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M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00859 6097
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/florida15131913p01chap
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Longue Du Chapin
FLORIDA
1513-1913
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OF WARS AND PEACE AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
By GEORGE M. CHAPIN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
1914
95
90°
Chicago
85
Toledo
Clevelandy
New Haven
Williamsport
PENNSYLV
N I A
Lima
Pittsburgh
ILLINOI
S
H
I
0
Harrisburg
INDIANA
Indianapolis
Columbus
Philadelphie
O Springfield
Dayton
Terre Haute
Cincinnati
WEST
Washington of
Jefferson City 6
St. Louis
Evansville
Lexington
Ft.
M I
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Ohio
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SOUTH
Wilmington
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MISSISSIPPI!
Charleston
Shreveport
Jackson
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iss
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LOUISIANA
Mobile
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?Neis Orleans
Apalachicola
Ormond
Galveston
The Delta
Cedar Keys"
to
'Stusville
C.Canaveral
Tamper
Melbourne
St. Petersburg
- - NOTE:
Distances from ports in United States to Panama Canal are given in nautical miles. The distances show that ports in Florida are nearer to Panama than any other port in the United States.
1 Nautical Mile = 6080 feet, or. 60 miles to 1 degree. 1 Statute Mile - - 5280 feet, or 69.16 miles to 1 degree.
25
Nassau
Key West
ANDROS
ISLANDS
A
@ SAN SALVADORU
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92
LONG IS
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0
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GREAT INAGUA 1.
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Channel
20
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A
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Gulf of Campeche
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atemala
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THE MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP WOHKS, BUFFALO, N. Y.
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76
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ATLANTIC
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Chattanooga
Charlotte , Southern Pines
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₹ 1946 Miles
1974. Miles
/OCEAN
New York
FLORIDA
and its relation to the SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
the WEST INDIES and the PANAMA CANAL
30°
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to Colon
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Palm Beach
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Colon to Tampa 1219 Miles
234 Miles
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1516 Miles
1564 Miles
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Colon
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AMERICA
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Scale of Statute Miles along tho 30' Latitude North 80 100
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Scale of Nautical Miles along tho-80"Latitude Nurth 0 50 100 200 900
75
70
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Des
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Baltimore
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Savannah
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4
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Galveston
Orleans
1563
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Philadelphia
35
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1
Pensacola
Tal
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Daytona
Jacksonville to Colon
1350
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-- 1070 Miles
Str. of Florida
C
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¡SAN DOMINGO
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.
INTRODUCTION
It is well that a community or a commonwealth shall make occa- sionally an inventory of its possessions which substantiate its claims to commercial importance and social excellence. It is quite as needful for its own information as for the enlightenment of those whom it invites into partnership to reach out for greater things. This story of Florida has been prepared as such an inventory, and the quatro-cen- tennial anniversary of its reclamation from Indian control and its introduction to advancing civilization is an appropriate time for such accounting.
This book is not intended primarily as a history of Florida. It recites the story of present-day conditions, and so much of the past has been recalled as has seemed necessary to give an understanding of the present and to suggest the possibilities of a bright future.
Volumes might be filled with descriptions of Florida's resources of soil and forest and mine. Much might be written of the men and women who have woven their lives into its making and who love the state almost as the mother loves her child. No writer can do more than to suggest in a work of such magnitude. It is a matter of regret that many of Florida's most interesting features, of her past and present, have been passed with hardly more than mention-the legends that people her forests with the heroic leaders of earlier centuries, the unwritten records that lie hidden in the burial mounds of a forgotten race, which await the coming of antiquarians and scientists to be trans- lated for the reading of the world.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for assistance in the prepara- tion of this book to Hon. Henry H. Buckman, of Jacksonville, who freely and generously has devoted many hours from a busy life, to a study of the historical and educational development of the state; to Mr. Charles Willis Ward for the story of Florida's birds and for many and beautiful photographs to illustrate the exhaustive article; to Mr. A. J. Mitchell, section director of the United States Weather Bureau, for information and data of Florida's climatological condi- tions; to Mr. James E. Mears, for the article on Tampa; to Mr. H. A.
iii
iv
INTRODUCTION
B. Mckenzie, for material regarding Putnam county and Palatka; to Mr. Leland J. Henderson, for an article on Pensacola; and to Hon. W. A. McRae, commissioner of agriculture, for a wealth of statistical information regarding the resources of the state.
