Life begins anew at Florida Caverns State Park

Tree planting underway at Florida Caverns State Park!
Photos courtesy of Billy Bailey.

by Dale Cox with thanks to Billy Bailey!

Hurricane Michael inflicted destruction on Florida Caverns State Park that will be evident for more than one century to come.

The winds toppled old-growth trees, leveling the park's treasured natural forests.

Life, however, is taking root once again at the Marianna, Florida, landmark. The Friends of Florida Caverns State Park partnered with Florida Caverns State Park volunteers, the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, and Hurricane Michael Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance to plant trees. The seedlings begin the process of regrowing the natural forests of the park, restoring them for present and future generations.

The replanting project was the result of donations from local
businesses and the help of multiple community organizations!

The trees include eastern red cedars, tulip poplars, fringe trees, and spruce pines. All of the varieties are native to the park and important to its natural communities. They were donated by Southern Craft Creamery, Cindale Farms, and the Chipola Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

The planting was coordinated and supervised by Ranger Frank Strickland, a 35-year veteran of the Florida Park Service. He has been planting trees in the area since the early 1980s.

Tree planting on February 16, 2020.

The second of two workdays took place on Tuesday, February 18, with over one hundred trees replanted for park visitors and its wildlife to enjoy for decades, perhaps even centuries, to come.

Florida Caverns State Park is open 8 a.m. to sundown, 365 days per year. Some areas of the park remain closed due to damage from the hurricane, and the cave tours are temporarily closed this week due to flooding but will resume soon.

The park is at 3345 Caverns Road, Marianna, Florida. Please click here for more information.

For a unique perspective of the cave tours as done by flashlight after Hurricane Michael destroyed electrical systems, please enjoy this free video from Two Egg TV:

Econchattimico's long journey on the Trail of Tears

"They have suffered very much."

by Dale Cox

Econchattimico's Town was sketched in 1838 by a visiting
French nobleman. It stood north of today's Sneads, Florida.

Yesterday's article focused on the forced removal of Econchattimico's and John Walker's bands from their lands in Jackson County, Floria, by U.S. troops under Brig. Gen. Zachary Taylor. Please see Zachary Taylor and the Red Ground King.

Today we continue the story of this humanitarian tragedy with the departure of the Native Americans from Florida and their arrival in Oklahoma, as well as the failure of the United States government to ever pay them for their lost homes and fields.

The following is excerpted from my book: The History Of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years.

-Excerpt-

The people from Econchattimico’s and John Walker’s reserves were joined near the mouth of the Apalachicola River by 34 refugee Creeks who had been captured following their flight from Jackson County earlier in the year. Brought from a concentration camp on Dog Island in the Gulf of Mexico, they brought the total number of men, women, and children in the group to more than 300 souls.

Dog Island is visible on the horizon in this photo taken from
top of the Crooked River Lighthouse at Carrabelle, Florida.
Creek Indian refugees were held there in 1838.

Brig. Gen. Taylor had reservations about the safety of moving more than 300 men, women, and children through the Gulf aboard the steamboat Rodney, so Daniel Boyd contracted two additional vessels, the schooners Octavia and Vesper. After a brief stop in St. Joseph (today's Port St. Joe), the entire party moved on to Pensacola:

We left Pensacola on the 29th ult. and arrived at New Orleans on the 2d inst. At New Orleans we took on board the Rodney the Indians shipped per schooner Octavia and Vespar, and next morning proceeded on our voyage and reached Natchez on the 5th. We remained at Natchez one day in order to procure supplies, and to afford the Indians an opportunity to purchase clothing which they stood very much in need of. To those who had not the means to purchase for themselves I supplied such articles as were absolutely necessary for their comfort on the voyage.

They have suffered very much from sickness. Six have died since we left Chattahoochee and more than twenty are now upon the sick list. The weather has been unusually cold for the season, which has no doubt increased the number of invalids.

