"Where Dolphins Fly, the New Smyrna Journals of Capt. Douglas Dummett 1806-1873"

By Jenny Conner Keeley

A lone crypt inscribed "Sacred to the Memory, Charles Dummett 1844-1860" rests in the middle of a shady street in New Smyrna. The quiet beachside neighborhood is the former site of his father's riverfront plantation; Mount Pleasant. The cracked, marble-topped vault holds a family story of pioneer grit and courage in wild and dangerous jungles of territorial Florida; the chaotic settlement of New Smyrna through the grisly Seminole Wars, and a divisive, bloody Civil War. Based on the life of Yale educated Douglas Dummett, originator of the Indian River citrus strain; he was a judge, Territorial and State Representative, and leader of the mounted militia..."The Moskito Roarers". Set within an historical timeline in the age of Osceola, this is a local story of the Old South; triumph and loss, slavery and survival... and family secrets of forbidden love. This is where it happened, on this white sand tropical island paradise of New Smyrna Beach, Florida... where dolphins fly.