"The Way It Was" Newspaper Column on Baker County, Florida History, 1978 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 pioneers 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 Gene's articles as written in 1978. Contents: * Mr. Cone's Testimony - Parts II & III * The Founder Of The Godwin Seminary * The Daugharty Family * The Reilly Crews Place * The Great Macclenny Fire Of '23 * More Historical Potpourri * 'Downright Strange' Place Names In County - Four Parts * The Community Of Highland-Trail Ridge * A Southern Incident * Area Routes In 1815 * Some Notes On The Johns Family * The Sylvester Lyons Story * Baker County's Position On Maps Of The Past - Three Parts * Baker County Ancestors In The War Of 1812 * The Soldier's Story * Westberry Griffis Story * The Mose Barber Story - Four Parts (in part 2) * Gleanings From The Standard - Two Parts (in part 2) * News Items From The County's Heyday - Two Parts (in part 2) * A Two Party System In Baker County - Two Parts (in part 2) * Of New Jersey, Nostalgia And Downtown Revitalization - Two Parts (in part 2) * The Crackers (in part 2) * A Sampling Of Baker County Politics Through History (in part 2) * More News Items From The Good Old Days (in part 2) * Ghosts, Haints And Boogers (in part 2) * Notes On The Wolfe Family (in part 2) * Early Area Roadways (in part 2) * Various Early Raulersons - Four Parts (in part 2) * Wedding Customs In 1907 (in part 2) * Old Fashioned Christmas Thoughts (in part 2) * Sharing A Few Choice Christmas Memories Of Home (in part 2) * The Twelve Days Of Christmas And Cracker Folk (in part 2) _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday January 5, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Mr. Cone's Testimony Part II - Klan Activities In Baker County Robert W. Cone was a native of Bullock County, Georgia and he was 34 years of age when he testified before the Congressional Committee investigating the Ku Klux Conspiracy in Baker County in 1871. Mr. Cone was a staunch Unionist and had moved to Florida in the 1850's, believing that his adopted state was a little less rabid on the subject of secession than his native state. In 1858 he moved to Jacksonville and in 1861 he re-moved to Sanderson in the new county of Baker. Hardly had he settled in than the guns of the War Between the States sounded and he was forced to begin thinking of ways to keep out of, military service against the Union. The Confederate Congress passed the Conscript Law which included all men between 18 and 35 years of age. Cone, who was keeping a farm for a Unionist named Brown who had been earlier run out of the county, secured a contract to grind meal and flour for the government. His little steam mill kept him out of the army for a short while. In the latter part of 1862 he was forced to find other means of avoiding conscription after the Confederate Congress passed another law which included him. His father-in-law was an influential member on the Board of Directors of the railroad and was instrumental in getting Mr. Cone an agency with the rail company at Baldwin. When the Federal troops abandoned Baldwin in 1864, General Seymour invited him, as a union man, to retreat with him. Cone refused, believing that he was still exempt from military service. Seymour left a guard around the Cone house until the Yankees left. The Confederates arrived to possess Baldwin and the guard was recalled leaving Mr. Cone to be arrested by the Rebel troops (his reputation as a Unionist had finally caught up with him). Rather than jail him, the Confederate Army gave him the privilege of being drafted and sent him to Virginia (at his request, believe it or not). After four weeks of non-military activity, he volunteered to go on picket duty and walked across the lines to the Northern side. Part of Mr. Cone's testimony before the Congressional Investigation Committee in Jacksonville is as follows: "This Ku-Klux business, or regulating business, whatever they call it, has been going on here ever since the war, and even before the war, yet I have never seen anybody set justice in the State courts against them; they always bring up evidence to clear themselves." Q. What is...the extent and strength of this Ku-Klux organization in Baker County? A. I do not know anything of the Klan whatever, only from their talk; almost everyone you talk with out there is in favor of it. I do not know who belongs to it, or who do not, but they nearly all are in favor of it...they call them regulators out there. They say that such and such a man should be regulated...There were two other parties visited some five or six weeks before I was...They were a man of the name of Smith, and a man of the name Griffis. I never talked with either of them about it; but I understand that Griffis denied having been whipped, but Smith acknowledged that he was whipped. Q. Why were they whipped? A. I think they accused Smith of stealing; I think that was the excuse; I do not know certainly. Q. How in the case of Griffis? A. I did not hear any complaint against him. At this point we should interject that according to the writings and preaching of the Reverend Kinsey Chambers and others, Mr. Griffis had been operating a house of dubious reputation, keeping a couple of available young ladies there for the entertainment of the local male population. His home was on a route between the present Glen Saint Mary and Lake Butler just inside the Baker County line. A. "...There was a boy there (at Griffis') about eighteen or twenty years old, named Barber. Q. Did they assault him when they went to Griffis' place? A. He got out of the way and hid." The Barber boy, by-the-way, soon forsook his wild ways and was consequently led to the altar of the Bethel Baptist Church by Rev. Chambers. He was also the great-grandfather of this writer who helped him take his first steps. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday January 12, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Klan In Baker County Part 3 - Ben Gurganus' True Feelings Ben H. Gurganus, formerly of North Carolina, was considered by the small loyal Democrat Party(those who were trying to get along with the reconstructionist policies of the loyal state government) to be one of their number. He had been appointed by Governer Reed to various county offices and had run for others on the loyal ticket. In Baker County, however, the local white populace knew that he was secretly one of them. The Blacks recognized him as the man who grudgingly registered them as voters by day and who directed Klan activities against them at night. From the testimony of Mr. Robert W. Cone before the Congressional Investigation Commitee we discover Mr. Gurganus' true attitudes and actions. We also find a few other old-line Baker County names who were considered by the Government as being part of the Ku Klux Conspiracy, and we learn of the political atmosphere of our county. Q. How is the vote in Baker County? A. It is about three-fourths white and is democratic. Q. What is the proportion between the black and white population there? A. I do not know the exact proportion, but there is a great deal of difference; the whites are the most." Keep in mind that Baker County was not in the old plantation belt of upper middle Florida and that there was no reason for the small-farm Crackers to invest in slaves if any of them had money to invest. After the Civil War most of the blacks drifted away to the cities to search for complete freedom (the majority of Baker County's approximate 300 slaves had fled during early 1864 when General Seymour came through). The county's economy and almost slave-like labor in the pinewoods never attracted many of them back. "Q. How are the negroes in their political sentiments? A. Some few of them go with the democrats. Q. Are there any northern men in your county? A. No, sir. Q. Which generally has the majority at elections there, the democrats or the republicans?. A. The democrats there. Q. How large a majority? A. They generally have about two-thirds majority in that neighborhood. Q. Have any of your colored people been disturbed in the exercise of their right to vote? A. None that I know of. Q. Have any of them been whiped that you know of, or have heard of? A. No sir. One of these parties, Johnson, that I had arrested, I never believed belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. I think he was duped into it that night. He is a man who loves to drink, and I think that from being with others, and drinking he was duped into it that night....He has been here to see me since then. He was here 2 or three weeks ago and wanted to know if he could be released if he would furnish evidence to convict several more men....His father told me - Jim Johnson would not talk to me much - that he was afraid to tell me, for if it got out there that he had, he could not live there until court. His father said that if they would take him as evidence his brother-in-law would be one, and that he was one of the Klan. He said that if we got his brother-in-law, Mott, to come, he would swear to every man that belonged to the band....William Johnson saw the men riding backwards and forwards that same afternoon that I was taken out of the house, and John Mann was one of them. Q. Had you any quarrel with these parties you had arrested? A. No, sir....Johnson and his father both used to visit my house frequently; his father never missed over three days at a time up to the last election. Up there in Baker County there was no clerk until a few days before the election, when there was a clerk appointed, and he sent deputies all over the county to register. A man by the name of Gurganis (sic), a wealthy and influential man, came to my house on the Friday before the election on Tuesday...He said he proposed to register me and wanted me to appoint a precinct at McLevy's (McClenny's) still. I said to him, "I have six negroes at work out here about one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, will you go and register them?" He said, "No, I will not get on my horse and ride over the county to register negroes" I said, "One of their votes is as good as mine." We stopped talking about the registering business, except he said, "Are you going to register?" I said to him, "are you going to register the negroes?" He said, "No, I