Con men are stock characters in books and film. Watching their plan unfold, we marvel at their daring. For example, Catch Me if You Can is the story of Frank Abagnale’s youthful crime spree. Jaws drop as we wonder how he did it all and why. When we watch a true crime story, we know justice has triumphed, so we look for what gave them away. Some great movie adaptations include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Matchstick Men, and my favorite, The Sting.
History teems with conman tales. Would it surprise you to learn that the greatest fraud in U.S. history began right here on Amelia Island? It’s true. Books, podcasts, and videos abound telling Sir Gregor MacGregor’s story, but no film has portrayed it – yet. Now is a good time for telling his story because every day, new technology facilitates seemingly non-stop attempts to defraud us.
Gregor McGregor’s story is screen-ready for three reasons: the charismatic man at the center of the story would twinkle on screen; his story winds across three continents; and the repercussions of his con represented the largest loss of money, lives, and livelihoods of any con in history.
The story begins on June 29, 1817, when McGregor captured Amelia Island. His plan was to unite East and West Florida into the “Republic of the Floridas” and give it to the United States. His plan went wrong, but his is a key chapter in Amelia Island history, all 68 days of it.
Who was this man? His unshakeable confidence comes from his descent from Robert “Rob Roy” MacGregor, the folk hero of Scottish legend. Rob Roy descended from the first king of united Scotland. Born in 1786 in Stirlingshire, he joined the British Navy at 16. He fought Napolean in the Iberian Peninsula wars. However, a disagreement with a senior officer ended his naval career, so he returned to Edinburgh. Not admired as he thought he deserved to be, he and his wife returned to London. He knighted himself along the way. When his wealthy wife died, he knew he would need to marry into another important family.
In 1812, Sir Gregor joined the Venezuelan war for independence from Spain, which is where his heart would remain for the rest of his life. He married Latin American liberator Simón Bolívar’s cousin, Josefa. Restless freedom-fighter that he was, he sailed to Spanish Florida to spread more freedom. In Philadelphia he tried to raise funds, but South American independence was of no interest. Awards and promotions continued to arrive from Bolivar, along with an order to return to Venezuela. Another letter arrived asking MacGregor to seize the Republic of the Floridas, which was Eastern and Western Florida then. McGregor set sail for Fernandina.
On June 20, 1817, he landed on Amelia Island with his printing press. He raised the “Green Cross of Florida” over Fort San Carlos, which was nine guns in a wooden structure. He printed “Amelia dollars” to pay his 150 men and wrote proclamations that were ignored. He led under the title of Brigadier General of the United Provinces of New Granada and Venezuela, and General-in-Chief of the Armies of the Two Floridas.
His obsession with uniforms and medals had never been popular, but in his newly exalted position, he enjoyed them. He did not know President Monroe had talked about MacGregor’s “incompetence” in public, nor that the President was against war with Spain. MacGregor thought help and funds were on the way to enable his troops to withstand Spanish attack. Help was not on the way.
On September 18, 1817, the MacGregors and some officers fled to Nassau, Bahamas. He ordered coins commemorating his moment on Amelia Island. Few of these remain, but the Amelia Island Museum of History has one. This coin is almost all that is left of the 68 days Gregor MacGregor ruled over Amelia Island.
Power changed him. However, his success on Amelia Island gave him all he needed to conjure up the fictional land of Poyais, the con that would make him permanently famous.
To be continued…