- An Incident Of The Seminole War
- A Preview Of 'The Early People'
- Notes On The Civil War
- Some Of The Early Familys In Olustee Area
- Another Potpourri Of Baker County History
- A Look At Some Public Records From 1877
- Gleanings From 'The Standard'
- The Baxter Rebellion
- McClenny Versus Macclenny
- A Short Tribute To Nettie Rowe
- The St. George Gazette
- Some Interesting Notes From Basement Of Courthouse
- Notes From The Court Of Judge Mott Howard
- Of Harvey And Prophecies
- Early Area Roadways
- The Crackers
- The Will Of 'Tiger Bill' Roberts
- The Roberts Family
- Black Troops In Baker County
- Joseph Dicks, Early Pioneer From England
- The Daring Minnie Poythress
- Geological Makeup Of Baker County
- Mrs. Cone Tells Her Story
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, January 6, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
An Incident Of The Seminole War
- "Merciful God! " exclaimed Capt. Thigpen when he viewed
the wretched but still breathing form of the young Mrs. Johns.
Capt. Jonothan Thigpen who lived on a plantation near Trail
Ridge was the Militia officer in charge of the small party sent
from Jacksonville to salvage Mrs. Johns.
- Dr. Welch, the party's physician, added, "I, until then
thought I had viewed, in the
course of my professional career, wounds of the most revolting character. I have witnessed
many horrors in the practice of surgery, I might almost venture
to acknowledge without wincing - but when I looked upon this
young widow, prostrate, in calm resignation..." The 138 year old
narrative becomes a bit confused at this point.
- There is nothing, however, confusing about Mrs. Johns'
own recollections, via the Militia officers, of the attack during
which she received her grievous wounds.
- "She was able to state the circumstances of the attack upon
herself and husband. They were about twenty yards from the
house, between 10 and 11 o'clock Thursday morning, when
the Indians showed themselves by the corner of a fence close to
them. The Indians fired and wounded Mr. Johns in the left
breast. Both ran for the house, entered and closed the door.
- "The Indians came up and fired on the house. They called
out in English, and told them if they would come out they should
not be hurt. The Indians looked in through the cracks (the house
was made of logs) and told Mr. Johns and his wife to come; but
they did not consent to do so, but begged for their lives. The order
was given in English to charge the house.
- "The Indians burst in - shot Mr. Johns through the head - he
fell, and his wife fell upon his body. An Indian dragged her to
the door, and said to her, "hi-e-pus-cha," go." She asked
where, and he pointed towards the head of Black Creek. At that
moment she saw another Indian level his rifle - she threw up her
arm - the Indian fired - and the ball, cutting lengthwise through
the flesh of her arm, passed through her neck. She fell.
- "The Indian came up dragged her into the hall of the
house (the house is what is called a double log-house) and
then taking out her comb and tearing the string from her hair
scalped her. He did not tear the scalp off, but cut it as
butchers take the skin from a beef.
- During the operation Mrs. Johns was sensible of what he
was doing. She saw the Indian's scalping-knife, and says it was a
round pointed common butcher-knife.
- "She lay as if dead. The Indians plundered the house,
taking a pair of portmanteau containing money to some
amount, and everything of value - set fire to the house, and one
Indian applied the torch to her clothes - left the house - gave a
whoop, and hurried off in the direction, she thought from their
noise, of the head of Black Creek.
- "She felt the fire of her clothes upon one leg, and as
soon as she dared to move so much, grabbed in her hand a
quantity of her own clotted blood, with which she put out
her burning clothes. And then, when the Indians were out of
hearing, she got up - saw her murdered husband's body unscalped and unmoved from the
position in which he fell, except the Indians had put one foot up
on the edge of a table.
- "The house was on fire - she made her way out of it, fainting
every few minutes. She reached the edge of a swamp - got some
water and there lay down, unable to get farther. There she
remained till 2 o'clock P.M. when three men, Mr. Johns, the
father of her husband, Mr. Lowder, and Mr. M'Kinney
came along.
- "They saw the burning house all fallen in except the corners of
the logs, - the body therein burned - and discovered her,
whom they took to be an Indian at first, then a squaw. On
advancing to her what must have been the feeling of her
father-in-law, to recognize in the butchered, bloody, almost life-less woman, his daughter-in-law
- and to know that the burned human frame in the house was
that of his son!
- "These three men carried her to Mr. Lowder's, and giving the
inmates of the house the alarm, and taking them, the two
females and their children, went on to Mr. Sparkman's - where
our party in pursuit of the Indians, found them as above
stated."
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, January 13, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
An Incident Of The Seminole War -- Conclusion
- Continuing from Dr. Welch's
narrative of the attack on and
scalping of Mrs. Jane Johns by
the Seminole Indians:
- "It seems the next object of
the savages was to set fire to the
house, and although there was a
tolerable fire at the moment in
the room, Mrs. Johns heard one
Indian desire another to strike a
light, which being done, a blaze
was produced, and some dried
fodder in a loft above the room
ignited. From some superstitious belief, Indians do not use
the fire which has been kindled
by white men, for the destruction of their property, but always
have recourse to that procured
by themselves, related by Mrs.
Carter, aunt to Mrs. Johns, who
lived many years in close vicinity
to the Indians in Florida.
- "A torch was next appiled to
her dress, at the feet; she had
sufficient presence of mind and
fortitude even to allow the flesh
of her lower extremities to burn,
until the Indians left the premises, which they now did in much
haste, making the welking ring
with their war-whoop.
- "From the moment of Mrs.
Johns being scalped, the Indians
were necessitated to pass by her
body repeatedly, and as she lay
partly in one room, and partly in
the passage which passed
through the centre of the
building they had some difficulty
in the ingress and egress,
without coming in actual contact
with her person, which they now
seemed to shun with horror or
disgust.
- Indians, after touching the
corpse of a pregnant woman
consider themselves unclean until they have performed ablutions, and purfied themselves
with physic and sweating. The
latter is performed by digging
holes in the earth into which
they bury themselves to the
chin.
- "Finding all quiet, her first
thought was to extinguish the
fire of her clothes, to accomplish
which, she scraped the blood
from denuded head in her
hands and cautiously (for she
silll feared some Indians were
near) applied it to the fire which
was actually consuming her.
- "After having extinguished
the fire of her dress, she raised
herself up but immediately
fainted. On recovering her first
object was to remove the body of
her husband to prevent it being
consumed by the devouring
element which was making rapid
progress through the roof. In
this humane and affectionate
design she was defeated by want
of physical strength. Being
convinced of her incapacity to
remove the corpse, she attempted her own escape and no
sooner had she reached the
outside of the house, then she
again became senseless. Once
more restored to reason, she
noticed a bag, in which coffee
had been kept; this she applied
to her bare skull to defend it
from the piercing rays of the sun
which at this time poured down
its effulgent beams with cruel
effect.
- "In this deplorable condition
she crawled (after repeatedly
fainting) a distance of about 200
yards to a shallow pond of water,
and after slaking her thirst, from
her hands, deeply imbrued in
her own gore, she laid herself
down, as she supposed, to die."
- A short time later Mrs. Jons
Johns gave birth to a stillborn
child. This was followed by her
father's death and he was her
sole support. In spite of it all,
Mrs. Jane Johns survived for a
number of years, although not
the most well-adjusted individual.
- And we complain about rising
coffee prices.
Back Home
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, January 20, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
A Preview Of 'The Early People'
History Of Baker County
- We are happy to report that the history of Baker County, a result
of 25 years research, is complete except for editing. This volume
will hopefully arrive with the spring thaw and, also hopefully,
will pleasantly surprise and amuse its readers.
- The following is a couple of pages taken from a chapter
entitled THE EARLY PEOPLE.
- "These people, so unreal and so far away, might not be as
distant as we would like to think. Two of their practices, one of
physical survival and one of religious significance, have endured, in some form, to the
present, and Baker County might be one of the few places in the
southeast where they still exist.
- "Three discoveries near Lake Okeechobee, corn pollen, corn
cooking evidences, and lime, have led researchers to believe that
the Indians of perhaps 3,000 years ago were preparing dried corn
with lime. The process basically reconstitutes shelled dried corn
with a lime solution. After soaking the kernels in the limed
water, the early people placed the swollen grains in baskets in
running water to remove all traces of lime. The easily stored dry corn
could then be eaten in a form other than grinding.
- "Until World War II, many rural Baker County housewifes
used lye instead of lime and washed the plump kernels for two
days in croaker sacks in the runs of nearby streams. The only
connection they knew with the ancient people was that they had
a half-breed grandmother somewhere along the way. That part
Creek grandmother had brought to her white descendants an ages
old food preparing process given to her ancestors by the Timucua
and Apalachee Indians who had, in turn, learned it from the early
people.
- "The second habit of the early people is more well known; the
placing of objects with or near the deceased. Florida Indian burials
included, with the remains, such diverse items as beads, weapons,
pottery, tools, dogs, and even an alligator on one occasion.
- "The early people of the Baker County area in particular seemed
much less affluent or either were possessed of slightly different
beliefs. Their mound items consisted mostly of dispensable chert
tools, mostly unglazed pottery, and layers and pockets of colored
sand. But, very likely, the offerings were the best they had.
- "If the early people believed, as the later day anthropologists
maintain that the items were to be used by the deceased or if the
objects were placed there simple as decorations or as a last futile
offering to erase from their consciences what they did not or
could not do for the lost ones we can probably never be certain.
- "However, we do know that in certain Baker County cemeteries,
especially those with a strong Indian heritage (Macedonia), the
graves were tenderly decorated with the best the surviors had to
offer. These offerings were china cups and fine kerosene lamps in
the 19th century and seashells and plastic toys into the middle of
the 20th.
- "It is a sad commentary on ourselves that we have created
ghouls who would rob and denude these graves of antiques and
collectibles and would barter with them in flea markets, thus ending
a chain of respect and love that endured in the area since before
Christ was born."
Back Home
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, January 27, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Part one
Notes On The Civil War - Baker County Men And Their Units
- The dilapidated condition of records of the Civil War forced an
order by the Federal Government forbidding examination of them.
As a result of this and the complete absence of some Confederate records, the various
camps of Confederate veterans of Florida attempted to gather rolls
of Florida soldiers in the Indian Wars and Civil War but without
much success.
- The R.E. Lee Camp of Jacksonville number 59 was one of the
most successful, but their compilation was lost in the great fire
which destroyed most of downtown Jacksonville in 1901.
- Mr. Long of Bradford County introduced an act in 1903, known
as Chapter 5203 Laws of Florida, to compile an History of Soldiers
of Florida Serving in the Indian, Mexican, Spanish-American, and
War Between the States.
- Little by little, and not a little of it by word of mouth, the Confederate rolls were gathered,
including thc names of some of the men who served from Baker
County and from just across its borders.
- ' Eighth Fla. Inf. This unit was mustered into service in May of
1862, the men selected as officers (soldiers elected their own officers in those days) R.T. Floyd,
Col.; John M. Pons, Lt. Col.; and W.I. Turner, Maj. Shortly after
organization, the 3th was ordered to Virginia and joined the 2nd,
and with the 2nd and 5th, fought in the 2nd Battle of Manassas, 30
August, 1862.
- Baker County men who served in the 8th, Company I were: Isaac
and Isaiah Barber, John Barton, Elias Bennett, John G. Bennett,
Wiley Bennett, William Bennett, John E. Burnsed, C. Crews,
Samuel Crews, William P. Crews, Geo. Davis, John G. Davis, Levi,
Drawdy, John R. Herndon, Robert C. Lauramore, Richard M.
Lauramore, John Prescott, William J. Raulerson, Henry Rhoden,
Isham Rhoden, James J. Rhoden, John A.J. Rhoden, John H.
Rhoden, Levi Rhoden, George W. Roberts, Alfred Sparkman, Luke
Sparkman, William C. Sparkman, and Elisha Wilderson.
- In Company H of that same unit was George W. Barber.
- Company E was represented by Belone R. Dinkins, J.W. Hancock, and S. Hancock.
- Company C's one Baker Countian was Durham Hancock.
- Company F: John Rowe and Elias Williams.
- Company G: William R. Simmons, Matthew Tanner.
- Of the aforementioned some few notes have come to light
through research. Isaac Barber was imprisoned at Ft. Delaware
and after the war moved to Osceola County where he was
murdered by Reconstructionists and 'Scalawags'. His brother
Isaiah was lost during a retreat in South Carolina, last seen
slumped, wounded, against a tree unable to keep up with Company I.
- Samuel Crews was shot at Missionary Ridge the 18th of
November, 1863 and again in Nashville Dccember the 12th
of '64. John Prescott was wounded and disabled at Chancellorsville.
Isham Rhoden was imprisoned in Ft. Deleware. Levi Rhoden was
wounded at Sharpsburg on the 17th of September 1862.
- George W. Roberts was killed during the Battle of Missionary
Ridge on the 25th of November, 1863. And Elisha Wilkerson was
wounded at Sharpsburg September 9th, 1862.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, February 3, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Some Notes On The Civil War
- The Men Who Served
Part Two
- The 3rd Fla. Infantry with its fancy company names assembled
on Amelia Island on the 25th of June, 1861. Columbia County's
Arthur J.T. Wright was elected Lt. Col. On August 10th the 3rd
was mustered into Confederate Service.
- Baker County and neighboring men who had joined the Duval
County Cowboys, Jacksonville Light Infantry, and Columbia
Dixie Stars became part of the 3rd and saw service in the northeast
part of the state. In March of '62 they camped at Baldwin, underwent some training there, and in
April they left for Mississippi and Tennessee.
- Area men who served in the 3rd were:
- Jacksonville Light Infantry: Davis, James S. 'Hogeye' - wounded in the eye during one of
the Union Jacksonville landings, and wounded Missionary Ridge.
- F 3rd Fla. Inf.: Carter, Levi - shot Chickamauga 19 Sept. 1863;
Sweat, Henry Maxwell - Sgt.
- Former Gov. Madison Starke Perry mustered in his men of
Florida's Seventh Regiment of Infantry at Gainesville in April of
1862.
- Men who served in Company I of the 7th were: Thompson,
Thomas William; Thompson, William Jefferson; Mann, Archibald
J. - medical discharge due to chronic rheumatism; Mann, Benjamin D. - captured Missionary
Ridge; Mann, William J. - died of disease Knoxville, Tenn.
- The First Florida Cavalry commanded by Col. G.W.M. Davis
assembled at Camp Mary David south of Tallahassee on June
20th, 1861. There were 10 companies from Alachua, Baker,
Clay, Columbia, Duval, Leon, Levy, Nassau, and Suwannee.
- A 1st Fla. Cav.: Harvey, William B. - discharged for disability.
- A 1st Fla. Cav.: Rowe, Azell Jackson - killed Gettsbury; Tanner, Benjamin Hopkins
- wounded; Tanner, Cornealius - killed in battle; Tanner, Joshua.
- D 1st Fla. Cav.: Berry, Henry D. - farrier (blacksmith), participated Battle of Olustee; Burnsed,
James M. 3rd Lt. and also Sheriff of Baker County during the War;
Burnsed, James W.; Burnsed, John Elias, transferred from 1 8th
Fla. Inf., casualty; Burnsed, Phineas - 3rd Lt; Combs, John
Richard 'Dick' - had a 'streak' of the sole of his foot shot away at
Olustee; Combs, James; Combs, William; Canova, George Paul;
Crews, Samuel - shot Missionary Ridge 18 Nov. 1863 and again at
Nashville 15 Dec. 64; Davis, Earl; Davis, John C. - died in CSA
hosp. of disease 6 June 63: Davis, Richard Bailey; Dobson Benjamin
C.; Dowling, Berrien, Dowling, William Henry; Driggers, Aaron -
corporal; Driggers, William M.; Dugger, Aaron; Dugger, Robert
B. - killed at Olustee; Fraser, James; Garrett, William; Harvey,
James A.; Harvey, John - captain and Judge of Baker County at the
same time; Harvey, John W.; Hodges, James M. - shot Peach
Tree Creek, Ga. 22 June 1864; Jones, John Paul; Johnson, Josiah H.; Johnson, Stephen -
imprisoned; Johns, Reubin H.; Johns, Wiliam B.; Mathis, John - imprisoned Rock Island, Ill.;
Pons, Joseph, 1st Lt.; Raulerson, Jacob - wounded Bristow Station, Tenn. 14 Oct. 1863.
- Lists are dull to everybody except the one whose name is
included: Some of these men have no other memorial than being
included in a list burried somewhere. Others such as Pvt. Ben
Tanner never performed any noteworthy deeds during their
civilian lives, but as was said of Pvt. Tanner by his comrades, "he
was the best soldier who ever shouldered a musket."
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, February 10, 1977. Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Notes On The Civil War Plus The Florida Campaign
- As mentioned last week, lists are dull, but read on; you might
be surprised to find out what your ancestor did (or did not do) during
the War Between the States.