The water in the Mississippi River is very low; we lay two days upon a sand bar about twenty five miles above Vicksburg. If the Arkansas River continues as low as it is reported to be at present, I will disembark the Indians at the first convenient point where transportation can be procured and proceed by land to Fort Gibson. [1]

Fortunately for the suffering men, women, and children, the Rodney was able to steam up the Arkansas River as far as Little Rock. The Native Americans transferred there to the steamboat North St. Louis to continue the trip upriver, but the second vessel ran aground at nearby Cadron, Arkansas. [2]

The Arkansas River, seen here at Van Buren,
Arkansas, was too shallow for the steamboat
carrying the Apalachicola survivors and they
had to walk through brutal winter weather.

Left with no choice but to continue overland through bitterly cold conditions, the exhausted emigrants finally reached Fort Gibson in present-day Oklahoma on January 10, 1839. A muster roll prepared that same day revealed that 272 of the original 393 survived the trip. Econchattimico and John Walker were among the survivors, but many of their followers were not. Of the African Americans or Black Seminoles who once lived under the protection of the two chiefs, only one made it to Fort Gibson. [3]

The final tally of emigrants included 126 residents of Walker’s Town, 81 from Econchattimico’s village, 34 refugee Creeks, and 32 holdovers from John Blunt’s band. The latter individuals remained behind on the Apalachicola when their chief and most of his followers left for Texas in 1834. Among the residents of Econchattimico’s town was George Perryman, a well-known figure on the early frontier and the son of former principal Seminole chief Thomas Perryman. [4]

Fort Gibson in what is now Oklahoma was the western end of
the Trail of Tears for the survivors under Econchattimico and
John Walker. 

The little group settled in the eastern edge of the Creek Nation, not far from present-day Muskogee, Oklahoma. They built cabins and started clearing lands for themselves, but their winter arrival did not help them acclimate to the new country. Many died from illness and starvation over the coming months.

Three months after they arrived in today's Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the emigrants submitted a list of claims to the government seeking reimbursement for the value of the property they left behind in Florida. Their claims totaled $3,042.80. The amount may not seem significant but is worth $84,403.67 today (excluding interest). The losses included dozens of cabins, corn cribs, sheds, and acres of crops and fruit orchards. The government also still owed $15,000 to them for giving up their lands and moving west.  The money was still owed 22 years later when the War Between the States or Civil War broke out in 1861. [5]

The new Confederate government entered separate negotiations with the Apalachicolas, treating them as a sixth "civilized tribe" alongside the Creeks, Seminoles, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. The Confederates secured a separate treaty with them by promising to pay the long overdue claim at the end of the war in exchange for their support and military service. The Apalachicola warriors finally took up arms against the United States, turning out to fight the government that they had tried so long to appease:

The Apalachicola warriors fought on the Confederate side in a
number of engagements west of the Mississippi, including the
bloody Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas.

…The said Apalachicola band remained loyal to the United States, and maintained their peace and friendship unbroken; but in the year 1837 they were induced, by the urgent solicitation of the emigrating agent of the United States, to remove from the country occupied by them in Florida to the Indian country west of Arkansas, leaving the lands…and a large number of horses, mules, cattle, hogs, wagons, and other articles which they could not collect together and carry with them, and which the said emigrating agent persuaded them to leave in his charge, on his promise that the owners should be paid the value of all such their property in money by the agent of the United States on their arrival in the country provided for them on the west side of the Mississippi. [6] 

The Apalachicola chiefs and warriors fought on the side of the Confederacy in numerous battles across the modern states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. They never received the money they were promised. The collapse of the Confederate government ended any remaining hope.

The Apalachicola served in the Creek regiments raised in the Indian Nations during the war and were among the last Confederate soldiers anywhere to give up their arms. Their war finally ended when their commander, Brig. Gen. Stand Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender on June 23, 1865.

-End of Excerpt-

The sites of Econchattamico's and John Walker's reservations in Jackson County are unmarked. Walker's lands were along the Apalachicola River just east of present-day Sneads, Florida. Econchattimico's grounds were north of Sneads along today's River Road. Significant portions of both parcels remain in the hands of the Federal and state governments today.

To learn more about the Trail of Tears in Jackson County, Florida, please consider:

References:

[1] Daniel Boyd to C.A. Harris, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 11, 1838.

[2] Arkansas Gazette, November 28, 1838.

