Don Jesse Fish: The first Spanish Years

Don Jesse was an actual person living in St. Augustine from about 1784 through 1764 during the last thirty years of the first Spanish Era. He continued to live there during the British Era and into the second Spanish Era. There is proof of his existence from 1764 forward; however there is barely a trace for over thirty years before. In yhose traces, to my delight, there were signs of generosity and valor not attributed to the after 1764 Jesse. These sparse bones drew me to him. A word here, a description there, added to the flesh for the bones. The mystique became the skin and hair. Whom emerged was our hero "Don Jesse Fish". He was no "ZORRO", but he was: a masterful sea captain, an accomplished swordsman, a fearless soldier, a horticulturist, and a gentleman of honor a "Don" during his life with Spain. Perhaps the rejection and scorn of his own countrymen, due to his Spanish mien, drove him to become the man maligned in their journals. I offer this side of Jesse Fish for your consideration. Lesser men have been perverted by elitism; of which the British are masters.