- Company H 1st Fla. Cavalry: Walker, Benjamin J. In Company
K were Darby, John W., who was Irish-born and called himself
'Colonel' after the war, and his brother Thomas J.
- The 2nd Cavalry seemed to contain several Baker County
men, but only a few can be determined at this time. Co. A:
Barber, Moses Edward, Sr. - enlisted age 63, deserted, arrested, and confined at Lake City,
pardoned, and commissioned as a spy. Co. B: Yelvington, Richard.
- Co. K 2nd Cavalry: Barber, Moses Edward, Jr. - captured at
Palatka, escaped; Chalker, James D. - returned to serve in every
Baker County elective office except Sheriff (was also appointed
under the Reconstruction Govt.); Hicks, Noah A. - cut off his
enemies' ears; Rowe, Robert Lee - scout, refused to wear a
uniform; Tanner, Asa C. mild a civilian but viscious soldier; Williams, John D. - slipped home
during each furlough to father another of his 23 children. Sgt.
- Company C 3rd Fla. Cavalry: Rowe, William - killed in battle.
Co. B 11 th Fla. Cavalry: Hicks, Robert C. - lost an arm in battle
but left a string of young'uns wherever he went. Co. B 15th
Confederate Cavalry: Davis, Walter; Harvey, James H.; Harvey,
John.; Yarborough, George S.; Yarborough, John H.; Yarborough, William. H.; Yarborough,
Thomas Elbert. Florida Light Artillery: Hill, Thaddeus A. Gamble's Artillery: Garrett, George
Washinston - absent without leave.
- In order to present highlights of the Florida Campaign leading up
to the Battle of Olustee Anniversary article, the military lists will
be temporarily discontinued and picked up at a later date.
- Sunday 7 February, 1864: The Union again occupied Jacksonville, this time for the purpose of
cutting off Florida (the Confederacy's breadbasket) from the rest
of the Southern States and Armies. On the 8th Feb. Col. Guy
V. Henry and his men routed a garrison of Rebels at Camp
Finegan (near the present intersection of Normandy and Lenox in
Jacksonville). The Rebs under Lt. Col. A.H. McCormick beat a fast
retreat toward Camp Beauregard at Olustee.
- Tues 9 February: Col. Henry's Yanks took possession of Baldwin
at sunrise. At Johnson's Station (Mattox Crossing) they burned a
large quantity of naval stores. On Febuary 10th Col. Henry met a
Confederate force under Maj. Robert Harrison which was traveling from near Fernandina to Lake
City. The site was the ford across the South Prong at Barber's
(between the Macclenny Golf Course and the river). There, the
Southerners suffered another serious loss during the ensuing
skirmish.
- Mrs. Emily Fraser was sent through Union lines as a spy and
to retrieve a wounded soldier. She reported to Gen. Finegan at Lake
City the Yankee strength at Barber's. Meanwhile, the Union
force arrived at Sanderson but discovered everything of value
had been burned by retreating Confederate Col. McCormick and
his men. Confederate guerillas under George Combs began harassing the U.S. troops, killing
several by sniper fire.
- Thursday 11 February: Col. Henry (U.S.) met Gen. Finegan
(CSA) at Watertown near Lake City, but retreated back to
Sanderson, believing the Southerners had superior forces. The
Yanks settled in at Sanderson, Barber's and Baldwin, drilling
and waiting orders.
- Wednesday 17 February: By sundown 5,500 Union officers and
men and 16 guns covered the fields around Barber's. They
drilled, cussed, wrote letters, prayed, and waited.
- Friday 19 February: As the sun went down behind them the
Confederate force numbered 5,100 men and officers and 12
guns at Camp Beauregard at Olustee. They drilled, cussed,
wrote letters, prayed, and waited.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, February 17, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Notes On The Civil War - The Big Day At Olustee
- Saturday 20 February, 1864; The Cracker boys and their
Confederate comrades were rousted out of bed long before
dawn. In addition the Hicks boy blowing that d--- bugle' a
particularly noisome sergeant had the habit of waking his boys to a
round of, "wake up, Jacob, clem on a light." A lone rooster who
had escaped both the evacuation efforts of his owner and the
stewing pots of the Reb soldiers made an effort to wake empty
little Olustee.
- Eighteen miles to their east at Barber's across the fields 'as fer
as the eye could see' stirred the Union boys. When the sun burned
away the morning mist, almost six thousand blue-coated soldiers
were in formation waiting to move out. It would be 90 years before
the entire county in which they were camped could boast of a
population to match their number.
- In Olustee on the south bank of Ocean Pond mockingbirds sassily
sang. The sun reached its zenith. Scouts rushed out and returned
with information about the slowly advancing blue column. The
tinkles and drone of distant troops increased in volume.
- The territory between the Confederate fieldworks and the approaching Union Army was a pine
barren. No underbrush lay beneath the giant virgin timber. A
pair of white sand roads traversed the higher ground, dodging small
swampy ponds. Two fields uncultivated since the previous year
and about six scattered cabins lay between the opposing forces.
- Confederate General Finegan sent out a large skirmishing force
to draw the Yanks into his well prepared battleground. Union
Brigidier General Seymour, however, was not the fool Finegan
had hoped him to be. He tarried and the Confederate General sent
up another force plus some artillery. Within an hour, Gen.
Finegan had ordered the remaining force to the front and he too
went forward to assume command.
- The Rebels found themselves fighting almost in the open rather
than from their well dug defenses. They also discovered that
the Yankee force was somewhat larger than they had been led to
believe. Some officers began to worry but the continued reinforcements arriving from Camp
Beauregard behind them heartened them and they resumed the
battle with renewed vigor.
- For four and one half hours the battle raged. The men, unable to
read the future essays that their's was the last of the noble and
chivalrous wars, fought mercilessly hoping to kill each other
and get it over with.
- The Yankees contested their parcel of foreign pinelands stubbornly and gallantly but the
Crackers in their natural fighting arena routed them. The blue lines
were broken a final time and the U.S. Troops retreated in disorder
(or 'order' depending on which reports one reads.)
- The road back to Barber's was strewn with their paraphanalia,
wounded and dead. The Rebs gave chase but fatigue, hunger,
and dark overtook the chasers, probably preventing the wholesale capture of the surviving
Union force. Time was taken by the Yankees to tear up about 314
mile of railroad track near Sanderson.
- 'A Bloody Battlefield' was, in the case of Olustee, not a
figurative term. At some places beneath the flattened wiregrass
the sand was soggy with blood. "As usual with the enemy,"
wrote Lt. Grant of the CSA Corps of Engineers, "They posted their
negro regiments on their left and in front, where they were slain by
the hundreds and upon retiring left their dead and wounded
negroes uncared for, carrying off only the whites, which accounts
for the fact that upon the first part of the battlefield nearly all the
dead found were negroes."
- U.S. Surgeon Adolph Majer rushed back to Baldwin where he
sent telegrams to Barber's and Jacksonville. "Surgeon in charge
of field hospital at Barber's Station: A large number of
wounded. Prepare coffee, tea, and beef soup." "Post Surgeon
Smith, Jacksonville" Send immediately a train of cars with
bales of hay, lint, bandages and stimulants."
- U.S. Doctor Smith reported four days later, "We reached
Barbers Station at 12 midnight (the night of the 20th)...some 40
cases of wounded had to be left at the ambulance depot near the
battlefield...and 23 more at Sanderson."
- The engraved sketches here are taken from an
original Harper's Weekly magazine dated March 12
1864, about a month after the Olustee battle: Located
on page 172 (Harper's was a weekly but continued
page numbers from week to week) the drawings are
accompanied by a small explanation of the following
page. It reads as follows: "The War In Florida
(headline) We publish on the preceding page three
sketches illustrating the late movements of General
Seymour's forces previous to the great battle on the
20th of February. The town of Sanderson was
occupied by our advanced force. The main infantry
force was in the vicinity of Barber's House. The artist
who send us these sends also a third sketch giving
the scene of thc conflict on the 11th at the bridge
over Big Creek near St. Mary's River. This bridge
was carried by Colonel Henry assisted by Major
Stephens with a loss of one man killed three
mortally and twelve severly wounded."
NOTE: The three sketches omitted here.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, February 24, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Interesting Sidelight To The Olustee Story
- This week this column rceived three informative and highly
descriptive letters signed. "An American,' 'A Person From the
north' and 'A Southerner." The gist of each letter, respectively,
was 'why do you Southerners have to always be fighting that
War Again? Do you have to be so bloody and melodramatic? And
the last was a bit too florid to copy for a family newspaper.'
