the signature
Some people have asked, what is that scribble on the bottle? "It's Ponce de Leon's signature." Then they say, well how'd you get that? First of all, as 15th generation Floridian's we are pretty sure that we are distantly related to Juan, and could probably look up some old family tree and find his signature. However, in this case the world wide web was much easier.
In our search, we found a book called The Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. It’s a six-volume collection of biographies of notable people involved in the history of the New World. The first edition was published between 1887 and 1889 by D. Appleton and Company of New York City. A seventh volume, containing an appendix and supplementary lists, and thematic indexes to the whole work, was issued in 1901. The Cyclopædia included the names of over 20,000 native and adopted citizens of the United States, including living persons. Also included were the names of several thousand citizens of all the other countries of North and South America. The aim was to embrace all noteworthy persons of the New World. The work also contained the names of nearly 1,000 people of foreign birth who were closely identified with American history. The Cyclopædia was illustrated with about sixty full-page portraits supplemented by some 1,500 smaller vignette portraits accompanied by facsimile autographs, and also several hundred views of birthplaces, residences, monuments, and tombs famous in history. One of those was Juan Ponce de Leon.
In our search, we found a book called The Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. It’s a six-volume collection of biographies of notable people involved in the history of the New World. The first edition was published between 1887 and 1889 by D. Appleton and Company of New York City. A seventh volume, containing an appendix and supplementary lists, and thematic indexes to the whole work, was issued in 1901. The Cyclopædia included the names of over 20,000 native and adopted citizens of the United States, including living persons. Also included were the names of several thousand citizens of all the other countries of North and South America. The aim was to embrace all noteworthy persons of the New World. The work also contained the names of nearly 1,000 people of foreign birth who were closely identified with American history. The Cyclopædia was illustrated with about sixty full-page portraits supplemented by some 1,500 smaller vignette portraits accompanied by facsimile autographs, and also several hundred views of birthplaces, residences, monuments, and tombs famous in history. One of those was Juan Ponce de Leon.