Vol. 23 - The 1823 Survey of Key West, Florida, by Captain Daniel T. Patterson, USN
- Florida Keys History Center
- 2 days ago
- 12 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Welcome to “Island Chronicles,” the Florida Keys History Center’s monthly feature dedicated to investigating and sharing events from the history of Monroe County, Florida. These pieces draw from a variety of sources, but our primary well is the FKHC’s archive of documents, photographs, diaries, newspapers, maps, and other historical materials.
By Corey Malcom, PhD
Lead Historian, Florida Keys History Center
Introduction
After the United States took possession of Florida from Spain in July of 1821, a vast new frontier opened for the young country, providing new opportunities for enterprising Americans. On December 7, 1821, an American businessman in Havana, John W. Simonton, wrote a brief report extolling the virtues of an island in the Florida Keys called “Key West,” with the hope that his description would catch the attention of U.S. government officials and encourage them to make the place a Naval depot and Port of Entry.[1] Twelve days later, on December 19, Simonton purchased Key West for $2,000 from Juan Pablo Salas, a Havana resident who had been granted the island in 1815 for his service in the Spanish military. Simonton then visited Key West on January 19, 1822, and “took peaceable possession of the said island.”[2]
Simonton’s report did manage to get the attention of Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson, and on February 7, 1822, Thompson ordered Lt. Matthew C. Perry to sail the U.S. schooner Shark to the island to verify what Simonton was saying.[3] Perry was not to conduct formal surveys of the place but to merely report his observations to Thompson. He was also ordered to take possession of the island for the United States.
The Shark arrived at Key West on March 22, and soon after Lt. Perry wrote a report to Thompson telling of the many advantages of the island and its harbor.[4] Perry also raised the U.S. flag over the island, as ordered, officially making it part of the United States. He then renamed Key West to “Thompson’s Island,” in honor of the Navy Secretary and its harbor to “Port Rodgers,” in honor of Commodore John Rodgers, a hero of the War of 1812 and the first president of the Board of Navy Commissioners.
While Perry’s descriptions of Key West were favorable, they were not detailed enough for the president or congress to determine the suitability of the place for a naval depot or as a port of commerce. A more formal assessment of the island was needed. On November 15, 1822, Secretary Thompson ordered Captain Daniel T. Patterson, who was then visiting Navy headquarters in Washington, to proceed to New Orleans and then to Thompson’s Island to survey the island, its harbor and the approaches for appropriateness for development, especially as a naval station and a commercial port. Patterson was to submit his report for the benefit of the U.S. Congress during its next session.[5]
Captain Patterson
Daniel Todd Patterson (1786-1839) had long been a Navy man by the time he went to Key West. He was appointed midshipman in 1800 and shortly after attached to the USS Philadelphia. When the Philadelphia was captured at Tripoli in 1803, he was taken prisoner and held until 1805. Afterwards, in 1807, he was promoted to Lieutenant and sent to New Orleans, and in 1814, he was given command of Naval forces at that station. Patterson saw great success in the role: He raided the nearby base of the pirate Jean Lafitte, and, working alongside General Andrew Jackson, he was instrumental in the successful defense of that city against the British during the War of 1812. In light of his bravery and skill, Patterson was promoted to Captain in 1815, and he continued to be based in New Orleans and other southern stations until 1824. Patterson then spent many years in the Mediterranean before finally taking command of the Navy Yard at Washington, DC in 1836. He died in service there in 1839.[6]
Regarding the survey of Key West, Patterson acknowledged receipt of his orders from Smith Thompson, but he forewarned the Secretary that the vessel he intended to take, the Revenue Cutter Louisiana, might not be available and that he might be required to hire another. Thompson agreed to that plan, should it be necessary. Patterson arrived at New Orleans on January 2, 1823, and, as he feared, the cutter Louisiana was absent on a cruise. He also had trouble finding a suitable vessel to hire and alerted Secretary Thompson that it was unlikely the survey of Key West could be carried out before Congress adjourned. Indeed, the survey was late, and on January 20, 1823, President Monroe instead submitted a letter to Congress from Smith Thompson outlining information based largely on Lt. Perry’s report for their consideration in deciding whether to fund the fortification of Key West.[7]
Daniel Patterson eventually managed to hire a sloop for the mission from the Balize, a port town at the mouth of the Mississippi river.[8] On January 29, his men met the sloop at Barataria to begin preparation for the voyage, and Patterson joined them from New Orleans on the 31st. Patterson then departed with the sloop for Mobile to take on the necessary surveying equipment, but they learned the gear was in Pensacola, so they continued to that port. Then at last, when the men were ready and the gear loaded, Patterson began a nine-day trek from Pensacola to “Thompson’s Island.”
