Log Jams and Dams

My Daddy was born in 1915, and raised as a farmer, but when he was about fifteen years old he began working with his Uncle Clifton (Son) Lewis, and Lewis Tucker on a logging crew in the Florida Panhandle. He worked with this crew until him and Mother got married in 1936.

He used to tell us stories about some of the experiences he had during the time he worked with this crew. He told us they cut timber all over the Panhandle of Florida, and even as far south as the Suwannee River. All of his stories were fascinating, and Daddy was a great story teller!

Team of Oxen

In those days they used teams of oxen to move the logs (which was called snaking), and they usually cut timber near the rivers and floated them downstream to move them to the mills or shipping places. 

They would first cut a ring around a tree, and let the sap drain for awhile before the tree was eventually felled so that it would be lighter and float better. He told us this was called ‘kill dried’.

One of the stories I remember him telling us about that has stuck with me these many years. At the time this story happened it was sometime in 1929 and somewhere down on the Choctawhatchee River in the Florida Panhandle.

A Log Jam

He told us there had been a long drought and the River was so low that they were having constant problems with log jams in the River which slowed production drastically and the weather had been so hot and dry all summer and dry in the fall, and this affected the temperament of the logging crews considerably on a daily basis.

He said, “One night after supper; as we’uz turning in from a long hard day’s work there wuz a feller who made a state-ment that I’ll never fir’git iz long iz I live”! The man said. “I wish fore daylight it’ud rain thick’iz a mist and ever damn drop float a duck!”

And Daddy said, “Fore daylight; it come damn nigh doing what tha man said, it rained so much during the night, and kept on raining till it flooded the River and put all ‘em logs s’fir back in ‘em woods and swamps, we never

did git’em all.”

We can see in this little story the concept of how log jams in a long dry spell can even stop a River like the Choctawhatchee from flowing freely. The Choctawhatchee River is the fourth largest river in the state of Florida. But when it begins to rain and it keeps on raining or when it rains tremendous amounts in a short time it will cause rivers and lakes to flood.

The rain they had during the night where they were on the Choctawhatchee River combined with all the flood water flowing down from Southeast Alabama hit them with great force; a lot of damage was done, but no loss of life.

And when the flood comes it will stir up nutrients from the bottom and leave it on dry land when the water begins to recede, and this replenishes the soil again. Everything in the pathway of the water flooding will be moved, because water seeks its own level and it will make its own pathway.

One other little story included here, Daddy said, “Sum’uv the virgin timber we cut wuz so big, that when the tree wuz felled I couldn’t see tha feller on tother side’uv tha tree that helped me cut er down.”

I have seen a few of the large stumps along the Suwannee River from some of the timber that has been cut in the distant past, I have no idea if it was some my daddy had cut, but I don’t doubt his word at all.

The 1929 Alabama Flood

My Daddy had told us many interesting stories about his logging days in the Florida Panhandle. He worked with a logging crew from the time he turned 15 years old till he and my Mother got married in 1936. 

He had not seen or heard any weather reports and he didn’t give us any dates of when it happened. I did some research and found the dates, and this has to be the flood he told us about; it was the only flood during this time. I wrote the first story “Log Jams and Dams” from my memory of Daddies stories.

There had been a long period of drought in the south through the previous summer and fall and up until it began to rain heavily in the state of Alabama on February 27, and 28, 1929. More intense rain came March 4, and 5, all across South East Alabama.

More than 30 inches of rain fell in Elba and 15 to 25 inches from Brewton to Troy and Ozark during this time. The Pea River and the Conecuh became swollen, and began to rise along with all the tributaries, and they empty into the Choctawhatchee River.

Flood warnings went out, and many along the rivers were evacuated. The most intense rainfall came on March 12 -15, 1929.  This last period of rain greatly affected the Choctawhatchee River along with all the flood waters from the other rivers that flow into her.

Daddy and the logging crew were working at the time south of Geneva, Alabama, and across the Florida line. I am not exactly sure where they were logging at this time, but I do know it was somewhere between Caryville, Florida and the Alabama State line.



This is how the town of Elba looked at the height of the flood

This caused the worse flood in the history of the State of Alabama at that period of time. The river crested at 43.5 in the early afternoon on March 15, 1929. The city of Elba had 16 to 20 feet of water in the city streets. Buildings collapsed and thousands of people were stranded on rooftops for up to three days before being rescued.

