Notes from sunland, on the Manatee River, Gulf coast south Florida. Its climate, soil, and productions ..

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

From a photograph by F. PINARD, Manatee and Tampa.

MADAM JULIA ATZEROTH,
The lady who raised the first coffee grown in the United States.

NOTES FROM

SUN LAND,

JJanatee ^w, Cjulf

SOUTH FLORIDA.

CLIMATE, SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.

The Land of the Orange and Quava,
The Pine-Apple, Date and Cassava.

S-AJUCTJIEI, C.

ILLUSTRATED.

KRA.IDENTOWN, FLA.:
i.rniA, 25 SOUTH EIGHTH STREET.
, AUTHOR.

Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1881,

By SAMUEL C. UPHAM,
i:i the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

P3I7

TO

HAMILTON DISSTON,

TREASURER OF THE

ATLANTIC AND GULF COAST CANAL

AND

OKEECHOBEE LAND COMPANY,

Not because he is a millionaire, but for the interest he
has evinced in the welfare and progress of Florida; for
his integrity as a citizen, and his sterling worth as a man,
this Brochure is respectfully dedicated by

TIIK AUTHOR.

550595

PREFACE.

Two or three letters written by myself to
friends at the North having found their way into
print, I have been literally flooded with letters
during the past six months, from all sections of
the Union and British Provinces, asking for in-
formation in relation to the Manatee region of
Florida. Hundreds have been replied to, and
many remain unanswered for want of time. This
little book has been written with the belief that it
will answer the requirements of my numerous cor-
respondents, and also prove a welcome guest to
others who desire reliable information concerning
this portion of the Gulf coast of South Florida.
With these brief remarks I cast my little waif
upon the tide of public opinion, with the hope
that favorable breezes will waft it into the hands
of those who will be benefited by its perusal.

SUNNYSIDE COTTAGE,
Brautentomt, Florida, April /, /&$"/.

CHAPTER I.

MANATEE BAY — ITS TROPICAL SCENERY — EGMONT KEY —
SNEAD'S ISLAND — DATE, PALM AND OLIVE TREES—
CLIMATE — INSECTS — BRAIDENTOWN AND ITS SURROUND-
INGS— MANATEE, THE OLDEST TOWN ON THE BAY — ITS
EARLY HISTORY — BRAIDEN CASTLE — FAIR OAKS —
ORANGE GROVES — WILLEMSENBURG AND FOGARTYVILLE.

THE Manatee River, or, more properly speak-
ing, bay, is one of the most picturesque sheets of
water in Florida. It is fourteen miles in length,
with an average width of one and a half miles.
One of its tributaries — the Manatee River proper
— extends still further eastward, some twenty
miles; and another northward, half that distance.
Its course is nearly due west to Egmont Key,
where it mingles its waters with those of Tampa
Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It lies between the
twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth parallels of
north latitude, and in longitude 5^° west from
Washington. A person passing up the bay on the
mail steamer for the first time, will be charmed
with the tropical and semi-tropical scenery that
meets his view on either side of the bay, from its
mouth to Braidentown, the present terminus of
steamboat navigation. Egmont Key, with its

7

8 Notes fi om Sunland.

forest of cabbage palmettos nodding their ever-
green plumes in the morning sun ; the stately date-
palms and olive trees on Snead's Island, on the
north side of the bay, and the pretty villas sur-
rounded by young orange and banana groves on
the south side, between Palmasola city and Man-
atee, form a landscape of rare tropical beauty,
unexceled in the land of flowers, and unrivaled
by the fairest scenes in Italia' s famed land.

Until quite recently, this part of Florida, the
great sanitarium of the world, has, comparatively
speaking, been a sealed book to the invalids and
pleasure-seekers of the North and West, who spend
their winters in Jacksonville, St. Augustine and
the towns on the St. Johns, Halifax and Indian
Rivers, and console themselves with the idea that
they have seen all parts of Florida worth visiting.
The principal drawback which the Gulf coast has
had to contend with, and which partially exists at
this time, is lack of speedy transportation and
comfortable hotel accommodations. These are
being remedied, and, when the Manatee region
shall have become as thickly populated as the St.
Johns, our facilities for transportation, etc., will
equal those of the Atlantic coast.

The railroad now being built by Eastern capi-
talists, between Palatka on the St. Johns and
Tampa at the head of the bay of that name on
the Gulf coast, will be .completed within two years.

Notes from Sunland. 9

Then the iron horse, with bowels of fire, muscles
of steel and breath of steam, with a shriek and a
snort, will rush over the metallic track and anni-
hilate time and space 30 rapidly, that the Atlantic
and Gulf coasts will be within a few hours of each
other. A narrow-gauge railroad from Tampa to
the Manatee, and thence to Sarasota Bay, will
soon follow, giving us direct and rapid communi-
cation with the principal cities of the North and
West. The round-about route over King David's
Transit Railroad to Cedar Key, and thence by
steamboat to the Manatee, will then be abandoned,
and henceforth remembered only as a necessity of
by -gone days. The recent completion of the
Louisville, Nashville and Great Southern Rail-
road, with a terminus at Pensacola, will soon give
us direct and speedy communication with the
cities of Louisville, Nashville, Cincinnati, Indian-
apolis, Chicago and St. Louis, and open up the
best and most available markets for the fruits and
vegetables of the Gulf coast. General Alexander,
Vice-President of this company, recently expressed
his willingness to assist in the establishment of a
line of steamers between PensScola and Manatee,
touching at other points along the coast.

Our climate is far superior to that of any other
part of Florida; and, I do not think I hazard
much in saying, to that of any part of the habita-
ble globe. Having, during a somewhat eventful

io Notes from Sunland.

life of sixty-two years, visited Europe, Asia, Af-
rica, South and Central America, Mexico and
California, I say, and " I say it boldly," that in
my varied travels, nowhere have I found so health-
ful and desirable a climate as " Sunland," on the
Manatee Bay. We are exempt from ice and the
chilling blasts that sweep along the St. Johns and
Halifax, and also from tornadoes and hurricanes,
so destructive on the Atlantic coast.

Insects are neither numerous nor troublesome.
I have been worse annoyed by mosquitoes in the
City of Philadelphia than in this part of Florida.
The ubiquitous flea is, I admit, rather prevalent
here, but one soon becomes reconciled to his
habits, and honors his drafts whenever he presents
his bill. Snakes are not as numerous here as in
Pennsylvania. There are, however, rattlesnakes
and moccasins in Florida. The former I have
never seen, and the latter but seldom. Those
that came under my observation, appeared to be
worse frightened than I was, and made a hasty
exit. Alligators are not numerous in this section,
and are comparatively harmless. Like a once
noted statesman, Aey desire to be let alone. If
closely cornered, they will fight ; but they prefer
to run, if a chance is offered for escape.

Braidentown, the embryo town of the Manatee,
is situated on the south side of the bay, about
eight miles above its entrance into Tampa Bay.

Notes from Simland. 1 1

Located on a bluff some fifteen feet above tide-
water, it commands a fine view of the surrounding
country and of the entire bay. Being constantly
fanned by the breezes from the gulf "with heal-
ing on their wings," it is in point of healthfulness
all that the most fastidious pleasure-seeker or in-
valid could wish for. From Jack's Creek, its
eastern boundary, to its western terminus, Ware's
Creek, it contains a frontage on the bay of three-
fourths of a mile, dotted with picturesque villas,
surrounded by tropical fruits and flowers. Al-
though yet in a chrysalis state, being scarcely two
years old, it contains two boarding-houses, two
stores, a meat-shop, post-office and a warehouse,
with a wharf connecting it with the shore — the
only one on the bay east of Palmasola city. Pas-
sengers for Manatee and other places on the bay
are conveyed on shore in sail or row-boats. Ma-
jor W. I. Turner, the projector of Braidentown,
a Virginian by birth, has been a resident of Florida
for forty-five years. Although on the shady side
of life, he is still hale and hearty. May he live to
see his bantling, now in her leading-strings, the
county-seat of Manatee County. Stranger events
have happened. This is an age of progress ; the
world moves, and Florida, after her Rip Van
Winkle sleep of three hundred years, is moving
with it.