On February 14, 1823, Patterson and his crew arrived at Key West to begin their survey of the island, harbor, and nearby waters. They wasted no time getting to work on the survey, triangulating positions, recording depth soundings, and exploring the island and the Florida Keys area, generally. On February 19, Patterson was interrupted and, being the top-ranking U.S. authority at Key West at the time, had to act as a law enforcement officer after a Spanish vessel was seized at Key Vaca by the U.S. storeship Brutus for suspicion of piracy and brought into Key West.[9] The vessel, the brig Carma, was commanded by Venezuelan officers who claimed they had captured it while they were operating as rebel privateers against the Spanish. Patterson directed Captain Lewis of the Brutus to take the Carma and its crew to Mobile for adjudication.[10]
On March 2nd, the reconnaissance work was completed, and Capt. Patterson and his survey team departed for Louisiana. Before leaving, Patterson left a letter for Commodore David Porter, who had been ordered to Key West with the West India anti-piracy squadron and was expected to arrive at any time, instructing him on how to pass through the reef and enter the port. After he returned to New Orleans, Patterson organized his observations, and over the next few months he sent a series of reports and letters with the results of the survey to Navy Secretary Smith Thompson.
The Island
A report dated July 10, 1823, was focused on the island of Key West and its suitability for settlement and development, including its potential for agriculture and industry. Patterson described the island as being 4 ½ miles long and varying from 1 to 2 miles in width, with lime-based rock and sand. The western half of Key West contained sources of freshwater and relatively deep soil, with the eastern parts of the island dominated by salt ponds.
One of the key findings about the island by Patterson was that a consistent supply of freshwater was found at Key West - a condition crucial to making permanent inhabitation of the island possible - though it was limited and of marginal quality. Natural springs existed, but they did not produce large quantities of water. Wells had been sunk, though they, too, were marginally productive. Patterson noted that the quality of all the island’s freshwater sources improved with rainfall.
Patterson conducted chemical analyses and other scientific measurements of the bedrock and soils with the observation that the island was made of limestone and calcareous marl; the dirt was calcareous sand and shells mixed with organic debris. Additionally, he found the various bodies of freshwater were infused to some degree with lime and/or “muriate of soda.”[11]
The community of Key West was in its embryonic stages when Patterson visited, and though he never describes a town, he indicates in various ways that people were living on the island, houses had been built, wells had been sunk, and rudimentary pathways existed. Though the development of Key West was underway in February of 1823, it was only just starting, making Patterson’s report a detailed description of Key West before any substantial changes were made to its natural features.
The Harbor
In a separate, undated report, Patterson commented extensively on Key West Harbor (“Port Rodgers,” as he called it) and the waters ranging from Key Vaca to the Dry Tortugas. As for the harbor, he noted that it was well protected on every side by shoals except the entrance to the south, though it was exposed to wind from all directions except the east, where it was blocked by Thompson’s Island. The port had as much as 4 ¼ fathoms of water, but the entrance and anchorage were limited, and for military purposes sloops of war were the largest ship that could utilize it.
There were houses somewhere near the “point” of Key West, which Patterson also deemed the best place for a Navy yard, because the deep water came closest to the shore there.[12] He also said a fortification would have to be erected near this spot to protect the harbor, though other defense works would also have to be built - perhaps on shoals in the harbor - to fully protect the island, “as it can be approached by Vessels of a large class and Mortar Vessels, by means of what I have termed the North West Channel…”[13] Patterson also noted that because it is a remote island, Key West could be surrounded and cut off, and the limited water resources could make it difficult for military personnel stationed there to outlast a blockade.
Patterson thought Key West was an excellent location for the Navy: “The geographical position of Thompson’s Island is highly eligible as a Naval Station, infinitely more so than any other on the coast of Florida, and need only to be viewed to be appreciated, its occupation most important for our Country…,” he wrote approvingly. He also noted that, as a port of commerce, Key West offered promising economic advantages for trade with Cuba.
Patterson also explored Keys waters outside of Key West and found the channel between the reef and the keys provided an excellent deeper water anchorage for larger vessels, and it could also be used as a protected passage.[14] Further away from Key West, Patterson found that Key Vaca (part of today’s Marathon) also had an excellent, safe channel leading to and through the reef. The passage between the Dry Tortugas and the banks of the Marquesas Keys was wide, deep, free of shoals and easily crossed. To alert mariners to the dangers of the reef, Patterson recommended a light or beacon for “Hat Key” (Sombrero Key) and a light somewhere on the Dry Tortugas.
The Weather
Patterson also submitted a “meteorological journal” with his report that had been kept by “the Agent of Mr. Simonton”.[15] The log documents. The journal – with thrice daily thermometer readings, wind observations, and general remarks on cloud cover, rain, and wind intensity – begins on March 28, 1822, and runs until March 1, 1823, providing a record for almost the entirety of Key West’s first year of settlement. The document is the earliest consistent, long-term record of weather in Florida.
