Kingsley Plantation

JohnHart · Mist Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 35

Kingsley Plantation

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

History: The land that the Kingsley Plantation stands on originally belonged to the Stimulant Indians, but in 1767 an Englishman named J. Tucker took ownership of Fort George Island as part of a St. Johns River Grant. He established a plantation on the island, growing rice and indigo; the island was turned back over to Spain in 1738.

In 1791, the island was given to John McQueen as part of a land grant. He built a home and sawmill on the island. The house still stands to this date, but the sawmill was destroyed by a flood. Half of the timber on the island was cleared while the island was under McQueen's control. Unfortunately, he was in debt and was forced to sell the island to John McIntosh in 1804.

In 1813, Zephaniah Kingsley rented the plantation from John McIntosh, and then in 1817 he purchased it for $7,000. Under Kingsley's control the plantation was operated under a task system. Slaves were required to perform tasks on the plantation, but when their tasks were finished they were free to work on crafts or tend their own gardens. All of the profits from the crafts and gardens went to the slaves. Kingsley lived on the plantation until 1839; he shared the home with his wife Anna Jai, a slave that he freed. When Florida became an American territory they passed laws against slavery, so Kingsley moved his family to Haiti.

Today, the plantation is operated by the National Park Service. The sites on the island include the plantation house, the kitchen house, a barn, and the ruins of 25 slave cabins.

Haunting: The Kingsley Plantation is haunted by a ghost called "Old Red Eyes."

As the story goes, a male slave tortured, raped, and murdered two young female slaves. When the investigation pointed to him, he was hung from the limb of an old oak tree that grew over the driveway.

Death hasn't put an end to this murder's evilness; visitors to the island have reported seeing two red eyes watching them from the darkness. In addition to these ever-watchful evil eyes, the cries of children have been also heard in the night.
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John Hart
Vintage Computer Collector