[Fhstoday] TODAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY FOR NOVEMBER 6

[Nick Wynne]

TODAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY 
NOVEMBER 6   
     
1702 Colonel Daniel and British troops from Charleston occupied the town of
St.
Augustine and laid seige to the Spanish Castillo de San Marcos  there.

1861 Colonel Richard F. Floyd, commander of Florida troops at Aplachicola, was
ordered by Governor John Milton to remove all guns, troops, supplies,
munitions
and other war materiel from St. Vincent’s Island to the mainland.  

1862 The Confederate schooner, Elia Reed, carrying a cargo of cotton,
turpentine, and resin, was captured today off the coast of Florida by the
U.S.S.
Octorara.

1864 Boats from the U.S.S. Adela today captured the Confederate schooner,
Badger, as it attempted to run the Union blockade of St. George’s Sound.

1868 Jonathan C. Gibbs assumed the office of Secretary of State, the first
African-American to hold this position.  He fulfilled the obligations of this
office until January 17, 1873.

1962 Mrs. George W. “Beth” Johnson of Orlando was elected today as Florida’s
first womand state senator.

1965 The U.S. operated “Varadero-to-Miami” freedom flights were inaugurated
today.  Under the terms of an agreement between the United States and the
Cuban
government of Fidel Castro, these flights would bring 3,000-4,000 Cuban
refugees to the United States.

1971 Spessard Lindsey Holland, 28th governor of Florida, state senator, and
United States Senator, died today in Bartow (Polk County).  A much decorated
World War I hero, Holland was a popular Florida politician.  For more
information, see the “Today in Florida History” entry for July 10.