Esteban Benét was born on the island of Minorca. His family name may have been Beneto originally. He may or may not have arrived with the Minorcans who arrived at New Smyrna Beach in 1768 as part of the eight-ship convoy of indentured servants that made up the Andrew Turnbull Colony. [There is an "Esteve Benet" on the passenger list.]
On June 22, 1795, he married Catalina Antonia Hernandez, whose parents were part of the Turnbull Colony at New Smyrna. Esteban became a master mariner who bought a ship he named the Santa Catalina, sailing it up and down the Atlantic coast (and reportedly as far as Havana) carrying various goods. Esteban purchased the timber home at 65 St. George Street in 1804, tore it down and built a two-story coquina home for his family. This home was re-built in the mid-1960s by the St. Augustine Restoration Commission as part of the city's preparations for the Quadricentennial celebration.
In 1812 Don Esteban was lost at sea while sailing the Santa Catalina. He left behind his wife, three sons and two daughters. With the loss of the family patriarch, Esteban's oldest son, Pedro José Lucio Benét - then just 14 - took over the family store that his father had started. He worked hard and made many friends and business connections, eventually serving multiple terms on the city council and holding the positions of Collector and Surveyor of the Port. Pedro became known as "Boss" or "King of the Minorcans" due to his substantial influence in the Minorcan community in St. Augustine. Pedro's eldest son, Stephen Vincent Benét (1827-1895), would become the first Floridian cadet appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point when Florida became a state in 1845.
Esteban's descendants are numerous. Included in this group are two of his great-great-grandsons, Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943), who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for John Brown's Body in 1929 and posthumously in 1944 for Western Star, and William Rose Benét, who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1942 for The Dust Which is God.
Esteban Benét was born on the island of Minorca. His family name may have been Beneto originally. He may or may not have arrived with the Minorcans who arrived at New Smyrna Beach in 1768 as part of the eight-ship convoy of indentured servants that made up the Andrew Turnbull Colony. [There is an "Esteve Benet" on the passenger list.]
On June 22, 1795, he married Catalina Antonia Hernandez, whose parents were part of the Turnbull Colony at New Smyrna. Esteban became a master mariner who bought a ship he named the Santa Catalina, sailing it up and down the Atlantic coast (and reportedly as far as Havana) carrying various goods. Esteban purchased the timber home at 65 St. George Street in 1804, tore it down and built a two-story coquina home for his family. This home was re-built in the mid-1960s by the St. Augustine Restoration Commission as part of the city's preparations for the Quadricentennial celebration.
In 1812 Don Esteban was lost at sea while sailing the Santa Catalina. He left behind his wife, three sons and two daughters. With the loss of the family patriarch, Esteban's oldest son, Pedro José Lucio Benét - then just 14 - took over the family store that his father had started. He worked hard and made many friends and business connections, eventually serving multiple terms on the city council and holding the positions of Collector and Surveyor of the Port. Pedro became known as "Boss" or "King of the Minorcans" due to his substantial influence in the Minorcan community in St. Augustine. Pedro's eldest son, Stephen Vincent Benét (1827-1895), would become the first Floridian cadet appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point when Florida became a state in 1845.
Esteban's descendants are numerous. Included in this group are two of his great-great-grandsons, Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943), who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for John Brown's Body in 1929 and posthumously in 1944 for Western Star, and William Rose Benét, who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1942 for The Dust Which is God.
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