Hugh Young Topographical Memoir on East and West Florida
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No requestable containers
Scope and Contents
The collection contains a 125-page report written by US Army engineer Hugh Young for General Andrew Jackson, providing background about the region of Florida in preparation for the army’s 1818 march to Pensacola, the capital of Spanish West Florida, during the First Seminole War. The first and longer "Memoir" part of the manuscript describes East Florida's terrain, people, waterways, and agricultural products. There is a lengthy section titled "Indians," in which Young discusses Seminole tribes and communities, including details about their language, leaders, customs, trade practices, "amusements," religion, and other aspects of their society, with a paragraph on the "influence and rank of women." These descriptions are sometimes accompanied by his (often unfavorable) opinions about their character. A short section titled "Negroes" describes a community of 200 men, along with women and children, who were "fugitives from Georgia and St. Augustine" and lived "on the west bank of the Sahwanee." The second part of the document provides itineraries for the army’s journey from Hartford, Georgia, through east and west Florida, to Fort Montgomery in the Alabama territory. The document is handwritten.
Dates
- Creation: 1818
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections. For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which the University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.
Biographical / Historical
During the First Seminole War (circa 1817-1818), the US Army carried out numerous incursions into Spanish Florida, attacking Seminole locations there and attempting to recapture Black people who had gone to Florida to escape from slavery in the United States. As a result of the army's maneuvers, the Seminole people were pushed farther south into Florida. The war's main event was General Andrew Jackson’s 1818 march from Georgia to the city of Pensacola, capital of West Florida, during which his troops attacked key Seminole villages, built forts, and captured Pensacola. In 1819, Spain ceded Florida to the United States under the Adams-Onis Treaty. The United States took control of Florida in 1821.
US Army Topographical Engineer Hugh Young, from Tennessee, worked under Andrew Jackson during the First Seminole War. In May 1818, Young wrote a Topographical Sketch on the Florida territory for Jackson in preparation for Jackson’s march on Pensacola. Young later expanded the report into a longer Topographical Memoir describing the land, climate, and people of the region. Young died in 1822.
Extent
0.9 Linear Feet (125 pages)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains a handwritten copy of A Topographical Memoir on East and West Florida with Itineraries, a report written by US Army engineer Hugh Young in preparation for General Andrew Jackson’s 1818 march into Pensacola, West Florida, during the First Seminole War.
Custodial History
According to provenance information provided by the vendor, the manuscript "was deaccessioned by a Philadelphia family along with other, unrelated 18th- and 19th-century material it had owned for generations."
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The University of Alabama Libraries acquired the Hugh Young Topographical Memoir on East and West Florida in 2018.
Existence and Location of Copies
A transcription of the Topographical Memoir, with an introduction and annotations, was published in three parts over successive issues of the Florida Historical Society Quarterly between July 1934-January 1935. Full citation: Young, Captain Hugh, Mark F. Boyd, and Gerald M. Ponton. "A Topographical Memoir on East and West Florida with Itineraries of General Jackson's Army, 1818." The Florida Historical Society Quarterly 13, no. 1 (1934): 16-50; 13, no. 2 (1934): 82-104; 13, no. 3 (1935): 129-164.
See also the record for A topographic memoir on East and West Florida, 1818, at the American Philosophical Society Library in Philadelphia, which indicates that the library holds a microfilm copy of the 125-page Memoir. In its provenance note, the record says that the material was presented to the Library in 1954 and notes the location of originals.
Processing Information
Processed by Erin Ryan, January 2021.
- Title
- Guide to the Hugh Young Topographical Memoir on East and West Florida
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Erin Ryan
- Date
- May 2021
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository