Mami T-- Part 10

Daddy always told us this next story with great pride and tremendous admiration; for her courage! And sometimes he laughed such deep belly laughs; and it would take two or three tries before he got the story told.

An Oil Lamp

One moonlight night she had just blown out the lamp and crawled into bed. She heard the sound of a wagon coming down the wagon trail that passed by her house. Mules pulling a wagon make a lot of noise while it is moving and there is no mistaking the sound.

Her house and barn was not out by the wagon trail, but was set back in a bit. As she listened she heard the wagon stop, and then she realized it was backing into her place. She figured they were headed to the barn to steal something.

Very quickly she arose and grabbed her double-barrel shot gun. She slipped out to the barn and inside without them seeing her, she hid in the dark and was in position when they stopped completely.

A Double Barrel Shotgun

They had backed the wagon into the barn and stopped in front of the corn crib. There were two men in the wagon, and she recognized one of the men. As he swung his leg over one side to step down out of the wagon, she stepped out of the dark and into the moonlight streaming into the barn; so that they could see that she had a gun pointed at them.

She called the man by name and said, “Ye sorry sonamabitch if ye step down off that wagon it’ll be the last damn step ye’ll ever take in this world, cause I’m gonna blow ye to hell, now ye git outta here, and don’t ye come back if ye want to stay alive!”

They were happy to oblige her, and they got out of there as quickly as they could, and they never came back! I am very sure the word was passed around that she was a woman to be reckoned with if you tried to steal from her.

A wagon load of corn back in those days compared to today’s monetary value would be worth enough that this amount now would probably be considered grand larceny.

But even more than the money it would have been worth; it was a life-line to her till next year’s crop came in; it was food for her and her children, and food for the livestock. And it was also the seed for next year’s crop.

She had great courage, true grit, and backbone! She was a strong woman, a fierce protector of what belonged to her! The stories daddy told us about her made such an impact on my life, and I felt my life would not be complete if I didn’t at least attempt to tell her story. My descendents will have the story of her life as best I know it!

Mami T-- Part 9

Women in those days did not wear pants or shorts; they wore long dresses with large bib aprons. When she arrived at the creek she would take off her apron and turn it around and tie the sash in front, and then bend over and reach through her legs and grasp the tail of the apron and bring it through and up and tucked it into the sash tied at her waist. Instant shorts!

Daddy told us that she was very frugal and hated to waste anything, especially time. As she walked along on her journey to and from the settlement she would usually knit.

A Spinning Wheel

She raised sheep on her farm as well as chickens, hogs, and milk cows.  And she had the mules for plowing the field. She saved the wool needed for her family when the sheep were sheared; then she sold the rest. She had a spinning wheel for spinning her own yarn.

In addition to farming she still had to cook the meals which were cooked on a wood burning stove or fireplace. She also had to do laundry by hand, harvest and prepare, can and preserve the food. She made her own lye soap which was the cleaning product of that time, and it was usually made from left over grease and lye or pot ash made from ashes.

I don’t remember the recipe or the process, but I know my Mother made it every so often in the old cast iron wash-pot when I was a little girl. And I would imagine that Mami T made it much in the same way.

There were cows to milk, chickens and livestock to feed, gather the eggs, chop the wood and bring it in, this was a chore she did herself till Tony was big enough to wield an axe.

And when the weather got cold the hogs were butchered, and the meat had to be processed and hung in the smokehouse to be cured.  The work was a never ending process, day in and day out, every day, and it was year after year.

I am quite sure she arranged her work schedule according to the seasons and the weather at the time. I know from daddies stories that when she plowed in the field she had to harness the mules, and she took the children to the field with her.

Emily was placed on a quilt pallet nearby and William H. (Tony) watched and tended her while Mami T plowed and Rody walked behind her and dropped the seeds as she plowed the rows. The others helped as soon as they were big enough to help.

A Woman Plowing

A Sun Bonnet

In my mind’s eye I can see her plowing in the fields, dressed in the long dress and a bib apron, and she is wearing a sun bonnet and brogans. Most southern women who worked in the fields with their husband’s; and most did; also made these bonnets to wear; to shade their eyes, and protect their hair and skin, especially the skin on the back of their necks; from becoming sun-burned.

Brogan

For those of you who might not know what brogans are; they are high-top shoes made of good leather, which lace up with either leather or string or possibly twine. They are heavy-duty shoes that wear like iron. There was no such thing as sneakers in those days!

