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ChazzCreations
PO BOX 1909
POST FALLS, ID 83877
Let our history lesson begin with our State Flag. Florida’s Pocahontas - the Seminole woman planting flowers on our Great Seal has a name, and a history; a very sad one. Unlike her Virginia cousin 200 years before, she didn’t marry up, become the darling of literature or queen of Disney. She was exiled to a barren land 1000 miles from home and forced to walk there with her children; died there in shameful poverty.
The flag of Florida from 1900 to 1985
This is her story: In March 1818, 15 y/o Malee, AKA Milly, was walking through a Wakulla River hammock near her father’s camp. He was Josiah Francis “Crazy Medicine”, half white radical chief of the newly formed Seminoles, renegade Red Stick Creeks who came into Florida from Alabama when the British and Spanish abandoned in the 1780s. Gen. Andrew Jackson is camped nearby as well, sent in to Spanish Florida to quell reported British incitement of raider chiefs like Josiah, a campaign that would be called the 1st Seminole War. Millie comes into a clearing just as her father’s warriors capture a young GA militia officer, Capt. Duncan McCrimmon of Milledgeville. They prepare to execute him in a heinous Seminole death torture by driving pine stakes into his body and lighting fire. With her grace, charm and princess status she convinced the warriors to free the American. He returned to camp and to his home in Milledgeville, GA with news of his rescue. Jackson was not impressed; suspected correctly who Millie was and tricked her father to come onboard a captured British schooner. Jackson had Chief Francis hanged without a trial in front of Millie, her sister, mother and family. Gen. Jackson did not attend; sat in his tent ordering several more executions of Brits and Seminoles. He said: “Nothing changes the attitude of a scoundrel like a good hanging”. Milly and the family were forced walked back to Alabama by the Army. Milledgeville’s Journal newspaper reported Capt. MacCrimmon’s rescue by the merciful Seminole girl and fed that story plus Jackson’s hanging spree to the national press. Millie became a heroine on the order of Lewis and Clark’s Sacagawea, but never knew it. Ten years later McCrimmon got up a collection among Milledgeville folks and set out to find Milly and propose to her. He found her in Alabama just before she and her tribe were to start the sad Trail of Tears march to Oklahoma. McCrimmon gave her the money and proposed to her. Millie graciously accepted the money as her people were destitute. Marriage? Maybe 10 years ago she would have become a US Army officer’s wife, but now she was married, about to be marched far away to exile with her children. Her husband and five of the children were among the victims of the deadly march. The US Army did not forget her. In Jan. 1842, Lt Col E. A. Hitchcock traveled through Indian territory and kept looking for Millie. He found her living in a dirt floor cabin on the Arkansas River near Muscogee, OK. Hitchcock said despite her hard life she was “still a good-looking woman of about 40 years and must have been a beautiful young girl”. Returning to Washington Col. Hitchcock set out to lobby Congress to aid and honor Millie Francis. Congress, after two years of “deliberation” passed an act on June 17, 1844.to give Millie a pension of $100 annually retroactive to the date of her noble deed, AND a special medal “as a testimonial of the gratitude of the United States”. That would be the first Congressional Medal given to a woman. Don’t look for it; it’s not in anybody’s history, but I have a copy of the Act of Congress authorizing it (with some help from my friends in the Library of Congress and Senate Curator’s Office). After Congress fiddled with it for two years, the federal bureaucracy sat on it three more years before the Bureau of Indian Affairs started “preliminaries” to make it happen. After another year (now it’s 1848) the Commissioner of Indian Affairs sent Mr. Logan, the Creek Agent, out to tell Ms Millie she would soon see her award and some money. Logan found her dying of tuberculosis developed while the govt talked about her. Millie was humbly appreciative of the recognition, but died the next day. If the gov’t was slow on her case before she died, it was even slower dealing with her heirs afterward. There is no record that anyone ever received a penny, or ever saw the authorized “medal”. The Great Seal of Florida was first ordered by the 1868 Florida Legislature during the post-Civil War federal occupation. They were an unelected group of Reconstruction “Carpetbaggers and Scalawags” who knew little about the state. They ordered a seal showing “the sun’s rays over a high land in the distance, a cocoa tree, (a cocoa tree?) a steamboat and an Indian female scattering flowers”. The artist chosen was equally clueless about the state and painted mountains in the background, a Western Plains Indian wearing a giant feathered headdress, (Seminole women wore no such) and the steamboat was not seaworthy.
