The Attack on the Watson Farm (February 7, 1868)

William J. Purman

As Reconstruction era violence continued to escalate in Jackson County during the winter of 1868, the forces of Bureau Agent William J. Purman carried out a military-style raid on the farm of Lewis Watson.
Purman had now succeeded Charles Hamilton as agent for the Freedmens Bureau in Jackson County. He continued and expanded upon the extra legal tactics of his predecessor.

Members of the Watson family were rumored to have been involved in the deaths of two freedmen near Campbellton. Purman produced no evidence to prove any allegations against the men nor did he swear out a warrant for them with authorities in Jackson County. He did, however, order an armed party of freedmen to their farm.

The Watson farm was about three miles from Campbellton and the family members and some of their friends looked out on February 7, 1868, and saw organized bodies of freedmen approaching:

John Doyle Examined & Sworn Says that on last Thursday evening a band of armed Negroes approached Mr. Lewis Watson's house in Jackson County by two routes. One party coming from the road to the house, the other party through the field. That there were between 18 and 25 of the Negroes who came from the road and about six or more through the field. That he saw George Harris colored, James Davis, Frank Smith, Bill Smith & Macon McKinnie among the Negroes. That they called one of their party Captain and called other officers but don't recollect.

Freedmen photographed during Reconstruction

The above is from the case file on the attack that was recently discovered along with other records from the Reconstruction era in boxes in the old Jackson County Jail. The records were salvaged prior to the demolition of the old jail.

Doyle, a neighbor of the Watsons, tried to get across a fence when he saw the armed freedmen marching up to the farm:

...[W]hen they approached Mr. Watson's house they did so in a boisterous manner, with their guns presented and as he, Doyle, was getting over the fence, they, the Negroes, ordered him to "halt g-- damn you or I will blow your brains out." He halted and they then arrested [him], Duncan Miles, Marion Watson and John Miller.

The freedmen fired their guns repeatedly in Lewis Watson's yard and also shot at his dogs, which were barking furiously. Doyle asked by what authority he was being arrested:

...[O]ne of them punched him...in the back of the neck with his gun and told him there was their authority and that if he said a sound they would blow his damn brains out.

The freedmen then marched their captives away from the farm. After they had gone about 3/4 of a mile they released Marion Watson and John Miller, but continued on with Duncan Miles and John Doyle:

...They then took a little path leading down into a Hammock near the Baker Field. They took him to a house occupied by Austin Smith, that while there he...asked them for a drink of water and that Macon McKinnie told him he would not need water long g-- damn you and would not give it to him. From Austin Smith's they took him... to Alex Godwin's house. When they got to Alex Godwin's they halted.

Farm Building like the one where Doyle and Miles were held

The armed men clearly were expecting some kind of written papers, probably from Purman, at Alex Godwin's house. Godwin was a freedmen who had once been a slave on the plantation of Alexander R. Godwin. Doyle heard them ask Godwin if a man named Spencer had come with papers. He said that no one had come. After some discussion, the armed force marched Doyle and Miles on to the plantation of F.P. Haywood where they held them in an old building overnight. The initial group of freedmen were joined that night by a second armed band led by Bill Young.

In his sworn deposition, Doyle detailed the discussion he overheard from the men standing guard over him:

...[T]here seemed to be a diversity of opinion in regards to what should be done with them (meaning Doyle and Miles), some were for shooting while others were for waiting for the papers. The next morning they started in the direction of Underwood's, a Justice of the Peace, to give him...a hearing. They were met by Alex Godwin who told them that if they went toward's Underwood's they would be met by a white crowd....

Jackson County as it appeared during Reconstruction

The white men of the Campbellton area had been alerted to the attack and kidnapping and were now armed and in force, looking for the freedmen and their captives. To avoid a confrontation with this group, the freedmen turned towards Marianna.

As they marched for the county seat, the freedmen continued to debate what they should do with their prisoners. Some continued to be for shooting the two men while others favored carrying them on to Marianna.

Doyle swore in his deposition that Mingo Long had arrived with Young's party. A well-known associate of Hamilton and Purman, Long was involved in a series of Reconstruction era crimes including the burning of a cotton gin. He told John Doyle that, if he had his way, the two prisoners would never see Marianna.

