T.M..MaóThe year is 1768. Maria Castel Pacetti, an 8 year old girl born in Menorca, embarks upon a journey to the New World. She and her parents hope to find new prosperity in a time of drought and famine on the island of Menorca. Her parents have signed on as indentured servants with a Scottish investor named Dr. Andrew Turnbull to help populate his new plantation in New Smyrna, a remote part of the then-British colony of Florida.
After nine years of struggle in which the population of Turnbull´s settlement fell from 1,403 in 1768 to 743 in 1777, Maria and the Menorcan settlers broke their contracts with Turnbull. As a 17 year old widow with a child, Maria walked to St. Augustine as she and the rest of the Menorcans fled the plantation.
Today in St. Augustine, one of Maria´s own descendants is telling her story. Michelle Reyna, who was born on the Pacetti farm which has been in her family since 1804, is a storyteller. As Maria Castel Pacetti, Reyna tells the story of struggle and survival of the Menorcans of Florida.
"It´s a lot of fun to know so much about your ancestors and be able to relate it in what I hope is an entertaining and sometimes funny manner," Reyna said.
As the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the United States, St. Augustine attracts large numbers of tourists and Florida school groups each year. As a result, people have made careers out of storytelling for entertainment as well as education.
Reyna chose to set herself apart from other storytellers and tell people about the history of the Menorcans in St. Augustine through her own ancestor´s story.
For 25 minutes, Reyna transforms herself into Maria Castel Pacetti. She tells her story to corporate groups, school groups and even tour groups at Ponce de Leon´s Fountain of Youth park. She wears clothing that resembles what a Menorcan woman would have worn in 18th century St. Augustine. She also speaks in a thick Spanish accent to add to her character´s realism.
"I am so dark that no one can quite put their finger on it," she explained. "I could put the period clothing on and using an accent, a heavy Spanish accent, I can actually convince people that I might be directly from the island of Menorca."
In her act, she tells the story of how the Menorcans of Florida liberated themselves from Turnbull´s plantation.
Legend has it that one day; two English-speaking men from St. Augustine came down to see the plantation. A 10 year old boy overheard them saying that "if these people knew they could have their freedom, they wouldn´t stay."
"He thought that he had understood what had been said so he went home and told his mother," Reyna added. "It was his mother who told the head carpenter, Pellicer, what had been said. That´s when they called all of the men together and they decided that three of them would try to escape."
The three men asked permission to collect sea turtles for food and when the overseer allowed them to take time off, the men left for the beach and fled to St. Augustine, walking along the sand dunes or swimming the entire way.
The men met with the governor of the colony and told him about the mistreatment of workers on Turnbull´s plantation. Luckily for them, the governor at the time was a political enemy of Turnbull´s and he promptly broke their contracts. The rest of the Menorcans were allowed to flee to St. Augustine where many would remain for good.
Reyna also does another storytelling act aimed at school children in which she and another performer tell all of St. Augustine´s history in 45 minutes. In the middle of the show, she includes a section about the Menorcans.
"We talk about what happened to them on the plantation, how they were brought to St. Augustine, how they are still here, and then [the other character] goes off on the subject of Menorcan clam chowder because she is obsessed with food," she explained.
After high school, Reyna moved all over the United States: 17 places in 20 years to be exact. During this time she began her career as a storyteller.
Upon her return to St. Augustine, she decided to set herself apart from the rest of the St. Augustine storytellers by talking about the Menorcans whenever she could. That is when she came up with the idea of playing the part of her own Menorcan ancestor.
Eventually she would like to visit Menorca to perfect her accent and to learn some Catalan so she can learn to sing the Fromajata Serenade correctly.
"This is my way of getting the story of the Menorcans out to the public," she said.
