Jackson County, Florida
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

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Jackson County

Jackson County was created in 12 Aug 1822 and was formed from Escambia County. The County was named for after Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States and the military governor of Florida in 1821. The County Seat is Marianna.

Jackson County was created by an act of the Legislative Council on August 12, 1822. One of the four original counties in the territory, Jackson has undergone four boundary changes since inception. In 1832 the boundary between Jackson and Calhoun Counties was altered and fixed (Chap. 32, Laws). Jackson County land was annexed into Calhoun County in 1845 (Chap. 29, Laws). In 1847, boundary changes were made for the creation of Holmes County (Chap. 180, Laws). Finally in 1893, boundaries were further defined between Jackson and Washington Counties (Chap. 4236, Laws). Jackson County's courthouse was destroyed by fire on November 30, 1848. The Clerk of the Circuit Court in each county serves as the official custodian of deed, marriage, and probate records. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Jackson County are Seminole County, Georgia (east), Gadsden County (southeast), Liberty County (southeast), Calhoun County (south), Washington County (southwest), Bay County (southwest), Holmes County (west), Geneva County, Alabama (northwest), Houston County, Alabama (northwest).

Jackson County Cities and Towns include Graceville, Jacob City, Marianna Alford, Bascom, Campbellton, Cottondale, Grand Ridge, Greenwood, Malone, Sneads. Communities Include Cypress

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Extended History

The War of 1812 ended by early 1815, but the British had promoted a warlike atmosphere among the Indian waring tribes especially in Florida. The Indians here in Florida were actually Creeks who had abandonded their Creek Nation and taken up a way of life as Seminoles, or runaways in the swamps and by the rivers of Florida.

Contrary to common thought in this day and time, many Indian bands, or tribes farmed, owned cattle and hogs, and also had fruit and berry orchards. This is reported in some of Benjamin Hawkins', Indian Agent for the area south of the Ohio river, writings in late 1700s, and early 1800s. Benjamin Hawkins headquarters was on the Flint river up toward Macon, Georgia and was later written about as "Old Agency".

Those peaceful and productive Indians were not the problem in those days. The Seminoles here in Florida were free to travel back into Georgia and wander over the countryside, plundering, and stealing as they pleased, even taking horses and cattle. The settlers in south Georgia were in an intolerable situation, and this gave reason for General Jackson's exploits into Florida by 1818. Jackson was already familiar with Florida because he had fought the British at Pensacola (although Spain owned Florida at the time). And too, Fort Scott and Fort Gaines on the Chattahoochee, and of course the big war with the Indians up near Montgomery, Alabama at Fort Mitchell, were all familiar grounds to Jackson.

The Treaty of Moultrie Creek that was made with many Chiefs and Warriors provided Indian Reservations along the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers. Econchatimico was the chief given approximately four sections on the Chattahoochee river in Jackson county. Blount was given a like reserve at Blountstown, and Yellowhair was given a reserve down in vicinity of Iola, also on the Apalachicola river. Patty Carr's tribe was a part of the ones I refer to as Yellowhair. Descendants of Patty Carr still live in Jackson and other nearby counties of West Florida.

The tribes already mentioned were considered the friendlies by General Jackson. The remaining Seminoles were sent down in the peninsular of Florida where the land was poor, and there was much discontent among the Indians. Those Indians kept coming back up this way and were scattered all over Florida.

This presented a real live problem for the people traveling in Florida as well as those living in areas outside the huge Indian Reserve where the Indians were supposed to remain. This time of "Indian Wars" lasted from 1825 to 1838 especially, but to a lesser degree for many years to come.

The treaty stated that the Indians could elect to stay and integrate into the local society and observe the law and be peaceful, but it appears that this portion of the agreement never did surface, or at least was not promoted.

4. WAR OF 1812 RIGHT IN OUR BACKDOOR

The second go round with the British was like finishing the American Revolution, like "stay out of my face !" while the British remained hostile and intimidating efforts through the American Indians toward the United States.

Colonel Nicolls of the British Royal Marines became well established at Prospect Bluff. He established an earthen fortification and named it British Post in December 1814.

Colonel Nicolls with 60 marines and 180 Indians had landed as an assault party to capture Fort Bowyer as a prelude to capturing Mobile, Alabama. Captain Percy of the British Navy had a squadron offshore consisting of British warships HERMES, CARON, SOPHIA and ANACONDA. Guns from these ships pounded Fort Bowyer. Colonel Nichols went out to the HERMES to observe, but this vessel came under severe attack, and caught fire and burned. The fort was not reduced. Colonel Nicolls was wounded in the head and leg and blinded in the right eye.

The British squadron retreated to Pensacola and Colonel Nichols' contingent of British Royal Marines occupied Fort Barrancas there. The Spanish were powerless to do anything about this affront. They were lukewarm allies with the British at the time. Within two months Major General (just promoted to two star general in May 1814) Andrew Jackson moved against Pensacola with five cannon and 3,000 men and captured it November 8, 1814.

Colonel Nichols and his forces made a hasty retreat, blowing up Fort Barancas and San Miguel, and left November 9, 1814. Col. Nichols accompanied by Captain George Woodbine, took their armed forces and many captured slaves, including some owned by Forbes and Company, by ship to the Apalachicola River and concentrated their forces at Prospect Bluff.

This was very close to the end of the War of 1812, but the beginning of a new era, establishing a place in the history of the Apalachicola River namely Prospect Bluff where the British established their fort, then in 1818 Andrew Jackson by the work of his engineer, Lt. James Gadsden, reestablished a vital fort, and called it FORT GADSDEN,- on this exact same spot where in 1816 the original fort had been destroyed by Jackson's forces killing hundreds of its Negro slaves and Indians occupying the place. The place had been called the NEGRO FORT during the period after Col. Nichols left in 1815 until it was blown up in 1816.

Recently I was told by a forester that the old Fort Gadsden, where none of the original forts remain, is again under the control of the Federal Government. Searches for remains of people of the mass grave of nearly all the inhabitants of the Negro Fort has all been to no avail. Next to nothing exists in the whole area. Anyone not aware of the area's history would never suspect anything, but the lonesome nothingness with only an occassional outboard motor easing along appearing from nowhere with only an inkling of some possible destination.

5. COTTON AND NAVAL STORES

Beginning in 1828, Steamboat Fannie setting the pace, cotton was the one commodity that enticed steamboating from Apalachicola up the rivers primarily to Columbus, and Albany, Georgia. Huge areas of Alabama and Georgia and Jackson County in Florida quickly geared up for cotton production. The majority of the cotton was picked by slaves, however, William Neel reported many times when he would also be picking cotton along with the other hands. Cotten picking lasted from August to December, making this the big season for the steamboats, as well as the collection points for which Neel's Landing was a prime example. Some steamboat landings were at private landings where cotton and naval stores were loaded by the stevadores of the day, called roust-abouts. Most of these private landings do not show up on the lists of steamboat landings

Apalachicola grew by leaps and bounds in spite of the venture with Florida's first railroad into St. Joseph that finally caved in by 1839. This railroad reached from Dead Lake to St. Joseph. Initially diverting the cargo from Apalachicola River via Lake Wimico then 8 miles by rail into St. Joseph. This 8 mile span of railroad was actually Florida's first in 1834. The portion up to Dead Lake was then built and functioned for several years, but failed to pull the bulk of freight traffic being brought down river, mainly cotton.

The St. Joseph Times, February 20, 1841, stated: "For sale or lease, - That valuable place known as 'Stone's Wood Yard,' four miles by water and three by land above the town of Iola, on the Apalachicola River. Also oxen stock, cattle and hogs, fodder, corn, hay, potatoes, peas, etc., a wagon and cart can be had if wished. Fifty acres of open and an hundred acres under fence, located in as healthy a situation as any on the river, having two good springs of water, one mineral. Apply to the subscriber on the premises." (This add was placed by Colonel Henry Stone who had served with General Andrew Jackson and was later President of the Territorial Council.

Henry Stone is the ancester of the Stones of this area, including Pebble, John, J.H.(now deceased) and a throng of others still living and others who lived out their lives here in Jackson County.

Iola and the Stone Place are northeast of Wewahitchka.

Iola had been the home place of Chief John Blount prior to his removal to his Indian Reserve at Blountstown.

Possibly the major factor in the St. Joseph adventure was the double handling of the cargo from the steamboats to the railroad and again onto the ocean going vessels, whereas at Apalachicola the steamboats could come alongside the bigger ships and have their cargo transferred directly to the ship that would take it to New Orleans, New York, or Liverpool, to name some major shipping points.

Liverpool took vast amounts of the cotton being produced and shipped via Apalachicola, and became the major source for goods the pioneers, as far north as Columbus, Georgia and beyond, were seeking to buy with the cash coming in from cotton sales.