Sportsmen visiting this place can be accommo-

1 2 Notes from Sunland,

dated with sail boats for fishing, or mule and ox
teams for a hunting trip to the Miakka, the sports-
man's paradise. Captain Charles Miller and Billy
Stowell, alias "Buffalo Bill," both "old salts"
and reliable men, can be engaged with their re-
spective crafts, the Sancho Panza and Onkeehi, at
reasonable rates. Ox and mule teams can be had
of John N. Harris and Dr. S. J. Tyler.

The reader will pardon a slight digression, and
allow me to state, that if any person who knows
how to run a hotel, will start one in Braidentown,
he will most assuredly put money in his purse, and
at the same time satisfy a great public want. A
hotel containing one hundred rooms, properly
conducted, would be filled with guests six months
of the year. We have fish, oysters, clams and
game in abundance, on which boarders could fare
sumptuously every day. Shall we have a hotel ?

One and a half miles east of Braidentown, on
the low, sandy beach of the bay, is the irregularly
constructed village of Manatee. A stranger visit-
ing Manatee will invariably ask himself why a
town was ever built here? The following will
solve the problem. Adjacent to the village, in a
southerly direction, are rich hammock lands,
which, in consequence of their malarial surround-
ings, could not be domiciled by their owners.
The pine land on the bay shore offering a more
healthful location for building, the early settlers

Notes from Siinland, 1 3

availed themselves of it and erected their log and
palmetto cabins first, and afterward more pre-
tentious and architectural structures. The Indian
war breaking out soon after the first settlers had
located at Manatee, their cabins formed the nu-
cleus of a settlement as a protection against the
savages. Thus Manatee became a village, and for
many years was the only settlement on the Mana-
tee Bay. The hospitality of her citizens is pro-
verbial. The stranger within their gates who asks
for bread is never requested to masticate a stone.
Unfortunately, the citizens of Manatee are not as
progressive as hospitable. A plank wharf or foot-
way, connecting the steamboat warehouse with the
shore, is badly needed, and should be constructed
at once. There is a great deal of vitality lying
dormant in the old town, which, if thoroughly
aroused and properly applied, would place an en-
tirely different aspect on the face of affairs. The
village contains a Methodist church, five stores,
three boarding-houses, a drug store, an academy, a
meat-shop and a post-office. Dr. George Casper,
an enterprising Manateean, wishing to extend his
usefulness, a«nd being impressed with the belief
that it would be a good thing to mix literature
with physic, has issued the prospectus of a weekly
newspaper, to be called the Manatee County News,
It will be the pioneer paper of the county, and its
editor will have plenty of elbow-room — Manatee

14 Notes from Sunland.

County being as large as the States of Connecticut
and Rhode Island.

One mile east of Manatee, on a point of land
formed by the junction of Braiden Creek with the
bay, stands a historic structure, known as Braiden
Castle. It is composed of a concrete of lime and
oyster-shells, two stories high, surmounted by a
cupola or observatory, constructed of wood, from
which a charming view of the surrounding country
can' be had. South-east, Braiden Creek, winding
like a silver thread among innumerable evergreen
islands, presents a view worthy of a poet's dream.
Westward, as far as the eye can scan, can be traced
the blue waters of the bay glinting in the sun or
dancing in the moonbeams on their way to the
gulf. Northward, across the bay, the eye meets
hammock, pine land and prairie stretching far
away toward Tampa Bay. This old relic, scarred
by Indian bullets, stands a sad memento of better
days. Who shall write its history ?

