Interpretive Kiosk erected at Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail!

New Interpretive Kiosk at Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

The first of a number of planned interpretive panels have gone up at the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail in Jackson County.

Located at 4057 Jacob Road (Highway 162) north of Marianna, the trail provides a beautiful one-half mile walk to historic and reportedly haunted Bellamy Bridge. Please note  that the entrance to Bellamy Bridge is no longer on Bellamy Bridge Road. Visitors must now enter from the new parking lot on Highway 162 (Jacob Road). It is on the left 1/10 of one mile west of the modern bridge over the Chipola River.

New Kiosk and the entrance to the Trail

The new interpretive kiosk is the first of eleven planned interpretive stations that are being placed as part of the marking of the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, a driving tour of places in Jackson County with a connection to Florida's Spanish history. It features two panels, the first of which tells the story of the Bellamy Bridge area in Spanish Colonial times.

It was somewhere near Bellamy Bridge that Spanish explorer Marcos Delgado crossed the Chipola River in September 1686. Instructed to march northwest from Mission San Luis (present-day Tallahassee) to investigate reports of French intrusion in Spanish territory along the Mississippi River, Delgado crossed the Apalachicola River into Jackson County following a pathway that should be considered the real Old Spanish Trail.

Closer View of the new Kiosk, trail entrance in the background.

His journal mentions passing Mission San Carlos, which will also be a stop on the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, before passing on to Blue Springs , another stop on the new driving tour, and then turning north and west to the Chipola River in what is now the Bellamy Bridge vicinity. Delgado and his followers crossed the river before passing out of Jackson County near what is now Campbellton. He described seeing buffalo grazing not long after he crossed the river.

The Interpretive Panels in the new Kiosk

The kiosk also tells the story of the Battle of the Upper Chipola, an important battle of the First Seminole War. The fight took place in March 1818 between the U.S. allied Creek Brigade of Brig. Gen. William McIntosh and the Red Stick warriors of the chief Econchattimico ("Red Ground King). Econchattimico and his men were defeated and 20 of his men were killed while more than 150 other men, women and children were captured. According to Gen. McIntosh's report, the battle took place on the west side of the Chipola River about two miles below the forks of the creek where the river is formed. That would place its location as being somewhere in the vicinity of the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, although the exact site of the battlefield has never been found.

Finally, of course, the new interpretive kiosk tells the story of the famed Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. It is said by many that the restless ghost of Elizabeth Jane Bellamy, a young woman who died during antebellum times, haunts Bellamy Bridge and its vicinity. Her story is deeply embedded in the culture and folklore of Florida and is a special part of Jackson County's history.

A special "ghost walk" to commemorate "The Night Elizabeth Died" will begin at the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail parking area at 7:30 p.m. (Central) on Saturday night, May 11th.  The public is invited and the guided tour and ghost story telling is absolutely free!  Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring a flashlight and mosquito repellent if you come!

The new kiosk was funded by the Jackson County Tourist Development Council using money generated by a tax on hotel accommodations. No property tax dollars have been expended on the kiosk or the trail.

To learn more about the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail and to obtain directions, please visit www.bellamybridge.org. You can read more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.

Accounting for the "Unaccounted for" Students at Dozier School

UMemorial Crosses at Dozier School Cemetery

Updated May 6, 2013: With the help of several other volunteers, I have been working to account for all of the students who died in association with the Florida Industrial School for Boys in Marianna (better known as Dozier School).

These individuals were identified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the University of South Florida (USF) in their respective reports on the "Boot Hill Cemetery" at the former school for juvenile offenders, USF indicated they were not buried at the school, but did not provide any additional information as to where they were buried. The school's records were silent on what happened to these students after they died and as a result many wild allegations have been made (not by either agency) that they are buried in secret graves somewhere on the campus.

Media claims and other allegations have been made that as many as 100 graves might be located in the Dozier Cemetery or on the school grounds, but it is now possible to say that such allegations are categorically false.

So far we have researched ten of the names for whom burial locations were not provided by either investigation and have found in each case that they either did not die at Dozier School or were buried elsewhere.