6. THE INDIAN WARS FILLED THE GAP BETWEEN WARS

7.. STAGE LINES ALSO HAULED PASSENGERS AND MAIL

Stagecoaches became familiar to us through western movies of the "Old West", however, by 1833 this area was known as "The Southwest" and this area had stagecoaches. One such line operated between Millegeville, Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida. The trip took four days of rough travel. As a country boy who knew a horse and wagon as a way of travel back in the 1930's, it is not very difficult to imagine how tiring several days travel would be. The stagecoaches had springs that took some of the roughness out of the ride, but you must remember that stumps where trees were cut for the roads made for rough riding to say the least. The Enquirer suggested that you could take the stagecoach from Millegeville to Columbus and then rest that night and take the steamboat down to Chattahoochee then on to Tallahassee by stagecoach. That way you could make the trip in 3 and 1/2 days and get two nights rest on the trip.

Jack Wingate has a placemat (that they seldom put out anymore) in his restaurant at Wingate's Fish Camp up north of Chattahoochee in Georgia. The placemat lists the historic locations on the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers. One of the sites is the Gator Stagecoach Line Terminal several miles south of Bainbridge, and near where Bainbridge history books state that Daniel Odom Neel built the first permanent log residence in Decatur County. I have a picture of Florida Neel McMillan standing by a marker that Georgia Historians put by Georgia SR-97 on the edge of what used to be Danaiel Neel property.

Tom Dudley pointed out to me that the stage line had a stop at the Carpenter Place on Reddock Road. There is a pond named Stage Pond because of the stage stop there. Along this same road on the Wester Place is an Indian Burial Ground mentioned in some of Providence Baptist Church History written by Evelyn Murphy during the many years that she was Church Clerk at Providence. I have not been able to find a single person who knows exactly where the burial ground is. Equipment now available is capable of locating old graveyards.

Articles to come will tell of a family known all over the world that moved to Jackson County down the Chattahoochee by steamboat; Soldiers killed on the Apalachicola River during the Civil War; Local boy who is still living who sold litard to the steamboats at Pea Rye Landing. I may even print a list of the landings from Apalachicola to Columbus. Call me if you have some input.

8. TRANSPORT ON OUR RIVERS GETS IN GEAR IN 1830's(gonobles.html#top to top)

Trade up and down the local rivers got into full swing in the 1830's in spite of the hazards involved with the steamboats' boilers that provided the steam using fat lightard, much of it provided from the swamps along the Chattahoochee, with this steam turning the screws that propelled the boat. Pulling upstream required a lot of power that was being generated by pilling on the wood, which was a very inexact science. This in turn was hazardous because when overheated the boiler could blow up. Those living along the various rivers being run by the steamboats could cut wood and rack it and the steamboats would stop and pick it up along with the name of persons the wood belonged to and payment would be made and sent to them. The steamboat pilots knew the river so well that they claimed that if awakened in the night they could tell where they were. They must have had some nightmares of snags and running aground on sandbars, since this was common occurance, and that's why some historians today called river travel a "Perilous Journey".

In 1835 speculators attempted turning steamboat traffic to St. Joseph by building a canal and a railroad from Iola, which was 75 river miles from Apalachicola, but only 30 railroad miles to St. Joseph. The land was bought and a town was platted out with lots of various sizes right down to the waters edge.

"In mid-June, 1835, Niles Register reported that "...the citizens (of Apalachicola) have all, without a single exception, resolved to abandon it en masse, and remove to St. Joseph's which, as respect (to) its harbor, local situation and salubrity, is regarded as much more eligible site...The harbor of St. Joseph's is described as being excellent, and it is announced that Apalachicola will have to bow to it in silent submission." 1 Register was printing this quote in the Apalachicola Advertiser.

The very next year the Apalachicola Gazette, new paper, new editor, Cosam Emir Bartlett, criticised St. Joseph. "Rumor that the (Apalachicola)merchants were moving to St. Joseph's Bay is without foundation. That place exists only in nameand in the mind of a small band of speculators, who would build a city at the public expense, could they dupe the people by their arts and untiring zeal. ...if the planters and merchants on the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers are disposed to incur an unnecessary expense in the transportation of produce and goods on a railroad for the sake of going thirty miles farther to market, and aiding a few speculators in building a town where nature has said there shall be none we have no objection, but we hope they will just take the trouble to examine the pleasures and advantages that artificial channels afford over the natural channel of Apalachicola...where steamboat and ship meet and exchange their cargoes."2

1 & 2 Perilous Journeys: A History of Steamboating on the Chattahoochee, Apalachicola, and Flint Rivers, 1828-1928 by Edward A. Mueller

9. APALACHICOLA AND COLUMBUS BECOME A TEAM

Steamboats on the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee river system bring new life to this area. And while it is true that the treaty with the Creek Indians that gave Georgia the land between the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers in 1828, Jackson County, Florida was already being settled, as is evidenced by the number of people on the census of the county by then. Too, Decatur County, Georgia had been open since 1822 with Bainbridge on the Flint River taking over where Fort Hughes had been active during recent struggles with the hostile Indians.

Florida and Georgia were keenly aware that the steamboats required open channels to navigate. Georgia Engineers opened a channel on the Chattahoochee River south of Columbus in 1828 so that Columbus could be the trade center in Georgia. The Georgia legislature had the foresight to cause 12,000 acres to be surveyed and platted for a city. This was very timely, because farming near the rivers was catching on quickly by these pioneers. The land was richer and the closer you were to the river, the closer you were to the market. The steamboat STEUBENVILLE reached Columbus on February 6, 1828, made the trip from the Gulf in 86 hours. She could carry 700 bales of cotton or 1100 barrels of flour. Her captain was A. J. Wood.

It is significant that by February 1828 there were just three or four stores and most business was trading with the Indians

. The Columbus Inquirer was founded in May 1828 by Mirabeau Lamar. Texas was beginning to be settled and after Lamar's wife died in 1830 he went to Texas and participated in Texas' War of Independence in 1836. After the war he became Commander in Chief of the Texas Army, then Texas Secretary of War, and finally President of the Republic of Texas. It was reported that Lamar made many return trips to Columbus, but died in 1859 in Texas.

James W. Fannin, later Colonel Fannin, one of Columbus' 1828 merchants also went on to Texas and participated in the Texas War of Independence in 1836. Fannin had been one of Decatur county's founders also. Colonel Fannin met with misfortune though when he was captured, along with a whole battalion of men from Georgia, known as THE GEORGIA BATTALION. The Mexican General Santa Anna had more than 300 Prisoners of War, including Colonel Fannin, shot at Goliad, Texas on Easter Sunday, 1836. The Georgia Battalion consisted of about 350 men from around Macon and Millegeville, Georgia. Watson Nobles, youngest brother of my great-great-grandfather, William Nobles, who died February 21, 1837, near Neel's Landing in Jackson County, was also one of those who was shot by Santa Anna's soldiers at Goliad, Texas. Undoubtedly, Watson had heard his father, Sanders Nobles tell war stories of the American Revolution. (Note: "Perilous Journeys: A History of Steamboating on the Chattahoochee, Apalachicola, and Flint Rivers, 1828-1928" by Edward A. Mueller, deserves much of the credit for this article)

10. THE RIVERS BECOME ARTERIES OF PIONEER LIFE

St. Marks was made the "port of entry" in May 1821 and would counteract smuggling. The customs collector, Charles Jenkins, established his headquarters at the mouth of the Apalachicola River in March, 1823.

"In mid-October, 1823, a Pensacolian, John Lee Williams, on his way to Tallahassee to help select a site for the state capital came to the "mouth of the Apalachicola River where there were several houses and a small vessel on the stocks. At one house was found Major Jenkins, the collector of the port, with whom we dined and spent several agreeable hours until the tide turned and we proceeded to cross the mouth of the river."1

Customs collected in 1824 was $530.61 and the net was $126.582. It would not be long before steamboats would ply the waters of the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint, and to a lesser degree, the Chipola River. These steamboats would haul anything, including passengers, and mail, but cotton would be king.

Jenkins allowed in 1825 that "there is a prospect of getting a steamboat in this river, and several families and stores being established at this place."3 Jenkins was speaking of the Apalachicola River and the town of Apalachicola. His successor, David L. White, in February, 1827 indicated that a steamboat would reach Apalachicola Bay soon as there were "five thousand bales of upland cotton and some Sea Island Cotton"4 Presumably available for shipment.

"On April 24, 1827, Captain John Jenkins, with his steamboat FANNY, or FANNIE, as referred to by most, left Pensacola for the Apalachicola River and would manage to ascend the river as high as Fort Gaines by the end of July, and also came to Bainbridge in 1827.

On January 28, 1828, the FANNY gained the distinction of being the first arrival at Columbus, Georgia, the head of navigation on the Chattahoochee."5

In the days before railroads the rivers were looked on as arteries of commerce. Even after the railroad came through this area, passing through Marianna, in 1880 when Mr. Jefferson Davis Smith came to Jackson County from Thomasville, Georgia, and extended the railroad on to the Choctahachee River. The river steamboats continued to operate until 1928, and beyond to some extent. Some of you reading this can remember your fathers and grandfathers having equipment delivered to Butler's Store at Butler's Ferry, or Neel's Landing.

More common was the steamboats delivering what was referred to as "staple goods", that is, flour, sugar, coffee, matches, and snuff and tobacco were some of the necessities of life. These goods were ordered from as far away as New York, but generally from Columbus, Georgia. My mother used to talk about hearing the steamboat whistle, or horn, as the boats approached the local port of Butler, which was only a few miles away.

The rivers posed many problems, or hazards, and the records reveal a lot of work accomplished by the Corps of Engineers on the local rivers clearing logs, trees, bushes, stumps, and snags. These steamboats were fired by fat lighter wood, and the steamboilers were hazardous, and sometimes exploded when the pressure caused by overheating got too high.

1,2,3,4,5 - Perilous Journey: A History of Steamboating on the Chattahoochee, Apalachicola, and Flint Rivers, 1828-1928 by Edward A Mueller

11. SPAIN MADE FORBES A LAND GRANT AT PROSPECT BLUFF

Spain owned Florida, including Apalachicola River during the War of 1812, but the British Royal Marines under the command of Colonel Nicolls were enlisting Indians, and agitating, insuring a war-like status was maintained with the Indians against the United States. Indians were drilled and trained, even in the use of the bayonet at British Post, subsequently known as Negro Fort, then after 1818 it was Fort Gadsden. General Andrew Jackson named it Fort Gadsden after Lt. James Gadsden who built a fort there during Jackson's foray into Florida while it still belonged to Spain.

By 1814 Colonel Nichols of the Royal Marines had moved a contingent of British Marines into the Prospect Bluff area and began constructing British Post, an earthen fort where Forbes and Company were doing business with the Indians.

Nicolls' objective was to train and equip Indians that were already at war with the United States. Nicolls was a Major, but was to be promoted to Colonel when he enlisted 500 Braves to train and equip.

Nicolls' records showed that he had already participated in over 100 engagements with the enemy prior to this Florida engagement.

General Jackson's wars with the Florida Indians put the damper on Forbes' Indian trade, so he must have been looking for avenues of revenue when in 1818 the Captain General of Cuba (Authority that ruled Spain's holdings in this part of the world rested in Cuba) gave Forbes a Spanish land grant.

"James Forbes in an 1821 publication extolled the virtues of "Colinton" by saying, "it is laid off at a place called Prospect Bluff, or Fort Gadsden on the Apalachicola River, and 18 miles from Apalachicola Bay...on a fine level plain of pine land, 15 feet above the river at low water."1 Forbes saw what looked like an opportunity, and this was his scheme to entice settlers to purchase the land. It is not known how successful Forbes was, but this is before Apalachicola had become a town, therefore, the likely settlement was to become Apalachicola where the steamboats would haul the thousands of bales of cotton from the many landings along the Apalachicola River and its tributaries, the Chattahoochee, Flint, and Chipola rivers.

Two years ago on an excursion with Mitchell and Matthew, two grandsons, we spent several hours in the area of Prospect Bluff, or Fort Gadsden. It is a very lonely and barren wasteland except for scattered pines that show little promise, and since this is territory owned by large companies, there is not much promise of a gradual buildup as occurs in other areas of north Florida. Whether this land is actually a part of the National Forest that is owned by the federal government, or a paper company, development just has not occurred yet, but could, and no doubt will, sometime in the future. It is difficult to imagine this area being selected as a place of promise other than strategic military purposes, as was the case when Colonel Nicolls built his first fort of the War of 1812.

1. Perilous journey: A History of Steamboating on the Chattahoochee, Apalachicola, and Flint Rivers, 1828-1928 by Edward A. Mueller

12. FORT GAINES RESTING PLACE OF MRS. STUART

We left off when Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart was being rescued from a group of hostile Indians in a swamp area near Oscillo, Florida.

The following excerpt was taken "From the Columbus (Ga) Sun. :

Eds. Sun: in the spring of 1818, the writer was in Gen. Jackson's army, in Florida, consisting of near 4,000 men, including regulars commanded by Gen. Gaines; Georgia militia commanded by Gen. Glascock; the Tennessee horsemen and friendly Indians under Gen. McIntosh. Major Thomas Woodward and Captain Isaac Brown had a kind of joint command with McIntosh over the Indians.

While marching on between St. Marks, and Suwannee Town, distance about one hundred miles, on Sunday, the 12th day of April, we discovered fresh signs of Indians. Gen. McIntosh, with his command of Creek Indians, pursued them. The main army, as was our habit, lay down in the grass to rest and await McIntosh's return. Very soon McIntosh overtook them, and the battle commenced in hearing of us, probably a mile off. We could hear the firing of guns, which continued for some time.

