"The Way It Was" Newspaper Column on Baker County, Florida History, 1982 part 2 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 his articles written in 1982. Contents: * '81 wrapup and '82 beginning (in part 1) * 'Uncle Budder" Johnson (in part 1) * On life's greatest questions (in part 1) * The county's early post offices (in part 1) * State of the Union message....and equal time (in part 1) * Life's great questions (in part 1) * The month of February (in part 1) * Rare maps from period 1886-1924 (in part 1) * Some ready-to-quote one liners (in part 1) * On the approaching spring-winter (in part 1) * On the approaching spring - Temperature, rain and St. Pat (in part 1) * On approaching spring - colors and scents (in part 1) * On approaching spring-cleaning, purging and bleeding (the wrap-up) (in part 1) * Some thoughts on Easter (in part 1) * Centennial interest grows (in part 1) * Birthdates of other Baker County communities (in part 1) * Community name origins (in part 1) * Wrapup of Communities' Ages (in part 1) * McClenny 1883-1983 - the past in pictures * The old courthouse clock * 'Accident on the Lake City Road' * Genealogy / Answers and comments * The readers speak * McClenny 1883-1983 - A Brief History, Part I * Macclenny 1883-1983 - A brief history, part 2 * Macclenny 1883-1983 - a brief history, part three * Macclenny 1883-1983 - A brief history - part IV * Macclenny 1883-1983 - Photographs * McClenny 1883-1983 - A brief history, Part V * Macclenny 1883-1983 - A Brief History, Part VI * Macclenny 1883-1983 - The conclusion * Lessons from a 10 year old * Lessons from our readers * Summer doldrums and historical tidbits * More historical tidbits * Historical Potpourri * Sayings for all season (in part 3) * The Elder Wilson Conner (in part 3) * Confederates and the Oath of Allegiance (in part 3) * The Oath of Allegiance and some Thrifts (in part 3) * The McClenny Centennial - Preparations underway (in part 3) * Ed Fraser Hospital (in part 3) * Sheriffs 1861-1982 (in part 3) * Some Sundry Topics (in part 3) * Historical Personages - Two Parts (in part 3) * I'm thankful for........ (in part 3) * A couple of lists (in part 3) * Christmas decor from the past (in part 3) * Old Time Christmas Eating (in part 3) * "...for the poor always ye have with you" "Blessed be ye poor..' (in part 3) * "How '82 predictions fared (in part 3) _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, May 13, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber McClenny 1883-1983 - the past in pictures Walter and Lillie Turner were among the first residents of the newly platted town of McClenny. Some of their descendants, a lovely group of ladies (and, incidentally, related to your columnist), recently visited the city and left a collection of early McClenny photographs to share with our readers. [picture omitted here] South Fifth Street looking north-If you had been standing with the photographer when he shot this Kodak around 1909, you would have been in the middle of the street between the present Woman's Club Home and Myra fraser's place of business. The square-façade unpainted building on the right was the home, at various times, of Milton's store, Howell's store, and Clayton's store, and was the county's first known telephone office (operated by Clayton). The new construction on the left would become the home of the Baker County Press about twenty years later. [picture omitted here] Intersection of McClenny Avenue and Fifth Street-No one in his right mind would stand in the middle of this busy spot to snap a picture today, but in the early 1920's, taffic was less heavy.The old Citizens State Bank is at the extreme left, and peeping out from behind it are the Garrett-Thomas house and Merritt house (both razed). The fence of the Turner-Rhoden housed can be seen at the right. [picture omitted here] McClenny School-Until it burned in the late 1920's, this structure stood on the northwest corner of South Sixth street and Michigan Avenue. It had replaced, just prior to the 20th century, an earlier building on the same site. The late B.J. Padgett organized the county's first high school in this simple but spacious seat of learning. It is now the site of Davis and Bernice Yarbourgh's home. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, May 20,1982 THE WAY 1T WAS-Gene Barber The old courthouse Clock Back in '79, we presented some facts and fancies regarding our old Baker County courthouse. There has been, since then, a movement to do a bit of renovating on the grand and venerable structure. To aid the cause, we again offer some courthouse stories. We were gathering data on the building for the Restoration Committee's efforts to get it placed on the National Register of Historical Sites when we remembered that we had once talked with the late Arthur Rowe about his activities in and around the area. We also recollected that Hank Drane of The Florida Times Union had interviewed Mr. Rowe at about the same time on the same matter. We feverishly searched for weeks, through our pitiful remains of county history for those data, and finally were rewarded with success. In the meantime, it meant a thorough housecleaning, for which we entertain a thorough dislike. The courthouse clock was installed in 1917, and Art Rowe, expert builder, craftsman, philosopher, and one-time county sheriff, was engaged as caretaker for the monumental timepiece. He held the job until 1941 when he moved away from the county for a few years. The county officials averred that Mr. Rowe was, "...the best clock winder the county ever had." Of course, at that time, Mr. Rowe was the only clock winder the county ever had. The weekly long uncomfortable climb into the clock tower for the almost quarter of a century was missed by Rowe but about a half dozen times, "...and I never went out of the county that I didn't have somebody to take my place", said Rowe in 1956. "In those days, you could expect people to tend to matters in your place if you asked them. Not so today," he added sadly. "The clock never stopped running during those years, and it kept perfect time except for two or three occasions when flying squirrels climbed in the tower and dropped pecan shells in the gears. " His brother John Rowe undertook the job for a few years after Arthur resigned. As the busy Times Union representative in the county and with a heavy responsibility on the local Selective Service Board, John was forced by his schedule to resign as clockwinder. The move to the new courthouse on US 90 West was made after World War II, and Arthur Rowe urged the County Commission to transfer the clock works and bell to the prepared and waiting clock face in the new building. The Commission decided to neither transfer the old clock nor buy a new one, but did agree to keep the clock running where it was. Then the clock was forgotten by everyone except a few sentimental souls such as Art Rowe. He reflected on that silent span in the courthouse clock's history and mused, "...the hands didn't move for five or six years, not because of mechanical failure but due to human failure. The clock is still in perfect condition. It just needs some dependable person to look after it." In the early 1950's that dependable person, John Holt by name, "...decided it was a reflection against the county for the old clock to stand idle...", and donated his time to keep the old clock in running order. Rowe claimed jeweler Holt did an outstanding job for the few years he remained in McClenny. When Dr. Holt left the county for several years, another jeweler, Johnny Wales, was hired to wind the clock. Wales moved in 1956, and John Hurst replaced him. Art Rowe climbed the tower ladder one last time (his bad leg was protesting the climb on every run) to demonstrate the oiling and winding procedure that must take place every seven days. John Hurst died, and the clock fell idle once more. Rowe recalled how much strength it took to crank two huge weights, a total of a ton and a half, to a height of 25 feet. At 67 years of age in 1956, Rowe could still wind the cranks, the equivalent of hoisting 100 to 150 pounds. He also remembered that he started the job for $5.00 a month. "It wasn't the money", he commented, "that kept me on the job so long. Somehow, I felt I was performing a service to the people. During all those years I wound the clock, people regulated their lives by it. They used the clock to start to work and quit for the day, they went to bed and got up by it each day and timed their meals with the clock." In 1976, as a Bicentennial gesture, the County Commission started up the 600 pound bell again with new works let us try to keep it sounding the hours, little mater that it all means nothing to us now there will be a generation following us who will be happy we kept the clock going and the old courthouse alive. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1982 THE WAY 1T WAS-Gene Barber Accident on the Lake City Road This week's title was also the biggest headline in a Jacksonville Times-Union issue 56 years ago. Such treatment strikes us as odd today when traffic mishaps are so commonplace as to render them dull to anyone but those involved. In fact, unless a vehicular accident results in a high number of deaths or is of a most peculiar nature, we usually glide right over notices of this sort in a newspaper. Not so, during the time when automobiles were still a novelty to many and when paved roads were anything but plentiful. The writer's great-grandfather Senator C.F. Barber had long been a proponent of both automobile traffic and paved roads (we have an interesting T-U story regarding his crusade for paving highways with, pine straw long before asphalt and concrete were thought to be practical). We wonder if the yellowed clipping left among his papers was a reminder that he, perhaps thought he was wrong. "The first serious accident reported on the new Jacksonville-Lake City highway occurred yesterday about noon near Olustee when a Ford touring, car driven by Henry Peterson of Jacksonville Heights left the road and piled up, a total wreck, in a deep ditch beside the highway. The car was occupied by Peterson, his wife and baby.......