- Perhaps our best answer to all three concerned citizens can be
answered by some data brought to us by Mr. John J. Du Four of
Jacksonville, among the last gentlemen of the Old South and a
scion of a prominent Acadian St. Marys, Georgia family.
- Mr. Du Four's father, Louis Du Four II was involved in the Battle
of Olustee as a dispatch carrier at the age of 13. Following are
excerpts from his own memoirs.
- "I, Louis De.Four II, a 13 year old boy who had been born in St.
Marys, Georgia April 9, 1851 was living with my family at Trader's
Hill in Charlton County.
- "On leaving St. Marys in late 1861 my father...had given me a
horse that had been used as a race horse in one of the clubs in
Camden County...We could ride him double some times, and one
of my colored friends Tom Butler was going with us to Trader's Hill
as he and his family did not like the shelling of Federal gun boats
on Cumberland Sound...
- "Capt. Alonzo B. duFour, my uncle, called me to his room one
day to advise me that I would be used to ride the Burnt Fort on the
Satilla River each day from then on to carry a knapsack and bring it
back to Traders Hill...I was to remember never to look in the
knapsack or let anyone know who had received the knapsack...Colored people that I knew along the
river would tell me what they saw passing, and as I worked along
the river sides I could learn where the Yanks were most of the time.
and could dodge them. But the war was getting closer to Camden
and Charlton Counties...putting pressure on the colored people as
recruits for the Federal Army. However, they were not making
much headway, on account of the way they had been treated when
taken to Fernandina - they were made to work without food and
put in jail at night so they could not run away.
- "On Feb. 13, 1864 the Georgia First Brigade, under the command of Gen. A.H. Colquitt and
Georgia Second Brigade under Col. George T. Harrison came to
the St. Marys River on the west side near the forks of the river
(Georgia Bend), waiting orders to cross into Florida (young Du Four's dispatch relay kept this
detachment in touch with their command just prior to the Battle
of Olustee).
- After the Union troops were defeated and in retreat, Du Four's
narrative continues, "They were being cut down...as they retreated toward Barber' Station.
Gen. Colquitt ordered that the killing be stopped at once, and not
to pursue the Federals as they retreated. The force had been
driven for miles until halted by Colquitt's order.
- "During the nights of Feb. 20, 21, 22 and 23 we worked with the
wounded, trying to save their lives. The Federals left men for
miles along the road between Olustee and Barber's Station. We
loaded the wounded on railroad cars and took them to Lake City to
be cared for; all the women in the area helped with sheets of cloth
and buckets of water...many died for lack of help. We buried the
Federal dead for three days and nights. Most of our troops were
buried in Lake City, or on the field at Olustee.
- "...I must say that I will never forget all that - we did everything
we could for our adversaries, having respect for the troops of
the Federal army. They were in a trip with no way out. As a boy of
13 I thought there must be some other way to settle differences in
our great country. I prayed that President Lincoln and President
Davis would stop the war; if they could see how much suffering was
caused, they would wonder if hate ran that deep."
- Louis Du Four's son John added, many years later, "we are
not fighting the Civil War all over again...When we, as a people,
refuse to use the past as a rule and guide, we, as a people, may
have to relive that same history over again."
- This column trusts, 'American', 'Person from the North',
and 'Southerner' that your questions have been answered.
Back Home
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, March 3, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Some Of The Early Families In Olustee Area
- Olustee is probably one of the area's oldest continually inhabited communities. It was Creek
Hitchiti town in English and Spanish days, a fort during the
Territorial Period, was one of Florida's earliest Methodist missions, and was a sawmill town
that hosted some of Florida's most wealthy families during the
late 19th century. Historians, however, ignore its rich past
except for the celebrated 1864 battle.
- Some soldiers of the 2nd Seminole War north Florida campaign chose to return to the area
with their families. Veterans Isaiah Dobson, Isacc Dopson,
Colonel Cobb, Tom Newbern, Felix Bryant, Charles Newmans,
Herod Raulerson, Bill and Jim Pearce, Bill Douberly, Hance and
John Alford, Arch Johns, and Bill Mikell settled among the cypress-ringed lakes of the region.
- They joined other pre-Indian War settlers such as the Westers,
Colemans, Roberts, and the English-born tailer John A.W. Simons
(Simmons?). It was rumored in days past that J.J. Finley (later
Captain in the Confederate Army) was a short-term resident. His
son Charles was a Baker County Citizen soon after the Civil War,
living first at Olustee.
- A prominent pre-Civil War family was that of Henry Dyess.
He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a son of a Revolutionary
War soldier. His son Zeke was a long-time merchant in Olustee
after the coming of the railroad in 1858.
- Even before the tracks were laid through Olustee Station
timber companies sent in buyers to acquire land and timber rights.
Merchant Sam N. Williams, representing the New York based
firm of Eppinger and Russell, first came through in 1851 buying land
for 10 cents an acre. In 1862, his Jacksonville store was burned.
That, and a scarlet fever epidemic scare in Jacksonville sent him
first to Cedar Creek and then to Olustee where he bought another
mercantile business.
- Until the war Olustee timber was taken to Jacksonville mills.
During the war, operations almost ceased except for those of James
Cooper and Henry Douglass who did some milling on the south
shore of Ocean Pond.
- After the surrender in 1865 the second Yankee invasion took
place as northern mills moved in. They setup around Ocean Pond to
be near a ready water supply for their steam-powered saws. Pilings were driven and trams
reached far out into the water to bring in cypresses.
- Eppinger and Russell, Hilton and Dodge, and others hired men
to ring cypresses a year before they were to be felled (the green
trees would sink to the bottom and be difficult to retrieve). Acres
of hugh logs were steered across the lake to the saws; When the
stockpile became too great, the mills instructed the cutters that
green trees were to be cut and sunk to be held in reserve.
- The years from 1864 to 1867 saw a complete change in the
county's black population. Most, or all, of Baker County's former
slaves (approximately 320) had gone to the cities upon emancipation. A new black community
moved in with the mills and turpentine distilleries, working
under contracts prepared by the county Judge of Probate and
supervised by the Federal Freedmen's Bureau.
- Among the Freedmen population were Noah and Betty Cason.
Their extensive farm just east of Olustee became known as Casontown and their home was refuge
for the needy, both black and white. A son, Sol, was a sawyer
from Eppinger and Russell (one of the few blacks to fill the position
during the latter part of the 19th century).
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, March 10, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
John Brown And The Monument Site
Last Of Olustee Series
- The tired old battlefield at Olustee was destined after the
war for a better, more practical use. In 1869 the young couple
John and Elizabeth Brown and their three year old son Jesse
moved onto the site.
- John began to till the old field where the bloodiest fighting of
the battle had taken place, tossing musket and minie balls across
the rail fence. Trees had been topped and killed by artillery
which facilitated the clearing of additional acres.
- Veterans, morbidly drawn back to the scene of bitter memories,
visited Mr. Brown and walked the very visible lines and relived the
scars on the trees and in the ground. Some pocketed the offered souvenir rifle balls and
walked away silently, returning many years later to help dedicate
the site as a memorial.
- John Brown had been a participant of the war as a private in
Company A, 7th Regiment Florida Infantry. When he was discharged on the 26th of April,
1865, he returned to his home near Providence in Bradford (now
Union) County.
- He had been born in Lyons County, Georgia in 1842 and
moved to Providence at an early age, with his parents. There he
met and later married Elizabeth Shaw a daughter of Hezikiah Shaw.
- At the Olustee homestead his family grew including twin sons.
One of the twins Johnny, later became a resident of Macclenny.
As a well respected dispenser of justice he was known to his
constituents as 'Judge' but to the many who remember purchashing
their first sewing machine from him he always remained 'Singer' Brown.
- The older brother Jesse remained on the battlefield homestead after his father died and
conducted little tours for the curious and respectful alike. He is
reputed to have been the first in the area to contact the deadly
Spanish influenza of the winter of 1916-19.
- The Brown homestead was acquired by the State of Florida in
1909. As early as 1901 the Florida Legistature had created a commission to secure the site & raise
funds for a commemorative monument. The structure of Florida
stone was erected in 1912.
- For years the site was sadly neglected by the State. Neighboring UDC (United Daughters of the
Confederacy) groups and other service organizations tended the
grounds and held little Memorial Day ceremonies. In 1949 the park
was placed under the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials.
- As bureaucracy grew and shifted the monument came under the Division of Recreation and
Parks Florida Department of Natural Resources. Under that body the small museurn has
recently been renovated and improved and the grounds are
immaculate again (thanks to Ranger Cravey.