Well I remember an express borne from McIntosh. An Indian, on foot, running, crying out, at the top of his voice, "Captain Jackson, Captain Jackson." As he passed us, we pointed to Old Hickory, who soon dispatched a company of Tennessee mounted men to aid McIntosh. The battle was finished ere they reached him. McIntosh and Woodward soon returned to our camp with their prisoners, consisting of women and children, and a white woman to our surprise. This woman is still living in or about Fort Gaines. She was then Mrs. Stuart, and afterwards married (General) John Dill, of Fort Gaines, who died a few years since." (Col. John Banks editor Columbus Sun - 1859)

General John Dill and Elizabeth (Stuart) Dill were buried at Fort Gaines, Georgia. Their homeplace is now used as a "Bed and Breakfast". Tony and Laura Mitchell of this area visited The Dill House in the not too distant past.

An artist's rendition of the "McIntosh fight", as the Oscillo battle is called, is painted on a building next to the Civic Center in Dothan, Alabama. In a recent conversation with a member of the Creek Indian Council of West Florida, she acknowledged the murial in Dothan, but would not say if she thought it to be authentic since she said she had not studied the painting.

Major Thomas Woodward served with the half-breed Indian, General McIntosh, but Woodward, Isaac Brown, and the other white men fighting with the Indians, were actually under McIntosh's direct command, as was exhibited during the firelight when McIntosh was barking orders to these young officers over the den of fire, telling them to save the while woman and the women and children.

J.J. Hooper of the Montgomery Advistiser, Montgomery, Alabama, wrote on January 15th, 1859, that "... when he (Thomas Woodward) learned through Colonel Banks that Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Dill was still living at or near Fort Gaines, he immediately transmitted, thro' the writer of this, a sum of money to Col. Banks, for the relief of the old lady's necessities."

As explanation of the details of the foregoing; is that to me the early happenings give us a window into the life in this immediate and surrounding area.

13. EARLY HISTORY NEAR THE BIG RIVER

We have reviewed some of the earlier happenings in our general area, reaching back to Spanish rule and Panton, Leslie and Company, Englishmen, trading with the Indians big time. The Indians were occupying the countryside, and Indian rule and ownership of the land was a foregone conclusion with Forbes and Company, as Panton, Leslie and Company had now become. By 1824 when, "...in pursuance of a Writ of Partition granted by the Honorable Superior Court of West Florida..." The Forbes Purchase, land given to Forbes and Company by the Indians for debt incurred by purchases, was divided off as land owned by Forbes and Company. The rest of Florida belonged to the United States since 1821 when the United States Senate ratified the treaty with Spain that gave Florida to the United States with the ownership of the land already deeded by Spain would be honored. As far as I have been able to ascertain there was not any land in Jackson County that was previously deeded, or "patented" was actually the term used for that first deed issued by the Federal Government. The "Forbes Purchase" is a story in its self, so will leave it for now.

Colonel Nicolls of the Royal Marines went to Prospect Bluff, the site of Panton, Leslie and Company's Trading Post, that is situated on the east side of the Apalachicola River twenty five miles up river from what is now Apalachicola, and across the river from Forbes Island. Col. Nicolls built an earthen fort to control traffic on the Apalachicola River during the War of 1812. Spain still owned Florida at the time, but the feeble Spanish forces in Florida were obliged to relent. This Nicolls Post at Prospect Bluff was a strategic British stronghold throughout the War of 1812 since the rivers were good supply routes to United States Army outposts up to Fort Gaines, Fort Hughes and beyond.

Nicoll's Fortification here on the Apalachicola River was equipped with large enough guns to destroy the boats that could navigate this river. Schooners could come up as far as this Nicolls Fort, but the channel depth would not support further travel. Further travel would be too perilous with the snags and turns in the river. Nicolls had also stored a large number of small arms and gun powder here, but when he was called back to England at the end of the war he turned this fort and all the weaponry, including a huge cache of gun powder, over to a Negro. The fort was then known as The Negro Fort. The fort was a nuisance to the United States and eventually was destroyed by forces directed by General Andrew Jackson. Most of the occupants that included Negroes, Indians and a white or two, were killed by the explosion of gun powder within the fort.

You are still able to tell where the outer fortification walls existed, but just barely.

