Kingsley Plantation

Infobox_protected_area | name = Kingsley Plantation
iucn_category = V

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caption =
locator_x = 227
locator_y = 138
location = Duval County, Florida, USA
nearest_city = Jacksonville, Florida
area = 60 acres
established = September 29, 1970
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body = National Park Service

Kingsley Plantation (also known as the Zephaniah Kingsley Plantation Home and Buildings) is a historic plantation in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is located at the northern tip of Fort George Island at Fort George Inlet, and is part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Previously, it was a state park within the Florida Park Service. It was transferred to the National Park Service in 1989. On September 29, 1970, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The plantation was originally convert|1000|acre|km2, most of which has been taken over by forest; the structures and grounds of the park now comprise approximately 60 acres. [Carter, John (October 20, 2004). "Slave history event at Kingsley site: Plantation having 'a sort of family reunion'." "Florida Times-Union" (Jacksonville) p. N-1] The park has a unique historic significance: the plantation house is the oldest still standing in the state of Florida, [National Park Service.cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/timu|title=Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve website Retrieved December 29, 2007.] and the remains of the slave quarters are a rare remnant from Antebellum American life.

History

In 1793, American Revolution veteran John McQueen was lured to Ft. George Island from South Carolina by the Spanish government, who rewarded McQueen with the island. McQueen settled with 300 slaves and constructed the Cracker-style house in 1793. McQueen was soon bankrupt due to misfortunes, and the possession of the plantation turned over to John McIntosh from Georgia who revived it. McIntosh, however, took part in the Patriot Rebellion, an attempt to hand north Florida over to the United States. The rebellion was unsuccessful, and McIntosh fled back into Georgia to escape punishment from the Spanish. [Holmes, Deborah. cite web|url=http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/10379.shtml|title=Part II: Anna and Zephanaih Kingsley Old House Web. Retrieved on December 29, 2007.]

Zephaniah Kingsley settled on Ft. George Island in 1814 after leasing it from McIntosh. He purchased the land and buildings for $7,000 US in 1817.Steffen, Colleen (February 6, 2000). "Slavery was contradiction for Zephaniah Kingsley." "Florida Times-Union" (Jacksonville, FL) p. E-8] The plantation grew Sea Island cotton, citrus, corn, sugar cane, beans and potatoes worked by approximately sixty slaves. The slaves and the plantation were managed by Kingsley's wife, Anna Magjinine Jai, an enslaved Wolof woman from what is now Senegal whom he had purchased in Cuba and eventually freed.Weightman, Sharon (February 1998). cite web|url=http://jacksonville.com/learningcenter/blackhistory/5story.html|title=Anna Kingsley: a 'free person of color'. "The Florida Times-Union" website. Retrieved June 18, 2006.] They had four children together, and Zephaniah freed her in 1811. He also married two other formerly enslaved women, Flora H. Kingsley and Sarah M. Kingsley who also bore him children, although Anna Jai remained the matriarch.University of Florida Libraries (2007).cite web|url=http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/kingsley.htm|title=A Guide to the Zephaniah Kingsley Collection UF Special Collections website. Retrieved on December 29, 2007.]

While Kingsley prospered on Ft. George Island, Florida was under the control of Spain, a country with more liberal attitudes towards race and marriage. In 1821 however, control of Florida was given over to the United States, a country that considered interracial marriage illegal. Despite his marriage to slaves, Kingsley was an advocate of slavery as an institution, and published a defense of it in 1828, rationalizing it as "a necessary evil" beneficial to owner and slave alike, as well as to the overall economy. It was released again in 1834, and even though Kingsley did not think slavery should be based on skin color, nor a permanent, hereditary condition, the treatise was used to defend slavery in debates prior to the Civil War. To avoid difficulties with the new government in what he termed “spirit of intolerant prejudice,” Kingsley sent his wives, children, and a few slaves to Haiti and sold the plantation to his nephew, Kingsley Beatty Gibbs. However, before Zephaniah could join his family in Haiti, he died in 1843, while in New York City working on a land deal. Anna returned in 1860 to settle an inheritance dispute with some of her husband's white relatives; the court ruled in her favor and control of the Kingsley Plantation remained with her and her descendants.

lavery at Kingsley Plantation

on top of an egg was unearthed, adding evidence to the idea that African slaves kept many of their traditions alive in North America. Archaeologists also discovered evidence of an added-on porch to one of the cabins facing away from the main house, an atypical feature for a slave cabin, as owners and overseers constructed quarters to be within their view at all times.

Labor at Kingsley Plantation was carried out by the task system: each slave was given an assigned set of tasks for the day, and when those were completed, they were free to do as they chose. Grinding 20 - convert|30|lb|abbr=on. of cotton was a daily task, or constructing three barrels a day for a slave who was a cooper.