(illegible)...baby, and Ellis Haddock, living at Cedar Creek on the Old Orange Park road. Mrs. Miller lives with the Peterson family. "Peterson was the most seriously injured of the party of six, and it was first thought that he was dead. His injuries consisted of a fractured spine, which may prove fatal, a dislocated vertebrae and other bad bruises. The Miller baby was also thought to be dead by motorists who removed the injured from under the car, the child having been knocked unconscious by a blow on the head. The youngster revived, however, and was found to be only bruised. "Haddock sustained a badly mashed left hand and other scratches, while Mrs. Peterson, Mrs. Miller and the Peterson baby were only slightly cut and bruised. They were all taken to a hospital in Lake City where medical attention was given by Drs. Hartness and Bates. The scene of the accident was a quarter of a mile this side of Olustee on the right side of the road going to Lake City. the machine left the road just after it had passed over a culvert at a point where the shoulder of the highway had benn washed away leaving a space of about a foot below the level of the highway. The right front wheel dropped down in the gully and the machine plunged down an embankment, running in a diagonal direction for about seventy five feet until it reached the bottom of a ditch. The wheels ploughed heavy furrows in the deep sand but this did not stop the onrush of the auto. When it struck the bottom of the ditch it turned completely over with the front heading toward Jacksonville and became imbedded in the muddy earth, flattening completely out and a total wreck. After the occupants were taken from the scene and sent on to the hospital in Lake City, travelers coming to Jacksonville surveyed the accident and were perplexed as to how any one could have escaped alive. A mans hat brought from a local store, was under the machine, an outing hat of a woman was on top of it and a pair of baby shoes were also found. as far as could be seen under the machine, there were men's coats and a box which had contained lunch, the food being scattered about. At this point, your writer wishes to say to his critics who complain of his look of, overuse of and misuse of commas, they should try to suffer through some of the old time journalistic writing. After doing so they would speak less harshly and with less negativism, of his punctuation problems. The luncheon mentioned in the final paragraph pertained to a giant celebration to be held in Lake City on the occasion of the highways completion. The local weather forecast on that day was not unlike that of the day we sit at our typewriter squinting at the faded print and being reminded of the frustrated Daytona Daredevils tearing up the little road by our house "probably local thundershowers gentle variable winds" on such a day as this 56 years ago there was irreparable damage done to life and limb. How many more will windup in tiny notices in today's papers; a good time a good life; cut short. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, June 3, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Genealogy / Answers and comments Although your columnist has affirmed and often re-affirmed that he is not a genealogist, he still receives enough mail on the subject of family history to create about a two year backlog. When he finally gets around to the task of answering (and writing any kind of letter is an awesome and odious chore to him), he is usually sorry for it. Frequently, it is upon receipt of the answer to his answer that he realizes that the original request for information was in reality a cleverly disguised bit of captious bait, for his correspondent (originally so sweet and almost obsequious) then couches the second missive in terms not unlike Great Britain's reaction to the Argentine takeover of the Falklands. None but a fool would willingly enter a lion's den the second time, but your writer has never carried a reputation for brightness. The past couple of weeks have brought a raft of requests for genealogical data, and since they are of widespread interest, we shall once again step temerariously out and offer the following answers and comments. We received three letters pertaining to the area Thompson families. All three writers claimed descent from the late Calvin Thompson of the Bend Section, and all three asked how was their Calvin related to the Moses Thompson buried in McClenny's Woodlawn Cemetery. Answer: At present, this column knows of no kinship between the two men. Moses came to the present McClenny from Edgefield, South Carolina, in 1852; he was born in North Carolina in 1806; and recognized no family relationship with the earlier-arrived Thompsons of the Bend and the north end of the county. Calvin was born many years later near the present St. George in the Bend. His parentage has yet to be discovered, a not rare situation for those folks born on frontiers in the 19th century. Two of the letters made reference to General Wiley Thompson as being the progenitor of the local Thompson family, claimed one of Osceola's sisters as an ancestress, and spoke at length of illegitimacy. Comments: We checked with some Second Seminole War experts, (Gen. Thompson was a martyr of that conflict) and none gave evidence of General Thompson being in this area except when he participated in the second U.S. exploration of the St. Mary's River in 1818. This does not preclude his having sired some woods colts while in the area, but those who claim kin to him have nothing to go on but a same surname (false and dangerous logic). Professional historians have put in an entire adult lifetime researching the famed Osceola and have pretty well accounted for his siblings. None has found one of Osceola's sisters stopping by St. George and having tea or engaging in young'un-getting. To F.P. Jones' quote, "Perhaps nobody has changed the course of history as much as the historians", we wish to add, "except the amateur historians and genealogists." No family ever researched by this columnist is free of illegitimacy, but unneccessary reference to the subject is still regarded as being in poor taste. The lack of authenticated parentage should not be equated with questionable parentage. Any family deserves much better than a fabricated family history. Let the Thompson rumor, which can be traced back to a non blood related, rather disingenuous but imaginative and well-read source, lie and die. Interest in the Combs Clan seems to be escalating lately as evidenced by several queries from our readers. We've replied to most, but we saved a general statement for our readers. Comment: The surname Combs and its variations Coombs, Coomb, Comes, Combes, etc. is found in the British Isles, especially in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and on English Scottish border. Since in its history, the ancient Celtic word "coomb" has referred to coop, hive, hill, base of a hill, and ravine, the earliest holders of the name might have been fowl keepers, apiarists, or identified with a hill or deep narrow valley. In this country, the name Combs is quite common in the border states and in the southern Appalachians. This surname can also be found frequently throughout the midwest. Members of this family have distinguished themselves in the arts and entertainment, sports, and have sat in the seats of governors of states. Their physical features are distinctive and carry strongly and far no matter how diluted by marriage. QUESTION: I just got a card telling me that my family history is being prepared and printed. It says my family is rare, but that everyone of us is included in the book. The lady said that I'd have to get my order in soon. Do you know anything about this, and what do you recommend? ANSWER: Chunk that card away. We're familiar with the scheme. The card does not actually contain any falsehoods, but it is misleading and very easy to be misread. The intent is to defraud. No matter what your family name, you would receive the same book as everyone else, the only difference being that an additional section of poorly printed lists evidently lifted from city directories has been included in the back. It is grossly overpriced at near $30.00 ($3.00 would be nearer correct) and tells you absolutely nothing about your family. Never buy a family history book through the mail unless you have had ample opportunity to go through a descriptive flyer on the publication, and never respond to any advertising that crowds you for time. And while we're at it the same goes for those coats-of-arms ads in the family magazines. No one is morally entitled to display a coat-of-arms unless that design was granted to a direct ancestor regardless that the name is the same. Listen dear readers, if your ancestor was granted one of those little bits of snobbery nothing more than an identifying insignia and to help gel a family name. You wouldn't have to look up your coat-of-arms. If you wish to possess a coat-of-arms, design your own and have it registered. It's acceptable, legitimate and alright. But to display someone else's is definitely mauvais gout. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, June 10, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber The readers speak Most years, at near this time, we offer a column on our readers comments. It's a sort of anniversary affair (would you believe we've been doing this for nigh on to seven years?). Besides being a mild form of egomania we're in dulging, it is a great way to fill up a column when we're staring blankly at our typewriter which is returning our stare no less blankly Don't be misled, dear reader, the cards and letters have been less than pouring in. To be certain, some of the comments were tossed across a parking lot or in the grocery store's frozen food department rather than being perpetrated in writing. Several were definitely left-handed complaints, and many were flat-out of a negative nature. But...we still got comments. "I really liked: your Christmas article," said Mrs. Roxie Nipper, now, something like that I can relate to." Mrs. Martha Leuenberger of Jacksonville comments, "I especially enjoyed the one about the, courthouse clock. I call you the William F. Buckley of McClenny." From the same city, Mrs. Judy Carlisle stated, "I like your funny ones better." Kind words from Cathy and Jessse Jones of Jacksonville: "We look forward to getting The Press every week. Your articles mean so much more to us since we've learned to know some of the places you write about." Mrs. Carlette Arnold of Jacksonville and Mr. Ron Cohen of Orlando both saved our old-time Easter effusion, and Mrs.Arnold, as well as literally dozens of others, still recalls "Uncle Budder" with a smile. Mr. Gregory Barnes of Washington state was most complimentary in his response to our John and Molly story, and his brother, Mr. Ward Barnes of Washington D.C. has been beneficent to our column with his research. If nothing else, their "Hi Cuz" would be sufficiently complimentary. Still our most avid supporter and most appreciated critic is Miss Karlie Tyler. She takes time to call (or try to call) whenever she has particularly enjoyed a column (which is, we're plumb tickled to say, often) and is demonstrably silent whenever one has not struck her fancy. Perhaps the most flattering remarks came from Mrs. Mary Lou Drawdy and Mrs. Gloria Hodges on when they at separate times, declared they were fans of (get that.."fans") of the column. We're very surprised at the large number of younger readers. David Burnett, for instance, tells us that he has been a regular reader for some time. So much for the good comments (there really were not that many anyhow) and on to those of a questionable and negative sort. To prevent embarrassment (like your columnist walking around with a "skint head" compliments of an irate reader), we shall omit names. "The first thing I do when I get the paper is to turn to page two:(this is always a good set-up) and read Jemsa Whizdum and look at the cartoon. If your column is funny, I read it too." "One day, you're gonna get, shot." And then there is the perennial "Where do you dig up all that mess?" The roughest response amounting to almost a malediction, crucified us upside down for our atrocious grammer and punctuation (ha, she forgot to mention our unbelievably bad spelling, our wandering non-sentence structure, our illegitimate coinage of words, and our poor taste in referring to slang and scatalogical statements from the area's old-timers). But, good folks, any comment is better'n nary comment. Ain't that right? And we shall continue to tell it like it was and sometimes, like it still is. Keep them cards and letters coming in. We won't get around to answering them for about two years or more, but they're on file...somewhere... we think. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, June 17, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber McClenny 1883-1983 - A Brief History, Part I McClenny, like a host of other Florida communities, was a result of the post Civil War boom that brought the Northern folk down to Florida for health, curiosity, and investment (not necessarily in that order). It can be basically said of its history that McClenny is not an old city, but it is among the nation's earliest planned development communities, and it is an extremely ancient site of habitation. Although no known professional archaeological work has been done at the McClenny site, amateur (albeit expert in many cases) diggings have produced artifacts that compare with those in the Alachua and upper middle Florida areas of near 5,000 years ago. Pottery pieces dated by museum displays match those which date from approximately 500 years ago to 300 years ago. Both the golf course and Brickyard Branch sections have yielded scrapers and other tools and points which closely resemble some of the known oldest pieces (over 10,000 years ago found in Alabama and Georgia sites). Local burial mounds, most of which have been desecrated by flea market type people in a manner making the ancient Vandals and Huns look good by comparison, seem to follow a pattern begun close to 2,000 years ago. The county's earliest documented European neighbors, the French at Fort Caroline in the 1560's, asked the Timaqua along the St. John's River valley about the people west of the later-dubbed Trail Ridge, and they replied, "the Utina." Most historians agree that this branch of the Timaqua had the present McClenny as its eastern border. Some maps of a slightly later period showed the McClenny and Okefenokee country to be occupied by the Apalachee people, but just as the Okefenokee was once thought to be vastly greater than it actually was, perhaps the extent of the Apalachee people of west and upper middle Florida was mistakenly thought to be greater. The Timaqua of interior Florida referred to their rich farming land of Alachua and present contiguous counties as Potano, and McClenny with its nutrient poor sand and marsh was just within the province's northern boundary. Whatever they were and whatever they called themselves(it is now believed by some that the name "Utina" was applied erroneously), they left evidence that they were mostly wild-produce gatherers and hunters and were very much dependent on the waterlife found so bountifully in the area's numerous streams, marshes, and ponds. Teeth found in burial mounds were ground down to almost their roots by feeding on grit-heavy fresh water mussels (unlike many of their neighbors, they did not possess stone mortars to grind grain, or that could be accounted for the teeth-leveling grit). Their tools, points, and pottery pieces were mostly of a rather primitive nature, and decorative or wealth-exhibiting ornaments are almost non-existent. These primitive people of the McClenny site were the poor kin of their neighbors and language group, and in that manner, they prefigured the later McClenny citizens, those Crackers who would supplant the Indians (McClenny has a long and unenviable history of being one of the state's step-children, economically and culturally). The scant records we have of the area's early Amerindians (the religiously zealous Spaniards attempted to extirpate all the aborigines' culture, religion, and speech and were almost totally successful) indicate they had a culture and language relationship with both the greatly advanced peoples of Central America and the very intelligent mound builders of the lower central present United States. Their trading ranged into central and west Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Obsidian points and abalone shells found near McClenny are evidence of direct or indirect contact with the far western North American continent. Those first McClennians were not known to be bellicose, and when Governor Moore of South Carolina (sometimes labeled American history's first redneck of notoriety) swept through these environs in the first years of the eighteenth century, they did little to resist. Already demoralized by the sadly misplaced and misused religious zeal of the Spanish missionary fathers, they could do naught but relent to the murdering enslaving anglo-americans. Thus, McClenny perhaps continuously inhabited as long as Damascus and Jerico, was empty from about 1705 until maybe a hundred years or less later. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, June 24, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Macclenny 1883-1983 - A brief history, part 2 Although evidence points toward a very long history for the McClenny site in terms of human habitation, we have to be content for the nonce with conjecture prior to the date of 1829 (we shall explain the date later in the column). Since earliest charting and recording of events in the present McClenny area, two major routes have crossed each other in that section. One, roughly north-south, is known from the period of the American Revolution. Today, we are familiar with it as State Highway 228, but older heads remember it as the Maxville Road and Georgia Road. Still older folks might recall their parents referring to it (or part of it)as the Alachua Trail Road (not the main trail) and to the northern strip as either the Moniac, Pelham, Sparkman, or Sandusky Road. Folks during and before the Second Seminole War called it the Yelvington Trail. Mainly, the trail in discussion came south from Traders Hill, divaricate through the Georgia Bend and re-uniting in the vicinity of the local golf course, traveled along the present Lowder Road and joined two other important routes south of town. The other route was east and west following and sometimes paralleling the present US 90.Some amateur historians still push for it as being the original Spanish Trail from San Nicolas (Jacksonville) to Saint Marks and Pensacola in the beginning of the 17th century, but more erudite researchers say "it might have been used" by the Spaniards (Spanish coins from the 1700's have been found along both routes, but that is certainly not irrefutable proof of Spanish use). This column read once that this ancient way was also called Spaulding's Path, but we cannot remember the source (Never use this column for cocksure historical data; we report rumors as well as fact). The American government re-worked the trail and designated it as the first territorial post (mail) road for Florida in 1829. By the time of the Federal campaign in East Florida in 1864, the route was divided into three parallel thoroughfares with two joining at the present McClenny site and the southerly third veering near them. The northerly route was the Tallahassee Road, the southerly was the Alligator (Lake City) Road, and the middle (along the railroad) became known as the Turnpike. The Turnpike traveled on either side of the track on ground which afforded the most dependable solidity, and it was on this route that the major force of Yankee troops marched toward Olustee in February, 1864. Just after the beginning of the twentieth century, a new name was applied to the mud and sand road-the National Highway. Still later, and into the 1930's, it was Federal Highway 50 (paved in 1924-'26). In the writer's youth, we knew it as the Lake City Highway. Now it is US 90, and where it runs through McClenny its appellative is Macclenny Avenue (wouldn't it be nice during the city's centennial year if the citizenry and city fathers would, at least, agree to correct the spelling of the towns main drag? That really shouldn't present any great legal problems and would be a gracious heritage gesture to the family who gave the community its name and first great economical boost). All this vagarious data is to simply (finally) state that where major routes cross there is almost always a congestion of commercial and/or residential activity (do you know of a major crossroads that doesn't have a MacDonand's, Days Inn, Exxon Station, and a purveyor of black velvet paintings out of his van or vintage Cadillac?). We can be reasonably certain that as long as somebody was crossing and meeting at the area of McClenny there was somebody there to make a living off them. A modern day resident of McClenny transported back to, say,1829 would not recognize it as the same section, even without buildings, Trans Ams, and 4-W's. There were seemingly interminable stretches of pine, and those virgin forests sported trees centuries old. Some of the pioneers claimed that the removal of but six of eight of those pines would clear an entire acre of ground. In and around the swamps were cypresses whose girth and age would make the west coast's redwoods envious. Most surprising of all would be the vast areas of open marsh and treeless prairie-like bogs ringed with cedars that were old when Jesus of Nazareth disputed with the elders in the temple. On the highest ground were juniper or sand pines. The Epidendrum tampense had made a comeback in the neighborhood in the middle of a warming trend, and flitting among its blossoms, which ranged from modest to sparkling in colors, were gaudy-hued paraquets. Pigeons darkened the skies overhead and eagles screamed. In addition to the better known forms of wildlife are believed to have been the jaguar, and, just a few decades before, the American bison browsed where McClennians rock on front porches. The site of McClenny itself was mostly open marsh, and much of the present city is built on filled in land. The aforementioned roads traveled the strips of dry ground, and in July of 1829, a poor and intrepid (or just plain un-bright) cart and wagon train of Georgia pioneers dragged and clanked into view. They stopped to camp for the night near a sizable spring on the east bank of the Little Saint Mary's River. Inauspicious as it might have seemed, McClenny was born. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, July 1, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Macclenny, 1883-1983 - A brief history, part three The Georgians who arrived on the banks of the Little Saint Mary's River (also called, in those days, "Big Creek" in July, 1829, came mostly from the counties of Lowndes, Ware, and Camden. Most had been born in the east-central section of Georgia (and a few in South Carolina). Their departure point for Florida had been Traders Hill/Fort Alert (near the present Folkston) Listed alphabetically, and as heads of famiiles they were John, Joseph "General", Moses, Samuel, and William Barber; Matthew and William. Driggers; Elisha and Daniel Green(e); Daniel and Luke Mann; ;William Richardson and Elijah and Elisha Wilkerson(Wilkinson, Wilkison). Some were dead before the end of the year (Indians and fever), some returned to Georgia, and the majority moved on to other areas within or beyond the county. One, Moses Edward Barber, remained at the original camping spot, fortified his home, made claims for much of the surrounding land, and by 1830 had attracted several other families to settle near him. His stockaded plantation was used as a. horse-changing station for the short lived pony express mail riders system and for the soon-to-follow mail and passenger stages on the east-west post road. He set up an inn for the convenience of travelers and was appointed to a number of petty territorial government posts for his section of Alachua County (Baker was in the northern end of old Alachua County from 1828 to 1832). When Columbia County was cut out of Alachua in 1832, Barber was soon made a peace officer for the eastern district. Later he was appointed post master and, after statehood in 1845, he was elected a county commissioner. With him in the 1830's at the site of the present McClenny was Jonothan J.H. Davis, late of Augusta, Georgia. Davis was an elder in the Baptist faith, a business clerk, and a pedagogueof local notoriety. Elder Davis often alternated with Mr. Barber in the capacity of post master. It has been theorized by some researchers that Elder Davis might have been the progenitor of the several Davises to settle in the county and that he was probably the step-father of Mr. Barber's wife, Maria Leah Alvarez-Davis. Long before he was officially appointed post master for the neighborhood, Barber acted as same. That there was early a need for a post service is indication that the environs soon filled with other settlers. Barber and Davis had some prior associations with Florida. All the older men on the Original wagon train had fought in the Spanish Florida colony during either the War of 1812 (more properly referred to in Florida as the Patriots War or the Florida War) or the First Seminole War. Davis had reportedly lived in and around Saint Augustine before returning to Augusta in about 1800. Barber's family had lived near the McClenny site (Barber Bay on the northeast side of the city was named for his father) in 1820 and before. The Barber settlement-variously called 'Barbers' Station, Barber's Plantation, and simply Barbers-was in the present golf course and Miltondale section and remained a thriving community for almost 45 years. Long before the last members of that family had either died or moved away, the settlement moved down onto the east side of the Little Saint Mary's River and continued as a flag stop into the late 1870's. The Civil War was the death of Barbers' Station, but before it died, a Mr. Jackson of Georgia purchased extensive acreage of pine and cypress land near by. By 1866 there co-existed with the Barber community a sawmill sister settlement called Jackson. It would now be in the vicinity of Blair Street in west McClenny. State representative Sam Williams built a home in about 1865-6 behind the present Bennett's Farm Supply in west McClenny. Due to his influence as a stockholder and officer with the railroad company, he was able to get his home designated a regular train stop. However, his home Williamsburg was on a slope not conducive to train stops, and within a few years, Williamsburg was dead. The next parent town of McClenny was Darbyville, established around 1868 by John Darby, a former Confederate and native of Ireland. Darbyville lay in what is now the eastern edge of McClenny's business district and was a substantial village by the census of 1880. Its position in timber and naval stores country attracted northern investors, and tourists arrived for its salubrious climate. Also attracted was the affable Carr Bowers McClenny, late of Virginia and an erstwhile member of the Confederate Army. The man was industrious, and he was seemingly possessed of a Midas touch. He married Ada the daughter of the aforementioned Darby, and it was, it has been said, through her influence that the successful Captain McClenny performed several philanthropic deeds. One of those deeds was the building of the Saint James Academy for Girls under the direction of the Reverend Charles Snowden. In 1883, the enterprising and energetic team of Coloney and Talbott planned and platted out a new city to be named for the area's foremost promoter C.B. McClenny. Thus, after four parent communities in an unbroken chain for 54 years, McClenny was born. The concluding statement to this third part of our little series comes not from the fact that the co-subject of the statement was related to the columnist, but because, with the available data, no other logical conclusion can now be drawn: McClenny as residential entity, was established in 1829 by Moses Edward Barber, and it has been at community under four names for 153 years (not a half-bad record). _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, July 8, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Macclenny 1883-1983 - A brief history-part IV In case our usually perceptive readers begin to be a bit confused about the "parent communities" portion of our last effusion, we shall briefly recap; to wit, from about 1866 to 1870, there were, at one time, four settlements along about a mile and half stretch of the railroad-west to east, they were Barbers, Williamsburg, Jackson, and Darbyville (how's that for an almost nonstop sentence?). We wish to include in the next three paragraphs some items we inadvertently omitted in our first three parts. Among the fauna in the McClenny area from prehistoric times to late nineteenth century was the red wolf, and from prehistory until the early eighteenth century the same area was home to the American bison. To emphasize the marshy nature of the McClenny site, we offer some Macclenny Sentinel notes (Editor James B. Matthews was probably responsible for finally standardizing the spelling of the town's name by using the incorrect form on his masthead). Mr. Matthews wrote of the marsh between the town's business district and the academy being filled in by mule and wagon on two occasions-one for building the brick courthouse in 1908 and the second for constructing the jail in 1913. We also wish to remind older heads of their observing kids catching catfish in the1940's out of the cattail-filled water where much of west McClenny's business section is now located. We feel we should also help perpetuate the name of one of the city's founders by mentioning that he-John Savage-assisted Colonel Darby in establishing Darbyville. He was later involved in a nasty lawsuit and dropped out of sight. And now back to our exciting narrative which we are certain has most of you brought to the edges of your respective seats. Darbyville in 1880 was not one of your more sophisticated cities. Not unlike most American small and large communities of its day, its streets were alternately dusty and mirey. In the fashion of many urban areas, its business structures of frame construction (no masonry buildings then in old Darbyville) were of a simple rectangular plan and were possessed of a squared false front. There were a few log structures, and many businesses, according to the late Jim Rowe and Mae Wolfe, had dirt floors. Much of the little village revolved about and was constructed around the Darby store and post office which was from 1868 to about 1878 in the vicinity of L.V. Hiers Standard Oil office. The first known depot, another element of the community's focal point, was on the south side of the railroad midblock between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Prior to 1880, Colonel Darby built his "big store" on approximately the site of the present post office. A large structure, as its nickname implied, it faced College Street and was two storied. On the ground floor (well packed dirt) were the groceries, tack, and hardware departments. The upstairs housed dry goods and milliners supplies (millinery was as big then as jogging is now). On the east side of the store was a partly sheltered lot for the sales of horses and mules. Hitches and parking for single riders and conveyances, respectively, was along Florida Avenue (where we still park). Colonel Darby acted as mail distributor and included a small postal service area in the northeast corner of the store. To the east of the "big store" was a cotton gin and Darby's turpentine distillery. About two blocks north was Mr. Eisenberg's blacksmith shop. A few stores were set up on Railroad Avenue facing the tracks. The turnpike alongside the railroad was being used very little, and much of the non-rail traffic had been transferred to the southerly Lake City Road due to increased settlement in that area south of Darbyville. The Episcopalians attempted in the late 1870's to establish a church in Darbyville, but no other known representatives of other faiths are believed to have existed within the village's limits. The local Baptists founded Bethel Church and school on the Lake City Road in 1871. The site is now across the road from Woodlawn Cemetery. That school and one at Barber Bay are the only two known seats of learning in the Darbyville area until the founding of the Saint James Academy in 1885. Captain McClenny erected his city block-sized hotel on the present water tower and city hall block in 1881. Soon after, the little town sported a community band, a home militia unit, a thespian club, and social organizations. There were balls, concerts, and theatrical performances either in the hotel's commodious dining room or on its wide porches. The streets might have been mud and the inhabitants few, but old Darbyville and young McClenny knew how to live. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, July 15, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Macclenny 1883-1983 Based on the positive response from readers on past photographic representations. We think you again would enjoy a respite from the writer's loquacity in the form of old time pictures. [photo omitted here] This 1903 photograph of McClenny's first known masonry building was snapped shortly before the building was erected by John Thompson. Thompson's grocery was on the lower floor, and his wife's millinery shop and the family apartment were upstairs. The structure at the right was the Frank Wells Sr. hardware store. Within a few years, Charly Hodges would move from the Baxter Moniac section to McClenny and construct another brick building immediately on the left. [photo omitted here] A happy group "seeing off" a friend (leaving McClenny seemed to give occasion for jubilation in those days). From left to right. The three young girls in the center of the photograph were Alice Stevens, Mabel Rhoden and an unknown. The five ladies in the foreground, left to right, were Myrtle Blair, Ethyl Drawdy (profile}, Mamie Stevens, Effie Rhoden and the last is unknown. The photographer was facing west. [photo omitted here] The Hotel McClenny, built by C.B. McClenny in 1881, was for many years owned and operated by Elizabeth Barber and her relatives. It was an edifice that catered to winter guests and commercial travelers. Professional people began to rent office spaces on the ground floor in the young days of this century. This view was of the south entrance which faced the railroad. [photo omitted here] The Kodaker stood within the side (north) yard of the old McClenny school to snap this pose of John Dugger, Hamp Thompson, and Robert Clayton in 1909. Across the way is the present home of Mae Brooks Allen on South Sixth Street. [photo omitted here] Posing on the steps (north side) of the Saint James Episcopal Academy in about 1906 were, left to right, Alma Rowe, Arthur Rowe, and Rosa Blair. The academy stood from 1883 until the early 1920's at the end of South College Street. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, July 22, 1982 Page Two THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber McClenny 1883-1983 A brief history, Part V A Florida guidebook of 1885 makes Darbyville-McClenny sound like an enterprising place: "Darbyville is 28 miles west of Jacksonville, on the Florida Railway & Navigation Co's Railroad, to which the fare is $1.40; round trip $2.10, with reduced rates to those proposing to buy land. It was formerly an old saw mill settlement, but now is controlled by the Florida Improvement and Colonization Society. The population is about 200. The Baker County Star, a newspaper, Chas. Finley, proprietor, was first issued October 1, 1884. Hon. C.B. McClenny, President of the Florida Imp. & Col. Society, and C.F. Shuey, Esq., Attorney-at-Law and Land Commissioner of the Company, are among the prominent residents here. "There are three churches (ed. note: Baptist, Episcopal, and Methodist). The land is high and dry and the soil 'Best in Florida.' The country surrounding is rapidly settling up with white people from the North. Land is worth from $5.00 to $25.00 per acre. The Florida Improvement and Colonization Society own nearly 50,000 acres of selected lands in this county, and the reader is referred to them at Darbyville for further details in reference to their lands. One of the features of Darbyville is the Hotel McClenny managed by Mr. Samuel H. Smith, formerly of Philadelphia, and until October 1, 1884, manager of the popular St. Marks at Jacksonville. Every room in this hotel is on the outside and leads directly to a broad veranda which surrounds each story, making over 800 feet of covered promenade. The rates at this hotel are reasonable, the transient rate being from $2 to $2.50 per day." In the midst of the optimistic effusions of the land sellers, the decade of the eighties might not have lain so propitiously on the ears of many of the locals. Three years after McClenny's founding (1883), the great Charleston earthquake struck in August of 1886. No damage was reported beyond broken dishes, the McClenny Home Guard being knocked to its feet during evening drill, and many promises of leading more exemplary lives exacted from many a frightened sinner (later newspaper stories claimed, that most of those promises went the same way as the aforementioned dishes). Two years later, to the month, McClenny was in the merciless grip of ol' Yellow Jack...malaria. Scores were leveled by the epidemic and some were terminally so. The remnants of little Darbyville went the final way of a few other communities, and McClenny, which had once shared its present city limits with three other residential entities, now stood alone. Although Darbyville district lost much land to the creation of the Glen Saint Mary District, it was steadily gaining in population. In 1885 the Darbyville Precinct included all of the county east of the range line dividing 21 and 22 and running north on said line until it intersected the South Prong (the Little Saint Mary's River) and continued along it until it emptied into the Big Saint Mary's. Mr. McClenny and others began a campaign in 1885 to have the new county seat removed from Sanderson to McClenny, and on the seventh of December, 1885, they presented a petition signed by several citizens regarding that proposal. J.M. Thompson, William Jennings, and G.C. Dyess, with the Clerk of the Board, examined the petition and found it to be legal and in acceptable order. The election was scheduled for the following 26th of January. The McClenny inspectors for the day were H.L. Reed, Charles F. Barber, and R.L. Rowe. The notices and results of the special vote were to be published in the Baker County Standard (Mott Howard, owner and editor). Everything rocked along just fine until the tabulation evinced a majority of 23 of the total votes cast of 463 desired the new community of McClenny be also the new county seat. Then, the Board of County Commissioners balked: "It appearing to this Board that the Petition to the Board of County Commissioners praying for the location of the County site at the unincorporated town of McClenny are not in the terms and conditions of the Act, Chapter 1890, laws of 1872, That this Board has no Jurisdiction to act in this matter and the election so held in Conformity to said order for said Election has no legal effect and is therefore illegal, void and non effect." The Board refused to enter the vote tabulation in its minutes until forced to do so by the state, and it willingly appeared before the Supreme Court to argue against the vote results. The change came. Such is the democratic system when operated correctly. The removal was greeted with fireworks and shotgun blasts. Some disgruntled county officers toted home as many records as they could and left the remainder to be destroyed by a rumored impending courthouse fire. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, July 29, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber McClenny 1883-1983 - A Brief History, Part VI McClenny's first twenty years, excepting the great quake and yellow fever epidemic, rolled along smoothly and uneventfully. The tiny village picked up momentum in the infancy of the twentieth century. Businesses and buildings of brick and artificial stone (concrete block)sprang up like toadstools after a rain. General and grocery stores were under the names of Howell, Clayton (also the original telephone operator), Thompson, Hodges, Rhoden, Rogers, Milton, Pons, Wells, Powers, Goethe, and, undoubtedly, several others. Clen Worley, late of South Carolina, operated the barber shop. Two of the town's first drugstores were owned, individually, by Dr. Brown and Miss Alma Rowe. There was no shortage of medical doctors and dentists. Among others during the early years of the century were Drs. Smoak, Curtis, Long, Strickland, Brown and Miller. A number of Northern attorneys-at-law had been attracted to McClenny at its inception. They were Messrs. Shuey and Merritt and McIver, and, after the new century brought rapid and steady growth, several young brilliant men in law settled here also. Among them was Max Brown of Lake City, the first Floridian to have been elected president of the student body at Harvard. There was Hamilton County native Branch Cone, brother of the later governor Fred Cone. Baker County's own gentleman-educator Walter Dopson earned a wide reputation from his McClenny-based office. Historic Allen Chapel Methodist Church, now 111 years old, was becoming better known even though the Northern guide books insisted on omitting the black congregation from their pages. The First Baptist Church, also technically 111 years old since it was formed in 1883 from the remnants of the 1871 founded Bethel Church, was considered, along with the First Baptist of Jacksonville, one of the grand old ladies of the Baptists in Florida. McClenny's First Methodist, established, we believe, from a Methodist Society dating from the 1870's, drew most of the remaining Northern settlers into its folds. The lovely little Saint James Episcopal Church, so severely smitten by the yellow fever epidemic and disrupted local economy of the nineteenth century's last years, was struggling to continue. All three white churches cooperated in Sunday Schools and parties, and the ecumenical spirit extended into church services. The Macclenny Sentinel announced that services at the three churches were staggered so that folks could attend any and all throughout the month. Although there had always been a token school for the blacks, it took one Professor Brown to build an academy for members of his race. The dedicated services of the county's first known black teacher, Parson Marion DeGrate, were picked up by Professor Brown and continued almost until the days of Professor Keller's efforts. Mr. and Mrs. Corbett were among the town's first business morticians. Mr. Eisenberg's buggy repair shop lasted well into the first score of years of the new century. Mr. Lowder arrived from Georgia and established an engine-powered grist mill. Jewell's Fish Market went into business where the Baker County Chamber of Commerce office is presently located. And milliners' shops were everywhere and owned by any women who could stick a feather in a felt frame. There was a carbide gas light company, but we have yet to uncover any data about it (electricity wouldn't arrive in McClenny until Paul Taylor wired his house on West McClenny Avenue in 1928). The naval stores industry remained strong in McClenny with sometimes as many as three distilleries working many hours through each work week day. In addition to that established business, horticultural and silkworm farms enriched the economy for a while. The Griffin(g) and Turkey Creek Nurseries were south of town (the former enterprise was the predecessor of the present Southern States Nursery). The Turkey Creek Nursery sent its products and story to world's fairs and nation-wide trade shows. The two earliest silk farms were located south of town and immediately west of the present home of The Press. A later farm was situated just east of the present courthouse. All were replete with Japanese supervisors. The late Mr. Ambler Dowling of McClenny was the last known surviving employee of the area's silk industry. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, August 5, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber McClenny 1883-1983 - The conclusion When, around a recent coffee session, your columnist mentioned that he was bringing the McClenny history series to a close, an acquaintance, albeit not a friend, muttered, "thankfully." After properly taking umbrage and turning a rather stern countenance toward the editorializing member of the klatsch, your writer returned home and summarily trash-canned two articles of the set and went directly to the conclusion, which you are now, we trust, affixing to read. After all our researching and writing we figured, "and why not?" Within a few weeks some kid writing a high school project will stop by and demand, "tell me everything about McClenny." Then, some sweet little ol' lady will call and advise us, rather untactfully, of how woefully wrong we were, and how hopelessly stupid we are, on certain points. And, not only that, but we are beginning to tire of the whole thing. We were prepared to tell you of Bob Rogers' horse-drawn taxi service, singing schools, the gunning down of the Drawdy boys, the Dowling-Taylor duel, Walker's movie house, the skeleton discovered under a downtown store, the Cone-McClenny poolroom brawl, the last lynching, the pre-jail calaboose, the rise and fall of the first bank, the great hurricane of '96, the previous time when miscegenation was openly practiced, and who was caught doing what with whom in the old cotton gin. We shall, instead, devote a couple of paragraphs to some structures out of McClenny's "Golden Age." The Gasque Wholesale Grocery Company located in McClenny in the 1890's and served a large area of northeast Florida and southeast Georgia. Reverend Gasque's (pronounced "gas key") home was an imposing building on the southwest corner of McClenny Avenue and Sixth Street. Bright green, trimmed with pale blue, and embellished with Victorian gingerbread, the lovely house was considered a McClenny showplace. The property, as did several other parcels in the town, passed into the affluent Powers family (another entire story in themselves at a future date). Your writer as a youth was wont to gaze at the remnants of the old residence and fantasize about its former glory. Another model home in 1900 was the John and Frank Thompson house on Florida Avenue. Mrs. Thompson, called "Frank", was the town's social leader of the day. She threw parties that lasted scandalously past midnight. And what was even worse, she sometimes included on her guest lists...Yankees! This historic house is now being renovated (and roses to them for it) by Susan and Bill Krall. This column believes the youth, vitality, and wit of that couple will be welcomed by those hundred year old walls. And while we're passing out roses, here are a few more bouquets: to Claudette and George Rhoden for purchasing, restoring, and using the John McClenny-B.J. Padgett House; to Ruby and Steve Rolph for saving the Green-Powers House which now stands in its new home in south McClenny; to Pat and the late Mr. Wiener for protecting the 115 year old Shuey-Sessions House south of town; to the Knabb family for saving and utilizing the town's first masonry structure; to the Northeast Florida Telephone Company for giving a new lease on life to the Eisenberg House adjacent to its offices; to the gracious Meara family for not only restoring the Herndon-Thompson House near the Taber Library, but for permitting public inspection; the Baker County Board of County Commissioners for allowing the old courthouse to live and serve; to Carol Howard for revitalizing the Turner-Rhoden House; to Bill and Edith Barber for preserving the town's oldest extant building, 101 year old Barber House on East McClenny Avenue and Third Street; and to several others whose names and structures we'll list in a future column (the stricture of time and space prevents a continuance at this time). This column also has some bunches of thorns for the insensitive folk who equate progress with the total destruction of any structure over 50 years of age and replacing them with offensive, plastic boxes of neighbor stupefying edifices from Better Homes-And-Pretentiousness Magazine. To pass out these thorns at this time and in this space would be a waste of good thorns; those people don't read our column anyhow. We do not espouse age for its own sake but because it visibly speaks of establishment, good craftsmanship, character, substance, pride, and the intelligent utilization of what has been and is still good. McClenny is rapidly losing its charm. It was once a beautiful city and can be again. We just recalled and celebrated the worst possible phase of our past with 'Shine Day (during Independence Day weekend if you can imagine such.) Perhaps it is time we exhibited to our friends and neighbors, but especially to ourselves, our best side. As this column concludes its little series on McClenny's history, it makes one more...but final...call for interest in a McClenny Centenary Celebration. Plans must begin no later than this fall's first cool snap. We dee-double-dog-dare you to out-do Glen. There, dear readers, you won't have to listen to this appeal from this quarter again. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Lessons from a 10 year old As anybody who knows your writer only slightly can tell you, "Barber doesn't like kids." In fact, he ranks them among fire ants, jumping dogs, winter, labor, wind, and bahia grass as life's most unnecessary tribulations. So, naturally, when we recently agreed to accompany a ten year old lad on a trip to the Okefenokee Swamp, we went into shock and ambled about muttering, "What have we done? What have we done?" The only thing that cooled him all day were the all-too-infrequent appearances of alligators, and you just cannot haul a six foot gator around with you at all times with which to threaten a child. On that interminable stretch between the lower Bend and the Suwannee Canal Recreation Area, relieved only by Saint George slipping by, we heard 2,738 riddles. Except for a couple that made us raise our eyebrows and fall suddenly silent, we were happy to know that some things never change...most of the riddles had been asked of your writer by his grandfather nigh unto a half century ago. For a city kid, he was amazingly keen on a little test contrived by the park service and housed in the information center. Nine familiar swamp creatures were represented to be matched up by the player with a day-active or night-active button. Michael missed the rabbit activity. We wondered how much of the wrong answer was the result of misinformation-innocent but still incorrect-being fed to us all. For instance, how many Peter Cottontail stories or Bugs Bunny episodes can you think of situated with a nocturnal backdrop? But you can't fool a ten year older for long. He quickly mastered the test and bounced over to pound the stuffed poisonous snakes exhibit on their respective heads. All this activity was often interspersed with the questions "Can I get a soda now?" and "Can we go to K-Mart now?" There was a footrace with your columnist as an unwilling contestant. To no one's surprise, especially your writer, the kid won. As your writer rested, nay, died, beside the black water (for approximately four hours), he reckoned how silly it sometimes is for us to compete out of our class, and how even sillier it is to not sometimes try. And, most important, how silly to never be prepared to compete when it is necessary. The kid would have learned a great lesson from the back of your writer's hand had the writer been able.. the kid insisted on describing your writer as slimy rather than sweaty after the race. Young Michael already demonstrates more intelligence than most adults when choosing refreshment. He studies the ingredients and avoids caffeine. Your ol' writer found himself following the example. Michael also respectfully insisted that we adults load onto the boat first for our swamp tour. He figured if the vessel didn't sink or overturn with us, it would prove more safe for him (he still had his eye on the several floating gators in the boat basin, and your writer was still thinking of a way to toss the kid overboard). On the trip along the canal to Chesser Prairie, Michael proved the sharpness of his eyes. He easily spotted gators and cooters and separated them from logs and cypress knees. And your writer thought, "Here's a kid from Massachusetts enjoying one of the marvels of nature here at the back door of folks who will never take a half day from their TV, AC, and PI (pampered idleness) to do the same." The short car ride to and from the Chesser homestead was filled with bonuses-gators in the ditches and wild turkeys grazing in a clearing. While Michael and his father explored the old Chesser farm, we had a pleasant chat with our cousin Iva Chesser who reminded us that the Chesser reunion will take place at Traders Hill on the third Sunday of October. It was best to keep the kid outside since your writer had earlier uttered in a pique a less than nice word and the kid was determined to tell. By trussing up the kid and sitting on his head all the way back we returned home in relative quiet except for an occasional muffled, "what did the big smokestack say to the little smokestack?" Back in the world of pizza and pac-man we said goodbye to young Michael. He threw his arms about your writer twice "this one" he informed regarding the first "is for the Okefenokee, and this one's he added for the pizza." Later we went to our knees and humbly thanked the Lord that he didn't see fit to present us with any of the pesky little creatures, but we added even stronger thanks that there are folks with the guts and love to continue having them, (and Michael you know I wrote this with tongue in cheek.) _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Lessons from our readers Please be advised, dear readers, that your columnist was not consciously soliciting a vote of confidence with his effusion of 29 July. Knowing how he is prone to overdo a good thing and oft times is guilty of beating a dead horse, he figured the coffee partner's frank remark quoted that column was as good a barometer as any, and that is why