- One wonders if any among the thousands of Civil War buffs in
attendance at the recent re-enactment gave a thought that the
monument might be located at the actual site because John Brown
held and farmed the battlefield for years. Otherwise it could
have wound up under a trailer community.
Back Home
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday March 17, 1977 Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Another Potpourri Of Baker County
History
- While gleaning a thousand facts from as many sources in
preparation for, the soon-to-be- published history of Baker County
, we have another collection of items to small to expand into
articles but too interesting to ignore. For instance...
- About 1914 Mr. George M. Clayton established the county's
first telephone system. Mr. Clayton, a Georgia born merchant and
teacher, installed the switchboard in his general store. He was
President and Director of the company as well as its one operator
- Baker County's first railroad-connected fatalities were the
young couple Tarleton and Louisa Johns. Soon after the railroad's
completion to Sanderson in 1860 the rail company offered train
excursions. Mr. and Mrs. Johns were killed on one such excursion.
No details were given by the company, nor remembered by
descendants.
- New River (Baker) County delegate to the Florida Secession
Convention in 1860 was a dentist of modest means and a Primitive,
Baptist preacher of dubious orthodoxy. Although he pastored
and supplied in most area churches of that faith somewhat
to their satisfaction, Dr. Isaac C. Coon drew their ire when he
began to spread a 'no-Hell' doctrine. Dr. Coon claimed that
after a stint in the Confederate Army he had been to Hell and
back and could not believe that man would be forced to suffer
Hcll after his life was over.
- He established a church near Cedar Creek Cemetery (either
Mt. Carmel or Mt. Zion) in the late 1870's. The other Baptists
referred to his followers as 'Coonitcs' and called their meeting house 'the No-Hell Baptist
Church.'
- John D. "Raulerson of Moniac, as a member of the U.S. Army in
Francc at the end of World War I, was the only private to witness
the signing of the Peace Treaty at Versailles. He was assigned to aid
certain members of the Press Corps during negotiations enabling him to see that historic
Moment.
- In October of 1763 Daniel Boone scouted and rambled
throughout northeast Florida looking for a place to settle and is
believed by some historians to have traversed the area that is
now Baker County. One thing is for certain, Florida whipped him
completely and he stayed no longer than three months before
returning to the mountains.
- Mr. Robert 'Bob' Thrift of the Bend Section directed that he be
buried at the top of a rise and that shelter be erected over his
grave...he could not tolerate getting wet.
- Elihu Thompson, part Indian resident of the Taylor neighborhood in the 19th century was
a famed hunter who never missed his mark. One day, however, he only wounded a black
she-bear and as the raging animal charged Mr. Thompson realized that he
had no time to reload his old hexagon-barrelled muzzle loader.
He simply stood his ground and doubled the barrel over her head
dispatching her.
- No matter how you look at it, Baker County is an intriguing bit
of real estate.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday March 24, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Still More Odds 'n Ends From County's Past
- While researching for the book Baker County, Florida - An
Historical Narrative, all kinds of good stuff was discovered. Many
items too small to dwell on at length but too good to let slide by
make up this week's column.
- Baker County has always been politics-oriented. Three of our
history's outstanding politicians were George Washington Roberts, Max M. Brown, and
William Daniel Mann.
- George W. Roberts, originally from Lowndes County, Georgia,
became an early citizen of Baker County. During the Civil War he
moved to the Raulerson's Ferry (Baxter) section living at different
times on each side of the St. Mary's River. He was elected as
County Commissioner in November of 1863. For reasons known
only to himself, he refused to serve and moved permanently
into the Georgia Bend.
- Max M. Brown of Columbia County moved to Macclenny and
became Baker County's Senator in the early 1900's. He was the
first Florida man to be elected as President of his Senior Class at
Washington and Lee University. In 1908 he was the youngest
delegate ever to attend a Democratic Convention and in 1915 was
the youngest member of the Florida Senate.
- William Daniel Mann, a Bradford County native, was elected to
the Florida House of Representatives in 1891 from Baker County.
He performed so admirably that he was re-elected without qualifying or seeking the
office.
- Joseph Joshua Dinkins returned from the War for Southern
Independence with a gift of prophysy. Called the 'Prophysiar'
by his neighbors, Mr. Dinkins opened his Bible and told of
airplanes, artificial satellites, and missiles.
- In 1791 a band of Creek Indians living bclow the Okefenokee (in
present Baker County) in Spanish Florida slipped into the pens of
William Walker near Traders Hill and stole 17 head of horses. They
returned with their loot, reportedly worth $1,120, to the Taylor area
to bc under Spanish protection.
- Over half the casualties in the 2nd Seminole War were from
disease rather than Indian bullets and arrows. Another goodly number died of such diverse
causes as drowning, murder by fellow soldiers, murder by civilian citizens,
accidental fatal shooting by fellow soldiers, fractured skulls (the
reasons for the fracturing was not listed), and being run over by
wagons. Pvt. John Corbett was killed near Ft. Moniac on the road
from Ft. Moniac to Traders Hill by being thrown from his horse on
the 4th of September, 1814.
- And, one of the most surprising facts is that there are no less than
32 known burying grounds within the limits of the county. Twelve,
or maybe thirteen, continue to operate. Seven, at least, still exist
but receive no more burials. Two have been moved. One is under
an expressway exit. Part of another lies under a golf course.
A section of one is now being dug up in the Osceola National Forest
to be used as fill dirt. The remainder are either leveled and
planted in pines, under $40,000 split levels, being sown in hybrid
corn, or just plain lost in the briars.
- Some sage person once stated something to the effect of 'show
me how people remember their dead and I'll show you how they
take care of their living.' As 'your's truly' scrambled through
the briars and brush to scrub off last century's tombstones he
thought about it and shuddered a little.
Back Home
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, April 7, 1977 Page Two
THE WAY WAS-Gene Barber
A Look At Some Public Records From 1877
- In 1877 the period of Reconstruction was over. The recently burned courthouse at Sanderson had destroyed almost all records and a new courthouse was being built by Gurganus and Sweat Building Company of Margaretta. An era was dead and a new one had begun.
- There were approximately 150 taxpayers in Baker County in 1877. Amounts paid to the state ranged from 50 cents to near 590.00, and only 47 property owners were assessed over $5.00. The largest taxpayers were Koskery Lands ($88.03), C. B. McClenny ($61.48), and Eppinger and Russell ($60.90). In addition to state tax the county levied almost as heavy a burden as the state. The total state taxes from Baker County was $1311.87 and the county total was $1141.56.
- One of the lowest paying was ex-slave Uncle Willis Rawls and his brother Henry. They both paid 50 cents each to the county and state. Two other former slaves Timothy and Archibald Givins were, in comparison, taxed rather heavily, James M. Baker, for whom the county was named, was still a taxpayer, although he divided his time and residence between Columbia and Duval Counties. Dan T. Fargo of Fargo and Weatherwax and for whom the Georgia community of Fargo was named was also a taxpayer.
- Fleming Bates Smith was county Tax Assessor and Collector. Columbus Drew was State Comptroller. Mr. Drew had just two years before included a glowing obituary written by black Samuel Spearing for Baker County pioneer Elisha Green in his memoirs. There were only eight tax payers for city or town lots in 1877. In Sanderson were Anna Canova, Paul B. Canova and
Fleming B. Smith. Olustee's lot owners were Elijah Plunkett, B.J. Roberts, Stephen D. Roberts,
William Cone and Co., and Eliza Williams.
- The Fall Term of Circuit Court convened on the 9th of October that year. Grand Jurors were James Combs, J.M. Thompson, William Jennings (an Englishman), Charles Cook, Richard W. Cain (Methodist Minister), Raymond Beasley, Henry Givins (Black), John Crews, John M.
Johns, L.J . 'Pomp' Thrift, Aaron Dowling, J.C. Williams, David Lock, James Harvey, Jesse Bennett, Elisha Dixon and A.J.W. Cobb.
- Petit Jurors were Alfred Lanier, Francis Bryant, William Griffis, Calvin Johns, James M. Burnsed (former Sheriff), J.M. Dorman (Irishman), Felix Bryant. J.M. Mott, G.C. Dyess, York Brown, L.C. Cobb, Judge Robert B. Archibald failed to appear recorded Clerk of Courts Francis J. Pons.
- State Militia and U.S. Regulars were pulled out of the county in 1877 by order of Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep.) and the local populace settled in to become Baker County.
Back Home
BAKER COUNTY PRESS Thursday, April 14, 1977 Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
Gleanings From 'The Standard'
- "We are here to build up Baker County" announced the mast head of THE STANDARD of March 5th, 1915. One dollar a year was their subscription rate, the owners were Max M. and E.F. Brown, and the editor was Avery Powell.
- Featured on the front page was a song called 'Out For Prohibition' to be sung to the tune of 'Dixie.' Some of its choice lines were "Have no more of wheat and barley, down with compromise and parley, Come out, come out, come out for prohibition" and "Don't you know from the the beginning, there's one way to deal with sinning, come out, etc. and "When a man votes dry, he takes his stand, for God and home and native land, vote it dry, vote it dry, Christian Men."
- Mr. Powell enjoyed ribbing his buddies in THE STANDARD as in
an article headlined 'High Finance.' "A financial deal of stupendous magnitude was consumated in this city last Monday whereby Sidney Powers purchased the interest of Ralph
Wolfe in the business known as the Monarch Pressing Club... When the deal was made Monday it had a decided stimulating effect upon the local stock exchange, and the New York and New Orleans exchanges were somewhat affected..." For those born after 1940, a Pressing Club was a small dry cleaning establishment.
- The STARKE TELEGRAPH was quoted as saying "the strawberries are now ripening
fast enough to cause shipments of some magnitude. Monday of this week twenty two bushels were sent to northern points...paying as high as $6.40 per bushel." Editor Matthews of the TELEGRAPH also paid a compliment to the better appearance of the STANDARD. Editor Powell was not to be outdone and reported that he preferred reading the TELEGRAPH best of any other Florida newspaper.
- A Mr. H.B. Mees was reported to have invented a new ironing board (remember them?) and was turning them out at his novelty shop in Macclenny. The writer states that the new board is a great improvement over the old type and every housewife should have one.
- A tragic tale was related regarding a young swain. "Last Thursday night Clifford Rhoden
bought a fine sack of oranges to take to a party and left them at the drug store for a few moments.
Someone slipped out the oranges and substituted sweet potatoes and when Clifford presented his
gift they had quite a laugh on him." Editor and writer Powell consoled Mr. Rhoden with "don't worry, son. Potatoes are worth lots more than oranges any day."
- Mr. G.M. Clayton advised the readers that he had "a full supply of peanuts for planting. Call and get your seed early before they are gone." Mr. H.L. Wester, a machinist from Sanderson, was in Macclenny according to the STANDARD. "He reports Sanderson lively."
- Mrs. Lewis Rhoden of Glen was shipping his second train carload of sweet potatoes from Olustee. Mr. Arthur Rowe was confined to bed with a severe attack of inflamatory rheumatism. And, Miss Carrie Green, one of Macclenny's charming young ladies, was in Starke visiting relatives.
- And, for those of us who are alarmed over the dangers and insipedness of convenience foods, the 1915 Macclenny STANDARD ran an advertisement for Post Toasties claiming that housewives should not remain over hot stoves in this delightful state, but feed her family quick and healthful Post Toasties and get out and enjoy the great outdoors.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday April 21, 1977 Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
More Gleanings From 'The Standard'
- In the issue of the Standard of March 5th, 1915 were these bits of news.
- An epidemic of grippe has been prevalent here for several days the Standard man having
had his share of the disease."
- "Ikey Howell has laid aside his flat bottom derby because it gives him the appearance of having an ingrowing face."
- 'The handsome residence of T R. Henderson was burned to the ground at Sanderson last
Friday morning."
- "A.D. Powers, T.R. Henderson, J.W. Thrift, and Garndner Anthony motored down to Jacksonville Tuesday, carrying the Overland car that was burned here several days ago."
- "Mrs. M.D. Barber visited Jacksonville Tuesday."
- "About the last cold spat of the season hit this section last Sunday."
- Under the heading 'Moniac Items' were "Mr. Owen Gibson, was in the midst Monday,
shipping potatoes; Mrs. L. Knabb has been on the sick list for the past few days; Rev. W.E. Dorsey was in our circle again Saturday and Sunday working in the interests of the W.O.W.; Miss Laucie Canaday is spending a few days with her aunt Amy Reynolds, who has been confined to her bed for the past few days; John Crawford made a business trip to Jacksonville Saturday; and "We were glad to see the move made towards buying an organ for the Sunday School. There is $11.25 contributed for this purpose, which is appreciated very much."
- The Baker County School Board meeting was reported as having met in Macclenny on the 1st of March with members H.J. Rhoden, J.E. Alderman, L.L. Williams, and W.A. Dopson attending. John Burnett, A.J. Dorman, and E.E. Davis were elected trustees for District 7 (north Sanderson).
- Henry Conner's bid of $12.85 for the old school house (the location of which was not specified) and school number 22 was accepted. W. B. Cone was employed as legal counsel. The
question of painting the Olustee school was held over until the Board learned what part of the bill was to be paid by the Olustee Masonic Lodge who used the upper floor.
- Interesting and varied news notes mentions La Buena (Lay Bewner) Plantation of Macclenny, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (the national organizer chaired a local meeting, the Macclenny branch of the Southern Business College of Tampa, and the Glen Dramatic Club.
- The city of Macclenny was well summed up in the back page directory which stated that it was a community of about 700 population situated on the National Highway between New York City and Jacksonville. The directory claimed " today the possibilities in and around Macclenny are marvelous. Already we have one bank, two hotels, one bakery, one railroad, one grist mill, one I.O.O.F. hall, a Masonic temple, one shoe shop, two drug stores, two beef markets, one lumber yard, one barber shop, one pressing club, four physicians, one Baptist Church, one dental
parlor, two public schools, three boarding houses, one abstract office, one weekly newspaper,
one Episcopal Church, one hardware store, fifteen general stores, one millinery parlor, one Church of Christ, four Sunday Schools, one telephone system, new modern court house, one garage - fireproof, one blacksmith shop, one livestock concern, one cold storage plant, three cold drink stands, one automobile agency, a brass band organization, one Methodist Church, one sewing machine agency, two livery stables, one life insurance agency, eight blocks of cement sidewalk, one Order of the Eastern Star, and not a saloon in the county."
Back Home
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday April 28, 1977, Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
The Baxter Rebellion
Part One
- Most of known principals but not all of the participants of the
following described event have passed on. For those who suffered
through this, the darkest blot on Baker County history, and are yet
with us, be assured this writing is not intended to open old wounds
but only for the sake of history.
And, a knowledge of history prevents making the same mistakes again.
- Early on Sunday morning, September 16th, 1904, most of the
residents of Baxter and Moniac gathered at the Baxter station
(about a half mile west of the present State Highway 127) for an
excursion to St. Augustine. None of the amiable crowd could know
that before they would nervously enter their homes again that night
they would be witnesses to the bloodiest, most unreal experience
of their lives.
- Snacking baskets, ball paraphernalia, and extra nickels for
fizzy Coke dopes were brought along for added enjoyment in
Florida's sun and fun capital. Mr. and Mrs. Charly Hodges and
infant son and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Williams boarded together. They had been invited by a St.
Ausustine merchant friend to spend the day on his yacht. The
wild and happily young Altman boys, Hillary and Charly, intended to have a good time that
day and brought along a flask of 'good-time-insurance-juice.' Several blacks including the Messers.
Jim Riley, Jesse Campbell, Jim Plummer and a family named
Eddy had donned their Sunday best and waited eagerly on the
platform.
- All were employees of 'Turpentines' Duncan a native of Tennessee
and recently from Macon, Georgia. Although his manner of
dealing with his employees and the locals had not found favor
with the Baker and Charlton fold, his gift of an excursion was
generally conceded to be the act of a gentleman.
- Mr. Duncan, a big-framed and extroverted man, had bought up a
vast acreage in the area at about the turn of the century. He had
earlier brought his wife and infant, two teenage sons, and two
married sons and their wives down from Macon. On the big
excursion day all his family except his wife and baby joined him on
the train. Mrs. Duncan, Senior, remained home because the baby
was not well and she sent to Fargo for a doctor.
- Sixty years later, Mrs. Mattie Knabb Hodges recalled that when
her small party returned to the depot in St. Augustine for the
return trip home they found most of their traveling companions
drunk and noisy and the Negroes especially boisterous and pugnacious. For reasons never
determined, Mr. Duncan pushed his black employees ahead of the
whites to board the train. With most of the whites behind him
grumbling, Duncan seemed to have troubles with the ticket
agent, turnstile keeper and conductor.