The name of another man who would figure prominently in Jackson County's Reconstruction War also appears in the documents of the case file. Calvin Rogers was reported to have been present in the party of freedmen who arrived under Bill Young. Although he did not yet hold the position, Rogers would soon become the constable of Jackson County.

Expected papers never came from Marianna and the freedmen halted their march for the city as they continued to debate what should be done with John Doyle and Duncan Miles. After terrorizing the men for over 24 hours by repeatedly aiming guns at them and threatening to fill their hearts with buckshot, the freedmen realized that they were facing impending violence from the outraged citizens now swarming all over the area. Doyle and Miles were released and the armed force scattered.

There had never been a warrant, criminal complaint or any other document sworn out against the men kidnapped from the Watson farm. Clearly the freedmen had attacked in military formation expecting that some type of papers would be sent out from Marianna. Whether Purman, with whom a number of the men in the armed force were associated, lost his nerve or there was some other complication is not clear.

The victims of the incident immediately swore out criminal complaints against as many of the freedmen involved in their kidnapping as could be identified. Freedmen from around the Campbellton area who were not aligned with Purman's forces testified on behalf of the victims and Judge George F. Baltzell ordered the arrests of Macon McKinnie, Frank Smith, James Davis, George Hawes, H. Smith, Mingo Long, Calvin Rogers, Henry Cotton and Oliver Long on February 12, 1868.

The men were all charged with Sedition and Insurrection, extremely serious crimes. The victims of the attack, however, would never see justice done to their attackers. The suspects had powerful friends and all attempts to try them were blocked.

The case contributed greatly to the growing sentiment in Jackson County that it was no longer possible to obtain justice in the courts. As the year 1868 went forward, the violence between Purman and his allies and the white and some black citizens of Jackson County would surge.

I will continue to post on the Reconstruction War in Jackson County in coming weeks, so be sure to check back regularly.

The Raid on the McKay Farm (January 1868)

Freedmen working a farm.

The Battle of the Flowers had ignited passions in Jackson County (see The Battle of the Flowers) and tensions between local white citizens and the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen & Abandoned Lands intensified through the summer and fall of 1867.

The growing resistance to the Federal government and particularly to its agents, Charles M. Hamilton and William J. Purman, reached the boiling point in January of 1868 when news spread through the county of the kidnapping and beating of two farmers, William McKay and John F.E. McKay. On January 3, 1868, the two filed suit against the Carpetbagger Hamilton, each alleging that the agent:

Col. James F. McClellan

…With force and arms then & there assaulted the said plaintiff then and there beat, bruised & ill treated him, and then and there kept and detained him in prison there, without any reasonable or probable cause whatsoever, for a long time, to wit, for a space of four days….

The lawsuits each sought a minimum of $10,000 in damages and were filed on behalf of both of the farmers by attorneys James F. McClellan, W.D. Barnes, A.H. Bush and Samuel Hawkins. McClellan, Barnes and Bush had all fought on the Confederate side during the recent war.

They alleged that both of the McKays had suffered injury to their persons and businesses as a result of their confinement by Hamilton.

Charles M. Hamilton

The situation developed, in fact, because of an edict handed down by Hamilton himself. Cotton prices had collapsed that year and money was in short supply. Many of the freedmen (former slaves) had purchased things on credit that year, in anticipation of being able to pay their debts when the cotton crop came in. When prices collapsed, they found themselves unable to pay their debts.

The creditors to whom they owed money began to seize their portions of the corn crop in order to settle the debts. Food began to run short and Hamilton decided to deal with the situation by all but completing his takeover of Jackson County's economic system. He ordered planters to cease dividing crops and paying out the debts of their laborers. He and Purman would decide how much the laborers were due and who should be paid.

Carpetbaggers as seen by Southerners

Many of the farmers objected to the agent's order as illegal. Hamilton ordered troops to the Campbellton area to enforce his edict, but the soldiers arrived to find themselves faced with the possibility of armed rebellion. Wisely they avoided a bloody confrontation and returned to Marianna. 

Learning of the outcry from the farmers of Jackson County, one of Hamilton's military superiors - Lt. Col. F.F. Flint - protested to Gen. John Sprague, the military commander of Florida, that the agent was pushing the citizens of the county to the brink and that a serious disturbance might be the result. Governor David Walker joined with Flint in blaming Hamilton for the growing tension in Jackson County.

