Latchway

On Sept. 20, 1775, East Florida Governor Patrick Tonyn wrote to General Thomas Gage, the commander of British military forces in North America. Tonyn, the Irish-born governor of the heavily-Loyalist colony, wrote about efforts to thwart the land schemes of investor Jonathan Bryan. Please note the creative rendering of the Creek (Seminole) town of "Alachua:"

"In consequence of those transactions, so notoriously base and wicked, I issued at that time a proclamation against Bryan. In a few hours will set out a Constable, with two soldiers, who will also be appointed Constables, to Latchway, with a talk to the Cowkeeper and headmen, and a Judge's warrant, to apprehend Thomas Gray, wherever they can find him."

Peter Force, editor, American Archives... 9 vols. (Washington, DC: M. St. Clair and Peter Force, 1837-1853), Series Four, Volume 3: 745