Bellamy Bridge Ghost Walks set for this weekend!

Photo of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge
Taken during last year's Ghost Walks.

The annual Bellamy Bridge Ghost Walks will take place this weekend on the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail!

The tours begin on Thursday night and continue through Saturday night.  Shuttles for this year's tours will leave from Citizens Lodge on Caverns Road in Marianna.  The cost to ride the shuttle is $2, but the tour itself is free!  (Donations are welcome!).

The tours take participants down the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail for after dark history lessons and ghost stories!  On Saturday night, participants will also be able to join in with the Emerald Coast Paranormal Concepts team as they search for scientific evidence of the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge!

To reserve your spot on the tours, please call the Jackson County Tourism Office at (850) 482-8061 or email them at info@visitjacksoncountyfla.com.

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

Death at Dozier School (Part One: 1900-1913)

Memorial Crosses at Boot Hill Cemetery
Dozier School for Boys - Marianna, Florida

Note:  What follows is the first installment in a series I plan to post on the history of deaths and probable burials at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida.To check for additional posts in this series, please check back regularly at http://twoegg.blogspot.com.

Death at Dozier School

A History of “Boot Hill Cemetery” at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida

by Dale Cox

Dozier School for Boys, originally known as the State Reform School, was a facility for juvenile offenders that operated for more than 100 years in Marianna, Florida. During the course of that long history, a number of students and employees of the school died from a variety of causes. Many were buried in the school cemetery, which is known locally and by former students and staff members alike as “Boot Hill.”

The cemetery is now the focus of a controversial research project by Dr. Erin Kimmerle and a team from the University of South Florida (USF). They are exhuming graves from the cemetery, which has been a known part of the local landscape for some 100 years.

Groups of former students claim that murder of juvenile offenders by staff members was common at the facility, even though no documentation or evidence has surfaced thus far.  The matter was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), which determined there were no grounds for criminal charges against former employees of the school and that the graves in the cemetery should not be exhumed.

The three-member Florida Cabinet subsequently overruled FDLE, the circuit judge of the 14^th Judicial Circuit, the State Archaeologist and the Secretary of State and authorized USF to begin a project to exhume the graves. That project is underway at this time.

The purpose of this series is to present a documented history of known deaths at the school, with a focus on probable burials in the school cemetery.

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The earliest known deaths at what would become Dozier School for Boys were not included in “Documentation of the Boot Hill Cemetery”, the interim report prepared in 2012 by Dr. Erin Kimmerle and other researchers from the University of South Florida (USF).[1]  

According to an October 1906 article written for the Marianna Times-Courier by Frank McDonald, two deaths took place at what was then the State Reform School during its first six years of operation:

The inmates are rosy-cheeked and robust, and their health is and has been excellent. There have been but two deaths since the institution was started, and of these one came to the school with organic disease of the heart, while the other was recaptured escape, who succumbed, notwithstanding the best of care and medical attention, from the inroads of long exposure at an inclement season.[2]

The identities of the students were not included in McDonald’s article, in which he noted that the population at the school then consisted of 39 boys and 4 girls. In the six years that had passed since the opening of the reform school, he reported, 171 juveniles had been received there and 128 discharged. Several of those discharged were escapees who were recaptured and sent on to other correctional facilities.[3]

The earliest records of the school were destroyed when the dormitory that also contained the superintendent’s office was destroyed by fire in 1914, so nothing else is known at this time about the two student deaths mentioned by McDonald. It is not known whether they were buried at the school or returned home for burial.[4]

USF researchers evidently did not locate this article while preparing their interim report for the Florida Division of Historical Resources.

Dr. Kimmerle, the head of the university’s research team, was invited by State Archaeologist Mary Glowacki to attend a meeting in Marianna on April 15, 2013, the purpose of which was to discuss concerns over the nature of the research at the Dozier School Cemetery and to improve communication so documentation could be presented to the USF team. Although Dr. Glowacki attended the meeting, as did I and Julia C. Byrd of the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, Dr. Kimmerle did not show, indicating that she was having lunch with her team members instead.[5]

Ms. Byrd subsequently requested that I continue to maintain an open stance with regard to sharing information with Dr. Kimmerle and her team. I notified her on April 16, 2013, that I was open to doing so. In the six months that followed, I received no contact from them and my only attempt to contact the school was referred to USF’s legal team.[6]

Believing that all information regarding deaths and potential burials at the school should be of significance to a team researching deaths and potential burials at the school, I sent the article quoted above to Gerard Solis, of the Office of General Counsel for USF. He has been cordial in his communications with me and informed me by email on September 24, 2013 that he had forwarded my email to Dr. Kimmerle.[7] 

The next known deaths at the State Reform School took place in 1914, but it is certainly possible that others occurred between October 1906, the date of the article quoted above, and November 1914, the date of the fatal fire that destroyed a dormitory and the school’s records. Future research in newspaper archives may reveal information on additional deaths that may have taken place in this 8 year time period.

The next installment in this series details the facts of the deadly fire that took place at the school in 1914. To continue to it, please visitDeath at Dozier School (Part Two: The 1914 Fire).

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[1] Kimmerle EH, Estabrook R, Wells EC, Jackson AT. 2012. Documentation of the Boot Hill Cemetery (8JA1860) at the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, Interim Report, Division of Historical Resources, Permit No. 1112.032, December 10, 2012.

[2] McDonald, Frank, “History and Progress of State Reform School,” Marianna Times-Courier, October 1906, reprinted in The Pensacola Journal, October 24, 1906, p. 4.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Ten Lives Lost when Florida Reform School Burns at Marianna,” Tampa Tribune, November 19, 1914, p. 1.

[5] Julia C. Byrd, Bureau of Archaeological Research, to Dale Cox, April 12, 2013; Dale Cox to Julia C. Byrd, Bureau of Archaeological Research, April 15, 2013; Julia C. Byrd, Bureau of Archaeological Research, April 16, 2013; Mary Glowacki, State Archaeologist, to Dale Cox, April 16, 2013.

[6] Julia C. Byrd, Bureau of Archaeological Research to Dale Cox, April 16, 2013; Dale Cox to Mary Glowacki, State Archaeologist, April 16, 2013.

