United States History Commons^™

Cracker-Spanish Florida Style, James A. Lewis

Florida Historical Quarterly

Over the years the regional diversity of the United States has coined scores of colorful words to describe groups of people perceived to have something in common. On occasion, these words, often pejorative in connotation, have worked their way into other languages, a classic example being the term Yankee. One of the more expressive regional terms to find its way into a foreign language has been the word cracker, defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as a “contemptuous name in [the] Southern States of N. America [applied] to the ‘poor whites’: Whence familiarly, to the native whites of Georgia and …

Military Duty In Antebellum Florida: The Experiences Of John Henry Winder, Arch Fredric Blakey

Florida Historical Quarterly

Two Catholic priests escorted and partially carried a dying man to the gallows at the Old Capital Prison in Washington, D.C. The condemned man was Heinrich Hartmann Wirz. Branded by his executioners as the “beast of Andersonville prison,” he was hanged on November 10, 1865. He had been found guilty of conspiring to murder Union prisoners and was executed as a war criminal, the only such casualty of the Civil War.

Plantation Development In British East Florida: A Case Study Of The Earl Of Egmont, Daniel L. Schafer

Florida Historical Quarterly

Over dinners at their country estates and at the stylish Shakespeare Head tavern in London, British aristocrats talked excitedly in 1763 about the prospects of acquiring huge tracts of land in East Florida, a recent prize of the Seven Years War. “We are all East Florida mad,” one potential investor said, describing a “land fever” that prompted his kinsman to abandon prudent caution so as “not to miss a vast future prospect.“ Another aristocrat described the activities of his friends as “a little confused, . . . but you can make allowance for gentlemen settling a Colony over a Bottle …

Francis's Metallic Lifeboats And The Third Seminole War, George E. Buker

Florida Historical Quarterly

Because Joseph Francis was a good, persistent salesman and General Thomas S. Jesup was knowledgeable about Florida and its Seminole Indians, the United States Army became interested in metallic lifeboats. By December 20, 1855, when Chief Billy Bowlegs’s warriors attacked Lieutenant George Hartsuff’s men in the Big Cypress Swamp, some of Francis’s metallic lifeboats already were in Florida waters. Thus, during the Third Seminole War, the army, for the first time, used metal boats in combat operations.

Title Page, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Title page for Volume 63, Number 2. Includes the Table of Contents

History News, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Pizarro Conference, Florida History Fair, National Register of Historic Places, Grants, Awards and Recognition, Announcements and Activities

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

THE OLDEST CITY, edited by Jean Parker Waterbury, reviewed by Eugene Lyon; SPANISH ST. AUGUSTINE: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF A COLONIAL CREOLE COMMUNITY, By Kathleen Deagan, reviewed by John S. Otto; FORT LAUDERDALE AND BROWARD COUNTY, by Stuart B. McIver, reviewed by Thelma Peters; EDGE OF WILDERNESS: A SETTLEMENT HISTORY OF MANATEE RIVER AND SARASOTA BAY, by Janet Snyder Matthews, reviewed by Steven F. Lawson; THE PLOT TO STEAL FLORIDA: JAMES MADISON’S PHONY WAR, by Joseph Burkholder Smith, reviewed by J. Leitch Wright, Jr.; DOGS OF THE CONQUEST, by John Grier Varner and Jeanette Johnson Varner, reviewed by Amy Turner Bushnell; …

Florida History In Periodicals, 1983, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

This selected bibliography includes scholarly articles in the fields of Florida history, archeology, geography, and anthropology published in state, regional, and national periodicals in 1983. Articles, notes, and documents which have appeared in the Florida Historical Quarterly are NOT included in this listing since they appear in the annual index of each volume. The present listing also includes articles appearing in journals not published on schedule and which were not included in the list published in the July 1983 issue of the Quarterly.

General Joseph B. Wall And Lynch Law In Tampa, Robert P. Ingalls

Florida Historical Quarterly

On Monday morning, March 6, 1882, the news spread quickly through Tampa, a normally sleepy community of some 1,000 people. During the previous night a man had broken into the home of a prominent family living just outside town. After stealing several small items, the intruder had assaulted a young woman of the family. According to subsequent press reports, the attacker had fled before actually raping the victim, but clues to his identity, including a knife left at the scene, put Sheriff D. Isaac Craft and a posse on his trail the following morning. With Tampans gripped by feelings of …

Florida's Cattle-Ranching Frontier: Hillsborough County (1860), John Solomon Otto

Florida Historical Quarterly

In 1860, the southern edge of settlement— which delimited the “settled” areas with more than two persons per square mile from the “frontier” areas with fewer than two inhabitants per square mile— stood in central Florida. With the exception of a settled enclave about eastern Tampa Bay, the southern half of the Florida peninsula was a true frontier. It was the largest remaining frontier east of the Mississippi River. By 1860, the bulk of the south Florida frontier fell within the boundaries of five counties— Hillsborough, Manatee, Monroe, Brevard, and Dade whose total population was only 7,077.

Miami's Metropolitan Government: Retrospect And Prospect, Raymond A. Mohl

Florida Historical Quarterly

In the past several years, the Miami metropolitan area has experienced fast-paced, almost frantic, urban change. The Liberty City and Overtown race riots of 1980 and 1982, Haitian-Cuban refugee problems, high rates of violent crime and murder, and a lucrative drug smuggling trade have all kept Miami in the national news. A new and dynamic urban economy based on international banking, foreign investment, and a prosperous Latin American-Caribbean trade has insulated Miami from the national economic recession. Indeed, during the past decade, Miami has been transformed into the trade and cultural capital of the Caribbean basin. New skyscraper construction in …

"Laying The Sins Of The L & N At Mr. Blount's Feet": William Alexander Blount's U. S. Senatorial Campaign, 1910-1911, George F. Pearce

Florida Historical Quarterly

William Alexander Blount achieved many milestones during his illustrious career as an attorney in Pensacola, Florida. He began practicing law soon after receiving his degree from the University of Georgia in 1873. His exceptional legal mind, strong dedication to his work, and impeccable character soon won him a statewide reputation in the legal profession and attracted a large clientele. Among his corporate retainers was the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). In 1909, after thirty-five years of practicing law, Blount opted for a chance at a political career and announced himself as a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. In …

Title Page, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Title page for Volume 63, Number 1. Includes the Table of Contents

Index To Volumne Lxii, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Director's Meeting, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Minutes of the Directors' Meeting, Florida Historical Society

History News, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

The Annual Meeting, Florida Historical Confederation, Society of Florida Archivists, Gulf Coast History and Humanities Conference, Military History Conference, Preservation Day, Tampa Bay History Essay Contest, Historical Museum, Timucua, Announcements and Activities, Obituaries

Florida Manuscript Acquisitions And Accessions, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

The following are recent manuscript acquisitions and accessions as reported by Florida universities, colleges, public libraries, and other institutions. Those interested in using particular collections should correspond with the library or archives in question.

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

BECALMED IN THE MULLET LATITUDES, AL BURT’S FLORIDA, by Al Burt, reviewed by E. W. Carswell; FROM SCRATCH PADS AND DREAMS: A TEN YEAR HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA, by Daniel L. Schafer, reviewed by James P. Jones; THE PAPERS OF HENRY CLAY, VOLUME 7, SECRETARY OF STATE, JANUARY 1, 1828-MARCH 4, 1829, edited by Robert Seager II, reviewed by Edwin A. Miles; LIBERTY AND SLAVERY: SOUTHERN POLITICS TO 1860, by William J. Cooper, Jr., reviewed by F. N. Boney; THE RULING RACE, A HISTORY OF AMERICAN SLAVEHOLDERS, by James Oakes, reviewed by Julia Floyd Smith; BLACK SOUTHERNERS, …

North Florida And The Great Storm Of 1873, Mary Louise Ellis

Florida Historical Quarterly

The autumn of 1873 seemed full of promise for the people of north and central Florida. Luck and the weather, two critical elements of life for an area dependent on farming, were favorable so far. The cotton bolls were ripening on schedule, and high yields were predicted. Farmers paid close attention to the weather, and hoped that the frequent thunder showers would not threaten their prospects of making a good crop. As the summer faded, first luck, then the weather, changed— and the changes dealt a ruinous blow to an agricultural region still mired in the hard times of Reconstruction.

From Orange To Green "Gold": The Roots Of The Asparagus Fern Industry In Florida, Robert D. Manning

Florida Historical Quarterly

Central Florida was a sparsely settled frontier at the end of Reconstruction. In the 1870s and 1880s, however, an influx of pioneers transformed this wilderness into a loose network of settlements. These early communities were linked by the steamships that navigated the St. Johns and Oklawaha rivers down through the chain-of-lakes— Lake Griffin, Haines Creek, Lake Eustis, Dead River, and Lake Harris.1 This river freight route, which ran from Jacksonville to Yalaha, soon became obsolete with the expansion of the railroad in the 1870s; regional development was no longer restricted by geographic proximity to navigable bodies of water. The increasing …

Changing Face Of Jacksonville, Florida: 1900-1910, James B. Crooks

Florida Historical Quarterly

Compelled by a devastating fire, May 3, 1901, that laid waste to most of downtown, Jacksonville not only rebuilt, but changed notably in other ways during the first decade of the twentieth century. Its population more than doubled. New or expanding suburbs, skyscrapers, hotels, theaters, automobiles, streetcar lines, parks, and city services reflected urban development. Substantial economic growth took place in banking, trade, and transportation. Public and private efforts to provide health, education, and human services increased. In addition, the community’s popular culture became more diversified.

The Chicora Legend And Franco-Spanish Rivalry In La Florida, Paul E. Hoffman

Florida Historical Quarterly

With the first light of Monday, June 24, 1521, Pedro de Quexo and Francisco Gordillo discovered a new land which they named the Land of St. John the Baptist in honor of the saint whose feast day it was. Entering a river, later called the Jordan for the same reason, they established contact with a village or native group called “Chicora.“ Thus began the Chicora Legend, a legend that ultimately described the land of Chicora as a new Andalusia, a land abounding in timber, vines, native olive trees, Indians, pearls, and, at a distance inland, perhaps gold and silver. Flowing …

Title Page, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Title page for Volume 62, Number 4. Includes the Table of Contents

Wagon Tracks Volume 36, Issue 1 (November 2021)

Wagon Tracks

Contents

2 On the Cover: East Meets West, by Cally Krallman

4 Insights from your President

5 Joanne’s Jottings

2, 6-9, 13, 19 Trail News

10-12 Remembering Faye Gaines

14 Faces at the Symposium By Dotti Russell

15-20 A Million Ways to Die in the West: Three Pandemics by John F. Steinle

21-28 Santa Fe Trail Association Hall of Fame Inductees

29-35 Chapter Reports

33 Membership Form

36 Calendar

History News, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Historical American Building Survey, Society of Florida Archivists, Announcements and Activities

Florida History Research In Progress, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

This list shows the amount and variety of Florida history research and writing currently underway, as reported to the Florida Historical Quarterly. Doctoral dissertations and masters’ theses completed in 1983 are included. Research in Florida history, sociology, anthropology, political science, archeology, geography, and urban studies is listed.

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

SELECTED LETTERS OF MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS, edited by Gordon E. Bigelow and Laura V. Monti, reviewed by Jim Haskins; THE SEMINOLE WORLD OF TOMMY TIGER, by Harry A. Kersey, Jr. and Voncile Mallory, FOREST IN THE SAND, by Marjory Bartlett Sanger with drawings by D. D. Tyler, reviewed by John Cech; LASALLE AND HIS LEGACY, FRENCHMEN AND INDIANS IN THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, edited by Patricia K. Galloway, reviewed by Michael G. Schene; LETTERS OF DELEGATES TO CONGRESS, 1774-1789, VOLUME 9, FEBRUARY 1-MAY 31, 1778, edited by Paul H. Smith, Gerard W. Gawalt, Rosemary Fry Plakas, and Eugene R. Sheridan, …

Murders At Kiss-Me-Quick: The Underside Of International Affairs, Jerrell H. Shofner

Florida Historical Quarterly

The last weekend of November 1932 was exceptionally cold and unexceptionally dull at Cedar Key until flames began shooting from the city jail about four o’clock on Monday morning. The fire was the final act of one of the most senseless and brutal murders ever committed by a Florida law enforcement official and the beginning of an international dispute which enabled Mussolini’s fascist government to chastise the United States for its violation of civil rights and human decency.

Diary Of Kena Fries, Jean Yothers

Florida Historical Quarterly

In 1870, a few Swedes led by Dr. William A. Henschen and his brother Esaias settled on Henry S. Sanford’s lands lying on the south shore of Lake Monroe. Other Swedes were not long in following them to central Florida. Sanford, in need of labor for the development of his new town and the care of his groves, employed Henschen as his agent to return to Sweden to recruit immigrants. In May 1871, Henschen returned with the first of two groups of Swedes. Many of their countrymen, hearing of the Swedish colony at New Uppsala near Sanford, came and established …

"The Little Affair": The Southwest Florida Campaign, 1863-1864, Rodney E. Dillon, Jr.

Florida Historical Quarterly

The southern half of Florida played a unique and significant, if often underrated, role in the Civil War. The Federal occupation of the Charlotte Harbor-Caloosahatchee River area in late 1863 and early 1864, though a small-scale operation compared to military activities elsewhere in the country, proved to be one of the most important campaigns in the region. Taking place between the Union stronghold in the Keys and Confederate possessions at Tampa and points north, this campaign highlighted many elements characteristic of the struggle in south Florida. Despite the isolation of the area, and the small number of men involved, it …