[3] J.R. Stephenson, “Muster Roll of a Company Seminole who have emigrated West of the Mississippi River,” January 10, 1839.

[4] Ibid.

[5] J.R. Stephenson to T.H. Crawford, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 6, 1839.

[6] Supplementary Article to Treaty between the Confederate States of America and the Creek Nation, July 10, 1861.

Zachary Taylor and the Red Ground King

An Incident of the Trail of Tears

by Dale Cox

Zachary Taylor in 1844.
Library of Congress

The name of Andrew Jackson is most closely associated with the Trail of Tears and the movement of troops through the Apalachicola River valley by a future President. It was not Jackson, however, but Zachary Taylor, who actually implemented the policy of "Indian Removal" in the region. He later became the 12th President of the United States.

Taylor (1784-1850) was an officer of long service when he reached Florida in 1837. He still was a colonel when he led troops at the Battle of Okeechobee on Christmas Day of that year. His service there led the government to elevate him to the rank of brevet brigadier general.

Taylor assumed command of all United States forces in Florida in May 1838. He arrived at Chattahoochee in October of that year to oversee the forced removal of the remaining bands of Apalachicola Creek or Seminole Indians who lived on lands given to them in Jackson County. 

The following is excerpted from my book The History Of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years:

-Excerpt-

Summer houses at Econchattimico's Town on the
Chattahoochee River in Jackson County, Florida.
Comte de Castelnau, 1838.

One of the last accounts of the Native Americans in Jackson County was written during the summer of 1838 by a visiting French nobleman, the Comte de Castlenau. He described Econchattimico ("Red Ground King") as an old man, “bent with age." The chief's ears and the tip of his nose were missing, cut off as punishment for committing adultery. Creek law specified that the cropping of the ears or nose was the proper punishment for the crime, which was a significant breach of the rules of personal conduct by which chief and warriors were expected to abide.

By April 3, 1838, it was widely reported in newspapers around the South that Econchattimico and John Walker had agreed to relocate to the new lands west of the Mississippi. Neither chief wanted to go, but they really had little choice. Walker’s generous offer to let Coahadjo’s refugees stay with him had depleted his village’s food supply, and hunger became a severe issue for his people. Their situation was exacerbated when most of the refugee Creeks fled into the swamps and began attacking isolated farms and settlements. The pressure on the government to remove the last of the Apalachicola bands increased, as did rumors that they were planning to join the war effort:

A Creek warrior of the Apalachicola bands sketched from
 life on the Apalachicola River in 1838.
University of West Florida

The Indians on the Apalachicola river, (Conchatimico’s tribe and those lower down the river) entered some time ago, into a treaty stipulation, to leave Florida on the 20th of this month. Fears are now entertained that they will not move at the time appointed. They are to be paid the money to which the treaty entitles them, on the 15th. The acting governor, in order to prevent them from dispersing, has assembled a force of 300 men, half from Jackson, and half from Gadsden county, to be in readiness to keep them in check. There is also to be one company of regulars present. The removal of the Indians is a duty which has been assigned to Lieut. Boyd, of the army. [1]

There is no evidence that Econchattimico and Walker were planning to take to the woods, but the government reacted to the rumors with considerable force. Colonel Zachary Taylor, now holding the field rank of brigadier general, moved north with a command of regular troops to oversee the removal operation. The Tallahassee Floridian reported his passage through that city in mid-October, accompanied by two companies of dragoons. He also had with him, according to the newspaper, “a chief of the Tallahassees, the son of Neamathla, and his negro interpreter.” 

