While at Campeachy, (1827-1838), where he served as United States consul, Dr. Henry Perrine, a native of New York City and a physician and botanist, determined to devote the remainder of his life to introducing and endeavoring to acclimatize useful tropical plants in semi-tropical Florida. He studied the matter and made collections of plants and seeds. The United States Congress, by an act approved July 7, 1898, made a conditional grant to Dr. Perrine and his associates of a township of land in South Florida, to be selected by him; the Senate Committee on Agriculture having reported “. . . . . that his services have been great; that his suggestions are important; and that his plans are laudably patriotic and practicable’ . . . . . . . . and his voluminous manuscripts alone ehxibit a great amount of labor and research which promise to be highly beneficial to our common country.” Dr. Perrine first established a nursery on Indian Key and the keys adjoining and resided there with his family from December, 1838, to the time of the massacre.
Walker, Hester Perrine
"Massacre at Indian Key, August 7, 1840 and the Death of Doctor Henry Perrine,"
Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 5:
1, Article 5.
Available at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol5/iss1/5