[7] Dale Cox to Gerard D. Solis, Office of General Counsel (USF), September 22, 2013; Gerard D. Solis, Office of General Counsel (USF), to Dale Cox, September 24, 2013.

USF Researchers refuse to examine Dozier documents

One of the boxes of documents that USF researchers
refused to examine while "researching" Dozier School.

While claiming they are researching the "truth" about the small cemetery at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, scientists and students from the University of South Florida (USF) today refused to even look at thousands of pages of documents about the school.

The awkward situation developed when a representative of a local historic preservation group contacted me to indicate they had been asked by USF researcher Antoinette Jackson to meet and discuss any documents relating to Dozier that might be in their collection.  Since the organization does not have any Dozier-related documents, its representative asked me if I would be willing to make my collection of thousands of pages of Dozier material available to the researchers.

I agreed to do so and boxed up a wealth of Dozier documentation from my collection and carried it to Marianna so the USF researchers could access it more easily.  After waiting nearly 2 hours, I was told that Jackson and her team members refused to even so much as look at it.

Obviously, they didn't want to so much as breathe the same air as me, even if that meant ignoring thousands of pages of material that sheds considerable light on the truth about the deaths and graves at the former Marianna reform school. 

Not only is this sad, it is silly. It is hard for me to imagine that any serious researcher would turn down the chance to view a collection containing thousands of pages of documentation on a topic of such interest to them.  But, sadly, that is the case with USF. 

The school apparently would rather remain in the dark than so much as talk politely with someone who disagrees with them and their tactics.  Perhaps the researchers would do well to learn that people can be polite, even though they disagree with you. 

Since $600,000 in taxpayer money is being spent on this fiasco, I would have assumed that they would want their research to be as accurate as possible.  I guess I assumed wrong.

The school (USF), as you probably know, is in the process of exhuming graves from the small, known cemetery at Dozier School, even though 80% of the families with loved ones buried there have not been contacted. So far they have found between 30 and 40 humans buried in coffins according to standard mortuary and religious practices of the early 20th century, along with a dog buried in an old cooler.

They have reported finding no graves outside of the traditional cemetery limits, despite often wild claims by a group of former students seeking large payments from the state.

New Book - Milly Francis: The Life & Times of the Creek Pocahontas

I'm pleased to announce the release of my new book, Milly Francis: The Life & Times of the Creek Pocahontas.

While this book does not deal in specific with Jackson County, it does include a great deal of information on surrounding locations including the Apalachicola River, Fort Gadsden Historic Site, the Choctawhatchee River, Wakulla Springs and St. Marks.

Milly Francis was a Creek Indian woman who was born in the Alabama (Alibamo) villages of the Upper Creeks in around 1803. She spent her early childhood on the Alabama River not far from today's Montgomery, Alabama.

Milly was the daughter of Josiah Francis, a man also known as the Prophet Francis or Hillis Hadjo ("Warrior of Crazy Medicine"). He ignited a religious movement among the Creek Indians in 1812-1813 that resulted in the outbreak of the Creek War of 1813-1814.

19th century image of Milly saving Duncan McCrimmon

The Red Sticks, a name given to the followers of the Prophet Francis because they displayed red war clubs in their towns, were defeated by Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the survivors either surrendered or fled south to Spanish Florida.  Milly and her family were among those who fled.

By the time she was 15, in fact, Milly Francis had survived three wars and a desperate flight to refugee camps in Florida.

Despite the hardships she had endured, in 1818 she saved the life of a young American soldier named Duncan McCrimmon (sometimes spelled McKrimmon). He had been captured by warrior's from the Prophet's new town on the Wakulla River in Florida and was about to be executed when Milly intervened and pleaded for his life. In a true Pocahontas like incident, the warriors relented and spared McCrimmon.

Another 19th century image of Milly saving McCrimmon

The soldier later offered to marry Milly in a demonstration of his gratitude, but she refused, telling him that she would have done the same for anyone else in such a circumstance.

The story of how Milly Francis saved Duncan McCrimmon was picked up by newspapers across the United States and in Europe. She became known far and wide as the "new Pocahontas" or "modern Pocahontas." Parents across the United States named their newborn daughters Milly in her honor throughout the 1820s and 1830s.

But Milly's story was far from over. With her children she walked through miserable conditions and freezing cold on the Trail of Tears when the Creeks were driven west to what is now Oklahoma by the U.S. Army. There she lived out her life in a humble cabin on the outskirts of the modern city of Muskogee. In the final days of her life, the United States finally awakened and remembered the debt of gratitude owed her.

Milly Francis subsequently became the first woman ever to be awarded a special medal of honor by the U.S. Congress.

To read her story and the story of her times, please consider the new book. You can order it through Amazon.com by following these links:

Paperback - Milly Francis: The Life & Times of the Creek Pocahontas ($19.95)

Kindle - Milly Francis: The Life & Times of the Creek Pocahontas ($7.99)

You can read a brief version of her story at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/millyfrancis.

The Battle of Marianna, Florida - 149th Anniversary

Battle of Marianna Monument

Today marks the 149th anniversary of the Battle of Marianna.

Fought on September 27, 1864, it was the climax of the deepest invasion of Florida by Union troops during the four years of the War Between the States. On their way to and from Marianna, the soldiers in blue covered more miles than Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's men did on their infamous March to the Sea.

Fighting had erupted as the Federal column of Brig. Gen. Alexander Asboth pushed into Jackson County the previous afternoon (see Skirmish near Campbellton). Despite resistance by the outnumbered men of Captain Alexander Godwin's Campbellton Cavalry, the Union troops reached Campbellton on the evening of the 26th and camped there for the night.

Early they next morning they continued their advance on Marianna, following the Old Campbellton Road, a portion of which followed today's Union Road. Along the way the did as much damage as possible to small farms as well as the large Waddell, Russ, Barnes and White plantations.

Col. Alexander Montgomery (left)
Photo taken late in his life at Rome, Georgia

As the troops advanced, they were watched by three companies of mounted Confederates. Col. Alexander Montgomery had arrived from Marianna late on the 26th to reinforce the Campbellton men with Company C, 1st Florida Reserves (mounted) and Captain Robert Chisolm's Woodville Scouts (mounted) of the Alabama State Militia.