Ozark just south of Elba had 16 feet of water in its streets, and Geneva south of Ozark had 20 feet of water. There were numerous stories written about the folks that went through this flood. Too many for me to list here, one in particular that stands out in my mind was about a six year old boy.



His name was Paul Rowe Brunson; he was carrying the mail across the Pea River on a foot bridge at Ozark. The main bridge had already been washed out. As he was crossing the footbridge collapsed; and he fell into the river.

He said God took him by the hand and pulled him onto a portion of the floating bridge. Still holding onto the mail bag as he floated down the river and as the train was crossing at the trestle the engineer Mr. Byrd Mitchell lowered a rescue line for him. At the same time a rescue boat carrying his older brother Sollie over took and rescued the child.

There is one more that stands out in my mind of a baby boy that was born during the flood. His father and mother were Ed and Elinor Talbot Tucker. They were in the Elba Hotel. The mother had to be moved from room to room during the birthing because room after room crumbled and fell into the swift currents of the flood waters.

The baby boy was named Noah after the biblical Noah since he lived through the worse flood of the history of the state of Alabama up until this time.  

As amazing as it seems there was only one death reported by this destructive and devastating flood, it was a blind African – American man named Phoe Larkins. The estimated cost of this flood in 1929 was $ 9 million dollars!

The Bottom Of The Barrel

My Daddy used to tell us stories of his wonderful childhood memories, and usually they were quite funny! We lived in a very rural area of the Florida Panhandle. Daddy was born in 1915 and was a child in the late teens and early twenties.

He lived as a boy in the Whitewater Community. His Daddy was a farmer and so was his great grandmother. The Family lived on what was left of the McDuffie homestead.

My granddaddy’s name was James McDuffie, but he was always called Boss.  

Hardly anyone in that area ever had any money, but they were farmers and grew most of their food, so having extra money was not a big thing. Most folks were very poor, but hardly anyone realized that fact. In those days everyone was in the same boat.

Most of the men folk made their own alcoholic beverages, homemade wine, brandy, white lightening and homemade corn beer. The brandy and beer was usually stored in the barn in a big wooden barrel. Wine and white lightening usually stored in bottles or jars.

Most children were not allowed to partake of alcohol, but some thought they were clever and would sneak out to the barn every now and then, and use the long-handled dipper that hung on a nail on the side of the barrel to have themselves a stolen taste which was always a lot more fun!

Daddy was a couple of years older than aunt Louise and both were dare devils. They would quite often sneak out to the barn for a sip or two. Daddy was around eight to ten years old and she was a couple of years younger. Both were too short to get a sip when the level was getting down low, close to the bottom of the barrel.

So they devised a plan, Daddy would hold aunt Louise up and she would hang over the rim and she would reach down and get some in the dipper for them. This system worked well for a year or so, but one day it came to a splashing halt.

The level had dropped quite low she was having a hard time reaching far enough to get a any in the dipper. She kept urging him to push her up a little more, he kept pushing and then there was more of her inside the barrel than outside, and he lost his grip of her feet and dropped her on her head into the barrel.

Oops! She spit and sputtered and got herself sorted out enough to eventually stand up again without drowning. The level was really low, but there was still enough that she was thoroughly soaked in the corn beer!

Daddy was able to help her get out, but their secret was out! No way to hide it any longer, she had to go in the house for clean dry clothes before rinsing the beer off with soap and water at the well. She smelled like a brewery!

For some strange reason they were not punished for their disobedience. The grownups actually thought it was funny! Daddy always called his sister Louise by the pet name of Ted.

When he would tell this story he would laugh so hard and loud, and tears would run down his cheeks at the memory of it and he would say, “I wish ya’ll could’a seen Ted, she looked just like a drowned rat, soaked to the skin  ‘n’ her hair plastered to ‘er head with that corn beer!” 

I’m glad that my aunt Louise didn’t drown at the bottom of the barrel that day, but it could very well have been a tragic ending instead of a becoming a funny story to be told many times over. They learned that day by their hard earned experience that it was not a wise thing to do anymore.

Their secret became known to everyone and since they had been found out, it seemed to take the fun of it away! Another one of those forbidden fruit things that lost its magic once it became known!

Granddaddy Tom

William Thomas and Herietta Whitehead Lewis

Granddaddy Tom Lewis, was the Grandfather of my Daddy, Earl McDuffie, which would make him my G Grandfather.  He was the oldest or # 1 child of Henry H. and Elizabeth Autumn Head, Lewis.