Taylor and his troops were soon at Econchattimico’s town, where they were joined by Captain E. Backus and a second body of soldiers from the 6th U.S. Infantry. The steamboat Rodney was brought up the Apalachicola River, and on October 20, 1838, the men women and children of the two villages were placed aboard:

Aspalaga in Gadsden County as shown in an 1834 painting.
Notice the Native Americans smoking fish on the near or
Jackson County shore.
University of West Florida

Two companies of mounted men, one of dragoons under the command of Lieut. Lowton, the other infantry commanded by Capt. Backus, crossed the Apalachicola river and were posted in the immediate vicinity of the Indian towns a few days previous to the expiration of the time stipulated in the treaty for the removal of the Indians, the 20th inst. We learn that every preparation had been made by the Indians to take to the woods. Provisions and ammunition were in readiness, and but for the presence of a well disciplined and determined force, and certain nightly amusements got up by the officers and two friendly chiefs of the Tallahassees brought on by General Taylor, their plans would doubtless have been put in execution. On Saturday last they were embarked, to the number of two hundred and eighty men, women, and children, on board the steam boats Izard and Rodney, for their destination in the far west. [2]

By the 21st, the boats were at Aspalaga, where Taylor dispatched a message informing the government that the Native Americans had been removed without incident. From there, the boat continued down the river to its confluence with the Jackson River just north of Apalachicola. Turning off into the latter stream, the Rodney steamed up to Lake Wimico and across to the depot where Florida’s earliest railroad would soon cross the narrow neck of land to the city of St. Joseph:

Zachary Taylor in uniform. He served as the
12th President of the United States in 1849-
1850, dying while in office.
National Archives

The steamer Rodney arrived yesterday at the Depot, having on board 269 of the Indians from Conchatimico and Walker’s Town, on the Apalachicola. These Indians, since the acquisition of Florida, have resided on the Apalachicola river, entirely surrounded by the whites. Their position was mutually inconvenient to both parties, and their removal highly desired by the inhabitant, and the government. They have been paid for their improvements and personal property, and on a day fixed by treaty, they embarked on the steamboat for their western home. The militia and a few regular troops had been ordered out to prevent the Indians from dispersing, or committing any depredations. Too much praise cannot be given to Mr. Daniel Boyd, the emigrating agent, who controlled the movement, for the humanity, energy, and despatch with which this emigration has been conducted. We believe that West Florida is now free from the presence of an Indian. [3]

The claim that Northwest Florida had been cleared of Native Americans was a bit premature. The former members of Coahadjo’s band remained in hiding in the swamps of the Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, and Chipola Rivers, now led by Pascofa and several of his sub-chiefs.

-End Excerpt-

I will write more about the long Trail of Tears journey of Econchattimico, Walker, and their people tomorrow.

You can read more anytime in the book, which is available in both paperback and Kindle formats:

References

[1] Pensacola Gazette, October 14, 1838.

[2] Tallahassee Floridian, October 27, 1838.

[3] St. Joseph Times, October 24, 1838.

Marianna ravaged by two massive fires in two years!

Devastating fires mark the eve of war.

by Dale Cox

The devastating fires struck the block across Jackson Street
from Courthouse Square in Marianna, Florida.

The two years before the War Between the States (or Civil War) saw two of the greatest fire-related disasters in the history of Marianna, Florida.

The first came on October 28, 1859. Fire exploded from the livery stable and burned stores, offices, homes, and warehouses. One-third of the downtown business district was destroyed. This account appeared in the next day's issue of the Marianna Patriot:

About 4 o’clock p.m. yesterday (28th), fire broke out in the large livery stable owned by Mr. Wm. Nickels, and despite all the efforts to suppress it, it was in ten minutes in full blast, and spread with the fury and violence of a hurricane. It was the most terrific and appalling spectacle we ever beheld. In less than two hours from the first alarm of fire, all of that handsome row of buildings on the west side of the public square was in ashes. It began with the large liver stable and ended with the dwelling house of Mr. J.H. Brett, including the stores of H.C. King, Wm. Powers, D.B. Leslie, Jno. R. Ely & Co., the drug store of Dr. W.H. Hughes, the saddler of Mr. Thomas Wilton, the law offices of Messrs. Milton & Milton, and R.L. Smith, Esq. Loss estimated at $60,000 to $75,000. Insurance only $27,000. [1]

The structures were located in the block across Jefferson Street from the Jackson County Courthouse.

Descendants of Gov. John Milton have long owned the
Milton Insurance Agency which stands on the block where
fire destroyed their ancestor's law offices.

The names included in the article ranked among the most prominent in antebellum Marianna. William Nickels, the owner of the stables where the fire began, was a prominent merchant. His home, which no longer stands, is noted in Marianna legend as the mansion of Samuel Bellamy, husband of the ill-starred "Ghost of Bellamy Bridge."

