Cassadaga: Florida’s Oldest Spiritual Community in the South

When walking through this quaint Victorian town of Cassadaga, it’s difficult to not admire its historic wood-framed vernacular buildings and its old streets lined with century-old oak trees. Cassadaga is located in the pristine “lake and hill” country of Central Florida in Volusia County. Many of its Victorian dwellings date to Cassadaga’s inception in 1894, when George P. Colby donated thirty-five acres to the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association. In 1991, Cassadaga was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1875, George P. Colby, instructed by his Indian spirit guide Seneca, was advised to head south to establish a community where thousands of believers could assemble. Colby set off to Florida traveling south on the Saint Johns River, arriving at Blue Springs, Florida located in Volusia County. The following morning Colby, in a trance-like state, was led by his spirit guide through uncharted woods where the spiritualist community would later be settled. Seneca had prophesied a utopian land of lakes and bluffs during a séance in Lake Mills, Iowa. It was the seventy-five acre tract of land, for which Colby would later file a homestead claim in 1880, that would become home to southern Spiritualists. At the time, Florida was hardly much more than a frontier swamp land with old overgrown military roads from the previous Seminole Indian Wars that were still barely passable. Seeking a warmer location in Florida would not only be a bit daunting due to its flora, but also because of its southern religious conservatism.

“Spiritualists who found themselves ‘marginalized’ in their native north might have expected to harmonize even less with southern religious culture, which was dominated by Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism,” wrote John J. Guthrie in his chapter entitled “Seeking the Sweet Spirit of Harmony” from Cassadaga: The South's Oldest Spiritualist Community. Guthrie continues, “Yet despite their unorthodox faith, they [the Spiritualists] were steeped in a set of Protestant American traditions that ranged from capitalism to republicanism.” On January 29, 1893, Harrison Barrett, the future president of the National Spiritual Association of Lily Dale, New York, announced a meeting in DeLeon Springs, Florida. Thus, in February of 1893, a crowd of almost 600 people gathered for the Sunday meeting in DeLeon Springs.

Many came solely for the peculiarity of the event, wondering what Spiritualism entailed. In fact, Guthrie noted that even “a correspondent for The Record, went to investigate the authenticity of Dr. W.S. Rowley, a ‘spirit telegrapher’ from Cleveland. Using an ordinary battery with a Morse Key sounder, Rowley gave one of the ‘most remarkable demonstrations ever witnessed in a public assembly.’ According to the journalist, unseen operators ticked off long messages from the spirit world without Rowley’s hands ever touching the keys.” Speeches were given by George Colby himself, as well as many others, including A.B. Clyde, “the great silver-tongued orator from Ohio.”

Interest and serious settlement in sunny Florida did not abate. The Spiritualist Association was appointed by a commission to select a central terminal for the new winter camp. Cities such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs and St Augustine where investigated by representatives. Civic leaders in DeLeon Springs had offered the Spiritualists the same tolerance, twenty-five acres of land, and a two-hundred-room brick hotel, so that they would locate the spiritualist camp within the city limits. Only after all possible options were considered, did George Colby suggest that the committee visit his property. Two women, mediums Emma J. Huff and Marion Skidmere, were the only ones who accepted Colby’s invitation to visit his site in Florida. Both women were responsible for founding the Lily Dale Spiritualist congregation in New York. It must be noted that “Spiritualism,” a term coined by Horace Greeley, would offer women a distinguished opportunity to “acquire a public position in religious life.” In fact, the majority of mediums of the 19th Century were women, and women still dominate the field. The two female mediums, Huff and Skidmere would also play a crucial role in founding Cassadaga. Colby’s site made a great impression on them and in March of 1894, it was chosen by the committee. The winter camp in Florida would be named Cassadaga (a Seneca word meaning "Water beneath the rocks") in honor of its sister camp in Cassadaga, New York.

In order to fully understand Spiritualism’s beginnings, we must understand the changes that occurred during the antebellum period of United States. The catalyst behind Mormonism was started in the 1820’s by Joseph Smith who claimed special contact with the spiritual realm and gathered followers who considered him a prophet. There was the establishment of John Humphreys’ ‘free love ideology’ and community at Oneida, and William Miller’s prophecies of the end of the world in 1843. New sciences of memorization and phrenology were the proponents of modern spiritualism. In 1849, the Fox sisters claimed to have summoned spirits which attracted attention from Quakers and other seeking reconnection with their dead loved ones. Eventually they were inundated with the likes of P.T. Barnum, who cordially invited them to display their mediumship at his hotel during the summer of 1850. Horace Greely endorsed the Fox sisters and wrote about their rappings (telegraphic communication with the dead) in his newspaper.

However, with great sensationalized national attention would later result in mere controversy. In 1888, Margret Fox (of the Fox sisters) would later confess that the strange rappings heard in early séances had been a hoax. However, she withdrew her statement the following year. The reputations of the sisters were ruined and within five years, all three Fox sisters were dead. Historian Ann Braud purported that “once mediumship demonstrated a potential for monetary gain, ‘fraudulent mediums imposed themselves on the public, and some indeed profited from deception.’”Bret E. Carroll in his A Historic Overview of American Spiritualism claimed, “Within a short time, such literary luminaries as James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Harriet Beecher Stowe were investigating séances.”

During the late 1840’s, a shoemaker by the name of Andrew Jackson Davis was used as a subject in a hypnosis experiment for William Levingston, an early predecessor of hypnosis. While in a trance, Davis began recounting clairvoyant visions and unconventional medical remedies. Davis and Levingston began traveling together garnering a large following all over New England. By 1844, Davis was claiming wisdom from the spirits such as the ancient physician Galen and the 18th Century Swedish scientist, turned mystic, named Emanuel Swedenborg.

Spiritualism owes some of its influence to French Socialist Charles Fourier, who suggested that social and spiritual harmony could be obtained through reorganizing human society into small commonalities based on natural laws of attraction. In the United States during the 1840’s and 50’s, followers formed phalanxes applying his principals, though most would be short lived communities.

Today, local mediums own the buildings at Cassadaga, but the land is owned by the Association managed by a board of directors. Lease agreements were arranged in 1895 to insure the town’s building integrity. One can make appointments with more than two dozen different Reiki doctors, mediums, psychics and spiritual healers whose phone numbers are available at the Camp Bookstore (Andrew Jackson Davis Educational Building circa 1905). At Cassadaga, one can also make reservation for the Encounter Sprits Tour or the Nighttime Orb Photography Tour. Make sure you bring your digital camera for the latter event. Candle light healing services take place on the second Friday of each month at the Colby Memorial Temple, or one can attend a Sunday service that recognizes all religious sectors.

The town is filled with historic framed vernacular and stick-styled homes that radiate energy, and you will see many psychics sitting on their front porches drinking lemonade and sipping herbal tea. Some of the historical landmarks in the town include Brigham Hall built by Fred Brigham in 1897, Harmony Hall circa 1897, a frame vernacular building once used as a boarding home, and George Colby’s home built in 1895, which is of a gothic style, also donning a distinct crossed gabled roof.

There are a plethora of historic homes on the northeast side of Cassadaga that were built around 1895-1899. Most of Cassadaga’s architecture is located within the community, and dates from about 1895-1927. All residences are occupied by working mediums or psychics. One mile to the north of the city in Lake Helen, you will find a beautiful array of homes boasting the following architectural styles: Queen Anne Victorian, Colonial Revival, Folk Victorian and stick style. Many of these homes date back to the early 1880’s.

Landmarks and private historic homes in Lake Helen/Cassadaga
Anne Steven’s House/Clauser's Bed & Breakfast circa 1895
Harmony Hall (1150 Stevens St.) circa 1897
Brigham Hall (1145 Stevens St.) circa 1897
S.J. Andrews House (306 N. Lakeview Ave.) circa 1888
John Mills House (294 N. Lakeview Ave.) circa 1885
Clinton Gunby House (272 W. New York Ave.) circa 1885
Frank and Edwin Stoops/McGill House (340 W. New York Ave.) circa 1896
John Porter Mace House (214 S. Euclid Ave.) circa 1886
Ellis Blake House (186 S. Euclid Ave.) circa 1894
Idylwild Cottage (225 W. Garden St.) circa 1887
First Congregational (Church 107 S. Euclid Ave.) circa 1889
Blake Memorial Baptist Church (134 N. Euclid Ave.) circa 1894
Gould House (176 N. Euclid Ave.) circa 1888
Franklin Nettleton House (212 N. Euclid Ave.) circa 1894
Willard Hopkins House (226 N. Euclid Ave.) circa 1890
Thaniel Snover (N. Euclid Ave.) House circa 1893
Hopkins Hall (192 W. Connecticut Ave.) circa 1897
Residence (212 S. Lakeview Ave.) circa 1888


Bibliography
Lake Helen and Historical Trails, by Steve Rajtar and John Stephen Hess (1999)
Cassadaga The South’s Oldest Spiritualist Community, by John J. Guthrie, Jr., Phillip Charles Lucas, & Gary Monroe, Inc.(University Press of Florida 2000)

Hauntings at the Old Polk County Courthouse

Many hauntings tend to be associated with human tragedy; although, this isn’t always the case. However, the Old County Courthouse has had its share of tragedy. There is said to be possibly six entities haunting the old Polk County courthouse, but in order for us to understand the paranormal activities that have occurred here, we must first indulge in the courthouse’s rich history.

At first sight, you probably would not imagine this beautiful majestic courthouse to have spirits roaming its hallways. With its spectacular grand facade and gleaming tower, the idea could make one apprehensive to even conclude that it may be haunted, let alone by six ghosts. My intentions are not to convince the reader of such; instead, I would like to invite you to judge for yourself, based on the history that this courthouse has experienced throughout the years.

The City of Bartow is located just 39 miles east of Tampa and 50 miles southwest of the greater Orlando area. Bartow was originally established in 1851 and is also known as the “City of Oaks and Azaleas.” Bartow can trace its roots to Fort Blount and Reidsville when the city was later renamed Bartow in 1862 in honor of Francis Bartow, the first Confederate brigade general to die in combat during the American Civil War.

Three courthouses have stood on the same square, bounded by East Main and Davidson Streets, Broadway and Central Avenue. On June 15, 1867 the county commissioners awarded the contract for construction of its first courthouse to John McAuley of Fort Meade for a sum of $3,800. A second structure was erected in 1883-4, built by J. H. Thompson, at a cost of $9,000. The present building, erected in 1908-9, was designed in the Classical Revival style by E. C. Hosford, and built by Mutual Construction Company of Louisville, KY at a cost of $83,900. This courthouse is still in use as a museum and historical library.

Our first investigation involves an event in the town’s history that occurred all the way back in 1886.

Who were the Mann brothers?

By 1885, there was not a single saloon in Polk County; however, with a multitude of new settlers from the North where prohibition was not as popular, the majority of registered voters from Lakeland, Bartow and Fort Meade now agreed to have seven saloons established in the area. One of those saloons opened in Bartow in 1885 by Johnson, Daniels & Co., yet before this occurred, the proprietors employed Dan and Lony Mann to gather up enough signatures for the pro-saloon petition in exchange for a share of the profits. However, things would not proceed as simply as that. (See Canter Brown Jr.'s Florida's Peace River Frontier)

Dan Mann had a propensity for alcohol, a hotheaded temper and had fled town after a knife fight with his brother-in-law, nearly killing him. On May 15, 1886 the two brothers, who owned a 20 acre orange grove in Winter Haven, returned to collect their dues, only to be refused payment by the saloon proprietors. The Mann’s had threatened the saloon keeper and angrily dispatched off to the local store and purchased a package of .32-calibre cartridges for their guns. The men then went back to the saloon to take things into their own hands. The town Marshal, W.S. Campbell, was summoned to stop the odiously tempered men and to arrest them. While the two men resisted, “Happy Jack” McCormick, a night watchmen, dashed at Dan’s buggy to seize it. In a heat of rage, Lony pulled out his pistol and shot Jack McCormick in the left ear nearly killing him. Marshal Campbell was not so fortunate: Dan had shot him in the heart, killing him instantly. The Mann brothers fled.

Sheriff R.P. Kilpatrick summoned a posse of men to capture them. Meanwhile, a half mile out of town, the Mann’s buggy hit a tree stump, overturned, and as a result, the crash seriously injured one of the brothers. They were later spotted by T.S. Hull who held them until the posse arrived and returned the men to Bartow to await their punishment.

Crowds gathered around the 1883 courthouse, vociferating and screaming “Lynch them. Kill them.” Cantor Brown states in his Florida’s Peace River Frontier, that “crowds grew more violent when the Marshal’s wife and young children were brought to view ‘the [Marshal’s] dead corpse lying in the street.’”

The Sheriff was notified that the Mann’s would be lynched by the angry crowd-- a mob of two-hundred embarked for the city jail. Within hours, the Mann’s were transported to a nearby oak tree on Main Street located in front of the old 1883 courthouse. The angry mob began to string up Dan when Lony suddenly attempted to escape but was subsequently gunned down, hung and displayed in front of the courthouse. Allegedly, the bodies were later hung from the second story inside the old courthouse for several days.

Today, in the rotunda area of the courthouse, the staff and some visitors have reported feelings of despair as well as strange cold spots. Apparitions of two men roaming about the courthouse are believed to be the Mann brothers.

Another incident occurred in the basement boiler room when an explosion took the life of a male operative who was working in one of the four rooms. Many employees and museum visitors have reported unearthly and agonizing screams, but much to their dismay, there have been no explanation as to the source of these activities. Some suspect it’s a residual haunting of the unfortunate man’s disembodied spirit reliving his tragic demise in the explosion.

On the first floor in the criminal courtroom, many have experienced unexplained cold spots, although, it is inconceivable to identify any supernatural beings who might occupy this room. Many criminals have been inscribed in the books of the old courthouse’s roster, including those who faced life sentences or even death.

Flickering lights and cold spots have been observed in a room containing ancient Native American artifacts housed on the first floor. An apparition of a young lady wearing a white antique dress has been observed by many people near the second floor bathrooms and on the third floor. She could be one of several women who had a strong attachment to the building, but it is not clear who she is or why she haunts the old building.

The Murder of Judge Chillingsworth

During the early morning of June 15, 1955 two men broke into the circuit judge’s oceanfront home in Manalapan, Florida. The judge and his wife Majorie were bound, assaulted, and then dragged to a boat on the beach. The two men tied weights on Marjorie Chillingworth and threw her into the turbulent ocean water. The judge, though bounded, jumped overboard into the water attempting to save his wife. When he was caught, the men attached an anchor to him and then watched as he sank beneath the waves.

One of the killers, Floyd “Lucky” Holzapfel, described the judge’s last words: “Remember, I love you," while his wife replied, "I love you, too," before she was discharged into the ocean. Holzapfel and Lincoln were tried in the old courthouse, along with Joseph Alexander Peel Jr. (once West Palm’s only municipal judge), who would later be charged with organizing the murder.