Here are the names we have researched so far along with the information we have learned about them:

1. Martin E. Williams, drowned in the Chipola River on April 28, 1973. Although some sources indicate it was during an attempted escape, he actually appears to have died during an accident while canoeing on a recreation trip. He is buried at Rest Haven Memorial Park in Hillsborough County, Florida.
2. James Lee Fredere, died on May 10, 1965, in an automobile accident in Volusia County. He is buried at Garden of memories Cemetery in Kelly, Bladen County, North Carolina.
3. Raymond Alex Phillips, shot and killed by an Alachua County deputy on September 15, 1961. He is buried at Antioch Cemetery, Island Grove, Alachua County, Florida.
4. Edgar Thomas Elton, died on July 10, 1961, of "Acute Dilation of Heart" after collapsing on a basketball court at the school. He is buried at Umatilla Cemetery in Umatilla, Lake County, Florida.
5. George Fordom, Jr., died in January 1957 of "sarcoma of lung" at the W.T. Edwards Tuberculosis Hospital in Tallahassee, Florida.
6. Clarence Cunningham, died in 1954 of "Mestastasis to Spinal Cord" at W.T. Edwards Tuberculosis Hospital in Tallahassee, Florida.
7. Eddie Albert Black, murdered (stabbed and beaten) by another student in May 1949. According to newspaper reports of the time, his body was shipped home for burial in Pensacola, Florida.
8. Lonnie Frank Harrell, died February 11, 1932, during a hernia operation. He is buried at Orange Hill Cemetery in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida.
9. Oscar Elvis Murphy, died in 1932 after being run over by an automobile in Hardee County, Florida.
10. Guy Hudson, drowned on August 14, 1921, while swimming with other boys. His body was recovered on August 16, 1921, and according to a report filed in Tallahassee and published by newspapers of the time, his body was shipped home for burial in Milton, Florida.

These ten names account for a full 20% of the deaths associated with the school for which no burial location has been given. They all either died away from the school or records indicate that they are not buried there. Based on this initial test, I believe most of the other individuals on the list who are not specifically noted as having been buried at the school, will be found buried elsewhere.

This information has been provided to Nick Cox, statewide prosecutor with the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi; Dr. Michael Hunter, Medical Examiner for the 14th Judicial Circuit, and Frank A. Baker, county attorney for Jackson County.

To see if his publication was really as interested in uncovering "the truth" about Dozier School as it claims, I provided the names of individuals found to be buried in Tampa and Hillsborough County to Ben Montgomery, a reporter with the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) on April 5th. 

For some reason, Montgomery - who has written extensively about the allegations of murders and violence at Dozier School - did not find the information to be newsworthy and never published it.

I think concerned citizens should ask themselves why the Tampa Bay Times was not interested in the discovery of the graves of some of Dozier School’s students in its own backyard.  Why didn’t the reporter or his paper want this information to become public?

It is a good question. And a fair one.

The "Mystery Graves" at the Dozier School Cemetery

South Campus of Florida Industrial School for Boys in 1922
Florida State Archives, Florida Memory Collection

UPDATED 5/1/2013

With the petition of the Medical Examiner of the 14th Judicial Circuit now pending before Judge William Wright, speculation over "mystery graves" at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida, has again reached fever pitch. Please see The Dozier Graves and You.

Since claims are once again being made that there are numerous unknown and mysterious graves at the school and in its little cemetery, I thought you might be interested in seeing exactly who is known to be buried there and what is known about them:

