"The Way It Was" Newspaper Column on Baker County, Florida History, 1977 part 1 File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Gene Barber (no email address), through Carl Mobley (cmobley@magicnet.net) USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation. This file may not be removed from this server or altered in any way for placement on another server without the consent of the State and USGenWeb Project coordinators and the contributor. *********************************************************************** THE WAY IT WAS ------------------------------------------------------------ William Eugene "Gene" Barber, Artist, Instructor, Historian & Genealogist authored a series of articles for the Baker County Press entitled "The Way It Was". His articles covered all aspects of Baker County pioneer lives in a colorful, entertaining, as well as, educational manner. At an early age, Gene possessed the desire and ability to interview the 'Old Folks'. He was as talented in the use of the pen, as he is with a brush, choosing his words and expressions in a way to paint an exciting and interesting story. The following are his articles written in 1977. Contents: * 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 (in part 2) * A Short Tribute To Nettie Rowe (in part 2) * The St. George Gazette (in part 2) * Some Interesting Notes From Basement Of Courthouse (in part 2) * Notes From The Court Of Judge Mott Howard (in part 2) * Of Harvey And Prophecies (in part 2) * Early Area Roadways (in part 2) * The Crackers (in part 2) * The Will Of 'Tiger Bill' Roberts (in part 2) * The Roberts Family (in part 2) * Black Troops In Baker County (in part 2) * Joseph Dicks, Early Pioneer From England (in part 2) * The Daring Minnie Poythress (in part 2) * Geological Makeup Of Baker County (in part 2) * Mrs. Cone Tells Her Story (in part 2) _____________________________________________________________________________ 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. _____________________________________________________________________________ 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." _____________________________________________________________________________ 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. _____________________________________________________________________________ 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. _____________________________________________________________________________ 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. _____________________________________________________________________________ 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. _____________________________________________________________________________ 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." _____________________________________________________________________________ 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." _____________________________________________________________________________ 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. North Prong: High over the upper St. Marys River, this plot probably received its first interments around 1845. William Raulerson operated a ferry service nearby in the 1830's and 1840's during high water times and it is believed that his family began the cemetery. Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist Church, among a very few of its St. Marys River Association, is among the main caretakers of North Prong. The general public, its beer cans and disposable baby diapers, is among its main destructive forces. Cedar Creek: This plot a few miles north of Sanderson is sometimes listed as Burnett, Coon's and Mt. Zion. Probably begun in the 1840's, it became the final resting place for some of the county's early officers, civil and military. Many pioneers born in the 1700's lie there in unmarked graves, as well as members of Florida's old Spanish colonists families, Irish immigrants, and Baker County's Italian cowboy, Mr. DiMiglio. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 16, 1977 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber County's War Dead Part Three This writer had a cousin who was a farmer and had, it is said, a rather faithful plowhorse. Because the horse tried so hard to keep his rows straight and to carefully avoid ever stepping on the farmer's toes, he and the farmer enjoyed a good relationship. But, one day the horse gee-ed when he should have hawed and the farmer, forgetting all those years of dependable work and good relationship, hauled off and slapped the horse soundly. The only purpose of this tale is to say that the writer, last week, seemed to gee when he should have hawed. The last sentence of paragraph 7 on North Prong was taken as an insult to the good people of that area by one person and perhaps by others. Please re-read - the statement was leveled at the "general public, with its beer cans and disposable baby diapers..." who have for about 15 years or so been undermining and obstructing the work of all cemetery clean-up crews. The sentence could have been as well included in any other of the cemetery paragraphs, but would have been best added as a last wrapup paragraph: The writer apologizes for poor sentence placing, but does not apologize for calling attention to the disgraceful littering of the once beautiful Baker County. Olustee: Although many Olustee residents sent their dead to Lake City and Jacksonville cemeteries, the Olustee Cemetery was becoming widely used during and after the Fever Epidemic of 1888. It has been salvaged from weeds by community pride and contains several surnames unfamiliar to Baker County. Fields: An old burying ground for some of the Olustee Black community, it is located a short distance south of US 90 not far from the Olustee Cemetery. Until the 1940's there was a turpentine camp nearby. Olustee Black: This cemetery seemss to surprise most people who notice an occasional bright new funeral wreath just west of the Olustee Battle Monument and on the north side of the railroad. Its origin has not been determined but it is probably dated from a turpentine or lumber camp nearby in the 1920's. Dyess: A small plot in the Olustee community south of US 90, this ground was begun by the family of the same name. It is hoped that when Olustee grows (and it will) the local residents will be far-sighted enough to prevent their bit of heritage from being dug up and transplanted. Crews: This small plot is localed on a knoll at the forks of Moccasin Branch and the North Prong. Tradition among some of the older residents claims this spot to be the site of old Ft. Moniac, the original home of Arch Hogans (among the very first American citizens), and the burying place of Sam Crews (one of the first of that name to move into the county area). The fenced-in plot is protected and respected by the present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Burnsed. Johns: Before Gordon Steward Taylor moved into the section, much of what we know as Taylor was called Johnsville. Among relics of old Johnsville is a cemetery. An old direction says, "From Taylor go north on Eddy Road 2 and 2/10 miles. Left on country road for 3/10 mile, left for 1/10 mile to Everett Johns. Cemetery is 200 yards left of residence in a pasture field." Very few people outside the Johns family and immediate area knew of its existence until 'rediscovered' by the County Genealogist Mrs. Loyce Knabb Coleman in the mid 1960's. Eddy: Buried in the woods about 1,000 feet northwest of old Eddy Station on the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad and on the edge of the Okefenoke Swamp lies this little Black Cemetery. Conflicting stories claim its origin as either for railroad construction workers or for a turpentine distillery camp. Pinetop: Only a very few blacks were buried in this plot in Pinetop camp west of Glen St. Mary. In the early days of this century the site was listed on maps as 'Knabbs' spur! There was a sizable turpentine camp with a camp church. The cemetery was located next to the church. Indian Mound: Uncle Jocham Williams had a favorite fishing hole in the Middle Prong behind his farm. The road to it wound past an ancient Indian burial mound that lay in his field. His second wife was reported to have said that Jocham liked that spot so much she wanted him buried there after he died in 1896. Mr. Williams and his heirs respected the Indian burials and refused to plow over them. The Federal Government bought up his land as well as thousands of acres in the 30's as the Osceola Nat'l. Forest for the use and enjoyment of the people. The last time the writer was there he found broad ugly borrow pits, four-wheel-drive ruts everywhere, and bits and pieces of thousand (s) years old Indian pottery crushed underneath. Give us another 10 years and we should just about have the entire county destroyed. It's one thing we're good at. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 23, 1977 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber More On The County's Cemeteries Baxter: Begun around the beginning of the 20th century, this black cemetery site lies about a quarter mile west of the C.H. Yonn homestead. Some of the blacks murdered during the Baxter Rebellion are supposedly buried there. No traces of the cemetery were found during a recent search. Williams: This was a private cemetery located about 7 1/2 miles south of Sanderson near the Lake Butler Road. An old description said it was on the Andrew Stafford farmstead and "lies 300 yards south of farm building in field." No one has been found who can pinpoint the plot or tell from what Williams it received its name. Driggers: About a mile south of the Williams Cemetery and almost on the Baker-Union line is this plot. Its location is in the rear of the old John Bryant field. The Driggers family was one of the first in the area and heavily settled the south end of the present county. However, no light has been shed on just which of the family began this cemetery. Allen: At almost the exact spot where the west-bound exit onto 228 leaves I-10 is the small Allen Cemetery. Dating from before 1900 this ground received mostly children interments. The Florida DOT had gone too far with its exit project to change its location when informed of the burial ground. Today the children are buried under tons of concrete and asphalt. Wiggins: If this cemetery has a proper name it has not been determined. There are only a few stones and it is rumored that some of the burials were of the Wiggins family. Abandoned and located north of Ocean Pond in the Osceola National Forest, it is typical of the several lost cemeteries within the area. Dick White Branch: There are only two known graves in this tiny abandoned cemetery between Miltondale Road and the little branch of the same name. Two men by the names of Thigpen and Green were bringing the alarm of an empending Indian raid from the Georgia Bend into Florida in 1842 or '43 when they were killed by the Indians while fording the Little St. Marys. Locals buried them and set up cedar headboards which lasted into the early 1900's. An elderly black bachelor named Dick White later lent his name to the little stream. Mt. Zion-Margaretta: Probably begun in the late 1850's this cemetery was moved in 1924 when US 90 paved. Its site was a little east of the Margaretta Road and now lies beneath pavement. The graves were moved to Turner, Woodlawn, and Jacksonville. Powers: Located behind Mr. Rufus Powers' back yard, several members of the Powers family and neighboring families are buried there. The State has stopped burials in the plot although it is well-fenced and cared for by the nearly 100 years old Mr. Powers. Thigpen: Two Thiggen infants were buried in the corner of the family yard in McClenny in the late 1800's. Today only a camphor tree marks the site on the northeast corner of Michigan and South 5th Streets. (Next week: a list of the county's war dead) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 30, 1977 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Partial List Of Veterans Buried In The County The following list of County Veterans buried in Baker County is partial, omitting all deaths since 1940 and inadvertently missing some of the earliest burials. Hopefully, the list will soon be brought up to date and corrected. Anyone having factual knowledge of other Veterans buried in the County is requested to help amend the list. Woodlawn: William Alexander, CSA; George A. Allen, Sp-Am; Ellery