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Who was Anna Jai Kingsley and why was she important?
Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley (1793-1870) was taken from West Africa and sold into slavery in Havana, Cuba to a man named Zephaniah Kingsley at the age of 13. Kingsley was a slave trader, plantation owner, and resident of Spanish controlled Florida.
Who was Zephaniah Kingsley why was he important to Florida’s history?
Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. He served on the Florida Territorial Council after Florida was acquired by the United States in 1821. Kingsley Plantation, which he owned and where he lived for 25 years, has been preserved as part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, run by the United States National Park Service.
What did Anna Kingsley do for a living?
Anna purchased goods and livestock to begin a business–and she purchased slaves. She became one of a significant number of free people of African descent in East Florida. They included farmers, craftsmen, and members of a black militia. Some of these people, like Anna, owned slaves.
How old was Anna Kingsley when she was freed?
Kingsley freed Anna in 1811, when she turned 18, and gave her responsibilities for his plantations in East Florida. For 25 years, Kingsley’s unusual family lived on Fort George Island in modern-day Jacksonville, where Anna managed a large and successful planting operation.
Where did Zephaniah Kingsley and Anna Kingsley live?
In 1814 Zephaniah and Anna Kingsley, along with their children and slaves, moved to Fort George Island, a sea island near the mouth of the St. Johns River. On this thousand-acre island with palm-fringed beaches, birds of every description, and ancient Indian mounds of oyster shell, they restored an abandoned plantation.
What was the name of the ship Anna Kingsley was on?
She was transported to Havana, Cuba; the name of the ship she was aboard is unknown. When Africans arrived in the Western Hemisphere to be sold into slavery, slave traders generally did not record their given names, but only their age, sex, and sometimes ethnicity, which were most important to buyers.