<center>Long Photos</center>

Home of Edgar Hays Long
shows both homes on property [1919-1921]

Part of pecan grove where children were allowed to ride

Road from Olustee to Ocean Pond. 200 acres of Castor Beans on left

Olustee Manor house Feb 1919
L: John & Catherine on 'Kit'
Center: Mrs. Winifred Long
Right: Winifred on 'George'
R: back is Ice House

Corner of 'big house' with chickens

Ice House. John Hays Long ca 6 years old

Saw mill site at Ocean Pond 1918

Olustee Seaboard Railroad Station

Memories of Life at Olustee, 1918-1921

I was 11 years old in 1918 when my father Edgar Hays Long found a new home for his family in a pecan grove in Olustee, Florida. My mother, my 8 year old sister Catharine, my 6 year old brother John and I, were to take the train from Rochester, New York to New York City, and there board the Comanche (Cunard Line) for Jacksonville, Florida where Dad was to meet us. We boarded the ship, spent our first two days on board (Saturday and Sunday) in New York Harbor waiting for the stokers strike to end. Monday morning the port was closed because of submarines, so we ended up coming to Florida on the train.

The house at Olustee was not yet ready to be occupied, and we spent that first summer in Florida at Mayport Beach with the Carty family. I remember seeing submarines passing by off shore of Mayport Beach during that summer.

By the fall of 1918 we had moved onto the the Olustee farm property where we lived in a portable canvas house. That fall we also acquired a new member of our household. Miss Kate Kinney O'Neill, a retired school teacher from Binghamton, New York had been hired to home school us in return for room and board, and perhaps some small stipend. I have heard that there was some litigation between my father and the Baker County School Board over the fact that we were not attending the local public school.

By Christmas of 1918 we had finally moved into the big house, and in 1919 my maternal grandparents and their invalid daughter came to live there with us.

As I recall, the big two story house had four big rooms on each floor. One of the upstairs rooms was a sleeping room for we three children. It was furnished with three dressers and three folding canvas cots. There was a big fireplace in the inside corner of each room. They took pretty big logs. Sometimes I chopped logs for them, probably because they said I couldn't do it.

There were wide porches on three sides of the house, both upstairs and down. As I recall, it took two sweeps of the broom to cover their width. The upstairs front porch was where we had our school lessons and projects. One of the upstairs side porches was our play room where we played house and other indoor games.

The out buildings included the outhouse, an ice house, a small barn, a hen house and rabbit hutches. There was also another residence, a barn, milk house and sheds located on the property.

A long covered walkway with wood flooring ran from the back of the house to the outhouse. Along this walkway were a pump and a covered cistern on the right. Across the way, on the left, were two small rooms. One room housed the tin bathtub and the other room housed an incubator.

To the left of the outhouse was a storage shed used for hay and feed. Behind this building there were two other buildings. One was the the ice house and one was a small barn where we kept my pony, Umbria, and the goats: Swanli, Barley and Thistlefinch. Umbria was a thoroughbred Hackney mare. I was never able to break her of her one bad habit. She didn't like to get her feet wet and would not go through any amount of water. She would jump small puddles and balk at larger ones. She moved to St. Petersburg with us in 1921. We had a good sized red wagon and one Christmas, probably 1920, we got harnesses for the goats. Then we could hitch up a team of goats for wagon rides around the outside perimeter of the white picket fence that set off the house yard area from the rest of the property.

In the open area between the house and the out buildings we eventually had rabbit hutches for 32 Belgian Hares. The hen house and chicken yard was to the left of the side yard. We had 200 White Leghorns. At one time mother sold eggs to the veterans hospital in Lake City.

Down our lane, beyond the big house, was the open shed for the heavy equipment. Across the lane from this shed was the big barn for the dairy farm operation. We had 26 Jersey milk cows, their calves and one bull, Diamond Prince of Niles Farm. One of my chores was to drive the cows up to the barn, and get them into their stanchions for evening feeding and milking. Sometimes I had to hunt them down in some pretty high dog fennel and other weeds. Then I gained the additional responsibility of getting their hay and feed to them, and cleaning their udders..Finally the job of milk maid was added to my tasks. After first mastering the task of milking Lady Snuff, the most difficult cow we had, I was allowed to milk any of the cows I chose. There were two rows of thirteen stanchions facing each other. I usually milked half the cows and Dad the other half. The milk from each cow was weighted and the amount recorded on her individual card. We sold cream to the Seminole Hotel in Jacksonville. Each morning the cream from the morning milking was combined with that from the night before. We sent a can every morning on the Seaboard Railroad. We also had red DuroJersey hogs in this area.