Mami T-- Part 8

Can any of you imagine being left as she was in the mid 1800’s? Think about it, she was left a widow in the wilderness with three small children, no education, no job, no money, no welfare assistance, no Medicaid, and no food stamps; she was left with absolutely nothing except her children, her home and her land.

I am sure that she mourned the loss of her husband just as most any woman would, and I am certain she spent many long and lonely nights longing for the comfort of his arms holding her in the night seasons. As long as she knew that he was alive there was hope that he would return. But as soon as she received word of his death; that hope was gone!

Suddenly she was forced by circumstances far beyond her control to become the head of her household. She did not have much of a choice, she either had to give in to the circumstances, and she and her children would slowly starve to death. Or bite the bullet and become a survivor.

She had a warrior spirit, and did not wallow in self pity; she chose to deal with the hand that had been dealt to her by life, with grit, guts and fierce determination, and a tremendous amount of back breaking work!

She chose to do what she already knew how to do, and that was to farm her land herself with only her small children to help. A gigantic undertaking! Her father was a farmer, and she had grown up working in the fields, and so had her husband been a farmer and she had worked with him for many years.  She raised her children alone on her farm.

I am sure that her family helped as much as possible, but they had their own farms to work. Having been raised on a farm I can relate somewhat with the job she had on her hands, it is hard physical labor, and it is a job that is never finished.

One of the stories Daddy told about her was that she had to walk into the settlement to get supplies every so often. I think the settlement that she walked to back then; in time eventually became Graceville, Florida.

There were no baby sitters available in those days, and she could not take her children with her. The distance which was five to eight or ten miles was much too far, and she had to ford one or two creeks on the way to and from.

A Florida Black Bear

Mating Eastern Diamondback
Rattlesnakes

There were also the wild animals she had to consider that might be encountered along the way; black bear, alligator, panther, wild cats, wild hogs, diamond-back rattle snakes, etc. all were plentiful in the Panhandle in those days, and in order to make the trip she had to devise another plan to deal with this situation.

A Florida Panther

I hesitated for a bit about writing this story because there are some today who might consider the way she solved her situation to be child abuse. 

No matter what others think; I consider what she did to have been great wisdom on her part; in order for her and her children to survive in this raw harsh land and time; she did what she had to do!

And for those who might criticize; just remember this was light years (150 years ago), away; from the instant world that you live in today.

When she and William had built their house they had also dug a root cellar underneath the kitchen, and walled it in with logs; to store fruits and vegetables in, and it was quite spacious and had center posts to support the kitchen floor above. There was a trap door and steps from the kitchen down into the root cellar.

She would leave the children in the root cellar with plenty of food and water, and a thunder mug for nature calls.  Rody being the oldest was in charge till Mami T returned.

After she closed the trap door she rolled a big rock that was kept in the kitchen for this purpose over the door as an added measure of protection for her children; in case wild animals came to raid for food while she was gone.

I figure it took her quite possibly seven to eight or 10 hours at the very least to make the trip there and back.

She had made a knap sack with a shoulder strap that she wore crossed over one shoulder and around her neck to carry her supplies in.

Mami T-- Part 7

I learned from the ADAH researchers that he had not been killed in December of 1861, because there were Union records of his having been captured at Island 10, in April 1862. 

He was a Prisoner of War, and there are records of roll calls where his name is listed. He was exchanged in November 1862 at Aiken’s Landing near Vicksburg, Virginia. I have copies of these records.

He returned to his Company in Port Hudson, La. And there the trail goes cold. There is no record of his death in any manner, no hospital record, and no record of burial. No other records at all!

The fact is I have no idea of what happened to him. I did later find a discharge record for William McDuffey 1st Alabama Company I, Private.

Even though neither I nor the two Civil War researchers could find any record of his death; it had to have been accepted by the War Department that he had died somewhere, because Mami T began drawing a pension in 1909, at the rate of $120.00 per annum.

He never returned and was never heard from or about by the family again. I did ask the researchers how Mami T would have been notified and they told me that most likely it would have been word of mouth.

On her sworn affidavit which was filed in 1904 there was a place that she had to swear as to how long she had lived in Florida. The date that was typewritten in was May 15, 1824.

Since this could not even possibly have been a correct date, because she was born May 15, 1830; my thoughts are that whoever typed the paper up wrote the year in as 1824 where it should have been written May 15, 1842. I am sure it was a typo error!