In whatever respects this book may be incomplete-and no work covering so vast a field can be complete-if it shall serve to enlighten concerning the boundless resources of the state and to hasten and aid in their development, if it shall stimulate scientific study of these resources, much will have been accomplished.
GEORGE M. CHAPIN.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, DECEMBER 1, 1913.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Historical
1
Period of Spanish Domination, 1513-1663 3
English and French Influences in Florida, 1663-1821 34
Florida as Part of the United States, 1821-1912 49
Civil War and Reconstruction Period, 1861-1876. 59
Industrial Progress
66
Governors of Florida 74
CHAPTER II
Geological
77
CHAPTER III
Climate
107
CHAPTER IV
Health
121
CHAPTER V
Population and Growth
137
CHAPTER VI
Florida's Soils
145
CHAPTER VII
Agricultural Conditions and Opportunities 155
CHAPTER VIII
The Cattle Industry
183
CHAPTER IX
Orange Culture
195
V
vi CONTENTS CHAPTER X
Profitable Soil Products 219
CHAPTER XI
The Trees of Florida
243
CHAPTER XII
Florida's Wealth of Bird Life
281
CHAPTER XIII
Florida's Railroads
325
CHAPTER XIV
Florida Phosphates
339
CHAPTER XV
Mineral Deposits of Florida
CHAPTER XVI
Naval Stores 357
CHAPTER XVII
Florida Fish
369
CHAPTER XVIII
Florida Sponge Fisheries
389
CHAPTER XIX
Florida School System
407
CHAPTER XX
Florida Cities
425
CHAPTER XXI
Jacksonville
429
CHAPTER XXII
Tampa
459
CHAPTER XXIII
Pensacola
473
349
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER XXIV
Miami
499
CHAPTER XXV
Palatka and Putnam County 517
CHAPTER XXVI
The Everglades
527
CHAPTER XXVII
Florida's Indian Tribe 543
CHAPTER XXVIII
Convict Lease System
555
CHAPTER XXIX
A Land of Enchantment
571
CHAPTER XXX
Florida Counties
589
First Congressional District, Comprising Lee, De Soto, Manatee, Polk, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Her- nando, Citrus, Sumter and Lake Counties. . 592
Second Congressional District, Comprising Nassau, Baker, Hamilton, Columbia, Suwanee, Bradford, Alachua, Marion, Levy, La Fayette, Taylor, Madison and Jef- ferson Counties 600
Third Congressional District, Comprising Leon, Gadsden, Wakulla, Liberty, Franklin, Calhoun, Jackson, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Walton, Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties 608
Fourth Congressional District, Comprising Monroe, Dade, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Osceola, Brevard, Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Putnam, St. John, Clay and Duval Counties 616
CHAPTER I HISTORICAL
PERIOD OF SPANISH DOMINATION - 1513-1663
LORIDA is one of the oldest names connected with the discovery of America. . From carliest times it F has had a peculiar fascination, first as a land reputed to be rich in gold and precious stones; in later centuries as a wilderness habited by savage tribes who resisted the coming of European civilization; and in more recent years as a section of wonderful natural beauty, whose balmy breezes and semi-tropical verdure made it the resting place for the recuperation of a great nation.
Of its earliest occupants the world knows little or nothing. Although they left records of their existence, archaeologists have not yet read the full meaning of these pages written in sand and stone. Scattered through the state, particularly along its eastern coast and less frequently on the Gulf side, immense accumulations of oyster shell and numerous mounds used for the burial of the dead are found. These contain pieces of pottery, weapons of war, articles of domestic use and occasionally human skulls and bones, suggestions, at least, of an ancient and numerous population. These discoveries suggest also a relationship with the peoples of Yucatan, whose civilization may have been co-temporaneous with that of ancient Egypt. Certain it is that the Florida of today offers to the student of prehistoric times a field that is rich in its possibilities.