am not...They can register at Sanderson." Q. What are the politics of the Johnsons? A. I have understood that they voted the democratic ticket at the last election. Old man Johnson was at work for me at the time digging a well and a negro that I had hired was working there with him. After I went back where my other hands were at work, he told the negro that I did not treat Gurganis (sic) right." _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday January 19, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Founder Of The Godwin Seminary Many of the young teachers of this area were educated at the Godwin Seminary in Alachua County. The founder of the Seminary was Professor James Jacob Godwin, a member of a prominent family whose branches covered much of Baker County. Jacob's great grandfather Solomon was born in 1771, married Miss Mary Reid and died in Washington County, Georgia. Solomon, Jr. and Robert Jacob R. servcd in the 2nd and 3rd Seminole Wars. Robert Jacob was a staunch member and deacon of New River Baptist Church, one of the first churches of that faith in the Territory of Florida. Robert Jacob's son, James M., was a Confederate soldier and was killed at Sharpsburg in 1862. The two latter Godwins lived in present Baker County at various times during the 1840's and 1850's. James M. married Miss Elizabeth Knight, a member of a strong Baptist Church-founding family. Their one son, James Jacob, was born one year before the father met his death on the battlefield at Sharpsburg. A son, Ernest Blitch Godwin, penned a fine tribute to James Jacob Godwin and his ancestry and we are pleased to offer some excerpts from it. "James Jacob Godwin, founder of the Godwin Seminary near Hawthorne, was born 13 November 1861 in the New River District....They (the Godwins) were among the founders of the early New River Church.... Church services were interrupted by Indian raids, members were publicly reprimanded or even expelled for such ofenses as dancing or using profanity while in a passion.' A young school teacher trying to eradicate the fleas which had infested the sand under the building, set dry brush afire beneath the church and burned it down.... "Jacob Godwin (grandfather to James Jacob) administered the estate of his brother Richard in 1857. Richard was drowned while trying to loosen drift wood from the wheel of their mill on New River. His home....and furnishings are valued at a lower amount than his horse together with bridle and saddle. The trading post at Newnansville is where he went to purchase necessities a few times a year. His account outstanding when he died included such basic items as salt, whiskey, tobacco, and calico." His son, James Godwin, was born in the New River District in 1842 (census records state 1834). He married Elizabeth Knight and they had only one child, James Jacob born 1861, before James was mortally wounded in the Civil War. Left with a baby only a few months old, Elizabeth married Archibald Moore (the Moores are a long-time Union County family) and had four more children with whom James Jacob was reared." James Jacob completed his schooling to be a teacher and at that time moved into what is now Alachua County. His first school was at Santa Fe, where he boarded in the home of William Madison Blitch, a member of the school board. Among the four Blitch children was Minnie Florence, not yet in her teens. Mr. Godwin, then in his early twenties, is said to have cautioned Mrs. Blitch to watch Minnie, as she was so pretty someone would steal her. Little did they know that he would someday be the thief. James Jacob Godwin next came to the area between Hawthorne and Melrose to teach and there he met and married when he was 24, Miss Kate Raines. In the area of Rex, between Hawthorne and Orange Heights, Mr. Godwin founded the Godwin Seminary, serving as headmaster and having some assistant teachers. He was very intelligent and when he took examinations for his first grade teaching certificate, he made a near-perfect score, out ranking the many others who took the examination. Before his death he became widely known as a teacher. The Godwin Seminary took pupils in the first grade and graduated them ready to qualify as teachers. Kate died after 6 years of marriage. "In the meantime Minnie Blitch had completed school at Santa Fe and White Springs Normal and obtained a teaching job in Hawthorne. Mr. Godwin began to court her, although not with the approval of her parents, as she was engaged to a lawyer with good expectations and this they considered a better match than a poor school teacher with three small children. Mr. Godwin won out, however. He went to Santa Fe where Minnie was home visiting, they filed off the engagement bracelet which her fiance had locked on her wrist, left in a buggy pursued by Mr. Blitch, and were married by the judge at the courthouse in Gainesville, still in the buggy (an old clipping from the Gainesville Sun substantiates the story)." The late Mrs. Ida Wiggins Knabb, the Teeter Sisters, and his own daughter Winona, were among his students who came to Baker County to teach, and all enriched the life of the little rural backward county that was struggling so hard to overcome ignorance. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday February 2, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Daugharty Family The Baker County area has been the home of many families who no longer have their names represented here. Among the large and prosperous pioneering clans to have helped open the territory was the Daugharty (pronounccd "Darty' family). From the research of the Hon. Folks Huxford and members of the Daugharty family comes the following information. Among the earliest Daughartys was John of South Carolina, a Revolutionary War soldier. His son, Dempsy was born in 1777 in South Carolina and married Mary "Polly" Pearce. Among Dempsey's known children by Polly were James, born 1795 in South Carolina, Dempsey, born about 1800 and William, born 1818, and perhaps Dennis, born about 1800 (Dennis and Dempsey, Jr. lived in Appling County, Georgia in the 1820 census). Dempsey, Sr. moved to Georgia prior to 1800 and was commissioned a captain of the militia in Bulloch County during the early part of the century. He changed residences often, and like most Baker County pioneer stock he lived for a while in Tattnall and Ware County when that county was created. After a few residences in the Florida Territory he settled in Columbia County, that part now Baker, in 1845 or before. His son, James, who sometimes gave his birth place as Effingham County, Georgia rather than South Carolina, came to Florida with him. James' first wife was Nancy Bassett of Effingham County. She died soon after the census of 1870 in Baker and is believed to be buried either in the Daugharty Cemetery near the present Dorsey and Wassie Fish farms or in Turner Cemetery in the same vicinity. James next married Sarah Jane Pease, a daughter of neighboring Nathen Pease. By one or both wives, he sired a whole passel of children. They were John, Elizabeth, Francis, James, William, Nancy, Penelope, Martha, Vica, Sarah Jane (whose picture will appear in our next column), Diana, and Sarah, (Sarah might have been a sister living in the household). Beginning in 1827 the children kept coming for the next twenty five years. James (called "Jim") Daugharty grew up in Bullock County, Georgia and like his father, Dempsey, lived around in south Georgia and north Florida until about 1845 or '50 when he settled down about halfway between the present Glen Saint Mary and Taylor. The oldest son, John, was one of this area's very few to have served in the Mexican War. He, by-the-way, did not tarry in Baker County, but made his way south to Volusia County where he amassed a considerable fortune. The other children married into south Georgia and Baker and Columbia counties' Florida families and have left the Daugharty blood scattered well throughout this section. The name, however, has disappeared from Baker County as they sought out their fortunes elsewhere. It is hoped that someone can discover the historic Daugharty Cemetery and preserve it from further neglect, a fitting tribute to a pioneering family who did much to break open and people Baker County. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday February 9, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Reilly Crews Place 19th Century Pioneer Homestead in 1978 People can't cure meat like they used to," says Mr. McKinley Crews. Inside this log meat house are a few potatoes attacked by fungus and an unused meat gum (salting tray) backing up his statement. Crackers have known for a long time what the climatologists are just recently discovering - this part of the world is getting more humid. The smokehouse door swings on carved black gum hinges. In true cracker fashion nothing that is useful is thrown away and everything must have its place. "We don't have the lights (electricity)." They don't have a telephone either. And it's refreshing to stop by & engage in an old fashioned conversation that is not based on last night's television viewing. The Messrs. Crews lead an uncomplicated life, surrounded by beauty. But one should not mistakenly believe them simple, for their thinking is deep, their humor sharp, and their smiles quick. They know politics and government. They understand economics. They have a knowledge of people. For Dan'l and McKinley Crews, that's the way it was, and it's still good enough to be the way it is. Mr. Reilly Crews settled the land prior to the turn of the century. The Crews "boys", Dan'l and McKinley, have remained on the land most of their lives. Self-sufficient, sharp-witted, and maintaining their convictions that, "the ladies are alright - in their place," they just might be two of the last few honest people on earth. In a period of crusaders crying, "conserve energy" and preaching "natural" regarding everything, Mr. Dan'l Crews uses the natural, healthful sunshine for light and warmth as he repairs and mends. Even on very cold days, an enlightened Cracker knows that the south side of his house provides comfort on sunny days and cuts down on the wood bill. Note cwm: Three pictures of the Crews place accompanied this article _____________________________________________________________________________ ] THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday February 16, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Great Macclenny Fire Of '23 (Ed note: Columnist Gene Barber received the following news account of the famed Macclenny fire of 1923 that appeared in the Bradford County Telegraph of May 11 of that year. Since it is a rather bleak yet thorough account of what was destroyed that night Gene decided it would be interesting to publish it in its entirety. The article was sent to him by Gene Matthews of Starke, former Telegraph publisher and Barber's counterpart there as unofficial county historian.) MACCLENNY FIRE BURNS BUSINESS CENTER OF CITY Started in Hotel Annie Block and Completely destroyed That Block and one Adjoining -- Total Damage Will Reach $70,000 with One-Third Covered by Insurance--Cause of Fire Unknown Macclenny, May 4 (1923)--A fire that practically wiped out the business section of Macclenny started this morning about 2:30 o'clock, and before the flames could be checked, an entire block of business houses had gone up in smoke. The fire started in the storeroom of A.D. Powers, under the Hotel Annie, a brick structure of about 30 rooms. The hotel was burned to the ground, and a number of the guests were forced to leave their rooms clad in only their night clothing, many of them having a narrrow escape from death. The entire furnishings of the hotel were burned, the building owned by A.D. Powers, who also lost his entire stock of general merchancise, meat market equipment, etc. He places his loss at some $30,000 with only $10,000 insurance. The fire next leaped to the establishment of the Baker County Sales Company, Ford Dealers, where everything was destroyed, including about $5,000 of Ford parts. Next to burn was the grocery store of Duncan Rhoden, who had about an $8,000 stock with no insurance. His loss was complete. The restaurant and living quarters of J.O. Milton was next consumed by thc flames and nothing saved, Mr. Milton carrying no insurance. The post office in the Milton building also went up in flames and very little saved, the entire equipment being destroyed, as well as some of the books, papers, etc. The drug store of Jonnie Jones was next burned and his entire stock was destroyed. Dr. R.J. Lamb, who had offices in the drug store lost all of his medicine equipment, which amounted to over $500. The falling walls of the drug store broke through the roof of the store of G.M. Clayton, destroying most of his stock and doing considerable damage. On the other side of the street, the stores of J.D. Dugger, Crescent Drug Store, Dr. H.M. Markey, I.R. Rhoden, and law offices of W.A. Dopson, dental office of Dr. H.C. Turner, and law office of W.B. Cone were saved, but the goods in each store damaged to a great extent by moving them into the street, and from water and smoke. One feature of the fire was saving of the S.A.L. depot, which was located within 50 feet of the hotel and which, being a wooden building, failed to catch from the fire. The wires of the Western Union were burned, and the Bell telephone booth in the Hotel Annie was destroyed, practically severing the town from outside communication for several hours. At this time Macclenny is without a post office and only three grocery stores to supply the needs of the people. A conservative estimate places the loss at about $70,000, with about one-third of this amount covered by insurance. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday February 23, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber More Historical Potpourri Good Items Too Small For Separate Articles *Prior to 1900 the Paul family established the East Coast Lumber Company at Watertown just east of Lake City. Logging trams into the Okefenokee, Baker County and the company's other timber lands were built. The little train system was dubbed The Watertown Northern Rail Road Moonshinc Line. The Moonshine Line pass it issued was honored by all the rail companies of the U.S. *Francis J. Pons, a Baker Countian of Minorcan descent who was elected State Treasurer in 1869, was the first known from this county to hold a state office. He was not very popular and was not re-elected. *The Baxter-Moniac area was known in Spanish Colonial days as Pine Log Crossing. The Muskogee-speaking Indians of the area referred to the junction of Moccasin Branch and the St. Mary's as The Pine Log Crossing Place. One early map assured travelers the log was in place as named. In the early 1830's high waters caused young, settler Arch Hogans to establish a ferry at that point and travelers renamed the site Hogans' Ferry. *In 1815 the Aaron Thrift homeplace in Georgia was the site of a fortified crossing from American Georgia into Spanish Florida. The Burnsed Church-Macedonia area gained a reputation as a hangout for American desperadoes engaged in slave-stealing. *"The St. Mary's has long been a jumping off place of a large portion of bad characters who gradually sift southwardly; warm climates are congenial to bad habits" Spanish Surveyor-General George Clark in 1821. *"My impression is that a more heterogeneous mass of good and evil was never before gathered in the same extent of territory" Governor W.C. Claiborne of New Orleans regarding Florida and its inhabitants in 1810. *One more proposed origin of the term "Cracker:" "cau'caros" was the Spanish word for the Anglo-American Quakers who were especially active as freebooters and agitators in Spanish-Florida. Some researchers believe the word "cua'caros" was corrupted by the non-Spanish into " Crackers. " *The year 1766 saw a light snow through out northern Florida. A severe freeze killed oranges along the St. Johns that year. It was 7 below in north Florida in 1835. *From the 1939 Federal Writers Project of the Work Projects Administration comes this note. "The Burnsed Blockhouse, built on a hill by a settler of that name as protection against indians in 1837, is well preserved. From the hill is a wide view of the surrounding territory." *....the results of the excavation were rather disappointing. Although several pieces of ceramics possibly dating to the 1830 period were found, they were surface finds from the plowed field which could not be directly related to the block house itself" Daniel C. McKenna and Charlie Poe, FSU anthropologist and archaeologist, respectively, regarding searches at the Burnsed-Brown house, 1977. *The Osceola National Forest of 155,993 acres was acquired by the Federal Government in 1931 although the project began much earlier. *The former Atlantic Coastline Railroad which runs through the south part of the county has not one stop within the county today. At the turn of the century it scheduled stops at seven stations - McPherson, Nursery, Bessent, Steckert, LaBuena, Manning, and Sapp. By comparison, the old Seaboard Air Line which is better known today had only four stops - McClenny, Glen Saint Mary, Sanderson and Olustee. *The Florida red wolf was last heard in Baker County about 1915. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday March 9, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Some Of Those 'Downright Strange' Names Of Places Ed. note: a misunderstanding led to the excluslon of Gene Barber's popular column from last week's edition. Gene had submitted some of the Olustee Battle pictures that appeared along with ours in the February 23 edition, plus an historical column which he intended we use the following week but which we mistakenly used that earlier week. It is nice to know several persons called wanting to know what happened to Gene. We hope that will serve as an incentive to him to continue.] Baker County Place Names Much light can be shed on a people by what they name their communities and topographic features. Whereas other areas of Florida abound with euphonious appellations Baker County pioneers saw fit to bequeath us a whole mess of tongue-in-cheek and downright strange labels. Our ancestors' frustrations with swampy places can best be understood in such boggy areas' titles as Devil's Cup and Saucer, Hell's Bay, Impossible (also "Impassable") Bay, Mud Lake, and Black Bottom. Frozen Pond south of McClenny would have probably always remained nameless had not a frozen corpse been found there after one of the area's hardest freezes. Not to be outdone by Nassau County's Brandy Branch, Baker County has Breakfast, Moccasin, Rattlesnake, Bill's, Bear, Bay and Oak Branches, as well as being just across the river from Hog Pen Branch. Almost every southern rural area has its Possum Trot, as we also have here in Baker County, but few counties can boast of having a Cooter Hole, Blue Hole, and a Catfish Hole, all in a row as we do along the St. Mary's. Except for one possible contender in Georgia, Baker County might have the only Ocean Pond in the world. But, then, where else in the world can you find an Edderd Ford and a Burton Ford, a Cone's Head and a Moore's Head? Locals still refer to bridges by the names of Lighterd, Smith, and Steel although there haven't been bridges at any of those sites for years. Twin Bridges has been replaced by concrete spans and Trail Ridge has no trail now. A large pool area in a large stream is a washup or wash hole and there are several by the names of Stokes', Vaughn's Bennett's, etc. Sadly, there is little left of Babytown on the south edge of McClenny. Sapp has long died on the Baker-Union line. McPherson, Cummer, Britt, Nursery, Bessent, and Mann's Spur, all one time rail stops, have long passed on. Knabb's Spur lives on as Pinetop, west of Glen Saint Mary. Weston in the county's southwest corner and Eddy in the county's north are but map marks, as are Kenny, Burton, Griffen, and Coleman. LaBuena (Lay Beuner) has made a comeback of sorts with the development of Macclenny II. Cuiler never quite died out and is now graced with a Baptist Church which spells the name phonetically. Sergeant, Eugene, and Steckert will probably never return as rail stops. Dead River, a string of remnant lakes when the St. Mary's decided to move, which it has often done in the past, sounds ominous and spooky. But listen to the beauty of Travelers' Rest, Smoky Road, Pomerene, Cedar Creek, Margaretta, Glen Saint Mary, and the Ferry Field. Some features have changed names. Old Willingham Branch became Brickyard Branch