And I believe that because she could nor read or write, and no one read it back to her that she was not aware that a mistake had been made before she made her mark. May 15, 1842 would have been her twelfth birthday and she most certainly would have remembered arriving in the Florida Territory on that date.

If this is correct; this then would make the Taylor family Florida pioneer’s; however no papers have ever been filed for a Pioneer Certificate by anyone in our family that I am aware of. Florida was still a Territory, and did not become a State until sometime in 1843.

Mami T-- Part 6

The day I received the copy of her application in the mail I was so excited I was beside myself! As I was reading her sworn affidavit I saw her mark, an X on all of the pages, and I realized that she could not read or write; this was something that I had never even thought about before.

The papers were so clear they looked like originals, but I knew they were copies, I reached out and touched her mark with one finger, and it became a spiritual experience for me, suddenly in that moment it seemed as if all the years just slipped away, and I was actually touching the hand of my gg grandmother; I began to weep.

I saw it so clearly in my mind’s eye. And in that moment I had such an ache in my heart, and I mourned the loss of her for the first time in my life.

It was so real to me, I had loved and admired her all of my life, and I had at just this moment come to realize the fact that I had never known her personally at all, but she had lived in my memories and in my heart since I was old enough to hear and remember daddy’s stories about her.

I felt such a peace wash through me; it seemed to me as if I had actually touched her hand. And I believe that I did in the spiritual realm.

Afterwards I read her application and all of the information she had at the time she filed. She stated that William was in 1st Alabama Company A, and that he was killed in Port Hudson, La. December 08, of 1861, and that his Captain had been William Truett.

Not having much information about my gg grandfather I began to search and dig. In the beginning I only had the 1860 Holmes County census record. His name on the census was spelled William McDuffee born September 1827, Georgia. There was no other information.

I then realized this was why my dad had never talked about him; he had never known him, and you never think or talk about people that you have never known.

William left for the War and he was never heard from again by any family members. This was long before my granddaddy Boss or my dad was even born.

On the very last page of the paperwork I had received from Tallahassee there was a small form from the War Department. It confused me because it sounded as though there had been two William McDuffie’s in 1st Alabama. I contacted ADAH (Alabama Department of Archives and History) I spoke with two of their researchers via email.

And there had been two, one was William A. McDuffie and he had been in 1st Alabama Old Company B. and he was from Eufaula, Alabama and their Unit was called ‘Eufaula Rifles’, he was an officer, and he was black.

The other was my gg grandfather William and his last name had been spelled McDuffey. He was in 1st Alabama Company I his Unit was called ‘Dale Avengers’ his Captain had been William Pruitt, and he was a private.

Mami T-- Part 5

I am certain that the land they purchased would have had to be cleared before they could even think about farming it, because in those days it was primarily a wilderness.

Civil War

Most likely the garden spot was the first to be cleared. Mami T worked alongside William to build a home and farm the land.  They had been married ten years and had three children before he enlisted in the CSA and left to fight in the Civil War.

Their first child was a daughter named Rhoda Ann, born in 1853, but she was always called Rody. Their second child was William Henry born in 1857 and he was called by several names; aliases that he called himself, that he became known to others by.  The third child was another daughter, and she was named Emily Margaret, born in 1860; she was named after Mami T’s sister Emily.

I learned during my search that William had also been involved in a long term and on-going relationship with another woman; her name was Candace French, and she was the daughter of Robert Emanuel and Elizabeth Leavins French, who were married in Thomas County, Georgia. Candace was born March 20, 1820 in Georgia.

I was thinking that since both women in William’s life had been born in Thomas County, Georgia, that maybe I could find him in Thomas County, as well. But sadly as of this date I have not found him on any census records except the 1860 Holmes County, record. I only have a three year window of his life to show that he had ever lived.

In the French family record shared with me by a descendant of their family it states that Candace had an on-going relationship with William H. McDuffie, and that they never married, and their children were, Samuel French born March 4, 1848, and Richard French born February 22, 1855. Their relationship is also recorded in the McDuffie Family records.

It had been common knowledge by all who knew them, and it was recorded in the histories of the families, so I assume it was an acceptable relationship for all concerned.

A Confederate Soldier

William enlisted in the CSA January 17, 1861 at Pensacola, Florida. He left behind two women who loved him, and between the two of them he left behind three sons and two daughters.

