Читать книгу History of Jacksonville, Florida and Vicinity, 1513 to 1924 - T. Frederick Davis - Страница 14

The first attempt to beautify the town was in 1850, when April Saurez, an old slave, under the direction of Dr. A. S. Baldwin and Gen. Thomas Ledwith planted the oaks that lined the streets of Jacksonville before the fire of 1901. These trees grew to be the pride of the city; most of them were destroyed in the fire of 1901.

In 1850, the first circular sawmill ever built in East Florida was erected at the mouth of Pottsburg Creek and in the following year John Clark built the second circular sawmill, on East Bay Street, near Hogans Creek. Mr. Clark then added a planing mill, the first in East Florida. About 1853-54 there were five or six sawmills at Jacksonville, and as many more in the immediate vicinity. The lumber industry had grown to be the principal one here. A great quantity of live oak timber was exported annually, for use in the construction of vessels. Considerable cotton continued to be brought here for shipment also, Jacksonville being the shipping point for quite a large territory tributary to the St. Johns River. These industries put into circulation much money that naturally found its way into all lines of business. Nearly all the merchants were well-to-do, gauged by the standard of that early time. Business was conducted without rancor and with the utmost integrity. Salaries were not what would now be called large, but the cost of living comfortably was within the reach of all – a condition having an important bearing upon the community. Abject poverty was a state unknown and seldom was a door locked or a window closed out of fear of petty thieving.

Relation Between Master and Servant

The question of master and slave was seldom referred to. The master considered it his duty to protect those who served him, and the servant felt that he was accountable for his master's social position and other responsibilities. The slaves were treated with a consideration and trust without a parallel at this day. The children loved their colored "mammies", and the mammies felt that they were responsible for the obedience of the children, "manners" being held at a premium and duty the first consideration.

The relation between master and slave differed little from that prevailing in other portions of the South before the war – a sincere and confiding affection on one side, and on the other a kind and considerate regulation of the simple lives reposed in the white owner's care. When an entertainment was given by the colored people, it was not at all unusual for the mistress to lend her jewelry to her maid for the occasion, showing plainly the interest taken in the pleasure of the slaves; and in sickness they were provided for and given the best attention. There were, of course, exceptions in both cases.

This advertisement, appearing in the Florida News, a local newspaper, is interesting, indicating as it does, one method of recovering runaway slaves:

Twenty-five Dollars Reward.

RUNAWAY in November last my negro woman HANNAH. She is about 5 ft., 7 or 8 inches high, black, no front teeth and about 40 years of age. Hannah has a mother in Newnansville or Tallahassee known by the name of Mary Ann Sanchez, formerly the property of Roman Sanchez of Newnansville. The above reward will be given upon her being lodged in any jail where I can get her or upon being delivered to me at Palatka or Jacksonville.

Louis M. Coxetter.

Jacksonville, June 5, 1852.

The Tallahassee papers will please copy and send their bills to this office.

This same paper contained another item of interest, one that would indicate that the Town Council was composed of citizens serving for the best interest of the community:

Proceedings of the Town Council

Regular Meeting Council Chamber, August 6, 1852. Council Met: Present, His Honor, Henry D. Holland, Intendant; Messrs. Buffington, Cooper, and Canova, Councilmen.

Mr. Townsend, elected a Councilman to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Wm. Alsop, appeared for the purpose of taking the oath of office, which was objected to by Councilman Buffington, on the ground of his not possessing the requisite qualifications for the performance of the duties of the office. * * *

Attest, F. C. Barrett, Clerk.

Mayor.

Transportation

Railroads and the telegraph had not yet come to Jacksonville. Steam packets ran to Savannah and Charleston, and sailing vessels communicated with the more distant cities and the West Indies. It was almost as customary to talk about Haiti and Martinique then as it is about New York today.

Communication with the interior of the State was by means of a stage line to Tallahassee and intermediate points. It was a three days' trip, avoided as much as possible, except at court sessions and when the Legislature met. The Central Stage Line ran this advertisement in the Jacksonville paper during the summer of 1852:

Central Stage Line

From Jacksonville to Tallahassee Semi-Weekly

The proprietor takes pleasure in announcing to the public that he has just placed upon the mute a new and splendid FOUR HORSE COACH and that he is prepared to convey passengers through in the shortest possible time. He has relays of the best horses at different points, so that no more time is lost than is necessary for their change. The stage leaves Jacksonville every Sunday and Wednesday afternoon, immediately after the arrival of the steamers from Savannah and returns in time to connect with them on their return trips. These steamers connect with others at Savannah for Charleston and New York, thus affording the travelers from the North and others visiting Tallahassee or interior towns of Florida a speedy transit. A coach connects with this line to and from the White Sulphur Springs in Hamilton County. Fernandez, Bisbee & Co., Agents.

G. R. Fairbanks describes the stage trip as one of "ups and downs, jolts and bumps; roots lying on the surface, the impact with which would send the unprepared passenger up against the top, or with a painful jerk against the standards. The weary drag during the long, dark nights, for the hacks kept on night and day, was an experience to be long remembered.

Smallpox Epidemic

Jacksonville experienced an epidemic of smallpox during the summer of 1853. J. W. Bryant, one of the foremost lawyers in the town, contracted the disease at some place in Georgia, where he had gone on legal business. Upon his return, he was taken sick at the Buffington House, then the fashionable hotel of Jacksonville. Numerous friends visited him before the case was diagnosed as smallpox, and therefore the epidemic started among prominent people. Those at the Buffington House were the first to take the disease, and soon afterward sporadic cases began to develop until, finally, the epidemic became general among both white and colored. It was severe and a good many deaths resulted, while those who recovered were in many cases badly pitted.

Local Conditions in the Early Fifties

It is said that some of the merchants were extremely fond of playing cards, and even during business hours would gather for a quiet game. Should a customer appear, a sentinel placed on watch would report, "Mr. So-and-so, somebody is going in your store", whereupon the game would be temporarily "called". Whenever children or servants were the purchasers, the storekeeper usually gave them a small present, such as a sweet cracker or a piece of candy; this was called "coontra". It has been impossible to trace the derivation of this word, but the custom doubtless originated from the fact that the money divisions in those days were in fractions of a cent, and the small present was given, rather than to consider the fractions in carrying accounts. The silver dollar was the standard, but it was reckoned eight bits, in. stead of one hundred cents. There were half bits, 6 ¼; bits, 12 ½; two bits, 25 cents, and so on. If "coontra" was not given to the negroes it was always asked for by them, but the white children were forbidden by their parents to do so, as it was not considered "good manners".

About a third of the houses had glass windows. Stoves had not yet come into general use. The stores on Bay street had no way to heat them and when the weather was cold, fires were built in front in the street; here the citizens would collect, crack jokes, and discuss the questions of the day. The town maintained a small market house with one stall, open in the early morning. Beef sold at 4 to 8 cents and pork at 8 to 10 cents a pound. Fish were brought in boats to the shore near the market, the arrival being announced by ringing the market bell, when the people would rush down to purchase. Milk as a commodity was scarce. Collards and sweet potatoes were the vegetables usually offered for public.

There were no soda fountains in those days, and. it was seldom that ice could be obtained. Ice was brought from the North in sailing vessels. Lemonade and tamarind water were the most popular "soft" drinks. The tamarind is a species of bean that grows in the West Indies, and from it a sticky substance exudes. The beans were put into a pitcher and hot water poured over them; this concoction was allowed to cool, when the drink was ready for use. It had a semi-acid taste, and was considered very healthful. Drinking water came from wells and cisterns. Rain water, when filtered through an earthen vessel called a "monkey", was considered a great luxury.

In the spring of 1846, Captain John L'Engle bought for $300 the square bounded on the north by Bay Street, east by Laura, west by Hogan, and south by the river. In 1853, the northwest corner lot at Bay and Market Streets, including a two-story boarding house, was purchased for $2,500; and A. Judson Day, of Maine, bought half the block, west half, between Julia and Hogan Streets from Forsyth through to the river for $3,000. A year or so later, the northeast corner of Bay and Ocean was sold to Ambler & Hoeg for $3,000. Residence lots a few blocks back from Bay Street sold for less than $100. Springfield was a wilderness and Riverside a corn field. Northwest of Hemming Park, between Forsyth and Church, Clay and Jefferson Streets was a dense swamp, where in places the water stood several feet deep. LaVilla was an island, owing to the course of several small streams that have since been filled in.

