El Destino Plantation was a large
forced-labor farm of located in western
Jefferson County and eastern
Leon County,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, United States established by John Nuttall in 1828. It was worked by
enslaved African Americans (prior to the end of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
).
Location
El Destino was located in western Jefferson County near present-day Waukeenah. It extended into
Leon County,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
by and south of the
W.G. Ponder Plantation.
Plantation history
The land to become El Destino was purchased from the U.S. government in 1828. In 1832 William B. Nuttall bought El Destino from his father’s estate for $17,000 (~$ in ). Nutall died leaving the property to his widow, Mary Savage Nuttall. Mary Nuttall would inherit enslaved people from her uncle, William Savage. To these enslaved people, Hector Braden, a friend of William’s, sold Mary
Chemonie Plantation north of El Destino. On May 18, 1840
George Noble Jones married Mary Savage Nuttall and purchased El Destino.
The plantation house was a large home, it was destroyed by fire in 1925.
Owners
*John Nuttall was a wealthy
planter from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and later
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
.
*William B. Nuttall, son of John Nuttall. William had a law office in
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
and was a speculator in Florida lands and
bank stocks. John died from a stroke on April 20, 1836.
*George Noble Jones married Mary Nuttall and purchased El Destino as well as
Chemonie Plantation in Leon County. George was well acquainted with plantation management having managed a plantation in Jefferson County owned by his mother and two aunts. Jones would inherit part of this plantation as well as considerable wharf and mercantile property in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
, and bank stock and other investments. Jones would become an absentee planter preferring to spend his winter months in Savannah and the summer months in Newport, Rhode Island, where he owned a mansion called Kingscote, until the Civil War.
El Destino remained in the Jones family until 1919. It was then sold for $70,000 but kept its name. In 1937 it was purchased by Sheldon Whitehouse of New York.
In 1854 D.N. Moxley served as an overseer for the property, when a complaint was lodged against him for mistreating the workers under his supervision.
References
*Paisley, Clifton; ''From Cotton To Quail'', University of Florida Press, c1968.
External links
El Destino Plantation Papers 1786-1938Jones, George Noble. Births and Deaths on Chemonie Plantation, 1851, FLJones, George Noble. List of Slaves on Chemonie Plantation Who Received Clothing in 1851, FLJones, George Noble, Slaves on Chemonie Plantation, 1852, in Family Groups, FLJones, George Noble. List of Slaves on El Destino Plantation in 1847, in Family Groups, FLJones, George Noble. Slaves Sold to Joseph Bryan, 1860, FL
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Plantations in Jefferson County, Florida
Cotton plantations in Florida
Burned buildings and structures in the United States
1828 establishments in Florida Territory