When it became evident that the Union column was heading for Marianna instead of the crossing of the Chipola River at Bellamy Bridge, Montgomery sent couriers to Marianna and Greenwood to order out the citizen soldiers of the home guards. Other riders headed for Washington and Calhoun Counties to alert other companies and call them to Marianna. The telegraph operator in Marianna sent pleas to Quincy and Tallahassee for help, but despite the flurry of activity only the Greenwood company would reach town in time for the battle.

Battle marker on Courthouse Square

The Marianna Home Guard, headed by Captain Jesse J. Norwood, gathered at the courthouse. It was court day in Marianna and the sheriff, judge, lawyers, plaintiffs, defendants and even prisoners from the county jail took up arms to help in the defense of the town. They were joined by the boys from the Marianna Academy and every other man or boy in town capable of bearing arms.

The Greenwood Club Cavalry, a company made up of the school boys from the academy in Greenwood, arrived at mid-morning under the command of their teacher, Captain Henry Robinson. Many of the older men of Greenwood had joined them as they rode for Marianna.

Gen. Alexander Asboth

At about the same time, Col. Montgomery and the three companies of Confederates watching Asboth's approach turned on him at Hopkins' Branch, a swampy stream three miles northwest of downtown Marianna. A sharp skirmish broke out, with the Union troops forming into a line of battle and charging through the woods and swamps at the resisting Confederates. Montgomery was forced to fall back, but Union soldiers wrote that his men continued to fight as they went.

When the retreating Confederate horsemen reached the edge of Marianna, they took a logging road (today's Kelson Avenue) around the northern edge of town and then followed Caledonia Street into the city. Montgomery and a couple of his officers remained west of town to watch and see what the Federals would do.

As the three companies arrived in town, they joined all of the gathered home guards and volunteers in a general advance through the center of town along Lafayette Street to the west side of Marianna. A barricade of wagons and debris was placed across the street in the area of today's Pizza Hut to slow any charge down the street by Union soldiers. The mounted men formed in a line at the intersection of Lafayette and Russ Streets, while the men with no horses took up positions in houses and buildings and behind fences, trees and shrubs on each side of Lafayette Street from the barricade back to the area of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

Grave of Arthur Lewis, killed in the battle.

From his position west of town, Col. Montgomery watched as the Union troops divided into two columns. One thundered along the old logging road (Caledonia Street) in pursuit of the retreating Confederate cavalry, while the other headed straight for town along what is now Lafayette Street. Realizing that he was going to be flanked and attacked from front and rear at the same time, the colonel galloped up to his mounted men at the intersection of Lafayette and Russ Streets and ordered them to retreat.

Not realizing the danger, the men objected. Montgomery was trying to explain the situation when Major Nathan Cutler's battalion from the 2nd Maine Cavalry came around the curve on Lafayette Street and red headlong into the mounted Confederates spread across the street in front of today's Russ House. The Confederates opened fire and drove them back.

Ely Mansion in Marianna

Infuriated at his men for retreating, Gen. Asboth yelled "For shame!" at them and ordered Major Eben Hutchinson's battalion from the 2nd Maine to follow him forward. The Confederates had not had time to reload and fell back up the street with the Federals in hot pursuit. During this stage of the fighting, the front of the beautiful old Ely Mansion was showered with bullets and a cannon shot passed through its attic.

The Confederates passed the barricade with the Union troops hot on their heels. Just as the head of the Federal column rode over the line of wagons, however, the Marianna Home Guard and other volunteers ambushed them from both sides of Lafayette Street. Asboth fell wounded from two bullets and nearly 30 men from the 2nd Maine Cavalry fell killed or wounded. It was the bloodiest day of the war for the regiment.

Grave of a Union officer killed in the battle.

The flanking party sent around what is now Caledonia Street had entered town behind the Confederates, however, and the situation rapidly deteriorated. Colonel Montgomery and the mounted men tried to cut their way through. The colonel was thrown by his horse and captured on the southeast corner of Courthouse Square, but most of his horsemen made it to the Chipola River Bridge (then at the end of Jackson Street) where they tore up the floorboards and made a stand, fighting with Union soldiers as they tried to approach the bridge.

The Marianna Home Guard and some of the volunteers, meanwhile were penned up at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. The church then was surrounded by a board fence, which they used as a makeshift fort as Union troops closed in on them from all directions. Severe fighting followed which included a bayonet charge over the fence by black Union soldiers from detachments of the 82nd and 86th U.S. Colored Troops.

St. Luke's Cemetery, scene of heavy fighting.

St. Luke's and two adjacent homes were burned to the ground, along with the doctor's office and drugstore of Dr. R.A. Sanders. The men of the Marianna Home Guard fought until they ran low on ammunition and were overwhelmed. Four men died in the burning church rather than surrender.

It was one of the most severe small battles of the war and is remembered today with Marianna Day observances each year. This year's memorial service will take place tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 28th) morning at 9 a.m. at Confederate Park in downtown Marianna.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church and Cemetery will be open for tours from 10 a.m. until 12 noon.  I will be there at 9:45 to talk about the battle, so be sure to come if you would like to learn more!

Also, please consider my book, The Battle of Marianna, Florida. It is available in both print and Kindle format at Amazon.com or you can buy it locally at Chipola River Book & Tea in downtown Marianna. I will be there from 2 until 4 this afternoon (Friday, Sept. 27th) to sign copies.

Also be sure to visit www.battleofmarianna.com.

Skirmish near Campbellton took place 149 years ago today (September 26, 1864)

Campbellton Baptist Church
Occupied by Union troops on September 26, 1864

Word traveled fast as the horsemen approached the creek and by the late morning of September 26, 1864, Campbellton was alive with rumors that "something was up" in Holmes County. The town was home to one of Jackson County's three home guard companies.

Organized by order of Governor John Milton, the Campbellton Cavalry was a mounted unit of around 30 citizen soldiers. The men were farmers, laborers and merchants from throughout western and norther Jackson County. Their captain, Alexander Godwin, owned a large plantation north of what is now Cottondale. By September 1864 they were operating as part of a mounted battalion organized by Captain W.W. Poe of the 1st Florida Infantry Reserves.