J.H. Brett was the county constable. H.C. King, William Powers, and D.B. Leslie were prosperous merchants. John R. Ely & Company was owned by John R. Ely (Sr.), who lived in Marianna's beautiful old Ely-Criglar Mansion. Dr. W.H. Hughes was one of several physicians who lived in the city, and Thomas Wilton ran a small factory that produced saddles and leather works.

Gov. John Milton of Florida
(D) Marianna

The "law offices of Messrs. Milton & Milton" were those of Gen. John Milton and his son, William Henry Milton. The senior Milton was elected governor of Florida the next year. His son, William, went on to command Confederate cavalry forces in the 5th Florida Cavalry. Uniquely, he later introduced Armstrong Purdee - Jackson County's first African American attorney - to the practice of law. R.L. Smith, who practiced alongside the Miltons, soon commanded Company B, 15th Confederate Cavalry.

The value of the U.S. dollar has increased by 2,996.07% since 1859. The total loss from the fire in modern terms was between $1,857,643.37 and $2,322,054.22, more than the tax value of the lots and structures in the same block of Jefferson Street today!

The fire came as Marianna was celebrating what many thought would be its crowning achievement. The Western Union Telegraph line being built to connect the city to Tallahassee was just two or three days from reaching Quincy on the day of the inferno. [2]

Rebuilding started almost immediately, but a second major fire hit areas bordering courthouse square less than one year later. The cause this time was definitely arson:

The hand of the incendiary had applied the torch to the new store of Wm. Powers, and it, with the contents, together with the store house of H.O. Bassett and the livery stable of Wm. Nickels, were in ashes. The sufferers are: - Wm. Powers, loss $6,000; insured for $2,500. Henry O. Bassett, loss $3,000; no insurance. Messrs. Parker & King, loss, $7,000; insured for $6,000. W.W. Grace, daguerreotypist, lost all his stock. McClellan & Barnes, loss $500. Wm. Nickels, loss $1,500; insured for $1,000. Aside from this Messrs. Davis &c.; Wilson and Alderman, Moore & Co. suffered considerable damage from the removal of their goods. [3]

The destruction of offices of W.W. Grace, a "daguerreotypist" or photographer, explains why no pre-1860s photographs of Marianna have been found.

County records do not indicate that the arsonist was ever caught.

References:

[1] Marianna Patriot, October 29, 1859.
[2] Quincy Republican, October 29, 1859.
[2] Marianna Patriot, July 14, 1860.

A Greenwood slave seeks freedom in death

Suicide at the bottom of a well.

by Dale Cox

 

Aerial photograph of Greenwood taken before
Hurricane Michael struck the area.

The census of 1860 shows that half of the more than 10,000 people living in Jackson County were held in slavery by a relatively small percentage of the other half. Most were of African descent, although some Native Americans were among their number.  

A true story of the plight of one of these individuals appeared in the pages of the Florida Whig newspaper in 1853. The man lived on the farm of Dr. Franklin Hart and committed suicide by jumping into a well:

Singular Suicide.- The Florida Whig of the 29th ult. records a remarkable case of suicide by a negro belonging to Dr. Franklin Hart, of Marianna, who precipitated himself, head-foremost, into the well, and was drowned. The circumstances were these: - A few days, probably a week preceding, the negro, pampered by too good treatment, attacked his master, and inflicted considerable injury, and, of course, ran away. On the following Sunday evening, the negro came to the house of a servant belonging to a gentleman of the place, who immediately and faithfully reported his appearance to Dr. Hart, who had him secured. On Monday morning, when asked to step out, which he doubtless concluded was for the purpose of receiving a well-merited chastisement, he threw himself into the well, and, probably stunned by the descent, his own efforts to save himself, though violent, were unavailing, and those from above fruitless, though speedily rendered. [1]

This 1845 drawing depicts the whipping or "paddling" of a
slave in Pensacola, Florida. Library of Congress.

