Submitted by Descendant: Jeannette Marie Say
Agada Maria Coll was born 4 September 1751 in Mahon, Minorca to parents Bartolome Coll and Josepha Sintes. It was there in Mahon that she married her first husband in February 1766. Research indicates that, as newlyweds, this young couple traveled to Florida onboard the fleet of Dr. Andrew Turnbull, which set sail in 1768. While no records are known to exist supporting their indenture to Dr. Andrew Turnbull, it is generally understood that all who were a part of this sailing saw this as a means of attaining their dream of owning land in the new world.
Within a few years Agada lost her husband and married for the second time. This marriage was to Roque Pelligrino Leonardy. Life was difficult for the small family, living in poverty and under very oppressive colonial overseers. In 1777, with two young children, Agada walked with her husband to St Augustine. It is here that she would go on to bear a total of 11 children to Roque before he died unexpectedly from drowning in 1801.
After one year of mourning, Agada was ready to marry again. Her choice for her third husband, Juan Bernard Sanchez, was not without controversy. Juan, Agada’s oldest son, voiced very strong objections to the union believing that his mother was marrying below her status. Among the issues was the fact that Juan was from Mexico and half Indian. Juan was also several years her junior and living with a married woman at the time of his engagement to Agada. They were wed 20 January 1803, no doubt under great controversy.
In her lifetime she lived in both poverty under an indenture and then in relative wealth with social status. She was a woman of great strength who didn’t shy away from controversy. This remarkable woman left life behind on 3 January 1817 in St Augustine, Florida.
Agada Maria Coll was first established as a Florida Pioneer in 2003