unsettled areas.. The ragged and hungry settlers marched along our piece of the roadway. It was said they arrived with an ox-cart and on foot to seek aid and residence in St. Augustine.

Francisco Pellicer , their heroic leader, was a skilled carpenter, and well known citizen of St. Augustine.
He then established a farm on what is today known as Pellicer creek which was then bridged by Old Kings Road.   His name became part of Flagler history and location names. Though his farm is long departed.
(see Pellicer Land Grant along Old Kings Road)  the Flagler Princess Place preserve is today part
of his original Spanish Pellicer Land Grant.

John Moultrie had probably begun the first real public road. Work continued with bridges over streams, surveying the best paths, and an attempt to reach New Smyrna with a road that had the objective being transversed by either wagon or coach. The path from St. Augustine to what is now Flagler’s north border line was relatively straight and a normal task for the British engineers, until they reached Pellicer creek and the then impenetrable Matanzas and Grahams Swamp of our county. Pellicer flowed deep and emptied into the shallow lagoon leading to the St. John’s River. It had to be bridged, but then came the deep and apparently trackless wet lands.

Here is some of the story as related by local attorney and historian Allen Hadeed:

“When the British came, most of the means of transportation within this region was by water on the Matanzas River. The British knew this was a hindrance to economy, to exploitation, to plantation production, so they wanted to build a road along the coastline so all the plantations could more easily ship goods and have commerce. That gave birth to the Kings Road. We know it today as the Old Kings Road. I don't know how many of you know this but the Kings Road, the remnant of it that exists in Flagler county today is the longest existing segment of the Kings Road built in the United States. It is for the most part, with some exceptions, on the original alignment of the Kings Road.

I'm going to tell you a little story about how the Kings Road came to be. At that time, when they built the Kings Road, they stopped it at what is today the Flagler County line. We weren't Flagler County then of course. They stopped it at the Flagler County line because the British engineers did not know how to take it through Flagler. We were then known as the Matanzas Swamp. They were unable to traverse the swamp. I mean no insult to anyone here who is an engineer, but engineers like to do things in straight lines. And so, the Kings Road north of Flagler County is a straight line.

They built causeways, bridges but when they got to Flagler County you couldn't just do a straight line. So the British Governor went to his Indian friend, Grey Eyes. After years of trying, the British engineers could not build the rest of this road which was vital to the commercialization of Florida. So he asked Grey Eyes to plot the road for him. And of course, we all know today what Grey Eyes did. He used his eyes. He followed the game trails. He followed the ridges. And that is why the Kings Road curves through Flagler County because of that Native American's contribution.

What was grown then was sugar and indigo. Indigo was a very important plant dye. It was extremely valuable in Europe. Do you know what else they coveted here? Our timber. Our Live Oaks. Live oaks are great for boats. And of course, what was happening in Europe and the Americas? Naval engagements, Naval wars..Shipping and commerce. So they wanted our live oaks. In fact, there was a saw mill built close to where U.S. 1 crosses Pellicer Creek. In fact, Pellicer Creek used to be called Woodcutter's Creek during the time of the English. There was a mill site there and they clear cut the forest in Flagler County for the live oak used in the Americas and Europe for ship building.”….Al Hadeed Flagler Historian

Florida was a colony of Spain from 1513 and had been ceded to the British Empire by 1763. It was returned back to Spanish control by England in 1784. After the war of 1812 between the young United States and England, President James Monroe recognized the Adams-Onis Treaty which put Florida permanently under U.S. control.

In these turbulent times what was called Old Kings Road
had been destroyed many times in Indian fights, bridges burned, and the road itself relocated and repaired. Soldiers marched and countermarched along it. Forts were built, abandoned and fell into the wilderness. Revolutionary War soldiers in both 1776 and 1812 had
used this pathway.

The roadway was important to the Plantations and farms to get their crops to market, or to reach the nearest navigable waterway.    In 1784 after return to Spanish control, the roadway was reported to be in poor condition but still very much there.

Many of the British Plantations along Old Kings Road south of St. Augustine had for the most part been abandoned after the Spanish takeover. The Spanish, wishing to repopulate this area issued many land grants to encourage settlers to return. In spite of wars, Indian fights, and the constant battle with Florida’s climate and rapidly growing foliage, what was called “Old Kings Road” endured. During the second Spanish period of control, after 1787 it was desired to repopulate the area, and as Spanish land grants issued, many grant surveys used Old Kings Road as a reference. A succession of grants were made along the east coast between St. Augustine and the Mosquito inlet along side of Old Kings Road. These grants later became the basis of many famous early families and settlers such as the to trace their linage and ownership. Old Kings was the reference point and was also called “the public road.”
Some of these original land grant documents exist in private collections  See Pellicer Land Grant

After the Spanish take over and issuance of land grants, great plantations grew and prospered in what is now Flagler county. These were strung along Old Kings Road which today is a winding, paved thoroughfare going from the north of Flagler County to its southern border. An interesting history of these lost plantations is contained “Ashes on The Wind” by Alice Strickland which is found in the Flagler County Public Library’s history collection. The string of plantations and small holdings along Old Kings Road are a true story of adventure, disaster in the violence, war, and destruction that fell upon the area. At one time this area was almost totally without residents. It was too dangerous to live here.

