The History of Northeast Florida

               The Timucuan Rebellion of 1656 was the result of a half-century of mounting pressure that preceded the first shot. The seventeenth century showed a slow-motion collision between two incompatible worldviews: the Spanish Mission System and the Native American political structure.  In the end, neither would survive. In the mid-17th century, the landscape of La Florida was a fragile web of Spanish Missions and Indigenous villages. The native Timucua were not a monolithic nation but a sophisticated collection of independent chiefdoms that had thrived in the wetlands and forests of present-day Florida and Georgia for over a thousand years . At their height, their population exceeded 200,000, organized under a sacred political structure known as the Cacicazgo (Chiefdoms) . Unlike the nomadic tribes often depicted in colonial myth, the Timucua were settled agriculturalists who maintained vast community storehouses and a comp...

On March 24, 1926, Jim Williams was convicted in Palatka for stabbing his wife, Stella, to death when he found her in the company of another man.  Judge A.V. Long of the Putnam Circuit Court sentenced him to die by electrocution.  Williams, then 25 years old, was a black man in the Jim Crow Era South and, as such, his crime, trial and sentencing did not get much attention beyond a one sentence blurb in the local newspapers.  In fact, some accounts did not even mention that it was his wife whom he was convicted of killing, identifying the victim simply as “another negro.”   It had been only two years since Florida centralized all executions and set the electric chair at Raiford as the method of death.  During that two year period three men were executed, two for murder and one for criminal assault.  On May 1, 1926 Florida Governor John W. Martin signed death warrants for Williams and three other convicted men.  One man would be executed each week dur...

  " South of the St. Marys River - Stories from the History of Northeast Florida" delves into the rich and fascinating history of a region that has played a significant role in shaping the cultural tapestry of America . From the prehistoric times when Northeast Florida was inhabited by fearsome creatures to the epic battles between Spain and France for control of the territory, this book offers a unique look at the events that have shaped the area.   Now Available in Kindle and Paperback Editions Readers will journey through the tumultuous times when Georgia invaded Florida not once, but three times, as well as the infamous era of pirates on Amelia Island . Explore the life of David Levy Yulee, a prominent figure in Florida 's history, and learn about the innovative Florida Railroad Company that transformed transportation in the region. From the pivotal Battle of Olustee to the ghost town of Italia in Nassau County , this book uncovers hidden gems and forgott...

Most residents of and visitors to Fernandina Beach are aware of David Yulee and The Florida Railroad.   Yulee holds a special esteem in the town and most people know his story.   A statue of David Yulee stands outside the historic railroad depot in downtown.   However, like most visionaries, Yulee was an idea man, visionary, and entrepreneur. He chartered the railroad and raised capital but subcontracted most of the actual planning and construction to experts. David Yulee, a prominent figure in Florida 's history, was born in St. Thomas , U.S. Virgin Islands , in 1810. In the early 1830s, he relocated to Florida and eventually established himself as an ambitious entrepreneur. Yulee secured a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1845, just a few months after Florida became a state. His passion for transportation led him to propose a plan for a railroad connecting Fernandina Beach , on Amelia Island , to Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast . Yulee, driven by the desire to improve...

President Abraham Lincoln was concerned about his re-election chances in 1864.  The country was in the middle of a terrible Civil War that had claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens in the last three years. Despite victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg the previous year there still seemed to be no end in sight for the war.  Many people did not agree with Lincoln ’s conciliatory attitude towards the rebel states.  Others believed that he had gone too far when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation effectively turning the war from a campaign to save the union into one whose purpose was to abolish slavery.  Absolutely no one liked the draft.  In short, Lincoln needed votes and his thoughts turned to Florida . Florida had become the 27 th State on March 3, 1845.  It entered the union as a “slave state” and was highly dependent upon slave laborers for its agrarian economy.  Almost half of Florida ’s entire population was slaves who wor...