i£>t. Augustine Snsttttute of Science
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Mr.Harral Ayres
Old Spanish Trail Managing Director Mexxanine Floor,Gunter Hotel San Antonio, Texas.
1\h Second Street Beach Haven New Jersey August 2yA''l?2o
Ay dear Hr.Ayres,
Your letter of August Icth.with enclosed article received to-day,and I shell be glad to act as consultant on old history,to the best of ay ability. I do not like to depend on ly memory,as I am liable to make mistakes and from ...ay to November I am liable to be away fro.a St.Augustine and our source material. This is my summer home ’..here I am a lewai resident and shall probably be here until October. I have a number of books and old pamphlets purchased for the Historical Society ,here now,that I expect to ship later and from them I shall ^ive you a few items for your information.After you were in St.Augustine we secured from Spain and elsewhere a number of r-.re books and maps some o? which have data on the subject of your article. We haye had some translations made into Ynjlish by i.r.Fred Acosta,a Spanish scholar,from Garcia's Spanish printing from Manuscript in 1<?o2 for the first time of a Relation of Friar Miguel of a shipwreck on the coast of Florida in 15p5 and the His tory of Kenendez and settlement in Florida by Barrientos written I believe about 157^*
The Relation, of Friar Miguel Jives an account of a Mission north of St.Augustine of the Franciscans and some mention of the Franciscans. In the "Gods Protecting Providence^'-; the
Shipwreck ---- Canibals	of Florida" journal of Jonathan Dickenson written lopo-I6f7 these
..lissions north of St.Augustine ore c.lso described and nothin^ is said of their beinvj built of
stoiie,! feel sure they were of wood and so destroyed in 1,732----1726---17^0 in the various
attacks by the Hn_liah fro.a South Carolina and Georgia. In St.Augustine however I find from the translation of r. letter o? the Governor in 1596 that he built a house of stone for the powder and has in a petition of an earlier dote plenty for a fort. Friar Miguel states in 15J5 all the houses in St.Augustine were of wood the best beinw built of boards. I have not yet read the Barrientos,it was translated after I left St.Augustine. In Philips book on the maps of Lowery ,is the translation of a letter of a governor of St Augustine 1o05 in which he speaks of rebuilding the hospital of L<x Soled ad and cnlargin^ it and moving the sick .back into it so that they will be safe fromfire, for the place where they had been was built of wood and covered with palm.,This infers that ..a Soledad was built of stone.La Soledad was the hermitage where the Franciscan Friars took refuse in 1599 when the large convent burned and they remained in it until their convent was rebuilt. I find in Tichnor that the Cofradia of La Soledad was formed in Spain in 15o7 and was one of the two brotherhoods having charge of the plays ,_,iven,the money,made supporting, the city hospital. When the English came to Florida in 176p they found one house with the date I571 upon it. From the tradition connected withthe Oldest House that it was a hermitage and chapel used by tjio Franciscans until they moved into the large convent I believe The Oldest House was La Soedad and that is what I am trying to trace back. The stone was put in between 1596 and 1605. It »vas not until 1690 after the present Fortwas completed,that the residents were allowed to use stone for building we have the governois letters describing how he. rebuilt the official houses with stone,first floor stone to save the rest of the buildings. In the Journal or Jonathan Dickenson the Governor tolls how poor they were,no ships for three years with supplies and I am positive that the stone ruins at New Smyrna and St.Mary's were built by the English,and are not old Catholic Missions. The old part of the State Arsenal on Charleotte St. is a part of the old Franciscan Mission of St.Helena as shown on the. old*maps 176? and I766.lt was burned over