Local historian John Clegg “The History of Flagler County” reported that a number of Spanish grants were purchased by Joseph M. Hernandez whose plantations called St. Joseph, Bella Vista and Mala Compra (that translates as ‘bad purchase’ in Spanish) figure strongly in Flagler County’s history. St. Joseph Plantation had a sugar mill which was near a prior St. Joseph Mission, a Indian mission run by the Francisican Friars. Mr. Clegg said the foundation of the sugar mill existed until the time of the Palm Coast development. Today there is “St. Joseph Plaza” near the traffic heavy paved section of Old Kings Road.
The sugar mill was reported to be in the area of 45 Park Drive today near Old Kings Road. A record of the research to locate this Mission is located at the Flagler Beach Museum.
Mala Compra today exists within a Flagler County Park near A1A and was explored and relics
shown in a library display.  Some relics also exist in the Flagler Beach Museum.

It can be said that the streaming auto traffic that now passes Palm Coast Parkway and Old
Kings Road is also intersecting near one of the most historic areas in Flagler County.

Major plantation locations included Mala Compra, St. Joseph, New Hartford, Bulow, Dunlawton, Putnam, Addison, Bunch, Oswald and  Smyrna. There were also a multitude of smaller holdings along the route. Many of the Spanish land grants, which extended from St. Augustine to New Smyrna used Old Kings road as a reference point, it was sometimes called “public road.” These grants indicated that Old Kings Road pretty much followed the original British tract.

These plantations needed the roadway. During the second Spanish period it was reported that maintenance was effected by local workers, and slaves from the adjacent plantations. Road maintenance fees were collected...The Kings Road Florida’s First Highway by Dr. William R. Adams, University of
Central Florida Libraries

During the War of 1812 between England and the young United States, Old Kings road had been actively used by troops both American and Spanish militia. In 1821 when ownership of Florida was returned to the citizens of the then United States, it soon became apparent that this old trail and road had to again be rebuilt, repaired and put in order for the new territory to become viable again. Where it was not maintained, the aggressive Florida fauna quickly took over, or it sank again into swamps and wetlands. By 1821 it was reported that sections had vanished into the muck and Palmetto Palms.

 Joseph Hernandez, was Florida’s Territorial Delegate in Congress, and responded to the pressures to improve and repair this road. On February 5 1823 a bill was passed in Congress to open a road thru Florida following the tract of the then ancient “Old Kings Road.” By 1829 much work had been done to make the roadway again useful.  By 1834 it was reported that mail service to New Smyrna could be accomplished along the roadway . The Kings Road, Florida's First Highway

The arrival of the “Live Oakers” - - the harvesting of The Florida Live Oak trees.

Traveling along what is now the paved version of Old Kings Road, past the Bulow Plantation, on to the Ormond Plantation site you will find the “Fairchild Oak” .It has been around since the era of settlers and Seminoles—– about 800 years. Surrounded by sugar plantation ruins,
safeguarded as an archeological site, the tree stands in Bulow Creek State Park. There are few of the grand old oaks still remaining in Flagler County although it was reported that once great forests grew here.

The early Spanish settlers and later the English found a great Florida treasure—– the Live Oak. Unfortunately, it was too valuable and by 1800 large tracts of live oak forests had been cut down. The lumber was vital for ship building. It often came in exactly the right shape for ship’s frames, or knees, and was almost indestructible compared with other available woods. The wood was valuable and a market existed for it in Europe where most of the great Oaks had long ago been cut down.

By 1827 Navy Secretary Samuel Southard informed Congress that large amounts of timber along the St. John’s river and along the sea coast had vanished.

President John Quincy Adams became one of the first conservationists in fighting for laws to protect this valuable resource. It was not to be. Political infighting, the election of Andrew Jackson and the subsequent Indian wars in Florida left an open door to those who were enough to cut the timber and transport it to markets in ports such as St. Augustine via the accessible waterways.

The logging crews that flooded into Florida were called “Live Oakers” and precipitated bitter political struggles within the new U.S. government, and many financial scandals. There is little doubt that Old Kings Road provided an avenue for loggers to reach the accessible water transport, and bring their valuable cargo to St. Augustine. It is likely that a side road, near what is today the Princess Place Preserve was a route from stands of Oak Trees to the waterway.

