General Presentments Of The Calhoun County Grand Jury - Florida Territorial Papers, 1840 File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Betty Norem, bnorem@aol.com 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. *********************************************************************** TERRITORIAL PAPERS OF THE UNITED STATES FLORIDA TERRITORY Transcribed by Betty L. Norem on Dec. 9, 2000 Vol. XXVI, pp. 143-146 GENERAL PRESENTMENTS OF THE CALHOUN COUNTY GRAND JURY [NA:HF, 26 Cong., 1 sess.:ACI [April 1840] General Presentments, Of the Grand Jury, at the April Term 1840, for the County of Calhoun, in the Superior Court. The Grand Jury felicitate their fellow citizens upon the good order which has prevailed in our County during the last six months. But one case of a criminal character has come under the notice of their body, and that case embraced within the class of the lightest offences- When we reflect upon the state of our society a few years ago, analogous- in its characteristics to most new settlements, where violent bold and lawless men jostle in the common walks of life, the peaceable and innofensive citizen, where the rights of the weak and peaceable, are only respected so long as they do not come in the way of the convenience, or the caprice, of the strong and the licentious, and contrast with this, the present state of our society, the equal protection and redress afforded to all our citizens, under the laws, it affords a cheering evidence to the Patriot and the Philanthropist, of the ameliorating and bene- ficient action of our system of Jurisprudence. The Grand Jury consider it their duty to invoke the attention of our Delegate in Congress, (as has heretofore been done through various channels) to several subjects, vitally interesting to the rapidly increasing Commerce of this Port. We extract from the general Presentment of the Grand Jury of this County for the April Term 1839(94), and fully concur in and reiterate the importance of their reccommendations. “ The Grand Jury, speaking in behalf of the County of Calhoun, would take this occasion, through the Delegate, to invoke the aid of Congress in the erection of a Marine Hospital in the City of St. Joseph. There is no point in the Gulf so healthy or eligible, and the interest of humanity and commerce alike demand that some provision be made, on our Coast for the sick and pennyless Mariner, other recommendations to this effect, from our citizens and from the Legislative Council, have been forwarded to the Congress of the United States, and to them, and to the Bill passed the House of Representatives, at the last session, we ask the favourable consideration, of the present Congress. Connected in the most direct channel, by Railroad and water navigation, with the interior of the States of Georgia and Alabama with a flourishing foreign and domestic Commerce, and a deep and capacious Harbour, we but promote the general interest of trade, and the national government, in asking an official survey, by a government officer of our Bar and Harbour. Contradictory opinions, by nautical men have been expressed as to the depth of water, in the entrance to St. Joseph's Bay; all agree, however, that 20 feet, can be carried over at a fair tide, and if this, or a deeper channel, can be found, is it not the policy of government to fortify and improve this as a Naval station, made preferable to Pensacola, by its connection with the interior? We would therefore, suggest to our Delegate, that an enquiry into the necessity and practicability of fortifications be coupled with an examination of the Bar and Harbour. We would, also, respectfully solicit an appropriation for placing Buoys, on the middle ground, at the entrance to our Bay. The Grand Jury, would also respectfully ask an appropriation of $5000 dollars for the erection of a Court House in the City of St. Joseph. Its central position to the other Ports of West Florida point it out as the most convenient site for the Courts of Admiralty after Florida shall have become a State. It is contemplated by the citizens to subscribe a sum equal to that asked for, and as the United States Courts would occupy such building free of charge economy, would be consulted in affording us the aid asked for. It appears that the sixteenth section of Land, in this township which under a general law of Congress, is appropriated for School purposes, happens to lie in the Bay of St. Joseph and we therefore consider that the Citizins of this Township, under these circumstances are peculiarly entitled to a float - we respectfully call the attention of our Delegate to the subject and ask his exert- ions to procure us another section of land in place of that referred to above. The Grand Jury, would respectfully call the attention of Congress, through our Delegate, to the necessity for the erection of a Penitentiary in this Territory. We hardly conceive it necessary at this day, to use arguments, to enforce the importance of this subject. The experience of all the States, has long since proved that the various grades of Crime, cannot be appropriately punished without them. In the absence of Penitentiaries, resort must be had, in the punish- rnent of malefactors, to corporeal inflections, a mode of punishment altogether abhorrent to the enlightened sentiments of the age we live in, and when we re- flect that under the penitentiary system of punishment, reformation may and frequently does comport with t he execution of the sentence of the Law while under the system of corporeal punishment now necessarily in practice here, such as cropping, branding & etc., the indelible mark of infamy, is fixed upon the culprit, suspicion attends his footsteps through life, the finger of scorn is always pointed, a barrier is raised between him and respectable society which he cannot pass if he would. The stimulus to virtuous exertion is gone, and he wanders on through the world, an outcast from its humanities and its sympathies, a marked and miserable man. Humanity, civilization and Justice, therefore de- mand that Florida be releived from the necessity of prosecuting a system of punishment so repugnant to the benign policy of this enlightened day. We notice that an appropriation has been granted by Congress to the Territory of Iowa for the erection of a Penitentiary(95), and we have reason to believe that Congress will be equally liberal in a Donation for this purpose to Florida. The Grand Jury have remarked that a Bill has been introduced into Congress by the Chairman of the Committee on Territories for the partition of this Territory and the erection of middle and West Florida into a state(96). The object and the provisions of that Bill meet their entire concurrence and they indulge an earnest hope that it may receive the favourable consideration of Congress. An appropri- ation of $10,000 was made by Congress more than 12 months ago for the con- struction of a Road from Iola to Tallahassee(97) and a survey was ordered to be made forthwith. The Citizens of this County as well as those of Gadsden and Leon Counties are much interested in the speedy completion of this work and we have been waiting, with much anxiety, to see a demonstration made to that effect; but so far, nothing has been done. The Grand Jury cannot conceive any good reason for this delay and would respectfully direct the attention of our Delegate in Congress to this subject. The Grand Jury embrace, with much pleasure, the oppertunity now afforded them, in retiring from their duties, of expressing their high consideration of the integrity, impartiality and legal ability of his Honour the Judge of this District and also of the fearlessness, energy and industry of the very talented Solicitor, much, very much, the Grand Jury beleive, of the improvement in our moral condition, before referred to, is attributable to the excellence of our criminal Judicatory. Henry F: Simmons, Foreman Francis Arnau G. A. Pease Robert Whipple J. C. Maclay John T. Gist Jno. N. Copeland C. L. Demarest Walter Thompson Thomas Montague Daniel Munn Ellis Davis M. L. Cavert James L. Barber Edw’d Bolin John Dyckman Wm H. Shepherd Wm J. Fletcher E. B. Fuller Territory of Florida Calhoun County I Cambel McEachran Clerk of the Superior Court of Law for the said County of Calhoun in the aforesaid Territory, do hereby Certify, that the foregoing is a true Copy of the original filed in this Office. In testimony whereof, I hereto set my hand and annex the seal of the said Court (there being no seal of office) this twenty seventh day of April A. D. 1840. CAMBEL McEACHRAN Clerk [Endorsed] Forida-Grand Jury Presentments G. J. Calhoun Cty Flor Spring Term 1840 Division of Territory Survey of St Joseph harbor, Erection of a Court House and Penitenitary & etc & etc Dec’r 31 1840. Ref’d to the Committee on the Territories(98) Downing Territories. ----------------------------------- (94) NA(HF, 26 Cong., 1 sess.). Cf. ante, XXV, 637, n. (95) A bill to aid Iowa Territory in completing the building of a penetentiary was introduced in the House, Mar. 16, 1840 (House Journal, 26 Cong., I sess., p. 695). No further action noted. On Jan. 20, 1840, a similar bill was introduced in the Senate (Senate Journal, 26 Cong., I sess., p. 109), for an additional appropriation to the same end, but no action followed. (96) House Journal, 26 Cong., I sess., p. 507. 97 6 STAT, 261, See post, p. 154. (97) 5 STAT. 261. See post, p. 154. (98) House Journal, 26 Cong., 2 sess., p. 120.