The name of the man who so desperately sought to avoid enslavement and the last is not known. The newspaper writer's statements that the man's attack on Dr. Hart, who held him in bondage, was due to "too good treatment" and that a planned beating was "well-merited" is a reflection of the attitudes held by some in the press in that day.

The man's story reached far beyond his home county or state. The Florida Whig's article about the suicide was picked up by The Liberator, an Abolitionist newspaper published in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison. The publisher was a leader in the religious movement against slavery, and his modest readership included Frederick Douglas. 

In addition to abolitionist sermons and editorials, The Liberator republished news accounts of incidents such as the one involving Dr. Hart to reinforce its crusade against American slavery.

Dr. Hart's home, according to an advertisement he placed five years later, was in Greenwood:

The subscriber offers for sale his Residence in Greenwood, Florida, to which is attached 80 acres of Land, 50 of which are cleared and in a good state of cultivation.

Greenwood is situated in one of the most pleasant, healthy, and populous neighborhoods in the State, 9 miles north of Marianna and 10 miles west of Niel’s landing on the Chattahoochee River, and is a fine location for a Physician or Merchant.

The Dwelling is a good two-story house with 6 rooms and there are on the premises a Storehouse, Physician’s office, a good barn and stables, and all necessary outhouses.

Any person buying and not wishing the land for cultivation could divide it into Lots and sell it at a profit. Apply to

FRANKLIN HART.

Greenwood, Jackson county, Fla.

February 2, 1858 [2]

The burial location of the unfortunate man is not known. Perhaps someday, a marker will tell his story and remind us all that he once lived and died in our community.

-

References:

[1]The Liberator, December 2, 1853, page 192.

[2] Columbus Enquirer, February 4, 1858.

Victory Bridge construction began 100 years ago

Landmark bridge was the first to span the Apalachicola River.

by Dale Cox

Victory Bridge at Chattahoochee, Florida.

The 100th anniversary of construction for beautiful old Victory Bridge is now underway. The 2,100-foot long structure once spanned Florida's Apalachicola River between Chattahoochee and Sneads.

The bridge gained its name from the Allied victory in World War I, the first "war to end all wars." The cost was paid by Jackson and Gadsden Counties, with assistance from the Federal government.

Sections of the structure still survive, although the central part was removed after the State of Florida built the new U.S. 90 bridge in the 1950s. The longest section stretches out over the river from the high bluffs on the Chattahoochee side. It is easy to see at River Landing Park.

A smaller section survives on the Jackson County side but is more difficult to reach.

The Old Spanish Trail stretched from San Diego on the West Coast to
Jacksonville and St. Augustine on the Atlantic Ocean.

The bridge was part of the original Old Spanish Trail Highway, a coast-to-coast tourist route that carried drivers from San Diego, California, to San Diego, California. The highway commemorated but did not always follow the original trails used by Spanish explorers and missionaries.

The graceful arches and ornate rails were visualized by the bridge's designer, James Austin Mortland of the Florida State Roads Department (today's FDOT). It took crews from Masters & Mullen Construction Company of Cleveland, Ohio, three years to finish the project, which opened to traffic in 1922.

A new interpretive panel will be installed this year at River Landing Park in Chattahoochee to tell the story of Victory Bridge and provide visitors with more information.

Read more about the building of the bridge from the August 24, 1922, issue of Manufacturers Record:

Bronze bust of Hero of the Soviet Union headed for museum in Chipley, Florida!

Marcel Albert was a dashing fighter pilot of World War II.

by Dale Cox

Marcel Albert during World War II.

A daring World War II pilot who received national honors from both Francis and the former Soviet Union (now Russia) will soon be honored at the Washington County Historical Museum in Chipley, Florida!

Marcel Albert, who fought the German Luftwaffe on both the Eastern and Western Fronts, is memorialized by a bronze bust in the Russian Embassy. According to Dorothy Pyfrom Odom of the Washington County Historical Society, the bust is being sent to the museum in Chipley. It will be displayed there to honor Albert, who lived in Washington County for many years.

Albert was a young man working at a Renault factory in France as World War II erupted in Europe. He joined the military in 1938, underwent pilot training, and was stationed at an airfield in Chartres. His first combat action came in May 1940 when German invaded his country.