At Fair Oaks, about one and a half miles south
of the castle, on a portion of the old Braiden plan-
tation, is the largest and most thrifty young orange
grove on the gulf coast of South Florida. It com-
prises nearly four thousand trees ; belongs to the
Hon. Charles H. Foster, ex-State Treasurer, and is
a living, growing, bearing monument to Yankee
pluck, enterprise and industry. Mr. Foster is now
erecting at Fair Oaks the handsomest private resi-

Notes from Sunland. 15

dence in South Florida. The most direct route
to Fair Oaks is by the way of Manatee, and the
scenery en route is unsurpassed in the land of the
myrtle and ivy. Leaving Rocky Ford, you pass
Glen Falls, whose pellucid waters sparkle and
dance over rock and through chasm, on their
course to the Manatee. Graceful palms, with
their evergreen foliage ; stately live oaks, draped
with pendant moss, swaying to and fro in the
breeze; girdled oaks, gayly festooned from base
to apex with ivy, yellow jessamine and Virginia
creeper, gladden the eye on either side of the road,
and orange-blossoms perfume the air with their
delightful fragrance, rendering the scene enchant-
ing as fairy land.

In the village of Manatee and adjacent ham-
mock may be seen the orange groves of Mrs. Gates,
Revs. Edmund Lee, A. A. Robinson and E. Gla-
zier, Messrs. Pelote, Curry, Harllee, Mitchell,
Vanderipe, Lloyd, Clark, Warner, McNeill, Cas-
per, Gates, Wyatt, Adams, Broberg, Reed and
Wilson. Mrs. Gates, Parson Lee and Major
Adams also have banana groves in bearing. The
latter gentleman is engaged in erecting a large
concrete mansion, with carriage-house and ser-
vants' quarters of the same material. Situated in
an eligible position on the bank of the bay, sur-
rounded by tropical fruits, flowers and vines, whose
evergreen foliage constantly waving in the breeze,
renders the location highly picturesque.

1 6 Notes from Snnland.

Some four or five miles south of Manatee, en
route to Sarasota Bay, are thrifty young orange
groves, belonging to the Messrs. Helm, father and
sons, Dryman, Marshall, Younglove, Dunham,
Saunders, Azlin, Howell, Thompson, Williams
and Whitted ; and on Black-jack Ridge, near
Braidentovvn, may be seen the thrifty grove of
Judge E. M. Graham. The groves of the Messrs.
Helm are pronounced by every one who have seen
them to be the most promising of their age in the
State. They are only four years old, but will put
to the blush many groves twice their age. They
are monuments of clean and persistent culture.

On the west side of Ware's Creek, skirting the
bay, is Willemsenburg, consisting of three houses
and th.e frame of a mammoth hotel. This grim
skeleton, gray with age, has a history. Erected
originally by Dr. Hunter, at one time a noted
physician of New York, and Charles W. Skinner,
a Boston capitalist, on Sanibel, or "Sanitarium"
Island, near Punta Rassa, it was soon blown or
washed down. A portion of the wreck, with ad-
ditional lumber from Cedar Key, was soon after-
ward erected at Sarasota Bay, where another part-
ner, Dr. Dunham, of St. Louis, joined in the
enterprise. A misunderstanding between the trio
resulted in the withdrawal of the two medical men
before the structure was completed. Mr. Skinner
subsequently razed the building to the ground,

Notes from Sunland, 2 1

Shaw's Point into Palmasola Bay, and becoming
bewildered, he landed at Sarasota instead of Ter-
raceia. After being buffeted about by the wind
and waves for more than a week, he finally reached
home. During his absence, Madam Joe and her
child had no companion save the dog Bonaparte.
The panthers, wild hogs and owls made the nights
hideous with their screams, growls and hootings.
One night a raid was made by an owl on the
chickens roosting on the trees overhanging the
hut. Madam Joe seized an old musket of the
Methodist persuasion, which usually went off at
half-cock, with the intention of frightening away
the " wild varmints," but it was unloaded. Never
having loaded a musket, she was in a quandary
whether to put in first the powder or the shot.
Luckily, she put in the powder before the shot,
and stepping to the door of the hut, discharged the
musket into the tops of the trees. She put in too
much powder, and like another gun we read about,
it

" Bore wide the mark and kicked its owner over."