1. Unknown, Student (died in 1911 of unknown causes).
2. Bennett Evans, Employee (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
3. Charles Evans, Employee (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
4. Joe Wethersbee, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
5. Walter Fisher, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
6. Clarence Parrott, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
7. Louis Fernandez, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
8. Harry Wells, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
9. Earl E. Morris, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
10. Clifford Jefford, Student (died in 1914 dormitory fire).
11. Scott Martin, Student (died of unknown causes in 1915).
12. Granville Rogers, Student (died of unknown causes in 1915).
13. Willie Fisher, Student (died of unknown causes in 1915).
14. Sim Williams, Student (died of unknown causes in 1916).
15. Tillman Mohind, Student (died of unknown causes in 1916).
16. James Joshua, Student (died of unknown causes in 1916).
17. Thomas Aikins, Student (died of unknown causes in 1918).
18. Unknown, Female Employee (died of influenza in 1918).
19. Lee Gaalsby, Student (died of unknown causes in 1918).
20. George Grissam, Student (died of unknown causes in 1918).
21. Wilbur Smith, Student (died of influenza in 1918).
22. Willie Adkins, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
23. Lloyd Dutton, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
24. Ralph Whiddon, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
25. Hilton Finley, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
26. Puner Warner, Student (died during influenza outbreak, 1918).
27. Joe Anderson, Student (died of unknown causes in 1919).
28. Leonard Simmons, Student (died May 9, 1919 of unknown causes).
29. Nathaniel Sawyer, Student (died December 12, 1919 of unknown causes).
30. Sam Morgan, Student (died in 1921 of unknown causes).
31. John H. Williams, Student (died in 1911, accidental death).
32. Arthur Williams, Student (died February 26, 1921 of unknown causes).
33. Schley Hunter, Student (died April 15, 1922 of pneumonia).
34. Calvin Williams, Student (died December 31, 1922, of unknown causes).
35. George Chancey, Student (died in 1923 of malaria).
36. Clifford Miller, Student (died in 1924 of unknown causes).
37. Charlie Overstreet, Student (died August 19, 1924, during a tonsillectomy).
38. Edward Fonders, Student (died May 18, 1925, of an accidental drowning).
39. Walter Askew, Student (died December 18, 1925, of unknown causes).
40. Nollie Davis, Student (died February 8, 1926, of pneumonia).
41. Robert Rhoden, Student (died May 8, 1929, of pneumonia).
42. Samuel Bethel, Student (died October 15, 1929), of tuberculosis.
43. James Brinson, Student (died in 1932 of pneumonia/influenza).*
44. Willie Heading, Student (died in 1932 of pnuemonia/influenza).*
45. Sam Nipper, Student (died in 1932 of pneumonia/influenza).*
46. Jesse Denson, Student (died in 1932 of pneumonia/influenza).*
47. Lee Underwood, Student (died in 1932 of Influenza).*
48. Fred Sams, Student (died in 1932 of influenza).*
49. Dary Pender, Student (died in 1932 of influenza)*
50. Archie Shaw, Student (died in 1932 of influenza).*
51. Lee Smith, Student (died January 5, 1932 in accident with mule).
52. Joe Stephens, Student (died May 9, 1932 of influenza).
53. Thomas Varnadoe, Student (died October 26, 1934 of pneumonia).
54. Joshua Backey, Student (died 1935 of blood poisoning).*
55. Richard Nelson, Student (died February 23, 1935, of pneumonia).
56. Robert Cato, Student (died February 25, 1935, of pneumonia).
57. Grady Huff, Student (died March 4, 1935, of acute nephritis).
58. James (Joseph) Hammond, Student (died May 2, 1936 of tuberculosis).*
59. Robert Seinous (Stephens), Student (died in 1937 after being stabbed by another student).*
60. George Owen Smith, Student (Escapee, body found decomposed under house in Marianna on January 24, 1941).
61. Earl Wilson, Student (Murdered on August 31, 1944, in severe beating given by 4 students.*
62. Billey Jackson, Student (Died October 7, 1952 of pyelonphritis)
63. Alphonse Glover, Student (died August 13, 1966, drowned in swimming pool).*
64. Sue the Peacock, Pet (a school pet that died in December 1947 and was buried in the cemetery).
65. Dog, Pet (a school pet that was buried in the cemetery, date unknown).
66. Dog, Pet (a school pet that was buried in the cemetery, date unknown).

* This person may have been returned home for burial.  This list does not include the names of individuals positively known to have been returned to their families for burial.

A total of 50 human, 1 bird and 2 animal burials are known to have taken place at the "Boot Hill" Cemetery at Dozier School for Boys between 1911 and 1973. 

The University of South Florida, while conducting ground penetrating radar studies at the cemetery in 2012, found 36 probable and 14 possible grave shafts (a total of 50).