In one single day of action (May 14, 1940), he shot down two German aircraft in aerial combat. Germany quickly overwhelmed France, despite the courage of pilots like Albert, who went up against the much larger and better-equipped German air force or Luftwaffe. When the collaborators of the Vichy government signed an armistice with Hitler, Albert's unit was sent to Algeria. He and two other pilots soon deserted and flew their planes to Great Britain.

Washington County Historical Museum in Chipley, Florida.

Albert next joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) to continue his personal war against the Nazis. He flew 47 missions for the British, contributing to Churchill's determined stand against the Germans.

In 1942 he joined other exiled French pilots in the Escadron de Chasse 2/30 Normandie-Niemen, a fighter group (later expanded to a regiment) sent to the Eastern Front to join the Soviet military in its fight against Hitler's invasion of the USSR. He flew Russian-made Yak fighters against some of Germany's best pilots and aircraft.

By the time World War II ended, Albert was an ace having shot down 23 Axis aircraft and fought in 262 battles. He was awarded the Gold Star and named a Hero of the Soviet Union by the Russians, alongside whom he flew. The USSR also named him to the Order of Lenin.

Marcel Albert, who left the military in 1948 and later settled in Washington County, was the second most successful French ace of World War II. He lived in Northwest Florida until 2008 when he moved to Texas. He died there two years later. A grateful France named him to its Legion of Honour.

The movement of the bronze bust from the Russian Embassy to the museum in Chipley is a remarkable honor for the small but fascinating attraction. Further information on the timing of the transfer is expected soon.

Learn more about the Washington County Historical Society and its museum by visiting https://washingtoncountyhistoricalsociety.com/.

The following is his obituary as released by Brown Funeral Home at the time of his death:

Marcel Albert, 92, passed away Monday, August 23, 2010 at his residence in Harlingen, Texas. 

Marcel was born and raised in Paris, France. He had a mechanical bent and after high school went to work for Renault building gear boxes. He developed an interest in flying and was accepted for military pilot training. In 1938 as a sergeant he began to fly. Albert earned his pilots badge flying biplanes and then was sent to Istres for advanced training. In 1939 his flying skill led to a post at the Centre Instruction Chasse at Chartres where he flew fighters, including the French built Bloch 152, Morance Saulnier 406 and the American built Curtis Hawk 75. 

In 1940, he was posted to flying France's newest fighter the Dewontine 520. On May 10 the Germans invaded France and May 13 the squadron entered action where he eventually served in three different air forces. On May 14, Albert shot down a Dornier 17 bomber. Later in the day he shot down a Messercshmitt ME 109 but it was not confirmed. The French government soon sent his squadron to North Africa. 

When the Vichy French forces came into conflict with the RAF, Albert decided to fly to freedom and soon he and two other pilots flew to Gibraltar and surrendered their aircraft. After 4 attempts to reach England by ship, Albert made it and was thrown into jail! He was soon released and joined the RAF.  Albert flew 47 missions with the RAF. Albert was soon leading his squadron as a sous lieutenant. 

In June 1943, he scored his first victory in Russia. As the Soviet army pushed the Germans west, Albert's score steadily rose. In recognition of his combat and leadership abilities, he became one of the few foreigners ever to receive the USSR's highest award for valor, the Gold Star and title "Hero of the Soviet Union". 

At war's end he finally was promoted to Captain with 23 confirmed victories during 262 combat missions. In 1946 at a test center while practicing for an air show, he crashed but was not seriously injured. He was then sent to Czechoslovakia as Air Attaché. In Prague, he met his future wife, an American who worked at the US Embassy. 

Albert soon left the military and in 1948 with his wife, he moved to the United States where he managed a chain of restaurants. Albert was a former resident of Chipley, FL and in 2008 moved to Harlingen, Texas.

Funeral services were held Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 10 A.M. at the graveside in Wachob-Forest Lawn Cemetery in Chipley with the Rev. George Sammut officiating. Brown Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

African slaves in Florida before St. Augustine?

"Africans of unrecorded countries."

by Dale Cox

Fort Caroline National Memorial commemorates the ill-fated
French attempt to settle on Florida's St. Johns River.