Mami T received information from a source that is yet unidentified that he was killed in December of 1861 in Port Hudson, Louisiana. Many years later I discovered that most of the information she had been given by others was wrong.

She filed an application for a Widow’s Pension in 1904. I ordered a copy of her application from Tallahassee, Florida, and at the same time I asked for a copy of William’s service record.

Mami T-- Part 4

For a long time I did not know where they lived after they came to Holmes County. I had overheard my dad say in conversations with others that they had lived way down yonder on Wrights Creek. I came across a census record where the Post Office listed for them was Cerro Gordo, which is on the west side of the Choctawhatchee River.

Cerro Gordo was at one time many years ago the County seat of Holmes County. And Wrights Creek is a beautiful clear water creek which empties into the Choctawhatchee River south of Cerro Gordo. I am still not sure of the exact location of where they lived, but it was in this area.

According to historical records this area was where Creeks and other Native Americans gathered after being chased out of Alabama and Georgia. 

Holmes County, Holmes Creek and Holmes Valley are named after Creek Chief Holmes who came to this area after the Creeks were defeated at Horseshoe Bend in 1814.

Sometime after November 28, 1842 ~ a Creek village was found and wiped out by the local militia somewhere on Wrights Creek. They killed twenty-two Creeks and took no prisoners. It was considered a massacre even by the local white settlers. Very little was written about it.

The Taylor’s lived on Wright’s Creek for quite some time, for about 15 years; before James acquired land, the first land purchased was 120.04 acres somewhere near what is now known as Millers Crossroads on December 01, 1857. And in April 1860 he purchased an additional 199.95 acres.

I am not sure either of where and how Mami T and my gg grandfather William H. McDuffie met, but I would certainly love to know that story! She and William were married in November of 1851 in Bonifay, Florida according to the papers I have. I do not have their marriage record; I only have the sworn affidavit paperwork that she filed at a much later date.

After they married they too acquired land which was also located near Miller’s Crossroads. One of my cousins who still lives in the area knows where their house was located she remembers seeing it when she was a little girl. She told me the next time I am up that way she will show me where it stood.

In trying to find the location of the property I called the courthouse in Bonifay. The lady I spoke with told me that even though I had, and gave her the legal description; she could not give me the exact location unless I know the names of the present owners, but she could give me a general location. I ordered a map of Holmes County and she was kind enough to mark the general location on the map for me.

On some of the paperwork their Post Office was given as Potolo Florida, and even though I was born and raised in Holmes County this one caused me to scratch my head. I had never heard of it, I was able to find it on an 1900 map of the Panhandle!

I have since spoken with a man, Mr. James Williams who lives in Bonifay, and he told me exactly where it was located. His great grandparents John J. and Elizabeth Whitaker Perkins were the Postmaster and Postmistress of the Potolo Post Office.  It was located in their home and is about three or four miles southeast of Millers Crossroads.

Mami T -- Part 3

I have not been able to nail down yet the exact year that he left South Carolina, but I did find some records in Thomas County Georgia, where James lived for several years before migrating on down to North West Florida.  

In an 1850 census of Holmes County, Florida it gives his age as 50 years old, the census was taken in Division 3, Holmes Florida.

His wife is listed as Evelina, 34 years old. My gg grandmother Charity (Mami T) is 19 years old and living at home. Jasper the oldest son is 17, Henry is 15, Nancy is 13, Wilson is 11, Emily is 8 years, and Zachariah is a 7 month old baby.

I thought at the time when I first looked at this census record that Evelina was the mother of Charity (Mami T). And then I received an email from a lady who was also doing research on the same Family, and she told me that she thought that James had been married to a woman by the name of Tempe Faircloth before he married Evelina.

I checked some census records in Thomas County, Georgia and I found James Taylor listed on a census there, and if I am not mistaken the year was 1840. There were some small children in the household. Only the head of the households were listed by name in those early census records.

I searched the old marriage records of Georgia and found a marriage record for James Taylor married Tempe Faircloth March 30, 1828 in Thomas County, Georgia. There are no other records that I have been able to find about Tempe, but I believe that she is the mother of Charity, Jasper, Henry and Nancy.

I do not know what became of Tempe, but most likely she died, and was buried in Thomas County although I have found no record of that. It is quite possible that she died in childbirth when Nancy was born in 1837 or soon after. But since I have found no records to that effect I am just guessing. 