Other names sometimes associated with the cemetery are as follows:

1. S. Barnett  (allegedly died in 1914 dormitory fire, name was a media mistake that later was corrected).
2. Louis Haffin (allegedly died in 1914 dormitory fire, name was a media mistake that later was corrected).
3. Waldo Drew (initially thought to have died in 1914 dormitory fire, but later was found to have escaped).
4. Raymond Phillips, Student (escaped, actually shot and killed by deputy sheriff in Alachua County).
5. Guy Hudson, Student, drowned while swimming with other boys in 1921, body returned home to Milton, Fla., for burial
6. Oscar Elvis Murphy, killed in 1932 after being run over by a car in Hardee County, Florida.
7. Lonnie Frank Harrell, died of tuberculosis in 1932, buried in Tampa.
8. Eddie Albert Black, murdered by another student in 1949, buried in Escambia County, Florida.
9. Clarence Cunningham, died in Tallahassee in 1954 due to "Mestastasis to Spinal Cord."
10. George Fordom, Jr., died in Tallahassee in 1957 due to "sarcoma of lung."
11. Edgar Thomas Elton, died in 1961 due to "acute dilation of the heart." Buried in Lake County, Florida.
12. James Lee Fredere, died 1965 in an automobile accident in Volusia County. Buried in North Carolina.
13. Martin E. Williams, drowned in the Chipola River in 1973 after falling from a canoe during a field trip, buried in Hillsborough County, Florida.

For more on this topic, please visit:

The Dozier School Graves and You

Aerial View of the School Campus, 1922
Florida State Archives, Florida Memory Collection

Dr. Michael Hunter, the Medical Examiner of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit has petitioned the Circuit Court of Jackson County for authority to begin a massive search for bodies on the campus of the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida.

His petition does not state who will bear the cost of this anticipated year-long project, but the Medical Examiner's office is funded by the taxpayers of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, which includes Jackson, Bay, Gulf, Calhoun, Holmes and Washington Counties. What such a project would cost, if it is approved by the judge, is anyone's guess.

Boys School Band in 1922.
Florida State Archives, Florida Memory Collection

Here is what Dr. Hunter seeks permission to do, according to his petition:

   ...If this Petition is granted, Dr. Hunter intends on continuing to authorize and utilize the personnel and resources of USF and Dr. Kimmerle to continue locating burial sites. While work will continue at the Boot Hill location, it will also include additional efforts to locate the other burial site or sites reported at other location on the Dozier land. This primarily will involve the continued use of ground penetrating radar and trenching to discover any anomalies in the ground and its formation consistent with human grave shafts....

USF is the University of South Florida and the Dr. Kimmerle mentioned in the petition is Dr. Erin Kimmerle, an anthropologist on the staff of the university. The "Boot Hill" location noted in the petition is the Dozier School Cemetery located near today's Jackson County Correctional Facility. Continuing on, the petition states:

Undated Postcard of the School for Boys
Florida State Archives, Florida Memory Collection

If bodies are located during the investigation, the District Medical Examiner, Dr. Hunter, will assume control over the remains and where they are to be transported, which may be done by USF or an agent of Dr. Hunter. Any recovered remains will be treated carefully and with respect and dignity for the deceased. Dr. Hunter will conduct an autopsy of the remains in an effort to determine a cause of death and for possible identification.

Hunter bases his request almost entirely on an interim report on the cemetery prepared by the University of South Florida. That report has been widely and incorrectly quoted by the media as indicating that Dr.Kimmerle and her team has located 19 more graves at the cemetery than there are crosses (grave markers) there.

Beyond the obvious and extreme cost of such an operation to exhume an entire cemetery and survey more than 1,200 acres of land in search of a second "mystery" cemetery that there is no evidence even exists, there are additional points to consider in this matter.

Should an entire cemetery be excavated and every single body there be exhumed?  Not all of the people buried there were students of the school.

Actual Dormitory that Burned in 1914
Florida State Archives, Florida Memory Collection

Bennett Evans, for example, was a resident Jackson County and a carpenter employed by the school when he died in a tragic fire there in November 1914. The same is true of Charles Evans, a guard at the school who died in the same fire. The two men were father and son and both died after escaping the burning dormitory building and then going back into the flames because they believed the other was trapped and needed help.