Did France bring African slaves to Florida more than fifty years before the "first" slaves reached Virginia in 1619?

An enigmatic passage in the deposition of a settler who arrived in 1564 - one year before the founding of St. Augustine - suggests that slaves helped build a short-lived French settlement on the St. Johns River. The colony was called Fort Caroline, and it stood in present-day Jacksonville.

Slavery was not particularly new in North America when the French arrived on the Atlantic seaboard of today's United States. Hernando de Soto infamously enslaved hundreds of Native Americans during his brutal march through the Southeast, even using the weak as food for his dogs. Other Native Americans from the region were carried away as slaves by Spanish vessels that stopped along the coast to fish or trade. 

The first recorded European settlement in North America, in fact, was neither Pensacola nor St. Augustine and certainly not Jamestown or Plymouth. It was San Miguel de Guadalupe, a colony founded somewhere on the Georgia or South Carolina coast in 1526. Meager Spanish records verify that some African slaves accompanied the expedition and that its commander, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, intended to kidnap hundreds of Native Americans to send into slavery.

The St. Johns River, which the French called the River May.

San Miguel, like the first effort to settle Pensacola in 1559, failed, and the survivors sailed away.

The French came next, building Charlesfort at today's Marine Corps Training Base at Parris Island, South Carolina, in 1562. The colony lasted less than one year, but the French came back with a greater determination just two years later.

The site they selected this time was a low triangular island on what they called the River May. This early designation for the St. Johns River survives in today's community of Mayport and Naval Station Mayport, both located near the river's mouth. Led by Rene de Goulaine de Laudonniere, the settlers formed an alliance with local Timucua Indians and started building Fort Caroline.

Among the early French settlers was a man named Robert Melenche. He later gave a deposition about the founding of the colony:

A modern ship passes beneath the guns of Fort Caroline. A
recreation of the fort stands near the original site.

…In this armada they brought three ships; the General's ship was a galleon of over 200 tons, although it was not a vessel for mercantile traffic because it had been built for war. Another was a 120-ton ship, and still another, an 80-ton ship. Three hundred men went out in this armada, 110 sailors, 120 experienced soldiers, and the rest of them, officers of various rank. Besides these, there were many Africans of unrecorded countries. [1]

The last line of this excerpt is of particular note. Who were the "many Africans of unrecorded countries" put ashore in Florida by France in 1564? Not even one of their names is known, and Melenche says nothing more about them. France was engaged in the African slave trade by the time, and Melenche's failure to include the "many Africans" in his enumeration of the 300 men sent to America suggests they were slaves.

A gruesome fate awaited the colonists of Fort Caroline - and undoubtedly many of the Africans as well.

Many of the settlers died of sickness and malnutrition during the winter of 1564-1565. Others mutinied and sailed away. The survivors were about to give up when a relief expedition arrived in August 1565.

The earth and timber walls of the fort proved no match for
the Spanish soldiers that attacked on September 20, 1565.

At roughly the same time, however, the Spanish arrived just down the coast and founded St. Augustine. Determined to wipe out the French, who he regarded not only as interlopers but as heretics because they were Protestants, Spain's commander Pedro Menedez de Aviles led 500 men overland to Fort Caroline.

The Spanish soldiers advanced through rough terrain and torrents of rain, reaching a pond near the fort on September 19, 1565. They stormed Fort Caroline on the next morning, slaughtering virtually every man they found. Some forty or fifty of the French escaped over the walls and into the surrounding wilderness. Laudonniere was among them.

The only other survivors were in a group of 60 women and children spared by Menendez. Everyone else died, and Fort Caroline was no more.

The fate of the slaves of Fort Caroline is unknown. Most probably died in the massacre or in two subsequent slaughters carried out by Menendez against French shipwreck victims. A handful may have been among the survivors.

The site of the ill-fated French settlement has never been found, and many believe that it has been washed away by erosion. The story, however, is commemorated at Fort Caroline National Memorial in Jacksonville. It is a unit of the Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve and is open to the public daily.

For more information, please visit the park's website:   https://www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/foca.htm.