Gov. John Milton

On the morning of September 26th they were called to arms as rumors reached Campbellton that Union soldiers were advancing east through Holmes County. One member recalled that they formed in town and road southwest on the road to Holmes Creek.

Graceville had not been founded in 1864 and the road followed by the Campbellton Cavalry as it rode for Holmes Creek followed the route of today's Highway 273 to the Galilee Community and from there along a series of roads - some still in use, some not - to the Marianna ford over Holmes Creek near today's Tri-County Airport.

The Campbellton men waded their horses across the creek and before long saw the head of the Union column advancing in their direction along the same road. As the Federal vanguard moved toward them, they fell back across the creek into Jackson County.  The Union troops followed.

Gen. Alexander Asboth

Asboth's men struck at homes and farms all along the route to Campbellton. At the Nelson Watford farm near Galilee, they took everything they wanted and destroyed what they couldn't take with them. Even the big molasses barrel was dug up from the ground and its contents poured out at spoiled. At the home of Captain Henry Grace, who would later help found Graceville, they terrorized his wife and daughter, taking their food, livestock and anything else they could find.

At some point during the afternoon, however, the 30 or so men of the Campbellton Cavalry advanced on the head of the 700 man Union column. Exactly what happened remains something of a mystery, but three of the Confederates were captured that afternoon. Asboth reported that "rebel troops" were constantly in the vicinity of his column as he marched from the Choctawhatchee to Marianna, fighting with the men forming the vanguard at the head of his command.

Wartime Sketch of Asboth on the Move
His dogs always accompanied him.

Because they were so severely outnumbered, the Confederates of Captain Godwin's company did not try to make a stand against Asboth's column. Instead they followed tactics their ancestors had developed during the American Revolution. They would ride up to within range of the Federals and fire, then fall back until they could reload and make another advance. This style of fighting was used successfully in Georgia and the Carolinas during the American Revolution and the men of the Campbellton Cavalry used it effectively on the afternoon of September 26, 1864.

Where Union troops camped on the night of the 26th

The hit and run resistance slowed the advance of Asboth's column, forcing him to halt for the night when he reached Campbellton instead of advancing on to Marianna. His men camped in the town itself, in camps that reached from the town square area east along what is now SR 2 to Campbellton Baptist Church.

A courier sent to Marianna by Captain Godwin, meanwhile, arrived in town and alerted Colonel Alexander B. Montgomery that Union troops were in Jackson County. He immediately mounted up with the two companies available to him - Company C, 1st Florida Reserves (Mounted) and Captain Robert Chisolm's Woodville Scouts, Alabama State Militia - and rode north up the Campbellton road to assess the situation.

The Battle of Marianna would be fought the next day.

To learn more about the Raid on Marianna, please consider my book, The Battle of Marianna, Florida. It is available on the right side of this page or from Amazon.com or your favorite online bookseller. It is also available at Chipola River Book & Tea in Downtown Marianna and I will be there tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 27th) afternoon signing copies.

Also be sure to check out my website on the battle at www.battleofmarianna.com.

Yankees in Holmes County as Marianna Raid continues (149 years ago)

Cerrogordo in Holmes County, Florida

149 years ago today on September 25, 1864, the Union column of Brig. Gen. Alexander Asboth crossed the Choctawhatchee River in Holmes County, Florida.

Water was high as the rain from a stalled tropical system had been falling for at least seven straight days, so the crossing was difficult, perilous and slow. The soldiers moved over in detachments aboard a small barge that local people used as a ferry, while the horses swam across the muddy river. Gen. Asboth described the boat as a "small scow," which in his terminology meant it was a flat-bottomed boat with a blunt bow.

Choctawhatchee River where Asboth crossed

The crossing took place at Cerrogordo, then the county seat of Holmes County. Located around five miles north of today's Westville, the community in 1864 consisted of a small courthouse, a jail, one store and a scattering houses. The total population numbered around 25 people.

The 700 Union soldiers had spent the night of September 24th in Cerrogordo after moving north from Eucheeanna in Walton County (see First Fighting of the Marianna Raid) by way of Ponce de Leon Springs. Although a skirmish had been fought at Eucheeanna, the only casualty of the raid so far had been sustained at Ponce de Leon when a Union soldier was wounded in an accidental shooting.

Asboth practiced Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's concept of "total war." As he advanced, his men did as much damage as possible to the businesses and farms they encountered. The objective was to inflict so much suffering on the civilian population that Confederate soldiers in the main armies would desert to go home and care for their families.

I

Ponce de Leon Springs State Park

n Walton and Holmes Counties, barns were burned, livestock stolen or killed, foodstuffs taken or destroyed and a population made up primarily of the elderly, the disabled, women and children was left with little food or anything else with which to survive the coming winter. The log hotel or inn at Ponce de Leon Springs was "broken up" by the soldiers. The store, homes and courthouse at Cerrogordo were damaged.

The crossing of the Choctawhatchee moved slowly and it took all of the rainy day of September 25, 1864, for the soldiers to get across. They camped for the night in the mud on the east bank of the river, within view of their campsite of the previous evening at Cerrogordo across the water.

Brig. Gen. Alexander Asboth

They would continue their advance on Marianna the next day, moving first on Campbellton. The Battle of Marianna was now just two days away.

A memorial service commemorating the 149th anniversary of the battle will be held in Marianna on Saturday, September 28th. The commemoration will begin at 9 a.m. (central) at Confederate Park in downtown Marianna (intersection of Lafayette and Caledonia Streets). The public is encouraged to attend. Historic St. Luke's Episcopal Church, where heavy fighting took place during the battle, will be open from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, with young people from the church and the Blue Springs Society of the Children of the American Revolution as hosts.

To learn more about the Marianna Raid, please consider my book - The Battle of Marianna, Florida - which is available on the right side of this page, through your favorite online bookseller or from the Walton County Historical Museum in Defuniak Springs, the Washington County Historical Museum in Chipley and Chipola River Book & Tea in Downtown Marianna.

You can read more anytime at www.battleofmarianna.com.

