June 6, 1826 to July 2, 1831

Florida, Florida

Slavery, african americans, Smuggling, New Smyrna

It was June 6th, 1826 when David R. Dunham, inspector of customs at New Smyrna, located a small schooner from Virginia that was operating quite oddly. The ‘John Richard” which was captained by James Spillman, arrived in St. Augustine from Alexandria with provisions for the U.S. troops that were stationed in Florida. Captain Spillman intended to immediately stock-up and depart for the West Indies...