Florida:

U.S. Territory and State

1821-1861

Part Four

Artist interpretation of St. Marks Lighthouse during 1843 hurricane. Sketch done by the author.

The Hurricane of 1843

On the morning of Wednesday, September 13, 1843, a brisk wind began to pick up, and with it the high tide. The wind intensified until it began to die down in the late afternoon. Around 11 o’clock at night, the wind suddenly picked back up. A massive hurricane was on top of Apalachee Bay, and it had its sights set on the river towns of Port Leon and St. Marks. By 2 A.M., on September 14, Port Leon was under ten feet of water. James Ormond wrote, “The warehouse was full of goods and the goods of others when in September, 1843, it was totally destroyed by a gale and of water and we lost it and its contents and were left pennyless, loosing at the same time, our little dwelling.”[1]

The Port Leon Gazette published, “Our town is in ruins!” as all the warehouses in Port Leon were destroyed. The Hamlin & Snell store received partial damage, and Daniel Ladd’s store was the least damaged building in town, even though the water level was three feet above his counter-tops. Estimated damages were around $250,000. Unfortunately, property damage was not the worst thing to occur because of the hurricane, as a young boy in Port Leon was killed by the storm.

At the St. Marks lighthouse, chaos ensued. The keeper of the lighthouse, Captain J.P. Hungerford, and his family survived the storm by hiding out in the attic of the keeper's quarters and holding on for dear life. Sadly, fifteen people who had taken refuge from the storm inside the keeper’s quarters were drowned. St. Marks suffered equal amounts of property damage, but no loss of life. The railroad bridge that crossed the St. Marks River on its way to Port Leon, was washed away, and deposited on dry land, miles from where it was supposed to be. The railroad itself was entirely destroyed at Port Leon, and up to a few miles north of St. Marks. Toppled trees were numerous. A lot of time and money was needed to clear the fallen trees and rebuild the railroad, as Richard Keith Call stated the damage was estimated at $50,000. The Hurricane of 1843 struck as the area’s crops were coming into town. Some bales of cotton and other goods were destroyed but more was on its way. In the meantime, Hamlin and Snell received shipments of cotton at their old store in Magnolia, and some began doing business back at St. Marks. A meeting was held in the Port Leon Hotel by the town’s leaders in which they unanimously voted to ditch the low-lying Port Leon in favor of establishing another new town on the St. Marks River.

Relocate and Start Anew - Newport

The leaders of the washed away Port Leon desired to establish a new town on higher ground, and such a site was located just two miles south of old Magnolia. They at first called the new port town New Port Leon, and believed it was far enough from the coast to avoid the same fate as the old Port Leon. The new town was on land belonging to the Apalachicola Land Company, once part of the Spanish Grant known as the Forbes Purchase, and the New Port Leon committee drew up a contract with Thomas Baltzell, agent of the land company, which stated that the people who were affected by the 1843 hurricane could purchase lots in New Port Leon from $25 to $100, based on location and use of the lot in question.

 The Apalachicola Land Company did much for the establishment of New Port Leon, such as the furnishing of the town’s five public squares and the cutting of roads. Only three weeks after the hurricane destroyed old Port Leon, work began on the building of New Port Leon in early October, 1843. They cut four roads heading west from the river, and four more that intersected them traveling north and south. The river at New Port Leon was not as deep as the old Port Leon, but with expert river pilots guiding them from Spanish Hole, most brigs and schooners could navigate sixteen miles up the St. Marks River to New Port Leon without grounding.

Dr. John Lovick Crawford, later in life

After the destruction of the original Port Leon in 1843, New Port Leon petitioned to be the seat of government for the recently created Wakulla County, and dropped the “Leon” part of their name,  becoming known as just “Newport.”[2] An act in the twenty-second session of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida in 1844, after Port Leon was wiped out, declared that Newport shall be the county seat of Wakulla County and the following legislative act incorporated the town. Some citizens of Wakulla who lived in the western and the center portion of the county were not happy with Newport being the new county seat. An act was passed in Florida’s last Legislative Council as a territory in March of 1845, that stated “Whereas a portion of the inhabitants of Wakulla County are dissatisfied with the present location of the county seat at Newport, believing that it should be at or near the centre of the county…be it enacted that an election be held on the first Monday in May…for the election of five commissioners, whose duty it shall be forthwith to select the most eligible situation for a county seat as near the centre of the county.” For the meantime, the county seat would remain at Newport, as the seventeenth Act of the State of Florida’s first session of the General Assembly would enact in July of 1845. In 1845, just before Florida became a state, Dr. John Lovick Crawford moved to Newport to practice medicine. In the years to come, Dr. Crawford would become one of Wakulla County's most famous figures of his time.

On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27^th state to enter the Union, and on May 26, the first state-wide election was held to choose a governor, a U.S. congressman, and state-level representatives. In Wakulla County there were four voting precincts in which white males, 21 years of age or older who had been living in Florida for at least two years, could exercise their right to vote. They were located in the towns of Ben Haden, (which was located north of Wakulla Springs just before the Wakulla/Leon county line), Newport, the county seat, Shell Point (present-day Crawfordville), and (West) Sopchoppy (this is before the town of Sopchoppy moved to the eastern side of the river, where it is today). These election records are fascinating because it shows us where people were living in Wakulla County in 1845.

The Election of 1845

On March 16, 1836, Richard Keith Call was appointed by then-president, his friend, Andrew Jackson, to be the territorial governor of Florida. Through Call’s first term as governor, he led Florida’s militia against Seminoles during the Second Seminole War. After a disagreement with Federal authorities about their assistance during the war with the Seminoles, Call was fired by then-president Martin Van Buren, and was replaced by Robert R. Reid. This greatly angered Call, and when Van Buren ran for re-election in 1840, Call switched parties and supported the Whig William Henry Harrison. This decision would hurt Call in the future, especially with the Jacksonian Democrats of the time. Harrison won the presidential election (although he would die only one month into his first term) and re-appointed Call as territorial governor of Florida.

In 1845, Florida became a state, and needed elections to determine who would represent its people in Washington, who would be its first state governor, and who would represent the people of Florida in the newly created State Legislature. The Territorial Governor at the time, John Branch, selected May 26, 1845, as the date for the election. Local leaders of the Democratic Party held a convention in Madison County and nominated William D. Moseley of Jefferson County for Governor, and David Levy Yulee for representative to the 29^th U.S. Congress. The Whigs held county-level conventions across the state and selected Richard Keith Call as their candidate for governor and Benjamin A. Putnam for representative to Congress.

Here are the names of the men who voted in Wakulla County in 1845:

Ben Haden precinct; Jamison’s store:

Alexander, A.M.

Andrews, Kenan J.

Andrews, Wilson

Ashley, Lod K.

Bratcher, Thomas

Bratcher, William

Bratcher, Willis

Bunch, John J.

Cannon, Henry

Coleman, Richard

Cook, James

Core, William

Duval, A.F.

Duval, E. A. F.

Evans, David L.

Farr, William

Ferrell, Benjamin

Frederick, J. A.

Gidens, Chas

Gidens, Patrick

Givens, Jesse

Green, F. F.

Harvy, John R.

Houser, Christopher

Jackson, Benjamin

Jackson, Eliott W.

 Jernigan, A. B.

Lewis, William J.

Loftin, William

Pipkin, Amos

Posey, Noah

Sasser, E. M.

Shine, Richard A.

Skipper, M.

Stephens, John

Tracy, H. H.

Tully, A. P.

Vickers, William

Walker, William H.

Whetstone, Adam

Whiting, E. B.

Newport precinct; Wakulla County Courthouse:

Alexander, Robert R.

Alexander, R. H.

Barker, George W.

Bates, Charles

Blithen, George

Bowen, John D.

Broome, James

Broome, Patton

Brown, Joseph D.

Brown, Joseph W.

Campbell, Thomas

Carter, Jason P.

Caverly, Jason

Childers, William

Childers, Wm.

Condelary, Peter

Cook, John

Cooper, E. G.

Dail, Wm. R.

Denham, A.

Denham, Jno.

Divine, Jno. S.

Gilburn, Henry

Graham, Ed. W.

Hall, Ahijah

Hall, Ahijah

Hall, Lewis

Hamlin, Natl.

Hardaway, Sam

Harris, Thos

Harrison, Jno.

Heir, Robt.

Hungerford, J. P.

Hunter, Richard

Inman, H. B.

Jenkins, David

Jenkins, R. W.

Johnson, Aaron

Johnson, Frdr.

Jones, Malachi

Jordan, G. S.

Kennedy, David

Kuhen, F. M.

Kuthen, F. M.

Ladd, Danl.

LeFils, Frances

Lewis, J. P.

Lewis, Lewellen

Lockhart, Thomas

Madden, Ezekial

Martin, Chandler E.

Mathers, Wm. H.

Mathews, Charles

May, Robt. Sr.

McBride, Albert

McCalab, D.

Moonest, Charles

Park, Jno. G.

Pettes, Wm. R.

Reeves, Wm. Geo.

Rogers, Z. J.

Rumney, Edward

Rust, James

Scott, M. Jr.

Skipper, James W.

Smith, Christopher

Spriggs, Levi

Stewart, W. James

Stone, John

Swain, P. H.

Talbot, John H.

Vail, Jona

Vickers, Andrew

Walker, H. H.

Walker, N. G. W.

Wall, Michael

Ware, Wm. H.

West, Robt.

Wiggins, Jesse

Williams, George

Williams, Hosea

Williams, J. C.

Williams, Seaborn

Williams, Wm.

Wilson, John

Woodruff, Joseph

Wooten, Howell

Shell Point precinct (present-day Crawfordville) - Store of H. H. Walker:

Barronton, Wilson

Berthelot, Jas. A.

Bradswell, S. A.

Cuthbert, Jas. J.

Darden, Henry

Darden, Wm. H.

Durrance, Jesse W.

Fedrick, William E.

Jones, Wm. B.

Lipscomb, Benj. F.

Mathers, Thos. J.

Mathews, Solomon E.

McSwain, Charles

Morgan, Pettis

Myrick, John

Rogers, Richd.

Sheppard, Basil

Stokley, John B.

Walker, Edwd. C.

Sopchoppy precinct:

Adams, John W.

Bain, Thos.

Byrd, Robert F.

Byrd, Waitstill A. C.

Founten, Seth H.

Gilcrest, Jeremiah

Greene, Robert P.

Houston, Stephen J.

Jackson, Thomas

Roddenberry, John

Sifrett, Geo.

Sowell, Wm. S. T.

Tuker, Rufus

Wood, Em. F

William D. Moseley won the governorship, David Levy Yulee became Florida's representative to the 29^th U.S. Congress, and the Democrats won majorities in both houses of Florida's first General Assembly.

The Plank Road

The founders of Newport wanted the new county seat to prosper, so they wanted the Tallahassee Railroad Company to rebuild their warehouses and train depot at Newport, rather than St. Marks, which was one of the reasons they chose the location that they did. To the disappointment of Ladd and others, Richard Keith Call decided to rebuild the depot and warehouses at St. Marks instead. James Ormond, a Port Leon and then Newport merchant, bought some property in Atlanta just after Call’s decision to rebuild in St. Marks, “so as to have a home to go to when driven from Newport by the niggardly policy of the Tallahassee Railroad Company.”[3]

St. Marks had a great advantage over Newport because of the railroad. Even so, Newport prospered during the first decade of its existence, and from 1854 to 1856, Newport and St. Marks were close to even when it came to then number of cotton bales shipped out. Within a few short years Newport flourished over St. Marks, mainly because of the entrepreneurship of Daniel Ladd. Ladd, and other members of the town council, wanted badly to establish a transportation connection to all the areas that used to do business with Port Leon. It was very important, as the Tallahassee Railroad Company refused to build a railroad to Newport, to make Newport accessible to planters by connecting it to Pin Hook Road, the best route to the Gulf from Jefferson and Madison counties. A bridge was built at Newport over the St. Marks River, connecting the town to Pin Hook Road. The old Magnolia-to-Tallahassee Road was also extended from Magnolia to Newport, and beyond, across the Wakulla River and west to Sopchoppy. The people in the interior of Wakulla County, and on the Sopchoppy River, now had a good road to use to do business in Newport. A road was also cut connecting Newport to St. Marks, and St. Marks to a small fishing village on the coast referred to as Shell Point.

Daniel Ladd wanted to be able to compete with St. Marks and the railroad. In the 1850s plank roads were very popular and he decided to construct one from Newport to the Georgia state line, present-day Old Plank Road. Most people would think to themselves, how could a plank road compete with a railroad when it comes to transporting freight? You have to remember that at this point in time, the Tallahassee Railroad was “a mule-drawn vehicle, pulled along thin steel rails, fastened to wooden runners without crossties. Never speedy under the best conditions, the train was frequently delayed when the runners slipped apart in the lose sand, and the cars derailed, or the unfastened ends of the iron rails curled up and had to be held down manually to avoid derailment of the cars.”[4] The railroad was not the best. The proponents of the plank road were other merchants and businessmen of Newport, including Ladd, received a state charter for the Georgia and Florida Plank Road Company. In January of 1851, J.L. Tompkins received a contract to build the first fifteen miles of the plank road, starting from Newport and heading north. By June of 1852, the road was cut and the planks were laid all the way to St. Augustine Road (Old St. Augustine Road), in Leon County. Pay tolls went up, and that part of the road was usable, as Tompkins hauled 19 bales of cotton over the Plank road to Newport with a four-mule team, and said that the trip was so easy he could have drawn six more bales, had he had enough room on his wagon. The plank road never made it to the Georgia line, and we actually do not know how much further passed Old St. Augustine it went, but another road was cut to connect Tallahassee to the Plank road.

Another way Ladd profited from the import/export business was lightering loads for larger ships. In 1850, Ladd purchased the steamer Spray, a 118-ton ship, for $15,000. The steamer had a 70-horsepower wood-burning engine, a walking beam, a white smokestack, and one mast. Ladd ran an ad for the Spray stating it would be used “to run on the St. Marks River as a tow boat and lighter, making occasional trips to Cedar Key, up the Suwannee, to Columbus, and to New Orleans.” The Spray gave Ladd the ability to operate at both Newport and St. Marks, as it handled most of the goods that had to be lightered from larger ships anchored at Spanish Hole. The Spray was on such as schedule that allowed it to leave Newport, stop at St. Marks in time to catch the train, arrive at Spanish Hole, transfer incoming and outgoing goods and passengers, then return to St. Marks to drop of passengers in time to catch the evening train to Tallahassee.

Planters from southern Georgia were able to conduct business in Newport via the Plank Road by going through Tallahassee, which many did to avoid the high prices of the Tallahassee Railroad Company. The Newport-St. Marks rivalry was now at a standstill, until the railroad company decided it was time for an upgrade. Richard Keith Call had sold all his stock in the company to Edward Houstoun. Houstoun made the Tallahassee-to-St. Marks railroad more efficient, by putting down stronger rails and converting from mules to a steam powered locomotive. After the upgrade to the railroad, St. Marks began to pull ahead of Newport in their import/export rivalry. Daniel Ladd, and other Newport merchants, began to operate in both St. Marks and Newport, and by 1858, he liquidated the plank road company, conceding that trains were the trade vehicle of the future. The road remained in operation under a different owner. Newport remained a boom town until the 1860s, but the upcoming Civil War would see to the undoing of that, as well as Daniel Ladd’s wealth.

Marine Hospital (1857-1867)

Marine hospital ruins at Fort St. Marks, c.1901

       In 1853, the collector of the port of St. Marks called attention the urgent need for a hospital for seaman because of Yellow Fever. In 1857, the arches of the fort’s bombproof were dismantled and the stone blocks were used to build the walls of the hospital’s foundation.

Years before 1857, in 1844, the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, in its twenty-second session (January 1, 1844 – March 15, 1844), approved a resolution which stated, “Whereas, the growing commercial importance of the town of New Port, on the river St. Marks, in the county of Wakulla, being now visited by numerous shipping, for the purpose of conveying the produce of a large portion of Florida, and a part of Georgia, to market; and there being at this time, no convenience for the accommodation of the sick or disabled seamen: Be it therefor resolved by the Governor and the Legislative Council of Florida, That our Delegate in Congress use his best exertions to obtain from Congress, a suitable appropriation, for the purpose of erecting, at, or near the Town of New Port, a Marine Hospital, for the purpose of affording an asylum to unfortunate sick seamen, who may visit said Town…”[5]

Sources used:

Reminiscences of the Life of James Ormond, 1892 - http://ufdc.ufl.edu/IR00003201/00038

Roberts, R. (2005). From Boom to Bust: Ghost Towns of Selected Florida Gulf Coast Communites. Tallahassee: Florida State University, Master Thesis.

Shofner, J. H. (1978). Daniel Ladd: Merchant Prince of Frontier Florida. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida.

Florida, L. C. (1844, March 15). The Acts and Resolutions of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida; 22nd Session. Tallahassee, FL, United States of America: Printed by The Star of Florida.

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[1] Ormond, p.28

[2] Roberts, 30

[3] Shofner,p.24

[4] Shofner,p.31

[5] Acts and Resolutions of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, 22^nd Session, 1844, p.93