Ortega's Most Famous Resident

Ortega's Most Famous Resident. . Daniel McGirtt loved prosperously on this island (sometimes surreptitiously) during and immediately after the American Revolution. Originally from South Carolina he first sided with the colonists until he was betrayed by a fellow officer who coveted McGiritt's horse. McGritt was court marshaled and publicly whipped. He escaped and fled to British East Florida on his beloved horse, the Grey Goose, in 1776. Embittered, he aided the British, agitating American militia and stealing cattle from Georgia and South Carolina., In 1783 Britain returned the Floridas to Spain. Angry and alienated from the Crown, McGirtt escalated his pirating to include British loyalists, Spanish citizenry and Americans. By now the reputation of McGiritt's gang, known as the Florida Banditti was widespread. Spanish Governor Vicnente Manuel de Zespedes labeled McGirtt "the ostensible chief of the highwaymen of the country" and the Banditti as "the abundance of evil doers, both open and undercover." McGirtt was imprisoned several times in the Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine and twice in Havana, Cuba. Because of the turbulent era and his political alliances, however, McGirtt was always pardoned shortly after sentencing., Throughout his occupancy Daniel McGirtt successfully farmed Ortega with as many as 46 slaves. Before his death, circa 1789, McGirtt has become a legend throughout three states and was a household name with local residents, military leaders and two governors of Florida. Today, only McGritts Boulevard, where you are now standing, remains as testimony to his colorful legacy., This plaque was written by Fred C. Reynolds for the Ortega Preservation Society