In 1985 the Seal was updated/corrected with a new “Millie” in Seminole attire, flattened the mountains, dug up the cocoa tree and planted a nice sabal “cabbage” palm. The story of the Great Seal of Florida, the non-Floridians who first designed it, the Native American lass who adorns it and the Cracker Floridians who finally corrected it, is a history too long forgotten...thank you for sharing Doyle Conner Jr..
The current flag of Florida, 1985 to present
In order to trace the early history, it is necessary to go back as far as possible to the beginning. From at least A.D. 1000, a group of farming Indians was living in northwest Florida. They were called the Apalachees. Other Florida Indians regarded them as being wealthy and fierce. Some think the Apalachee language was related to Hitchiti of the Muskhogean language family. Prior to European contact, there were probably at least 50,000-60,000 Apalachees. They were a strong and powerful chiefdom living in widely dispersed villages. Their leaders organized their work, and much of their social, ritual and political life as well. Other tribes respected the Apalachees because they belonged to an advanced Indian civilization, they were prosperous, and they were fierce warriors. As with other Native Americans, they attacked their enemies in small raids and ambushes, and scalped their enemies. For food, they grew corn, beans and squash. Men prepared the fields and women tended the crops. Men also hunted bear, deer and small game, while women gathered nuts and berries. Traditionally the men wore deerskin loincloths and women wore Spanish moss skirts. When preparing for battle, the men painted their bodies with red ochre and put feathers in their hair. Apalachee.
The history of Florida can be traced to when the first Native Americans, Paleo-Indians, began to inhabit the peninsula as early as 14,000 years ago. They left behind artifacts and archeological evidence. Florida's written history begins with the arrival of Europeans; the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1513 made the first textual records. Our beloved state of Florida, discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513 and claimed by Spain. He landed on the east coast of Easter Sunday, which in Spanish is called Pascua Florida, or flowery Easter. Ponce de Leon named the land Florida because he saw so many brilliant flowers in bloom. At this time several thousand Indians lived in this region, at the time of first contact included the Ais, Calusa, Jaega, Mayaimi, Tequesta, Vitachuco Tribe and Tocobaga. Early explorers such as Alvaro Mexia wrote about them; other information has been learned through archeological research. The populations of all of these tribes decreased markedly during the period of Spanish control of Florida, mostly due to epidemics of newly introduced infectious diseases, to which the Native Americans had no natural immunity. The diminished population of the original natives allowed outside groups, such as the Seminoles, to move into the area starting about 1700.
Another tribe that laid claim near the Withlacoochee River were the Vitachuco Tribe. Melrose is rich in Indian mounds and a fine hunting ground for flint arrowheads, pottery; and the like, few are aware that within a few miles of Melrose was fought one of the most important battles on Florida soil. This was a tribe that Desoto came into contact and conflict with during his conquest of Florida. DeSoto landed at Ucita (the big mound on the government reservation at Tampa), June 1, 1539, that after a month he went on to Uri-, baracua (near Dade City), thence northwest on the Withlacoochee River, crossed into the province of Acuera, thence twenty leagues (50 miles to Ocaly, on the Ocklawaha River, thence to Vitachuco; near Melrose, the capital or chief town of Vitachuco, the chieftain.Vitachuco had invited DeSoto to remain in his town for several days, however, it was all part of his plan to destroy the invading Spaniards. This plan became known to Jean Ortis, who had been among the Indians at Tampa as a slave for ten years, having been captured by Harriga from the ship sent to search for Narvaez. Ortis could understand their language and he informed DeSoto. So when Vitachuco invited DeSoto out to see his army whose arms had been concealed, DeSoto took his army along, and also took as a personal escort twelve of his strongest men to offset the twelve strong Indians Vitachuco had taken with him to seize DeSoto.This is when a battle brewed into existence; it was said that the battle took place on a grassy plain that was bordered on the left by forests and on the right by marshes or ponds. It was a classic wild Florida swamp with thick muck, deep waters, and slowly traversable terrain. The Indians formed a crescent in the center of this plain, and when the Spaniards came against them their cavalry went between the Indians and the forest on the left, and the foot soldiers with DeSoto at their head marched between the Indians and the swampy pond, or marsh.
