Audio
The Dungeon
Transcript
Emily Ward (0:20) - Welcome to Castillo Conversations. My name is Emily Ward and I'm a Public History major at Flagler College and I've been interning at the Castillo de San Marcos. I'm joined today by a special friend and a fellow resident of St. Augustine, Bobby Batson. We are going to talk to you about some of the most commonly asked questions about the history of the Castillo. So Bobby, what do you want to talk about today? Bobby Batson (0:42) - So I heard they found some bones in the old dungeon from a couple that was walled up alive. Emily Ward (0:49) -Well, the army did find bones in a walled up room, but that room wasn't a dungeon and there was nobody wild up alive. Bobby Batson (0:57) - Well, if the room wasn't a dungeon, then what was it? Emily Ward (1:00) - It was the old gunpowder magazine. It is tucked back inside the Northeast Bastion so that it's well protected from enemy fire and from accidental explosions within, but it's very humid because the Matanzas river is to the east of the fort. So the Spanish built a new magazine on the opposite corner of the fort. The old one, the one you call a dungeon, was then used for storage and trash. It was eventually closed up by the Spanish but no one was inside when they did. Bobby Batson (1:26) - Well, if people were not walled up alive then where did the bones come from? Emily Ward (1:29) - It's a bit of a mystery, but the bones were probably just trash that they found when the room was uncovered. Bobby Batson (1:35) - Now you're sure it wasn't a couple that was walled up alive? I do remember hearing about a forbidden marriage between a woman and a soldier and the father of the girl was so angry that he locked him in the dungeon and left them there to die. Emily Ward (1:48) - I think you're thinking of the story of Dominga de Zespedes, and the room actually would have already been walled up by the time her story takes place. Bobby Batson (1:55) - That is actually who I'm thinking of. What's her story though? Emily Ward (1:58) - So Maria Dominga de Zespedes arrived in St. Augustine in 1784, with her father recently appointed Governor de Zespedes. It was a time of transition and turmoil in Florida as the colony had just been transferred from British hands back to Spanish. Dominga fell in love with an Irish Hibernian regiment Lieutenant named Juan O'Donovan. During a farewell party for the last of the British officers, Dominga and Juan snuck away to a friend's house and sent for a priest under false pretenses. When father O'Reily arrived the lovebirds were cited their wedding vows and as they had done so in the presence of a priest and a witness, it was a legal marriage. The Governor was furious. He arrested one for marrying without the consent of his superior officer, and Domingo was confined to her home. Bobby Batson (2:43) - Well were they ever reunited? Emily Ward (2:45) - Juan was sent to Havana as procedure dictated but Zespedes wrote to the Cuban authorities and the King of Spain to ask for leniency. Two years after the sneaky wedding Juan returned to St. Augustine and he and Dominga had a proper ceremony at the church. Their son was born on February 9 1788. Bobby Batson (3:03) - Well, while not being as dark and mysterious as bones being found walled inside the fort, I guess that is a lot happier of an ending for the two so that's good. Emily Ward (3:13) - Yeah, it is. Bobby Batson (3:15) - Well, that's all my questions for today. Thank you. Emily Ward (3:17) - Thank you for asking, and thank you to everyone for listening to this episode of Castillo Conversations, The Dungeon.
Description
Join Emily Ward, Flagler College Public History Intern at Castillo de San Marcos, and Bobby Batson, fellow resident of St. Augustine, as they debunk the dungeon.
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