It was here that Lieutenant James Gadsden, at the direction of General Andrew Jackson, built the fort that was then called, and is even today referred to as Fort Gadsden. Fort Gadsden was a "temporary fort" since it was made from pine logs that rot away in just a few years. The fort was used as a base camp during General Jackson's Indian war of 1818. It was here that Jackson took part of his army, that consisted of Militiamen from Tennessee and Georgia, plus more than a thousand Indian Warriors down to Fort St. Marks, the Spanish Fort in the area. Jackson took control of Fort St. Marks where most of his army proceeded to Ouecillo, retook Mrs. Stuart, who was being held hostage by a hostile band of Indians.

Next week I will pick up with where Mrs. Stuart is literally carried out of the very swamp where General McIntosh's Brigade battled the renegade Indians for more than two hours.

14. APALACHICOLA, CHATTAHOOCHEE, AND FLINT RIVERS

Two weeks ago I announced that some interesting stuff would be discussed pertaining to our pioneer ancestors of Jackson County, Florida. Actually, in attempting to gain some perspective of our area and its history much more comes into play.

In my studies the things that arouse my interest will be passed on to you readers, trusting that you too will gain an appreciation of how things presented themselves as our people settled here in and around Jackson county.

The rivers played such a vital role prior to the railroads and for many years after, at least up through the 1920's, one reader, and friend, Jim Perdue suggested I write some about these rivers. The book: "Perilous Journeys: A History of Steamboating on the Chattahoochee, Apalachicola, and Flint Rivers, 1828-1928", by Edward A. Mueller and Printed in the United States of America For the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, P.O. Box 33, Eufaula, Alabama 36072-0033, telephone (334) 687-9755, will be a source book for technical reference in names and places. Should you be interested in obtaining copies of this interesting story and reference book they will mail copies, or you may obtain the book from me.

Many of you that attended high school at Marianna were possibly taught more local history than some of the rest, never the less, now that we have the option of picking and choosing only excerpts, we may enjoy it a lot more than when it was boring to so many of us.

"The Forbes Purchase" is one part of our local history that has been very elusive to some of us less adept students of which I must admit, including me ! Trading with the Indians played an important part in the river history of this area.

It seems rather peculiar, but while Spain owned Florida, an English company, "Panton, Leslie, and Company" applied for, and obtained permission from Spain to do trading with the Indians in Florida. The British evacuated East Florida and left it to the Spanish in 1784. . Panton, Leslie and Company opened a trading center down on the Wakulla River then twenty years later opened a trading center at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River. This is located 25 miles up the Apalachicola River from the Gulf of Mexico, and is the same place where, during the War of 1812, Colonel Nicolls, of the British Royal Marines built the fort that controlled river traffic.

This trading post at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola was well used by the Indians. Furs and hides were Indian trading items and when these skins became scarce the Indians were allowed to continue trading on credit. This trading center had become a large operation by now, owning large cattle herds and some cleared land in the area in an area that is now forested with pines.

We are now beginning to see how this part of Florida began to take on white man flavor. We will continue in this vein in the next episode of the saga of the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee Rivers.

15. CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AND MORE

The Chattahoochee River was the frontier prior to Indian Chief William McIntosh’s treaty agreement that was signed at Indian Springs, Georgia, in 1825. This was the Treaty that was also the death warrant for McIntosh ! The white settlers were already here, even William Neel, along with his mother and father and seven brothers and sisters were already in Decatur county, but some of the Indians violently objected to giving the land to the intruders. It was only a few weeks after the treaty Chief McIntosh was murdered and scalped.

This William McIntosh was the very same man that had always allied himself with the white settlers, as a matter of fact, McIntosh was half white. He came to Florida in March of 1818 with General Andrew Jackson as GENERAL MCINTOSH, and led the Indian contingent of about a thousand warriors. Major Thomas Woodward, who was along on this war party, reported in his book, "Woodward's Reminiscences", that General McIntosh was directing the battle tactics at the scene of battle. Woodward, who has become one of my heroes, told how General McIntosh called out to him, and the two other white men who were disguised as Indians, but were both Captains in the Georgia Militia; i.e., Billy Mitchell, son of former Governor of Georgia, David Brady Mitchell, and Isaac Brown, son of the Isaac Brown who was murdered by an Indian raiding party up in Washington county, Georgia, in 1797. Woodward was the selfsame man who had rushed into the crossfire and literally lifted Sergeant Stuart's wife who was being held hostage by the opposing Indians since they had taken her hostage at Chattahoochee from the River Supply Boat carrying supplies and some passengers to Fort Scott from Mobile.

The place of the signing of McIntosh's last treaty was inside McIntosh's Hotel at Indian Springs, a place in Butts county, Georgia, that is similar to our Blue Springs boil. McIntosh had a tough choice. His half brother, a Georgia Legislator, had pointed out that McIntosh, who was the LOWER CREEK INDIAN CHIEF, could sign the treaty giving Georgia the land west of the Flint and receive money plus land west of the Mississippi, acre for acre, or Georgia would take the land anyway !