When on the plain, DeSoto had a musket fired as a signal and they charged the Indians with great fury. The battle lasted nearly three hours and when the Vitachuco Indians tried to flee, it was told that thousands were killed. Nine hundred of them fleed jumping into the deep pond and would not surrender until the next day, or until they had become completely exhausted from swimming. After they had remained several days at Vitachuco, DeSoto left and marched 13 miles to a river. As where history lines up for today… The crescent shaped lake would seem to be the location of Two-Mile Pond; the marsh is now called Whahoo Hammock ; the small river would be the Etonia Creek; even the large Indian mound was found; and the given distances are fairly correct. This tribe of Indians thrived around Lake Santa Fe to Newnan’s Lake.
"History of the Conquest of Florida” edited in English by Barnard Shipp in his "DeSoto and Florida" https://https://stars.library.ucf.edu/
1589 map depicts Francis Drake’s 1586 raid on St. Augustine
It is also the earliest-known depiction of a European settlement in the U. S.
In 1562-1564, Huguenots (Protestants from France) attempted to establish settlements in Florida on the St. Johns River. They built Fort Caroline in 1564. In 1565 the Spanish founded St. Augustine, the oldest permanent white settlement in the United States. The Spaniards killed most of the French, and kept their hold on the Florida region for almost 200 years more. In 1698, they founded a fort at Pensacola to hold back the French colonists in the Louisiana region. Most of the Apalachees from Mission San Luis moved westward in 1704, accepting an offer to live in French-controlled Mobile. In 1763, most of these Apalachees relocated to Rapides Parish in Louisiana. Today, 250 to 300 of their descendants still live there. They are the only documented descendants of any of Florida's prehistoric native populations.
After the French and Indian wars ended in 1763, Florida was ceded to England in exchange for the city of Havana, Cuba. The part of the Louisiana territory lying East of the Mississippi was added to Florida. English colonists came to Florida from Carolina and Georgia. The English divided the area into East and west Florida. West Florida lay west of the Apalachicola River and included parts of what are now Alabama and Mississippi. East Florida including the rest of present-day Florida. The English bribed the Indians to keep peace and expanded trade. Thousands of Loyalists fled to East Florida after the Revolutionary War began. They founded towns and established plantations.
The Spanish captured West Florida from the English between 1779 and 1781 during the Revolutionary War. All Florida again became a Spanish possession in 1783 and remained under Spain’s rule until 1821. Spain was a weak country during this period, and the region became refuge of runaway slaves thieving Indians and dangerous adventurers.
American settlers in West and East Florida started insurrections in the early 1800’s to win Florida for the United States. In 1814, an army led by general Andrew Jackson seized Pensacola, which the Spaniards had allowed the English to use as a naval base during the War of 1812. Four years later, Jackson’s army stormed through the region between Pensacola and the Suwannee River to punish the Indians for attacks on the Georgia border. Jackson Captured Ft. St. Marks and Pensacola.
The United States purchased Florida from Spain in 1819. They did not actually pay any money to Spain, but agreed to pay $5,000,000.00 for damages by Spaniards to the property of American citizens. Spain formerly transferred the territory to the U.S. in 1821. Andrew Jackson was appointed the provincial governor of Florida, with headquarters at Pensacola. Counties of Escambia and St. Johns were organized into governmental units. Congress organized the territory of Florida in 1822 and William P. Duval served as the first territorial governor a position he held for 12 years. Four governors succeeded him before the territory became a state.
