Vol. 1 No. 1 Collector Edition January1998

Alafia River Rendevous

January 17 thru 25Open to Public

Fri., Jan. 23 • 9 to 5Sat., Jan. 24 • 9 to 4GATE $5.00 Adults

$3.00 Kids 3-12Free under 3

South of Brandon,

off SR39 to 640 to right on

Walter Hunter Road.

For folks lookin’ to have some fun, to visit an’ shop for those things ya cain’t buy from ordinary city shops.

WAR BREAKS OUT IN FLORIDA

by Hermann Trappman Florida is often referred to as the last frontier of the lower 48 states. After the west had been won and its famous heroes had retired, Florida was still wild. While the more temperate land-scape of the north and west suited European expansion, Florida re-mained a mysterious, forbidding wilderness of exhausting heat and humidity, biting insects, and malaria and yellow fever. Florida became habitable in our modern sense with the advent of air conditioning. In 1842, a Florida physician named John Gorrie, pioneered air conditioning for his wife’s sick-room in Apalachicola. Willis Carrier registered the Carrier Company to produce air condition-ers in 1915. Florida really began to change in the “boom” years of the 1920’s. Still, most of Florida remained open range through the Second World War. In 1838, army doctor, Jacob Motte described Florida’s northern border as a numbing endless forest of pines. To the south, along its

Florida, Rendezvous, & the Frontier Gazette

central crest, dryprairie expanded from horizon to horizon, and then, the swamps started. Its low shoreline was a tangled morass of swamps, mud flats, and shallow tidal zones which trapped even shallow draft boats. Crossing the mudflats left a knee deep trail, ooz ing with foul smelling water, and blanketed with mosquitos. Native plants, like poor man’s patches, cat’s brier, and vining cactus, added to the difficulty and discomfort of wandering through the coastal snare of mangrove roots. The people who came here to pioneer were a special lot. The early Spanish missionized the northern part of the territory and maintained two villages and a few outposts. With the extinction of the origi-nal people, Indians from the north drifted south. In about 1715 the Seminoles made this region their new home. They had learned the lessons suffered by Indian nations who had dealt with white expan-sionist Europeans. Often made up of fragments of devastated tribes, they came looking for a remote (See Florida page 6.)

Indians and Blacks Fight for Freedom

INSIDE STORIES Florida Crackers

The Seminole IndiansPioneer Odet PhillipiNotice to Emigrants.

Café OléThe Uniforms of the Wars

Frontier MoneyBlack Communities

Frontier FoodsClothing Styles 1800-1840

Cuban Fishermen Ply Tampa Bay Waters

See Cuban page 2

$1.00

place where they could be left in peace. Red Town, McQueen’s Vil-lage, and Watermelon Town were Seminole villages around Tampa Bay. African slaves fled to Spanish Florida and freedom. They blended their past into the world of the Seminoles, Creeks, and Miccosu-kees, or lived among the Spanish in small frontier communities. Spanish fishermen were the first people of European extrac-tion to adapt and flourish in this difficult environment. They too relied on the knowledge of the native people for a model to live within this system. They developed ranchos along the coast, married Indian women, and traded with Cuba. Spanish fisherman, Andrew Gonzalez, is on record in the Tampa Bay area in 1808. He represents one of many unknown folks who settled this area earlier. After the American revolution, Spain recognized its aggressive neighbor to the north. Under pres-sure from the newly formed United States, Spain closed its doors to fleeing blacks in 1790. In order to defuse an attack, they allowed a trickle of American pioneers to settle as a buffer. Many of those coming across the border were

Florida’s early economy depended upon the vast fishing grounds on the bays and inlets along the Gulf Coast from Key West to Tampa Bay. Span-ish fishermen from Cuba maintained fishing ranchos in order process their catches during the season when mul-let and other great schools of fish were running through the passes. In 1837, Lee Williams, a surveyor for the United States, wrote in his report, “such numerous and extensive shoals of fish as almost to impede the a boat in the shoal waters.” These early entrepreneurers found a ready market in Havana which in turned supplied fish to Spain’s Catho-lic population who were required to

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Cuban continued from page 1

eat fish on Friday. “Some of these men followed in the footsteps of grandfathers and fathers, traditionally drying split fish on frames and curing salted roe with corn cob smoke.” An earlier report, BernardRomans, wrote, “The whole of the west coast of East Florida, is covered with fish-ermen’s huts and slakes...built by the Span-ish fishermen from Havana, who come here annually...to the number of about thirty sail.” He estimated that during the season From Sept. to March–there might be 300 hundred to 400 Spanish fishermen along the coast. In the Tampa Bay fisheries, Maximo Hernandez had one of the largest ranchos located at the site of the St. Petersburg’s park which bears his name. These fisher-men worked on shares with the captain and vessel receiving the largest share. The fishermen at each rancho shared the expense of nets, lines, provisions and salt for curing. Salt was purchased from Cuba at a very high price. Their first care is to prepare the nets, and to build a hut or refit the old one; then they new furnish their slakes or stages with new string of silk grass tot he wooden hooks by which the fish is to be hung up to dry; their nets and other apparatus of lines, etc. are all made of silk grass likewise.” Besides fish the fishermen also pro-cessed shark oil and smoked roe, oysters, clams, manatee and sea-turtle meat. These self-sufficient old salts supplemented their food by hunting and by growing vegetables such as sugar cane, corn, potatoes, squash, melons and beans. They also planted trees such as coconut, lime and orange. The fishermen married local Indian women and visitors would note how the children would run about the rancho in the buff. Women and children were an integral part of the work force. While women prepared the fish for smoking by gutting and splitting them, young children kept hovering sea gulls and other birds away by waving palm fronds in the air. Older children dangled from the fish-press handles to flatten the fish before it was put on the smoke racks. When not out on the bay, the men sat on the shore mending nets, entertaining each other with fish tales. In the 1830’s William Bunce, an entrepreneuer from the Philadelphia and Baltimore area, started one of the largest ranchos at the mouth of the Manatee river. He had been appointed by governor DuVal as the justice of peace for the newly formed Hillsborough County. The well financed Bunce had the “most elaborate equipped ranchos along the entire coast.” He hired “Spanish Indians” and eventually had thirty or forty comfortable palmetto houses built. His own house was partitioned into a sleeping compartment and store, with shelves and counters,“planed and grooved boards, and planked floors and panell’d doors”.

One of the huts was a blacksmith shop and another was a carpenter shop complete with a turning lathe. His forty-five ton schooner, Enterprise, hauled cargo to and from Havana. There, Bunce would sell his fish and purchase supplies for his rancho. One shipment included three barrels of brown sugar, four of molasses, Cuban fruit and vegetables, four turkeys, and 170 pounds of coffee in one bag, for which he paid twenty-four dollars duty at Key West. On other runs, the schooner might carry back barrels of white or brown sugar, molasses, claret, coffee, tobacco, nuts, nails and twine. At the end of the season, Bunce would close up his rancho leaving behind his foreman and the Spanish Indians for the summer. The Indians planted crops and cast-net for fish during the summer season to survive.

Women, Children Forced Into Exile. For the most part, the fishermen ,who lived along the Gulf Coast, stayed out of politics, quietly going about their business. But after Florida became a territory of the United States, they found it more and more difficult to remain apart from the political tides of the time. They soon found themselves caught in the middle between the two opposing forces–the American military and the Seminole Indians fight-ing removal. Distrusted by both sides, the fishermen and their families were attacked and eventually driven out of what had been their traditional fishing grounds. In the spring of 1838, soldiers seized all the women and children of Indian blood and sent them to New Orleans for removal. Maximo Hernando, as well as other Cuban fishermen, tried unsuccessfully to petition the government for the return of their wives and children. They wrote, “It had been a long estab-lished custom…recognized by the Spanish Government at Havana as legal to inter-marry with Indian women of the Country. Many of the children offspring of these marriages were baptized and educated there and recognized as legatee….Some of them are now residing there in respect-able situations enjoying all the rights and privileges of Spanish subjects…. “At the change of Flags they became lawful citizens of the United States by virtue of the provisions of the treaty….” Despite the pleas, their families were never returned. By the end of the Second Seminole War, the Cuban fishing industry on Florida’s Gulf Coast was virtually wiped out, its families scattered either to Cuba or relocated to the West. What was once a thriving industry lay in ruins, the old ran-chos abandoned to a new influx of settlers from the north. (Matthews, Williams)❁

Join the Greatest Adventure of Our Time

Processing fish on ranchos along Florida’s Gulf Coast involved the entire village. Men, women and children, mend-ed nets, cleaned and split the fish, pressed fluids and set them out to smoke on racks over heaps of smoul-dering corn husks. The fish were carried to market in Cuba.Drawing by Hermann Trappman.

Meets on the Second Tuesday of each monthMembership$15.00 regular, $20.00 family, $10.00 Student

Upcoming speakers: February - James Dunbar, March - Robin Brown March 7 - Archaeology Day - at Science Center,

February 28 - Archaeology Day at Hillsborough State Park.

Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society, Inc. c/o Science Center • 7701 22nd Ave. N. St. Petersburg, FL 33710 • Phone 384-0027

CARIBBEAN QUEEN

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For more information call 813-895-2628 (BOAT)

dolphin sightseeing excursionsTHE PIER 800 2nd Avenue NE

St. Petersburg, Fl 33701

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Drawing by Hermann Trappman

Black Pioneers in Tampa Bay

“An Almost Forgotten Legacy” by Canter Brown, Jr.

Historian in Residence, Tampa Bay History Center

For generations before the modern era, those who recorded the Tampa Bay re-gion’s history neglected the substantive role of African Americans. Even today, some skeptics dismiss studies in the black experience. The fact remains that African Ameri-cans have given of themselves in signifi-cant ways to this area since at least 1528, when the Moroccan slave Estevanico explored the Florida peninsula with the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries black men and women have be-queathed to us ever-richer contributions. Beginning about 1812, for example, free black warriors made Tampa Bay a refuge of freedom. From a community on the Manatee River, the families of these individuals—some of whom had served in the British army during the War of 1812—thrived until associates of Andrew Jackson destroyed their homes and farms in 1821. Within fifteen years survivors of the Manatee settlement combined with other free blacks and Creek warriors under Osceola to ignite one of the nation’s longest conflicts, the Second Seminole War. Much of the planning occurred at black villages on Lakes Thonotosassa and Hancock. The seven-year struggle also rep-resented the largest slave rebellion in United States history, as men such as the counselor and interpreter Abraham encouraged slaves to abandon planta-tions to join the fight. While failing of victory, the black combatants retained their freedom after transportation to the west. Their leader there was Hillsbor-ough County’s John Horse; their legacy was the Buffalo Soldiers. Following the peace in 1842, set-tlers along the new Tampa area frontier brought increased numbers of slaves. On the Manatee River, several hundred bondsmen built and maintained a num-ber of the state’s most sophisticated sugar operations. Mostly, though, area slaves helped to build frontier farms, but more than a few served as artisans and skilled cow-hunters. In today’s eastern Hillsborough County one former slave, Sampson Forrester, established a plantation that stirred the envy of white neighbors. During the Civil War, United States military forces removed a majority, of the remaining African Americans from southwest Florida. Those who stayed quickly set about establishing institu-tions such as churches, schools, and fraternal organizations. Tampa’s Mt. Sinai AME Zion Church and St. Paul AME Church stand as reminders of those early accomplishments. Most freedmen farmed, raising ag-ricultural standards high in the process. The Thonotosassa, Simmons Hammock, and Bealsville areas of eastern Hillsbor-ough especially saw concentrations of successful black-operated farms, many of whose inhabitants had moved from Polk County, where vigilante violence had threatened. By 1885, one white visitor described the African American growers as “the best farmers in the county.” In Tampa and other area villages, African Americans soon established businesses, ranging from restaurants

and fine leather shops to contracting and construction. Fortune Taylor, Dorcas Walker, and Dorcas Bryant speculated in town development. Isaac Howard served the United States government in the revenue service. By the century’s turn Joseph N. Clinton headed all United States revenue operations in the Tampa region, while Henry W. Chandler soon would serve as a customs inspector. Both men formerly had sat in the state legislature. Politics also had beckoned local men. As early as 1867 Frederick D. Newberry had acted as a voter reg-istrar in Hillsborough, a position he exchanged the next year for justice of

the peace. Peter W. Bryant presided, as well, in the justice court. During 1871-1872 Mills Holloman, Robert Johnson, and John Thomas comprised a majority of the county commission. The town of Tampa elected at least three black men to its governing au-thority: Cyrus Charles in 1869, Henry Brumick in 1876, and Joseph Walker in 1887. The names of others may yet bediscovered. These and other accomplishments of African American men and women came despite tremendous obstacles and represented the finest traditions of American determination for building a better life. Little wonder then that, by the 1910s, literary societies, debating clubs, professional offices, health care facilities, schools, libraries, nurseries, newspapers, boards of trade, and civil rights organizations emanated from the area’s black community. Sadly, this record of success has faded, but the successes themselves deserve to be remembered and accorded respect. Research in African American history remains only at its beginning. With every attempt to peel away the veneer of the past, rich and meaningful history will be recaptured.

Ralph Smith, a Park Ranger at Myaka River State Park, portrays Abraham, one of the great leaders during the Second Seminole War. Mr. Smith may be reached at (941) 361-6511 to invite Abraham to visit your group.

For more in depth stories see Canter Brown, Jr., African Americans on the Tampa Bay Frontier,Children on the Tampa Bay Frontier, Women on the Tampa Bay Frontier (Tampa: Tampa Bay History Center, 1997). Newly Released —Reminiscences of Judge Charles E. Harrison, introduction by Canter Brown, Jr. (Tampa Bay History Center),

3FROM FIELD TO FACTORY:

TAMPA’S CIGAR HERITAGEJanuary 31 to May 31, 1998

“Cigar City” on exhibit at the

Tampa Bay History Center

• Cigar labels and more…

Worn by years of use, these are the tools which built a local industry achieving national importance.

• Tools of the trade

• Photographs See the people whose lives forged the colorful human landscape of Tampa.

Battling for the marketplace of a bygone era, artists created a beautiful and dramatic world of miniature.

Lured by promises of a new chance, the chance for a better life, they came. From the northern coast of Spain, villages of Sicily, and the tobacco fields of Cuba, pioneers were drawn to this new land. They turned the sandy soil into sugar plantations, laid the rail which linked the nation, and found work in the cigar industry. They were the heroes and heroines of the frontier. These were the proud and independent people who left behind a legacy of organization, charity, and successful business.

Convention Center Annex225 South Franklin Street Tampa, Florida 33602Telephone: 228-0097Mailing Address:Post Office Box 948 Tampa, Florida 33601-0948

ferried them across the bay. Later, Tampa became known as Cigar City and famous for its cigar production. Philippe also began experiment-ing with citrus cultivation, gathering seeds and bud wood from the Carib-bean islands and grafting them to the sour, almost inedible stock in Florida. What resulted was not only new va-rieties such as the Duncan grapefruit and Parson Brown orange, but the first cultivated citrus groves in the area. His agricultural success was well noted and played a major role in attracting other pioneer families to the area. So perhaps it is here, at Tampa Bay, that the true story of Odet Philippe is told in the pioneer spirit that brought him to this land, in the agricultural successes we still enjoy, and in the contributions of his children, and his children’s children who peopled the Florida frontier. O.K. Grab a pencil. P-H-I-L-I-P-P-E (one L, two P’s and an E. …one I, two P’s and an E…).

F l o r i d a Crackers Perhaps the most scorned and misunderstood people of Florida were the white settlers that had started moving into Florida by the 1800’s. They encroached on Indian lands, stirred up lots of trouble and looked for the army for protection. Around every military fort you could most likely find a shanty town full of inhabitants onthe dole. Finally to cut the cost of the expensive Seminole Wars the U.S. Government passed the armed Occupation Act of 1848. Under this act, anyone could claim land and would have to protect it with his own weapons. In 1837 Jacob Motte found it difficult to understand fiercely independence of some of the settlers he encountered. There “were two Aged brothers of the name of Moodie, who had been living in the blessed state of celibacy all their long lives, for no other purpose eveidntly than that of being blest with one another’s society through life.

“Their edifice was a miserably small pile of logs, in a solitary spot of pine-woods, remote from any other habitation. They attended to all their household duties themselves; made all their own clothes, and cooked their own food, not another living being was to be found about them, except for an old gaunt stag-hound.” (Motte) The Florida white settlers flourished, lived off the land and the spoils of what they could eke from the Florida wilder-ness. Motte visited a log cabin owned by Squire Swilley. He could not understand why , if the Squire owned a saw-mill and was a member of the State Legislature, he would not build himself a more comfort-able home. Another visitor at a later date, de-scribed his encounter with these back-woods people near Brooksville. “The entire trip that day was through an unsettled region, the only human beings living anywhere along the road being four of five families of Florida natives, the genuine, unadulterated “cracker’—the clay-eating, gaunt, pale, tallowy. leather-skinned sot—stupid, stolid, staring eyes, dead and lusterless; unkempt hair, generally tow-colored; and such a shiftless, slouching manner! simply white savages—or living white mummies would perhaps better indicate their dead-alive looks and actions. Who, or what, these “crackers” are, from whom descended, of what nationality, or what becomes of them, is one among the many unsoved mysteries of the state. Stupid and shiftless, yet shy and vindictive, they are a block in the pathway of civilizaton, settlement, and enterprise wherever they exist. Fortunately they are very few and decreaasing in numbers, for they cannot exist near civilized settlements. The four or five cabins were bare log structures, with low roofs, no doors or windows—merely openings— or fireplaces; no filling between the logs, and usually no floors;no out-houses, wells, or fenses; and no gardens or plants, except a sweet potato patch. A near lake supplies their water; hogs, cattle, and game, their meat; the tops of cabbage-palmettoes, sweet potatoes, and wild fruits, form thei only diet; while pellets of clay eaten as a sea-soning ingredient take the place of needed salt and pepper. We were surprised to see four women, seated on a fallen tree close by

the roadside; all were of precisely the same size, with the same features, eyes, and haair, and a vacant stupid stare; each wore a light-colored, faded calico dress, of plainest, scantiest possible make, quite clean (a surprising fact), and large, plain cotton sun-bonnets; each wore a cheap, bright-hued, cotton handkershief around her neck; and they were all barefooted, carrying theri low, thick soled shoes in their hands. The dress and kercheif ap-peared their only garments —no under-wear whatever. They were going to a dance at a “cracker’s,” some fifteen miles farther on, and they had already walked about five miles. Think of woman—lovely, tender woman!—walking barefoot twenty miles to dance all night in a close cracker cabin, with whisky perfumed cracker males, to the scraping of a wheezy violin…; the scene lighted with pine-knots; the feast of hog, hominy, beef, sweet-potatoes, and likely a few villainous compounds of flour, cheapest brown sugar, or sirup, and called cake or “ risin’bread.” And, perhaps, that cracker ball will be kept up two or three days and nights, until all the stock of eatables and whisky is used up.

The “cracker,” when resolved to give a dance, shoots some game and carves a hog, finds a market and sells his game for a little cash, lays in a stock of whisky, a little flour, cheap sugar, sirup, tobacco, hominy, or grits, more whisky, coffee, or cheap tea, goes home, sets the “ wim-minfolks” to baking, while he resolves himself into an invitation committee, and sets out on his lean, lank, cracker pony, and invites all the crackers for miles around to “ cum raound.” And they come. A fight generally ends the dance, and the best man wins the girl, for these dances are usually prolific of “ jinin “ matches. It should be said, however, per contra, that there is very little sexual immorality at these half-civilized gatherings, for the mothers— as in this case—are also on hand, and keep a sharp eye on proceed-ings; while the men—the fathers—will shoot.

“I knew by the smoke that so grace-fully curl’d

Through the dark pine‑trees, that a log‑hut was near,

And I said, ‘if there’s corn‑bread to be found in the world

A stomach that was hungry might hope for it here.’ (Motte)

Rustic cabins in the pine woods were the homes of Florida’s early settlers.

n’ othe r characters

by Amy F. DavidSafety Harbor Museum

Odet Philippe: Pinellas Pioneer

Philippi…Phillippi…Phillippe…Philippe… Have you ever been confused by the stories sur-rounding Pinellas County pioneer, Odet Philippe, in-cluding how to spell his name? You’re certainly not alone. Here are a few facts that show there is more to Pinellas Country’s first non-native settler than just a name.

Odet Philippe (we say o-day fill-eep) claimed to be born in 1787 in Lyon, France. He arrived in Tampa Bay in the 1830’s by way of Charles-ton, South Carolina, via New River (Fort Lauderdale) and Key West. While in Charleston, Philippe mar-ried Dorothee Desmottes and had four daughters. Records show Philippe was involved in several business ventures including the buying and selling of slaves. Business turned sour and leaving behind a hail of lawsuits, Philippe and his family headed for Florida to start over. When he arrived in Tampa Bay with his four grown daughters, he had already buried two wives. He started his new life on his plantation called St. Helena, (now Philippe Park), at the head of Tampa Bay. As the consummate entrepreneur, Philippe was soon involved in many business interests including an oyster bar and billiard hall in Tampa. He re-portedly practiced frontier medicine, most likely without a license. Rumors

abound about his involvement with pi-rates, particularly one named Gomez. Legend has it that Gomez traded a chest of treasure for Philippe’ medical assistance, a story which is about as reliable as that other pirate, Jose Gas-par. There is an indication that Philippe may not have been unfamiliar with the piracy underworld. Although there are many colorful stories about his life, in reality, very few can be substantiated. The excit-ing tales of Philippe being of noble birth to being a childhood friend of Napoleon Bonaparte, all but obscure his documented and truly remarkable contributions. Aware that soldiers at nearby Fort Brooke in Tampa, Philippe revived his skill at cigar-making which he had picked up at Key West. He then

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In 1836-1838, Jacob Rhett Mott traveled to Florida with the army as its medical officer. In his journal he wrote the following description of Newansville, the first judicial seat for Hillsborough County. It was named for Daniel Newnan, a hero of the Patriot’s War (1812-1814). “ Newnansville, before the war, could boast of only one block house, eclypt a court house, and one tavern, built in the same primitive style of architecture. Now it consists of two rival hotels, a fort, shops in abun-dance and dwellings, alias shanties, so numerous that for several days after my arrival I could scarcely find my way through the labyrinth of streets and lanes, laid out with a pleasing disregard to all the rules of uniformity. This sudden increase of popu-lation and consequent prosperity to the incipient city was caused entirely by an innate dread and very

natural dislike of its inhabitants of being scalped. They were mostly small farmers who had emigrated from different States and settled in Alacua County to plant corn, hoe potatoes, and beget ugly little white-headed responsibilities. which oc-cupations the pursued with praise-worthy industry and perseverance in the piping times of peace; but imagining it much easier to be fed by Uncle Sam, they provoked the Indians by various aggressions to a retaliation, and then complained to their venerable Uncle of the mischievous disposition of his red nephews.” The mansions of Newnansville were certainly unique in appear-ance. Each abode consisted of a shed built of slab-boards enclosing an area about twelve feet square; and were evidently calculated for exercising the rights of hospitality; for the occupants excluded nothing;

even the rain always finding ready admittance. In some sheds there were several families living huddled together under the same roof, each occupying a corner of the room, and occasionally a fifth family in the center. They must have found this mode most agreeable, —upon the principle of ‘the more the mer-rier,’ for they even allowed some one or other of the families to take in boarders; as I could testify from my own experience on several oc-casions. Over two years before Motte visited Newnansville, the Jack-sonville Courier, Dec. 24, 1835, reported “upwards of 200 people had assembled at Newnansville where the Court House…is turned into a fort, and the Jail a blockhouse. Beyond the towns and forti-fied stockades, East Florida was a deserted countryside. Most of the settlers and their families had

Newnansville: Portrait of a Territorial Town

o

“abandoned their homes and as-sembled at the different places where the inhabitants … erected, or are erecting forts for protection.” In 1822, The Legislative Coun-cil of the new territory of Florida passed an act, appointing William H. Simmons, of St. Augustine and John Lee Williams of Pensacola, commissioners to locate a new seat for the territorial government. They selected Tallahassee,and in 1824 platted the town. With Tallahassee becoming the capitol and the rail-road bypassing it later in he century, Newnansville was to fade away to a ghost town, a footnote in Florida’s history. Today the Newnansvile Town Site is recognized only by an historical marker on SR 235 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a reminder that it was once one of the most important communities in nineteenth century Florida. (Mott, Williams, Boone) ❄

The Territorial Legislative Council of Florida approved an act in November of 1828, which provided for the tender-ing issue of interest bearing Treasury Notes.. The first section of the act stated: “Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, that it shall be the duty of the treasurer of the Territory, to cause to be struck on good silk paper, the amount of ten thousand dollars, in notes, or war-rants, from twelve and a half cents to five dollars, to bear interest at the rate of six percent per annum, each of which notes or warrants shall be signed by the treasurer, and issued by him in payment of all audited accounts against the Territory tory.”

M.M. Cohen wrote in 1836 of the financial institutions being opened up in the new territory of Florida. With the promise of “hidden treasure” in this promising new land speculators were willing to take their chances. Some of the banks which he mentions are: “Central Bank of Florida at Tallahassee; Commercial Bank at Appalachiacola; Florida Bank at Tallahassee; Merchants and Planters Bank at Magnolia, Pensacola Bank at Pensacola, Appalachacola Bank at Appalachacola.”Paper Money of the Alafia Fort Alafia was created in 1849, as an army stockade. six years later a small community had developed on the spot thanks to one of the soldiers who had been stationed there. Antoine Wordhoff was a mercenary Prussian soldier hired by the U.S. Military to fight Seminole Indians. In 1855 he purcvhased 125 acres of land near the fort, started a general store and became

the postmaster of Alafia. Later when the Civil War started it became expe-dient for Wordhoff to issue scrip in order to conduct his business ventures. The paper money promised goods or services to the bearer. A cooperative customer would often accept such scrip as change. He could then use it at a later date to buy what he wanted from the store. Sometimes other shopkeep-ers would be happy to accept the scrip as payment in the knowledge that the issuer would pay them. Antoine Word-hoff lived in Alafia until his death in 1887. The Union Bank of Florida was chartered in 1833—commenced opera-

tions January 15, 1835, with a capital of one million, and with the privilege of increasing it to $3,000,000—which capital shall be raised by means of a loan on the faith of the Territory, by the Directors of the Bank. Stockholders are to be owners of real estate in the Territory, and bonds and mortgages given upon their real estate, to en-sure their subscriptions. Holders are entitled to damages at the rate of 10 percent, per annum, should the Bank refuse specie.” The Merchant and Planter’s Bank at Magnolia on the St. Mark’s River was founded in 1832, by a group of local citizens. The Hamlin family from Maine, had encouraged settlers to come to their area by placing ads in newspapers in Maine. They built a steamboat dock and cotton warehouse to encourage business in the area. The bank was started with $200,000 capital and it’s charter had been voted over Governor Duval’s veto by the

MONEY IN THE TERRITORY

Legislative Council. When the Tallahassee Railroad was built in 1835, to St. Marks, 13 miles down the river, Magnolia’s future was shaken. Within ten years all that was left of the Hamlin’s port city was a graveyard. By January 1834 the bank had failed but the following month , on Feb. 15, the Legislative Council brought the charter back to life. New investors

may have paid off the debts of the old bank. An office opened in Tallahas-see. But the original Magnolia branch never reopened. In 1840 it moved to St. Joseph’s and but after a series of disasters it closed for good. The Alafia and Magnolia stories are very typical of how shakey banks and currency could be in early Florida. ❁

St. Pete Museum of History

5

The Sunday Morning’s Herald, and Volunteer’s Gazette. Vol. l, No. 1, Appetitbus sed non victu parati.—[Garrison Motto.]A,G. Mackey & M.M. Cohen, Editors.St. Augustine, Feb. 6, 1836.

“We beg leave to offer (not to the Public, but to the Privates of this garrison) a paper, which as it will be published every Tuesday and Satur-day evening, may not inappropriately be called “The Sunday Morning’s Herald and Volunteer’s Gazette.” As regardes the immense expense and responsiblility of the Editors, in get-ting up this paper, none can have any idea, except those who are engaged in the publication; in evidence of which, we would state, that the Ink has been stolen, the Paper borrowed, and the Pens purchased upon credit, which will never be repaid. We make no promises, because we intend to keep none—and we ask for none, because we know none would be fulfilled. With respect to our principles, we would with great respect say that it is not our interest to be explicit, and it will hardly interest any to know more than that the principals of this work will endeavor to make it one of interest. For sale, in Garrison, —63 good appetites, sold for no fault, but because they are of no further use to their own-ers. Wanted, in Garrison, course can-vass to drink coffee through. Attention volunteers!—Volunteers will hereafter appear on parade in drill pantaloons. Bill of Mortality.—List of deaths, diseases and disasters in Garrison, for week ending, Feb. 6th. Starved to death, 10; surfeit from too much food, 0; Lock Jaw from pick-ing teeth with a bayonet, 5; Drop-sy— down the well, 1; Drowned by sound of the drum, voices, 3; Consumption—of beans, 5; Died in the Greece-ian war of fat pork, 7; Sick —of Parade, 63; Choked by coffee grounds, 8; total 105. Being 39 more than ever were in Garrison. Hard Fare.— One of the Volun-teers is reported to have dislocated his jaw in cracking a U.S. biscuit. One of the Editors of this paper tenders his professional services to any volunteer who may have gorged himself by a surfeit upon salt pork. He makes drawings of landscapes and teeth. The other Editor will also under-take to make draughts of marriage settlements and small beer. We are informed that by a late rule of the Garrison, not more than fourteen persons are hereafter to use the same Tooth Brush.” ❁

NOTICE TO

EMIGRANTS. People in our climate should never expose themselves to a noon-day sun. Experience has taught the native to sleep in the middle of the day. Emigrants should at least be equally cautious. Exposures to the night air, should be avoided as carefully as the rays of noon. And intemper-ance should be avoided with more care than either. The climate is suf-ficiently debilitating without the assistance of ardent spirits. Bathing has always been suc-cessfully practiced, in warm cli-mates. So far as our observations have extended, it has been infinitely more beneficial in Florida, than any medicine. Sea bathing is a regular habit in Florida. (Williams)❁

seeking refuge from creditors, the law, or a haven to practice their own beliefs. Spain’s pacification program didn’t work. Frontiers are often places of violent change. As the Spanish dis-placed the native people, the people from the new nation to the north would replace them. The rendezvous period in Florida began with its acquisition by the United States in 1820, and extended through the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842. The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 changed everything. Although Florida would remain a frontier for another hundred years, the struggle shifted and centered on growing towns and cities. Adaptation would be replaced by progress. The new people arriving would change this place to meet their needs and the selling of Florida would begin. The wilderness experienced by those first rugged pioneers is almost gone now. The frontiersmen of that early period were independent, hard drinking, and hard fighting folks. They lived by their skill and took what they needed from the land. As time went on, they were joined by slave hunters and farmers. Little is known about the men who came here to hunt down ex-slaves, but it is easy to imagine them. Bad blood quickly developed between the slave hunters and the Indians. Many of the people living here were of mixed blood. Black American’s were often assimilated into Indian culture and had been for generations. Family members were captured as slaves and hauled off into bondage. Again the frontier began to smoulder. In 1821, Andrew Jackson’s Creek Indian allies raided the African American community on the Manatee River, near present Bradenton. Farms and homes were burned and 300 were captured and forced into slavery. By 1830 the census recorded 34,723 people liv-ing in Florida—15,510 were slaves. The Indian’s of Florida raised cattle. The farmers claimed Indian

cattle as their own. The growing friction brought the army. A fort was built at the mouth of the Hillsbrough River on Tampa Bay. Fort Brook’s presence assured that a free black community would never grow up out of the ashes on the Manatee River. The frontier outposts drew refu-gees from South American revolu-tions and men who fled ashore when the U.S. Naval Squadron at Key West forced them to give up small-time piracies. They took up pirating here. A local Spanish fisherman, Maximo Hernandez, guided the U.S. Military on raids against pirate strongholds along this coast. What has all of this got to do with the Alafia River Rendezvous? The Florida Frontiersmen and the people helping them put on this ren-dezvous try to maintain a flavor of period authenticity. Imagine Ft. Brook (Tampa) late in 1836. The dull little outpost was now the center of a major war ef-fort. Frigates and brigs stood off the shallow port unloading supplies into smaller boats which brought them ashore. Schooners and shallow draft sloops lay tied up to the docks. Steamships, still a new and uncom-mon sight, could make their way right up to the main wharf. The Fort was on the east side of the Hillsborough River. Soldiers in sky blue uniforms mixed with vol-unteers from other states. The trails they wandered along were deep with powdery white sand. Pines afforded little shade. Closer to the river front spreading oaks offered cool shade. Officers wives had set up house keep-ing and visited from the porches of homes which were built around tree trunks. On the opposite side of the river were the shanties of the Indians and the soldiers of the Right Guard. This is where the traders came to set up shop. The Federal Government paid the Seminoles for their cattle and gave them money to move. The frontier occasioned little chance for a soldier to spend their meager wages. Once the ships were unloaded, sailors hung around with money and little to do.

An Awesome Rendezvous Shacks and tents sprang up, sprawl-ing along twisting unplanned sandy lanes. There was little concern about layout. In a moment, the most astute frontiersman, could get lost in this man-made wilderness of op-portunity and vice. There were pool halls, places to buy extra provisions, and booze joints. It attracted colorful people like Odet Philippe who called himself Doctor Count Philippe. He had been run out of Charleston and Key West. Philippe said that he had been Napoleon’s doctor, captured by pirates in the Bahamas, he was released after being forced to serve them. He suggested that the pirate captain rewarded him well upon his release. He sold eggs and ran a pool hall across the river from Ft. Brook. Many of the soldiers who wandered these lanes were newly arrived immigrants from Europe. Out of work, wandering unfamiliar city streets in search of opportunity, they signed up for a stint with Uncle Sam and found themselves on the very edge of the frontier. Between the palmettos, the sandy alleys and the shacks, you would have heard as wide a variety of languages as were spoken in the most worldly city to the north. Let the Alafia River Rendez-vous transport you back to the wild excitement of a brand new nation and to the wildest frontier of them all. By 1860, the population had jumped to 140,000. In Florida, it seems like it was always the wars which had attracted them. ❁

n

Florida continued from page 1

6

cian wise,And see through all things with his half‑shut eyes.” - Alexander Pope With the growing popularity of coffee also came sermons and laws against it. Sebastien Mercier is told by a ‘sage’; “We have banished three poisons of which you used to make perptual use — tobacco, coffee and tea.” In 1675 England tried to sup-press the coffee houses that have become gathering places for men who neglect their families to discuss business and politics over coffee. Jonathan Swift wrote in 1711, in The Conduct of the Allies, “It is the folly of too many to mistake the echo of a London coffee-house for the voice of the kingdom.” And in Prussia, Freder-ick the Great moved to block imports of green coffee which were draining his country’s gold as coffee became nearly a match for beer as the national beverage.” In 1832, Frances Trollope, a trav-ell writer, deplored American eating habits. Suppers, she reports, are huge buffets that may include “tea, cof-fee, hot cake and custard, hoe cake, johnny cake, waffle cake, and dodger cake, pickled peaches, and preserved cucumbers, ham, turkey, hung beef, apple sauce and pickled oysters . . .” Coffee survived its critics to be-come one of our popular beverages. In Tampa Bay, you can still indulge in a cup of the famous Cuban coffee once offered by Jose Caldez.

Cafe Con Leché Bring water to near boil. Add fresh ground coffee, 1 tablespoon per cup. Bring to boil. Adding 1/4 cup cold water will make coffee grounds settle to bot-tom. Bring milk to simmer. Pour half milk and half coffee in a mug. Add nutmeg, cinnamon or chocolate toppings if you wish.

p

In 1839 it was said that Jose Caldez, the Spanish fisherman in Charlotte Harbor served the best cof-fee to be had. William Whitehead, a customs inspector from Key West, stopped by his fishing rancho on pres-ent day Useppa Island. He marvelled at the coffee. “It was very seldom, if ever, you meet with bad coffee when they have the making of it.…With no attention at all the finest flavored coffee world be made in a very few minutes, superior…to any to be met with in half the Coffee Houses in the United States.”

“Black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love.”—Turkish proverb

Islamic countries for had been indulging in coffee for centuries. Pietro della Valle, who had visited Constantinople in 1615 wrote: “The Turks also have another beverage, black in color, which is very refreshing in summer and very warming in winter, without however changing its nature and always rre-maining the same drink, which is swallowed hot… They drink it in long draughts, not during the meal but af-terwards, as a sort of delicacy and to converse in comfort in the company of friends. One hardly sees a gathering where it is not drunk. A large fire is kept going and for this purpose and little porcelain bowls are kept by it ready‑filled with the mixture; when it is hot enough there are men entrusted with the office who do nothing else but carry these little bowls to all the company, as hot as possible… They amuse themselves while conversing… sometimes for a period of seven or eight hours.”

In 1600, Dutch mariners broke the Arabian monopoly in coffee growing. They smuggled “seven seeds” of un-roasted coffee beans out of the Arab port of Mocha. They planted some in their Java colony and sent others to the botanical gardens at Amsterdam. At first coffee was treated like a medicinal and in 1657, coffee advertisements in London claim the beverage was a cure all for scurvy, gout, and other diseases. Eventually coffee became a popular beverage. Paris street peddlers carried coffee pots with lighted stoves and cups. England’s first coffee house opened at Oxford in 1601. In 1650, coffee was sold at £5 per ounce. In 1670 Frenchmen could be found travelling door to door selling a cup of coffee for two sous, sugar in-cluded. In 1672 an Armenian, opened a stall to sell coffee at the Saint-Ger-maine fair where one could sample coffee on the spot. By the eighteenth century coffee houses were popping up all over Europe and New Eng-land. In 1670 a Boston woman was licenced to sell coffee and chocolate, and soon coffee houses were opening up in the colonies. By 1725, London had 2000 coffee houses. It took a while for folks to catch on to how coffee was properly made and at first some people boiled the coffee beans in water, ate them, and then drank the liquid. Madame Fournier became the first café owner to provide newspapers for her regular customers on the rue Saint-Antoine. Billiards and chess soon followed as part of coffee house scene. Cafe au lait, served in large ceramic cups, was the prefered drink of the day. To supply the growing demand, coffee was grown in the Carib-bean in the early 18th century. The American coffee industry that would

eventually produce 90 percent of the world’s coffee had its roots in a five foot seedling planted on the Carib-bean island of Martinique by French naval officer Gabriel Mathieu de Cheu, who has been helped by French confederates to break into the French Jardin Royale at night and make off with the seedling. By 1789 over 40 million pounds were produced and sold in the European market. Santo Domingo had about 40,000 white Frenchmen, nearly half a million African slaves, and produces nearly two-thirds of the world’s coffee. Jay’s Treaty signed 1794 settled outstanding disputes that remained between the United States and Britain following the Revolution. Resisting popular demands that the United States take France’s side in her war with the British, President Washing-ton sent U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to London. The British agree to evacuate their posts in the U.S. Northwest between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River, and the treaty would spur settlement in the area. A modification of Jay’s Treaty permitted U.S. ships to carry cocoa, coffee, cotton, molasses, and sugar from the British West Indies to any part of the world. Lloyd’s of London had its begin-nings in 1688, in a society to write marine insurance formed by mer-chants and sea captains who gather at Edward Lloyds’s coffee house near the Thames. Lloyds encouraged the underwriters by providing quill pens, ink, paper, and shipping information. The term underwriting came from his patrons’ practice of writing their names, one beneath the other, at the bottom of each policy, with each man writing the amount he will insure until the full amount is subscribed.

“Coffee, which makes the politi-

Café Olé

See you at the FRONTIER GAZETTE

& CAFÉ OLÉ Camp Alafia River Rendezvous.

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7

The Uniforms during Wars of Indian Removal The Key West revenue cutters Dallas and Washington were among the first government vessels to arrive at Tampa Bay, in 1836, anchoring at Egmont and Mullet Keys. Before leaving they had been outfitted with light arms—cutlasses, swords, small arms, muskets, bayonets, pistols, powder horns, pistol cartouche boxes, muskets, flints, feet irons, handcuffs, and powder kegs. Ship’s stores included lanterns, varnish, wires, funnels, a quadrant, three revenue ensigns, hammers, axes, hatchets, and boatswain’s call. a shot rack had been built, and provisions taken on—fruit, coffee, sugar, and the standard supply of “segars.” Also anchored in Tampa Bay was the sloop-of-wars, Vandalia,and Concord, the supply ship, During the day the ships carpen-ers cut timber and live oak along the Manatee to replace a spar and to construct a gallows to intall the new spar. Men washed their clothes, cast musket balls and painted the hull black. The usual punishment for sailors was twelve lashes of the cat-o-nine tails for fighting, sleeping on duty, or unbecoming behavior. However, in June, two sailors were given twenty-one lashes for mistreating and robbing a man on Mullet Key. As the hot Florida summer dragged on illness raged aboard ship. Supplies were dwindling and in order to stretch the bread ration it was dropped to nine ounces per man. The crew began to suffer from scurvy. The navy implemented a strat-egy of river warfare. For this they depended upon local fishing ranchos for guides.

A typical sailor of the frontier period, in white pants, navy jacket and straw hat. A white middy was worn in the summer. Often sailors would compete to embellish their uniforms.

The long humid summers took their toll on the army as well. Men died from diseases such as malaria, typhoid and dysentry. The army and infantry wore the standard 1833 issue uniform. Sol-diers dressed in these sky blue wool uniforms with a black pigskin forage hats scoured the woods around Tampa Bay inland to Ocala for Seminole In-dian camps. In summer the uniform was changed to a lighter white cotton although soldiers often wore a mix and match version of their uniform. Volunteers from Georgia, Ala-bama and Louisianna enthusiatically made up militia units to assist in the war. The uniforms of these men were as unique as they were colorful each reflecting the ingenuity of the ladies of their particular community. Many wore the civilian clothing em-bellished by what they could gleen from government surplus stores. Flintlock muskets were the most popular weapon made by a variety of manufactureres from New England to Kentucky. The Tampa Bay area offers sev-eral opportunities to observe military life of theday. Fort Foster State Historic Site was recreated as a part Hillsborough River State Park, north of SR 301. Located on the site

of two original forts, Fort Foster protected the bridge across the river on the Old Fort King Military Road stretching from Fort Brooke to Fort King. Park Rangers interpret the site and reenactors add color to the stark wooden palasades.Plan to attend the fort Foster Rendezvous. (see Ad p.9) On the first weekend in Janu-ary, reenactors gather at the Dade Battlefield National Historic Site near Bushnell, for a chilling perfor-mance of the Seminole attack on the men moving from Fort Brooke to Fort King. At the Hillsborough County Vet-erans Memorial Museum displays soldier’s camp gear. The Tampa Bay History Center is now located at the site of Old Fort Brooke, now part of the Tampa Bay Convention Center on Franklin Street in Tampa. The museum has artifacts and archival materials. The Men of Fort Foster by Alejan-dro M. Quesada, Jr. (1996) is an ex-cellant reference for period uniforms, equipment and artifacts. Masscre!,1968 and Dade’s Last Command, 1995by Frank Laumer are vivid accounts of the survivor’sof the bloody battle that set off the Second Seminole War. ❁

8

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Sponsored by the Hillsborough River State Park Preservation Society, Inc.Fort Foster State Historic Site is located adjacent to Hillsborough

River State Park, US 301 North, Thonotosassa, Florida 33592

Riddle —Why is a member of congress like a man in a close room?Answer.—Because he is not liable to a draught (draft.)

Humans are the only critters I know that ya’ can skin over an’ over agin.

Bed bugs cannot stand the mix-ture of quicksilver (mercury) and the beaten white of an egg. To drive away roaches, take green cucumber parins and strew them around the talbes and cup-boards. Powdered charcoal is good for foul breath and whitens the teeth, one-half teaspoon to the dose. Bedsteads washed once a month in carbolized water will be free from vermin.❁

Housekeeping Tips

BibliographyStories in this newspaper were pre-pared from the following resources.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,

3rd Edition, Houghton Mifflin Com-pany. Electronic version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc., 1992.

Andrews, Evangeline Walker and Charles McLean, Ed.

Jonathan Dickinson’s Journal, Stuart Florida Classics Library, Southeastern Printing Co, 1981.

Boone, Floyd E., Florida Historical Markers & Sites, Gulf Pub., 1988.

Barbour, Florida for Tourists, Invalids and Settlers, 1882. Facsimile Reproduction, Gainesville, Un. of Florida Press, 1964.

Braudel, Fernand,The Structures of Everyday Life, 1979, Tranlation from the French, Revised by Sian Reynolds, Los Angeles, Un. of California Press, 1992.

Deland, Margaret, Florida Days, 1889, Edited and Reprinted, Englewood, Pineapple Press, 1983.

Brown, Cantor, Jr.African Americans on the Tampa Bay Frontier, Tampa, Tampa Bay History Center, 1997.Florida’s Peace River Frontier, Orlando, Un. of Central Florida Press, 1991.

Colburn, David R. and Jane L. Landers, Ed.The African American Heritage of Florida, Gainesville, Un. of Florida Press, 1995.

Cohen, M.M., (Officer of the Left Wing)Notiices of Florida and the Cam paigns, 1836, Facsimile reproduc-tion, Quadracentennial edition with introduction by O.Z. Tyler, Jr.

The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Columbia University Press, 1993.

Fernald, Edward, A., Ed.Atlas of Florida, Florida State University Foundation, 1981.

Laumer, FrankDade’s Last Command, Gainsville, University of Florida Press, 1995.Massacre! , Gainsesville, Un.of Florida Press, 1968.

Mahan, John K.History of the Second Seminole War, 1835-1842 Revised Edition, Gains-esville, Un. of Florida Press, 1968.

Matthews, Janet SnyderEdge of the Wilderness, A Settle-ment History of Manatee River and Sarasota Bay, 1528‑1885 Sarasota, Coastal Press, 1983.

Morse-Earle, AliceHome Life in Colonial Days, New York, MacMil lan Company, 1948.

Motte, Jacob R.,Journey into the Wilderness, 1836 - 1838, James F. Sunderman, Ed., Gainsesville, Un. of Florida Press, 1963.

Pizzo, Anthony P. Tampa Town, Miami, Hurricane House, 1968Sichel, Marion

History of Children’s Costume, New York, Chelsea House Pub., 1983.

Scurlock, William H., Ed.Muzzleloading Magazine’s, The Book of Buckskinning VII, Texar-cana, Scurlock Pub., 1995.

Trager, James,The People’s Chronology , Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1994.

Van Doren, Mark, Ed.Travels of William Bartram, 1791, New York, Dover Pub., 1928.

Warren, Geoffrey,Fashion Accessories Since 1500, New York, Drama Book, 1987.

Williams, John Lee,The Territory of Florida, 1837, Facsimile reproduction, Gaines-ville, Un. of Florida Press, 1962.

Contributing Writers Cantor Brown, Jr., Tampa Bay History Center. Amy David, Safety Harbor Museum. Hermann Trappman Elizabeth NeilyPhotography: Elizabeth NeilyIllustrations: Hermann Trappman Elizabeth Neily

RENDEZVOUS AT FORT FOSTER FEBRUARY 28TH TO MARCH 1ST

WANTED: Army, Militia, Navy, Civilian, Native Americans, Sutlers, Blanket Traders, Demonstrators.

Skirmishes Both Days • Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner FREE to volunteers

Copyright 1998. All rights reserved. No portion of this newpaper may be reproduced without prior wriiten permission from the publisher.

Phone: (813) 321-7845 E-mail tocobaga@gte.net

Ad Rates Full page sponsor 5” W x 16” H $250.00 10” W x 8”HQuarter page 5” W x 8” H $125.00Eigth page 5” W x 5”H $ 50.00Sixteenth page 2-1/2” x 5” $ 25.00

Publishing DatesJanuary - Deadline Dec. 15 April Issue - Deadline March 15July Issue - Deadline June 15October Issue - Deadline Sept. 15Published on a Macintosh Power PC.

Distributed at museums, events, schools and gift shops. Call for fund raising possibilities.

9

History, Culture, Enlightenmentand a lot of really cool old stuff

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Phone: (813)726-1668Tuesday — Friday 10a.m. - 4p.m. Saturday & Sunday 1p.m - 4p.m.

Shaded beneath spreading live oaks, the Safety Harbor Museum stands close to the actual site of the amazing stories it celebrates. From Florida’s ancient people to the first settlers in the area, the site has seen their passage.

Published Quarterly by Neily Trappman Studio5409 21st Ave. So., Gulfport, Fl 33707

Understanding the past gives you the freedom to create a better future.

Pioneer Prog

“Prog” was the popular slang for food and in Florida frontier there was a virtual cornuopia from which to choose. White set-tlers hunted and fished like the Indians but they also had free ranging cattle and hogs brought here by the first Spanish residents. Somewhere along the way they had stopped fighting with the Indians long enough to learn how to harvest coonti and China brier for flour. When not at war Flor-ida’s pioneeers, whites, blacks and Indians also grew gardens with corn being their main crop, followed by beans, potatoes, squash, peas and melons. The Spanish had also introduced citrus trees and so a small grove of citrons, lemons, limes or oranges might grow outside their cabins. In 1837 several other varieties of fruit and vegetables were grown successfully in various parts of Florida. They included mulberry,fig, pomegranate,apple, quince, peach, nectarine, persimmon which he says the Indians “pressed the pulp into cakes which were dried and eaten as bread for the rest of the year.” South of Tampa Bay mango and pine-apple could be grown. In 1824 coconut trees were introduced to Key West and by 1837 they were bearing fruit. Sea grape, a native, was harvested for jelly. And plan-tains, bananas and papayas were grown as well as tamarind and olive. Blackberries, dewberries,and straw-berries grew in the wild. There were also wild herbs to be gathered for flavorings. Life was good for those willing to stick out Florida’s hot steamy summers. This was paradise.

Coonti Bread White Coonti (Zamia integrifolia) was once found in great abundance in Florida. Mash the cut up roots in a large mortar, wash the pulp with a least three separate rinces of water, strain through a cloth or tightly woven basket with a deer hide suspended below. The remain-ing starch is allowed to ferment for sev-eral days and then spread out on palmetto leaves to dry. The white coonti flour was made into a dough and fried in fresh bear fat for a delicious fry bread. Red Coonti (Smilax aspira)was made from the China brier root or “ah-ah”. Its reddish flour, prepared much the same as white coonti, was also mixed with a little warm water and sweetened with honey made a delicious jelly. The flour was used to make hot cakes or fritters by adding corn flour and frying it in bear oil.

Fried BreadMake a soft dough, with1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, pinch salta little grease (lard or butter)Add water (milk)Drop into hot bear grese (lard) and fry until brown.

Potash n’ Grits

Woodash was sifted and placed in a wooden bucket or gum (a hollowed-out log) and set on a bench. Water was then poured over it and a rock at the bottom regulated the flow. The alkaline drain-ings or lye were collected in a tub and then boiled in a large kettle to reduce it to a salt or powder. This powder was used for levening in hoe cakes and biscuits. Hominy was made by soaking dried corn in lye water till the skin peeled off. Grits is gound up hominy.

Ash Cakes Mix together2cups cornmeal3.4 teaspoon soda1 cup buttermilk1/3 cup bear grease or fat Add enough water to make a thick dough. Salt to taste. Make a hole in the center of the ashes of the hearth. Place the dough in the hole. let it make a crust and cover with hot ashes and embers. Bake to suit taste.

Baking Powder Biscuits2 cups coonti (all purpose flour)3 teaspoons potash (baking powder)1/2 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons bear grease (butter)3/4 to 1 cup water (milk)Sift flour, baking powder and salt.Rub in butterAdd enough liquid to make a soft dough.Toss on floured board and rol gently with a rolling pin to 3.4 inch thick. Cut into buiscuits and bake on a greased cookie sheet close up to the fire or in a hot oven (3500)for about 12 to 15 min.

Hoe Cakes A popular food of white settlers was the hoe cake. Because cooking utensils were scarce, pioneers would bake biscuits next to the open fire by placing them on the garden hoe,a tool essential for grubbin’ out palmet-tos.

2 cups cornmeal1/2 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons bacon or bear grease1 cup hot water1-1/2 cup cold water

Mix salt in cornmeal. Pour hot water on the mix. Add enough cold water to thin mush till it pours sort of slow out of the bowl. Add melted fat. Drop batter by spoonfulls on a hot hoe or skillet. Wash hoe first. Brown on both sides.

10

To Roast Beef, have a brisk hot fire, to hang down, baste with salt and water, one quarter an hour to every pound of beef, though tender beef will require less, while old tough beef will require more roasting; pricking with a fork will determine whether it is done or not. serve with potatoes sprinkled with parsley.

Puddin’ ‘n PiesSea Pie

4 pounds of flour1-1/2 pounds of butter Roll flour flour and butter into a paste, wet with cold water. Line a pot therewith, lay in split pigeons, turkey, veal, mutton, or birds with salt pork, salt, pepper, and dust on flour doing thus until the pot is full or your ingre-dients expended, add 3 pints of water, cover tight with pastry and stew mod-erately for two and half hours.

Minced Pies4 pounds of boiled beef, chopped fine and salted. 6 pounds of raw apple chopped1 pound of beef suet.1 quart of wine or rich sweet cider2 pound of raisins or currents or one pound of each.1 ouncemace, cinamon, 1 nutmegBake in pastry.

PastryTo any quantity of flour rub in 3/4 its weight in butter. Roll out and line baking dish.

Sausage Cake1 pint of black coffee1 pound of mild sausage or banock1 lb of fresh walnuts1 teaspoon cinamon, all-spice, cloves, nutmeg1 tablespoon soda1 pound of raisins and/or currents1 pound brown sugarFlour to thicken. Put sausage in covered iron pan to simmer until grease seeps out. Drain and add all other ingredients. Cover and bake 1-1/2 hours at 2500 or place in crock and steam like a plum pudding over hot water for 4 hours.

At Cuscowilla in Alachua county, William Bartram, or Puc-Puggy (flower hunter) as he was called by the Seminoles, and his party were invited in their honor by Cowkeeper, a Semi-nole chief, to a veritable feast. They first smoked the pipe of peace, then drank black drink. After this formality, they were treated to venison cooked in bear’s oil, fresh corn cakes, milk and hominy washed down with a honey and water drink. At a second banquet, they dined on barbequed ribs, and the choisest fat pieces of bullocks, taken from the chief’s own prize herd for the occas-sion. Bowls and kettles of stewed fish and broth were brought in for the next course, and with it “tripe soup made from the belly of the beef, not overly cleansed of its contents,... minsed very fine, and then made into a very thin soup, seasoned with salt and aromatic herbs, but the season not strong enough

to extinguish its original savor and scent. The White King, , a Seminole chief or micco at Talahasochte, (Tallahas-see) had killed three fat bears for the “royal feast”. These were barbequed and served with hot bread and honeyed water. On the last day of their visit they were again invited to a dinner of bear ribs, venison, a variety of fish, roast turkeys (which they called the white man’s dish), and hot corn cakes with coonti jelly. Bartum also visited an Indian town, about twelve miles distance from the trading house, to regale ourselves at a feast of Water mellons and Oranges. The fields surrounding the town and groves were plentifully stored with corn, citrus, pumpkins, squash, beans, peas, potatoes, peaches, figs, oranges, etc.”

SEMINOLE BARBEQUESBe sure to visit Camp Sawgrass where you’ll find plenty to think about at this Seminole hunting camp.

Sunshine tends the fire while the men are out hunting bear and protecting the corn fields from varmits.

To Broast PossumClean a nice fat possum, Sprinke all over with salt pepper and cayanne pep-per. Hang over hot fire and baste with water until cooked. A raccoon must be par boiled before cooking on account they’re real greasy.

Honey Roasted Mullet After cleaning and splitting a fresh mullet or other fish skewer it on a sharpened palmetto sticks and roast it over fire. Baste the meat with honey to seal in moistness and flavor.

