"Today in Florida History"

for August

1861                 The steamer, U.S.S. Mohawk, took up a blockade position outside St. Marks.

                        Confederate President Jefferson Davis recommended the promotion of Edmund Kirby Smith and William W. Loring, two prominent Floridians, to the rank of brigadier general in the Confederate army. 

1862                 Yellow fever broke out aboard Federal naval vessels in Key West, forcing several vessels to leave the harbor in search of safe refuge.

                        The 5th Florida Infantry Regiment  (about 1,500 men) departed Monticello today for service with Stonewall Jackson’s command.

1898                 Spanish soldiers resumed their attack on American soldiers at Malate in the Philippine Islands.

                        Arroyo and Guayama, Puerto Rico, were captured by American troops, who also occupied the town of Juan Diaz.

1899                 In St. Augustine, D.E. Thompson announced his purchase of The Daily Herald from Charles F. Hopkins and said it would be renamed on Sept. 1, 1899.

1900                 Frank T. Hobson, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, was born in Hagler, Alabama. 

1904                 Dredging started today on the deepwater channel for the Port of Miami.  Hundreds of workers were employed around the clock to complete this project.

1939                 Today is the birthdate of the Florida Highway Patrol.

1942                 Florida Caverns State Park at Marianna opened to the public today.

1962                 Governor Farris Bryant called the Florida Legislature into special session to devise a new reapportionment plan for the state.  This was in response to the Supreme Court decision in the case, Baker versus Carr, in 1962.  The Supreme Court ruled that federal courts could consider challenges to state apportionment plans.

1981                 Maria Marinello Korvick became the first Hispanic woman to serve as a circuit court judge in Florida when she assumed this office in Miami.  Korvick had entered the United States as a Cuban refugee in 1961.

1799                 A joint U.S.-Spanish survey of the U.S. southern border at the 31st parallel from the Mississippi River experienced a delay because of the heavy rains at its Chattahoochee River base camp. 

1864                 William Miller, the head of the Confederate Conscript Bureau in Alabama and Florida, was commissioned as a brigadier general today.  Miller had been seriously wounded while on duty with the 3rd Florida Infantry regiment.  He had also previously served with the 1st Florida Infantry Regiment.

                        The schooner, U.S.S. Stonewall, moved up the Manatee River and destroyed a sawmill, a gristmill, and a sugar mill that reportedly belonged to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.  No Federal casualties were reported.

1894                 The Suwannee Democrat begins publication.  The Democrat was the result of a merger between two pioneering newspapers in Live Oak.

1898                 Spain notified the United States that it would accept the American ultimatum to end the Spanish-American War.  Negotiations begin to finalize the terms of the peace accord.

                        General Garcia, leader of the Cuban forces, captured Mayuri.

                        American army units regarded as “immune” from Yellow Fever were ordered to Cuba for garrison duty.

1991                 STS 43 was launched from Cape Canaveral.

1763                 Spain transfers title to Florida to Britain in exchange for the return of the City of Havana, Cuba, which had been captured when Spain allied itself with France in the French and Indian War.  Britain controlled Florida from 1763 until 1783, when it again became a Spanish possession at the end of the American Revolution.

1862                 Commenting on the response of Florida men to calls for Confederate service, Governor John Milton informs General Edward A. Perry that some counties doe not have enough men left to have “a militia officer, Judge of Probate, Clerk or Sheriff.”  More than 15,000 Floridians served with state or national Confederate forces.

1864                 Troops of the 8th U.S. Colored Troops arrive in Palatka in time to save a 25-man detachment of Union 40th Massachusetts Cavalry.  Federal losses were three killed, and eight captured; Confederate losses, if any, were unknown.  Federal troops abandon Palatka.

1898                 American forces under the Command of General Brooke arrive at Arroyo, Puerto Rico.

1958                 First successful test of the 85-foot tall Atlas missile from Cape Canaveral.  The success of this test launch accelerates the American Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program. 

1842                 The Armed Occupation Act was passed by Congress.  Each settler who would settle and cultivate five acres or more of land in eastern and southern Florida for a period of five years would receive 160 acres of land and one year’s rations from the Federal government.  Settlers were expected also to provide militia service, if needed, to control the activities of the warring Seminole Indians.  This was the prelude to the official declaration of the end of the Second Seminole War on August 14, 1842.

1862                 The 6th and 7th Florida Infantry Regiments, the 1st Florida Cavalry, and the Marion Artillery were assigned to Davis’ 2nd Brigade of the Confederate Department of Tennessee and were stationed at Knoxville.

1864                 Federal General Birney’s Brigade from Florida, some 3,000 troops, arrive as reinforcements for Hilton Head, South Carolina.  Many of these troops were former slaves, who have been recruited into the U.S. Colored Infantry.

1898                 American generals commanding U.S. forces in Cuba petition the War Department to remove their soldiers from the island in order to prevent additional casualties from yellow fever. 

1944                 Ceremonies were held at the Underwater Demolition Training facility in Ft. Pierce to celebrate the 154th anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard.

1984                 The Cypriot freighter, Wellwood, rammed Molasses Reef, the only living coral reef in continental United States’ waters, and destroyed 19,000 square feet of living coral.  Stuck on the reef for 12 days, additional sections of the reef were destroyed when tugs worked to free her from her perch.

1845                 Benjamin Byrd took office as the first state treasurer for Florida.  His term lasted until William B. Hayward replaced him on January 8, 1848.

1861                 The Federal Ship Jamestown, operating off the coast near Fernandina, captured the Alvarado, the first reported capture of a blockade runner in Florida waters.  The residents of Amelia Island, who witnessed the capture, attempted to come to the aid of the stricken blockade runner.  The Union ship captain, fearing a rescue foray from the nearby shore, ordered the Alvarado burned.

1863                 Residents of Tallahassee had the opportunity to purchase civilian goods brought in by blockade runners at a public auction held by A. Hopkins and Company.  Among the lots offered for sale were 12,000 hooks and eyes, three dozen pocket knives, and 48 cases of toilet soap.

1898                 Reacting to the petitions of the American generals leading the invasion forces in Cuba, the War Department ordered all American soldiers who were “well” to withdraw to the United States.  The description “well” meant those not suffering from yellow fever.  Although Spain has accepted the American ultimatum to end the Spanish-American War, fighting continued as the diplomats from both nations negotiate the final settlement.  The war has lasted 3 months and 15 days so far.

1906                 The Everglades Land and Sugar Company sent a 40-man crew into the muck lands west of Dania to begin ditching operations in preparation for sugar planting.

1763                 Colonel Augustine Prevost of the British Army accepted possession of West Florida from the Spanish at Pensacola.

1827                 George Franklin Drew, twelfth governor of Florida [January 2, 1877-January 4, 1881] was born in Alton, New Hampshire.  After a short sojourn in Columbus, Georgia, Drew built a large saw mill at Ellaville in Madison County, Florida.  Drew’s election in 1877 was regarded as the “end of Reconstruction” in this state.  He died in Jacksonville on September 26, 1900.

1840                 Dr. Henry Perrine, an amateur botanist and resident of Indian Key, was killed by Seminoles.  His family were hiding in a root cellar under the house, and, although the house was set afire by the Indians, survived the attack.  At dawn, they left their hiding place and managed to put to sea in a small boat.  They were rescued by a schooner anchored close by.  A neighbor, Jacob Housman, also survived the attack.

1862                 The blockade runner Columbia arrived in Key West under guard by the U.S.S. Santiago de Cuba.  The Columbia’s cargo was all war materiel, including rifles, powder, cartridges, blankets, and cannons.  Although the ship’s master claims to be a British vessel, Federal naval authorities do not accept this as being true.

1863                 Alterations started on the British-built Oreto that would transform her into the Confederate gunboat Florida at Green Cay, Bahamas.  This action provided part of  the basis for a $15,000,000 claim against Great Britain by the United States at the end of the war.

1864                 The Federal gunboat Metacomet arrived in Pensacola with Confederate and Union wounded from fighting around Mobile.

1868                 Present State Seal of Florida authorized.*

1898                 American troops under the command of General William Shafter begin their evacuation of Santiago, Cuba.

1945                 Floridians, like other Americans, were shocked by the news that the United States had obliterated the Japanese city of Hiroshima with an atomic bomb on August 5.  Nevertheless, they expressed approval of President Harry Truman’s decision to drop the bomb.

1978                 Edward Durell Stone of New York, architect of the new Capitol Complex in Tallahassee, died on this date.  Stone was a controversial architect who also designed the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the United States’ Embassy in New Delhi, India, and the General Motors Building in New York.  He worked in cooperation with the Jacksonville firm of Reynolds, Smith and Hills.

1719                 The French Fort San Carlos (Pensacola) surrendered unconditionally to Spanish forces. 

1775                 The British sloop, Brigantine, was boarded by a party of 27 American rebels while at anchor in St. Augustine harbor.  More than 100 barrels of gunpowder were taken.

1840                 Survivors of the Seminole massacre at Indian Key were rescued.

1836                 Fort Drane (near Ocala) was evacuated by Captain Charles S. Merchant and his men because of sickness.  The evacuation of the fort meant a loss of 12,000 bushels of corn waiting to be harvested in nearby fields. 

1868                 George J. Alden assumed office as Florida Secretary of State, succeeding Benjamin F. Allen.

1891                 The City of San Antonio (Pasco County) was originally incorporated.  San Antonio is the site of Saint Leo College and Saint Leo Abbey.

1898                 Spanish forces garrisoned at Guayomo, Puerto Rico, were defeated in a skirmish with invading American troops.  American diplomats await the Spanish response to the terms of the surrender agreement that will end the war.

1863                 The U.S.S. Sagamore captured the English sloop, Clara Louisa, ten miles north of the Indian River.  Later that date, the Sagamore also captured the British schooners, Southern Rights and Shot.  Still later that day, the Sagamore captured the American schooner, Ann (off Gilbert’s Bar).  All the ships were suspected of trying to run the blockade at either the Indian River or Jupiter Inlet.

1896                 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Florida’s Pulitzer Prize winning author, was born on this date in Washington, D.C.  She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for her best-selling novel, The Yearling.  In 1946, it was made into a movie and has subsequently been remade into a television special.  Rawlings lived in Cross Creek, FL, where she wrote six novels, a volume of short stories, and a collection of essays.  Her work dealt with the vicissitudes faced by the hardy settler families on Florida’s frontier and the natural beauty of her adopted state.  She died on December 14, 1953.  (For more information about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, see Gordon E. Bigelow, Frontier Eden or Elizabeth Silverthorne, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  For a different look at Rawlings and Cross Creek, see J. T. Glisson, The Creek  [Gainesville:  University Press of Florida])

1898                 Spanish prisoners-of-war embark from Santiago, Cuba, for Spain.  In Washington, the U.S. government received Spain’s formal response to the American peace proposal.

1942                 Four German saboteurs who landed at Ponte Vedra Beach on June 17, 1942 were executed by the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C.  The four, along with a second group of four who landed on Long Island, were on a mission to sabotage defense plants, utility systems, and other installations.  (For more on the Florida landing, see Michael Gannon, Operation Drumbeat.)

1967                 Voters in Duval County and Jacksonville approved the consolidation of both units of government by a 2-1 margin.  Jacksonville thus became the largest city in Florida, according to acreage.

1968                 Richard Milhouse Nixon received the nomination of the Republic Party Convention on its first ballot.  This was the first ever national Republican Convention held in Miami Beach.

1989                 STS 28 was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral.

1565                 From the account of Pedro Menendez’s expedition to Florida in 1565 by Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, the chaplain to the expedition.  This account is taken from Charles E. Bennett, Laudonniere and Fort Caroline:  History and Documents (Gainesville:  University of Florida Press, 1964), p.  144.  [We will continue with portions of this account in the coming days and will simply cite it as Laudonniere and Fort Caroline.--moderator]

            “At noon, Thursday, August 9, we identified the island of San Juan de Puerto Rico and as night had fallen, our pilot ordered sails furled so that we would remain still among many banks surrounding the island and port....”

1841                 Colonel William Jennings Worth implements his policy of white resettlement in Florida when he provides assistance and protection to a band of 13 whites and eight slaves in a small settlement at Cedar Hammock.

1863                 The Florida Kilcrease Artillery, under Captain F.L. Villepique, left Tallahassee to take up a new duty station at Savannah.

1898                 General Nelson W. Miles informs the War Department that no more troops were needed in Puerto Rico and requests that no more be sent.

1908                 The Tampa Evening News, published by the Tampa Morning Tribune Company, ceased publication.

1971                 Robert Gray (18), announced his candidacy for a seat on the Tampa City Council.  He finished third in a four-person contest, 

1565                 “With an agreeable and clear day we arrived in at the port of Puerto Rico, Friday the day of the good-fortuned Saint Lawrence.  About three in the afternoon we entered and within the port we found our Capitana and its smaller companion ship that separated from us earlier.  The cries of joy from all sides were inexpressible, praising the Lord for bringing us together again.  At once the Captain and the Ensign joined us and we celebrated with them some preserves and other things I had brought.

                                    The Same day the Admiral [Menendez] and I went ashore and visited the General by whom we were warmly received.  Since I had not been requested for supper that night, the next day the General asked me to stay in a good house so that we could talk together; and I expressed my appreciation.  We were in port four days, three days of it pouring rain.

                        Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, Laudonniere and Fort Caroline.

1861                 The Third Florida Infantry was mustered into Confederate service today on Amelia Island. 

1862                 (This selection is taken from - “Rose Cottage Chronicles:  Civil War Letters of the Bryant-Stephens Family of North Florida”--edited by Arch Frederic Blakey, Ann Smith Lainhart, and Winston Bryant Stephens, Jr.  Published by the University Press of Florida [Available through The Print Shoppe at Alma Clyde Field Library of Florida History—ThePrintShoppe35@aol.com]--this collection of more than 800 letters offers an unusual look at service in the Confederate military and life on the home front.  Periodically we will quote from these letters and cite them simply as “Rose Cottage Chronicles.”--Nick Wynne, Moderator.)

[George Bryant to Davis Bryant]

                                                                        Rose Cottage Aug 10, 1862

My dear Brother.

            As Henry wrote Willie a short time ago, and told him about every thing, I think it is time for me to try and tell you something about what we do here in this part of the world.  This morning Henry, Willie Stephens, and I went to see if we couldn’t get a few gallons of Alligator oil; but we did not succeed in getting any; Henry shot at a fine fellow with Winston’s riffle, we do’nt know whether he hit him or not, but we think he did, we did not see any more of him.

            Henry and Willie have gone fishing...They took Taylor and the gun expecting to kill some squirrels, Henry has killed four out that way lately; Rosa is very fond of them, when she sees Henry bringing them she says, Henry got querrel...

            Sunday morning.  Henry and Willie got back yesterday a little while after sunset and brought fifty three fish, they were small but sweet.  They killed a very large fox as they were coming back;  he had quite a fight with Taylor after he fell.  Mr. Stephens went up to the Ocklawaha River and killed a fine bear; he has just sent us a piece.

            All send a great deal of love.

1864                 Confederate cavalry and a detachment of the 102nd U.S. Colored Infantry clashed near Baldwin (north Florida).  A section of railroad tracks was destroyed by the Federal troops.  This was part of a series of on-going clashes between the two armies.

1898                 U.S. General Lawton was appointed Military Governor of Cuba, while in Puerto Rico, the town of Coamo was captured by American troops. 

                        President William McKinley submitted a protocol to Spain outlining the terms upon which the United States was willing to end the Spanish-American War. 

1844                 John Branch was appointed the sixth territorial governor of Florida on this date by President John Tyler..  Branch was born in Halifax County, North Carolina on November 4, 1782.  He served as governor of North Carolina, and as a United States Senator from that state.  In addition, Branch also served as the Secretary of the Navy.  He was succeeded as governor by William Dunn Moseley, who became the first governor of the new state of Florida on June 25, 1845.  Branch died in Enfield, North Carolina, on January 3, 1863.

1862                 [Octavia Stephens to Winston Stephens]

                                                                                    Rose Cottage Aug 12, 1862

                        “...I am in the beef business this morning and my mind is pretty well stirred up, and I hardly know what to say, we got a beef weighing 315 lbs from Bright and will have to pay $18 for it.  Burrel and Tom drove this one here before killing it and I hope we will have good luck in saving it, the weather bids fair for it, as regards sunshine.  Burrel is going to put the hides in tan...”

                                                                                                “Rose Cottage Chronicles”

1898                 Spanish Cabinet accepts the American Peace Protocol to  end the Spanish-American War.  Only the formality of a similar signing by President William McKinley remained before the “Splendid Little War” was officially and finally over.

1900                 Infant mortality rate of 80% reported in one Seminole settlement in the Everglades.

1917                 Governor Sidney J. Catts appointed the first county officials for the newly created Okeechobee County (May 8, 1917).

