FAITH LAPIDUS: In eighteen sixty seven, Doctor Mudd was helping the prison doctor treat victims of the disease yellow fever. Many died. Soon, the prison doctor also lost his own battle with the disease. Only Doctor Mudd was left to treat the increasing number of men who became sick with yellow fever.
Later, the sickness seemed to leave the island. Many of those who survived knew they owed their lives to Doctor Mudd. Almost every man in Fort Jefferson wrote to the president of the United States asking that Doctor Mudd be pardoned because of his work treating patients who had Yellow Fever. They said Doctor Mudd was a hero.
In February eighteen sixty nine, President Andrew Johnson signed a presidential pardon. Doctor Mudd was a free man. He left Fort Jefferson and returned to his home in the state of Maryland. He once again became a family doctor.
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CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The first European visitor to the small islands was the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon. He arrived in fifteen thirteen. Ponce de Leon was an older man who was searching for special water that stories said would make him young again. It was called the “Fountain of Youth.”
Ponce de Leon named the little islands the Tortugas. Tortugas is the Spanish word for a turtle. Thousands of these creatures lived on the islands. Ponce de Leon was able to capture many turtles to provide fresh meat for his ship’s crew. He never did find the special water of the Fountain of Youth.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25