Turnbulls contract

The following is the contract (agreement) that Dr. Andrew Turnbull had and made with the 1403 Minorcans' eager to come to Florida and establish a new beginning

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       THE CONTRACT

"Let it be know and made manifest to all by means of this true and public document that the undersigned, spontaneously and of free will in the most exact way, manner, method, form and mode possible which in custom and law have the greatest force, do hereby agree and obligate ourselves freely each one for himself together with the conditions set forth in this document as follows:

     I, Andrew Turnbull, obligate myself to conduct and transport to the Province of English Florida those who have signed their own full names below.

     That when those who wish to work in farming the land as peasant farmers have arrived in the Province, they will be taken care of and maintained at my expense (by me, Mr. Turnbull) with all their means they will need to live on until crop land has been assigned to them.

     That I will give to them that piece of land which themselves shall judge to be suitable and fit for cultivation.

     That when the land produces crops and the peasants and farmers have enough to live on, there shall be taken out of the proceeds of the harvest enough to reimburse Mr. Turnbull for whatever he shall have advanced to the peasants and farmers after their arrival in the Province of Florida. However, this shall not include the expenses Mr. Turnbull shall have incurred to transport the workers and their families. These expenses shall be born by Mr. Turnbull alone.

     That after these expenses have been met, one half of the harvest will belong to Mr. Turnbull and the other half is equal proportions to the peasants or farmers who cultivate the land. This will be done, however, not to the custom in Italy, but rather one half will go to Mr. Turnbull and one half to the farmers, as expressed above, having first deducted the funds advanced to the peasants to live on.

     That those proceeds shall be exempt from any kind of duty or tax for a period of ten consecutive years beginning with the first division of the harvest.

     That when this contract with Mr. Turnbull shall be fulfilled, each family shall receive one hundred English shares of land for himself and fifty shares for each member of his family, male or female.

     This, we sign by our own hands at Mahon, on the Island of Minorca, on February 11th. the Eight Year of the reign of George III, King by the grace of God, of Great Britain (Scotland) and Ireland, defenders of the Faith and in the year of God, Jesus Christ, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight."

Dr. Andrew Turnbull,

February 11th., 1768