The story of Florida is rich, too, in the unwritten legends of its past; legends of the times when Spanish treasure ships roved the seas, when Spanish galleons were wrecked on the islands and reefs that border its coast. Buccaneers and pirates may have used these islands as hiding places for their ill-gotten gains, and even in this twentieth century, these shores are being searched, foot by foot, for the lost treasures that were hidden by Gasparilla and Captain Kidd.
Harassed by the wars of centuries it has come at last to the develop- ment of its resources and to take an important part in the commerce of the nations. It is no longer merely a land of flowers, for its mines
3
4
FLORIDA
and forests and soils have given it preeminence in the products of peace and are making it rich beyond the dreams of the avaricious discoverers who first gave it to the world.
PONCE DE LEON'S DISCOVERIES
Four centuries have passed since Ponce de Leon landed upon the shores of Florida. Born in the Spanish province of Leon, he served in the wars of Ferdinand and Isabella against the Moors in Granada. He was trained in battle and he was born with the Spanish love of adventure. He accompanied Columbus on his second voyage of dis- covery, but that great commander never set foot upon the mainland of the new continent, for he reached no farther than Watling's Island, some four hundred miles east of the Florida coast. Ponce de Leon's travels only sharpened his appetite for adventure, and his appoint- ment as governor of Hispaniola, the modern Hayti, gave renewed opportunity for its gratification. Reckless and ambitious he organized an expedition to search for gold in the Island of Porto Rico and he had sufficient influence to have himself appointed its governor. He had amassed considerable wealth and he was eager to enter upon newer adventures which, he hoped, would bring him lasting fame and fortune.
In his wanderings in the western islands he heard frequent and repeated rumors of a Fountain of Youth in a land which abounded in gold and precious stones. It was declared that this fabled spring had the power to give strength to all who should bathe in its marvelous waters and to restore the vigor of youth to those who had passed their physical prime.
At his own expense he equipped three vessels and found numer- ous followers to accompany him on a voyage of discovery. He set sail from Porto Rico in the spring of 1513, coasting the islands of His- paniola, thence north to the Bahamas, inquiring everywhere for the wonderful fountain. No one could tell him where it was to be found, but in many places he had renewed reports of its existence in some dis- tant land still further to the west. He continued his search and on March 27, 1513, he saw the dim outlines of land on the horizon. Eagerly crowding on all sail his little fleet coasted along the shores of what he supposed to be an island. He dropped anchor on April 2d and with an imposing host of followers he landed near the present site of St. Augustine.
His landing was on Palm Sunday (Pascua Florida) and to the
FORT MATANZAS. BUILT BY SPANISH ABOUT 1740
BURIAL PLACE OF 107 VICTIMS OF DADE MASSACRE AT NATIONAL CEMETERY, ST. AUGUSTINE The three pyramidal mounds contain the bones of these soldiers
7
FLORIDA
newly discovered territory he gave the name of Florida. With elab- orate ceremony he planted the standards of Spain and took posses- sion in the name of the Spanish king.
THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
His first reception by the natives was hostile, quite in contrast to his previous experiences with the natives of Porto Rieo and others of the western islands. But there is evidenee that he suceeeded in per- suading them that he preferred peaceful relations to war, and that they accepted his advances in the spirit in which they were made. Believing that at last he was near the goal of his ambitions, his eonfi- dence in the real existenee of the remarkable fountain was strengthened by the reports of its location somewhere in the interior of the country whose borders he had touched. Yet none eould tell its preeise situa- tion. Guided by natives he is said to have visited many of the remark- able springs which then, as now, gushed forth from unknown depths and sourees. Bathing in their waters he met only disappointment, for beyond the refreshing gained from plunging into their liquid depths, he found no banishment of the infirmities of his fast maturing years.
It must be remembered that the development of the human intel- leet in these early days of the sixteenth eentury had not advaneed beyond the ready acceptance of the mysterious and miraculous, which now, four hundred years later, would be received with a smile or a sneer. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine that this brave old adventurer who had a decidedly personal interest in the discovery of the fountain and in the restoration of his youthful vigor and ambi- tions, must have experienced bitter disappointment as he retraced his diffieult path to the eoast where his fleet awaited his return, when he knew that his search had been in vain.
