We got a new book at the library and I found an interesting item on Christian Bingaman. Christian was alone in the British territory of East Florida, in 1783. Last I had heard of Christian was in 1782, when he evaded the Spanish, after the Natchez rebellion, and was reported to have escaped to the Cumberland Settlements. Christian is listed under “A Return of Refugees… who came to … East Florida in consequence of the evacuation of the Province of Georgia. July 1783. PRO CO 5: 560” [this citation is Colonial Office in the Public Record Office as copied for the University of Florida]. As I mentioned, Christian was alone: no women, children, or blacks were listed with him.
The Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, was signed September 3, 1783 and ratified in 1784. In separate agreements of September 3, 1783, Britain ceded East and West Florida to Spain. There has been some speculation that Christian may have returned to England. In light of Christian’s presence with the British in July 1783, just prior to their cession of Florida to the Spanish, his emigration to England certainly seems possible. We know that Christian’s children re- claimed title to his West Florida lands in 1805, so they apparently remained at home. Charity, his wife, was only mentioned in earlier documents. I’ve wondered whether she was dead prior to the 1782 insurrection
Feldman, Lawrence H. 2007. Colonization and Conquest: British Florida in the Eighteenth Century. Clearfield, Baltimore, MD. 277 pp.