C. Appleton, GAR; John C. Bennett, CSA; Clifford Blair, WW I; John C. Crawford, CSA; Edward W. Crockett, WW I; C.C. Fraser, CSA; Lucious Gainey, peacetime; John R. Herndon, CSA; Urban C. Herndon, CSA; James M. Milton, WW I; David H. Moats, CSA; Benjamin L. Morgann CSA; John Marcus Phillips, WW l; Edward Rowe, 2nd - and 3rd Sem. Wars;. Benjamin H. Tanner, CSA; David H. Tanner, CSA; Covington Tomlinson, WW I. Macedonia: John R. Barnes, CSA; Chester S. Cable, WW I; George W. Garrett, CSA; William Garrett, CSA; Edward Green CSA; Bryant Hicks, CSA; Eli Hicks, CSA; Robert C. Hicks, CSA; John C. Lauramore, CSA; Henry Napoleon Lyons, WW I; Sylvester Lyons, CSA; Richard Pellam, 3rd Sem. War; W Thigpen, CSA. Barber: Moses B. F. Barber, CSA; Harrison Herndon, CSA; James P. Herndon, CSA. Evergreen: Payroll Cooper, WW I; Judge Jackson, Jr., WW I; Avner (Abner?) Lewis, WW I. Quitman: Lee Givins, WW I; James Page, WW I; Jackson Walkins, Sp-Am. Manntown: Marion C. Berry, CSA; Charles Eiserman, GAR; Archie Franklin, Sr., CSA; Henry P. Franklin, CSA; Pinkney Franklin, WW I; Mickell Futch, CSA; Eli O. Griffis, WW I; Isacc E. Mann, CSA; K.H. Markley, CSA; John Mathis, CSA; John Newmans, CSA; James Norman, CSA; Joseph Raulerson, CSA; Thomas Parker Sheehan, CSA. Oak Grove: Moses Howard, WW I; Lewis Johnson, WW I; Aaron Thomas, CSA;. Brantley Fraser Thomas, WW I; Fred Thomas, WW I; James S. Davis, CSA. Daugharty: James Daugharty, CSA. Turner: Raymond J. Beasley, CSA; Belonia Robert Dinkins, CSA; Belonia Robert Dinkins, Sr., 2nd Sem. War; Joseph J. Dinkins, CSA; Thomas Harris, CSA; William H. Jennings, CSA; Benjamin Mikell, CSA; Nathen Pease, CSA; John Skeels, CSA. Magnolia: Hugh Brown, CSA. Jesse Campbell: Jesse Campbell, WW I. Taylor: Jasper Altman, WW I; John Combs, WW I; William Combs, CSA; Jessie Harris, WW I; Gideon Hayes, CSA; William W. Kelly; WW I; Alfred Rewis, CSA; Gordon S. Taylor, CSA; William A. Thompson, CSA; Earnest Williams, WW I; William Williams, CSA. South Prong: Frank Bryant, CSA; John Denmark, CSA; Aaron Driggers, CSA; W.H. Durrence, Sr., CSA; Andrew Green, 2nd Sem. War; Daniel D. Green, CSA; Elisha Green, 1812, 1st and 2nd Sem. Wars; Harry S. Green, WW I; James Green, CSA; W.J. Green, CSA; John Groves, CSA; W. Ben Hargroves, CSA; George Harris, CSA; Thaddeus Alfonso Hill, CSA; Henry Drew Jones, WW I; John Jones, CSA; John Mann, CSA; W.M. Richardson, CSA; Dixon Thomas Rigdon, WW I; N. E. Roberts, CSA; Ralph E. WW I; Elias Wester, CSA. North Prong: James Altman, 2nd Sem. War; Jesse Altman; CSA; Martin Barton, CSA; E. Burnsed, CSA; Henry E. Burnsed, WW I; John M. Canaday, CSA; John R. Combs, CSA; W.W. Conner, CSA; John D. Dowling; William Hodges, CSA; Richard M. Lauramore, CSA; John E. Mobley, CSA; Corley Raulerson, WW I; Jacob Raulerson, CSA; John M. Raulerson, CSA; West Raulersonn CSA; William J. Raulerson, 3rd Sem. War; Lawt Rewis, WW I, George Reynolds, CSA; Darling Rhoden, WW I; Isham J. Rhoden, CSA; Timothy Rhoden, CSA; William Henry Stone, CSA; Cranford Taylor, 3rd Sem. War; John E. Thompson, CSA; Perry Thompson, WW I; Tobias Thompson, CSA. Cedar Creek: Clyde Burnsed, WW I; James M. Burnsed, CSA; James W. Burnsed, CSA; James D. Chalker, CSA; L.C. Cobb, CSA; William C. Cobb, CSA; George Combs, CSA; Jerry Combs, CSA; Jasper Davis, WW I; John C. Davis, CSA; Richard A. Davis, CSA; Fredric E. Dorman, WW I; Jerry Dorman, CSA; John Dorman, CSA; Jack L. Dugger, CSA; Lee Dugger, CSA; Robert B. Dugger, CSA; William Greek, CSA; Jasper Harvey, CSA; Jessie W. Harvey, CSA; Lewis 0. Harvey, WW I; Richard Harvey, CSA; William B. Harvey, WW I; Josiah Johnson, CSA; Clarence R. Long; Sp-Am; William Matthews, CSA; William Motes, CSA; Henry Sweat, CSA; W.J. Thompson, CSA; Thomas J. West, Sp-Am; Elias Williams, CSA. Olustee: J. Froy Beasley, CSA; Charles L. McDonald; Lawton McDonald, Sp-Am; William G. Nettles, CSA; William N. Thames; Jacob G. Veeder; GAR; Steven F. Williamson, CSA. Fields: Samuel Arline, WW I. Olustee (Black): Emmet Austin, WW I. Dyess: James S. Blitch, CSA. Crews: Samuel Crews, CSA. Johns: James R. Johns, CSA; Riley Johns, CSA; William Johns, CSA; William Leggett, CSA. Indian Mound: John D. Williams, CSA.