The building material used in Jacksonville at that time was mostly pitch pine, very inflammable, and as there was no adequate way of controlling large fires, it was but a question of time when the town would suffer a general conflagration. It came on April 5, 1854.

The Great Fire of 1854

A description of this destructive fire was published on the following day in an "Extra" gotten out by the Florida Republican, a copy of which follows, except that typographical errors have been corrected:

FLORIDA REPUBLICAN, EXTRA.

Jacksonville, Florida, April 6, 1854.

GREAT AND DISASTROUS CONFLAGRATION

Jacksonville in Ruins.

Seventy Houses Consumed.

Loss over $300,000.

Two printing offices destroyed.

Yesterday at 1 o'clock p. m., the alarm of fire was given in this town and in four hours afterwards all the business portion of the town was in ruins. The fire originated in S. N. Williams' hay shed, on the wharf, communicated, as is supposed, by a spark from the Charleston steamer "Florida''. It extended with astonishing rapidity in every direction, spreading first along the block of stores on the south side of Bay street, between Newnan and Ocean streets; thence communicating with the square opposite on the north which was all consumed; thence with the store of A. F. Reed and the Bank agency adjoining on the west side of Ocean street, which were both destroyed; thence with the square east of Newnan street and fronting on Bay, which contained the large and handsome block known as Byrne's building; nearly the whole square being consumed; at the same time with the buildings on Bay street east of the point at which the fire originated, and of Newnan street, which was at once swept away.

This was principally the course of and the area which has been devastated by the devouring element. The wind was blowing strongly at the time, and caused the course of the fire, at first, to be to the westward by which several private dwellings at the extreme west end of the town, and several stores, Moody's, Holmes's, and Fairbank's mills, and the new hotel of Messrs. Day, were set on fire, but extinguished before any material damage was sustained. Still, the intense heat from the first block was so great that that of itself ignited the squares on the opposite side, and on the east, and the immense amount of goods thrown from the stores along the whole of Bay street, formed from the same cause an immense conflagration of spirits, oil, paints, etc.

By this fire seventy buildings were entirely destroyed. Of these, twenty-three were stores, of the following persons, viz: F. Waver & Co., provisions; C. D. Oak, and Wm. Grothe, jewelers; S. N. Williams, grocer; J. P. Sanderson, dry goods and provisions; Bloodgood & Blouse, do; H. Timanus, do; T. Hartridge, do; J. Mode, dry goods; James Hanham, grocer; Mr. Hernandez, tobacconist; C. DeWaal, auctioneer; L. Capella, fruit store; J. Santo, do; A. M. Reed, dry goods and provisions; M. Keil, do; A. B. Hussey, grocer; Mr. Moore, fruit store; J. L. Hogarth, tinner; Ambler & Hoeg, dry goods and provisions; J. L. Ripley, clothing; J. C. Brown, fruit store; L. B. Amerman, dry goods; T. McMillan, druggist; T. G. Myers, grocer; A. C. Acosta, fruit store; J. B. Howell, grocer; Joseph Hernandez, tailor; C. DeWaal, bakery; Geo. Flagg, jeweler; R. H. Darby, tailor; C. Poetting, boot and shoe maker.

The law offices of Geo. W. Call and G. W. Hawkins and the office of F. C. Barrett, Notary Public, etc., in the Byrne block, were also destroyed, a portion only of their legal and official documents being saved.

The office and warehouse of Mr. Joseph Finegan and the furniture store of L. M. Fulsom, destroyed. McRory's Insurance Agency, office in the Sammis Block, also went by the board. together with a portion of his papers. The Custom-house, Mr. Mcintosh's Law office, Capt. Willey's residence, J. Hanham's store and residence, J. Mode's store and elegant residence, as also the law office of P. Frazer, Esq., we note among other buildings destroyed.