he curtailed the McClenny history series. But, boy, did we get the comments. Via telephone and post, the many responses ranged from, "I've never known you to be swayed by anybody", through,"shame", to "Sell me the contents of your trashcan." Lesson number one: If you're not going to bring a job to a logical conclusion, don't start it. It was unfair to the majority of the readers to permit one disgruntled and insensitive troll to influence your columnist to look back once his hand was on the plow. Lesson number two: Surprise. Somebody out there in BCP Land does read our pitiable efforts. Lesson number three through whatever: Our readers not only are aware of the area's heritage, but several proffered unsolicited tid-bits of McClenny history along with their words of encouragement, to wit: From R.W. "Bobby" Herndon of Saint Augustine comes two paragraphs (copied as written) from Rerick's Memoirs of Florida, volume one, regarding a pair of gentlemen important in his family and in McClenny's past. "J.J. Herndon, of Macclenny, is a native of Baker County, Fla., and a son of Judge J.R. Herndon, long one of its prominent men. Mr. Herndon was born in 1866, received his education in the Macclenny schools, and in early manhood embarked in the timber business, in which he has had a career of notable success. He has made a specialty of the manufacture of cross-ties and for years had dealt extensively in that necessity for all railroads, most of his shipments going to the Seaboard Air Line and the Plant systems. His mill is located about thirty miles from Macclenny. In 1895 Mr. Herndon was appointed State census enumerator of his district and performed the work so thoroughly as to give entire satisfaction to the public. He is industrious, attentive to his affairs and a popular young business man, doing well his part in developing a useful industry of the State. "Urban C. Herndon, son of W.Z. and Amelia Herndon, was born in Appling County, Ga., January 19, 1830. His youthful days were spent on the farm with his parents. At the age of twenty seven he enlisted for the Indian war of 1857 under General Harney, received appointment a second sergeant of his company and was mustered out in the later part of 1858. In 1859 he was appointed constable of Columbia county, Fla., in which position he served for one year. At this time he was appointed captain in the Florida State militia by Governor John Milton. When the war of 1861 began Captain Herndon enlisted in Company F, Second Florida regiment, and was elected sergeant. He served throughout the war until the surrender of General Lee at Appomatox. Returning he home was appointed sheriff of Baker County, Fla., in 1877 and served for a term of one year. In 1878 he was elected supervisor of elections for a term of four years, and in 1884 was elected member of the State Legislature to represent Baker County. This position he held for two years and was then appointed sheriff in 1895 to fill out an unexpired term. In 19001 he was again elected to the office of sheriff of Baker County. Captain Herndon has been a member of the Methodist church for sixty years, a Mason for thirty years and an Odd Fellow for sixteen years, serving as master of the same for eight years. He is now seventy-one years old and resides at Macclenny, the county seat of Baker County, where he enjoys the general esteem of a wide acquaintance. His father was a Methodist preacher for forty years, justice of the peace for twenty years, fought in the Indian war of 1835, and died April 20, 1865. Few men have had a more active and successful life than Captain Herndon and few men have discharged so faithfully all the duties arising from many responsible positions." Miss Anna Pridgen of Gainesville said, "I read my relatives' Press,...and I thought you would like to know that William Jennings Bryan once spoke in your little town. Grandfather Goethe accompanied him and they ate dinner at your ancestor C.F. Barber's home." We don't doubt Miss Pridgen for a moment, but none of the family recalled this incident. A gentleman from Tallahassee, who wished to remain anonymous, informed us that, "It was Charly Pons (Ponce) who shot Sheriff Job Driggors (sic) down in the front doorway of the post office in McClenny (this man knew how to correctly spell the name of the town). He wanted the job, and he wanted Driggors' girlfriend. You know who she was, and they were the ones you referred to being scandalous in the cotton gin." Actually, we were thinking about another couple. The gin must have been a mighty busy place for clandestinely cottoning up to each other. Another reader who also preferred anonymity wrote, "It was told to me that when gubernatorial candidate Bloxham first visited Baker County in 1870, or thereabout, he insisted on speaking in the village of Darbyville where he confidentially predicted to friends that Sanderson would soon lose the county seat to that place. " By phone: "Don't use my name, but I can tell you where the Griffin Nursery come from. Them boys toted off enough from ol' man Tabor til they was able to start their own, they was good boys though. Also from a phoned conversation and also nameless my dad was with the men when they burned a cross in the Poythress yard back in the twenties. From an isle in a grocery store (and nameless too) we don't want people to know we've been meeting each week between the bleach and the dog food, referring to her husband and the period of the early twentieth century, "he used to tell me about seeing the big falling star - of course it was a meteor - on one night when he was coming to see me. He was driving a horse and buggy and when the thing hit, the ground shook. I didn't see it or feel it, but said when he went to McClenny a week later several people were still unnerved, it was a lucky night for me, he proposed." _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Summer doldrams and historical tidbits It seems that after the Fourth of July, summer is over. All that's left is a long sweaty wait til fall. Crickets are at their loudest and most long-winded. Bullbats' screeches are at their most insulting level. The air's too still. Dogs sleep all day but revive at sundown to romp and bark all night. This is the season when you just don't want to wear nothing hardly, but the departure of the martins has engendered the return of the mosquitoes, and 'tis folly to bare one's skin. Except for the daily rain refreshed verdure and a liberal scattering of wild tiger lillies and fluorescent pink in the cosmos, in the wet areas August could well be our second drab month, running a far distant second to February. Although August remains as one of your columnist's favorite months, it vies with the coldest days of the year as being his most energy-sapping. Therefore, dear readers, we beg your indulgence in our sharing with you some delightful orts from our buffet of historical research...cause it's a whole lot easier than trying to think up something new. Florida Theatre: The grand old lady of Jacksonville entertainment has been spared the wrecker's ball and is currently undergoing restoration. It was built in 1925 on the site of the old Jacksonville city jail and cost over one million dollars. The first manager was a Mr. Goldberg. The Theatre annex roof garden was a popular dancing place with live bands in the thirties. Jimmy Knight sat at the magnificent white console pipe organ between shows. We often went to the movies (we called them "picture shows") just to watch in awe the console and Mr. Knight rise out of the floor, with lights beaming and music booming. There were sing-alongs in the old days with the bouncing ball on the screen to help us keep up with the lyrics. We discovered that the city of Jacksonville had the opportunity to keep that lovely old musical instrument in the city and perhaps have it installed in the Civic Auditorium, but that forward looking municipality in which anything of an art nature always draws a crowd and makes money decided the cost of renovating the organ was just too great and continued sinking money and reputations in big-league sports teams which just cannot work up enthusiasm among the citizenry. Midnight shows on Saturday nights were popular until World War II. Combined with Mr. Knigland the sing-alongs, they were great bargain at 50 cents admission. Live bands were broadcast by WJAX every Wednesday night from the stage of the Florida. WJAX could then be heard in Virginia. WJAX annually rented the theatre for its anniversary party. Live entertainment was free at those gala functions. At Christmas, toys were given free to needy kids, and they were treated to Christmas plays and movies. Nationally known Professor Backwards, Jimmy Edmonson started at the Florida in the ea1y 1930's. A young fellow named A.C. Lyles started working there in '29 as a part time usher. He went to head usher, moved to Hollywood to be a reporter for the Jacksonville Journal, escorted starlets to affairs and premiers, became a movie producer, and is now a movie and TV producer. Doc Cawthen, who married a Baker County girl-Mattie Dugger-managed the old Florida for many years, and it was he who finagled tickets for your ol' columnist and his young lady friend at the time to see and hear the just becoming popular Elvis Presley. Crews: Many researchers have come up with theories-claimed to-be-facts about this family's origins in this country. All that most of them can agree on is that the family was first known around the Charleston, S.C., area in the early 1700's. For over 150 years they were mostly clustered in the coastal section of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Early name spellings were de la Crews, della Crewes, Crewes, Cruz, Cruse, etc. From their physiognomies, and complexions, one could easily surmise that they were from that ancient stock known as "black Irish" or Iberian Irish, a dark-eyed, black haired, very pale complexioned people much like the Davises and Rowes of this area. Orange County: Were it not for Baker and those counties contiguous to it, the very famous Orange County, Florida, might not have received such a tremendous boost early in its life. Practically all its pioneering core came from northeast Florida and southeast Georgia with the majority originating in the present Baker County. Some of the better known names are Mizell, Partin, Barber, Hull, Tanner, Raulerson, Powers, Hodges, Prescott, Jernigan, Beasley, Patrick, Platt, Dann, and Hughy. Weather: During a severe ten day wind storm arising from the northwest in 1835, all the streams, including the Saint Mary's River, froze over completely, and some of the smaller streams were solid ice to their bottoms. All the crops died in the spring of 1907 due to a protracted drought. August of 1871 brought a series of damaging wind storms and floods. Dan Shaw: Dan Shaw was a mean