I represent Maria Dorotea Garreta, a free parda girl born in Pensacola. I was a child of Juan Garreta, a Spaniard, and Maria Bara, a free parda woman. Families of mixed ethnicity like ours were quite common in Spanish West Florida, as the Spanish did not have the same social taboos as Anglo-American society.
I was baptized by Father Coleman at St. Michael’s on March 29, 1821, and my father acknowledged me as his hija natural. I lived with my parents and three siblings, but I was born too late to appear in the 1820 census along with them. Also living with us was Don Francisco Egido, a retired Spanish military officer, but his relationship to us is unclear.