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William Panton, John Leslie, and Thomas Forbes owned Panton, Leslie & Company, a large and prosperous merchant business in colonial Georgia and South Carolina. During the Revolutionary War, their British sympathies led them to move their business to Spanish-held St. Augustine. They conducted much of their business with the indigenous peoples of the region, including the Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee. By 1792, the business was in financial trouble due to the accumulation of large debts by these groups. The Spanish government suggested that they recoup these debts through indigenous land cessions, which resulted in the company (then called the John Forbes & Company) receiving approximately 1,200,000 acres between the Apalachicola and St. Marks Rivers in 1804. This cession is called the Forbes Grant or the Forbes Purchase.
After the War of 1812, it became evident that the United States would obtain Florida from the Spanish. Since Forbes was not an American citizen, he felt that either the land would be confiscated or he would not receive a fair purchase price from the U.S. Government, so he sold the land to Havana merchant Colin Mitchel in 1817.
Years of litigation followed in which the U.S. government questioned the authenticity and legality of certain documents used as proofs of ownership. Many of the documents were located in the Spanish archives in Cuba and had to be copied and translated, which then sparked accusations of forgery and mistranslations. Finally, in 1835, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Mitchel's favor. He formed the Apalachicola Land Company with headquarters in New York and sold the land piecemeal to the newly arriving American settlers. The company became insolvent in 1858.
Summary:
The collection contains correspondence and legal papers concerning the federal litigation over ownership of the lands contained in the Forbes Purchase, as well as receipts, indentures, and other agreements made by interested parties. There are documents from the case of Andrew Garr vs. the Apalachicola Land Company, and from suits filed by the Union Bank of Tallahassee. Most of the documents date from the mid-19th century when the litigation occurred, though some papers date to 1910.
Union Bank lawsuit records include some materials relating to the transfer and treatment of enslaved Black and "mulatto" persons, described as follows:
1. A civil suit disputing the legality of a transfer of 29 unidentified enslaved persons to Sarah A. Betton via the will of her deceased husband, dated 1845.
2. The will of William Oliphant of South Carolina, 1847, which bequeaths the enslavement of the following people to various relatives: Jack, Susan, Henry, Upsher[?], Yamae[?], Charles, Rebecca, Abram, Sam, Isaac, Susan's daughter Betsey, Mire, Sango, Dave, Moriah and her four children, another daughter of Susan, and five other persons whose names are obscured by the deterioration of the record.
3. A lawsuit against Thomas Gaskins, deceased, for cruel and inhumane punishment of an enslaved person, Sam, filed November 1842, in Leon County.
4. A lawsuit against William Burney, deceased, for the theft of the following enslaved people: Harvey, Irving, Jane, Caroline, Mack, Mary, Phebe, Fanny, Clary, Jim, and Moll. These men, women, and children were originally enslaved by William Tradewell. The suit was filed in November 1842, in Leon County.
5. An appraisal of enslaved persons and perishable property of the estate of Col. Alfred M. Galtin[?], dated March 25, 1841[?], listing the following enslaved persons: Arch, Ben, Bob, Hanie[?], Ca[?], Jack, James, Alfred, Sam, March, Peter C., Joe Mackson[?], Mathias, Ben [?], Peter Caloway, Louis, Jo Ellis, Isaac, Peter Aicon, Hugh, Allen, George, Co[?]tins, Nelson, Edmond, Jarvis, Hamlet, Frank, Howard, Corry, [?], Bryan, Jerabid[?], Ben, John, Ambrose, Cilla, Clarissa, Charlotte, Rose, Eliza + child Deanna, Matilda, Mariah, Nancy, Hester, Harriet Galtin, Harriet Chayon[?], Pleasant, Laney, Easter, Sally + children Sophia & Gilbert, Eliza, Penny, Bill, Emmanuel, Isabela + child, Julia, Lucinda, Charles + Washington, Anna, Thompson + his mother Hannah, Sophia, Mary, Arietta[?] + child Annabella, Willis, Ann, Elba, and Priscilla.
6. An assignment of power of the estate of Alfred M. Gatlin, deceased, to his wife, Sarah A. Gatlin, dated March 8, 1842, in Leon County. The record describes an allotment of real property and 29 enslaved persons to Sarah, said enslaved persons identified as follows: Daniel, 45; March, 45; Edmund, 13; James, 12; Robert[?], 10; John, 7; Ambrose, 6; Bob, 22; Clarissa, 26; Fanny, 10; Esther, 10; Sophia[?], 54; Anny, 10; Sophia, 8; Annette, 20; Anabella, 10 months; Willis, 6; Elsy, 6; Priscilla, 6; Ben Jillit, 6; Mary, 30; Frank, 12; Jo Willis, 16; Isaac, 16; Eliza, 14; Pleasant, 18; Old Jack, 60; Anny, 43; and Augustus, 5 months.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
For more resources on Patton, Leslie, and Forbes, see M1986-10 Panton Leslie and Company Collection at University of West Florida, University Archives and West Florida History Center.
Language Notes:
Multiple languages.
Ownership/Custodial History:
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Forbes, John, 1769-1823 Garr, Andrew. Mitchel, Colon.
Apalachicola Land Company (Apalachicola, Fla.) John Forbes & Company. Panton, Leslie & Company. Union Bank of Florida (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Slavery Florida Land grants Florida Land settlement Florida
Florida History To 1821 Forbes Purchase (Fla.)
for detailed listing.