In the original section of the 1909 courtroom, cold spots are felt and people have claimed feeling something grazing against them. It is believed that the source of this presence might be that of Judge Chillingsworth. It is rumored that the judge watches from the front of the courtroom as his accused killers are repeatedly sentenced, reliving his tragic event. Many years later, it has been said that seaweed was found inside the courtroom where the trial once occurred.

Avon Elwood North and the Murder of Bettie Albritton

Small towns carry dark secrets, as with this tale about Avon Elwood North, a mortician, who murdered his business partner, Bettie Albritton in 1951. Locals claimed that when business was slow, he'd just make more business. Tales of poisoning, embalming and expedient burials ran rapid through the community, gaining media attention from all over the nation, including Time magazine. The 1890's funeral home, where these sinister acts may have occurred, still stands today on the southwest corner of Broadway and Oak Avenue, in historic Fort Meade, Florida.

Avon Elwood North of Lake Wales, Florida, and business partner I.W. Albritton opened up a morticians practice in the old Fort Meade home in the late 1940’s. However, on January 1951, I.W. Albritton died, leaving his business dealings with his wife Bettie Albritton. In June of the same year, North visited Mrs. Albritton’s home, a wood-framed cracker dwelling in rural Fort Meade. Also present, were Mrs. Albritton’s seventeen year old son and a farm hand, when she had suddenly fell ill. North told the two boys to head into town to get an ambulance, but by the time they returned with medical attention, Mrs. Albritton was on the floor dead.

North said, “Mrs. Albritton had suffered an attack and fallen from her chair,” according to reports published at the time in the St. Petersburg Times. North had arranged Albritton’s funeral, including the embalming and was buried within 4 days. However, just days prior to her untimely death, she had changed her will, making North the sole benefactor of her $50,000 estate, which raised great suspicion.

A.E. North would later be arrested for first degree murder just days after Mr. Albritton’s death. The case was sensationalized by the media and newspapers. Rumors began to spread of poisonings, expeditious embalming, speedy burials and murder. An anonymous old timer quoted the following: “Well, I know there were more victims, not everybody knows that, but I do.” Apparently, when business was slow, A.E North allegedly made extra business by resorting to murder; although, this has never been proven but suspected. If true, this would make Avon Elwood North Fort Meade’s only serial killer in a town where a single murder occurs less than every seven years.

To make matters worse, Rev. Andrew Tampling, a pastor of the First Baptist Church of Fort Meade, and Stanley Myers, North's father-in-law were arrested and charged with attempting to tamper with a witness’s testimony. W.A. Arnold had testified to seeing bruises around Albritton's neck during the funeral arrangements. Tampling and Myers offered to pay Arnold $3,000 if he would make an affidavit that the testimony was extorted from him and that he was instructed by prosecutors in what to say.

North's appeal, which cited the meal blessings by the clergy as a source of influence over the jury, had reached first the State Supreme Court, then finally the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to reverse the court's decision.

Time Magazine reported the following statement on Monday, January 25, 1954: “The Supreme Court refused to reverse the murder conviction of Florida Undertaker A. Elwood North, found guilty of bludgeoning and strangling his business partner, Mrs. Betty Albritton. North appealed to the Supreme Court on the ground that an evangelist had been permitted to say grace twice at the dining table of the jury that convicted him. The preacher had read from Psalms and Proverbs, North contended, and might have prejudiced the case with references to 'destruction of the wicked'"--thus influencing the jury's decision to convict North for his "wicked" ways.

North was executed by electric chair in 1954, proclaiming his innocence up until his death. According to Cinnamon Bair’s research, A.E. North had written a letter to his wife stating that "others are going to someday clear my name and let the public know that the life of an innocent man was taken." The letter was released by North’s wife after his death.

www.peacerivervalleyflorida.com

Women, Teaching, and the Importance in Education in the Late 1890’s: The Summerlin Institute, Bartow, Florida

The Summerlin Institute was founded by Jacob Summerlin in 1867. Originally constructed as a wood-frame building, it began to deteriorate in the mid-1880s, and was soon replaced by a substantial brick building. The Summerlin Institute had high quality educational equipment for the times, including 12 botanical microscopes, a four-inch telescope valued at $250, survey instruments, and electrical mechanisms. When the new Summerlin Institute was completed in 1889 at a cost of $20,000, it was the only brick school south of Jacksonville. By 1901 enrollment had reached 470; a majority of the registered students were women.

Canter Brown writes in his Peace River Frontier, “The old Summerlin Institute constructed in 1867, had begun to show it’s age. In 1884 it was ‘a rickety old frame building,’ containing only the rudest furniture and a promiscuous lot of pupils ranging from infancy to manhood.” On May, 12, 1887, Jacob Summerlin laid the corner stone for his new institution. Crowds came from as far north as Orlando and at even greater distance from the Charlotte Harbor to witness the event. Dr. W.F. Yocum would be the school’s first principal.

Two of the Institute’s most enterprising faculty members included Miss Rowana Longmire and Miss Maud Schwalmeyer, who were progressive teachers in their own right. In a time when women’s rights were far from equal to that of their counterparts, and in an era predating women’s suffrage, these women, as early as 1894, were teaching the sciences, chemistry and advanced English.

In the 1899 Biennial Report, the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the state of Florida is quoted as saying: “One of the chief factors in the recent progress of the school [Summerline Institute] has been the admirable primary work of Miss Schwalmeyer, one of Col. Parker’s trained teachers, and the best results must follow such good early training.”

In her 1904 essay, “Child Study and Primary Methods,” Miss Maud Schwalmeyer spoke passionately about the need for psychological and pedagogical studies. She spoke at the Southern Educational Association’s annual meeting and purported the following: “Let us begin with form study. All representation begins with the six geometrical forms. This knowledge coupled with childish joys of creating or representing things in everyday life, is used in the first steps of symbols. If these form lessons are connected with early lessons of the reader by association, a child learns a whole word in the same time and with the same effort required to learn a single letter. Hence, we have the successful word method in print and script.” It was a brilliant essay at the time.

In terms of Miss Longmire’s contribution to teaching, the following is noted in “The School Journal of 1898” about her: “Tuesday afternoon Miss Rowena Longmire read a paper ‘Observations on Children’s Reading.’ She asserted that reading is a means of development for the teacher as well as the pupil. It brings the teacher and the pupil together than does any other study. It often wins unruly pupils.” Miss Longmire was a true advocate for reading.

Miss Schwalmeyer articulated her own views on education in 1904, stating that, “Again, instead of filling the minds of little children with beautiful things in the texts of the best authors, we have boiled down all the mythology and nearly all of the English classics in simple prose for children, until little is left for them in the original, except ‘Paradise Lost.’ When primary curricula contains biology, chemistry, ethics, hygiene, evolution, astronomy, history, manual arts, mythology, music, arts, etc., there is a direct violation of the law of ’stimulus through newness or curiosity,’ and takes away the interest that should be excited when a text book of a new subject is taken up.” Her essay was very courageous, questioning the educational structures and boundaries of her time.

Miss Longmire and Miss Schwalmeyer were forerunners of early Victorian feminism at the “Turn of the Century” and were distinguished teachers. Rowena Longmire, along with Miss Maud Schwalmeyer, would later leave the Summerlin Institute at Bartow in 1905 to become founding members of the Florida State College for Women (FSCW) Alumni Association.

Through the Buckman Act of 1905, the state legislature reorganized higher education in Florida, establishing a school for female students in Tallahassee, FL. In 1947, the Legislature designated Florida State College for Women as coeducational, later changing the name to The Florida State University. The Longmire Building located on the Florida State University campus was constructed and named in honor of Miss Rowena Longmire in 1938.

In conclusion, women’s involvement with education in the Peace River Valley was substantial and evident in the late 1890’s. In fact, the Summerlin Institute was known as one of the most progressive schools in the county and the state, with women comprising the majority of the graduating classes. My sole purpose of this article is to enlighten my readers of the role of women and their importance in education in what was still a frontier town. I am regretful that my sources were limited, as much of history in those times was written mostly by men.

The Great Fire of Thanksgiving 1905 Arcadia, Florida

On March 4, 1886, the Florida Southern Railroad had arrived in the small community of Arcadia (48 miles east of Sarasota) with its first passenger train. Construction of the Charlotte Harbor Railway began on July 17, 1885 in Bartow, the county seat of Polk County, along a route surveyed that summer under the supervision of Albert W. Gilchrist. On September 19, 1885, the roadbed was extended to Fort Ogden (the largest town in what was then Manatee County) and by Christmas of 1885, Fort Meade was anticipating the arrival of its first train. Due to unmitigated circumstances, the train did not service Fort Odgen until July 7, 1886, leading settlers to Arcadia instead. 
 
Originally known as Tater Hill Bluff, the small community was later renamed Arcadia by Reverend James M. Hendry, after the daughter of his friend Thomas H. Albritten. On November 19, 1883, Arcadia received its first US Post Office. By the time the Florida Southern Railroad had arrived, Arcadia had only sixteen families in the surrounding vicinity. Canter Brown notes in his book Peace River Frontier, “By October (1886) the town had about 40 dwelling houses, mostly two stories and about ten more being erected…four general stores, general merchandise, all doing a rushing business; three boarding houses, all doing a good business and still many campfires can be seen in town.” 
 
On December 6, 1886, Arcadia became an incorporated city and by November of 1888, it had become the county seat of Desoto County replacing the town of Pine Level. In the last decade of 19th century, Desoto County was considered to be as violent and dissolute as the Wild West. Gunfights endured on Arcadia’s main street and in 1892 the town had corroborated its first lynching of Walter Austin, strung up by an angry mob. Cattle rustling, shootings, and murders were frequent.
 

