Ximenez-Fatio House: Book Signing and Re-enactors

The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum will be part of First Friday Art Walk on Friday, Dec. 5 from 5 pm until 9 pm. The living history attraction will feature Roger Smith, Ph.D., author, guest speaker, and research historian with the Colonial Research Associates, Inc. Smith is a St.Augustine resident and will hold a book signing for his recently released publication, The 14th Colony: George Washington's Planned Invasions of East Florida. Smith is an expert in colonial American history and the American Revolution and portrays renowned period characters on stage for educational purposes.

Additionally, Art Walk activities in St. Augustine will feature the 40th Annual British Night Watch with re-enactors gathering at the Ximenez-Fatio House. Smith and the re-enactors will participate in the House event from 5 pm until 7 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Smith's new book covers events during December 1775, when General George Washington wrote a letter to John Hancock, warning the Continental Congress that the British were stockpiling weapons and gunpowder in St. Augustine, East Florida. According to Smith, Washington was sounding an alarm, as he feared that the British were preparing to reclaim the southern colonies by invading Georgia and South Carolina with an army from East Florida – a colony wholly loyal to King George III. The book also features the role played by British St. Augustine in the American War of Independence as one of Florida's most unique stories in its 500-year history and perhaps the most unique story of the American Revolution.