Ernest Hemingway isn’t the only Hemingway worth knowing about. Ernest had a younger brother, Leicester—pronounced as “Lester”—who had his own claim to fame: he founded his own country. In 1964, Leicester was quoted saying to the Washington Post that there’s no law saying that you can’t start your own country, so that’s exactly what he did.
Leicester’s country was called the Republic of New Atlantis. It was created out of a barge that measured 8-feet by 30-feet. He anchored it to a Ford engine block on a shallow bank about eight miles from Jamaica. Thus, New Atlantis was born. Leicester stated that the Guano Islands of Act of 1856 gave him the right to take possession of any unoccupied “island, rock, or key” on which bird excrements were found, as bird droppings were a valuable fertilizer in those days.
A year after its founding, the seven voters of the country, all chosen by Leicester, elected Leicester Hemingway as their first president. This made headlines all over the world, as New Atlantis shared its official country flag, sewn by Leicester’s wife. He even created his own currency, the scruple. Many historians note that the currency looked like it was simply made of articles that had washed ashore. Leicester created a New Atlantis Constitution, which was a near-copy of the beginning of the US Constitution.
Surprisingly, no other countries had a problem with the founding of New Atlantis, and a spokesperson for the Jamaican Embassy even said they thought the project was “sound”. Unfortunately, several years after its founding as a country, New Atlantis was washed away in a storm. The University of Texas Research Center created an exhibit with artifacts from the country, including its flag, its postage stamps, and a page of their constitution.