during the late 1800's, and is now forgotten and buried under the collective title Turkey Creek. Turkey Creek was once Pinwahatchee, Maddox Crossing was Darby's Old Still, Moccasin Branch was Pine Log Crossing Branch, Sanderson was Long Pond, Taylor was Johnsville, and McClenny has had more names than a crook has aliases. For the next couple of weeks we'll try to give you what we have heard are backgrounds of some of these names. If any of our readers know of any place names they think are in danger of being forgotten or if they know the beginnings of Baker County names, we would like to hear from them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday March 16, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Some Of Those 'Downright Strange' Names Of Places In Baker County's corner is Wampee Bay, so named for the plant of that name which grows there. Close by is Olustee Creek and community, the name coming from the white settlers' corruption of a Muskogean word meaning roghly black or muddy water. Ocean Pond, according to some historians, was dubbed that by Federal soldiers in February of 1864 because of its habit of whitecapping during high winds. Only problem with that is that the lake wore that title on maps of the 1850's. No light has been shed on the name origins of Hurricane Bay, Cross Island, Buckhead Swamp, and Calkins Creek, and one can only surmise the circumstances surrounding the naming of Fanny Bay. Also in the west, Brushy Branch, Water Hole, Big Gum Swamp, Big Island, and Clay Hole Island strike us as being self-explanatory. Negro Camp Island (previously having a definite racist pronunciation) wears a legendary name-beginning of being the site where runaway slaves encamped during the early 1800's. Most folks, remembering the turpentine workers' temporary quarters there as late as the 1940's, put litte stock in the slave story. Sand Hill Road follows one of the early Jacksonville-Tallahassee roads and Zachary Taylor traversed the area by that route during the Second Seminole War. Anyone who tried to travel that way in later times, but before road graders, recalls, and not fondly, the getting out and pushing through the sand. The writer was grown before he discovered the name was just plain ol' Sand Hill and not ---- ---- ---- ---- Sand Hill Road. If one could discover just what a pinhook was the mystery of the naming of Pinhook Swamp might be solved. We do remember, however, the spooky tales of how no man could pass through Pinhook Swamp. There was even the finding of a skeleton just on the edge of it proving that a man could almost make it but still not get through. Sometimes around the camp fires we irreverently wondered if maybe the man had not even gotten into the swamp but had just decided to pass on thinking about the ordeal ahead. Some said Pinhook was "worser'n" Oke-finoke but others claimed that its sister swamp with the rather ominous and hard-to-argue-with name of Impassable could beat them both. Most locals preferred calling it Impossible. It was said that the surveyors working along the Tallahassee Base Line got lost in Surveyors Bay, but it seems far-fetched. Map-makers cleaned up Baker Countians' pronunciation of 'Louse or Louse-y Island and now it is Lice Island. Huckleberry (Hunkleberry) Island and Otter Drain (Orter Dreen), like many others, are easily explained for their one-time chief residents, but Betts Eddy Bay poses a real mystery. The Eddy family, was prominent in the area and might account for the Eddy part but where the Betts came from is still unsolved. Noah Islands deep inside Pinhook were named, according to some older heads, for (1) an old Negro who lived there, (2) an Indian chief (they were all chiefs to the older settlers, or (3) a white settler whose first name was Noah and whose last name was (a) Raulerson, (b) Yarborough, (c) Johns, or (d) Wiggins. Which leads us to wonder: does anybody really know just where these names came from? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday March 23, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Baker County Place Names Along the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway are such little spots as Sargent, rumored to have been named for a rail company employee by that name; Moore's Head, which is a swampy "head" of a stream but Mr. Moore is unknown; Traveler, or Travelers' Rest - a stopping and watering place for pioneers since the 1840's; Pomerene, whether named for an apple or for the country Pomerania we cannot determine; Eddy, the namesake of the family who lived in the area; Burton, probably another rail employee namesake; and Baxter, the once large community that received its label from a lumberman, Baxter, who lived in Olustee but maintained a mill on the St. Mary's for a long time prior to the 20th cermtury. It has been said by old pioneers that Cross Branch in the northeast of the county sometimes changed the direction of its flow depending on the wetness of the season. Perhaps that accounted for its name, but others maintain that it was so called because it crossed from one swampy place to another and still others say that the Cross family once lumbered on its banks. Nearby Mocassin Branch and Bay need no explanation to those who have visited them during thc summer. Taylor community is a result of the old Gordon S. Taylor plantation. Nothing could be found on Ellis Bay and Baker Bay, but a visit to Bluff Creek in its beautiful little ravine makes its naming clear. Bill's Branch is supposedly called by the name of pioneer Bill Williams, but a few maintain that a Bill Combs planted along its banks also (a Bill Combs, brother to George and John Combs, Indian fighters in the area, has come to light). Very early settlers, the Daughartys, were responsible for the dubbing of Daugharty Branch, a tributary of Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek was the scene prior to and after the Civil War of big scale cedar lumbering. Scout Pond, close by, was near the cross roads of the Jacksonville-Tallahassee and the Waresboro-Garey's Ferry (Middleburg) Roads and was reportedly a hiding place for scouts during the Second Seminole and Civil Wars. Macedonia received its name in the 1890's when the Northern branch of the Methodist Episcopal Church heard a call from Rev. Dean of Charlton County, Georgia and several families of that area in Baker County to come assist in the establishing of a church. It sounded so much like the New Testament's Macedonian call that the name stuck. Macedonia is located on the old Pelham-Pellum Road (Nathen and Levi Pellum lived nearby) and the section was known for years as the Pellum Bridge community. Pellum Road was a section of the Jacksonville-Tallahassee Road and where that route crossed the old Ft. Alert-Alachua Road is Bay Branch. Named for the thick stands of bay along its banks and for the fact that it emerged from a bay (named for settler Mose Barber), the little stream was the scene of a bloody attack by Econchatti and his men during 1841. The Timaqua called the St. Mary's River Rotten Fish Place, the French named it the Seine, but the Spanish knew it as the River of St. Mary. Trail Ridge, through which the St. Mary's crosses has been a trail atop the ancient ocean dunes since pre-Revolutionary times. Many thanks to the nice folks who have been responding so well with names and name origins. We'll wrap it up next next week with a mention of some of the county's more notorious places which should bring back memories to some. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday March 30, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Baker County Place Names No McPhersons, Bessents, and Sapps have lived on the old Atlantic Coastline Railroad for many years, but their names live on as one-time stops along that line. The Mannings still live close by the old stop that bore their name. Lay Bewner (La Buena) and Steckert will remain in the minds of several for many years to come as midnight trysting places. Nearer McClenny, in that city's southwest corner lies the infamous Pecan Grove (correct Cracker pronunciation is Pecan which rhymes with "we can"). In the 40's the Pecan Grove gained a reputation as the site of chicken perlows (pileau) and stolen love which prompted other labels which we cannot print. Due south of Margaretta, the South Prong of the St. Mary's River enters an extensive swamp known by the rather unpoetical name of Mud Lake. Who first thought of that name is unknown but an American mapmaker traveling through Spanish Florida showed a tall pine standing at the swamp's edge and stated that the St. Mary's ended there. Georgians, hoping to gain a sizable chunk of Florida real estate, thought that to be a great discovery since the river's headwaters were to help determine the boundry between Georgia and Florida. In the county's extreme southeast corner is a timber road called Crooked Road. Until the 1870's that route's forerunner was just as crooked and was considered the dividing line between Baker and Nassau-Duval-Clay Counties. In those days it was mostly known as Darby's Road. The Knabb family, prominent in naval stores, once had Knabb's Spur west of Glen Saint Mary named for them. In the late 20's, however, Knabb's Spur like so many other place names, gave way to updated titles - Pine Top. Farther west lies Hell's Bay, an appropriate name for one of the many nasty spots along the old railroad turnpike. It was hard-to-cross sections like Hell's Bay that prompted the road makers and users to favor the more northerly Jacksonville-Tallahassee route. Sanderson was named for an official of the company that built the first railroad through the county. Glen Saint Mary was named by one of its first developers - George L. Taber. And McClenny is the namesake of a Virginian who settled there after the Civil War. A generation ago one could come into McClenny by Greyhound in the morning, get married, eat the finest chicken dinner possible, be divorced by dark, drink the world's greatest 'shine, dance off his shoe soles, and have his eyeballs gouged out all in a day. And...the little city is very umque in that it does not know how to spell its own name. One word on the spelling and then we intend to let it die. There was no talk of changing the town's name in this column, only correcting the spelling. No act of the legislature created the dumb accident and it will take no act of the legislature to correct it. The correction will not cost a nickel since everything involved will eventually have to be restocked and the correction can happen with the restocking and renewing. And it is relatively unimportant... like wiping off your mustache after drinking milk, zipping back up, putting the correct part back in your hair after your barber misplaced it...like wiping egg off your face. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, April 13, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Community Of Highland-Trail Ridge - Part One From the Bradford County Telegraph and courtesy of Mr. Gene Matthews, comes the follwing paragraphs about our neighboring community of Highland. The little settlement was listed on 19th century maps as Trail Ridge and sometimes as Darby's Still. "According to a brief history appearing in the July 17, 1925 issue of the Telegraph, during the construction of the first railroad to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico (Fernandina to Cedar Key) in the late 1850's, there was some doubt about where to locate the other railway stations, but none whatever about Highland.... "The writer of the 1925 article said that southbound trains, approaching Highland from the north must by means of six curves, climb the steep slope of the ridge. This took every stick of wood the tender could hold, and the supply had to be replenished when the top was reached.' "The railroad cars in those days were without brakes of any kind, and the gauge being wider than that of other railways, 'foreign' or 'Yankee' cars, equipped with brakes, could not be included in the trains. Consequently, engineers on the old 'Alachua' and J.J. Dickison' with painstaking care, navigated their trains so that their centers of gravity would be at the crest of a hill to prevent rolling forward to Lawtey or backward to Baldwin... "...after the train was safely balanced atop the 'Highland Hill' the hardworked negro fireman would take a nap while the brakemen piled on wood, after having chocked the rear wheels to prevent a backward roll, and secured the front by driving a stout stake ahead of the 'cowcatcher.' "Meanwhile, the conductor would bargain for coon and deer skins brought in by the native 'backwoodsmen who trapped or shot animals for their hides. "After his nap the fireman would stoke up the boiler furnace again and the engineer would pull up his stake and toot the whistle to warn passengers who had left the train to shoot squirrels that they had better jump aboard. "When the conductor had satisfied himself that they were 'all present and accounted for,' he swing his hat and yelled, 'Let'er roll!' - and the train, after being started, would roll down the hill to Lawtey by its own weight. "In the 1880's R.G. Cook moved his family down from Lockhaven, Pa. and built a large saw mill at Trail Ridge. The mill workers brought in their families - homes were built, and other structures erected, including a hotel and a two-story frame building used as a Masonic Hall upstairs and a church downstairs. Several of the families, including the Cooks, were cultured people and beautified their grounds with trees and flowers. "Mrs. Nelson (Boots) Green, who now lives on U.S. 301 between Starke and Lawtey remembers 'the better days' of Highland, where she spent the early years of her life. Her father was Harry C. Wimberly, who was appointed railroad agent at Highland in 1891 and served in this capacity until his death in 1929. Mr. Wimberly also wore several other hats, being post master and the owner-operator of the town's only general merchandise store. All three occupations were conducted under the same roof in an old frame store building.... The building was located on the east side of the railroad near where the Highland Baptist Church now stands. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday April 20, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Community Of Highland-Trail Ridge Continuing Mr. Gene Matthews' article from the Bradford County Telegraph, this is the second part of a little history of Highland, our close neighbor in Bradford County. "Mrs. Green recalls that the Cook family owned a block of property in the heart of Highland, facing the railroad, and had a fine, large home, several rental houses, and also owned the two story building used for lodge and church purposes. 'When I was a small girl I visited in the home frequently and was impressed by the fine silver and furniture they had, and also the number of servants who served the table in high style.' The home, which was equipped with a large, attached greenhouse for growing ornamental plants, was destroyed by fire in 1910. All of the other old homes at Highland during that period have also burned. "Mrs. Green also remembers going with other children 'to poke around' in what they called 'the White House' - the deserted hotel which she said was one time used as a layover station by stages hauling passengers and freight over the old road that followed Trail Ridge north and south. "It had large fireplaces with mirrored mantels, a bar, and a room probably used for gambling with cards and other games," Mrs. Green said. She also recalls being told some tall tales about shootings' and other 'rough stuff' going on in the place, and one old timer said there was a regular boot hill cemetery nearby, where the victims were probably buried. Mrs. Green does remember seeing a large cemetery in the area when she was a child, but all traces of it have since disappeared. Besides their home at Highland, the Cooks had a cottage on the northwest shore of Kingsley Lake and Mrs. Green recalls going there over a graded road "we called the Avenue' which the Cooks had built to reach the lake from Highland. 'The road ran south to Lawtey and then turned east through the area known as 'Cracker Six' to reach the lake,' Mrs. Green said. The present hard road from Lawtey to the lake follows that portion of the old Cook road fairly closely. Mrs. Green well remembers the difficulty experienced by the old-time trains in getting over the hump at Highland. In starting up the long grade, they would have to 'break the train in two,' pull one half up the slope and then send the engine back over the double track to bring the other half up the hill. After the timber was cut out in the 1890's the saw mill was moved to another location, and a shingle mill and turpertine still, other Highland industries, also went into decline as the years passed. Empty dwellings were moved away or destroyed, by grass fires. All that is left now is one small store, a modern Baptist Church, a forest fire tower, the Highland Zoo, and a cluster of small houses and mobile homes on both sides of the railroad track. But Highland still has its Trail Ridge elevation - varying from 200 to 215 feet above sea level - a good place to head for if the peninsula is ever threatened by a tidal wave." _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday April 27, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber A Southern Incident (Ed note: below is a glowing eulogy to a former Sanderson resident who died in 1875. The author, Samuel Spearing, was a literate slave owned once by Mr. Green and as noted in the introduction, the obituary says a lot about Southern Society as it once existed.) The following obituary notice is the foundation of the following lines. The death of Mr. Elisha Green is of course a fact, the notice of the same being written and published by one of his former slaves, whose name is appended to it. The writer of the notice is one whose life, as a colored citizen, since emancipation, commands a respect fully consistent with the spirit of the announcement of the death of the former master. The incident is thought worthy of preservation, as evincing a relation which existed in many instances between master and slave, of the South, somewhat in vindication of truth and the moral aspect of Southern Society as it really existed in former times. Died, in Baker County, near Sanderson, on the 17th instant, Elisha Green, aged 85 years and 15 days. Mr. Green was born in South Carolina, near Georgetown; but while he was yet very young, his father removed to Bullock County, Georgia, where he resided until he removed to Florida in 1829. He served in the war against England in 1812, under General Jackson. He was also with General Jackson during the campaigns through Florida. On Christmas day, 1830, he commenced his settlement on the south prong of the St. Mary's River, which was then an unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by the Indians. He made a campfire of the root of a large pine tree whilst preparing a shelter for his family, consisting of a wife and six small children. On the breaking out of the Seminole war, he enlisted and served through the war, during which he was twice obliged to send his family to Georgia for safety. His property was destroyed and buildings burned by the Indians, but he returned and began again on the ruins of his home, collecting such remnants of his stock as had escaped the marauding savages. By hard work and careful management, he soon surrounded himself with the comforts of life. In 1840 he bought the first slave he ever owned, the writer of this notice, who regrets that he is not able in this sketch to do justice to the friendship which sprung up between master and servant, which lasted until death came between them. As a master he was kind and just; he never separated families, nor was he careless of their welfare in any particular. Before the breaking out of the war he was comfortably off, and could have retired from active work; but preferring not to be idle, he continued to take active oversight of his affairs until near the close of his life. There was no work that he required to have done that he was not always ready to take hold of himself and lend a hand to push along. The unfortunate were never sent away from his door without relief from his own hand and he often relieved others to his own hurt, and it can be safely said there is not a soul living that can say that he ever did wrong to his fellow man - and thc writer can testify to many acts of kindness done to himself. Mr. Green was a member of the Baptist Church for thirty years, and died in the faith. His place will be hard to fill, and in the neighborhood where he has resided fcr forty-five years, he was universally respected and esteemed. He left a large family of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. The last time the author of this sketch saw him, he requested that two of his old servants should come and assist his burial, if he died first. The promise was made and at his death the telegraph summoned them to the performance of the last act of love and devotion which could be shown on this side of eternity. They immediately took the train and arrived in time to finish digging his grave and join in the last solemn rites ever his remains. Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou has been faithful over a few things - enter thou into the joys of the Lord. Samuel Spearing Jacksonville, Florida, Oct. 24, 1875 (On November 7, 1875 Columbus Drew inspired by the above obituary, wrote a poem entitled "The Burial of the Master". Ref: Columbus Drew, Pages 17-21) _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday May 4, 1978 THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber AREA ROUTES IN 1815 In the National Archives of East Florida (in Washington D.C.) is a map from the 1815 period. As best as could be read, its information was transferred to this reconstruction of the Baker County and Georgia Bend territory. The name of the cartographer is unknown. Most of the routes were of prehistoric Indian origin, and they in turn were undoubtedly based on ancient game trails. The one notable exception was the King's Road which was built during British colonial days from Darien, Georgia to New Smyrna, Florida. The portion shown here, however, was probably constructed for use by the British when Florida was invaded by the ragtag American rebel troops. The portion of the Florida-Georgia border west from the Alachua Trail to the Apalachicola River was poorly patrolled by either the Spanish or Georgians, although the American Government encouraged white settlement in lower Georgia to help check Indian raids and Spanish influence among the Creeks. The two settlements along the lower bend of the St. Mary's were fortifications of sorts to keep an eye on travelers along the north-south routes. The westerly crossing was in the vicinity of the Alfred Thrift farm and Macedonia-Oak Grove settlements. The eastern fort was at the Wilkerson settlement or to its west. Note cwm: map omitted here. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday May 11, 1978, Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Some Notes On The Johns Family A widespread and prolific family in south Georgia and northeast Florida, most of the Johns family seem to be descendents of a Jeremiah 'Jerry' Johns who was born before the Revolutionary War in North Carolina. Jeremiah and his wife Levicy (an old form of 'Louisa') lived in South Carolina and Georgia into the first quarter of the 19th century. The names of his children will be readily recognizable as popular names for many of the present Johns generation. George was born about 1795 in S. Carolina. William, born in 1801 in South Carolina, was married to an Elizabeth. Lucinda was born in 1802 in South Carolina, and reared a few children although she never got around to marriage. Archibald, born in 1810 in Wayne County, Georgia, married a Mary (Archibald might have been a nephew or grandchild). Sarah, born about 1809 in South Carolina married Joseph, son of Samuel Crews, and was responsible for many of that clan throughout southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. George's wife has not been learned. As a widower he was living in Charlton County, Georgia just prior to the Civil War. His children were Tarlton, born in 1812 in Georgia (Wayne County?). His wife's name was Louvicey (another spelling of Levicy), and she was born in 1825 in Georgia. Tarlton and Louvicey moved across the Florida line into Columbia (Baker) County about 1850. Soon after the railroad came through Baker County the rail company sponsored excursions on the new fangled mode of transportation. Tarlton and Louvicey left their childrea, Newman and Elmina in the care of George's brother Riley and took the wild ride. Due to some accident, as yet undetermined, they were killed and the children were left in the home of their uncle Riley. George and Levicy's other children were Riley, born in 1816 in Camden County, Georgia. His wife was Sarah Leigh, daughter of James Joyce and Mary Malphurs Leigh. Riley died during the year of this nation's centenial celebration, and he and his wife are buried in the old abandoned Johns Cemetery in the northeast section of the county. Calvin was born in 1817 in Camden County and married Martha Raulerson. George was born in 1827 in Camden County. As the youngest, George, Junior, kept his aged father during the latter's last years. Nothing further can be found on George, Jr., except that his estate was in probate in Duval County in 1885 With Archibald Hogans as administrator. Riley's children were Sarah, born 1839 and married to John D. Dowling; Anna, born 1842, married Richard D. Davis of North Carolina; Riley, born 1844, married Lenora Hodge of Nassau County; Martha, born 1846, married John Calvin Crews, son of Samuel and Elizabeth; EIizabeth, born 1851,was the wife of William J. Raulerson; Amy, born 1853, married Dixon Raulerson; James, born 1855; Nancy, born 1852, married Jesse Altman (all the foregoing were born in Camden County in that part cut into the creation of Charlton); James L. born 1860, married Elizabeth Reynolds; and William Hardee, born 1861, married Alice Reynolds (the last two were born in New River County in the section formed into Baker). Riley and Sarah moved to the Baker County area in 1855. After serving in the Confederate Army he returned to be elected to the Baker County Board of Commissioners. When thc carpetbagger government and the military took over, his commission immediately expired. The Jeremiah and George Johns plantations near present Folkston were extensive and productive, but when the younger Johns' men saw service in the Baker county area during the Second Seminole War (Riley was in Capt. James A. Sweat's Ware County Militia in 1840), many of them moved into the territory. Their settlements stretched from Nassau, Baker and Columbia down into Union, Bradford, and Alachua. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday May 18, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Sylvester Lyons Story Sylvester Lyons was born in 1824 in South Carolina. His father was from Ireland, his mother from Holland, and both as children had arrived in the New World with their parents. He and his brother Uriah left home at early ages for Georgia. They settled first in Appling county about 1845 where Sylvester married Harriett McCall (Harriett was born in Appling County in 1830). Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lyons moved south to Traders Hill in Camden County (that part now Charlton) and remained there through the Civil War. Soon after the formation of Charlton County, a white man was murdered and although evidence later pointed strongly toward another white man, two Negroes were accused. A resolution calling for their execution was signed by the majority of the county's white adult population, including Sylvester Lyons. The Negroes were summarily hanged while the courts and peace officers stood aside. It has been said that later findings that could possibly clear the Negroes caused Mr. Lyons to seek a spiritual re-awakening and he soon experienced a call to the ministry. A staunch Primitive Baptist, he began to minister to the citizens of the area and soon had a sizable congregation in the Burnsed School across the river in Baker County. He and his son "Mid" sawed the lumber and helped erect the present Oak Grove-Burnsed Church. On the 15th of August, 1861, Sylvester enlisted in Company F, 26th Regiment of the Georgia Volunteer Infantry, popularly known as the Okefenokee Rifles. Two weeks later, Uriah joined the same unit. Uriah was last listed on a muster roll on the 28th of February, 1862, and no further mention of him has been found. Sylvester was promoted to First Corporal soon after his enlistment. Serving under General Stonewall Jackson, Corporal Lyons was twice wounded during the Battle of the Wilderness (one thigh and heel and then the other thigh), both times in one battle. He was reported to be absent without leave on November 4, 1864, and it is believed that he was a prisoner of war for the duration of the war. After his return Mr. Lyons moved his family to the extreme southern end of the Georgia Bend. His settlement was on the St. Mary's River about 5 1/2 to 6 miles north of the present Macclenny. Elder, Lyons pushed for the creation of a new county to be cut out of the Bend area of Charlton, but the movement was short-lived. His was a model farm, and his sea island cotton among the best. Elder and Mrs Lyons passed away in 1917 and 1923, respectively, and both are buried in Macedonia Cemetery. Their children, all born at Traders Hill, were George Washington who married (1) Eve, a daughter of Mack A. B. Howard and (2) Fanny Pellum, a daughter of Levi; James 'Jimmy' who died single; Sylvester Middleton "Mid" who married Arrie Bell Johnson (parents of former county judge James Lyons); Louise Elizabeth "Lou" who married William Eugene Chalker a son of James D.; Stella who married Elias, son of: John D. Williams; Mississippi "Sippie" who married Edgar a son of Charles W. Turner; and Joseph about whom our records show nothing. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday May 25, 1978 THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Baker County's Position On Maps Of The Past - Part 1 If one believes history has been an orderly, sequential narrative, he hasn't taken time to study, and be confused by, maps of the past. Explorers have discovered, the populace has forgotton, politicians have redrawn boundaries, and mapmakers have recorded and mis-recorded it all. A study by this column of nearly a half thousand maps has produced some surprising facts and stories. A Spanish map of 1542 shows the Okefenokee Swamp surrounded by forts or towns. The placement of the swamp on the crude but unmistakable chart of Florida is an almost certain indication that the Spanish had explored and mapped the region and that the Baker County vicinity saw its first European only 29 years after the reputed discovery of Flordia. By 1630, the St. Mary's River was still referred to by all but the Spanish as the River Seine, so named by the French 65 years earlier. The stream, along with the St. Johns, was believed to have been flowing from somewhere in the area of present Valdosta, Georgia. There were Timuqua Indian towns along both streams and the Okefenokee had been omitted, if known at all. An English map of 1663 uses the present name of the St. Mary's but shows it as an inlet only. The Spanish Trail to St. Mark's ran far to the south of the present Baker County. The nearest habitation site was the Timuqua town of Alachua and the Carolina border ran far into peninsula Florida (Georgia had not been settled and the Carolinas ran right into Florida). The Dutch were usually very particular about details and precision but onc of their maps a half century later shows little knowledge of interior Florida. Lake George is drawn north of Baker County and a few Timuqua sites are spotted along the St. Johns. The St. Mary's is missing. By 1747 on most maps, the St. Mary's River was omitted and northeast Florida and southeast Georgia received no treatment beyond the terse label, "Full of swamps." Nine years later an English map of the area gave the St. Mary's a definite southward dip and indicated the site of Traders Hill or Muscogee near Coleraine. The English mapmaker did not connect the St. Mary's with the Okefenokee. which he drew in but did not name. In 1763 a Spanish map showed not even a hint of any knowledge of this neighbor-hood or of the St. Mary's. English cartographers tended to be more precise and informative with their maps, and after taking over Florida in 1763 they proceeded to turn out several good charts. A 1774 map proved to be one of the few exceptions, taking the bend out of the St. Mary's. However, it showed the river's headwaters in the Okefenokee and Trail Ridge was plainly marked. Two maps of 1775 and 1776 clearly depicted both the Big Bend area of the present Charlton County and the South Prong. On the Florida side where the St. Mary's cut through Trail Ridge, a ferry station was named "Anderson." A road along Trail Ridge and another southward through the Georgia Bend were shown. A 1781 map was one of the first to title the Okefenokee, calling it "Ouaquafanoga." Seven years later, the swamp's name was written "Ekanfanoka" and believed to be much more extensive than it actually was. This 1788 map marked the Florida-Georgia boundary from the headwaters of the South Prong. For the first time, the area's lakes of Ocean Pond, Dobson, and Palestine are drawn in. An American 1792 map gives a good representation of the present Baker County country but fails to show thc upper St. Mary's River turning northward. The "Ekanfanoka" was brought south to connect the river with the swamp. A road ran from Cowford (Jacksonville) west to the site of the present intersection of 220 and the St. Mary's above Macclenny. From there the road turned south along present 228 to join with the Spanish Trail. The Georgia line ran west from Ocean Pond. In the first two centuries since Florida's discovery, the vicinity that would become Baker County has been all of these - rather well known, in Carolina, in Georgia, and non-existent...as far as maps go, that is. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 1, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Baker County's Position On Maps Of The Past Continuing last week's article on the story of maps,an American map of 1794 completely erased the St. Mary's River and its surrounding territory even though that section of the southeast was rapidly settling. However Mr. Ellicot's work as a surveyor for the U.S. in the last years of the 1700's in establishing the Georgia-Florida border by using the St. Mary's put the river back on the map. By 1800 the mapmakers had again straightened the St. Mary's Big Bcnd. The Little Suwannee (called on one map "Little Savanna") just beyond the county's western line was almost correctly placed but the Suwannee proper, called the Carolinian River on some maps, traveled far to the east of its true bed and route and wandered through Baker County. On 1806 and 1811 charts the big swamp was labeled "Akenfonogo," the St. Mary's River was straight east and west and the Baker county area was still a large blank. Due to further exploration in finding the true headwaters of the St. Mary's, a mapmaker of 1821 drew the river in quite well, but probably due to a survey team's report that the middle and south prongs were of no consequence he failed to depict either of the minor streams. Neither did he connect the St. Mary's with the Okefenokee nor draw any roadways from Traders Hill into Florida. Black Creek's north prong (in Clay County) was shown very close to the south prong of the St. Mary's. By the 1830's most cartographers had conquered much of the geography of northeast Florida but depended on soldiers of the Second Seminole War for most of their information regarding roads and settlements. Settlements and forts changed positions frequently on the maps. Most of the routes shown were military trails. Settlement was from north to south so most of the roads were of that direction. The Alachua Trail which traveled close to today's McClenny from the 1700's until about 1920 disappeared from the maps for a while in the late 1830's. East-west routes began to be popular as the Indians were driven from the interior and pioneers started to move inward. Three major roads traversing Baker County to the west appeared on 1830's charts. In 1839, for the first time, Thigpen's Station (ancestor community of Baldwin) was pinpointed by the mapmakers as being about one mile north-northeast of the present Mattox Crossing between Trail Ridge and Deep Creek. The main Jacksonville-Tallahassee Road during Seminole hostilities, and on which Thiggen's was situated, forked at about the present Glen Saint Mary, one route going toward Alligator (Lake City) and the other continuing to Tallahassee. The older more important route to the territorial capital left Garey's Ferry (Middleburg), wandered toward Providence and thus missed Baker County. During the 1830's and 40's Ocean Pond was called Lake Randolph and occasionally Lake Spaulding (somebody finally settled on the name Spaulding for the present Palestine Lake or Lake Butler). After Nassau County was created, its western border moved often on maps. In fact, the site of McClenny was often included by mapmakers within Nassau, the line being moved from Deep Creek to the South Prong and back several times. Mapmakers ignored her, placed her in the wrong county, but were still to give Baker County the unkindest cut of all. See next week's article. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 8, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Baker County's Position On Maps Of The Past - Part Three In the 1850's maps were still shuttling the Columbia (Baker)- Nassau line from Deep Creek between McClenny and Baldwin to as far west as Ocean Pond, and it was not until the 60's that they decided on Deep Creek. It was even much later before the legislature and the mapmakers straightened it north and south rather than let it follow the crooked turns of Deep Creek or wander along the route atop Trail Ridge. An 1860 map first showed the two railroads of east Florida. Although it contained little else of the present Baker County area it did pinpoint Ft. Moniac at the confluence of the St. Mary's River with Moccasin Branch. The big swamp on our north was still undergoing a name spelling change. In 1871 it was listed as "Eoke-fino-kee", but ten years earlier its spelling was the same as that currently used except that it ended with a single "e". The railroads were among the main reasons for the better maps of the 60's and 70's. They listed stops at Darby's Still (Trail Ridge), Barber's (just west of the Little St. Mary's), Newburg (Margaretta), Drake's Station (west of Margaretta), Johnsville Station (Sanderson), but none at Olustee although it was already getting big as a lumber town. Things in their present forms began to take shape on maps in the late 1870's. Familiar names started to appear. Only one big problem...most maps did not get around to separating us from Columbia County until about 1873. As far as they were concerned, we did not exist. Hopefully Baker County will not cease to exist in the future. To insure the preservation of its unique rural and historical flavor there is a movement underway to form an historical association. It is hoped that a charter will soon be secured. With legal status perhaps the old county jaiI can be used as an historical museum by the association. Many projects can be assumed by the association such as aiding and advising in the preservation of structures of historical and architectural interest, maintaining an historical and genealogical section at the local library, assisting zoning boards in retaining our county's country charm without sacrificing its economic advancement, and maybe even promoting for the first time in one hundred years a new but small wave of tourism. May we hear your comments? _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 15, 1978 THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Baker County Ancestors In The War Of 1812 The War of 1812 produced our National Anthem, made a hero and politician out of Andrew Jackson, inconvenienced the eastern seaboard, caused a lot of folks from Maryland south to be named James Madison and Dolly for several generations, and gained our little nation some recognition from Great Britain. Of all the Georgia counties researched for veterans of that war, Tattnall's lists contained more Baker County ancestors than all the others combined. Mustering in on the 10th of January, 1814, into Capt. John P. Slackman's Company, 10th Batt., 2nd Brig., l st Div., Georgia Militia were the following: Lt. Edmond Page Wester; Henry Sapp, Amos Anderson, Levi Bowen, John Branch, William Carter, Thomas Clarke, Wade Coleman, John Dees, Matthew Dees, Jesse Durrence, John Durrence, William Durrence, Henry Dyess, Jr., Nathan Hodges, Silas Huner, Archibald