Michael T Tracy

The Adventurous Life of Adam Amos (1743-1832) Michael T Tracy

Adam Amos, a native of Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland played an important role in the early colonization of British West and East Florida in the Colonial period of British rule. Like his older brother, James, he first settled in Pensacola, West Florida which was the capital of the newly established British province. While in Pensacola he was a merchant during the Revolutionary War. By 1781 Amos left West Florida and settled in East Florida where he operated a store at the mouth of the St. Mary's River on Amelia Island. When the Revolutionary War ended and West and East Florida were ceded back to Spain, Amos left Amelia Island and was re-settled by the British Government to the island of Jamaica in 1784. Amos did not stay long in Jamaica and by the fall of 1784 there is an account of how he had been deceived by the Spaniards when he sailed from Jamaica back to the area of West Florida near New Orleans and subsequently his vessel was seized as well as all of his goods onboard and sold. Near the end of 1785 Amos arrived in Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas. Adam Amos actively participated in the civic life of Nassau and was elected Church Warden of Christ Church Cathedral, the oldest church in Nassau. By 1790 Amos received a grant of 220 acres of land on Cat Island where he worked for a time a cotton planter for a number of years. Four years later the 51 year old Amos left the Bahamas and traveled back to his native Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. This then is the narrative of the adventurous life and times of Adam Amos.