But he had the consciousness of having discovered a new and a rich land which he had added to the domain of Spain, and with this offering to his king, he set sail for Porto Rieo and soon afterward returned to Spain. His failure to find the magie fountain made him somewhat the sport of his fellow nobles, but his splendid reputation and the result of his sueeessful explorations secured for him a hearty reception at the Spanish eonrt. He was rewarded with the title of Adelantado, or governor of Florida and he was encouraged to seeure eolonists to establish settlements in the new possessions. It does not
8
FLORIDA
appear, however, that he was offered any substantial aid in this direction.
Ordered by the king to put down an insurrection in the Spanish islands, he failed of success. Disheartened and discouraged by this failure and at the approach of old age, he retired to Porto Rico, where for several years he remained morose and unpopular. During these years of inactivity, reports of Cortez's successes in the conquest of Mexico aroused the Spanish love of adventure and the greed of Span- ish noblemen, and Ponce de Leon's ambitions once more were stirred. He dreamed, not now of the fountain of youth, but of founding a great empire in Florida, which should bring undying fame and bound- less fortune.
Exhausting his wealth and staking his all upon the outcome, he fitted out two vessels, and in 1521 set sail upon his last voyage to the country he had given to the world. After weathering a series of gales he landed near Cape Sable, the southernmost point of Florida, in a little bay which still bears his name. His landing was fiercely opposed by the natives; many of his followers were killed or wounded and he himself received injuries which hastened the retreat to the ships. A landing was made on the island of Tortugas for supplies and the name was given to the place from the large number of turtles which were found there.
The old soldier, disheartened, sick and depressed, left the shores of Florida, abandoning his high hopes of empire and power, and fled to Cuba. His death from wounds received in battle with the Indians followed within a few days after his arrival.
A dreamer he may have been, but in the attempt to realize his visions he gave to the world a land which has become the realization of prophetic foresight far more ambitious than any he could have had. His name has been perpetuated in various sections of the South and of Florida itself, which bears the name he bestowed.
SPANISH EXPLORATIONS
The discoveries made by Ponce de Leon had been confirmed by other adventurers and explorers even before his death, and several voy- ages had been made to the coast of Florida. Although the waters had been traversed on both the Atlantic and Gulf sides, it was supposed to be an island which sooner or later would be circumnavigated. It must be remembered also that the name Florida was applied for many
9
FLORIDA
years, even for several centuries, to the entire region as far north as Virginia and westward to unknown and unmeasured limits.
The new found land had been explored only near the coast and few of the earlier exploiters were bold enough to venture far from the coast. A vast expanse of territory stretched away, unknown to Span- ish invaders. It was supposed to be populated by savage tribes, whom they called Indians, for the earlier discoverers believed they had reached India by the westward route.
The wonderful richness of foliage and the magnificent forests and flowers indicated a soil of surpassing productive capacity, but to these possibilities the Spanish were blind. It is a significant fact, illustrat- ing the character of the first European masters of this land, that during the hundred and fifty years in which they endeavored to estab- lish undisputed sway and to force Spanish Catholicism upon the natives, they depended almost entirely upon the home country, three thousand miles away, for the simplest supplies. Their attempts to meet their needs by pillaging the native stores were a most prolific cause of strife and war. Fish and wild fruits and game were every- where obtainable, which often they had not the skill or the will to gather, and they lacked the things that insignificant effort expended upon the soil would have provided in abundance. Not infrequently from their lack of foresight, their colonists hovered unpleasantly close to the starvation point.
The fear of unknown but certain dangers in the interior of the new country was, however, offset in some measure by the persistent rumors of gold to be had for the taking. The result was a number of expeditions from Spain and from Cuba that returned with trinkets of the precious metal, which had been secured in trading with the natives along the coast. Diego Miruela in 1516, Fernando de Cordova in 1517, and Lucas Vasquez d'Ayllon in 1520 were among the com- manders of these expeditions.