1931                 Neptune Beach was created by voters in that city.

1953                 Terry Bollea was born in Augusta, Georgia, though he later moved to Tampa and then to Venice Beach, California. A big boy--he weighed 195 pounds by age 12--Bollea got even bigger working out in the gym, where he began taking steroids (a fact he later testified to in court). At age 23 he had his first professional wrestling match. By the 1980s, the 6'6", 295-pound Bollea was wrestling under the name of Hulk Hogan. As a "good-guy" and biggest name for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, he always admonished his legions of young fans--known as "Hulksters"--to say their prayers. By the mid-'90s, however, Hogan had changed personas and now wrestled as bad guy "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" on Turner Broadcasting's World Championship Wrestling, shown nationwide on WTBS. From August 1996 to August 1997, Hogan was WCW world champion. However long he stays active, and whether he wrestles as a good guy or a bad guy, the Augusta-born multi-millionaire will be remembered as one of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling.                         

1822                             Jackson County, Florida’s third county, was created on this date.  It was named for Andrew Jackson, Governor of Florida and President of the United States.

                                    Duval County, Florida’s fourth county , was created on this date.  The county was named for William Pope Duval (1784-1854), Territorial governor of Florida from 1822-1834.

1862                 The Federal steamer, R.R. Cuyler, arrived at Key West to begin its tour of duty with the East Gulf Blockading Squadron.

1863                 The U.S.S. Beauregard was on station at the Haul Over Canal, thirteen miles north of Cape Canaveral.  The U.S.S. Pursuit was stationed off the coast at Jupiter Inlet.  Confederate blockade-runners were suspected of using the Indian River area to land contraband cargoes.

1864                 Two Confederate cavalry companies, accompanied by an artillery battery, advanced today against the 102nd U.S. Colored troops who are destroying tracks.  Four men from the 75th Ohio were taken prisoner.  The Federals dispatched cavalry troops from Baldwin to drive the Confederate forces back.  Union losses were one killed and four captured.

1898                 The Spanish-American War ended officially today when President William B. McKinley signs the Peace Protocol and ordered a cessation of hostilities.  The war lasted 110 days.

1977                 The Enterprise was launched in 1977.  It was the first free flight of this space vehicle.

1862                 Confederate General Joseph Finegan issues a request for slave owners to make their slaves available for work on the fortifications at St. Marks. 

1864                 Union naval commanders were under tremendous pressure from insurance underwriters to capture or sink the Confederate raider C.S.S. Tallahassee, under the command of Commander John Taylor Wood.  The Tallahassee captured or destroyed nine vessels in two days.  Secretary Sumner Welles dispatched a flotilla of more than nine ships to hunt for this raider. 

1868                 C. Thurston Chase assumed office as Florida’s first Superintendent of Public Instruction.  He served until September 23, 1870, when he turned the office over to Henry Quarles.

1906                 Factory workers in Key West instituted a boycott of the streetcar system because of the three cents fare.  Workers also demanded transfer privileges.

1559                 First Spanish settlement in the present United States was established by Don Tristan de Luna Arellano.  De Luna’s party consisted of Dominican friars, soldiers, and settlers who built their settlement on the site of today’s Pensacola.  The settlement was abandoned after two years.

1861                 The Union blockader, Mohawk, which had been operating off the coast of St. Marks captured and scuttled a Confederate ship to close off the channel to further use.

1842                 Today Colonel William Jenkins Worth proclaimed the end of the Second Seminole War from his headquarters at Cedar Key.  Although Colonel Worth officially ended the war, the actual fighting slowly died out over the next few months.  [For more information, see John K. Mahon, History of the Second Seminole War 1835-1842 (Gainesville:  University Press of Florida, 1967 and 1985).]

1864                 Union General Alexander Sandor Asboth (an Austrian refugee and friend of Louis Kossuth) ordered his troops, about 1,400 men, to leave Pensacola and move across the Perdido River for operations near Mobile Bay.

1874                 Jonathan C. Gibbs, African-American politician, died on this date.  Gibbs was a delegate to the 1868 Constitutional Convention , Secretary of State (1868-1873), and Superintendent of Public Instruction (1873-1874).

1888                 Because of a yellow fever epidemic in Jacksonville, Fla., many

residents of that area fled by train to Atlanta. Fear that that the epidemic would spread to Atlanta led city officials to require that every incoming passenger train be inspected by a doctor. Fortunately, none of the refugees fleeing to Atlanta ever caught the disease

1945                 President Harry S Truman announced the surrender of Japan, thus ending World War II. Across the state, thousands of Floridians took to the streets  to celebrate V-J Day.

1963                 Ten Cuban refugees were taken to Key West by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter.  The ten were rescued from Anquilla Cay, Bahamas.

1565                 From the journal of Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, chaplain to the Menendez expedition:

            “On the fifth day, Wednesday, the fifteenth, the day of our Lady, we embarked at ten o’clock.  More than 30 men, including three of the seven priests who came, deserted and hid themselves in this settlement.  The could not be discovered, dead or alive, which made the General (Menendez) very angry.”

            “I was not less so because it made hard work for me.  I was offered a chaplaincy in this port, a peso of alms for each mass I might say, guaranteed for a year.  I did not accept because I did not want to be talked about as the others were; and also because it is a settlement where little advancement is probable; and I wanted to see if my work would be rewarded by the Lord in the journey which I felt would serve the Lord, and our Lady, His Blessed Mother.”

            “Men are wealthy there, in cattle.  There are men who own 20,000 and 30,000 cows, and as many mares worth 120 Spanish reales.  The mares are not worth more, for there is nothing in which they can be profitably used unless it be occasionally to draw loads or to produce colts.  As to the cattle, only their hides are profitable for they do not  do work and have no value for anything else.  A hide is valued at 11 or 12 local reales.  They tried to persuade me to remain but it cost Lord Valverde, and I, 8 reales there for a half gallon of wine, not very good either.  We stocked up with a few delicacies for the voyage, jerked beef and oranges, limes and potatoes and sugar cane.  We got a dozen beef tongues with some dried loins.  We did this because by the time we arrived there we knew the hungers we suffered at sea.”

                              Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, Laudonniere and Fort Caroline.

1842                 The monument to soldiers who died in the Seminole Wars was unveiled in St. Augustine.

1864                 The Florida 2nd and 5th Cavalry Battalions were engaged by Federal troops in the Battle of Gainesville, which will last until August 19. 

1934                 The first Florida Emergency Relief Administration camp for unemployed women opened on Anastasia Island (St. Augustine).  This Federal sponsored camp was the first in the South and was part of the New Deal Program of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

1862                 [Willie Bryant to Davis Bryant]

                                                            Camp near Chattanooga, Aug 16, 1862

Dear Davis

            I have written you but one letter since arriving here 4 weeks ago, waiting in the vain hope of something interesting turning up; but even now find myself in want of it.  We are still at our old camp ground, tho’ thousands of others have been moved, and in readiness to move on short notice, with as little definite knowledge and prospect as; the waggon trains from Tupelo for which we are told we are waiting before advancing, have not yet arrived; our brigade at present only compromising the 3d. and 4th Fla. have been assigned to Maj. Genl. Saml. Jones division, who is somewhere, but at present we are under the orders of Genl. Hardee at Chatanooga....

            I spent nearly a day at Look Out Mountain this week and tho a very fatiguing trip on foot, enjoyed it and got a good dinner too...It is pretty hard getting along on Flour w meals of rice sometimes, and reduced rations of bad meat, but we still make out; when we move again we give up our tents and all but a very few cooking utensils...I shall write you once in awhile, and all of interest when I can and occasionally shall expect a letter from  you---Goodbye for now!

                                                                                                “Rose Cottage Chronicles”

1863                 The  U.S.S. DeSoto captured the Confederate ship Alice Vivian in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Vivian’s cargo was cotton bound for European markets. 

1864                 The U.S.S. Honeysuckle returned to Key West today.  The Honeysuckle was on station along the Indian River Inlet.  The bark, James L. Davis, has been dispatched to take up this station.  Until the Davis arrives on station this area has no blockade enforcers on duty.

1878                 First post office established in the community of “Sara Sota.”

1882                 First two-and-one-half mile railroad bridge completed across Escambia Bay.

1898                 The order was given to evacuate Key West because of a possible outbreak of yellow fever.  All military personnel were ordered out of the city, including the wounded in Convent Hospital. 

1947                 Jacksonville Art Museum originally founded as the Jacksonville Arts Club.

1565                 From the Diary of Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, Chaplain to Pedro Menendez’s expedition to Florida...

                        “At four o’clock in the afternoon of Friday, August 17, we came in view of the island of Santo Domingo.  The General [Menendez], putting himself in the mercy of God, directed the Admiral’s ship to take the Northern course and put into the mouth of a very dangerous channel which up to then had never been navigated.  Although the Admiral and all of us were apprehensive, we must do the General’s bidding.  When we entered, the angry sea and heavy waves seemed ready to consume us.  The Admiral ordered that I give comfort to the soldiers with prayers and counseling.  All that night was dreadful.”

                              Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, Laudonniere and Fort Caroline.

1862                 The 7th New Hampshire Volunteers (Union) has been transferred to St. Augustine to relieve the 4th New Hampshire, which will be stationed at Hilton Head, SC.

1863                 The U.S.S. DeSoto captured the Confederate steamer, Nita, in the Gulf of Mexico. 

1864                 Union forces were decisively defeated at Gainesville by Confederate cavalry troops under the command of Major J.J. Dickison.  The Federal forces lost 28 killed, five wounded, and 200 taken prisoner.  The Confederate loss was one killed and five wounded.

                        The 17th Connecticut Infantry, under the command of Colonel William H. Noble, occupied the country near Starke.  The 17th camped at Shake Rug Corner, near the Bellamy Road, that night.

1874                 Samuel B. McLin, Florida Secretary of State, assumed the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on a temporary basis, succeeding Jonathan C. Gibbs.

1898                 Embarkation of African-American troops from Tampa to New York following the end of the Spanish-American War.

1565                 From the Diary of Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, Chaplain to Pedro Menendez’s expedition to Florida...

                        “At dawn on Saturday morning, the 18th, we were reassured.  As we proceeded, we found banks in the middle of the sea, where waves broke.  The pilots made their soundings, studying the depths required for navigation.  In places we found 4 fathoms and in other places less.  About two hours before sunset we saw the landmarks of a low uninhabitable island, Aguana.  God was pleased to allow us to take the banks and the island by day, so we could guard against danger.  It was certainly daylight by permission of our Master and His Blessed Mother.  If it had been night we could not have failed being dashed to pieces on them.  The danger seen, since none of the pilots knew this area, they agreed to lower sails and heave to by the island so that we would not be lost traveling at night.”

                              Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, Laudonniere and Fort Caroline.

1821                 The Floridian, Pensacola’s first newspaper, was established. 

1864                 Colonel William H. Noble, commanding the 17th Connecticut Infantry (U.S.), ordered some 4,000 pounds of cotton to be burned at the McCrae Plantation near Starke.  Skirmishes between Confederate cavalry and Federal troops between Gainesville and Starke continued.

1863                 Armed boats from the U.S.S. Norwich and the U.S.S. Hale attacked two Confederate signal stations on the St. Johns River.  One signal station, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A. H. McCormick, was taken.  Five Confederate soldiers were captured, along with a trove of equipment.  A sudden rain storm prevented the capture of the second station.

1864                 An excerpt from the civil war diary of Hiram Smith Williams, who settled in Rockledge in 1872 and who served two terms as a state senator in the 1880s.  Williams was a member of the 40th Alabama Regiment and was a combat engineer during the Atlanta Campaign.

            “Our operations since the last record have been along our lines to East Point, the junction of the W[est] P[oint] and Atlanta and Macon road.  In the meantime we have lived well.  Blackberries plenty.  Bought a bushel of wheat and had it ground into flour this getting 32 lbs. for ten dollars.  Also have had any amount of green corn.  Have been blockading roads in the front to our left, where we found plenty of good foraging.  We are now at East P[oin]t where we have been building forts and fortifying generally.  Got my baggage all safe except a few trifling articles the other day.  For which, I was very truly thankful, as I had not change of clothing since they’ve been gone.  This afternoon we received orders to go in the front of our left wing.  Had rather dangerous times.  We were only separated from the enemy’s advance line of skirmishers by one field.”

            Lewis N. Wynne and Robert A. Taylor (Editors), This War So Horrible:  The Civil War Diary of Hiram Smith Williams (Tuscaloosa:  University of Alabama Press)

1868                 Simon B. Conover assumed the office of Treasurer of the State of Florida.  Conover held the office until Charles H. Foster succeeded him on January 16, 1873.

1977                 Construction of Florida’s present Capitol was declared completed on this day.  The building was opened officially on March 31, 1978, by Governor Reubin O’D. Askew.  The cost of the building was $43,070,741.  The building has 22 stories above ground and three below.  The 22nd floor contains a public viewing platform.  Construction of t