There is another marriage record for James Taylor married Aveline Faircloth October 04, 1838. There are also the same marriage records for both marriages in Terrell County, Georgia. This is a mystery I can't explain.

The lady that I had corresponded with told me that in her Family Bible Records her name is spelled Evelina. The spelling of her name is different on each census record, and it is believed by the family that she was the younger sister of Tempe.

I am also not sure of the exact time they left Thomas County and migrated on down to the Florida Territory which this area later became Holmes County, Florida. And I am not exactly sure of the date of their arrival, but I am pretty sure it was in May of 1842. I will explain later in the story the reason I feel certain this was the time when they arrived.

Wilson was born in 1839 in Thomas County, and Emily was the first child born in Holmes County, Florida. And Florida was still a Territory at this time.

I have not as yet found the date of Emily’s birth, but she was born in 1842 in the Florida Territory. Also listed on the 1850 census is Zachariah Jack who is seven months old.  Later there were two other children born, Sarah and Rachel Taylor.

Mami T -- Part 2

In the files that were shared with me by Sharon Tibbits Grant there is a note which stated that Mami T was a Cherokee Indian. This information had been shared with Sharon, by whom I do not know.  However this information has never been verified or documented that Sharon nor I have been able to find, and Sharon is a researcher who is now retired.

If Mami T was Native American, I would be more inclined to think she was of Creek descent rather than Cherokee. Also if she was Native American this would explain why she was not subservient to males. In most clans or tribes females are equal, and in most; the lineage is through the female, and they are highly honored as the givers of life.

Her father’s name was James Taylor, and he was born in 1800 in Beaufort, South Carolina. The Native Americans I found there are listed as Cusabo Creeks, and I also find they are listed as an extinct clan or tribe. I have since received information from Richard Thorton, that they are not extinct; they were absorbed by other tribes.

 I have found Taylor’s on both Creek and Cherokee rolls, but I have never found his name on any of the rolls that I've looked at, and I have never discovered the names of his parent’s in any census records or any other source.

On the entire census records that I have looked at they were listed as white. But this was at a time in history when many Native Americans were deliberately trying to hide their identity by passing for white if their skin was light enough, if not then Black Irish or Black Dutch or maybe even Mulatto, anything except Native American!

I have found the migration route that he traveled from South Carolina to the place they migrated to and settled in what eventually became Holmes County, Florida which was located on the Choctawhatchee River.

I checked with a friend Richard Thorton, who is a Native American Architect, Historian and researcher, and he told me this route was a Creek migration route, and the area where they settled on the River was where many Creeks and other Native American’s came to and settled in those days, and those who were not captured and removed to the Indian Territories or killed; were eventually absorbed into the white population.

In order to avoid capture and survive they had to deny who they actually were and live in secrecy for the remainder of their lives. And so many never talked about their true identities, not even to their descendants it was too dangerous, even through several generations! And this has only changed in the recent past.

So much has been lost of their culture and their records; a tremendous injustice to say the very least; has been done to the Native American by the influx of those who came to take their lands from them in the name of greed!  Instead of trying to live in peace among them as guests in their homeland, they slaughtered them by the thousands, and drove them from their homes and took their lands!

Mami T -- Part 1

When I first began trying to write this short story several years ago about my great, great grandmother Charity A. Taylor McDuffie, who was known to our family as Mami T, I only had the stories about her that my dad had told us many times while I was growing up to write her story with.

I am quite sure that these stories were handed down from older family members who knew her quite well. Daddy was born in 1915 in the Whitewater Community, and she died in 1917. But even though he was so young he remembered her vividly, and admired her greatly!

My dad was a great story-teller and spinner of yarns; he could tell such a great story that it made the listener feel as though you were there too. And in my mind she became a powerful and living memory; so much so that I always felt as though I knew her personally, even though she died long before I was born.

I was so intrigued by the stories he told us about her because she was such a strong woman that she seemed larger than life to me. I was born and grew up in an era when southern women were subservient to men.  But she was not; she was always her own person; which was very unusual to say the least.

She became my hero, I know that heroine is the correct term for female, but I think if I am able to convey to the reader her true character, you will understand why I admired her as my hero!

Daddy described her as being a tiny woman, four feet eleven inches tall, and she had long jet black hair. He said, "She was not afraid of anything that walked, neither man nor beast, she was a free-thinking woman way ahead of her time."

She lived in an era when females were ‘Chattel’ or property of their father or husband, and women and children were subservient to males. But no man ruled her!