Charles Evans of Marianna is a descendant of the men and namesake of one of them. He told me today that he is against their graves being exhumed. "They had nothing to do with any claims of wrongdoing out there and I think it would be wrong to dig them up," he told me less than one hour ago.  Evans says that his family remembers the two men as "heroes," which is exactly what reports from the time of the fire say as well.

Seven students of what was then the Florida Reform School also died in that fire.

The following report was filed by an eyewitness to the fire on November 20, 1914:

...The remains of Waldo Drew, the St. Petersburg lad supposed to have perished in the fire, have not been found. It is supposed that the lad's body was entirely incinerated. Identification of the remains of the seven other boy inmates and of the two Evans men, employees, was possible only because officials knew the location of the boys' rooms.  For the most part only charred fragments of bones and cooked flesh indicated that the remains were those of human beings.

According to the report, and every other local report as well as state, coroner's and grand jury investigations conducted at the time, the remains of nine people were found in the burned dormitory. The University of South Florida report, however, claims repeatedly that twelve people died in the fire.

In fact, Waldo Drew, the boy mentioned in the report quoted above, did not die in the fire. He was later arrested for escape and appears to have taken advantage of the opportunity presented by the chaos surrounding the fire to walk off the unfenced campus. Two other people listed in the USF report as having died in the fire, S. Barnett and Louis Haffin, did not exist.

The university quotes an Iowa newspaper as its source for the names, but apparently did not review the files of the Pensacola Journal where that paper reports that the original inclusion of the names of Barnett and Haffin in the list of the dead was in error.

In fact, six of the people that the Medical Examiner and University of South Florida believe are buried on the Dozier campus actually are not there. In addition Barnett and Haffin, who did not exist, and Drew, there are three others who simply did not die while they were at Dozier.  One of these individuals was shot by a sheriff's deputy in Alachua County in 1961. Another died at Raiford Prison after being transferred there from Dozier.

On the other hand, at least three birds and animals are positively known to be buried at "Boot Hill." The Florida Industrial School (an early name of Dozier School) newspaper reported the death of the school's pet, a peacock named Sue, on December 27, 1947:

...An elaborate funeral service was held and several of the students were present to pay full respects to her remains. She lies on "Boot Hill," besides the bodies of several other of Marianna's deceased.

Two pet dogs of the boys at the school also are known to be buried in the cemetery.

In fact, the report prepared by USF and cited by the Medical Examiner in his petition is riddled with errors. In addition to incorrectly listing six people as buried at the school when those people either did not exist or did not die there, the report also shows, for example, a photograph that the writers claim was of a building that was identical to the dormitory that burned in 1914. In fact, the building shown looked nothing like the dormitory where the fire took place.  The actual dormitory was of much better and more comfortable design than the stark building the anthropologists show in their report.

It has been widely reported by the media that the USF anthropologists found 19 more burial shafts than there were crosses in the Dozier Cemetery. This is not true. In fact, by their own admission in their own report, the anthropologists found only 36 "probable" grave shafts. The state itself placed 31 crosses at the cemetery and three graves there are known to contain a peacock and dogs. That means that USF, so far, has found only 2 more grave shafts (excluding the animals) than the state itself has marked, not 19.  Any other anomalies found by the university are listed only as "possible."

In fact, the state acknowledges that in addition to the 31 marked and known graves, there are at least 20 other unmarked human graves in the cemetery. Nine people died in the 1914 fire and 11 more passed away during the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. Added to the 31, that makes a total of 51 known human burials at the cemetery. USF, however, was able to find only 36 "probable" grave sites and 14 "possible" ones.

In other words, the state acknowledges that, counting the peacock and animals, there are 54 graves in the cemetery. USF found only 50 probable and possible graves. USF did NOT identify 19 more graves than the state, but actually came up with four less!

In addition, not one single name of one person known to be missing and supposedly murdered by staff members at Dozier school has ever been produced.  Not one.

Should the graves of people who in no way are associated with claims of abuse and murder at Dozier School be exhumed based on a flawed report?

Should a Medical Examiner have the authority to exhume the remains of people for whom their causes of death are known without the permission of their families?