The owl escaped that time in consequence of be-
ing at the wrong end of the musket. It was sub-
sequently killed by Mr. Joe, and peace reigned
once more among the chickens. Madam Joe sub-
sequently became an expert with both the shot-gun
and rifle, and if reports are reliable, her unerring
aim has caused more than one red-skin to make a

22 Notes from Sunland.

hasty exit to the " happy hunting-grounds." She
can also ride a horse astride or otherwise — seldom
otherwise — like a Camanche.

Becoming disgusted with their frail palmetto
hut, Madam and Mr. Joe felled the trees and com-
menced the erection of a log-pen house, consisting
of two rooms, with a wide passage running between
them. As there were no saw-mills in the country,
boards could not be had at any price. The roof
of the house was covered with split cedar planks,
and the interstices between the logs filled with
moss and clay. A chimney was improvised of
sticks plastered with mud. Subsequently, glazed
sash for the windows were imported from New
Orleans. Meanwhile the axe had not been idle.
The stately live oaks and graceful palms around
the house had been felled and burned, the land
grubbed, and a good-sized vegetable garden was
in successful cultivation. Fort Brooke, some thirty
miles distant, offering a good market for their
surplus produce, they hired a man with a boat to
transport and sell their vegetables. Although
bountiful crops rewarded their labor, they were
not entirely happy. Madam Joe was anxious that
her only sister, residing in New York, should
emigrate with her family to Florida. But how
was the matter to be accomplished without money?
Where there is a will, there is always a way to
accomplish things which at first sight seem to be

Notes from Sun land. 23

impossibilities. The matter was laid before Col.
W W. Belknap, the commander of Fort Brooke,
who cheerfully advanced the required funds, and
Mr. Joe left immediately in a schooner for New
York, via Key West. The voyage was long and
tedious, but it was accomplished, and in due
course of time, Mr. Joe returned safely with his
brother-in-law, wife and child.

Another trouble now presented itself. The
Armed Occupation Ac* having expired previous to
locating their land on Terraceia, they were com-
pelled to go to the United States Land Office, at
Newnansville, one hundred and sixty miles distant,
to file the requisite papers. The country being
wild and sparsely settled, Mr. Joe and Mr. Nichols,
his brother-in-law, were compelled to pack their
provisions on their backs, which rendered their
journey wearisome and slow. On the third day
they reached a cabin, where they remained over
night. While at breakfast on the following morn-
ing, most of their provisions were stolen by some
thieving negroes. The theft not being discovered
until they stopped at mid-day to lunch, they were
in a sad plight. They pushed on as fast as possi-
ble, and late in the evening came to a cabin in-
habited by very poor people. A scanty supper
was set before them, which they ate and retired for
the night. The breakfast -table on the following
morning was bountifully supplied with hog, hominy

24 Notes from Simla nd.

and corn-dodgers. Mr. Nichols having never be-
fore seen a corn-dodger, took a large mouthful of
one, and then walking deliberately to the door,
spat it out. On resuming his seat at the table,
he requested Mr. Joe, in German, not to eat those
saw-dust cakes. Mr. Joe, knowing the difference
between saw-dust and corn-meal, continued to put
away the dodgers, to the great disgust of his bro-
ther-in-law, who finished his breakfast on hog and
hominy. They finally Beached Newnansville,
transacted their business and returned safely home,
after an absence of about two weeks.

Soon after the return of her husband from New-
nansville, Mrs. Nichols gave birth to a child. It
lived only two hours, and in less than one week
from its birth its mother followed the little angel
to

" The undiscovered country, from whose bourne
No traveler returns."

The surviving child, a little girl two years old, was
adopted by Madam Joe, who reared and educated
her. She is at this time the wife of Mr. William
O'Neil, who resides at Palmetto, on the north side
of the Manatee Bay.

The money borrowed from Colonel Belknap still
remained unpaid, which was a source of great trou-
ble to Madam Joe. She had the inclination, but
not the means to cancel the debt. The colonel
proposed to send for his family at the North, and

Notes from Sunland. 1 7

rafted it through Palmasola Bay into the Manatee,
and erected it on its present site, where it has stood
in an unfinished condition during the past five
years. The decease of Mr. Skinner soon after its
erection, caused its progress to stop as suddenly
as did " my grandfather's clock" at the death of
its owner.

Westward, separated by an imaginary line, is
Fogartyville, a community composed principally
of boat-builders and seafaring men, with their
families. It contains a store, boat-builder's shed,
half a dozen dwelling-houses, a floating dry-dock
with two sections in working order, and two addi-
tional sections nearly completed. The Messrs.
Fogarty and Captain Bhart are the owners of the
dry-dock.

In this cozy little settlement, close down by the
waters of the bay, lives Madam Julia Atzeroth,
and in the garden attached to her house was cul-
tivated with her own hands the first coffee grown
in the United States. Madam Atzeroth, or Madam
"Joe," as she is called by her friends, is a char-
acter, and deserves an extended notice.

CHAPTER II.

MADAM ATZEROTH — BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND MARRIAGE
— ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK — VISIT TO PHILADELPHIA,
EASTON AND NEW ORLEANS — ARRIVAL IN FLORIDA —
LOCATES ON TERRACEIA ISLAND — VICISSITUDES OF PIO-
NEER LIFE — A FRIEND IN NEED, A FRIEND INDEED —
ARRIVAL OF HER SISTER AND FAMILY — TRIP TO NEW-
NANSVILLE — CORN-DODGERS AND SAWDUST — DEATH OF
MRS. NICHOLS — REMOVAL TO FORT BROOKE, TAMPA —
COL. W. W. BELKNAP AND FAMILY — RETURN TO TER-
RACEIA— HOMESTEAD PAPERS ILLEGALLY EXECUTED —
RETURN AGAIN TO TAMPA — GALE OF 1846 — REMOVE TO
PALMETTO — INDIAN WAR — SCENES DURING THE WAR OF
THE REBELLION — SELL OUT AT PALMETTO AND SETTLE
IN FOGARTYVILLE — FIRST COFFEE GROWN IN THE
UNITED STATES — ITS HISTORY.

MADAM JULIA ATZEROTH, whose maiden name
was Hunt, was born in the City of Bradford, near
the River Rhine, in Bavaria, on the 25th day of
December, 1807. Of a family of four children —
two males and two females — she is the only survi-
vor. The death of her mother occurring when
she was eleven years of age, she was adopted by
an uncle on the maternal side, with whom she
resided until she attained her majority. At the
age of twenty-four years she married Joseph At-

18

Notes from Suntand. 19

zeroth, also a native of Bavaria. The young
couple soon after the birth of their first child, a
daughter, left the Fatherland and immigrated to
America. They arrived in New York in the
month of August, 1841, where they remained only
a few months. In consequence of the failing
health of Madam Atzeroth, they visited Philadel-
phia and Easton, Pa. ; but deriving no benefit from
change of location at the North, her physician ad-
vised her to go South. They accordingly went to
New Orleans, where they remained about one year.
Madam Atzeroth's health not improving, her at-
tending physician, a German, proposed a trip to
Florida. Laying in a supply of provisions and
medicines, and accompanied by the physician,
they engaged passage on board the schooner Essex,
a tender for the United States troops stationed at
Fort Brooke, Tampa, where they arrived in the
spring of 1843.

Soon after landing at Tampa, Mr. Atzeroth com-
menced prospecting for a desirable place to locate.
After looking about for two or three weeks, he
concluded to homestead one hundred and sixty
acres of land on Terraceia Island, and on the i2th
day of April, 1843, accompanied by his wife, little
daughter, the German physician and his dog
Bonaparte, landed on the east side of the island
about midway of Terraceia Bay. The hammock
was so dense that the men were compelled to use

2O Notes from Sunland.

their axes to clear a space on which to pitch their
tent. The underbrush and vines were so thick,
and the progress made by the men so slow, that
Madam Joe seized an axe and assisted them. This
was her first attempt at chopping and grubbing in
Florida. Since that time she has become an ex-
pert at the business. When the tent was erected
and dinner prepared, it was eaten with a keen
relish. From that time forward Madam Joe felt
new life and strength. Her torpid liver began to
perform its normal functions, and she forthwith
discharged the physician and destroyed his medi-
cines. The doctor went to Key West, where he
died soon afterward.

Having become weary of tent-life, Madam Joe
proposed to her husband the erection of a palmet-
to hut. Mr. Joe, as the madam always called her
husband, drove the stakes for the frame and gath-
ered the palmetto fans or branches. The madam
mounted the roof and thatched it ; but her work
was performed so badly that the first shower of
rain deluged the interior, and its inmates sought
refuge under the table. The hut was subsequently
re-thatched, and three of its corners made fast to
trees, which prevented the wind from blowing it
down. Soon after the completion of the hut, their
provisions ran short, and Mr. Joe started in a
canoe for Tampa to replenish them. On his re-
turn, adverse winds blew his frail craft around

Notes from Sunland. 25

install Madam Joe as housekeeper. The proposi-
tion was cheerfully acquiesced in ; and early in the
year 1845, Madam Joe, accompanied by her hus-
band, daughter and niece, went to Tampa and re-
sided in the house of Colonel Belknap, at Fort
Brooke. The Terraceia homestead was left in
charge of Mr. Nichols and a hired man. The
colonel's family at that time consisted of his wife,
two daughters and a son. That son, General W.
W. Belknap, at present, I believe, a resident of New
York, made an honorable and enviable record
during the war of the Rebellion, and was afterward
Secretary of War during a part of President Grant's
administration.

During the eight months Madam Joe resided
with the family of Colonel Belknap, she frequently
saw the wily chief, Billy Bowlegs, and other noted
Seminoles, for whom, to use her own words, she
"cooked many a meal." Close confinement
caused a recurrence of her old disease — liver com-
plaint— and she reluctantly left the hospitable
house of Colonel Belknap for her homestead on
Terraceia, where by constant out-door exercise,
she spon regained her usual health. Even at the
present day, Madam Joe's universal panacea is
" the grubbing-hoe and elbow-grease." She prac-
tices what she preaches, and unlike the medical
profession, takes her own medicine. Soon after
the return of Madam Joe and family to Terraceia,

26 .V. tcs from Sunhind.

Mr. Nichols concluded to go to New Orleans.
During that year — 1846 — the yellow fever nearly
depopulated the city, and Mr. Nichols was proba-
bly one of its victims, as he has never been heard
from by his friends since he left Terraceia.

In the fall of 1846, one of the severest gales that
ever visited this section of the country passed over
Tampa, Terraceia, Palmetto and Manatee. Ma-
dam Joe's house was blown down and all her fur-
niture destroyed. The hen-house was the only
structure that survived the storm. The fowls were
dispossessed of their domicile, and the family oc-
cupied it until another house was built.

In 1848, a government official visited this part
of Florida to examine proofs of claimants to land
under the Armed Occupation and Homestead
Acts. On examining Madam Joe's papers, it was
discovered that two permits had been issued for
the same number. This error could only be rec-
tified at the General Land Office in Washington.
It was deemed advisable by Madam Joe and her
husband to return to Tampa and remain there until
the mistake in relation to their homestead could be
rectified. Mr. Joe hired a man to assist him in
building a house at Tampa, and they went up the
Hillsborough River to cut logs and make shingles
for the structure. In the month of September the
logs for the house were formed into a raft and the
shingles placed on it. Everything being in readi-

