The legend of Jose Gaspar began back in the early 1900s when a local resident, Juan Gomez who resided 200 miles southeast of Tampa near Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands region. The supposed 100-year old gentleman claimed he was a former cabin boy (A young male servant on a ship who was responsible for assisting with the care of the ship’s quarters, along with handling the needs of the officers and passengers) of Gaspar’s crew.
The story, depending on who was telling it as there were different versions floating around, was that Gaspar was born into a Spanish aristocratic family.