Chicken Paella1 large onion1- 3 garlic cloves3-4 rashers bacon or 1/4 cup olive oil1 cup ham or chorizo sausage chopped3 pounds chicken WaterIn a large skillet saute onions and gar-lic with bacon or olive oil. Add rice, pinch of saffron, ham or sausage and chicken cut in pieces. Cover with water and cover skillet. Cook until rice and chicken is thoroughly cooked being careful not to burn it. About 45 minutes to 1 hour.For variety add fresh corn on the cob, peas, shrimp and mussels.This was a favorite meal of our Span-ish settlers.

Heart of Palm Salad

1 Head of Romaine LettuceFresh CilantroOlive OilFresh lime Fresh Ground PepperPickled Heart of PalmSince harvesting heart of palm kills the tree it is best to buy it at one of the local trading posts. Wash lettuce and break it into bite size pieces. Chop cilantro and add to taste on lettuce. Drizzle olive oil and squeeze lime juice over salad.

For the best COFFEEand

CONVERSATION in Florida visit the

FRONTIER GAZETTE & Café Olé at the Alafia

She’ll tempt you with the rich flavor of Café Madrid

in the heart of historic

(813) 247-3309 1925 E. 7th Avenue

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Ybor City

Clothing Styles 1800-1840CLOTHES FOR KIDS

Pioneer children of Florida fol-lowed closely the clothing styles of their parents. In 1790 the chemise gown became popular. This loose fitting, white gown was tied with a blue or pink sash at the waist and is thought that it came out of the tropi-cal colonies and taken to France where it became fashionable. Be-cause it was made of light cotton it became known as a ‘muslin” . By the 1800’s, the chemise gown had become a more structured empire gown. Young boys and girls wore high-waisted empire gowns made of cotton muslin. Showing under the dress were lace-edged cotton pantalettes. Girls wore slips beneath their unlined muslin dress-es. The dresses could be decorated with lace, ribbons and bunches of artificial flowers. Shoes of thin black leather were much like ballet slippers. The girls wore bonnets of straw, felt and other materials which were tied under their chin with a large bow. By the 1830’s, the waistlines of ladies and girls dresses had dropped to the natural waistline and dresses had tight fitting bodices and full skirts. Pinafores and aprons were worn to keep the dresses clean. Once a boy reached about four or five, he began to wear long trou-sers and a shirt. The skeleton suit was popular throughout this time period. They were made of rough linen or a linen cotton twill. The trousers had a fall front and the legs came to just above his ankles. A frilled collar was worn over the shirt collar and the sleeves came to the top of his fingers. Boys wore leather slippers and a sailor hat, tam, or bowler. Mrs. Kirby Smith of St. Augus-tine wrote of her son that he would often forget his shoes on the beach when he took them off to play. He had just been given his first pair and was not used to wearing them yet. When boys reached about twelve they wore trousers and short jackets and by their mid-teens they too dressed like adult men.

1800-1820

1820-1840

Little girls looked like miniature adults.

The Seminoles

Skeleton suit worn by little boys.

FABRICS Cottons became widely used at this time period. You could find it woven into various weights, dyed and printed into lots of colors. In 1786, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter:- “The four southernmost States make a great deal of cotton. Their poor are almost entirely clothed with it in winter and summer. In winter they wear shirts of it and outer clothing of cotton and wool mixed. In summer, their shirts are linen, but the outer clothing cotton. The dress of the women is almost entirely of cotton, manufactured by themselves, except the richer class, and even many of these wear a great deal of homespun cotton. It is well manufatured as the calicoes of Europe,” Homespun fabric of linen and woolen, called linsey-woolsey, was often worn by country and frontiers people. Spinning wheels and looms became family treasures passed down from mother to daughter. this is wear we get the word “heirloom”.Satins and velvets, made from silk were used for fine gowns, ribbons, artificial flowers and trims. About this time knitted silk un-der clothes were invented to keep the ladies warm under their fashion-able but thin muslin gowns. The grain bags which destitute Seminole Indian women recycled into clothing were probably made from course a homespun of linen and hemp. Of course furs and deerhide were readily available for pioneers and Indians to keep the chill off in the winter months.

Before the wars to remove the Seminole from Florida, Indians lived much as their ancestors had in North Florida. They hunted and traded with both English and Spanish merchants for guns, gun powder and calico cloth. According to William Bartrum, 1773-1777, young Indian warriors were “dressed and painted with singu-lar elegance, and richly ornamented with silver plates, chains, etc., with waving plumes of feathers on their crests.” The women, make all “their moccasins, spin and weave the curi-ous belts and diadems for the men, fabricate lace, fringe, embroider and decorate their apparel.” Very young Indian children were allowed to run about naked at many of the Indian towns and fishing ran-chos. Boys went naked until they were twelve or thirteen years old. As they got older they too followed the clothing styles of their elders. Seminole youth dressed in deer hide leggings, breech-clouts and calico shirts. Indian girls wore deer skin skirts tied at the waist. As fabric became more available, calico skirts were introduced. Sometimes they would wear a calico cape which reached just above the waist. Ribbons, trade beads, metal amulets and arm bands were popular accesso-ries. Children usually went barefoot or sometimes wore soft leather moccasins. Indians, fleeing the army during this time, suffered the horrendous rig-ors of hiding in the forest . One group of captured women and children were described as miserable, blackened, haggard, shrivelled [smoke-dried and half-clad] devils, the children ugly little nudities.”(Motte 1837). Later in the journel, Motte, seems a little more sympathetic in this description of the women. “From their appearance, I should judge the burden of the war to have principally fallen upon the female portion of the natives; for while the men looked in good health, spirits, and conditions, the [women] with but few exceptions presented a most squalid appearance; being destitute of even the necessary clothing to cover their nakedness; many having nothing around them but the old corn bags we had thrown away, and which they had picked up in camp, and along our trail.” At a dance at one of the Indian camps, Motte described the young women, “arrayed in the festive attire, and decorated with a profusion of gaudy trinkets, but with feet and legs

unconscious of shoes or stockings. Many of the women have a number of box-terrapin shells filled with small pebbles or dried seed of palmetto, which being tied together, and bound around the leg as high as the knee, make a great rattling when the feet are moved in the dance….” In better times, William Bartum described a ball game dance with “a company of girls, hand in hand, dressed in clean white robes and ornamented with beads, bracelets and a profusion of gay ribbons,” Bartum also gave a detailed de-scription of their ceremonial dress. The young men wore a ruffled shirt of fine linen and a breechcloth of blue cloth, about eighteen inches wide which is belted at the waist and decorated with lace, tinsel and beads. They wore cloth leggings ornamented with lace, beads and silver bells over a soft buckskin moccasin which is also decorated. They also wore a large cape of the fin-est scarlet or blue cloth they are able to buy. It was decorated with rich lace, or a fringe around the border, and often with little round silver or brass bells. Some had a short cloak, which just cov-ered the shoulders and chest which was woven with flamingo or other bright colored feathers. Large silver cresents called gorgets hung around their neck on ribbons. They also wore silver bands and silver and gold chains on their arms and around their neck. They painted their head, neck and chest with red and some of the wariors had tatoos on emblazoned their chests, arms and legs. They shaved part of their hair made pony tails with silver tubes or a sculptured and painted joint of a small reed. They would also pierce their ears and decorated them with egret feath-ers.” Turbans became popular with the Seminole warriors and were often decorated with large ostrich feathers. Women wore a skirt of red or blue material which reached to the middle of their leg. They wore no shift but a little waistcoat made of calico, printed linen or fine cloth, decorated with lace and beads, etc. They never cut their hair but braided and pinned it to the top of their heads with a silver brooch. The ends were wound in a bun and decorated with lots of colorful silk ribbons which streamed down their back almost to the ground. They also wore a cape as a veil on ceremonial occassions. For everyday wear they wore a jacket, skirt and mocassins and the men merely a breechcloth, shirt boots and mocassins. A cape of fur or wool was worn at night or in the winter.

n

A young Seminole would become a warrior at about 13 or 14 years old and wear drop a sleeved shirt, breechcloth, leggings, moccasins and jewelry al-lowed by his status in the tribe. At the same time free black warriors would wear similar regalia as shown in the picture of Abraham on page 3. Turban headdress were also worn. Red and black war paint was also applied to the face before going into battle.

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