In my last post I went in to some depth discussing the 1850s and the pressures that were building up across the United States. I must say again that my effort to give some background on what was happening around the Armisteads in the United States of America, is a very tiny dip into the overwhelming information that has been accumulated from this time period. A great number of books have been written to discuss and analyze this time. We obviously have not figured out this period of time because we are going through the aftershocks of that horrible war and reconstruction even today. So, I will not be waxing philosophical about the causes, reasons, meanings, etc. of these times and this war. I am including just enough to provide context to what I think my ancestors might have been going through at this time. To be perfectly clear, slavery was wrong and horrible, and I definitely wish my ancestors had not participated in it. But, I will not be trying to figure things out or try to make moral judgments. I am simply trying to tell the story about these human beings (my ancestors) struggling to make it through the times they were born into. Is that possible? I don't know, but here I go anyway.
I have found it very interesting as I have researched Jackson County, Florida, both secessionists and unionist lived in the county. I guess I expected it to be so overwhelming for leaving that the pro union folks would not be heard. Political positions of the time, pro-slavery, anti-slavery, state's rights, were not just a North to South thing, but also a person to person thing within each town and state. You will see in a moment how differences of opinion played out in Jackson County.
Map of Downtown Marianna from the early 1900s.
http://www.jacksoncountytimes.net/index.php/component/k2/item/818-1900s-downtown-marianna-florida
We know things were turbulent for the country in 1859. What was it like in Jackson County and in Florida? How were my great-great-grandparents, William Jordan and Mary Eliza Armistead and their extended families dealing with this turmoil? Let's take a look to see if we can learn anything from the county records.
In 1859 county records indicate Mary Eliza Armistead asked her brothers to sell land she owned for $9200. (I assume this is land she inherited from her father.) I do not know why she asked her brothers rather than her husband. Maybe he was incapacitated or something like that but probably she asked the brothers because they were executors of their father's estate. (Remember, Simmons Jones Baker died in 1853.) I only mention the possibility of ill health of her husband because I am aware of the fact W.J. Armistead does have some health issues a few years later. What I do not know is if the sale of the land took place. I was given the information about the possible sale of land by a very nice lady, Paula, from Jackson County a number of years ago. She was so kind to visit the courthouse and research information to send me. I think I have mention before, this is the joy of genealogy, coming in contact with wonderful people along the way. I hope to be able to find out if the land was actually sold by doing some searching of my own. (See the end of this post.) But this much does give us a valuable piece of information about their situation at the time. For some reason they needed to sale some land.
In the 1860 census records the Armistead household consisted of W.J. Armistead, (62), Mary E. Armistead, (57), Sarah J., (26), Anthony, (25) (noted as a salesman), E.B., (16), and, R.S., (12). OK, a quick pop quiz. Who are E.B. and R.S.? If you are new to the blog you get a pass but the others should know Emily Baker Armistead and my great-grandfather, Robert Stewart Armistead. Also, living in the household were B. Baker, (18), Laurence Baker, (16), Theodore C. Hearn, (18), and Richard Compton, (16). No doubt the Bakers were relatives, I'd guess Mary's nephews, but I don't know about Hearn and Compton. They may have been there as laborers for the Armisteads, since Anthony is listed as a salesman and Robert was only 12. You know the women worked hard but I would think, since there were no other men there to work, the reason they were there would be to help work on the farm. No occupation was listed for them.
United States Census of Florida 1860
Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: Jackson, Florida; Roll: M653_107; Page: 736; Family History Library Film: 803107
Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
The Armisteads were living in "Dwelling Number 32" and the family was "Family Number 32". You may recall from the 1850 census the column for "Real Estate Value" was left blank and I speculated about what that meant. I also did not find W.J. Armistead in the slave schedule as owning slaves tin 1850. Now in 1860, "Real Estate Value" is listed at $2600 (their home, land, slaves?) and "Personal Estate Value" was $20,500. That is quite a lot for personal estate it seems to me. Did Mary sell her land that she was trying to sell in 1859? Is this amount included in the $20,500? Seems strange that W.J. Armistead did not own land, but up to this point, I have not found any record of it.
I wonder how close the Armistead house was to the buildings that were burned in the 1859 and 1860 fires that Dale Cox wrote about in his book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Civil War Years? (Remember from my last blog?) Of course back then a fire like that could consume the entire town if conditions were just right. (windy,dry, buildings close together, etc.) The Armisteads may not have been living in the town proper, but living in the area around the town. I just don't know, but I am hoping to find out. I would like to find the location of their house on a map. Of course that would be great, and finding the actual house would be even greater. I am sure the house no longer exists, but it would still be really cool to just know approximately were it was located. Is that just a genealogist thing? Anybody else have that same burning desire? I hope to be able to go into this question a little more in another post.
So where are the rest of the Armisteads in 1860? Ann Penelope (Armistead) Baltzell, and husband George Franklin Baltzell were living in Marianna. Remember George and his now deceased first wife were living in Washington County in the 1850 census. George's wife died and he married Ann in 1855. I wonder if she had any influence in moving from Washington County to Marianna? They lived in dwelling number 5, probably not far from her parents at number 32, along with his six children (Ann's step-children), and Ann and George's two children together.
United States Census of Florida 1860
Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: Marianna, Jackson, Florida; Roll: M653_107; Page: 731; Family History Library Film: 803107
Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
William Jordan Armistead, Jr. and two of his brothers were living in Milton, Santa Rosa County, Florida. (Due west of Jackson County, maybe a hundred miles.) Living with W.J. Jr. were Anne L. Armistead (23) (wife), George F. (3), son, Marshall L., (6 mos.) (son), and L.T. (Lawrence Turner Armistead) (23), W.J. Jr.'s brother. W.J. Jr., is listed as a merchant, with $1500 in his personal estate. Lawrence was listed as a laborer and had $50 for his value of estate. Living with the J.L. Craw family (second image below) was T. S. (Thomas Stewart) Armistead (17). He was listed as a clerk.
United States Census of Florida 1860
Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: Milton, Santa Rosa, Florida; Roll: M653_109; Page: 682; Family History Library Film: 803109
Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
United States Census of Florida 1860
Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: Milton, Santa Rosa, Florida; Roll: M653_109; Page: 659; Family History Library Film: 803109
Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
Abraham Lincoln - 1863
Artist: Alexander Gardner (1821–1882) Blue pencil.svg wikidata:Q661176
Author:
Moses Parker Rice (1839-1925), possibly one of Gardner’s former assistants, copyrighted this portrait in the late nineteenth century, along with other photographs by Gardner.
Title: Abraham Lincoln
Description: Scholars and enthusiasts alike believe this portrait of Abraham Lincoln, taken on November 8, 1863, eleven days before his famed Gettysburg Address, to be the best photograph of him ever taken. Lincoln’s character was notoriously difficult to capture in pictures, but Alexander Gardner’s close-up portrait, quite innovative in contrast to the typical full-length portrait style, comes closest to preserving the expressive contours of Lincoln’s face and his penetrating gaze.
Date: 8 November 1863
Medium: matte collodion print
Dimensions: Height: 32.7 cm (12.8 ″); Width: 25.2 cm (9.9 ″)
Collection: Mead Art Museum Blue pencil.svg wikidata:Q6803132
The author died in 1882, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Lincoln_O-77_matte_collodion_print.jpg
As expected, cries of outrage came from opponents of Lincoln and talk of rebellion became even more intense in the southern states. Dec. 20, South Carolina seceded from the Union. On Dec. 22nd, Florida held a special election to elect delegates to a special Secession Convention which was to be held on Jan 3, 1861. (2)
Four delegates were elected to the convention from Jackson County, James L. G. Baker (my great-great-granduncle), and Adam McNealy from Greenwood, Joseph Collier of Campbellton, and Sidney Alderman of Marianna. They opposed (unsuccessfully) immediate action on an Ordinance of Secession. This action by the Jackson County delegates came as a shock to the Democrats because they were expecting full cooperation, since the Governor-elect, John Milton, came from Jackson County. The reason behind the opposition came from "prosperous and conservative planters of Jackson County... " (who) "elected a solid delegation, instructed to resist the radicals' efforts to take Florida out of the Union." (3) I believe the reasoning there was the war could bring a huge disruption to their successful plantation operations. They were certainly proven correct if that was their reasoning.