I am not sure what year Henry H. migrated to Holmes County.  According to the paperwork that has been shared with me, he was born in 1831 in Bibb County, Georgia. 

He married Elizabeth Autumn Head in Cerro Gordo, Holmes County, Florida, September 19, 1858.  Cerro Gordo, was at one time the County Seat of Holmes County, and is located on the west side of the Choctawhatchee River.

Elizabeth was born August 18, 1836 in South Carolina, and I do not know at this time when she migrated to Holmes County.  And  I would love to know how and where they met.

In the notes of the paperwork that was shared with me by another Family member, Sharon Tibbits Grant, it states that Henry H. Lewis is a Creek Indian, and Elizabeth Autumn, is a Cherokee.  It also states this information has not been verified, and it was furnished to the writer by Pam Rimes, another descendent of Henry H. & Elizabeth Lewis.

At this time I do not know when they moved to the Whitewater Community, which is on the east side of the River and to the east, north east of Cerro Gordo.  The Whitewater Community butts up to the Florida/ Alabama Stateline. But at some point they did!

Following is a list of their children:

#1  William Thomas Lewis b. October 18, 1859 Holmes County, Florida, d, September 25, 1927, buried Whitewater Cemetery.

# 2   John Henry Lewis b. July 22, 1863 Holmes County, Florida. d. November 29, 1892 Atlanta Georgia, Fulton, County.  Buried Whitewater Cemetery

# 3  Matthew Wesley Lewis b. January 29, 1866 Holmes County,  Florida, d. December 03, 1932,  buried Whitewater Cemetery

# 4  Mary M. Lewis  b. October 20, 1871 Holmes County, Florida  d. March 24, 1882, buried Whitewater Cemetery

# 5 Martha Ella Lewis  b. February 18, 1876  d. May 21, 1928, buried Whitewater Cemetery



Curde, not to scale map of the Whitewater Community
when my Dad was a little boy drawn by my brother

They all grew up in the Whitewater Community.  Married, and most of their children were born and grew up there, as well as some of their children’s children.

William Thomas Lewis, married Henrietta Whitehead, in 1883.  She was born in January, 1866 in Alabama.

Their children:

# 1  Henrietta E. Lewis b. March 07, 1885 Holmes County, Florida d. February 21, 1969. Buried in Shady Grove Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida

#2  Rosa Lee Lewis b. January 11, 1887 Holmes County, Florida d. December 28, 1956. Buried Whitewater Cemetery

# 3  Mary K. Lewis b. December 1890

# 4  Allie Bethel Lewis b. November 1892

# 5  Ada Lewis b. September 1895.  Buried Whitewater Cemetery

# 6  William Oscar Lewis b. November 25, 1898 d. January 20, 1925.  Buried Whitewater Cemetery.

# 7   Sarah Ester Lewis b. November 1899

# 8   Etta Edna Mae Lewis, b. 1904

# 9  Clifton Lewis , June 14, 1907 d. February 21, 1996  Buried Whitewater Cemetery

# 2  Child of Henry H. and Elizabeth Autumn Lewis

John Henry Lewis, married Sarah Evelyn Brigman in, 1889.  She was the daughter of Moses Brigman., and Caroline Watson.  Sarah Evelyn, was born December 26, 1865 in Walton County, Florida  And she died March 14, 1952.

John Henry, was enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. studying to become a Doctor. He got sick and died November 29, 1927.  His body was brought home, and he is buried at Whitewater Cemetery in Holmes County.

Their children:

# 1  Gracie Belle Lewis b. February 15, 1890  Holmes County Florida  d. March 14, 1973  Buried Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida
# 2   John Henry Lewis b. January 25, 1893 Holmes County Florida  d. March 02, 1957.  Buried Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County Florida.

Sarah, was with child when John Henry, died, but she named the baby in honor of the Father even though the baby was a girl and she was called Johnnie most of her life.

Sometime after John Henry Lewis, died Sarah, married Lee Dunn, and had three children by him.  When she died she was buried in Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County Florida.

# 3 child of Henry H, and Elizabeth Autumn Lewis

Matthew Wesley Lewis, married Sarah Sallie, maiden name unknown, in 1888.  She was born March 23, 1871 in Florida and died December 21, 1939, they are buried at Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida.