customer and was sometimes ranked with Devil Enoch Roberts and Henry Walker as the three most feared men in Union county. Notwithstanding the fact and that they got into lots of meanness together, he once jokingly threatened him with "I'll shoot you in the burr of the year." (ear) One day Dan did not return from plowing. His and Walker's track were seen together in the freshly plowed field leading to the standing horse, still plow, and Dan's body. Walker's tracks led away from the fatally shot Shaw. Food Costs: It was possible to feed 10,000 people visiting McClenny for the Baker County Centennial in 1961 for a total of $2015.20. Helpful Hint: Only indirectly related to history is this item - do you realize that it was Easter yesterday and that it is already August? It might be a good idea to get out your Christmas tree lights and start untangling them. _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, THRUSDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber More historical tidbits Seeing as how we had a goodly amount of historical tidbits leftover from last week and taking into account that we received much encouragement to continue in that vein, we shall again offer a miscellany of the past. Movies: Ethyl Drawdy played background piano for the old McClenny movie house and Myrtie Blair sang between reels. The former Miss Drawdy (now Mrs. Reddish) of Tallahassee said, "We were probably given a free ticket to the movie for our services." Kingsley: Zephaniah Kingsley, for whom Kingsley Lake in Bradford County and Kingsley Boulevard in Clay County are named, was born in Scotland and became an important figure in Territorial Florida government. He was small statured, shrewd, and a master of several African languages. His wife was of royal blood, black, and from Madagascar (there is some question about her birthplace). He bought Africans from their slave-trading brothers, trained them, and made a huge profit from the business. His grand nephew was the famous American artist in England, James McNeill Whistler, who painted the picture commonly known as "Whistler's Mother" (Kingsley's niece). At least one local, Mose Barber, purchased a slave, Jason Barber, from him. The Higganbotham and Braddock families who were to marry into Baker County families, notably the Combs, were Kingsley's west Nassau County neighbors. How's that for association and name-dropping? Dicks: Thomas D. Dicks (spelled "Dixtes" on the 1850 tax returns) was one of Columbia County's best known whiskey merchants. John Delaney was his most serious competition, but Mr. Dicks was reputed to have the much better merchandise. Whiskey was taxed high even then, much greater than slaves. JP's: Some noteworthy Justices of the Peace during the 1850's in old Columbia County (a parent county of Baker) were James M. Sweat, W.Z. Herndon, James M. Burnsed (he would become the first sheriff of Baker County), J.M. Crews, William Williams, William Edwards, John Harvey (he would become the first county judge of Baker), Asa Roberts, William N. Thomas, Joseph Crews, Darling C. Prescott, John Wiggins, William J. Green, Tarlton Johns (he and his wife would be killed soon after in a wreck while on a train excursion), James Coward (Cowart), Alfred Sweat, W.J. Prevatt, James Prevatt, James Cooper, Grandison Barber, Moses Barber, Nathaniel Pease and Samuel Wester. Alford: Hansford R. Alford moved about within the county after he arrived here in the 1840's and finally settled south of Sanderson. He was elected from Baker County as a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 1857. He and his brother John were school teachers and both made political enemies by their unsolicited frankness. Although Hansford is thought to have died of old age and natural causes (whatever that's supposed to mean), John was gunned down south of the present McClenny soon after the War Between the States by a Radical Republican (that was the official label of those who wished to violently clear the South of former Confederates and disenfranchise their supporters). John was unarmed and stared at his assailant until the fatal shot. His widow continued to have kids however and "took up" with one-armed Confederate veteran named Rob Hicks. Hicks was then shot in 1876 by a man named George Cooper, a brother of the above named James Cooper in the JP paragraph. And you thought soap opera plots were products of modern living. County Commissioners: After Florida became a state in 1845 the electorate chose some Columbia County Commissioners from the area that was to become Baker County 16 years later. They were Moses Barber, Daniel Platt, James G. Cooper, John Harvey, and Joseph Hull. Fricassee of Pit Bull: When C.B. McClenny and Hugh Rance Williams enlisted at Flotard Pond in Marion County, Florida, for a stint in the Confederate Army, they had no inkling of the culinary surprises in their future. As prisoners of war in a federal prison in Delaware, they were beginning to feel a great need of protein in their diet since the only meat they had during their sojourn at the Yankee Devil's Island had been the bugs in their scant rations of hominey. The warden, a sharp talking, red-faced, sadistic type, allowed his pet bull dog to accompany him on his inspection tours of the prison, and he often tossed the pampered animal particularly juicy bits of beef as the wretched Southern POW's watched and salivated. Armed with the knowledge that if one wishes to completely distract a Yankee one needs but to get him talking and bragging, McClenny engaged the warden as only the charming, sly McClenny could. While the warden was neck deep in braggadocio, Williams silently coaxed the bulldog into the cell. While the warden searched and called for his missing pet, McClenny and Williams dressed the animal and next morning enjoyed a delicious dog meat stew. One of our critics, after reading this sketch, said, "Yeah, but at Andersonville they didn't even have dog meat." To which we must reply, that sometimes, perhaps all the time, the source from one side is not as important as the resourcefulness of the other. Parting Note: Winston Churchill said it: "The farther backward you can look the farther forward you are likely to see." _____________________________________________________________________________ THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, September 9, 1982 THE WAY IT WAS-Gene Barber Historical Potpourri On occasion, we find ourselves with a handful of notes which are interesting enough to share with our readers but lacking sufficient data to become subjects of a full-blown column. This circumstance once again prompts us to offer a little historical potpourri. Fireplaces: The oldest known brick fireplace and chimbley (that's "chimney" to you urban folk) was constructed by a Mr. Shock on the old Rhoden place north of Sanderson. We are sorry, but the first names of both Mr. Shock and Mr. Rhoden escaped our note-taking. The house itself was being erected in 1864 when a detachment of Yankee troops foraged through the Cedar Creek country side prior to the Battle of Ocean Pond. Based on the earlier mud and stick chimneys design, the subject of this sketch is possessed of a very wide fireplace. As we were being shown about the charming house by its owners Lloyd and Daisy Rhoden Harvey, Mr. Harvey informed us, "Daddy came dancing in this house. He was about 16 at the time." No tractor work: There is a field south of Glen Saint Mary, according to Mr. Elmer Lee Bennett a few years ago, that has never had a tractor in it. "You can't find a better ;piece of land than this" said Mr. Bennett. Watching how his horse and plow, and his small son trotting behind in the late winter dust made a subject worthy of the best artist. Library: All though the Taber Library housed in the old court house building was established but 20 years ago, it was not the first venture of that sort in the county. The Woman's Club began a reading club in the late 1920's and encouraged the public to borrow books from that organization. In the mid 1940's a rolling library was attempted by area Women's Clubs utilizing an old van that visited Baker and surrounding counties. Prayer: One of this column's favorite prayers was when an itinerant Baptist minister was asked by the residents of Garey's Ferry (Middleburg area) in 1854 if he would ask for the heavenly blessings of much needed rain:" Let it rain, beginning at my plantation in Hamilton County, coming down the religious neighborhood of Columbia and Nassau, where immersion is not practiced, and reaching Black Creek even Black Creek-and bringing forth in abundance-none of your little nubbins, however but long ears (of corn)-long as this good right arm." Trail Ridge Unpleasant Incidents: Florida was not a hotbed of Confederate sympathy or activities prior to and during the War Between the States, but as soon as the conflict was officially over, many Floridians seemed moved to rebellious action, and Lt. Col. John T. Sprague who commanded the peace-keeping troops and local civil authorities alike was driven to an early grave by the citizens of north Florida. Elam J. Daniels, who was a resident of Trail Ridge (Highland) and the first sheriff of Clay County and his associate Archibald A. Barber of south Baker County allegedly murdered Hiram Prescott of Trail Ridge on July 2, 1866. "Shot 'im in the head is what they done," accused a neighbor. Lt. Col. Sprague from Saint Augustine ordered Clerk of Courts Barney M. McRae to secure Barber and Daniels and send them in close custody to Lt. William Logan at Jacksonville. Well, McRae, himself near the top of the Klan faction, declined to do so, whereupon, Lt. Col. Sprague threatened to hold in custody members of the coroners Jury until his orders were carried out. McRae botched up the orders, even "mistakenly" entering his given name as R.B. rather than Barney M. (a simple error).Daniels disappeared. Barber moved to Horse Prairie in the present Dixie County (in those days, a veritable sinkhole for law evaders who wished to drop out of sight). One of Barber's cousins Jackson D. Mann moved from near the present Raiford section to Trail Ridge (remember, that was the old name of the present Highland) soon after the war. He was considered, "a pretty good feller, but he had mouth trouble and it got him into some bad times," said a descendent. Some of his neighbors, viz. Henry and Luke Rosier, William and John Bennett, and Augustus Canaday, "did beat, bruise, stab, and ill treat" poor Mr. Mann and did otherwise disgust him with his adopted community. McRae also botched up that report and warrant, Mann moved to Bradford County, and the alleged assaulters went free. Ancestry: J. Gilchrist Lawson, whoever that is, said, "The man who boasts only of his ancestors confesses that he belongs to a family that is better dead than alive." This column likes that.