The start of the convention did not officially get underway until "Saturday, Jan 5th, when Judge Jesse J. Finley of Marianna, administered the oath of office to the officials."(4) A committee of thirteen was appointed to write an Ordinance of Secession. Simmons J. Baker, Jr. (my great-great-granduncle), brother of James L. G. Baker, and delegate from Calhoun County, was on the committee. (5)
Ordinance of Secession Produced by the Secession Convention
By Florida Convention of the People (1860-1861) - http://dl.wdl.org/3939.pngGallery: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3939/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31586336
At the same time the Secession Convention started to conduct business, the lame duck governor, Gov. Perry, ordered Florida state troops to start seizing Federal installations. On Feb 5th, the Federal arsenal at Chattahoochee was seized, on the 7th, Ft Marion at St. Augustine, and on the 8th, Ft. Clinch in Fernandina was seized. In addition Federal forts and navy yards at Pensacola were threatened. (6)
On Jan 7th, the committee of 13 submitted it's report. It read in part, "...your committee recommends that the State of Florida do, by convention now assembled, secede now, and resume all rights by her delegated to the Federal government, known as the United States of America, and declare herself to be a SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT NATION, and to this end advise the adoption of the Ordinance of Secession herewith respectfully submitted." (7) The document was signed by J.P. Sanderson, Duval County, chairman, A.K. Allison, Gadsden County, McQueen McIntosh, Franklin County, James Gattis, Hillsborough County, James B. Owens, Marion County, J.B. Dawkins, Alachua County, S.J. Baker, Calhoun County, J. Patterson Anderson, Jefferson County. Five delegates refrained from signing, Asa F. Taft, Marion County, S.H. Wright, Escambia County, Jackson Morton, Santa Rosa County, George T. Ward, Leon County, and Daniel Ladd, Wakulla County. Ordinance of Secession is shown in the image above.
Several amendments were put forward to try to stay or delay the Ordinance but all were voted down. The Ordinance of Secession was adopted on Jan 10th. James L. G. Baker was one of seven delegates that voted against the passage of the ordinance and for all the amendments. Simmons J. Baker, Jr., voted for the ordinance and against all the amendments. (8)
Governor Perry immediately ordered the organization of the "National Army of Florida". Companies were formed throughout the state. On Feb 8th, the Confederate States of America was officially set up at a convention in Montgomery, Alabama and Jefferson Davis was elected president. Mar 4th, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president of the United States of America. Mar. 6th, the Confederate States Army was created by the Confederate Congress and Davis asked for 100,000 volunteers. (9)
Under the Confederate Army, the first Florida regiment organized was the 1st Florida Infantry and as part of the 1st Florida, Company E was organized with recruits from Jackson County. In a terrible twist of irony this Company was commanded by Captain Henry Hyer Baker. (He would be my 1st cousin, 3 times removed.) Baker was the son of James L. G. Baker, who you recall from above, voted against secession. To take this terrible twist even further, Captain Hyer Baker was later killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 4, 1863. (10)
April 12th, Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina is attacked by Confederate troops, it was captured 2 days later. April 15th, President Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to fight the secessionist states. The number of secessionist states rises to eleven by May. July 21st, the first Battle of Bull Run at Manassas is fought. (11)
Bombardment of Fort Sumter
Description: Attack against Fort Sumter - 1861
Date: 1861
Source: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b49873/
Author: Currier & Ives.
Uploaded by Christophe cagé 12:52, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombardment_of_Fort_Sumter.jpgDale Cox, in his book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Civil War Years, sums up this time in Jackson County like this: "The secession of Florida from the Union would bring about the most dramatic changes in the history of Jackson County. Within five years of the January 10th vote, the citizens of the county would see war with all its horrors come to their own doorsteps. Scores of men and boys would lose their lives on far away battlefields never to return home again, while others would come back missing arms and legs or so weakened from wounds and disease that they soon joined their comrades in death. The slave-based economy of the South would be destroyed forever and the smoke of battle would rise over the streets of Marianna itself. Jackson County was now at war." (12)
Very well stated by Mr. Cox. Next time I will tell you about the Armistead and Baker family members that fought in the war, and about those members assisting on the home front.
A personal note here. I plan to make a trip to Jackson County and Marianna in the near future. I am very excited about the trip and hope to do a lot of research and a lot of visiting local historical locations. I plan to trace the steps of the Battle of Marianna, (you will learn more about this battle later) and maybe even find out where some of my relatives lived. I will let you know how it goes.
References:
1) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1860.html
2) Stanley, J. Randall, History of Jackson County, Jackson County Historical Society, p. 152
3) Ibid., p. 152.
4) Ibid.
5) Ibid.
6) Ibid.
7) Ibid.
8) Ibid.
9) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1860.html
10) Stanley, History of Jackson County, p. 160
11) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1860.html
12) Cox, Dale, The History of Jackson County, Florida, The Civil War Years, Dale Cox 2010, p. 860 (online edition).