By the late 1890’s, Arcadia was gaining a reputation as home to some of the wealthiest and most progressive citizens in Desoto County and coming in second to Punta Gorda in population. Wood-framed cypress and heart pine buildings built during the boom of the 1880’s and 1890’s dominated the commercial business district. Arcadia did not have a public water system or fire fighting provisions. On November 30, 1905, Thanksgiving day, forty-three buildings in the business district would be consumed by fire causing over $250,000 in damage. Only three buildings would survive the devastating fire: the D.T. Carlton Building (built in 1899), the William Seward Building (constructed in 1900), and the First National Bank of Arcadia established in 1900.
 

In George Lane Jr.'s The Day Arcadia Burned he writes: "Arcadia's only newspaper, The DeSoto County News, was also a victim of the flames. Their offices and printing press had perished but it didn't prevent the newspaper editor from ‘reporting the news.’ He [the editor] boarded the first train north to Zolfo Springs and went to the offices of the Zolfo Springs Advertiser where he published an extra edition, the DeSoto County News on December 1, 1905 and reported Arcadia's losses, dismay and shock."

The newspaper stated the following:

ARCADIA FIRE SWEPT - Quarter of a Million Dollars Worth of Property Destroyed Including Nearly Every Business House in the City - The Desoto County News, Arcadia, Florida,  December 1, 1905.
 
Today (Friday), Arcadia presents a scene of ruin and desolation rarely ever visited upon a city. Where yesterday stood substantial business houses well filled with merchandise now repose a bed of smoldering ashes. 
 
Today, businessmen who were yesterday counted financially strong are again poor and are preparing to again begin life after a few short hours' ravages of the fire fiend. About 8:30 last night fire was discovered enveloping a small stable in the rear of Gore & Scott's store, and, in about three hours, nearly every business house in the city and several residences were in ruins. 
 
The fire had gained considerable headway before it was discovered; and, assisted by a strong wind blowing toward the main business houses of the town, soon communicated the flames to Gore & Scott's store and it was soon seen that, with no effective means of fighting the flames at hand, the town was doomed. Gore & Scott's big building was soon a mass of roaring flames and, in a few minutes, had ignited the buildings west across the street and the buildings adjoining on the east. From there the fire rapidly swept east two blocks on each side of Oak Street to the railroad and south one block to and including the "DeSoto County News" building and three residences south across the street. Here the flames were finally checked at Heard & Reynolds' packing house after a fierce fight. In all forty-three buildings were burned, all excepting three being business buildings. 
  
Dynamite was used in a number of places in effort to check the flames but all efforts along this line failed, and every hand was turned to saving goods in the various stores. The only buildings saved in the path of the flames were the First National Bank Building, Seward's store and the Carlton Block, all being substantial brick buildings. The total loss on buildings, fixtures, and merchandise was estimated at close to $250,000, probably one-fourth of which was covered by insurance. 
  
The following is a list of the losers, but at this hour an accurate estimate of the loss of each individual cannot be made: 
 
F. Morqus, jewelry; F. Morqus, shoes and harness; C.C. Wheatly Co., paints and paper; J.J. Hendry, meats and groceries; Lee Gibbs, barber shop; L.D. Harley, merchant tailor; A.G. Frederetre, jewler; Thad Carlton, harness and saddlery; J.W. Craig, livery stable; DeSoto County News; W.H. Seward, warehouse; D.T. Carlton, damages to building; Arcadia Mercantile Co., damage to stock; Dr. D.G. Barnett, damage to dental outfit; Arcadia Electric Light, Ice, & Telephone Co.; Jake Wey, warehouse; W.F. Espenlaub, meats and building; J.M. Lanier, fruits and confectionery; F.S. Gore, two store buildings; R.E. Whidden, building. 
 

Many years later, Mrs. Kate Appleby told this story about the Arcadia fire in her 1978 interview: "It seems just like yesterday, I was just a girl but something like the big fire, you don't forget. It was a horrible night which lasted, it seemed, a very long time and destroyed so much of our town." She also noted, "Since so much [sic] we needed was lost in the fire, supplies had to be shipped in by rail from Wauchula, Bartow, Ft. Ogden, Punta Gorda and other Florida cities, to help us out." She continued, "it was like only a few days before new brick and stone buildings were being built on the ruins."
 
In fact, many of the buildings in the business district imprint the date of 1906 on the tops of the buildings as evidence and as testimony to rebuilding after the great fire.  The Old Opera House (circa 1906) was one of the first to be rebuilt at the original location of its wooden counterpart. To the west of Oak Street remain many of the older wood-framed boom-town architecture of the 1880's and 90's, including the Mourning Jones House circa 1892, Thomas Gaskin Sr. House circa 1886, Micajah Singleton home circa 1889, The Parker house circa 1895, and the The Old St. Edmonds Episcopal Church circa 1897.

The Ghost Town of Pine Level, Florida

The first government surveys were conducted near the Peace River Valley in 1849. Settlers began to move to the interior along rivers and creeks, with the majority of development occurring in the coastal areas. Manatee County was created on January 9, 1855, and within its borders it contained 5,000 square miles extending from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Okeechobee. The small Village of Manatee, one mile east of present day Bradenton, was chosen as the county seat. By 1860 the population was 854.

Early settlers in eastern Manatee County soon protested that the Village of Manatee was unsuitably located since some settlers had to travel the full width of the county to visit the courthouse. Representatives where appointed by the Manatee County Commission to select a central terminal for the new county seat. On April 29, 1866 a plot of land in the SW Quarter, Section 22, Township 378, Range 23E, was proposed by the representatives as the designated county seat and given the name “Pine Level.” The proposal was approved and county seat was moved to Pine Level. It must not be overlooked that the county seat was possibly relocated from the Village of Manatee since it was considered to be the “center of Rebel thinking” in an era during the Civil War. Thus moving the government to the neutral interior of the state, and specifically to Pine Level, may have been a reconstruction ploy to punish Confederate sympathizers.

The new courthouse played a central role in Pine Level’s history and demise. The following are specifications for the first courthouse built at Pine Level on May 29, 1866 according to George Lane Jr.’s research in his Arcadia & Desoto County: “One log house, 20 feet square in the cleaved 10-foot story with a room added to the end, 20 feet by 10 feet, with a partition through the room making two 10-foot Jury Rooms to be cased with 2 foot hart [sic] pine or cypress board and floored with planked or hyghed puncheon boards. One door in each side and two windows to be case and faced with shutters. The house to be furnished with one table, 2 feet by 8 feet long, 22 10-foot benches, 1 box bench for the Judge.” The courthouse would later be secured with locks and enlarged.

This first courthouse was destroyed by fire, a second courthouse would succumb to the Great Hurricane of 1878, and the third would later become the residence of Mr. D.W. Mizell. Joseph Herman Simpson notes in his book The History of Manatee County: “The courthouse was constructed of small peeled unhewn logs. There were a few inches of sawdust put on the floor and the suffering people had to endure from fleas…was almost unbearable. It was said to be the worst courthouse in Florida.”

John H. Bartholf, a Captain in the Union Army during the Civil War, was Pine Level’s first appointed postmaster in 1871. In 1876, Bartholf tried to annul the ballots in the Tilden-Hayes presidential election by resigning his position as court clerk. Joshua Gates and Ziba King were authorized to pick up the ballot report, but Bartholf refused, as he had no authority to release it. King and Gates forced Bartholf at gunpoint to sign the report which Gates and King then sent to Tallahassee. In Louise Frisbie’s Peace River Pioneers she writes: “A subsequent attempt to investigate this incident ended at the county line, where a group of armed Democrats met the committee. The delegation found it expedient not to pursue the matter.”

By the 1880’s, Pine Level could claim a courthouse, a jail, two churches, dry goods stores, a sawmill, a cattle brokerage, a real estate brokerage, a drug store, boarding houses, a restaurant, a school house, a post office, warehouses, a newspaper, and many homes and several saloons. Saloons out numbered other businesses 14 to 1 and Saturday night was a host for lawlessness, gambling, drinking and shootings. Charles Hagan, raised on the town’s main street said: “We had the wild west right here. Tombstone, Abilene and Deadwood had nothing on us! We probably had more blood spilled right here in Pine Level than in all the Seminole Indian Wars combined…” An unknown settler was once quoted, “they’d kill a man for Christmas!”

In the spring of 1884, a group of men organized the secret Sarasota Vigilance Committee, which they first described as a political fraternity. The gang included a total of twenty-two men consisting of local farmers, planters, storekeepers, and cowboys. The New York Times called them the "notorious Sarasota Assassination Society." The Sarasota gang made Pine Level their headquarters where they ransacked banks, terrorized land speculators and new settlers in the area.

On March of 1885, twenty members of the infamous Sarasota vigilantes were captured and prosecuted by Sheriff A.S. Watson. There were only nine men to stand trial; eleven had escaped. James Warnke purports in his book Ghost Towns of Florida that “at the time, the courthouse was not finished due to lack of funds. The jail was so flimsy that it leaked prisoners like a sieve.” Reporters from New York, Boston and Chicago endured the heat and fleas to cover one of the most bewildering court cases as the gang was tried for the murders of Harrison Riley and Charles E Abbes, a Sarasota postmaster.

Of those tried, Charles B.Willard and Joseph C. Anderson were convicted; however, one of them escaped from a hole in the jailhouse roof, leaving behind a thank you note. The others were released after only serving three years of a life sentence. By 1892, all of the Sarasota gang members were free.

In 1886, The Florida Southern Railroad was built from Bartow to Arcadia on the east side of the Peace River, but the town of Pine Level was passed by. Residents of the Village of Manatee and the surrounding area were pressuring legislators to create a new, smaller Manatee County. On May 10, 1887, Desoto County was created from Manatee County. Pine Level remained the county seat until November of 1888 when Arcadia received this designation. George Lane notes in his book Arcadia & Desoto County that “Pine Level began its decline into a farming village, diminishing in importance and population.”

Today, what remains of Pine Level are scattered bricks from the chimney of the old courthouse, the Pine Level Campground Cemetery (dating back to the town’s inception in 1850), and the Methodist Church (organized in 1868 and the oldest in Desoto County). Across Pine Level Road, the old hanging tree remains commemorating the location where justice was once dispensed behind the courthouse.

www.peacerivervalleyflorida.com

The Lynching of Fred Rochelle: Bartow, Florida, May 28, 1901

Information about the lynching of Fred Rochelle is scarcely documented, as very few cases of this type of punishment never reached the courts. This fact is not surprising, as Southern White newspapers helped mold together the racist disquisitions of the times.

Rena Smith Taggart, the 26 year-old wife of baker, Ed Taggart, was a descendent from one of Bartow’s first families. Her grandfather was Streaty Parker, who came to the area in 1851 with his father-in-law, Reading Blount. On May 28, 1901, Rena Smith Taggart was killed near the Peace River Bridge; her body was found lying in the swamp, covered in mud and water. Her throat had been allegedly cut.

The Bartow Courier-Informant reported, “From the innumerable stabs in her throat and breast, the horrible bruises on her body and limbs, it is evident a desperate struggle ensued.” A black man had witnessed 16 year-old Fred Rochelle (who was also black) with the body, and immediately alerted several Whites about the murder. A manhunt for Rochelle was hereupon initiated with no particular concern for the law.

On May 29, 1901, the Bartow Courier-Informant reported, “While there is an air of quiet determination about the men of the community, there is no undue excitement apparent and it’s safe to say cool judgment prevails.” The newspaper’s headline read the following:

BLACK BRUTE’S HEINOUS CRIME! A Well Known White Woman Murdered Near Peace River Bridge – Men scouring County – Lynching Almost Certain – Wednesday, Bartow Courier-Informant May 29, 1901
Another article from the Bartow Courier-Informant a week later stated the following:

BURNED AT THE STAKE – Rochelle Meets Death at Hands of Mob - Taken from the Scene of the Crime – Placed on a Hogshead, Coal Poured On and Match Touched – Mob Quiet But Determined. Bartow Courier-Informant June 5, 1901
The article continued: "Fred Rochelle, the fiend who outraged, tortured and stabbed to death Mrs. Taggart on Tuesday morning of last week, was not captured until late Wednesday afternoon. Several colored men had voluntarily joined in the search and, though he had been seen by several persons, both white and colored, at various points, they had not at the time known of his fiendish crime.”

“Three colored men, Max Bruton, James Alexander and James Hodge, were going to their work about three miles southwest of town, when Rochelle called to them and asked if that was not Bruton who said, ‘Yes, come over here, Fred, I want to talk to you.’ Rochelle approached and in answer to questions, told the awful story, but, when he found the men intended to arrest him he broke and ran. Two of them gave chase while Hodge, not believing the other two could catch Rochelle, jumped on his wheel and started to town to give the alarm. But, after a long chase, Bruton and Alexander caught the brute, and intended to bring him in when two young white men came along and they turned him over to them.”

"The young men brought the prisoner to town where a crowd of cool headed, but determined citizens took charge of him, despite the sheriff and his deputies. In the presence of the throng, he answered the questions put to him as cool and unconcerned as though the matter was an everyday occurrence, detailing the awful crime in a perfectly unmoved way. To the credit of this community, it should be remembered that the whole affair was conducted so quietly that those living three blocks away heard nothing of it.”

"After due deliberation, it was decided to take him to the scene of his hideous crime. As they passed his victim's home, her stepfather asked that further action be deferred until the men who had been scouring the country could get back, most of them having already been notified by telephone. The crowd consented, and at about 7 o'clock he was placed upon a hogshead filled with inflammatory material, and chained to the trunk of a tree. Around the hogs head, light wood was piled, but it was a few minutes past 8 when coal oil was poured over the pile. The Negro, who maintained his utter indifference, saying he knew he was going to hell, at last, asked if he was ready he said, ‘All right,’ and the husband of his victim touched a lighted match to the pile, there was a burst of flame, and in eight minutes there was only a charred mass to tell the tale. Awestruck, the throng turned homeward, and by midnight the town was as peaceful as ever, and ever since has been trying to forget."

The Bartow Courier-Informant’s reporting demonstrates a very common portrayal of lynching as a justified punishment such that the victim's family participated in the very punishment itself. Moreover, one can note the insinuating remarks in the Bartow Courrier-Informant’s headline, “Lynching Almost Certain," which would entail punishment by a mob of people taking justice into their own hands. However, the body of the text states, “there is no undue excitement apparent and it’s safe to say cool judgment prevails,” thus conveying that there is no public outcry occurring and that legal, hence, "cool" justice will be sought.

It should be noted that some crucial elements leading to a lynching in the 19th century often described a colored man carrying out a crime on a white man or woman, public outrage, and frontier justice; however, this sort of violence was not a common practice in Polk County. Cantor Brown writes in his, In the Midst of All That Makes Life Worth Living that “Polk for the most part--with the possible exception of the Mulberry vicinity--has [had] resisted this trend (mob violence) from the early 1870’s until 1901, when a Bartow mob lynched accused rapist/murderer Fred Rochelle, hanging then burning him alive…”

www.peacerivervalleyflorida.com