In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

7 i have no Ambition to Fill a more honorable Grave, 1870–1871 Then bartow got a little note,— ’Twas very queerly signed,— it simply told him not to vote, or be to death resigned. —T. Thomas Fortune, “bartow black” The eighth U.s. infantry troops that arrived in late october 1869 to restore order finally departed on April 28,1870.The calm that lasted through these six months reassured Republican officials in Tallahassee and Washington they had been correct in their assessment that the intervention of federal soldiers in Jackson County had been warranted. in the pages of the Courier, however, Frank baltzell argued the reverse logic: because the troops’ “services were never called into requisition,” their presence had been proven unnecessary. The most persuasive explanation for the cessation of violence was not offered:the Regulators believed they had accomplished their goal of demoralizing Republican voters by driving out or murdering the county’s Republican leadership.Charles m.hamilton’s prediction was correct: the garrison may have done little more than forestall blacks from retaliating and thereby launching another cycle of killings.1 The violence of the fall of 1869 had both immediate and lasting consequences . The county’s finances were in shambles. An auction held in December revealed that land values had dropped precipitously.Another result was that the referendum held in the Panhandle on the plan to cede West Florida to Alabama was canceled in Jackson County. Jackson County residents would certainly have voted in favor of secession from Florida by a wide margin. Without the endorsement of the largest Panhandle county to give momentum to the plan and to overcome the opposition of Gov. harrison Reed, the proposal was soon abandoned. An additional casualty of the violence was the plan to build a new schoolhouse in marianna.The Freedmen’s bureau had been offered a grant of one thousand dollars the previous June for construction of a school, and John Quincy Dickinson planned to obtain another twelve hundred dollars from the county school board. Dickinson discovered, however, that the “political excitement and 104 / Chapter 7 murders” had made this fund-raising effort impossible.he had to postpone construction yet again and scale back plans to only a two-room school instead of the more ambitious structure originally contemplated.The report to the state legislature by Rev. John Pope and Dr.Theophilus West, chairman and superintendent, respectively, of the county board of Public instruction , confirmed that “unfortunate disturbances in this county” had caused the deferral of “the organization of the school work.”2 During the troops’ six-month billeting in Jackson County,two murders were reported in addition to the killing of Calvin Rogers. events continued to demonstrate that whites accused of murder routinely escaped justice while suspected black criminals were tracked down and punished. For example, when oliver long, white, bludgeoned freedman John Waddill with an axe and then stabbed him, long managed to flee the county. similarly,no arrest followed the murder of another freedman.meanwhile, marianna residents devoted “unusual attention” to the arraignment of luke lott and his subsequent release on five thousand dollars bail. lott stood accused of shooting Judge Archibald Carraway of Calhoun County and was brought to marianna to stand trial. Despite the accusation against him, lott “elicited the liveliest sympathy” in marianna. in contrast with the failure to punish long or lott, Aleck Dickens, a freedman, was convicted the same term as an accessory after the fact in the murder of maggie mcClellan.3 During the late spring and early summer months, after the troops departed , few dramatic or remarkably violent events were recorded in Jackson County.Dickinson was engrossed in taking the federal census for Jackson County, while John varnum, the state’s adjutant general, toured the county to supervise the formation of state militia companies.varnum reported that he “found the people in an excellent temper, and eager to assist him.” Quiet prevailed to such an extent that Dickinson, visiting Jacksonville , suggested to emanuel Fortune that he could return to Jackson County if he so wished and live there without harassment. Prompted by Fortune’s ensuing inquiry,Dickinson conceded that Fortune would not be allowed to resume political activity or exercise free speech. Fortune, who continued to represent Jackson County in the state legislature, declined this invitation and remained in Jacksonville,where he participated in politics and community affairs until his death in 1897.4 The respite from tension gave Jackson County citizens the opportunity to divert their...

Share