Antonia Paula de la Resurreccion Bonelly facts for kids

Antonia Paula de la Resurreccion Bonelly (1786-1870) was a woman from Spanish East Florida who was captured by Miccosukee people in 1802. She was held for almost two years. Her rescue involved important leaders from the Florida tribes and the nations of Britain, Spain, and the United States.

Life in Colonial Saint Augustine

Antonia Bonelly was born in Saint Augustine, Florida, in 1786. This was during the time known as the Second Spanish Period in Florida. Her parents, Maria Moll and Josef Bonelly, were from the Mediterranean region. They came to America with an expedition led by Andrew Turnbull in 1768. This group settled in New Smyrna, Florida.

Turnbull's colony was not successful. After nine years of harsh conditions, the people living there left. The survivors walked seventy miles to Saint Augustine. They were looking for freedom from their contracts. Governor Patrick Tonyn welcomed them to the city. Most of these colonists, often called Minorcans, settled in a special area of Saint Augustine. Many of their families lived there for generations.

After the American Revolution, Britain gave Florida back to Spain through the Treaty of Paris in 1783. British citizens had to sell their homes or leave Saint Augustine. But the Minorcans, who spoke a form of Spanish and practiced Catholicism, easily swore loyalty to Spain. The British had seen Saint Augustine as a place for settlement and growth. However, the Spanish saw it more as a military base. The city's population dropped a lot after the British left. The Minorcans then became the largest group of civilians.

Captured by Miccosukee Raiders

In 1796, Josef Bonelly, Antonia's father, received 600 acres of land from Spanish colonial Governor Enrique White. This land was near Matanzas Inlet, close to where the Turnbull colony had been. Josef used the land for farming.

In January 1802, Antonia Paula Bonelly was fifteen years old. She was living on her father's farm at Matanzas with her parents and five brothers and sisters. Her older brother Tomas was 25, and her other siblings were between 1 and 14 years old. On January 21, around three in the afternoon, nine Miccosukee raiders attacked. Josef Bonelly was away from the farm. Sadly, his son Tomas was killed. Some say he was working in the fields, others say he was at his father's house by the wharf. Years later, a citizen of Saint Augustine remembered seeing Tomas Bonelly's body in the marketplace after it was brought to town by boat.

The Miccosukee attackers spared Antonia's mother and the younger children. They took them as captives. The group immediately left with everything they could carry, including the prisoners. They traveled a long, winding path into the country. After 24 days of travel, they reached their destination: the town of Miccosukee. This town was located near the border of Spanish East and West Florida, about twenty miles northeast of modern-day Tallahassee. Miccosukee was a very isolated place. The Spanish considered this area west of the Suwannee River to be part of West Florida, managed from Pensacola. But it was still a day's journey from the Spanish outpost at Saint Marks and even further from Apalachicola.

Antonia Bonelly later said the Chief was named Ken-ha-jah. This was most likely Kinache, a well-known leader among the Seminoles near the Apalachicola River. Kinache was born around 1750. He had sided with Britain during the American Revolution and fought against the Spanish. After Britain lost, Kinache moved to a village on the west side of Lake Miccosukee.

Negotiating Freedom

It took seven months before a trader named Jack Forrester was sent to help rescue the family. Forrester was trusted by the Native Americans. He worked for a Scottish company called Panton, Leslie & Company. This company was started in 1783 to trade with the tribes in Florida. Panton's company had set up businesses in Florida and the Bahamas. They were able to keep trading in Florida even after Spain took control again, because there were no Spanish traders working with the Native Americans. The company used its influence with the tribes to help Spain's land claims against the United States. They also encouraged the Native Americans to resist new white settlements and U.S. attempts to buy land.

In the summer of 1802, Forrester acted as a messenger. He bought the freedom of Antonia's mother, Maria Bonelly, and her three youngest children for $300. But this amount was not enough for the teenagers, Antonia Paula and Josef. So, they remained captives. Antonia's eleven-year-old sister, Catherine, was released but died within the year. The difficult experience may have shortened her life.

In the weeks after Forrester's visit, fourteen-year-old Josef escaped from the Miccosukee. He hid in the woods and swamps around the area. He eventually reached Saint Marks on the Gulf of Mexico. Military leaders there sent him to Havana. In Havana, he saw a family friend and sea captain named Esteban Benét. Captain Benét was able to take Josef home to Saint Augustine.

In 1803, Josef Bonelly, Antonia's father, sold his land at Matanzas. He gathered the rest of the money needed for the ransom. Twenty-two months after the original attack, he sent his son-in-law, Tomas Pacetty, with $200 to free Antonia Paula. Pacetty traveled with King Payne, a Native American interpreter, and an African slave. The mission was successful. Pacetty brought the now seventeen-year-old Antonia Paula back to her family. Soon after returning to Saint Augustine, she had a baby girl who was named Maria Antonia Demecia Bonelly. The little girl lived for about nine or ten years. She died around the same year as Antonia Paula's father, Josef, who passed away in 1811 at age 54. The attack on his farm had financially ruined Josef Bonelly. It is not known how he supported himself after selling his farm.

Antonia Paula Bonelly married Bartolome Leonardy in 1808. She had a large family with him. About half of her children would later become early settlers of Tampa. Bartolome Leonardy was the son of a very important Minorcan businessman in colonial Saint Augustine, Don Roque Leonardy. Antonia Bonelly lived through the Civil War. She had grandchildren and great-grandchildren who fought for the Confederacy. She died in 1870 when she was 84 years old. Her last home was with her daughter Laurenna Leonardy at 56 Marine Street, known as the González-Jones House.

Political Reasons Behind the Attack

The attack on the Bonelly farm was not just a random event. It was connected to the long-standing struggles between Native American tribes, Spain, Britain, and the United States in Florida. King Payne told Jack Forrester that a small group of Native Americans had set out to raid the people living along the coast. Forrester was worried that Spain's defenses along the Saint Johns River were weak. This meant that even small groups of raiders, like the nine Miccosukee warriors, could not be stopped. Farmers, like Bonelly, were becoming more and more worried about their unprotected homes.

Forrester and Payne's direct involvement in the Bonelly negotiations shows that bigger forces were at work. It was more than just about the safety of a fifteen-year-old girl. Panton's company had a strong business in Florida. It had survived the change of power from Britain to Spain. But now, it was at risk because of a lack of safety. The tribes had complicated loyalties. While William Augustus Bowles tried to unite Native Americans with a call for their own nation, Forrester was the main way they got important European goods, especially weapons and rum. Panton supported Native American resistance against Spanish invasions and the coming invasion by the United States. However, he did not support resistance that would disrupt Panton's trade, especially from people like Bowles.