- At the railroad officer's insistence Duncan confiscated all
pistols from the whites (to tote a pistol in 1904 was as common as
carrying a pocketwatch.) The blacks, emboldened by their boss'
attitude and actions, began to taunt the whites, and the whites
fingered their long bladed knives hoping for an opportunity to use
them.
- The Macon Baseball Club, having played in St. Augustine
that day, traveled on the same return train. The cars were
crowded; the boys liquored up, and the atmosphere inflamable.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday May 5, 1977 Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
The Baxter Rebellion
Part Two
In 1904 alnost everything and everybody was segregated. The
blacks had their own rail car and on the small trains of the Georgia
Southern and Florida Railroad the passenger blacks and the segregated white smokers shared the
car.
- Chary Hodges recalled that boozed-up spirits were running
high in the black-smoker car and tension mounted each time another white entered or passed
through. Manager Smith of the Macon Ball Club claimed that
Charly and Hillary Altman were alternately threatening to cut
each others throat and drinking from the same bottle.
- The Altman boys allegedly began to 'give a rough time' to
Jim Plummer, a Negro hand of Mr. Duncan. Plummer left the car
in fright and his friend Jim Riley hollered, "you run from that
man?" One of the Altmans, it was said, grabbed Riley and slashed
his throat, almost decapitating him.
- One of the young Duncan men, Jackson, attempted to come to the
aid of his black hands. Mike Rowe and Ivy Harvey supposedly took
up the Altman battle and in but a moment Jackson Duncan's dead
body, its heart hanging out, lay bleeding in the aisle.
- The conductor closed off the bloody car and refused to stop as
per Duncan's instructions except to halt briefly at Cutler-St. George
to wire for help and instructions. The violence mounted, becoming
an orgy of blood as by-stander blacks and some members of the
Macon team were indiscrimately slashed.
- Jackson's brother Marshall was then badly cut up and tossed off
the train. Duncan, Sr., thinking the Altmans and Harvey had
hidden in the restroom shot several times through the door.
They, however, had jumped off the train at St. Gorge and hiding
beneath a car rode the rods in to Baxter. One of their buddies,
Mike Rowe had fallen off and a section foreman's rail buggy was
borrowed to go back and pick him up.
- By the time thc train arrived in Baxter at eleven that night, an
undetermined number had been killed and wounded. The blacks
scattered as soon as, or sooner than, the train stopped. Any
white man who believed that he might be implicated also disappeared. The womenfolk and
children were cautioned to not look in the direction of the murder
car as the men hustled them off into the dark.
- One lady said many years later, "I am a woman and I can't help
being curious. I looked and I have many times wished to God I had
listened to my husband. When the door was slid open the blood
flowed out. I looked in and could not see one inch that was not covered
with blood." Another stated, "they stacked them (bodies of the
dead and dying) like cordwood."
- No body slept that night. The
women and children were barricaded in their homes or secreted
under their houses by the men as
they were out tending to the dead
and wounded. One woman later
confided that her husband had
nailed her and her baby inside
their house and that she had often
shuddered in later years at the
consequences had anybody set
fire to their home.
- Shots were fired all night long
and it was a long night.
May 12, 1977 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
The Baxter Rebellion
Part III
- In response to threats by
several locals to "get rid of all
them damned Duncans, a number of other natives went to the
Duncan home to protect Mrs.
Duncan and her infant. A member
of the barricading group later
stated, "I couldn't give a --- for
Duncan and his bigger boys, but I
wasn't going to see a woman and
babies suffer for what the old ---
had done."
- Shots were fired all through the
night. The sounds were those of a
full scale battle. Negro houses
were fired. The train from Fargo
stopped far west of Baxter to
unload the summoned doctor and
then rushed through at top speed.
Some men of the community
met the doctor and took him to the
Duncan home where he tended
Duncan, Sr. first and then began
several grueling hours of mending the butchered and shot.
- The one deputy for the area,
Rufe Thrift, was unable to do
much more than stand off the mob
from the Duncan home. A few of
the menfolk remained with him as
the sky began to lighten, but most
had returned home to be with
their families. Ivy Harvey and the
Altmans had ridden hard to
Taylor for reinforcements. By
daybreak the threat seemed to
have dissipated enough, so
thought most of the community,
to take the remainder of the men
home.
- When the sun came up over the
pines, Deputy Rufe Thrift stood
alone. Of all the bad Thrifts,
Rufe was the baddest," claimed a
contemporary. "Not many was
willing to go against him."
- The Duncan commissary stood
approximately on the site of the
present C.H. Yonn store. Inside
was the post office, of which
W. H. Altman (brother of Charly
and Hillary) was postmaster.
Upstairs housed the dormitory for
the Duncan white hands. Also
inside was a waiting gunman or gunmen.
- Duncan 'came to' and determined to terminate the situation
permanently and to exact revenge
on the Altman-Harvey faction. He
grabbed his shotgun and strode
the short distance eastward to his
commissary.
- The commissary building was
described as being a rather large
squarish frame structure with a
hip roof. A small porch graced the
otherwise unadorned front. Side
stairs led to the sleeping quarters.
Above it all flew the American
flag.
- From inside, a single shot
dropped Duncan. At about the
same time Ivy Harvey and several
of the Altman clan returned from
Taylor. The huge mob approached with firearms blazing.
Unknown to either side, Deputy
Thrift had earlier rushed to the
commissary and secreted himself
upstairs. The Taylor area men
spread low among the gallberries
and moved in. Thrift, apparently
believing his better chances were
down on the ground, rushed out
and started down the stairs.
- The crowd began to shoot,
wounding him in the legs. He fell
to the bottom of the stairs and
crawled under the commissary.
The mob moved in cautiously and,
seeing he was unarmed, blasted
away at close range. It was
reported that there was not an
unbroken bone in his body when it
was dragged from beneath the
building.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday May 19, 1977 Page Two
THE IT WAS-Gene Barber
The Baxter Rebellion
Part IV
- After killing Deputy Rufe
Thrift, the gang discovered the
corpse of Riley Dowling upstairs.
The Dowling body was carried
away on a makeshift litter of guns
and left on his porch by unknown
persons to be found by his wife
later. His murderer was not
determined and Duncan allegedly
said later, "Good. I couldn't have
looked the county over and found
a man I'd rather it be."
- When word of the mob actions
reached the county seat, Sheriff
U.C. Herndon deputized every
man he could catch in Macclenny
and along the route to Baxter.
"And catch 'em he had to,"
quoted an observer. "Wasn't
nobody wanted to get mixed up in
that fracas."
- In Baxter the Sheriff received
no cooperation from the populace.
All were either too deeply involved or too frightened to make a
statement. It is said that while the
Sheriff was busy in one place a
gang would stop and rob a train
on another stretch of tracks (no
record has been found, to date, of
train robbery). To cap it all off, a
sniper took a shot at Sheriff
Herndon during his investigation.
- Florida's Secretary of State
Crawford, in Gov. Jennings'
absence mobilized the State Militia and the trains rolled in with
troops on Tuesday. The soldiers
made camp and their campfires
were kept blazing all night. Some
locals feared renewed riots because several of the Militia were
close relatives of the rebellion's
Participants. Mr. Duncan protested the use of State Militia
rather than U.S. Regulars because the men stationed in Baxter
would not, he claimed, shoot
against their kin.
- The troops kept an uneasy
peace while Sheriff Herndon
conducted his investigation and
made arrests. Jails in the three
Florida Counties of Baker, Columbia, and Duval were filled
according to locals (records were found
only of the Folkston, Jacksonville,
and Macclenny jails being used).
- In protest against the military,
someone shot the American flag
from atop the post office-commissary.
- Georgia opened her boundary
and permitted Sheriff Herndon,
with National Guard support, to
enter the Bend and capture 21 of
the Altman-Dowling faction. The
prisoners, under military guard,
were taken by train to Jacksonville for security. From the Bay
Street station they were marched
to the Duval County jail under
additional army guard.
- The Hon. James P. Taliaferro
of the U.S. Senate and C.F.
Barber of the State Senate
immediately launched a bail
campaign for the men. Sen.
Taliaferro was vacationing in
Canada at the time and his
correspondence with Sen. Barber
provided much of the information
for this Baxter series. Also found
among Sen. Barber's letters and
papers were several receipts for
bails payments, lawyers fees, and
families subsistence (none ever
repaid).
- Sen. Barber was joined by the
influential Sanderson merchant
and legislator William D. Mann
on a trip through the Taylor,
Baxter, and Georgia Bend area
advising against panic and cooperation.