Should the taxpayers of Jackson County and possible the adjacent counties of the 14th Judicial Circuit pay the expense of this massive operation to dig up an entire cemetery?

A descendant of at least two of those buried there is opposed to their bodies being exhumed. Should it be done over his objections?

You be the judge.  Comments are welcome so long as they are courteous.

Flood Waters flow at Bellamy Bridge - 2/26/2013

The Chipola River is nearly one-mile wide in the Bellamy Bridge area of Jackson County thanks to nearly 1-foot of rain that fell in the area over the last few days.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, the one-half mile walk that leads to the historic bridge, is completely flooded and water today was flowing through the parking lot like a running stream.

The video above and photos below were taken today (2/26/2013).

Entrance to Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

Water flows in a stream across the parking lot.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is completely flooded.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail completely submerged.

Entrance to Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail.

Chipola River from Hwy 162 Bridge.

Update: Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail remains closed (2/20/2013)

February 20, 2013 - Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail remains closed due to flooding. About 5 feet of water continued to flow across two parts of the trail today, blocking access from the parking area on Highway 162 to historic Bellamy Bridge itself.

Sections of the trail, which was 100% flooded last week, have started to dry out and damage appears to have been minimal. 

Opened to the public on November 1, 2012, the one-half mile long trail provides public access (when it is dry!) to historic Bellamy Bridge, the oldest bridge of its type in the state of Florida.  It is the focal point of one of Florida's best known ghost stories and the land crossed by the trail is rich in historical significance.

You can read more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge.

The photos below were taken today and show the slowly drying sections of the trail as well as one of the places where flood water continues to flow across it.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail begins to dry out.

Trail entrance is now dry.

Mud and some water remains along first section of trail.

The flood washed thousands of acorns onto the trail.

A bench is now high and dry. It was underwater last week.

Flood debris in the swamp along the trial.

Water flows across a section of the trail.

Water continues to flow through the swamp.

Palmetto plants stand in the floodwater.

Damage to the parking area has been repaired.

Water flowed through the fence like a river last week.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail remains flooded! 2/16/2013

February 16, 2013 - The Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail in Jackson County remains flooded today.

Flood waters rose over the trail on February 13th as the Chipola River topped its banks and water spread out into the floodplain. The river crested yesterday and has begun a slow drop, but as of noon today virtually the entire length of the popular and historic trail remains underwater.

The video above will give you a good idea of the current status of the trail, which is likely to remain flooded for several more days. The photographs below also were taken today at around noon.

Trail Entrance with water still up to the gates.

Parking lot erosion.

Trail remains underwater.

Looking down the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

Another view down the trail.

Debris piled against trail entrance by flood waters.

Water Flows Uphill at Bellamy Bridge?

This is the strangest sight I've seen in awhile. While shooting video of the flood waters that have inundated the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail today (2/14/2013), Jackson County Tourism Director Pam Fuqua and I noticed that water appeared to be flowing uphill along a roadway adjacent to the trail parking area.

Is it an optical illusion?  I don't know. It was much more evident in person, but when you look at the video provided here you will clearly see what I'm describing. In the distance in the first part of the video, the water appears to be flowing uphill instead of downhill in the direction of the camera. The second part of the video is a closer look at the phenomenon.

We've all heard strange stories about this place but they mostly revolve around the ghost of Elizabeth Jane Bellamy, the young woman said to haunt the historic bridge. This is the first time I've ever encountered anything quite like this.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Just an update, the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail remains almost completely inundated by flood waters from the Chipola River. It is going to be at least a week or so before the water will be down enough for us to begin cleaning up the trail to make it safe for visitors.

Here are some still photos of the water appearing to run uphill:

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is 100% Flooded

Jackson County's popular Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail is flooded for its entire one-half mile length as of today (February 13, 2013).

The Chipola River has been making a dramatic rise due to heavy rains that have fallen over recent days in Southeast Alabama. The river rises from creeks that form there. The trail could be walked all the way to Bellamy Bridge as recently as Monday, but by noon today was completely flooded and water was pouring across the new parking area on Highway 162 between Greenwood and US 231.