First Fighting of Marianna Raid was 149 Year Ago Today

Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church in Eucheeanna

It was 149 years ago today on September 23, 1864, that the first fighting of the Marianna Raid took place.

Having left Pensacola Bay on September 18, 1864, Union troops led by Brig. Gen. Alexander Asboth reached the outskirts of the small community of Eucheeanna in Walton County during the pre-dawn darkness of September 23rd.

Aware that two detachments of Confederate cavalry were camped in the village, which was then the county seat of Walton County, Gen. Asboth ordered the 2nd Maine Cavalry to form a line of battle and charge. Led by Lt. Col. Andrew Spurling, the Maine cavalry hit Eucheeanna at daybreak, taking the Confederates there completely by surprise.

Church and Cemetery in Eucheeanna

The brief skirmish at Eucheeanna, in which no one was reported wounded on either side, was the first clash of Asboth's Raid on Marianna, an expedition that would culminate on September 27, 1864, at the Battle of Marianna.

Eucheeanna, Florida

The Confederates at Eucheeanna consisted of two detachments of cavalry. One, from the Fifteenth Confederate Cavalry, had come over from the large Confederate post in Pollard, Alabama.  The other, from Captain Robert Chisolm's Woodville Scouts of the Alabama State Militia, had been sent from Marianna. Both detachments were "enforcing the conscription." In 1864 terminology, "enforcing the conscription" meant the same thing as drafting soldiers would mean today.

The detachments escaped via the Geneva Road, although several prisoners were taken by the attacking Federals. Among those captured was Lt. Francis Gordon of the Fifteenth Confederate Cavalry. Several civilians also were captured during the attack, among them William Cawthon, Allen Hart and Col. William Torrance. Cawthon and Hart were cattle ranchers with large herds in the Walton County area. Torrance was a former officer from the Alabama State Militia who had been sent down to purchase beef for his state's troops.

Historic Marker at Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church

The Union troops also captured 46 horses, 8 mules, 26 stand of arms and a quantity of bar lead bearing the stamp of a factory in Baltimore, Maryland. They also helped themselves to all the corn, hogs, chickens, smoked meat and anything else of value they could find in the homes of the little community. Many families were left without a scrap of food and no way of getting any when the soldiers left Eucheeanna the next morning.

One of the Union soldiers also raped a woman and her teenage daughter after finding them at home alone in a remote area just outside the village.

The county seat of Walton County has since been moved to DeFuniak Springs, but the little community still exists and can be found about three miles southeast of DeFuniak Springs. The historic Euchee Valley Presyterian Church and Cemetery predate the War Between the States.

I will post more about the Marianna Raid and the Battle of Marianna over coming days, so be sure to check back often.  Until then you can read more at www.battleofmarianna.com.

If you haven't read it, be sure to check out my book - The Battle of Marianna, Florida.  It is available through Amazon.com or your favorite online book seller as well as at the Walton County Heritage Museum in Defuniak Springs, the Washington County Historical Museum in Chipley and Chipola River Book & Tea in Downtown Marianna. If you prefer, you can order it by clicking the book cover on the right side of this page.

Editor supports targeting of my deceased dad over Dozier story

On Saturday (9/7/2013) I posted a statement here that a reporter from the Tampa Bay Times was investigating my deceased father because of my personal stand on the Dozier School Cemetery issue.

Please follow this link to read my original statement: Tampa reporter targets my deceased father over Dozier story.

My father was never an employee of Dozier School, had no association of any kind with the Dozier School Cemetery and no involvement with the "White House" abuse allegations involving Dozier School.  The reporter, Ben Montgomery, indicates he is investigating my father because he is "trying to figure out why you're so vociferous."

In other words, Mr. Montgomery admits he is investigating my late father because I dared to exercise my rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

I have filed a protest of his conduct with both the President/CEO and Managing Editor of his newspaper. I have received the following response from Mike Nelson, Managing Editor of the Tampa Bay Times:

From: "mike@tampabay.com"
To: Dale Cox
Sent: Monday, September 9, 2013 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: Improper conduct by Times reporter

Dear Mr. Cox,

As I told you before, Ben Montgomery has the Tampa Bay Times' full support in his efforts to find the truth of what happened at Dozier.

Sincerely,

Mike Wilson
Managing Editor
mike@tampabay.com
(phone) 727-892-2924 | (fax) 727-893-8675
Tampa Bay Times (formerly St. Petersburg Times)
Florida’s largest newspaper now has a name that matches the region it serves.
twitter: @mwilsontimes | Facebook: tampabay.com 

--

Mr. Wilson's statement indicates to me that if you use your First Amendment rights to speak out against any issue on which his newspaper has taken a position, he will consider it acceptable for his newspaper's reporter to target and investigate your deceased parents.

In my view, this conduct on the part of the Tampa Bay Times is unethical, immoral and improper. If you would like to voice your opinion to Mr. Wilson, his email is mike@tampabaytimes.com.

Tampa reporter targets my deceased father over Dozier story

At 11:06 p.m. on Friday night (September 6, 2013), Ben Montgomery of the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) informed me that he is investigating my late father.

Mr. Montgomery sent me an email informing me of this action on his part roughly 10 minutes after sending out a Tweet demanding that I change the content of a story I posted on this blog two days ago about a dog being exhumed by the University of South Florida at the Dozier School Cemetery. I have refused to make the change requested by Mr. Montgomery.

Subsequently, ten minutes after making his demand for the story change, he sent me the following email:

 ----- Forwarded Message -----

From: "BMontgomery@tampabay.com"
To: Dale Cox
Sent: Friday, September 6, 2013 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: Dozier

Dale --

Do you know what your father's role was at ACI? I've requested his employment records, but I was wondering if you might shed any light on his time there. I know trustees from ACI were often involved in helping track down Dozier escapees, but do you know whether your father would have been involved in any of those efforts? 

Ben

Sent from my iPhone

--

As you can see, Mr. Montgomery indicates he has requested my late father's employment records. 

I find this action on his part to be uncalled for and disgusting. My father was never an employee of Dozier School for Boys and died at about the time the whole "White House Boys" story first developed. He was never involved with the story.

Mr. Montgomery followed at 12:06 a.m. today with another email explaining that he was investigating my late father because he was "just trying to figure out why you're so vociferous." In other words, he is investigating my late father because I have exercised my Constitutional right of Free Speech.

The media considers itself the guardian of the First Amendment, yet in this case Mr. Montgomery is targeting my late father because I have spoken publicly about the Dozier School story. You can judge for yourself whether that is right or wrong.

My dad, as all who knew him will testify, was an honorable and decent man. To know that a reporter who disagrees with me on the Dozier issue has decided to investigate him is disgusting and sickening.

If you would like to voice your opinion on this matter, I encourage you to do so by writing to the managing editor of the Tampa Bay Times. He is Mr. Montgomery's boss.  His email address is mike@tampabay.com.


Dale Cox
September 7, 2013

White House Boy now claims "missing" boys must have been eaten by hogs or sent to dump!

Student with a Prize Hog
(State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory Collection)

Just when it seemed as if the wild stories told by some of the so-called "White House Boys" couldn't get any wilder, one now says that the reason murdered boys won't be found in the current dig at the Dozier School Cemetery is because they were "thrown in the dump" or "fed to the hogs."

Even though various members of the various White House Boys groups have been demanding for years that the cemetery be dug up by the University of South Florida, they now seem to be hedging their bets. This after more than $600,000 in taxpayer money has been provided for the project they demanded and after Governor Rick Scott and the members of the Florida Cabinet overruled the system set up by Florida law for such projects. A circuit judge, the state archaeologist and the Secretary of State all had denied permission for the project to go forward.

Memorial Area of Dozier School Cemetery

In an interview this week with the Graceville News - a Jackson County newspaper - one of the "White House Boys" said that the world would no longer be able to call him "a liar," but then launched into a long explanation of why the bodies of murdered students won't be found.

The man, who I am not identifying because he has received enough publicity from his changing stories, once claimed he had seen a boy burned to death in a dryer at the school's laundry. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, however, he changed his story under oath to claim that he hadn't actually seen the alleged event that the Tampa Bay Times breathlessly reported he had witnessed.

Students tend to hogs at Dozier School
(State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory)

He now says that murdered boys won't be found on the campus of the Marianna school because they were burned in the incinerator, tossed in the dump, buried under the road or even chopped into pieces and fed to the hogs!

Apparently these would be the same hogs that were cared for by the students themselves and that they often entered in the Jackson County Fair, just as did students from other schools throughout the county.

The wild story is just the latest in a series of stories that have grown wilder and wilder since the groups surfaced a little over 5 years ago with claims that boys were beaten to death and murdered at the school more than 50 years ago. They have yet to provide a single name of a single boy they allege was murdered, but the claims by some of them grow wilder and wilder.

All graves exhumed so far were inside the traditional cemetery
and within the view of this photo, which shows the memorial
erected by staff members and students in the background.

The Graceville News also joined the growing list of U.S. newspapers to falsely report that the University of South Florida has located graves "outside the known burial grounds." The reporter seems not to understand that the small memorial of crosses erected by Dozier School employees and students in the 1960s is not the known burial ground, but instead is simply a memorial placed by them in memory of the students and employees known to be buried on the hill.

The actual burial ground is larger, was shown on federal and state maps as far back as the 1940s and originally was surrounded with a wire fence that no longer can be seen, although parts of it were found in the dirt that USF researchers had bulldozed from the cemetery along with ornamental cedar trees that once marked actual grave sites.

Partially surviving row of cedar trees at Dozier School Cemetery

The anthropologists, archaeologists and even a reporter they allowed to help them appear clueless to the fact that in the South, cedar trees often were planted at the head of graves. In earlier times, graves often were marked with wooden crosses or markers that deteriorated with time. To make sure graves could always found, people of earlier generations often planted cedar trees to help mark them far into the future.

The Dozier School Cemetery once included rows of cedar trees marking the actual grave sites. USF, however, had some of these trees pushed away using heavy equipment so researchers could search for graves - apparently not realizing the trees actually marked the graves.

Some of the trees survive and, as expected, one stands directly at the head of one of the two graves exhumed so far.

To read more about the real facts of the dig so far, please visit these links:

Facts from the first phase of the Dozier School Cemetery digging

USF digs up a dog at Dozier School

USF digs up a dog at Dozier School

Memorial Crosses at Dozier School Cemetery.
They were placed by staff and students in the 1960s.

UPDATED 9/6/2013 - Researchers from the University of South Florida used at least some of the more than $600,000 in taxpayer money they have been given to dig up the grave of a dog at the Dozier School Cemetery.

The cemetery is located on a hilltop on the campus of the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida. The majority of the graves there date from prior to 1940 and contain the victims of a tragic fire that took place in 1914 and students as well as staff members who died during flue outbreaks in 1918 and during the 1930s.

Local residents and former employees of the school have long warned that some of the graves at the cemetery contain the remains of animals. Those warnings have now been verified.

A source close to the investigation indicates that hours were spent during the first phase of the taxpayer-funded project to dig up the remains of a dog that were buried in an old Coleman-type cooler.

Ben Montgomery, a reporter for a Tampa area publication, did not report that a potential grave revealed a dead dog, but confirms that he was aware of it:

"Dog was found months ago, during trenching. Not during Phase 1. It was modern. Included in report to the state."

Why a reporter covering this story would not consider the discovery newsworthy is not clear. Local residents have long said that animals would be found buried at the site. He incorrectly equates my statement about the "first phase" of the project with "Phase 1" as defined by USF. I was speaking of the phase of the project that involved the trenching he mentions in his post on Twitter.

Pets known to be buried at the cemetery include two dogs and a peacock named Sue. So far as is known, the University of South Florida team has not yet located the remains of the peacock.

All human remains exhumed so far have been found in the
area of this photo. The small memorial placed in the 1960s
can be seen at left. The two human graves were removed from
the area of disturbed earth at right.

The only two human graves exhumed so far turned out to contain the apparent remains of former Dozier students who had been buried - as local residents and former employees predicted - with proper care. The remains had been buried in coffins and one burial even included the pins from a burial shroud such as was used in the early 1900s.