Thousands of American settlers soon came to this frontier plantation of the South. The government’s main problems were open to new lands and to develop transportation systems. Indians also continued to make trouble. In 1835, the Seminole, who had come to Florida after 1750, massacred Major Francis L. Dade and his troupes. This incident started the 7 years Seminole War. Hundreds of white settlers and most of the Seminoles were killed during this struggle. In to protect the settlers from the Indians- Fort Call, near Dukes settlement: Fort Clinch on the northern bank s of Lake Butler.
Florida became the 27th state to be added to the Union by an act of congress, March 3, 1845. William D. Moseley was the first elected Governor of Florida and inaugurated June 25, 1845, with a state population of 57,951.,Few persons settled on the Florida Peninsula during the following years, mostly being slave-owning planters with cotton plantations in the northern section. Most were not very large, and many of the farmers owned slaves. There was much unrest in the country at this time and the Florida State Convention met in Tallahassee on January 3, 1861 to consider secession from the Union. There was no question about the necessity of it in the minds of the representatives though some wished to delay until other Southern States acted. Others felt an ordinance of secession should be submitted to the voters for popular approval. But on January 10th the convention adopted the ordinance of secession by a vote of 62 to 7.
January 13 – September 12, 1861
This of course brought many changes to the people of this area as well as the rest of Florida. As the Civil War got under way, Florida was something of a question mark. It was never a solid unit of the Confederacy but it was a thorn in the side of the Federal Forces as Florida produced supplies for the Southern armies and provided dozens of ports for blockade-runners. A steady stream of fathers, husbands and sons left the small farms and towns to join those sister states in the cause for state rights. As far as we know there were no statistics of the total number of men who left this county but we know that most families were affected in one way or another as the men left for the camps. Union forces seized most of the coastal towns during the first two years of the civil war. The confederates won the battle of Olustee, the one important land battle fought in the states. Many settlers of this area were in the battle. Following the battle was much violence. The state was not readmitted to the Union until June 25, 1868.
State Flag September 13, 1861 – May 5, 1868
Many of the 1880’s helped in the rapid development of Florida, and our Union County became an active area. Railroads of the Atlantic Coast Line and Georgia-Southern and Florida crossed in Lake Butler making the town an attractive place to establish business.
By the turn of the century, Florida's population and per capita wealth were increasing rapidly; the potential of the "Sunshine State" appeared endless. By the end of World War I, land developers had descended on this virtual gold mine. With more Americans owning automobiles, it became commonplace to vacation in Florida. Many visitors stayed on, and exotic projects sprang up in southern Florida. Some people moved onto land made from drained swamps. Others bought canal-crossed tracts through what had been dry land. The real estate developments quickly attracted buyers, and land in Florida was sold and resold. Profits and prices for many developers reached inflated levels.
The growth of Florida's transportation industry had its origins in 1855, when the state legislature passed the Internal Improvement Act. Like legislation passed by several other states and the federal government, Florida's act offered cheap or free public land to investors, particularly those interested in transportation. The act, and other legislation like it, had its greatest effect in the years between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I. During this period, many railroads were constructed throughout the state by companies owned by Henry Flagler and Henry B. Plant, who also built lavish hotels near their railroad lines. The Internal Improvement Act stimulated the initial efforts to drain the southern portion of the state in order to convert it to farmland.
These development projects had far-reaching effects on the agricultural, manufacturing, and extractive industries of late-nineteenth-century Florida. The citrus industry especially benefitted, since it was now possible to pick oranges in south Florida; put them on a train heading north; and eat them in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New York in less than a week. In 1898 national attention focused on Florida, as the Spanish-American War began. The port city of Tampa served as the primary staging area for U.S. troops bound for the war in Cuba. Many Floridians supported the Cuban peoples' desire to be free of Spanish colonial rule.
May 6, 1868 – November 5, 1900
State government began to represent a larger proportion of its citizens. Female citizens won the right to vote in 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law. In 1937, the requirement that voters pay a "poll tax" was repealed, allowing poor African American and white Floridians to have a greater voice in government. In 1944 the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed a system of all-white primary elections that had limited the right of African Americans to vote. By the time the Great Depression began in the rest of the nation in 1929, Floridians had already become accustomed to economic hardship. In 1929 the Mediterranean fruit fly invaded the state, and the citrus industry suffered. A quarantine was established, and troops set up roadblocks and checkpoints to search vehicles for any contraband citrus fruit. Florida's citrus production was cut by about sixty percent.
