Book Description

The story of New London, Connecticut fisherman Leonard Destin being caught in a violent storm off the Florida coast in 1835 and settling in the area of northwest Florida that is today named for him has always been an interesting story shared by the residents and the many tourists who visit Destin, Florida.Destin historian H. C. ?Hank? Klein has spent five years doing the historical research necessary to separate facts from local legend. He has found out that there is a LOT more to the story than a fisherman simply looking for new fishing grounds.Klein's research has turned up the fact that the Destin family was a family of whalers and fisherman. Leonard's older brother George, Jr. was actually quite famous in New England whaling circles.Klein also discovered why they sailed so far from home in the fall of 1835 and what drew them to the Florida Keys. He also learned the name of the vessels (the sloop Empress and sloop Gallant) that ten seafarers, including Leonard, his father, and two brothers took on that fateful voyage to Key West, when Florida was still a territory.He found that the storm was actually the hurricane that hit Florida on September 15-17, 1835. That storm did a vast amount of damage to both land and vessels sailing off shore in the Atlantic Ocean.Leonard's father, his older brother William and two additional crew members lost their lives on that trip and both their vessels were wrecked.