This might be a little difficult for some in today’s world to even imagine how it was back then, but for me it was not so difficult; things had not changed all that much from the period of time when she lived in the Panhandle to the time when I was born and raised.

A Corn Cob Pipe

She spent much time alone with her three small children in the wilderness of the sparsely settled Florida Panhandle, and she needed to be able to think for herself. Daddy said, 

"She was feisty, a scrapper if need be, and she smoked a corn-cob pipe and cussed worse than any sailor you ever heard."

For many years I had thought that she was my great grandmother, and that William H. (Tony) McDuffie was my great grandfather, because when Daddy spoke of them it was always in the same context. So I just assumed they were husband and wife instead of mother and son.

I mentioned this in conversation with another family member quite a number of years ago, and she corrected me, and gave me the right connection. This sparked my interest even more about Mami T.

Then I wondered why my Dad had never mentioned my great, great grandfather, and it was only after I began doing some research (I use this term loosely, I am a novice at researching), and began to come across records that I could even think about piecing together a more complete story about Mami T; the tiny woman who cast a giant shadow; which spanned several generations!

I consider myself to have been very blessed that another family member, Sharon Tibbits Grant, had been doing research for many years; and she has very graciously and generously shared her files with me; all of the files that she had been working on for many years collecting and compiling about our family and its various connections; which are many.

Her file was and is a treasure trove of information to me, especially the information I gleaned about Mami T. I began trying to write a short story about this wonderful woman with strength of steel back then, and as I learned more I had to re-write it several times, and now I have decided to just begin a new one.

Daddy always referred to her as Mami T, and I always assumed it was spelled Mammy T. But somewhere in someone’s writings I came across this present spelling which is now the name of her story.

Grandpa Collins Prize Green Turtle

One of Chuck’s favorite stories was a story he told about his Grandpa Collins back in the day when Grandpa fished with a fourteen foot sailboat.  He took his turtle net one day and sailed down around Corrigan’s Reef on the eastern shore to one of the turtle sets that he knew was a good set.

Chuck's Grandpa Nard Collins

Even though he was primarily a fisherman, till the Fiber Factory opened and he became a foreman at the plant.  He did go every now and then to a catch turtle for the family dining table.  Grandpa’s name was Monardy, but most people called him Nard.

When he got to the right place he let his net out.  When that was finished he went back down the cork line tripping it to make sure the net was hanging straight in the water.  Finished, he backed off a ways to wait and watch the cork line. 

I don’t know how long he waited, but when the turtle hit the net he knew whatever had hit it was big by the reaction in the cork line.  He waited some more till the action calmed down. 

He didn’t want to wait too long, if it was a turtle and it drowned no one would eat any of it and that would be a waste! At last the cork line calmed down and he went out and started taking up the net.

When he got to it he knew this was the biggest green turtle he’d ever seen in his life!  Green turtle is the most delectable of all the sea turtles because they are vegetarians.

Green Turtle

They graze on the grasses and algae that grow on the sea floor.  All of the other turtles eat crabs, snails, fish and whatever else they can catch.  Their meat tastes stronger, and fishy, totally different from a green turtle which taste much like veal.

He tied a line around a flipper and secured it to a boat seat.  He worked the net off the turtle and untangled it as he went along.  He let the turtle swing out from the boat and then finished taking up the net. 

He knew there was no way he could boat that big turtle by himself and it was too far back to the fish house to tow the turtle that far.  So, he sailed up to one of the many oyster bars in the area, and eased the bow up over the edge.

He sat there awhile studying the situation.  He knew for certain he was not going to let the turtle go; there were too many hungry mouths to feed, and this was too much food to let it go. 

As he thought about it he got an idea that if it worked would solve the problem, at least it was worth a try.  He off loaded his net, and then backed the boat off enough so that the bow was just at the edge of the oyster bar. 

He bailed water into the boat and sunk the stern to the level he needed it to be able to guide the turtle far enough into the boat and across the seats. 

As long as the big turtle was in the water he could manage it. He had tied lines around both front flippers to use as reins; he could stay behind the turtle so it would move forward and help in loading itself.

He lashed the turtle to the seats to secure it and keep it from thrashing around and possibly escaping, and then came the long arduous task of bailing all of the water out until the boat floated again.

That done he reloaded his net; he couldn't afford to take the chance of leaving it there and loosing it.  The next incoming tide would wash it away and if he ever found it again he would never get all the tangles out.