Hamilton, meanwhile, moved on John and William McKay. The two farmers had dismissed one of their laborers during the year for balking at his orders and refusing to carry out work assignments. He and his family had been evicted from the farm, but after being contacted by the Bureau, the McKays had paid him for the work he actually performed.

Carpetbaggers as seen by Northerners

Hamilton and Purman now demanded, however, that the two farmers pay the worker his share of the crop even though he had not worked through the entire season. They refused. Both men were seized, according to the Marianna Courier, and "ruthlessly incarcerated in a filthy old smokehouse to be made to succumb to an unfair and unjust disposition of their property that amounted to absolute robbery."

In the process of this "arrest," the McKays reported that they had been badly beaten, dragged away from their homes by a band of armed freedmen and held in horrendous conditions.

 A court date was set for April 4, 1868, and Hamilton was issued a summons to appear. According to a notation on the summons, it was "executed by handing a copy of the within to C.M. Hamilton" on January 15, 1868, by Deputy Sheriff R.J. Pittman.

It would take Hamilton nearly six weeks to respond to the filing against him. I will detail his response in the next article.

The Battle of The Flowers (Part One)

Charles M. Hamilton

The straw that broke the camel's back with regard to relations between Freedmen's Bureau officials Charles M. Hamilton and William J. Purman and the white residents of Jackson County came in the spring of 1867. It is remembered to this day as "The Battle of the Flowers."

It came as the U.S. Army, per its instructions from Congress, began to tighten its control over the people of Florida. Many of the Radical Republicans in Congress felt that the South had not shown proper repentance for secession and the war and that many Southern leaders had failed to show proper deference to the new order of things. The result was the beginning of what history called "Radical Reconstruction."

It began on April 9, 1867, when Major General John Pope issued General Orders No 1, taking control of the state and people of Florida. Colonel John T. Sprague was ordered to Tallahassee without delay, elections were suspended and the army took control of all functions of government. Local officials were retained in their positions until the ends of their terms, when they would be replaced by military appointees:

Gen. John Pope, U.S.A.

...It is to be clearly understood, however, that the civil officers thus retained in office shall confine themselves strictly to the performance of their official duties, and whilst holding their offices they shall not use any influence whatever to deter or dissuade the people from taking an active part in reconstructing their State Governments, under the act of Congress to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States and the act supplementary thereto. - Gen. John Pope, USA, April 9, 1867.

In other words, the military was suppressing the First Amendment rights of free speech of any person then holding public office in Florida, a list that included almost every influential native Floridian.

Congress had overturned Florida's post-war constitution, which was being ignored by Bureau officials such as Hamilton and Purman anyway. An election was ordered for delegates to a convention that would assemble for the drafting of a new constitution, but anyone who hoped to vote in the election would first be required to take the following oath of loyalty:

     I, _____________, do solemnly swear or affirm, in the presence of Almighty God, that I have resided in the State for ____________ that I am a citizen of the State of Florida; next preceding this day, and now reside in the county of Florida in said State, as the case may be; that I am 21 years old; that I have not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the United States, nor for felony committed against the laws of any State of the United States; that I have never been a member of any State Legislature, nor held any executive of judicial office in any State, to support the Constitution of the United States and afterwords engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, encourage others so to do. So help me God.

Col. John T. Sprague, U.S.A.

The orders from General Pope were followed immediately by General Orders No. 2 from Colonel John T. Sprague, the U.S. Army officer in command of Florida. It was short and to the point: "Martial Law is now in force throughout the State."

To enforce its will on the people of Florida, the Federal army now spread soldiers throughout the state. The Post Return of the Post of Tallahassee, Florida, dated May 1, 1867, shows that by the end of April a detachment of U.S. soldiers was back on duty in Marianna.

As should have been expected, a wave of outrage rolled quietly through the towns and cities of the South, including Marianna. The people had been stripped of their Constitutional rights, placed under martial law and threatened with military force after two full years of trying to live as good citizens following the end of the Civil War. 

Abraham Lincoln

The new policy was a slap in the face not just to the people of the South, but to the beliefs of the late President Abraham Lincoln. He had believed that the secession of the Southern states was illegal and that bringing them back to their places in the Union should be as simple as having them declare an end to slavery and renounce their Confederate debts and loyalty. In other words, he saw the restoration of the Union as an easy thing to accomplish once the fighting was over and believed it could be done with mercy and peaceful intent. He had expressed his views in his second Inaugural Address:


...With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. - Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865.