The trail follows the route of the historic old road that led to Bellamy Bridge from the 1600s until it was closed to the public in 1963 when the new Highway 162 bridge was completed nearby. Completed and opened to the public on November 1, 2012, the trail has become a popular recreation spot and has seen heavy traffic from county residents and visitors alike.

Bellamy Bridge is believed by some to be Florida's "Most Haunted Bridge." The historic steel-frame structure is said to be haunted by the ghost of Elizabeth Jane Croom Bellamy, a young woman who died in Jackson County on May 11, 1837. Her wispy ghost has been seen in the vicinity of the bridge and its wooden predecessors since at least the 1890s.

To learn more about the history of Bellamy Bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge or consider my new book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, which can be purchased on the upper right of this page.

The photos below were taken today (2/13/2013).

The Picnic Shooting at Blue Hole (September 28, 1869)

The Run from Blue Hole as it appears today

On September 28, 1869, a shooting near Blue Hole Spring in Jackson County ignited one of the bloodiest confrontations of the Reconstruction era, not just in Florida but in the entire South.

The event has grown in magnitude over the years until some recent writers have described it as a "massacre" while others point to it as an example of political assassination by an organized band of "regulators" determined to stamp out justice and fair treatment for black citizens freed from slavery just four years earlier.

The site of the incident is inside today's Florida Caverns State Park. The Blue Hole Spring still flows, but a cave collapse in recent years has changed its appearance in a dramatic way from the popular swimming place enjoyed by thousands of visitors since the opening of the park more than sixty years ago. It is a peaceful place today, where visitors to the park can reflect on nature and history and enjoy boardwalks and foot bridges.  A small swimming spot remains, but is seldom open due to changes in the clarity of the water.

Blue Hole prior to the cave collapse

The Blue Hole and the nearby Natural Bridge of the Chipola River have been popular picnic areas since long before the Civil War. On September 28, 1869, a large group of former slaves or "freedmen" were making their way to the spring for a picnic and gathering when the incident took place.

There are several versions of what happened, but the basic facts are these:  Calvin Rogers, the black Reconstruction era constable of Jackson County was leading the party along the road to the spring when for some reason he walked ahead of the main group and disappeared around a bend in the road. From his unseen location, Rogers suddenly called out that he had been shot at, although no eyewitness described hearing a gunshot:

...He then called for Wyatt Scurlock, one of his friends, who on his approach to Rogers caught up a child, and he and the child were killed by one shot from some unknown person. Rogers, with the party, returned to Marianna, and with a party of whites and blacks, went in search of the murderer. They could find no clue to the perpetrator of the deed. (Macon Telegraph, 10/15/1869)

Blue Hole Spring as it appears today.

The incident was tragic and could not have come at a worse time for the citizens of Jackson County. Just four days earlier the county's government appointed carpetbagger sheriff, John W. King, had vanished taking with him a noteworthy sum of the county's funds.  With the constable involved in the shooting in one way or another, the people had no law enforcement officer to turn to for help in solving the crime.

A coroner's inquest was held, the members of which determined that Scurlock and the child had been killed by a shot fired by an unknown person. A posse was organized and a search conducted of the area, but no trace of the murderer with the possible exception of some prints from a horse could be found. Both the coroner's jury and the posse were made up of both black and white citizens.

Far from being the "massacre" described in some modern accounts, the picnic shooting was tragic and, unfortunately, never was solved. The blame  for this largely rests on the occupation government that controlled Florida during the Reconstruction era. A competent and trustworthy sheriff was not appointed for Jackson County and the citizens had no one in whom they could depend for a reasonable investigation.

The facts of the incident are extremely strange. Why did Calvin Rogers walk ahead of the group and out of sight at the time of the shooting? Why did he call specifically for Scurlock from an unseen location after claiming that a shot no one else could hear had been fired at him?  Under the circumstances, it might seem reasonable that Rogers himself should have been a suspect in the murders, but he never became the focus of an investigation and events over the next few days became so violent that they obscured the incident at Blue Hole Spring.

The citizens of the county held a public meeting in the wake of the shooting and a number of the principal business leaders of Marianna offered a reward for the apprehension of the person or persons responsible. The reward was never claimed and the murders of Scurlock and the child became more statistics of what is remembered today as the Jackson County Reconstruction War.