Johnson, John Johnson, Randall Johnson, Jacob Jones, Matthew Jones, John Prescott, Drewry Reddish, Daniel Rigdon, Josiah; "Sier" Sikes, William Smith, Jr., Aaron Strickland, Reubin Strickland. Mustering in on the 18th day of January, 1815, into Capt. John Winn's Company, 2nd Reg., Georgia Militia were: John Winn, Abraham Fraser, William Barber, Samuel Barber, Levi Morgan, William Nettles, Peter Prevatt, John Townsend, Light Townsend, James Clark, Matthew Driggers, William Futch, William Harvey, George Howard, Samuel Howard, William Malphus, Josiah Reed, Martin Shaw, William Smith, Sr., William Smith Jr., Richard Strickland, William Thompson, Peter Farley Winn. At the beginning of the war, the following men enlisted in Capt. Robert Quarterman's Company of the 2nd Regiment, Georgia Militia: Daniel M. Stewart, Oliver Stevens, Samuel E. Swilley, James Phillips, Micajah Andrews, Matthew Bennett, Eli Bradley, John Brown, John Carter, Thomas Chesser, James Chesser, Richard Ennis, Andrew F. Fraser, John Fraser, William Fraser, William Hodges, John Howard, Samuel Jones, Samuel Lyons, John H. Malphus, William Norman, John Smith, John Stafford, Samuel Stevens, Thomas Stevens, John Stewart, Reason F. Swilley, John Tanner. Of the 81 names listed, 64 were known or stronly believed to have been forebearers of Baker County natives. There were others from various counties in Georgia, such as Elisha Green of Col. Newmans unit (served directly under Andrew Jackson) and Obadiah Garrett under command of Capt. Cone, but many others must still come to light through research. One sidelight that bears mentioning is the fact that the Fraser men were members of the old Quaker settlement near Sunbury in Liberty County. Although they were dedicated to peace and love, many of the old-time Frasers dearly loved to enter a good fracas when necessary. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday June 22, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Soldiers Story W. T. Walters, the old soldier who wrote the following letter, was never a resident of Baker County, Florida, but two of his sons were. Mr. John C. Walters and Rev. Augustus A. Walters were lumbermen here and are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. They contributed greatly to the economy of the county and the Rev. Walters was a longtime minister in the McClenny First Baptist Church. Besides the letter being an excellent account of the trials and tribulations of a typical Civil War soldier, the remarks added at the end make a comment regarding the breaking of her shackles by one woman in 1909 - Mrs. Felton as the editor of the Atlanta Journal. THE SOLDIER'S STORY Fair Play, S. C. Nov. 7, 1909 Dear Mrs. Felton, Cartersville, Ga.: I have been thinking of writing you for a long time but never started to write until today. I have been taking the Journal four or five years. I like your writings very much. I am an old Confederate soldier. I was a member of the 31 st Georgia volunteers. This regiment was commanded by J. A. W. Johnson of Dalton, Ga. I am 66 years old and disabled by disease, and unable to work, but cannot draw any pension because I own a farm. I have worked very hard and tried to take care of my savings until I bought a small farm on Tugalloo River. That is why I am unable to draw a pension. I have always heard it said, "Where there is a will there is a way." I was sorry to read of your bereavement. Dr. Felton was a model man and will be greatly missed in his county and state, but still more in his home. It was a great consolation to you that he was a Christian man and that he could talk with his dear wife when dying. The future of his destiny was so much better than when the wicked die and go out into the great beyond, for there is no hope in the death of the wicked. I am with you in your counsel to those who live boyond their means, and there are a whole lot of people who bedress themselves to the finish and owe for all they have on and don't care if they never pay. Some boys and girls, too, spend all they can earn in clothes. Girls nowadays must send to New York for a pattern and when the pattern comes it takes a third more of material and two-thirds more work on the garment than was required 50 years ago, and they really don't care anything about what the thing costs. As I said at the start, I am an old soldier. I left for the war in August 1862, and came home in June, 1865. I was in Camp Chase, Ohio, prison when the war ended. I left prison May 12, 1865, and it was June 23, 1865, when I reached home. I had to beg for food part of the time. The Federals gave me three days rations to start on and transportation to the nearest railroad station, but both the armies had passed through Georgia and when I left the train at Calhoun, Ga., I walked 140 miles home. I would walk all day and then lie under thick bushes until next morning and then try to beg a little something to eat. Sometimes I could get a littte milk and bread, and sometimes nothing at all. Going through the mountains of Fannin and Gilmer counties it was hard to get anything to eat. The people were very poor and the four years of war had been hard on them. They were nearly famine-stricken themselves. When I reached home it was the same with us. As I journeyed home I found some excellent people, among them Mr. Patton of Gordon County. He was one of the finest men I ever met. He was a wealthy old bachelor with a gang of negroes and a good farm. He was just as fine a man as you might wish to meet with anywhere. Nothing he had was too good for an old soldier. When I got home I went to work. I split rails, ditched, grubbed the land, etc. I split rails at 33 1/3 cents per 100. I grubbed at 35 cents per day and boarded myself. In 1870 I married and have raised 11 children of my own, also one little granddaughter now ten years of age. I have six children who are married and 20 grandchildren. I have plenty of this world's goods. By economy and care I have been able to take care of myself the remainder of my days. I never went to school but six months in my life. I was only a boy when I went to the war. You can see how we boys fared when peace was made. There were no good country schools, and I was not able to go off to school. So I adopted the trade of stone mason, built chimney's all about in this country. This is a rude sketch of my life. I must not forget to say I was with Johnston's army in its retreat from Dalton to Atlanta. I saw Lieutenant General Polk killed right on top of Kennesaw Mountain. I shot the first gun on the 23rd of July at Peachtree Creek, now Atlanta. I was on the railroad, on the east between the creeks that emptied into Peachtree Creek. I was on picket and had orders to fire when I saw the enemy coming, and then fall back to the picket post. On that day of fighting we could see the armies engaged very plain, until the air was so full of dust and smoke that they shut out from view. I will close out now with much love to Mrs. Felton. May you be spared a long time, and permited to write many more good pages for The Journal newspaper. W. T. WALTERS Fair Play, S.C. R.F.D., No.2 (Remarks by the Editoress:-How I do wish our brave old veterans would write more of such letters about their war experiences! It will be valuable history one of these days to know who saw General Polk killed at the top of Kennesaw Mountain, and who fired the first shot at the famous battle of Peachtree Creek on that dreadful 23rd of July. This letter should be inspiring to all the youth of our country. Think of working ten hours a day with a grubbing hoe in a cold, bleak field for 35 cents a day and boarding yourself! That faithfulness required as much courage as to fire the picket shot which ushered in a battle. I would be glad to meet Mr. Walters and talk it over with him for I was familiar with many war experiences.) _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday July 27, 1978 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber Westberry Griffis Story If Westberry Griffis had never done anything else, he deserves a place in history as the father of 23 children. Of course he had considerable assistance from his three wives, Eliza, Laura, and a lady whose name we have been unable to discover. Mr. Griffis was born in Georgia on the 17th of November, 1835, a son of John and Easter Griffis (they were born in 1809, Georgia, and 1810, South Carolina, respectively). Westberry, called "Berry", was brought to Columbia County, Florida at the end of the 2nd Seminole War when his father, a veteran of that war, moved his family to better opportunities. The part which later became Baker County was their home, finally settling just a few miles south of the present McClenny and Glen Saint Mary. Berry's first wife was Eliza, a daughter of William Elisha Wilkerson (it is perfectly O.K. to spell and pronounce it "Wilkinson" since the two along with a number of other variations, all came from Revolutionary War veteran Elisha Wilkerson of Georgia). This column has not determined the name of his second wife nor the names of six of the children. Among the children of the first two marriages were Sarah Jane who married Joseph "Sog" Griffis (grandparents of County Judge D. L. Griffis), Easter Ann who married Bryant "Bunk" Wilkinson and lived to the age of 110 years, Westberry who married Polly Padgett, Elisha (marriage if any unknown), Gadsden "Pete" who married Fannie Padgett (sister of above Polly), Rebecca "Beck" who was among the oldest and who married J. S. "Britt" Rosier, John, Richard "Dick", and Counce. Mr. Griffis next wed Mrs. Laura Blitch of South Carolina. Mrs. Blitch had been given away by her parents as a child and she had a daughter, Lula, while still very young. To Mr. Griffis she presented Edward Lee who married Lottie Woods, Florida "Flora" who married E. L. Wilkerson, Raymond who married Maggie Griffis (parents of the late McClenny attorney Earlie Griffis), Frances who married Jefferson Francis Starling, Georgia who married R. C. Griffis, Willie who married Ora Register, Nathen who married Pearl Griffis, and Brooks S. Berry farmed all his life except for the years he spent in the Confederate Army. His last farms were in the south end of Baker County. On the 15th of July, 1905, he passed away and was laid to rest in Longbranch Cemetery near Maxville.