He sailed in with very little free-board.  The turtle took up a lot of the space and then with himself and the net, he had a full load! 

He knew if he made it back in to the fish house he would have a lot of help to offload.  He was fortunate that the weather was good.  Had a squall popped up he more than likely would not have made it in.  He and his prize green turtle would have been lost at sea!

No one knows exactly how much that turtle weighed.  The scales at the fish house in those days were not big enough to handle that much weight.  But everybody said it was the biggest Green Turtle ever caught in the waters around Cedar Key at that time!

They guesstimated it weighed more than six hundred pounds.  For many, many years all of the older folks that remembered seeing it, (and the entire island turned out to see it) told that story again and again.

Green Turtles get their name from the green fat inside their upper shell. They are classified as large sea turtles. I found an official record for the largest ever caught and it weighed in at 395 kg which converts to 871 pounds.

Boogalooing

Uncle Leo
in his senior years

When Chuck wasn't fishing he was boogalooing.  These days I think it’s called partying.  One night when he was out with his Uncle Leo and some of his friends, they decided they would introduce Chuck to one of the “ladies of the night” who worked in a house of ill-repute up near Chiefland. 

They assumed that Chuck was still a virgin and they would assist him in changing that. When they arrived and the Madam saw Chuck she screamed at Leo. “How dare you bring that boy in here Leo!”  “He ain’t even dry behind the ears yet!”

Chuck was close to, or was already sixteen years old.  To Chuck she said “Boy you wait out there on the porch till they’re all through here.”  And then to Leo she said “Leo don’chu ever make the mistake of bringing another young’un in here agin, ‘cause if you do you won’t ever get back in again.”

Duly chastised, Leo laughed and promised it wouldn't happen again.   Chuck wasn't a virgin, but that was the first whorehouse he’d ever been in and it was a tremendous embarrassment and humiliation to be thrown out! 

He was really ticked off at his Uncle Leo and his friends.  He had to sit out on the porch steps with the mosquito's sucking his blood, and fume till long after midnight while Leo and his friends were inside having a great time.

When they came out and headed back to Cedar Key Chuck told Leo, “Unk, I ain’t ever going off with you again.”  And as far as I know about he never did, before he joined the Navy.  If he had I’m sure I would have heard those stories too. They both told this story many times over the years and had many laughs about it.

An Angry Sea

Back in the early and mid forties there was very little communication about the weather such as we have this day and time.  If you happened to get caught in a storm while fishing at sea you just had to ride it out.  I’ve always thought that a boat was an extension of my husband’s body.  He was totally at home at the helm of a boat at sea.

But I believe even though it was a natural thing to him, it was also due to the fact that he had the very best teachers while he was growing up.  On one occasion he had been ice fishing again with his Uncle’s. 

They had gone out deep sea fishing for grouper.  Long story short when they headed back in to shore they got caught in a small storm and later discovered when they made it back to shore it was a small hurricane with 78 mph. winds.  

Chuck had the distinct privilege, and benefit of watching his Uncle Bum’s expertise at manning the helm during the rough ride.  Chuck said “I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.

A Boat On An Angry Sea 

His intense concentration, reading the wind and the sea, anticipating how to answer to the helm, and holding the boat into the sea at just the right angle, and at the same time working the throttle back and forth holding it at the just right speed to meet each gigantic wave, and then easing her down in the trough, only to climb the next one. 

And as scarred as I was, it was awesome to watch him at work.  And no one aboard even gave a thought about taking the helm from him.”

Leotis, Bum, Odie Boy Collins

“Odie Boy, seemed to be gifted in that area, and the other thing he seemed to be gifted in was finding the bodies of fishermen and others whose bodies had wound up overboard for one reason or another. 

He just had a knack for it.  And neither he nor anyone else could ever explain it.  They might drag the bottom for days in search of a lost body and not find them.  But when Bum came on the scene he would find them in one or two passes.  He was so consistent it was almost spooky!”

The Florida Panther

Once in a while he would go ice fishing with his Uncle’s in their launch.  They would stay out several days and fish till they filled the hold.  As they filled the hold, they layered each catch with ice till the hold was full and then they came back in. 

That was as much to keep the fish moist so they didn't dry out as it was to keep them cold, and to keep them from spoiling.