Nellie, the retired race horse used for driving the buggy and the wagon, didn't like trains and ordinarily would shy away from them. But, when we were running a little late in the mornings, she rose to the call of the train whistle. She would run fast the rest of the way to the Olustee station and stick her nose right up to the baggage car until the cream was aboard. Then she would immediately head for home and put distance between herself and the train as fast as she could. We used to sing a song about the Seaboard being late.

The pecan groves were harvested by women and children who gathered the nuts off the ground. They were paid two cents per pound. It was my job to weigh and record what they brought in. One of the downstairs porches was partitioned into three sections and used for sorting the harvested pecans by variety: Van Demon, Stuart and Schleigh (sp?).

The house and barn areas were within the bounds of the 160 acre pecan grove. On Sundays my sister and I were allowed to ride the mules, Kit and George, in the pecan grove. Catherine rode Kit who was small and round. I rode George who was taller, had a high backbone, and would follow Kit anywhere. When Catharine was peeved at me, she would ride under the lowest branches she could on Kit, knowing that George would follow where there was no room for me. I had to dodge many a tree branch in that pecan grove by sliding down the side of the saddle, just to stay on the mule. The earthworks, mound and ditch, from the Battle of Olustee marked the western limit of the area in which we were allowed to ride.

During World War I there was an increased demand for castor bean oil used for lubrication and protection of wires on aircraft, if I remember correctly. It was supposed to be a sure crop, with no known pests or diseases. So, Dad planted 200 acres of castor beans on the west side of the road to Ocean Pond and obtained a processing machine to extract the oil from the castor beans. The plants grew taller than a man on horseback and were a beautiful looking field of lush greenery. Then disaster struck. A "pink worm" devastated the crop. Government people came to investigate. They had never before seen or heard of such a problem, and had no remedies.

I remember Uncle Barkley who worked for the family. He said he had been born into slavery.

I remember a family with a boy about my age came to live in the other house on the property, but I don't remember their names. This was the house between our house and the big barn, on the same side of our lane as the barn.

I remember a commissary on the road from Ocean Pond. It was about half way between the gate to our lane and the railroad tracks. I do not know who owned it, but we did buy some things there.

I remember the Olustee Station Master, but I don't remember his name either. He taught me about telegraphy and about the Morse Code. If I remember correctly, the call number for Olustee was "U".

I remember going to Ocean Pond for picnics and swimming. We crossed the road to Ocean Pond and walked along the edge of our castor bean fields and through the woods between there and the lake. I also remember the smouldering sawdust pile near the shore of Ocean Pond on the East side of the road.

I remember we could reach Lake City faster by traveling through the woods with horse and wagon than we could by car over the sandy road of Ford wallows.

April 25, 1999
Winifred Long Amdor
9-A Maple Court
Orange City, FL 32763-6130

The Long's below are of a different family from those above

Mrs Bob Long

Mrs Bob Long & Girls
Taken May 24, 1908 in Howell, MI & sent to Mrs. C.F. Barber

Jack Long, Michael & Mitchell Rhoden
Jack Long, Michael & Mitchell Rhoden

Jack Long
Jack Long

Warren Long
Warren Long (on right)

Warren Long
Warren Long

Elizabeth Turner Long
Elizabeth Turner Long (1912-1979)
d/o Ernest V. & Gertrude (nee Garrett) Turner
w/o Max Steve Long

Long Wedding
Max and Elizabeth (nee Turner) Long's 1933 wedding at Macclenny's First Methodist Church
Reportedly the largest such rites ever performed in Baker County.

From The Baker County Press: "A beautiful program of music was played before the ceremony: 'At Dawning' sung by Paul Tanner of Jacksonville and 'O Promise Me' and 'I Love You Truly' sung by Mrs. Mary Louise Forrester of Lake City. They were accompanied by Mildred Null of Lake City, organist. During the cremoney 'Hearts and Flowers' was played softely on th violin by Frank Dorman, Jr. The groomsmen were Vasco Turner, brother of the bride, Floyd Howell, Burdell Myrick of Chestnut, Illlinois and Bascomb Bullard. The four bridesmaids were Mrs. Bascom Bullard, Baldwin, sister of the bride, Mrs. Paul Tanner, Jacksonville, cousin of the bride, Mrs. John Geitgey, Glen St. Mary, and Miss Thelma McLeod. The matron of honor, Mrs. Vesta Myrick of Chestnut, Illinois, sister of the bride entered alone. The two little flower girls Iris Turner and Reva Elliott were dressed in white organdies. The ring bearer was Joe Barber, the tiny son of the C. M. Barbers. He was dressed in long white satin trousers and satin blouse."

Max & Ernest Long
Max S. Long, Jr. on horse, Ernest P. "Bubba" Long standing.
Sons of Max S. and Elizabeth (nee Turner) Long

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