I represent Isabella Chrystie Bruce. My husband was James Bruce, the Customs Collector for the Port of Pensacola and long-time member of the Council of West Florida. When James took a leave of absence from his duties in Pensacola to return home, I came back with him as his bride. We married in Auchterless, Aberdeenshire, on August 8, 1769. The voyage took a month, with a stop in Kingston, Jamaica, and we arrived in Pensacola in late 1769. I moved into a house James had built in Pensacola, right on the water. Our son, Archibald Scott Bruce, was born December 23, 1770, and we later had a daughter, Charlotte Mary. In 1772 I was granted 1000 acres of land in my own name – a rarity for colonial women. My husband and I built a plantation on the Amite River in the attractive Mississippi region of West Florida and grew indigo, though James’ work did not permit him to live there full-time. In February of 1778, James Willing and his American rebel raiders ravaged British properties in Mississippi and our plantation fell victim – he and his troops occupied it for a few weeks and burned it on their way out. Then Bernardo de Gálvez and the Spanish took our land on Thompson Creek. After the end of the war, we joined many displaced Loyalists in requesting compensation for lost property. In that petition James gave our residence as Shelbourne, Nova Scotia, where many Loyalists took refuge and settled.
Sources: 22, 37, 55, 75