Isaac Henry bott Richburg poling
his mullet skiff in Cedar Key 1900

They towed their skiff boats behind the launch; they used them for running out their nets and catching the fish. 

They slept, cooked and ate on the launch.  Chetter did a lot of the cooking and he was heavy handed with the pepper.  But if anyone complained, they had to do the cooking for awhile.  So, there were hardly ever any complaints.

And usually after the evening meal they always told scary ghost stories.  This was mostly for the benefit of the younger men.  They would swap stories till the tide was just right to drop the nets and fish.  One such night, they were in the Wacasassa River near the mouth.  Chuck told me “It was so dark in there you couldn’t see the man rowing in the boat next to you, he said we maneuvered by sound.”

Leotis (Bum, Odie Boy) Collins

Just before they left the launch Leotis (called Bum or Odie Boy) had been telling a tale about a big “Florida Panther.”  He said, “The panther comes to the river to drink and lays in wait to jump you, and he’s has been known to kill and eat grown men.”  By the time they got in their skiffs to go fishing, the younger guys were scared half to death.

They were rowing along as quietly as possible, listening for fish breaking. Bum suddenly stood up and threw his let-er-go toward the bank, and at the same time without his knowing, he had rowed up under a fork of a tree limb that was hanging out over the river and it caught him.

One limb slid under each arm and lifted him clear of the boat; at the same time the let-er-go hit a big bull that had come down to the river to drink.  The bull let out a bellow and Bum let out a scream that chilled the blood.

Chuck rescued Bum; his lower body was dangling in the river.  Bum still had the screaming memies, but everybody else was laughing so hard their sides hurt and they were teasing him about almost getting caught by that “Big old Florida Panther!” 

They had to go back down the river a ways to catch his skiff; it had drifted down river with the current while Bum was hanging in the tree waiting for Chuck to rescue him.

The power’s that be, refuse to admit that there are Florida Panther in our woods and hammocks up there, this area being known today as “Florida’s Nature Coast.”  But there most definitely are! 

And have been for many years, long before they imported the Puma or mountain lion which are basically the same cat, and there still are some originals in the Gulf Hammock! 

Too many people have been seeing them for too many years!  People who grew up in the area, and know those woods and hammocks like the back of their hands. 

A Florida Panther Track

One of the Wildlife Officer’s who worked in the area quite some time back and before any Panther was ever imported, took pictures, and made plaster casts of the tracks.  But those in power refused to admit that they were panther tracks.

There are also a few Florida Black Bear still in those woods too.  My husband decided before he died, that it was political. 

If the Power’s that be, admitted there were Florida Panther there, they would then have to force the timber companies to cease the destruction of their habitat.

To be continued

The Barefoot Artist and The Cross

Before I posted the ‘Stop Fishing’ story I was wishing I had a copy of this. I searched and could not find it. And then a few days after I posted I received this email. I thought wow; even though I have already posted it I can edit and add this in.

I wrote and asked, and permission was given, and then I decided this is such a great short story in its own right I would write it, and again permission was given.

Oftentimes our greatest inspiration will come from great inner turmoil of mixed emotions which are a result of whatever the trauma in our life is at the time! Such is the case with this beautiful painting.

During the process of the Net Ban there was a lot of anger, anguish, hurt and turmoil in homes of commercial fishermen all over the State of Florida. A way of life was being destroyed in the voting booth.

 When it was over there were thousands of people out of work. Some felt a few hunger pains for awhile; there were empty spaces under a lot of Christmas trees where presents should have been for the children, among other needs.

One more trial for this tiny fishing village whose livelihood has always been from the harvest of the sea to overcome, but Cedar Keyans being such a resilient people  have survived.

In the midst of all that was happening she remembered a friend had said to her, whenever there is a problem you can’t solve, just bring it and lay it at the foot of the cross.

With pen in hand she began to draw and this first picture above is the result, the first draft was published in the Cedar Key Beacon and the Gainesville Sun.

On the editorial page this inscription was added: “Father forgive them, they know not what they have done.”

Painting by Carmen Day Williams, Cedar Key, Florida

And then someone, I don’t know who; made a large a cross with a net draped around it and it was posted at the mainland side of # 4 Bridge and it is still there.

This next picture, is a beautiful painting of what the first drawing evolved to over a period of time!

This painting has never been put up for sale!

For the benefit of those who would like to read about the Net Ban go to Florida Marine Net Fishing, Amendment 3 (1994) click on this highlighted title.