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l64CIVIL WAR history Ossian Bingley Hart, Florida 's Loyalist Reconstruction Governor. By Canter Brown Jr. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1997. Pp. xx, 320. $40.00.) Rebel Bishop:Augustin Verot, Florida's Civil WarPrelate. By Michael Gannon. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997. Pp viii, 267. $19.95.) At first glance, Ossian Bingley Hart and Augustin Verot appear to have had little in common. Hart, a lawyer, politician, and Protestant who maintained Unionist sympathies during the Civil War could hardly be compared to Verot, a Catholic prelate and slavery defender who spent much ofthe war ministering to Confederate soldiers. However, with the perusal of two sympathetic and distinguished biographies, parallels can be drawn. Born in France in 1805, Augustin Verot was ordained a priest in 1828. He arrived in Baltimore in 1 830, assigned to St. Mary's College as a mathematics professor. Verot seemed destined for a life of academic insignificance until he reluctantly accepted his 1 858 appointment to the Vicariate of Florida. Transformed into an activist, Bishop Verot confronted the problems of a vast state that lacked priests, churches, and schools. During the secession crisis, Verot took a strong stand on political issues. He defended slavery as an institution, though warning slave holders that God would punish those who abused their bondsmen. During the war, he worked unfailingly for the Southern cause. Afterwards , he lobbied for better education and treatment of the freed blacks, even establishing a Catholic public school in Savannah. International fame came when he addressed the Vatican Council of 1867, lending a uniquely American voice and attitude to the proceedings. He continued zealous missionary work inFlorida and began the recovery of several historic sites in St.Augustine before his death in 1876. Ossian Bingley Hart's story began in 1 82 1 , with his birth into one of the pioneer families of Jacksonville. Raised on the Florida frontier, Hart absorbed his father's belief in law and justice along with the democratic spirit of the "cracker" cowmen. Admitted to the bar in 1 842, Hart built a legal and political career in Fort Pierce, Key West, and Tampa. His loyalty to the Union never wavered. After the Civil War, Hart insisted that Florida should be governed by her loyalist citizens, rather than conservative former Confederates or carpetbag adventurers. His progressive views on the treatment of blacks made enemies, and his long struggle for high office was not rewarded until corruption and scandal brought down the Reed administration. Elected governor in 1872 on the Republican ticket, poor health limited Hart's work. His death in 1 874, after only fifteen months in office, was a tragedy for the state, as Hart had demonstrated great potential for honest and responsible government. Though separated by politics, career, and religion, both Verot and Hart made important contributions to Florida. The men shared a respect for blacks unusual for the time. Verot defended the institution of slavery, but he maintained that blacks were human beings, with souls, and that whites bore a large burden for BOOK REVIEWS1 65 their care. After the war, he became a vocal advocate of black education and made special efforts to convert freedmen to his faith. His attitudes were undoubtably shaped by his early experiences in Baltimore, among free blacks and slaves, as well as by the doctrines of his church. Hart likewise respected African Americans and lobbied for the rights of the former bondsmen, becoming one of their most respected political allies during Reconstruction. Hart's youth on the frontier, along with his defense of a Tampa slave wrongly accused of murder, probably formed his views. Both men saw their duty as one of leadership , and both were willing to undertake arduous journeys across inhospitable landscapes to canvass for votes or souls. Hart and Verot met with criticism during their careers and were often reviled by establishment figures. Each man served as a mentor to others, and both sacrificed their health to their devotion to community service. Unfortunately, neither man is famous. Gannon's Rebel Bishop, originally pubUshed in 1964, is now available in a sturdy paperback edition. It is thorough and well documented. Though not as lively in style as the...

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