The Minorcan Yoke

Historical background: The Turnbull Colony/plantation at New Smyrna Beach was started by a doctor during the British Period using "indentured servants" from the Mediterranean. The horrific living conditions led to most of the people from Minorca, Italy, and Greece dying during the years of indenture; however, at the end of their years working for Dr. Turnbull, he refused to release them. A delegation travelled to St. Augustine to implore help from the governor, who agreed to give them protection if they came up from New Smyrna. The survivors left Turnbull's plantation with anything they could carry and walked to St. Augustine. When St. Augustine was transferred back to the Spanish in 1784, about the only people left in St. Augustine were the Minorcans. If it had not been for them, St. Augustine would not be able to claim the title of oldest, continuously inhabited town in the United States.

Minorcan-descendent Nancy Pellicer Dyer wrote a historical novel based on the life of her ancestor, Don Francisco Pellicer, a 21-year-old man from Minorca. This first of two books about the story of the Minorcans in Florida take place mostly on Turnbull's plantation as the people try to survive both the wilderness and the cruelty of some of the other people they meet.

Local locations visited or mentioned in the text include the Plaza de la Constitucion, Castillo de San Marcos, the Old City Gates, Cuna Street, and the Matanzas River.

PS3604 .Y48 M56 2014

This item is part of the Circulating Collection and can be checked out with a valid Flagler ID. Non-Flagler affiliates will need to request this book through their local library's Inter-Library Loan program.

The Minorcan Yoke

Kathleen Walls and James Steidl, cover artists

[St. Augustine, FL]: Global Authors Publications

Paperback book

English

Historical

Action or Adventure
British Period

Purchased

Dyer, Nancy Pellicer. The Minorcan Yoke. [St. Augustine, FL]: Global Authors Publications, 2011.