The two and only printing offices of the place, the Republican and the News, were consumed, the latter entirely, and but enough of the Republican material has been gleaned from the harvest of the terrible Reaper to furnish this Extra! We shall order new type and a press, however, by the mail for the north tomorrow morning, and hope to be "fully on our feet" again in the course of a month; and in the meantime shall endeavor to issue copies enough of our paper for our exchanges on a foolscap sheet, on an: improvised press – our two iron hand presses being utterly wrecked. We therefore throw ourselves upon the indulgence of our advertising and reading patrons "for a little while," being determined not to desert the "burning ship" – being utterly opposed to any species of "ratting". As we are doing advertising for merchants in Charleston and Savannah, we request our contemporaries in those cities to note our situation.

The steamer "Florida" was lying at her wharf at the time of the fire, and drew off into the stream as it progressed: the "Seminole" from Savannah bringing the mail (the Gaston being taken off the line) had passed up the river. Every exertion was made by the citizens, firemen, and even the ladies, who were found here and there lending assistance, to arrest the fire, the negroes also laboring faithfully to do their utmost. But the fire became unmanageable, and as the intense heat extended itself, confusion and exhaustion rendered human exertion less efficient. A portion of the fire apparatus unfortunately fell into a situation which brought it in contact with the flames, and it was lost.

Upon the amount of property lost, it is estimated that one-half is insured, some in New York and New England offices, and some in Georgia. The two printing offices were insured, our own for a little more than half its value. We lost all the printing paper, and a large quantity of letter, which we had on hand for jobbing. Our "set up" forms have run into a molten mass.

Mr. Andres Canova was severely burnt and is disabled, and Mr. T. C. Hemming was severely stunned and for some time hurt, but he is now better. We regret also that the family of Mr. Philip Frazer, who were ill, were forced to remove.

Scarlet Fever Epidemic

This was a period of misfortune for Jacksonville, as a severe epidemic of scarlet fever was raging in the town when the fire occurred. There were two versions as to how the fever started here. One is that the infection was introduced by means of a letter written by a lady while holding a baby sick with scarlet fever in her lap. The other is that the nurse one day took little Ally Dell, daughter of Philip Dell, down to the boat yard and it is supposed that the child played with sailors from a vessel lying at the wharf and on which there was a case of scarlet fever. In a few days she was taken desperately ill. Mrs. Mary Turknett nursed this child and it died in her lap. This was in February, 1854. The attending physician diagnosed the case simply as one of fever, but when the little corpse was prepared for burial, scarlet fever symptoms were noticed in the peeling skin. Mrs. Turknett shrouded the body, at that time wearing a black woolen skirt. When she returned to her home she hung the skirt up in a closet and did not wear it again for nearly a month. Then she wore it, and in a few days scarlet fever broke out in the family.

The disease spread through the town and the type was most malignant. Numbers of persons died, the Turknett family in particular being afflicted, five grown sons dying within a space of eight days, April 2 to 10, two of them on the same day and were buried from the same bier.

Yellow Fever Quarantine

Thus twice had Jacksonville suffered from diseases introduced from outside sources, so when the yellow fever broke out in Savannah in the summer of 1854, the citizens determined to keep it from coming to this place at all hazards. The authorities prohibited the Savannah steamers stopping or even passing by on their way up the river, as it was thought that the yellow fever might be introduced in that way. Captain Nick King, of the Savannah steamer, carried the mail, and he laughed at the proclamation of the citizens prohibiting the passage of steamers by Jacksonville, and passed by heedless of the warning. A party of citizens then got an old condemned cannon, took it to the river bank at the foot of Catherine Street, and loaded it with a 32-pound shot. About dark the steamer hove in sight coming up the river, close in on the opposite side. When in line with the pointed cannon the gun was fired, the ball passing through the forward gang-way of the vessel. The gun was rapidly loaded again, this time with a 6-pound shot, and fired; the ball passed through the cabin, just grazing the neck of a negro who was in the act of lighting a lamp. When it is considered that the muzzle of the gun was kept in place and moved by a hand spike, this was spectacular shooting. The steamer made no more trips until the epidemic at Savannah was declared at an end, and the determination thus displayed by the citizens of Jacksonville in all probability prevented the introduction of the fever in that year.