Most people are duly familiar with the story of the Minorcans refugees who came to St. Augustine in 1777, but when Esteban Benet (pronounced Ben-ay) first stepped ashore in St. Augustine the other Minorcan families had an eight year head start on him.
Esteban and his brother left directly from Minorca, fleeing a stepmother they were at odds with, as legend has it. His brother stayed in Cuba and joined the navy. Esteban married another Minorcan, Catalina Hernandez, and had a son named Pedro. Pedro lived and flourished in a dramatic period of change: he was 23 years old when the United States purchased Florida from Spain. Pedro was so accomplished in his social and professional life that he was known locally as “King Benet,” and had quite the resumé.
Starting as a police officer, within 16 years he was Justice of the Peace for St. Johns County. He was elected alderman from 1840-1843, served as interim mayor in 1843, and County Commissioner in 1859. He was federally appointed to the positions of Collector, Assistant Surveyor, and Surveyor of the Port of St. Augustine.
In addition to his life of civil service, he owned a liquor store on St. George Street, which eventually expanded into a grocery and “provisions” store, and was Director of the St. Johns and St. Augustine Canal Company. Pedro’s youngest daughter, Ysabel, followed in her father’s footsteps in terms of influence. She often had Henry Flagler’s support, as well as funding, for local projects that enhanced the community.
Pedro’s eldest son, Stephen Vincent Anastasius Benet, was the first cadet from Florida admitted to West Point, eventually attaining the rank of Brigadier General and position of Chief of Ordnance. The apple did not fall far from the tree with his son, James Walker Benet, who attended West Point and worked in the Ordnance Department from 1886-1921, eventually obtaining the rank of Colonel. His three children with wife Frances Neill Rose are perhaps the best known of all the preceding Benets: Laura, William Rose, and Stephen Vincent were all accomplished writers and poets. Stephen Vincent won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry twice, among other literary accomplishments.
William Rose Benet won the Pulitzer Prize for The Dust Which is God, an autobiographical poem set partly in St. Augustine (in which datil pepper sauce gets a shout out).
Of course, this is only one fraction of the Benet family tree here, as many descendants still live in St. Augustine, but the story of the Ancient City would certainly be less interesting, and a lot less poetic, had Esteban Benet not stepped ashore 231 years ago.