It is noteworthy that so much was already happening down here in the southwest corner of Georgia, and Florida had already, in 1821, become a United States Territory since Congress had ratified the agreement that had been made in 1819 with Spain.

It is interesting to note that Captain Isaac Brown and his brothers, William, Len and James took up residence in Jackson county in 1821, and Isaac operated a Ferry on the Chattahoochee river near where we now know as Butler's Ferry. Brown also had a general store in the area, which according to one map I have was adjacent to Econchatimico's Indian Reserve after 1825. Too, Isaac Brown is listed in the book, Perilous Journeys, as river boat Captain Isaac Brown. By 1849 Isaac was reported by Woodward, in his Reminiscences, that Brown was in Lousianna, and so was Woodward. They had been lured out to Lousianna by that state because of the free land they were given out there to encourage settlement of that territory.

16. FT SCOTT, FT GADSDEN, AND APALACHICOLA ARSENAL

Fort Scott, Fort Gadsden and the Arsenal at Chattahoochee, all existed at the time our pioneering forefathers were finding their way in this remote land that we now occupy.

I hope to share with you some of the most interesting history of how it all came about with our ancestors hacked out the trails into this very land we now call Jackson county.

To get the picture of our immediate area we must first have an idea of the larger picture. In my studies of the past seven years many of my questions about the LOWER CREEK COUNTRY, as it was referred to by some early historians, and, of course the SEMINOLE COUNTRY, which is the State of Florida, encompass an area beginning in southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia along the Chattahoochee, but not limited to the river area by no means.

One of the things that caught my interest early on was the actual location of Fort Scott and all I could learn about it. You may have already concluded that this OUTPOST of the United States Army was guarding the border of these United States. While this is true, the presence of military also acted as a peacekeeper, just as our military is doing all over the world today.

Our troops suffered hardships in the area and especially from the mosquitoes that also transmitted malaria and taking the lives of many, including soldiers stationed along this highway of yesteryear, the Chattahoochee River. Fort Scott, located approximately one mile west of JACK WINGATE'S RESTAURANT is now actually under water. There is hardly a trace of it ever having existed except for an old cannon that was erected long before the Jim Woodruff Dam backed the waters that flooded many thousands of acres.

For a period of time around 1820 Fort Scott had a camp that was located about a mile east of Wingate's Restaurant and Camp. This camp is known as CAMP RECOVERY since the sick soldiers were sent to this place that is high and dry to recover from their disabling chill and fever they were plagued with. Many of those sent to this camp died and were buried here. A gun is erected on this spot on a large concrete block with some inscription about this very spot that has a fence around it, but without grave markings, or names of those who died of sickness here.

For perspective, this was during the time that Florida belonged to Spain and the Seminole Indian inhabited, and controlled the vast areas of north and west Florida. Spains military occupied Fort St. Marks and Fort Barankus over at Pensacola, but these forces were puny and were more or less at the mercy of not only the Seminoles, but the United States, as was exhibited when General Jackson came down from Fort Scott in 1818 and lowered the Spanish flag and took over the Spanish forts that left no doubt of the helplessness of these Spanish forces in Florida.

Courthouse History

Jackson County, founded in 1822, is the third oldest in the state. It was named in honor of Andrew Jackson, the first American governor of Florida, who went on to serve as President of the United States. The county seat was located in Marianna (originally "Bumpnose") in 1829. A history of Washington County (which was created from Jackson) states that a temporary county seat also existed at a site called "Big Spring of the Choctawhatchee." The name Marianna is a transposition of the first names of Mrs. Anna Maria Beveridge who, along with her husband Robert, founded the town in 1827. The Beveridges donated land and built the first of four courthouses that eventually would occupy the site.

Jackson County, Florida
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

Records at the Jackson County Courthouse

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Jackson County Vital Records

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Jackson County Census Records

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Jackson County Maps & Atlases

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Jackson County Military Records

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Jackson County Tax Records

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Jackson County Genealogical Addresses

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Jackson County Church & Cemeteries

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Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History

Jackson County, Florida History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

Records at the Jackson County Courthouse

See Also Florida Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

Jackson County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Florida

Jackson County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Florida

Jackson County Maps & Atlases

See Also Research In State Map Collections

Jackson County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Florida

Jackson County Tax Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Jackson County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Florida Genealogical Addresses

Jackson County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Florida

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History

Jackson County, Florida
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy