In 1838, the United States Congress granted a township of land in the southern extremity of Florida to noted horticulturist Dr. Henry Perrine and his associates for experiments aimed at introducing foreign tropical plants and seeds into Florida. Born in 1797 and trained as a physician, Perrine became interested during a visit to Cuba in 1826 in tropical plants that might be successfully introduced into the southern United States. As American consul in Campeche, Mexico, from 1827 to 1838, he began sending Mexican plants to a friend on Indian Key in Florida and sought government support for future agricultural experiments. Backed by leaders of Territorial Florida who wanted to make use of the tropical soils of the south, his efforts culminated in the 1838 grant. Although he did not select a township before his death in 1840, he indicated the areas he preferred, and his family later chose the land that came to be called the Perrine Land Grant. The Second Seminole War prevented him from settling on the Florida mainland in 1838, so he took his family to Indian Key to care for his plants and await the war's end. On August 7, 1840, Indians attacked the Key, killing Perrine and six others, while his family escaped uninjured. His efforts stimulated interest in tropical agriculture in Florida.