Since World War II, Florida's economy also has become more diverse. Tourism, cattle, citrus, and phosphate have been joined by a host of new industries that have greatly expanded the numbers of jobs available to residents. Electronics, plastics, construction, real estate, and international banking are among the state's more recently-developed industries. Since the 1950s, Florida's public education system and public places have undergone great changes. African American citizens, joined by Governor LeRoy Collins and other white supporters, fought to end racial discrimination in schools and other institutions.
The U.S. space program, with its historic launches from Cape Canaveral, lunar landings, and the development of the space shuttle program—has brought much media attention to the state. The citrus industry continues to prosper, despite occasional winter freezes, and tourism also remains important, bolstered by large capital investments. Florida attractions, such as the large theme parks in the Orlando area, bring millions of visitors to the state from across the U.S. and around the world.
George F. Drew was the 12th Governor of Florida from 1877-1881
Governor Drew’s administration far exceeded their fondest hopes. Retiring to private life after a single term, he left the financial department so improved that Florida bonds were selling at a premium. The floating debt had been paid off. Taxes had been reduced each year of his administration. Public schools had been fostered, and the State had started upon a race with progress from which she has not yet lagged. His great house was built in 1868 by Ed and John Drew, Georges brothers. Here is a sad view of how a beautiful home can drift away: by the 1950s, it had severely deteriorated, finally stripped of its salvageable lumber and materials, just before it was burned down in 1970.
George Franklin Drew mansion 1880's
George Franklin Drew mansion 1930
George Franklin Drew mansion 1935
George Franklin Drew Mansion 1950's
George Franklin Drew Mansion 1960's
George Franklin Drew Mansion 1966
Ellaville: George Franklin Drew mansion, before final destruction ca 1970
George Franklin Drew mansion staircase
George Franklin Drew mansion interior
Ellaville - Drew Cemetery
Ellaville was a boom town of the 1800's...
1920 General store & first filling station at campground
In 1942, the Ellaville post office closed its doors for good, as there weren’t enough local residents to justify its presence. Two of the few remaining landmarks of Ellaville were the distinctive Suwannee River Store built in 1927, and the decaying remains of the long-abandoned Drew mansion. However, the Drew mansion succumbed to arson in 1970, and repeated flooding and the re-routing of Highway 90 across a more modern bridge to the west of Ellaville in 1986 led to the store being abandoned as well.
Ellaville_Drew Sawmill early 1900s
1920 Store of George Franklin Drew & Lewis Bucki
School Portrait 1921 School was held in an abandoned church for 3 months out of the year. Teacher Joyce Peeples. Photo Courtesy State Archive of Florida
Ellaville Hillman Bridge 2012
The Hillman bridge which we can still see today is a through truss bridge and was built from a Federal Aid Project from 1925-26 and designed by RHH Blackwell Company of East Aurora, New York
Suwannee River Store, built 1927, photo 1928
Suwannee River Store sign
This sign still stands, but the restaurant (and the enclosure where they kept the alligators) does not. Apparently the restaurant closed in the 1980's.
The current state of the Suwannee River Store building
Ellaville short history...
Ellaville was a boom town of the 1800's where approximately 1000 people lived at one time. The location was at the merging of the Withlacoochee and Suwannee rivers. George Drew and Louis Bucki had a number of business's here including logging, sawmill, turpentine, and railroad car building. The towns advantageous location at the mergence of the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers provided an easy way to transport logs down the river early on, until the Florida Railway was constructed through town and opened special service to the mill. The town had a train station, steamboat dock, masonic lodge, two churches, two schools and a commissary. After his term as Governor was completed, Drew sold his shares in the mill to Bucki and pursued other lumber ventures near Jacksonville Florida.
ChazzCreations
PO BOX 1909
POST FALLS, ID 83877