Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov. |
Did you ever hear of Louis DeAury?
One scoundrel Pirate who spent time on Amelia Island was born Louis Michel Aury. Though he claimed to be Mexican, Louis Aury was born in Paris around 1788. As a young man he served in the French Navy, and then preyed on French Privateers, saving a small fortune and then setting sail as master of his own vessels...
Within the year, Aury resigned his post and headed to the Florida coast joining Gregor MacGregor. MacGregor was an authorized agent of the rebel colonies now known as Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina. MacGregor was financed by US business firms to capture Fort San Carlos taking over control of Amelia Island and away from the Spanish. As MacGregor ran out of money for men and munitions, he left Amelia under the care of Ruggles Hubbard and Jared Irwin, who by a fluke, were able to repel a Spanish counterattack in the Battle of Amelia in 1817.
Here is a bit more about Aury (or Auri).
AURY, LOUIS MICHEL (ca. 1788–1821).Louis Michel Aury, pirate, was born in Paris about 1788. He served in the French navy and on French privateers from 1802 or 1803 until 1810, when accumulation of prize money enabled him to become master of his own vessels. He sailed from a North Carolina port with a Venezuelan commission in April 1813 and reached Cartagena in May. In August 1813 he was given command over the Granadine Republic's privateer schooners, a service that ended in January 1816, when he reached Aux Cayes, Haiti, after successfully running the Spanish blockade of Cartagena...Pirate Louis Aury Raised the Mexican Flag Over Amelia Island | (searchamelia.com)
I started to write about this several days ago, but got redirected by some other things.
DeAury apparently spent a good bit of time on the west coast of Florida. Frank Hudson referred to his treasures several times. For example, Hudson says DeAury buried one chest, and maybe more on Dutchman's Key. He also refers to Aurytown, which he describes as a pirate ghost town where DeAury "had his headquarters." That was on Honeymoon Island.
Also on Honeymoon Island, according to Hudson, were two plugged canons filled with loot, but, those were buried by Lafitte, not DeAury. Other pirates treasures mentioned for Honeymoon island include a "jewel vault" made by Blackbeard.
But back to DeAury - Hudson mentions chests buried by a freshwater spring where ships watered and which gave Clearwater its name. The chests were described as being "under Clearwater city street."
Here is more about DeAury from the Texas State Historical Association.
TSHA | Aury, Louis Michel (tshaonline.org)
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Last night, as is often the case, I awoke from a dream. In the dream, I was back where I spent my childhood. My wife was with me, though she had been there only once. A model train layout covered acres and acres. We marveled at it, and there, with us, were the children of an older relative I spent some time with working on his farm. We were amazed by the scene, as young people will be, but then I mentioned that my mom just died, and I began to cry. One of the children in the dream tried to comfort me. In real life, their dad died a few years ago.
As is so often the case, when I awoke around 4 AM, I knew the lesson of the dream. Here it is: the real treasure is the people that are around you.
We like things. I always liked model trains. And we spend time searching for things like buried chests filled with gems and gold. But the real treasure is those around us. Moments don't last, but memories sometimes do.
I posted a photo a couple days ago of a father with his metal detector with his little child. I was told that the detectorist didn't find anything that day other than a couple old nails. But I think there were precious memories that will be long remembered.
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| Moments to Remember. Photo by Melissa G |
Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net