No evidence of criminal activity has been found thus far and neither of the graves exhumed so far proved to be "clandestine" (as researchers and others have repeatedly claimed).

The entire media appears to have decided to ignore the exhumation of the dog, as no stories about the discovery have appeared. In addition, media reports that remains have been found "in the woods" our outside the "traditional boundary" of the cemetery are false. All graves located so far are within the boundary of the old cemetery fence.

To read more about the results of the dig so far, please see yesterday's post:  http://twoegg.blogspot.com/2013/09/facts-from-first-phase-of-dozier-school.html

Facts from the first phase of the Dozier School Cemetery digging

Memorial Area at Dozier School Cemetery

Researchers from the University of South Florida, along with law enforcement volunteers and even reporters, started digging last weekend at the Dozier School Cemetery in Marianna, Florida.

The first phase of their work is now over and they are not expected to return until October or November.

Contrary to what you may have read in newspapers or heard on television, here are the facts so far:

• NO "clandestine" graves have been found. The graves located so far turned out to be historic graves that clearly demonstrated proper care was given to the bodies at the time they were buried.
• Evidently unfamiliar with what happens to the terrain around Marianna during seasons of heavy rain, the researchers experienced problems due to the rain soaked condition of the ground at the cemetery. Instead of exhuming 4-5 graves as they expected, they only managed to dig up two.
• NO graves have been found outside the traditional limits of the cemetery. ALL graves located so far are inside the old fence line of the Dozier School Cemetery and the limits of the cemetery as shown on state plats and federal topographic maps dating from the 1940s. (Some media outlets have incorrectly reported otherwise).
• The two graves exhumed so far reveal that the bodies were interred in coffins, not just "dumped in holes" as some have claimed, and that proper mortuary procedures of the time were followed when the burials took place. Pins from burial shrouds were even found in the graves.
• NO evidence of criminal activity has been found.

To make a long story short, investigators at the Dozier School Cemetery have found exactly what local people and former Dozier employees said they would find - historic graves prepared according to proper religious and mortuary practices of the time. 

To correct a few other media errors that have been prevalent this week:

• The memorial crosses at the cemetery were placed there by Dozier employees, NOT the University of South Florida.
• The memorial at the cemetery dates back to the 1960s, thirty years earlier than reported by the Tampa Bay Times. 
• The cable around the memorial crosses is NOT the traditional boundary of the cemetery as some media outlets have reported. The actual traditional boundary surrounds 1-2 acres of land and originally consisted of a wire fence.

I'll post other updates as work continues this fall and winter, but so far researchers have found nothing more than local citizens predicted they would find.

Statement on Dozier School Cemetery (August 5, 2013)

Memorial Crosses at Dozier School Cemetery

Barring something unknown to me, this will be my last public comment on the Dozier School Cemetery issue.  I am tired and in poor health and prefer to concentrate on other things right now, but since a reporter badgered me last night by asking the same question over 100 times (in different ways) and still not getting me to say whatever it was he wanted me to say, here is one hopefully final statement.

On Tuesday the Florida Cabinet will discuss and possibly vote on the latest request that an associate professor from the University of South Florida, Dr. Erin Kimmerle, be allowed to dig up a 20th century cemetery at the former Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.

Contrary to the false reports, biased stories or in many cases even outright lies that you likely have read in the media, this is not a criminal investigation. In fact, here is a direct quote from the researchers themselves:

...[T]his is a bioarchaeological investigation - not a criminal case, nor is Boot Hill Cemetery considered a crime scene; therefore, there is no immediate concern for chain of custody.

 Most of Florida's newspapers and television stations found it inconvenient to cover or even note this startling statement. I assume they ignored it at best or covered it up at worst because it indicates that the researchers themselves 1) do not consider the Dozier School Cemetery ("Boot Hill" as people like to call it) a crime scene and 2) do not see a need for following a chain of custody procedure with regard to any human remains they might dig up there as real crime scene investigators would do.

This is quite curious because most of Florida's major media outlets (and quite a few of its smaller ones) have been on a multi-year crusade to have USF investigate the "alleged murders" and other "crimes" they claim are in some way connected to the cemetery.

Perhaps this statement from the university itself - and similar ones from Nick Cox, statewide prosecutor in the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Dr. Michael Hunter, Medical Examiner  for the 14th Judicial Circuit - explain why USF researchers have been turned down repeatedly in their requests to dig up the bodies from the cemetery without the permission of the next of kin of those buried there. A circuit judge ruled that the project would violate the Constitutional due process rights of the families and the Secretary of State determined that the state had no authority to authorize such digging for research purposes.

In fact, even other archaeologists and anthropologists are beginning to speak out about the ethical concerns raised by USF's ongoing effort.  Consider this statement from Dr. William Lees, Executive Director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, who indicates he is "personally dismayed" by the course that the matter has taken:

...[T]o suggest that a criminal investigation be conducted through the archaeological research permit process shows a lack of understanding and a serious lack of respect for those buried at Dozier. It is ironic, I think, that these boys may have suffered at the hands of the state when they were alive, and now, as they lie buried, the hands of a state university once again threaten their peace.

Surprised to read that one of the leading archaeologists in the nation is appalled by the project at Dozier School?  If so, then you have only the media to blame for covering up his statements and not letting the public know that a credible, experienced and leading voice in Florida archaeology objects to this fiasco.  Since the state's "big" papers won't tell you what Dr. Lees has to say, you can read his statement for yourself at: http://www.flpublicarchaeology.org/blog/

Let me be clear about one thing, I do not fault Dr. Erin Kimmerle or any of her associates at the University of South Florida for wanting to dig up bodies, nor do I have any personal issues with the professor.  In fact, I've never met her.  I'm sure she probably is a nice and well-intentioned person and I'm sure she is a qualified and well-trained anthropologist.  Studying the dead is what forensic anthropologists do and I understand that such a project would be interesting to them.

However, I believe that the University of South Florida should abide by the decision of a circuit judge, the state archaeologist and the secretary of state in this matter. A legal decision has been rendered and a scientific decision has been made on whether this project should go forward and in both cases the answer was no.

There are those who say the graves should be investigated to "give the families closure" and to determine the facts.  I understand such thoughts. I feel the same way about the more than 270 African American and Choctaw men, women and children who lie buried at Fort Gadsden on the Apalachicola River. Their bodies were tossed into mass graves after the U.S. military blew them to bits for the simple reason that they were people of color who wanted to live free. Florida once thought this was such an important place that it created a state park to preserve the scene. There is no longer a state park at Fort Gadsden, although thankfully the federal government now preserves the site since the state did not consider it worth the time or money to do so.

If you aren't familiar with Fort Gadsden, then perhaps you would like to learn more:  http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortgadsden.

Regarding the graves at Dozier, here are some facts of which you might not be aware, mostly because the media (with some notable exceptions) hasn't bothered to tell you:

• There is no evidence at all of more than one cemetery at Dozier School.  USF, after almost two years of looking, hasn't found a single grave anywhere other than on "Boot Hill."
• The graves at the Dozier School Cemetery are not "clandestine" or "shallow" as some have claimed. They are normal Christian graves, just as were prepared in any other Christian (or Jewish or even non-religious) cemetery in the state from 1900 into the 1960s. The oldest of the graves is around 110 years old. The most recent is 62 years old. Most are more than 75 years old.
• The Dozier School Cemetery is not "hidden" nor is it "unmarked." In fact, the USF research indicates the burial ground once was surrounded by a fence. In fact, the piles of dirt left behind after the university's team drove heavy equipment around on top of the graves include large sections of antique fence wire. The graves once were marked with wooden crosses and the Marianna and school newspapers routinely published obituaries when funerals took place there. The cemetery has been marked since the 1960s with a small memorial that was erected after the original markers were lost to time and the elements.
• The Dozier School Cemetery is not a crime scene.  USF says that it is not, FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) says that it is not, the statewide prosecutor says that it is not, the medical examiner says that it is not, the sheriff of Jackson County says that it is not, etc.  I agree with them. 
• The Dozier School Cemetery is not a "white cemetery" nor is it a "black cemetery."  It is a cemetery. Individuals of both races were buried there during the first 60 years of the school's existence. The cemetery is shown on plats and maps prepared by both the state and federal governments dating back as far as the 1930s Those documents show it as the only cemetery at the school, even though it was located on the old North or "Colored" Campus. Ask yourself this question, "Why would the school - due to Jim Crow policies - preserve and protect a black cemetery, but not a white one?" That doesn't even make sense, even in the often senseless viewpoints of that era.
• . It is not true that individuals of different races were always buried in different cemeteries during the days of segregation.  Nearby Riverside Cemetery, a public burial ground in Marianna, is the final resting place for people of different races and dates back to 1827.  It is true that cemeteries often included "black sections" and "white sections" during segregation times and this is the case at Dozier School. The cemetery was once divided by a hedge and white bodies were buried on one side and black bodies on the other.
• Digging up the graves will not provide "closure for all the families." At present, it only has the potential of providing closure for 7 families, because the researchers from USF have only located 7 of the families with next of kin buried there. That means that more than 40 bodies - many of them those of black and Latino individuals - will not be identified and no "closure" will be provided for their families. Personally, I believe that researchers could find more of the families if they slowed down and did good and thorough historical and genealogical research.  They disagree.  The media likes to say that USF has talked to "the families" but for whatever reason conveniently leaves out the fact that in reality the school's researchers have talked to no more than SEVEN of the families.

I could go on, but there is no need. This issue will now likely be decided by a group of high dollar politicians. They will do what they want and, to be honest, I have no idea what they will decide. I only know that the people who really knew the facts about this project - a circuit judge, the state archaeologist and the secretary of state - all said that it should not be done without first obtaining the permission of the families of all of those buried there.

In closing, I do have great sympathy for the seven families that USF has located. If these families would like to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones, they should be able to do so. I call upon the Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice to point out to them the specific graves in which their loved ones are buried so that their remains can be exhumed under existing state law and returned to their families.

If the Secretary of DJJ cannot do this, then the Legislature should reassign to that department the $190,000 it appropriated to USF to fund digging up the graves with the requirement that DJJ hire competent genealogists to locate all of the families. Once the families are all located, the state can secure their permission for the graves to be exhumed by a licensed funeral director (as state law allows) and for the bodies to be identified and returned to their families (if the bodies can be identified after so many decades in the ground and if their families so desire).

If this cannot be done, then the state should accept the offer I made long ago to raise money locally to have a simple and unbiased monument inscribed with the names of all of the known dead and erected at the cemetery, for the perimeter fencing to be restored and for the cemetery to be preserved forever as a memorial to those who rest there. Some of them are young men who died under unfortunate circumstances such as illness, fire and murder by other students, while others are adult employees who died while trying to help those who were entrusted to their care.

I wish no harm to anyone and hope that whatever happens - whether the graves are exhumed or not - good will come of it. Many lies and vicious accusations have been made against me because I stood up on this issue, and I have been called everything from a "Dixiecrat" to an outright racist for not climbing aboard the runaway train that the media - particularly the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times - set into motion. I forgive all who did so and wish you only happiness in your lives.

To my friends who agreed with me on this issue and had the courage to publicly say so, thank you. To my friends who disagreed with me but were honest about it, thank you as well.  We all have different opinions sometimes, but your honesty I appreciate and admire and I'm glad we could disagree but remain friends. And to my friends who said you agreed with me and would stand up as well, but then didn't, I forgive you.  Fear can be a powerful thing when you see your friends having their characters assassinated for their beliefs.  I understand.

I will say one final thing and I say this with a smile, race baiters who wish to accuse someone of being a "white Dixiecrat racist" should be careful in their assumptions. Categorizing or judging someone by race, in fact, is true racism. My heritage is Yuchi. If you aren't familiar with the Yuchi, then do a little research of your own and enjoy learning about a truly remarkable people who have survived far worse than poorly-conceived insults. Reading a little more about American Indian (or Native American if you prefer) culture might help you understand why digging up graves and pulling out bones for the sake of "scientific research" is so offensive to people of my heritage.

Since the media constantly asks for quotes but rarely uses them, I see no need at this time for me to comment further to them on this issue and do not plan to do so. I also will not publish anonymous comments to this post.

Dale Cox
August 5, 2013