In homage to Peg McIntire, born NY October 2, 1910, died May 30, 2008
Dec 5, 2003
MaVynne Bepsch (Atlantic Beach)
Peg with MaVynee Bepsch at Stetson Kennedy's Beluthahatchee home.
1 comment:
Anonymous
said...
Peg/Joe:
Thought you'd find the following interesting.
David (904) 461-1147 -- H
++++
Friends:
I journeyed up to Ft. George Island recently with a friend. We walked much, albeit a bit slowly because of my health, over the largely-wild, historic island -- a 25 yr. home to Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna Jai Majigeen Kingsley), MaVynne Betsch's 7th-generation ancestor of Senegal-royalty, before being captured and forced into slavery, in April 1806, by tyeddo warriors (royal slaves of Amari Ngoone Ndella).
Anta was then "rescued" in the slave markets of Cuba in October of 1806 by wealthy, British slaver and landowner Zephaniah Kingsley (Kingsley Plantation) who took her as his principal wife. Kingsley had a Quaker father.
Anta (or Anna) was legally-freed by Kingsley at age 18 and acquired 12 slaves of her own. She presided over several of Kingsley's large plantations in this area along the St. Johns River. Seminole Indians raided Kingsley's Laurel Grove Plantation in 1812 and took 41 Africans.
This was one Spanish East-Florida plantation that broke all the LATER, rigid American rules that allowed and reinforced a harsh and brutal slavery system based solely on race.
Kingsley argued, while amassing a fortune, that slavery must be somewhat "benevolent," and not permanent. One based (merely) on economic circumstance -- not race or color as was also the historic Jolof practice in Senegal.
Kingsley's precepts sounds weird (if not racist) nowadays, though, as all of Kingsley's slaves were African (Kingsley stated that whites weren't suited to do hard labor in the broiling Florida sun). Many (poor) caucasians have worked in the hot-August Southern fields and ditches since their ancestors first arrived here -- without dropping.
By all historical accounts, Kingsley did run a benevolent-Plantation with several Black "wives" that he was very proud of, shared his assets with and later sought to protect from reenslavement -- from the Patriot Rebellion of 1812-13 thru the rise of a Florida Confederate Government based on white supremacy and slavery (1861).
Until UNF-Historian Daniel Schafer did the research a few years back, MaVynne said she had NO clue that Anta was her ancestor. (The earlier connection to Anta was either unknown or unmentioned in the Lewis-Betsch families. MaVynne certainly was suprised to find out.).
Part of our Ft. George excursion, included a trek up Mt. Cornelia (the highest "hill" within 10 miles of the coast from here to North Carolina some say). Anta's 2 girls, Martha and Mary, used to love the mighty-hill and climbed there to play with the butterflies according to her journals. Wild Hog-plum trees were in full bloom as was the native Yellow Jessamine.
Later we ventured north to American-Beach to pay MaVynne's spirit a visit on the great, sacred dune -- Nana -- at American Beach.
I smudged MaVynne's shell-gravesite (she was cremated and a portion of her ashes lovingly placed in a buried shell during a sacred ceremony in Fall of 2005 that I helped facilitate), and said hello to my beloved "Beach Lady." Her spirit seems happy -- and free as a butterfly. The only thing that troubles me is that the historic, American-Beach Museum, where it was planned to exhibit much of MaVynne's work and contributions, is STILL not open. What can we all do to facilitate that?
Take Care,
David Thundershield Queen (Writer/Activist) UNF Alumni -- 1975 History/Political Science St. Augustine, Fla. 687-5959
p.s. -- MaVynne and I both lobbied hard to save Ft. George Island and to protect it from private development and a reopening of the golf course. It's now protected by the NPS as part of its Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.
1 comment:
Peg/Joe:
Thought you'd find the following interesting.
David
(904) 461-1147 -- H
++++
Friends:
I journeyed up to Ft. George Island recently with a friend. We walked much, albeit a bit slowly because of my health, over the largely-wild, historic island -- a 25 yr. home to Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna Jai Majigeen Kingsley), MaVynne Betsch's 7th-generation ancestor of Senegal-royalty, before being captured and forced into slavery, in April 1806, by tyeddo warriors (royal slaves of Amari Ngoone Ndella).
Anta was then "rescued" in the slave markets of Cuba in October of 1806 by wealthy, British slaver and landowner Zephaniah Kingsley (Kingsley Plantation) who took her as his principal wife. Kingsley had a Quaker father.
Anta (or Anna) was legally-freed by Kingsley at age 18 and acquired 12 slaves of her own. She presided over several of Kingsley's large plantations in this area along the St. Johns River. Seminole Indians raided Kingsley's Laurel Grove Plantation in 1812 and took 41 Africans.
This was one Spanish East-Florida plantation that broke all the LATER, rigid American rules that allowed and reinforced a harsh and brutal slavery system based solely on race.
Kingsley argued, while amassing a fortune, that slavery must be somewhat "benevolent," and not permanent. One based (merely) on economic circumstance -- not race or color as was also the historic Jolof practice in Senegal.
Kingsley's precepts sounds weird (if not racist) nowadays, though, as all of Kingsley's slaves were African (Kingsley stated that whites weren't suited to do hard labor in the broiling Florida sun). Many (poor) caucasians have worked in the hot-August Southern fields and ditches since their ancestors first arrived here -- without dropping.
By all historical accounts, Kingsley did run a benevolent-Plantation with several Black "wives" that he was very proud of, shared his assets with and later sought to protect from reenslavement -- from the Patriot Rebellion of 1812-13 thru the rise of a Florida Confederate Government based on white supremacy and slavery (1861).
Until UNF-Historian Daniel Schafer did the research a few years back, MaVynne said she had NO clue that Anta was her ancestor. (The earlier connection to Anta was either unknown or unmentioned in the Lewis-Betsch families. MaVynne certainly was suprised to find out.).
Part of our Ft. George excursion, included a trek up Mt. Cornelia (the highest "hill" within 10 miles of the coast from here to North Carolina some say). Anta's 2 girls, Martha and Mary, used to love the mighty-hill and climbed there to play with the butterflies according to her journals. Wild Hog-plum trees were in full bloom as was the native Yellow Jessamine.
Later we ventured north to American-Beach to pay MaVynne's spirit a visit on the great, sacred dune -- Nana -- at American Beach.
I smudged MaVynne's shell-gravesite (she was cremated and a portion of her ashes lovingly placed in a buried shell during a sacred ceremony in Fall of 2005 that I helped facilitate), and said hello to my beloved "Beach Lady." Her spirit seems happy -- and free as a butterfly. The only thing that troubles me is that the historic, American-Beach Museum, where it was planned to exhibit much of MaVynne's work and contributions, is STILL not open. What can we all do to facilitate that?
Take Care,
David Thundershield Queen (Writer/Activist)
UNF Alumni -- 1975 History/Political Science
St. Augustine, Fla.
687-5959
p.s. -- MaVynne and I both lobbied hard to save Ft. George Island and to protect it from private development and a reopening of the golf course. It's now protected by the NPS as part of its Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.
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