Abstract
During the 1830s, the Florida Panhandle was an American frontier and recently discovered documents show that Philadelphians played a significant role in opening the territory. Found in the attic of a family home is correspondence that evolved over almost half a century, including thirty productive years of the William G. Porter Company, established and operated in Apalachicola by the Porter, Ruan, and Benezet families of Pennsylvania and Florida. The correspondence, touching not only on business and economics but on personal matters like family, courtship, education, travel, nature, politics, and even weather, relates much as to how commerce bound Philadelphia to Florida's Panhandle.
Recommended Citation
Robertson, Judith Y.
(2004)
"Historic Notes and Documents: Philadelphia Foundations of the Wm. G. Porter Company of Apalachicola,"
Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 83:
No.
3, Article 5.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol83/iss3/5