Their children:

# 1  Lizzie R. Lewis  b. 1892

# 2  Norah Lewis  b, 1893

# 3  John W.H. Lewis  b.1895

# 4  ELLA Mae Lewis  b. September 19, 1897  d. January 02, 1917 at 19 years old, she is buried at Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida

# 5  Wesley E. Lewis b. 1900

# 6  Horace E. Lewis b. 1902

# 7  Arthur E. Lewis b. 1904

# 8  Annie S. Lewis b. 1906

# 4 child of Henry H. and Elizabeth Autumn Lewis

Nancy Lewis b. 1869 Holmes County Florida married George Marshall, he was born in 1860 and died in 1922, they are buried at Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida.

Their children:

# 1  Pinkie W. Marshall b.1895

# 2  May Bell Marshall b. 1896

# 3 Isabel Marshall b. 1898

# 4  Corabelle Marshall b. 1900

# 5 Flora E. Marshall b. 1902

# 5 child of Henry H. and Elizabeth Autumn Lewis

Martha Ella Lewis, married John Miller, he was born June 16, 1874 and died March 03, 1952.  They are buried at Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida.

Their children:

# 1  Bamma Leona Miller b. July 22, 1893

# 2  William Alma Miller b. September 23, 1902

# 3  Alto V. Miller b. February 01, 1905 d. May 26,1907, buried at Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida.

# 4   Fannie S. Miller b. April 20, 1907

# 5   Julian Odell Miller b. January 10,1911 d. June 09, 1912 buried at Whitewater Cemetery, Holmes County, Florida.

The point of this writing is to tell you a story that was told to me by my Daddy, about my G Granddaddy Tom Lewis.  I will attempt to tell you this story in the vernacular or Southern dialect my daddy spoke in.

And for those who grew up in that part of the country and have Southern ears, it is easy to understand.

In 1918, there was an outbreak of an influenza, an epidemic that killed thousands upon thousands of people, world wide.  That particular strain was called the Avian Influenza or commonly known as the Bird Flu!

There were no Doctor’s or medications such as penicillin or anti-biotic available in those days. 

Daddy said, “ folks took care of thurselves and prayed, and ye made it er ye died”.

He said, “me ‘n’ Granddaddy Tom wuz tha onliest ones in our whole family that didn’t git it”.

Daddy was three years old at the time, but it was a very traumatic time in his life and it was indelibly imprinted in his memory cells!

He said, “ Granddaddy’ud cum by our house uva morning, ‘n’ he’d set the water bucket down on a chur, and he’d say now Earl, give’em a drink ah water ever now and agin, even if they don’t ask fir’it”.

I asked him why Granddaddy Tom, set the water bucket down off the shelf onto a chair, and Daddy answered, “ Cuz I’uz too little to reach the shelf, I wat’en but three years old”.

After he came by their house, he would make the rounds in the Whitewater Community, visiting, and taking care of all of the sick.  He carried a barrel of water in the back of the wagon, and a tub of soup, he’d made.

Daddy said, “ he’ud clean up the ones who needed to be, give em water, give em soup if they’uz hungry, people wuz dying like flies everwhur, and he’d bury the dead”.

He said, “ thar wuz one whole family of tha Berry’s that died, one by one. 

Granddaddy Tom did this care giving day after day, until some of the other men got well enough to help him. 

Caring for his own Family and everybody else in the community.  Daddy said,  “one morning Granddaddy went in to the Berry’s and found the last one dead.  He wuz a teenage boy, ‘n’ he’uz either puttin’ on er takin’ off his shoes when he died, he’uz bent over ‘n’ his hands wuz still holding on to his shoelaces”.

Daddy said, “ that one really got to Granddaddy, he buried him with tears streaming down his face”!

What a sad time the folks in Whitewater Community had to live through!  But the love and care of my G Grandfather, Tom Lewis, for his Family and neighbors was remarkable!

It seems in this time that we live in that kind of love and care for others has waned.  But Thanks be to God, there are still some who have that kind of compassion for others.  And it is very commendable!

This time frame could have been the start of Whitewater Cemetery!  This is pure speculation on my part, I do not know this to be a fact!  I do know that the land for the Cemetery and Church was donated by the Lewis Family because the story was passed down through the Family.

I can see there was a need at that time for a place to bury those who died during this epidemic.  And it just makes sense to me that maybe this was the start of the Cemetery there.  I have never seen any documents about it, and I just don’t know for certain if this was when it all started.