Cordova returning to Cuba from a visit to Mexico, then called New Spain, made a landing in Ponce de Leon Bay to fill his empty water casks. He was set upon by hostile natives and died from wounds received in the attack. Alaminos, who had been Cordova's pilot, per- suaded France de Garay, the Spanish governor of Jamaica, to fit out an expedition for exploration. In command of three ships Alami- nos followed the coast from Cape Sable to Panuco, now Tampico, Mexico, establishing the northerly line of the Gulf of Mexico and proving that Florida was not an island, but an immense unexplored mainland stretching north and west to unknown limits.
10
FLORIDA
About this time Merazzano, an Italian navigator in the French service, explored the coast from North Carolina to Cape Cod and returning to France aroused great interest by his reports of the eoun- try, its richness and the manners and characteristies of the natives.
NARVAEZ' TRAVELS
An exploration more ambitious than any that had preceded it, was that undertaken by Panfilo de Narvaez. In his ignorance of geo- graphical conditions and distanees, he believed that Panueo, Mexico, could be reached by an overland mareh of a few hundred miles from Florida. He seeured from the king of Spain the appointment of gov- ernor of Florida and at his own expense fitted out five vessels to take him to the coast of this new found territory. With six hundred fol- lowers he left Spain in June, 1527. He landed at Hispaniola to refit his damaged fleet. He was detained there by the loss of two ves- sels until the following April, when having secured other vessels he embarked four hundred men and eighty horses. The expedition was landed at what is now known as Clear Water Harbor, on the Gulf side of Florida, not far from the present location of Tampa.
The standards of Spain were set up with elaborate ceremony and the land was preempted in the name of the king of Spain. Deeiding not to establish a colony at this point, Narvaez disembarked three hundred men and the forty horses that had survived the voyage, and giving orders that the fleet should coast along toward the north, keep- ing in touch with the landing party, he set out for his long tramp toward, if not to, Mexico.
It was a venture of untold hardship and almost unbelievable dangers, which it is unnecessary to follow in detail. Disease and insufficient food rapidly diminished his forees. Unfriendly Indians obstrueted the way or opposed it by open hostilities. Nowhere did the bold travelers find traees of the gold which they had been told existed in abundance through the country. At no point along the march where they eame to the coast did they discover traees of the fleet which was to suecor them. At various places they stopped to recuperate and to collect food supplies from the Indians or from whatever souree they could. The natives hearing of their approach burned the vil- lages and left little hope of obtaining sustenanee. At or near the present site of St. Marks they halted their forces, which had been still further reduced by sickness and hardship. Hemmed in by hostile tribes in an unknown land, they took couneil and decided that their
11
FLORIDA
only hope of escape lay in building boats and endeavoring to reach either Cuba or l'anuco by water.
Within six weeks they built five rude and unseaworthy boats, each one hundred feet long, and set sail in the stormy month of September. Their destination was planned to be l'anuco, twelve hundred miles distant, which in their ignorance they supposed to be nearer than Cuba, which was only five hundred miles away. For thirty days the little fleet, unskilltully manned, skirted the shore. Landing occasionally for food and water they were attacked by Indians, losing many of their number. The boats were separated and wrecked; that occupied by Narvaez and some of his priests was carried out to sea and was never heard from again. 'The other boats were lost and the original force of three hundred men was reduced to less than one hundred. One small party of these survivors on foot and through a hostile coun- try, forced its way westward until it reached a great river. These men under the leadership of De Vaca made but little exploration of the stream, but from the description there is every reason to believe that it was the Mississippi. Although he did not ascend the river, it is to him and not to De Soto that probably belongs the honor of being the first European to sce and cross this mighty stream.
The three vessels which Narvaez had left at Clear Water Harbor with orders to follow his progress along the coast, sailed northward for some distance. They failed to find the bay which they had been directed to make their anchorage, and they turned back and came to Espiritu Santo Bay, now called Tampa Bay. Two of the ships con- tinued their search for Narvaez and his party for nearly a year, and then sailed to Mexico.
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