There is a change in the recording format starting February 17, 1823, with the addition of water temperature measurements. Because the notations “At anchor in Port Rodgers” (February 17) and “On the reef” (February 25), indicate this last part of the tables was made by someone on a ship, it was likely Patterson himself likely who made the entries for the last 13-days of the tables, ending March 1. Based on a match to the handwriting in his letters and the script across the tables, it appears Patterson transcribed the originals and submitted his copies to Washington.
The Missing Charts
The most disappointing thing about Daniel Patterson’s reports is that he refers multiple times to charts and maps that were created during the survey, but they are not included with the microfilmed documents, and they have yet to be found in any archives. According to Patterson there were two charts that depicted the island of Key West, the harbor and channel leading to it, adjacent keys, and the part of the reef “essential to be known in connection with Port Rodgers.” One was drawn at a scale of 12-inches to the mile, and another smaller one at two inches to the mile.
After his return to New Orleans on March 11, Patterson promised that a “correct chart of the island, Harbour, and Channel leading to it with soundings” would be completed and sent to Washington “without delay.” That did happen, eventually, after a considerable lag caused by the illness of Lt. Stephen Tuttle of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who was drafting the charts. By July 10, the smaller chart Patterson described was completed, but the larger was not. On August 16, he confirmed that he had sent the smaller-scale chart “via Philadelphia to the care of Commodore Bainbridge,” but there is no further mention of the larger plan. If these charts – the earliest specifically of Key West – can be found, they would add much to our understanding of the Patterson survey and to knowing the nature of the island at its inception as a community.
Conclusion
The surviving documents from Capt. Daniel Patterson’s two-week survey of Key West, Florida, give a detailed description of the geography of the island and its harbor. The data and descriptions of its topography, geology, hydrography and climate are a formal portrayal of the island in its near-pristine state, just as it was poised to become an important wrecking community and U.S. Naval Station. Unfortunately, a series of delays in both executing the survey and submitting the reports diminished their intended impact: Congress did not receive the information in time, and a Naval Station was established at the island without any guidance from them. Because the survey was never used as planned, it has largely been forgotten.
Despite any shortcomings, Patterson’s descriptions of 1823 Key West remain unmatched. There is no other account of earliest Key West that equals his survey. Plus, the weather records that supplement the report – spanning the first year of the island’s occupation and the oldest known long-term meteorological measurements in the state of Florida - only add to the survey’s significance. It is a data rich description. Frustratingly, the record of Daniel Patterson’s study remains incomplete: Two charts of the island drawn by his team, crucial to fully understanding the Key West they observed, have not yet been found; the search for them must continue.
Read and/or download the paper, including transcripts of Thompson's documents, here:
[1] Simonton, J.W. (1821). Letter dated at Havana, December 7. House of Reps., 29th Cong., 1st session. Report 792, p.9.
[2] Simonton, J.W. (1822). “Memorial of John W. Simonton” in John W. Simonton vs. The United States, November 5, 1822. Documents of the Congress of the United States in Relation to the Public Lands, Vol. IV, p.706, Gales & Seaton, Washington, DC.
[3] RG45 M149 Roll 14, No.263
[4] Perry, M.C. (1822). Logbook of the USS Shark, manuscript at Florida Keys History Center.
[5] The 2nd session of the 17th Congress ran from December 2, 1822 – March 3, 1823. See: https://history.house.gov/Institution/Session-Dates/10-19/
[7] Monroe, James (1823). Message from the President of the United States Transmitting Information in Relation to the Fortifying Thompson’s Island, usually called Key West, &c. &c. Gales & Seaton, Washington, DC.
[8] According to information from Captain Fiveash of the schooner Polly, Daniel Patterson was on the sloop Express. Anonymous (1823). “Charleston, March 15, 4PM,” American, and Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore) March 24, 1823, p.2.
[9] Lewis, S.J. (1823) “Thompson’s Island, Key West, Feb.22,” Boston Daily Advertiser, March 28, p.2
[10] Anonymous (1823). “Cahawba, Alab., March 22,” Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, DC), April 11, p.3
[11] Muriate of soda is an antiquated term for common salt or sodium chloride.
[12] Patterson’s “point” was presumably at the northwestern end of the island, near today’s Mallory Square or the end of Duval Street, which is where the deep water of the harbor is adjacent to shore.
[13] Patterson’s name for this channel remains, and it is still called the Northwest Channel today.
[14] Though it was not yet named in 1823, Patterson was describing Hawk Channel, which runs between the Florida Keys and the reef on the Atlantic side.
[15] Likely William C. Fleming, John W. Simonton’s business partner and the person who went to Key West in March of 1822 to lead the settlement of the island. See: Anonymous (1822). “Extract from a letter from an officer on board the U.S. schr. Shark…” New York American, May 4, p.3: “On the 24th [of March, 1822] Mr. Hemming [sic] a gentleman from Mobile, together with a number of men, arrived here [Key West], they brought with them timber properly formed to erect a house of 60 feet, and as he is a gentleman of fortune, and rather a persevering character, I have no doubt but what he will constantly attend to the cultivation of the land; probably he is laying the foundation of a great city!”
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