The Walk to Saint Augustine
By Diane Barile
The sailing ship Reformation went aground at about three in the morning. Jonathan Dickinson knew his whole enterprise was in grave danger. Everything he valued most in life was on that boat; his wife and baby Jonathan Jr. and his mercantile business assets from Jamaica. By sunrise on October 23, 1696 twenty-four people were on the beach, the ship captain and mate and ten black servants and two Quaker missionaries accompanied the family to new lives in the English Colony of Pennsylvania.
Years later, Dickinson wrote a book describing God’s Providence in delivering the castaways from the terror of shipwreck in the Spanish Colony of Florida, home to man eating native people. It was October 23,1696 when the shipwreck victims found themselves on the coast of South Central Florida. While trying to rescue their belongings strewn in the surf, two screaming wild men approached. Calmed by gifts of tobacco, the intruders raced off to alert the village of Jobe. After some discussion, thecolonists decided to pass themselves off as Spanish rather than Spain’s enemy England.
As the Jobe people arrived, Dickinson expected “cruel hard death”. Instead the crowd ran off to plunder the wreck site. Some even stripped the castaways of clothing and personal mementos. However, during the three day stay at Jobe, the once thought “blood thirsty savages” became kind. The six month old baby was nursed by a volunteer mother. The leader, the Cassaque, was most helpful during the stay of the Dickinson party providing food and shelter.
After a twenty mile march up the beach, Dickinson arrived at St. Lucie Inlet and the village of Santaluces. Again they were attacked by the aggression of the residents. This seemed to be a pattern of welcome for shipwreck survivors. First, cow the intruders violently. Second, weigh the benefits or costs of keeping them alive and then, finally, implement a plan. If they were indeed Spanish they could be reward for the people’s survival. The victims did survive the barbarous attack and given some clothes and gift. Again the baby was cared for.
The next leg of the journey was from St. Lucie to today’s Melbourne. Jace was the largest of the Ais tribe’s settlements. Since it was closer to St. Augustine, the site had greater influence from Spanish government. This time there was no violent gauntlet, but the group was delayed for weeks while the Cassaque travelled to Jobe to collect his share of the plunder from the wreck of the Reformation. Then there was a trip to St. Augustine to report to the authorities. The castaways were well treated and given better body coverings.
Finally, the Ais allowed the party to leave in two groups, some in a leaky boat, the others walking the beach. At the north end of the Indian River Lagoon all met to haul the boat over land to Mosquito Lagoon. Dickinson and a small party moved north along the Atlantic beach. This was hard travel with little sustenance along the way. Although Spanish outposts dotted the course, garrison soldiers were of little help to the travelers. At one place, there was shelter for some of the group, but others were barred from comfort. That night, with a cold front passage, five of the shipwreck victims died of exposure.
The Dickinson party reached St. Augustine after two months and a two hundred fifty mile trek. They were accommodated by the Governor. What lay ahead was another two hundred fifty mile ship journey to the English Charleston, South Carolina. Dickinson did reach Philadelphia where his family became community leaders.