Fitzpatrick's Miami River Plantation
Richard Fitzpatrick's South Florida, 1822-1840 Part II: Fitzpatrick's Miami River Plantation By Hugo L. Black III* During the 1820's, most of the land in southeast Florida was owned by the government. By 1825, only six private claims from the Spanish period had been validated: the Polly Lewis, Jonathan Lewis, and Rebecca Hagan (Egan) Donations on the South side of the Miami River, the James Hagan (Egan) Donation on the North side of the Miami River, the Mary Ann Davis Donation on Key Biscayne, and the Frankee Lewis Donation on the New River.1 Notwithstanding the lack of settlement, even during this period, southeast Florida's suitability for plantations was recognized. James Egan emphasized this suitability in the following advertisement run on numerous occasions in the Key West Register during 1829, in which he offered his land on the Miami River for Sale: For Sale A Valuable Tract of LAND Near Cape Florida Situated on the Miami River. The Land is very good and will produce Sugar Cane and Sea Island Cotton, equal if not superior to any other part of the *Hugo Black, III, is a resident of Miami, a former state legislator, a graduate of Yale, and presently attending law school at Stanford University. This is the second part of an article written as a senior paper at Yale. For Part I see Tequesta, XL. 34 TEQUESTA Territory. There is at present a number of bearing Banana and Lime trees and the fruit is inferior to none raised in the Island of Cuba. The forest growth consists principally of Live Oak, Red Bay and Dog Wood.
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