Kingsley Beatty Gibbs (Zephaniah's nephew) described the task system in his journal:

October 5, 1841 - "No work was done today, as all the people have it to gather their own crop - It is a rule which we have, to give all the negroes one day in the spring to plant, and one day in the fall to reap, and as there is a rule on Sea Island plantations fixing the tasks required each day to be done, it occurs, during the long days of summer, that the hand is generally done his task by 2 p.m., often sooner, so they have abundance of time to work their own crop, fish, etc., etc." [Kingsley Plantation Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (date not printed). "The Slave Community". [Brochure] . Jacksonville, FL. National Park Service, author.]

This task system of slavery was common among sea island plantations in the Southeastern United States. In contrast, cotton and tobacco plantations in Virginia and other parts of the South practiced the "gang system" where an overseer who was also a slave, drove slaves to work the entire day. [National Park Service cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/timu/indepth/kingsley/kingsley_slave_comm_labor.htm|title=Labor Kingsley Plantation website. Retrieved on December 29, 2007.]

The slave houses were constructed out of tabby and built by the slaves. Tabby is a mixture of burned oyster shells left over from Timucuan middens, dirt, sand, lime, and water. The slave quarters at Kingsley Plantation are widely considered some of the best surviving examples of the use of this building material. Shells were burned by the barrelfull in open pits or kilns, then pounded into lime particles. The lime was mixed with water, sand, and whole oyster or clam shells, then made into bricks or poured into foundations, or used for floors. The material made the houses remarkably durable, resistant to weather and insects, better insulated than wood, and the ingredients were accessible and cheap, although labor-intensive. [Steffen, Colleen (January 6, 2000)."Crumbling past." "Florida Times-Union" (Jacksonville, FL); p. E-1] The layouts of the houses can still be seen today. Each cabin consisted of a room and a sleeping loft, and were used by slaves and freedmen until the 1890s. When new owners took the site in 1922 to build a nearby country club, the cabins served as tourist attractions. The archaeological significance of the site is considerable in light of the fact that the majority of slave quarters in the Southern United States were not built with quality materials, and most quarters were destroyed after emancipation.

Activities

Kingsley Plantation currently showcases the remains of 23 slave houses out of 32 original cabins, located approximately a quarter of a mile from the main owner's house laid out in a semi-circular pattern similar to African villages,National Park Service, "Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve: Kingsley Plantation Grounds Tour Brochure".] There is also an attached kitchen and walkway, barn and garden. One of the slave houses has been restored to appear as it did in the early 19th century.

Anna Jai Kingsley lived in the smaller house attached to the kitchen that was called "Ma'am Anna House", as was custom of married Senegalese women and men. [Florida Center for Instructional Technology (2007). cite web|url=http://fcit.usf.edu/FLORIDA/photos/historic/kingsl/kingsl.htm|title=Gallery: Kingsley Plantation University of South Florida website. Retrieved on December 29, 2007] The planter's house is unfurnished and currently closed for structural rehabilitation. The original tabby barn, as well as one room of the kitchen house, is open daily and contains historical exhibits.

The Kingsley Heritage Celebration

From 1998 to 2006, Kingsley Plantation hosted an annual one-day event in October called the Kingsley Heritage Celebration. Starting in 2008 and coinciding with Black History Month, the Kingsley Heritage Celebration will be expanded to every Saturday in February to include music, storytelling, a descendants' reunion and ranger-led talks about history and archeology. [Lovejoy, Heather (November 7, 2007). "Kingsley Plantation slavery event is moved to February." "Florida Times-Union" (Jacksonville); p. N-8]

Park structural work

Maintenance of the historical structures is the most significant work being done at Kingsley Plantation. The kitchen and owner's house were closed in 2005 due to severe structural damage caused by termites and humidity. [Carter, John (March 9, 2005). "Kingsley Plantation to undergo repairs: Work begun on kitchen, other fixes slated for later." "Florida Times-Union" (Jacksonville); p. K-1] The kitchen was rehabilitated in 2006, but work is ongoing for the owner's house. Despite the durability of the slave quarters, they are vulnerable to vandalism, and each cabin shows evidence of damage.While there is no slated completion date for the rehabilitation of the owner's house, one room of the kitchen house is open and contains exhibits. The other room of the kitchen house is slated to open in 2008.

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/timu/indepth/kingsley/kingsley_home.htm Kingsley Plantation National Historic Site, official site]
* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/FL/Duval/state.html Duval County listings] at [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com National Register of Historic Places]
* [http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/kingsley/ The papers of Zephaniah and Anna Kingsley at the State Archives of Florida]
* [http://www.flheritage.com Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs]
* [http://www.flheritage.com/facts/reports/places/index.cfm?fuseaction=ListAreas&county=duval Duval County listings]
* [http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/markers/markers.cfm?ID=duval Duval County markers]
* [http://www.flheritage.com/services/sites/fht/record_t.cfm?ID=236&type=c&index=16 Kingsley Plantation]

References