Every year, the Gasparilla season in Hillsborough County brings a festive atmosphere filled with the symbols of pirate lore. But few are aware of the county's real ties to actual pirates, as reported by an official Hillsborough County publication. Among the buried in Oaklawn Cemetery, the area's first public graveyard, lie two individuals with notorious pasts, Jose Perfino and "Mr. Hubbard," who have called this place their final port since 1850.
Perfino, also known by his moniker "El Indio," was a figure shrouded in infamy. After he was found guilty of murdering a soldier in 1849, Tampa's future first mayor, Circuit Court Judge Joseph B. Lancaster, sentenced him to be hanged, in what was Hillsborough County's first high-profile murder case. The man who represented him, James T. Magabee, was not just any lawyer but Hillsborough County's first, who also had his own unique experiences, including one where, having fallen asleep in downtown Tampa, was covered in molasses and corn and subsequently had his clothes torn off by wild hogs, according to the same Hillsborough County publication.
However, Perfino's execution never came to pass within the confines of the county jail. In a turn of events, he escaped and was pronounced dead four days after his original execution date, killed by a Fort Brooke soldier on May 21, who then claimed a $100 reward issued by the Florida governor at the time. This account of Perfino's death was documented in the recent article, with the suggestion that his seafaring and pillaging credentials may be as murky as the waters they once sailed.
The tale of these individuals, especially Perfino's, touches on more than just piratical stereotypes. It reveals the layers of Hillsborough's past and the rough justice of its early days. Lancaster's own touch on history was leaving a stark message on Perfino's hanging decree, as "And may God have mercy on your soul" was notably crossed out, implying Lancaster's final say on the man's fate. This significant historical anecdote was highlighted in the Hillsborough County's recount of these buried pirates.
