Dr. Thomas Travers Came From Ireland Via the British Army
Dr. Thomas Travers Came From Ireland Via the British Army
The People of Clay County History
This story is by the folks at the Clay County Archives Center.
Pioneer families – These are the men, women, and children who first lived in Clay County dating back to pre-1858, the year Clay County (AKA, the Black Creek District) was initially carved out of Duval County. To this day, the descendants of these pioneers call Clay County home. There may be no better time than the present, due to population growth and construction, to learn more about these families and their early efforts to make Clay County their own. Through a series of articles and related genealogical studies, a spotlight will focus on them and their accomplishments through the centuries and decades.
Dr. Thomas Travers, a native of County Kildare, Ireland, had been stationed in East Florida as an army surgeon under the British. He stayed behind when the British left and was a contemporary of George Fleming, Philip Fatio and Zephaniah Kingsley (all names that should also be familiar to you).
Travers’ home in St. Augustine was on Hospital (now Aviles) Street. He served as the Spanish government’s “royal doctor”. This service earned him several large land grants, which leads us to his connection to Clay County history.
One of the first Spanish land grants in what is now Clay County was Dr. Travers’ grant. It was for 1,000 acres and covered the area known as Magnolia. The plantation proper was on the north side of Governors Creek, where the St. Johns Landing Apartments are located today in Green Cove Springs.
This grant was in the same place as Governor Patrick Tonyn’s British land grant. Dr. Travers called it “Santo Tomaso”, after himself. Travers’ Spanish friend Mathew Solana named his land grant after himself too and we now have San Mateo, Florida.
Dr. Travers’ wife Maria Fitzgerald was also from Ireland. They had three children, William, Maria, and Margarita Maria Salome. All three were baptized in the Catholic faith. Dr. Travers died in 1807. His second wife, Ana Saunders, was made executrix of his estate. He is buried in Tolomato Cemetery in St. Augustine, as is his first wife and son William.
As heir to the Travers grant, William renamed the plantation Constancia, in honor of his daughter. William ran sugar plantations and made improvements to Constancia. He partnered with Mathew Solana on a sawmill there and built a homestead there and outlying buildings.
Later, once Florida was a U.S. territory, the Black Creek District really began to take off. Spanish land grants like Hibernia (Fleming’s Island) were thriving. Laurel Grove (Orange Park) was doing well. Other Spanish land grant holders such as the Branning family were making something of their land. Both Thomas and William, at one point or another, owned several thousand acres of grant land. These were scattered all over northeast Florida as far south as Lake George.
Here are some:
San Patricio - 172 acres & 125 acres
Old Savannah - 1,000 acres
Peavetts’ Swamp - 420 acres
300 acres located 5 miles west of St. Augustine
8,000 acres on the west side of Lake George
12,000 acres on the second lagoon of Lake George
Glorat - 821 acres on the St. Johns River
The prosperity the Spanish, and then later territorial Florida, hoped for wasn’t to be. The Spanish relinquished Florida to the young, upcoming United States in 1821. The Seminole Wars were heating up and it forced many to seek shelter at Fort Heileman (Main Street Boat Ramp, Middleburg). Native American predations were rampant. Sadly, the Travers plantation Constancia was burned down by the Seminoles in 1840.
For more information about Clay County history, please reach out to the Clay County Archives Division of the Clay County Clerk of Court and Comptroller’s Office at clayclerk.com.