A few examples of the magnificent Live Oak trees still remain in Flagler County located on the present Princess Place Preserve, which is today one of the first turn offs on the unpaved, Old Kings Road. We could speculate how many of the wooden ships of the English Navy carried Live Oak frames and knees originating from what is now Flagler County. It is likely that active logging activity took place in this area. A local name for Pellicer Creek was  Wood Cutters Creek and a mill, called Hewitt's existed in the area, on the west side of Old Kings. The objective was to get this valuable wood up to St. Augustine, where it could be shipped to Europe and a ready and profitable market. Hewitt's Mill appears on several maps of the period.  A saw mill site owned by John Hewitt, a citizen of St. Augustine, during the British period is located on a tributary of
Pellicer Creek near Old Kings Road,  known as the Hulett branch.  The mill site was recently donated to the Florida Agricultural Museum by the owner Palm Coast Holding Company.  The site was investigated in 1977 and an earth dam, plus wooden artifacts were located.  It was also described in detail in the Palm Coast Cultural Resource Assessment Report of 1978.

There were often Indian incidents in the Mosquito County area and travel could be dangerous along the Old Kings Road trail.

In 1831-32 John James Audubon the famous naturalist traveled in portions of Old Kings Road, after a visit to what is now Flagler County where he stopped at the Hernandez plantation in middle December 1831. He was accompanied by Henry Ward, an English taxidermist, and George Lehman a landscape painter. Audubon also wrote about his visit to the Bulow Plantation which also lies along Old Kings Road in Flagler County (as it is called today) On January 14, 1832 Audubon and his party returned to St. Augustine from Bulowville, traveling on Old Kings Highway by wagon and six mules. He wrote a detailed report of his experiences.
Audubon does not comment on Indian dangers but there surely were risks in his trip at that time. Visiting Mosquito County (or later Flagler County) could have been a dangerous venture for him. They journeyed by boat but also certainly found the Old Kings Road running nearby to the Bulow Plantation, and on their return they did an 18 mile stretch via mule and wagon along ‘a Seminole trail’ which was almost certainly Old Kings Road.  His paper on the visit to our area was widely published, but his comments on the Live Oakers
are not as well known:

The Live Oakers as visited by Mr. Audubon

(famous naturalist James Audubon and friends, visited this area in 1831 and wrote about the Live Oak Cutters—here is part of his report which describes our Flagler County area)

Read Audubon Report about the Live Oakers
 

Much work and contracting was accomplished and by 1829 it was reported that an extension of the road was again complete to New Smyrna. It was a continuous battle against nature, hostile Indians and the small supporting population to keep the Old Kings Road open and effective. And, by 1835 affairs and relationships with the Indian residents have broken into open warfare. In what is now Flagler County, occurred what has been called “A 19th Century Viet Nam”.  To understand how this happened, a brief review of the policies of Andrew Jackson should be made.

The hero of the Battle of New Orleans, and the war of 1812 had placed a heavy fist onto “Mosquito County.” Andrew Jackson was elected President of the young United States. One of his early actions was to support an “Indian Removal Act” in the Congress.

President Andrew Jackson hated Indians. The “Seminole Indians” were not a tribe, but was the name given to the many groups and individuals that fled to Florida from Georgia and other states where they were being forced out by white settlers and farmers. There were many incidents of Indian troubles in Florida over the years. The Plantation Owners were disturbed when valuable slaves would escape their plantation and join with local Indian groups where they were readily accepted. In 1830 the U.S. had passed the Indian Removal Act, to relocate all tribes west of the Mississippi. This has explosive results in our area. It has a dramatic effect on Old Kings Road which changed from a route of commerce to a arena of war.

President Jackson had pressed Congress hard for an Indian removal act. An act to remove all Indians to reservations west of the Mississippi River. He envisioned savages, wandering thru unmapped wildernesses, as a stoppage to development and civilization by the white settlers who came flowing into Georgia, the Carolinas, and Florida. His views were reflected in a speech made to Congress on 8 December 1830:

After obtaining the land grant, Francisco lived on the land for 38 years. Twelve of his eighteen children were born there. Known in the mid 1820’s as “Pellicer Plantation,” the property was a working farm. Cash crops of sugar cane, corn and cotton were grown. Over time, most land grants were often divided up and sold off in smaller parcels or absorbed into other nearby land grants. Today there is probably not a single Spanish land grant existing in East Florida that is in its natural state or in the same configuration and size, as when it was originally granted- except for the Francisco Pellicer grant. The Pellicer family never divided the property. If historically verified, this fact would significantly enhance the historical importance of this land tract. (Courtesy of Donald F. Pellicer, a fifth generation descendant of Francisco Pellicer told
to the Flagler Parks Department)

Mullet On The Beach The Minorcans of Florida by Patricia C. Griffin
El Escribano The St. Augustine Journal of History 1990

Minorcans in Florida their history and heritage by Jane Quinn 1975

Red Blood, White Lies by Loquitas Belloit 2004

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