Florida History from Joe Rubinfine Historical Autographs
- by Michael Stillman
Francis Dade writes his superior shortly before heading off to his massacre.
The Americans fought two wars with the Seminole Indians, and despite the natives' fierce resistance, eventually, sheer numbers and munitions led to their, and all of the other native American tribes', defeat. However, along the way, in the Second Seminole War, there was one overwhelming victory by the Indians. It is what is known (to non-Indians) as the "Dade Massacre," on December 28, 1835. Francis Dade was one of the commanders of the American troops on that day, and like all but three of the 110 Americans who went to battle, he died on the battlefield (two of the three survivors died later from their wounds). Two weeks before the "massacre," Francis Dade wrote this letter to his superior. Dade reports of an order to proceed to Tampa Bay, where his fateful mission started, where he notes some "Indian depredations" have occurred, "calculated to create considerable alarm." Dade was an ambitious man, asking whether he was not entitled to higher command. That ambition to lead would soon be his downfall. However, as some recompense, Florida's largest county (home of Miami) is named for him. Item 36. $35,000.
Item 46 is a rare but odd remembrance of the Seminole Wars. It is a lock of Osceola's hair. Osceola was an Indian warrior who fought the whites that tried to force his people from their Florida homeland to territories west of the Mississippi. He was captured after being invited to truce negotiations, and later died in captivity. According to the wife of Captain Drane, who obtained the lock of hair from Osceola, Drane had given him some ostrich feathers while he was imprisoned, and Osceola asked what he could give in return. $35,000.
Everyone loves Florida. Well, almost everyone. At one time E.E. Cooney was part of the majority, but on further review, changed his mind. Cooney had earlier written a friend, encouraging him to come to Florida, but this letter from 1886 represents a major change of heart. "The only thing we have plenty of here is rain," writes Cooney. "…this letter will be a flat contradiction of my first - Fla is a fraud. I saw the country in its holiday attire when I came here last Winter." Of course, it may also be that Cooney changed his mind about wanting his friend to come to Florida. Item 116. $650.
You may reach Joe Rubinfine at 321-455-1666 or Joerubinfine@mindspring.com.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Book of Hours.- Heures de nostre dame a l'usaige de Romme, Paris, Antoine Chappiel pour Germain Hardouin, [1504]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, May 28: Colonna (Francesco). La Hypnerotomachia di Poliphilo, second edition, Venice, Sons of Aldus Manutius, 1545. £15,000-20,000
Forum, May 28:The Christ Child holding a crystal orb and surrounded by banderoles with devotional exhortations, on a leaf most probably from a Book of Hours, [Southern Netherlands, last decades of the fifteenth century]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Jackson (Shirley). The Haunting of Hill House, first English edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Claude Fredericks, 1960. £2,000-3,000
Forum, May 28: Lennon (John). In His Own Write, first edition, first impression, signed by the author, 1964. £3,000-4,000
Forum, May 28: Doves Press.- Keats (John). [Poems], one of 200 copies on paper, Doves Press, 1914. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Rodrigues (João Barbosa). Sertum Palmarum Brasiliensium, 2 vol., first and only edition, Brussels, 1903. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Newton (Sir Isaac). Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica…editio ultima, auctior et emendatior, Amsterdam, Sumptibus Societatis, 1714. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Kepler (Johannes). Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, wuibus astronomiae pars optica traditur, first edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1604. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Tagliacozzi (Gaspare). De Curtorum Chirurgia per insitionem, libri duo, first edition, Venice, Gasparo Bindoni, 1597. £7,000-10,000
Forum, May 28: Lootsman (Jacobsz). The Lightning Colomne, or Sea-Mirrour, containing the Sea-Coasts of the Northern, Eastern and Western Navigation..., 1670. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Ribelles y Helip (José), Attributed to. An album comprising 33 finely executed watercolours of Spanish costume, bull-fighting scenes, and other genre subjects, [circa 1830]. £10,000-15,000