- "Now, don't be witnessing
against your neighbor just to get
even" they reasoned. "Stay quiet
and know nothing. The State will
have no case against anybody if
you all will just stay quiet."
- And, stay quiet they did.
Sheriff Herndon was heard to
remark as he rounded up his
suspects, "this ain't going to do
nobody no good. They won't get
anything out of them."
May 26, 1977 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
The Baxter Rebellion
Conclusion
- Charles and Hillary Altman and
Ivy Harvey were tried at Folkston
for the murder of Jack Duncan.
The Altmans had kinfolks galore
in Charlton County and they
joined the Baker County clan in
surrounding the courthouse on
the day of the trial. All were
armed and one nervous townsperson and county
official was overheard to say, "if them
Altmans. want to burn down the
courthouse, I'll not only let 'em,
I'll holp 'em strike the match."
- The trial was soon over and the
boys were acquitted. A second
trial for the murder of Jim Riley
was of an even shorter duration
and all returned to Macclenny for
the hearings for the murders on
the Florida side.
- The Baker County courthouse
was a handsome frame structure
that stood near the site of the
present Baker County Free Public
Library (built as the new courthouse four years
after the hearings). It was ringed by the
Militia and hundreds of curious
natives and out-of-towners. Nobody doubted for a
moment that the relatives of the men being
tried would make good their
threats to burn the courthouse
and shoot up the town if the men
were convicted.
- The tight-lipped attitudes of the
witnesses frustrated the proceedings of justice
resulting in delays and re-schedulings. The new
Governor, N.B. Broward, it was
rumored, owed much of his
independent democrat victory to
certain strings skillfully pulled by
Baker County politicians. Gov.
Broward also had blood and
in-law ties within the County.
Perhaps, in the light of those
facts, it can be understood why he
chose to help bog down the Baxter
Rebellion in judicial loopholes and
governmental red tape until it
became a forgotten subject in
Tallahassee.
- After the hearings some of the principals
left the county, never to
return. Some died or disappeared
soon after. A very few remained,
refusing to discuss the events
until they were in advanced age.
- The wounds remained fresh
with some for seventy years or
more. It is strange that those who
had suffered the most seemed to
forgive and forget first. The men
did the killing but it was the
women who had to bury their men
alone (others were fearful to
assist).
- Mr. Duncan Sr. did not show
up for the hearings and supposedly ended up near
Madison. A Mr.
Lewis came to Macclenny from
that area a generation later to set
up a sawmill operation. Duncan
strongly advised him not to go to
Baker County. "Them people
there," he said, "are crazy."
- Mr. Lewis answered, "maybe,
just maybe, it's how you treat 'em
and approach 'em that'll make the
difference."
Back Home
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 2, 1977 Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
The County's War Dead
- Memorial Day was created, as
any hard-working employee or
student who has just completed a
long Easter weekend and is
moving on to another long
weekend during the 4th of July
can tell you, was to provide
another long weekend mini vacation for them.
- The little old ladies who first
began placing flowers on the
graves of the Civil War dead
several years ago had other ideas
- to memorialize the sacrifice in
time and life by men and boys
who served when their nation said
'go' rather than slip away to
Canada.
- Buried away in most older
libraries, and used only by the
dwindling membership of the
UDC, are little books printed by
the old Works Projects Administration which
lists the graves of
veterans and cemeteries in each
of the Florida counties. Its rolls
represent 8 wars from the First
Seminole War (1818-18l9)
through the First World War a
hundred years later.
- The researchers found cemeteries in all sections of Baker
County, many of which were
unknown to even the old-timers.
Explicit directions in locating the
old burying grounds mentioned
road numbers which no longer
exist, spoke of landmarks long
erased by housing projects and
pulpwood equipment, and often
directed that one 'walk 120 steps
north from the corner of Jake
Crews' outhouse.'
- To the 29 cemeteries listed in
the book at least 7 more can be
added, not to mention the several
single interments in back yards
and in trenches and common
graves during the Yellow Fever
Epidemic and after the Battle at
Olustee. As a memorial to the
men and boys who served, here
are the rolls of (1) their burying
grounds and (2) their names and
available records.
- Woodlawn: called the Rowe
Cemetery in its early days the
ground was first hallowed in 1883
when Moses Thompson, a pioneer
from the Carolinas was buried
there.
- Macedonia: originally known as
Hicks Cemetery, this north Macclenny burial ground was the
result of an Indian attack in 1841.
A militia officer, two pioneers,
and one of their slaves were the
first interments.
- Barber: no longer in existence
this cemetery began in 1829, also
as a result of an Indian attack, and
received its last burial in 1899. It
is located west of Miltondale Road
across from the golf course in a
stand of pines. It has more black
burials than white.
- Evergreen - Mt. Harmon: an
old Black cemetery located south
of Macclenny. It is the main
cemetery of the present black
community in the east part of the
county.
- Quitman: a Black cemetery. It
can be seen as one drives over the
viaduct east of Sanderson. Just
after the Civil War it was the site
of a black church (Baptist?) but is
believed to have received its first
burials in the 1850's.
- Manntown: first called Mann's
Cemetery, then Mt. Olive, and
sometimes Mt. Olivet. Beautifully
situated on a rise on the South
Prong south of Glen St. Mary, it
has the oldest marked stone
(1865) headmarker in the county
(not to be confused with the oldest
grave).
- Oak Grove: still known as
Burnsed Cemetery by the older
folks, it got its start when young
Peter Burnsed was drowned and
buried by his parents there.
Although the Primitive Baptist
Burnseds lived near Macedonia it
had been taken over by the
Methodists (and by the Northern
Methodists too), they could not
place their son's body there.
- Pleasant Grove: Originally
Sweat's Church, this little plot is
sometimes referred to as the
W.O. Crews Cemetery. The
church was named for Ozias
Sweat and Mr. Crews was a
devout member. He requested to
be buried by it and thus began the
cemetery. No veterans are buried
there.
- McClenny: First located where
the Macclenny Methodist Church
Educational Building stands, this
small fenced ground was dug up
and removed to Woodlawn several years ago. The McClenny
family were the first real promoters of Baker County veterans
of the Confederate Army, and
suffered several deaths during
the Yellow Fever Epidemic of
1888. Their little cemetery was
one of the very few historic sites
we had, but, alas, we're hung up
on progress even if it means
destroying our county personality.
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 9, 1977 Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber
The County's War Dead
Part Two
- Continuing last week's list of
county cemeteries, there are
Daugharty: an abandoned burying ground located on the north
bank of Daugharty Creek. The
Daugharty (Darty, Dardy, Daughtry) family was among the 1830-
1850 Baker County pioneers.
Most moved south to Volusia and
Orange Counties and left their
Baker County dead on the original
Daugharty homestead between
Glen St Mary and Taylor.
- Turner: This beautiful little
cemetery was called Dinkins in
the early days of the county.
When in the 1870's New York
born Charly Turner moved onto
the land in which the plot was
located, locals began calling it by
its present name. Many of the
Margaretta dead were transferred
to Turner when the old Margaretta-Mt. Zion Cemetery was
covered by the paving of US 90 in 1924.
- Magnolia: Often called the
Knabb Cemetery, this is one of
the most attractively set burial
spots in the county. On the St.
Mary's River in the midst of neat
cultivated fields, it lies in sight of
one of the county's oldest continuously inhabited houses - the Col
Brown (Burnsed Blockhouse)
home. This cemetery could have
gotten its start in 1854 when a
slave woman drowned one of the
Hugh Brown infants in a nearby
stream.
- Jesse Campbell: Situated just
north of the community of Taylor
and now abandoned, this black
cemetery holds but a few, if more
than one graves. Little could be
discovered about Jesse Campbell
except that he worked for a
lumber of turpentine company in
the area, had his own little farm,
and was a veteran of World War I.
- Taylor. Referred to by some of
the church folks as Pine Level,
this cemetery was the resting
place of Gordon Stewart Taylor,
one of the first by that name to
settle the county. The cemetery is
located on his old plantation as is
also the community and is among
the county's largest. Almost
every white Baker County family
can trace at least one ancestor
back to Taylor Cemetery.
- South Prong: Most old Baker
Countians know it as Greenses'
Creek, most of the older people
around it still call it after its
donors the Boyds, and a few call it
Bethlehem after a nearby church.
Begun in 1838. when almost an
entire family named Tippens was
killed by Indians, the cemetery
land originally belonged to pioneer Elisha Green. It was already
an extensive burying plot when
the Boyd family, who had inherited it, deeded it as a public
cemetery. It overlooks the lower
Little St. Marys south of Sanderson.
