Zephaniah Kingsley - Laurel Grove

Laurel Grove

Spain was offering land to settlers in order to populate Florida, so Kingsley petitioned the governor for land but was turned away. After waiting, he decided to purchase a 2,600-acre (11 km2) farm for $5,300 ($759,313 in 2009). It was named Laurel Grove, and its main entrance was a dock on Doctors Lake, south of where Orange Park is located today. Kingsley arrived with ten slaves and began to cultivate it immediately. Another source stated he received a substantial land grant because he brought 74 slaves to Florida. The plantation grew oranges, sea island cotton, corn, potatoes, and peas. Kingsley's first slaves were from his family's estate in South Carolina. By 1811, he had acquired a total of 100 slaves at Laurel Grove, obtained from Africa via Cuba. Kingsley trained the slaves at Laurel Grove in agricultural vocations for future sale; Kingsley provided slave buyers with skilled artisans, which allowed him to charge 50 percent more than market price per slave. At Laurel Grove, slaves were trained not only in farming, but blacksmithing, carpentry, and cotton ginning.

In 1806, Kingsley took a trip to Cuba and purchased Anna Madgigine Jai (born as Anta Majigeen Ndiaye), a 13-year-old Wolof girl from what is now Senegal. He married her in an African ceremony in Havana soon after purchasing her, although the union was not legally recognized during their lives. Kingsley took Anna to Laurel Grove and made it her responsibility to run the plantation in his absence. In 1811, he petitioned the colonial Spanish government to free Anna and their three children and the request was granted. The Laurel Grove plantation during one year earned $10,000 ($128,940 in 2009), which was an extraordinary amount for Florida. With his earnings, Kingsley purchased several locations on the opposite side of the St. Johns River, including St. Johns Bluff, San Jose, and Beauclerc in what is now Jacksonville, and Drayton Island farther south near Lake George. After gaining freedom, Anna was awarded five acres in a land grant by the Spanish government, and she purchased slaves to help farm it. Kingsley was furthermore involved in the shipping industry, related to his large-scale slave trading. While at Laurel Grove, Kingsley was attempting to smuggle in 350 slaves (the international slave trade was abolished in 1807) when the ship was captured by the U.S. Coast Guard. Not knowing what to do with so many indigent people, the Coast Guard turned them over to Kingsley, who was the only person in the area who could care for such a number.

During an insurgency that became known as the Patriot Rebellion, in an attempt to annex Florida to the United States, American forces, American-supplied Creeks, and renegades from Georgia crossed the border into the Spanish colony and began raiding the few settlements in North Florida, capturing black people and enslaving them. In 1813, the Americans captured Kingsley and forced him to sign his endorsement of the rebellion. They took Laurel Grove and used it as a base to raid other plantations and nearby towns. Kingsley left the area. After assuring her safety with the Spanish forces, Anna burned the plantation down so the rebels could not use it, and took her children and a dozen of her slaves aboard a Spanish gunboat. For her loyalty, Anna received a reward of 350 acres (1.4 km2) by the Spanish colonial government.