The Schooner Enterprise: a Forgotten Key West Murder Case

In 1859, Key West found itself transfixed by a sensational criminal trial. Styled United States v. Carcer, Eloy, and Davis, and presided over by William Marvin, the island's legendary federal judge, the case involved a mutiny-murder aboard the slave ship Enterprise. Although famous in its day, the tale has been all but forgotten due to the Great Key West Fire of 1886, which destroyed nearly every record of the affair.