President Lincoln, who believed that the South had never really seceded at all, could not have imagined that two years later, Congress would place the Southern people under martial law and the army would enforce its will on peaceful people at the point of a bayonet. His dream of Reunion disappeared into the nightmare of Radical Reconstruction.

Martial law and the almost unlimited power granted to men like Hamilton and Purman boiled over in Jackson County in May of 1867 when the Bureau agents targeted not former Confederates or "unrepentant rebels," but three teenaged girls.

To continue to the second part of this article, please click here: The Battle of the Flowers (Part Two). To read other parts of my coverage of Reconstruction in Jackson County, just go to http://twoegg.blogspot.com.
 

Secret Meetings, Night Riders & the Lincoln Brotherhood in Jackson County

William J. Purman
Library of Congress

In the early summer of 1866, Charles M. Hamilton was reinforced at the Freedman's Bureau in Marianna by another Federal appointee, William J. Purman.

Few Reconstruction era officials would generate as much outrage as this Pennsylvanian did among the people of Jackson County. And white citizens were not alone in objecting to Purman's tactics and operations. John Wallace, for example, was an educated freedman who served as a state legislator in Florida during Reconstruction. He linked Purman's arrival in Marianna to what he called,"The Purman-Hamilton Reign of Terror in Jackson County."

Wallace left no doubt of his opinion of Purman and Hamilton, saying of them that, "Every device was resorted to by these agents to embitter the colored man against the white man." In fact, Wallace corroborated the claims of many white citizens who accused the two Bureau officials of operating Jackson County like their personal fiefdom:

Fancified Northern Artist's View of a Brave Bureau Agent
Library of Congress

...What incendiary harangues failed to accomplish they sought to do by exhibitions of their power over the whites, which they displayed in frequent acts of the grossest tyranny. They set at defiance the orders and decrees of the courts of justice when the matters involved were mere questions of right between two citizens, neither of whom were freedmen. They arrested and imprisoned peaceable citizens without any real cause, and refused to furnish them or their counsel with the charges upon which they were held. - John Wallace, Carpet bag rule in Florida,

John Wallace
Critic of Purman & Hamilton

Purman, according to Wallace, was a key supporter of a shadowy organization that Bureau officials organized among the freed slaves of Florida. With rituals based upon corruptions of those of the Masonic Lodge, the organization conducted its meetings in the dark of night and was called the Lincoln Brotherhood. Its presence in Florida was well known long before anyone heard the term "Ku Klux Klan."

Wallace himself was familiar with meetings of the Brotherhood near Tallahassee and there is no doubt that the sessions in Jackson County were very similar:

...The freedmen considered this league a great thing, and their meetings at the church were carefully guarded by armed sentinels, who halted any one who came into the vicinity of the church, requiring the countersign under the penalty of the contents of the old musket. Auxiliary lodges were formed in every part of the county and throughout the State. The regular meetings of these lodges were held every Thursday night, in the most secret places to be secured. - John Wallace, Carpetbag Rule in Florida,

The Lincoln Brotherhood
John Wallace said many Brotherhood members believed they
became true brothers of Abraham Lincoln when they joined the group.

Wallace went on to describe how applicants to the Brotherhood were forced to swear on a human skull they were told was that "of a brother who had been recreant to his trust, had broken his oath and exposed the secrets of this league." Anyone who did so, they warned, would share the man's fate.

The activities of the Lincoln Brotherhood played a significant role in the violence that took place in Jackson County during the Reconstruction era. In fact, local freedmen later would testify before the U.S. Congress that they had been threatened by what they called the "Black Klan." This, they said, was a Klan-like organization, but made up of black men instead of whites. The reference, undoubtedly, was to the Lincoln Brotherhood.

Not all of the targets of the Brotherhood were freedmen, as two Jackson County families soon would learn. I'll detail the group's raids on the McKay and Watson farms in coming posts. But first, in the next of this continuing series on Reconstruction in Jackson County, I'll focus on an event remembered in Marianna to this day as the "Battle of the Flowers." Check back on Thursday for that!