Notes f ran S:inLnd. 27

ness for a start, a furious gale sot in, which de-
stroyed the raft and scattered the logs and shingles
for miles along the banks of the river. Having
gathered the logs and shingles together and
rafted them down to Tampa, Mr. Joe visited his
family at Terraceia, where he learned that during
the late storm his wife, child and niece had taken
refuge in the house of a friend on another part of
the island. He returned to Tampa, and his family
followed soon after. When Madam Joe arrived,
she did not admire the location her husband had
selected for the house. The frame was taken down
and erected on a lot on the town-side of the river,
and was soon occupied by the family. The prop-
erty is still owned by Madam Joe.

Misfortunes, it is said, never come single-handed.
In the early part of 1849, Mr. Joe injured one of
his feet, and soon after was attacked with chills
and fever, which, despite medical treatrrfent, con-
tinued nine months. At this time Madam Joe's
finances were at a fearfully low ebb; but being
equal to the emergency, she cast about for some:
thing to do whereby she could earn an honest
penny. She accordingly started a home-made
beer and cake shop, which being liberally patron-
ized by the soldiers, soon placed her in easy finan-
cial circumstances. Her husband at the same
time kept a sutler's store at Fort Chiconicla.

About this time a partly-finished house, built by

2g Notes from Sunland.

a friend — Mr. Recce — in Palmetto, was sold by the
sheriff, and Madam Joe became the purchaser,
with the hope that Mr. Reece would be able to
redeem the property. Failing to do so, Madam
Joe and family left Tampa and located in Palmetto
in the year 1851. Here they opened a small
store, in which they did a thriving business. They
also cultivated their farm on Terraceia Island, and
by degrees, as their means permitted, stocked it
with cattle, horses and hogs. Additions were also
made to their stock of goods, and finally they
purchased a colored man, who was an excellent
farm hand, and proved of great service to his
owners.

In 1855 another Indian war broke out. Volun-
teer companies, home-guards and boat companies
were organized for protection against Indian in-
cursions. Many plantations were abandoned and
homes broken up. Mr. Joe belonged to one of
the boat companies, and a ten days' scout being
prolonged to twenty days, it was reported that the
entire party had been massacred by the Indians.
During the scout they visited the Indian camps in
the Everglades, from whence Mr. Joe brought
away as trophies a silver cup and a spoon belong-
ing to Billy Bowlegs. The cup was subsequently
sold to Colonel Jewett, U. S. A. The country
was in a state of commotion and fever of excite-
ment until the close of the war, in 1858. During

Notes from SunlanJ. 29

these eventful years, Madam Joe stood guard with
her musket or rifle whenever her services were re-
quired. She never showed the white feather.

Peace had scarcely been restored, when the
civil war of 1861 broke out, and Florida was again
in a state of anarchy. Mr. Joe enlisted in the
Confederate service, and served in Tennessee and
Kentucky. At the close of the war, Madam Joe
sold her place at Palmetto, with the intention of
returning to Europe, but her physician informed
her that she could not survive a change of climate,
which induced her to abandon the idea of visiting
the Fatherland. The family again took up their
residence on Terraceia, where Mr. Joe died on the
29th of October, 1871. Madam Joe sold part of
her Terraceia plantation and moved to Fogarty-
ville, her present location, in the year 1873. Her
garden at this place comprises only four acres, but
nowhere else in Florida can be found so many
different varieties of trees, plants, vegetables,
vines, shrubs and flowers. Mrs. William Fogarty,
the daughter of Madam Joe, with her husband and
son, reside with the madam. Here, in the year
1876, was planted a few grains of Mexican coffee,
received from a neighbor, Mrs. E. S. Warner.
On the 2oth of February, 1880, Madam Joe sent
to the Commissioner of Agriculture, at Washing-
ton, the first pound of coffee grown in the United
States, for which she received ten dollars. This

30 Notes from Sun \iiht.

spring she has sent to the Agricultural Department,
at Washington, four pounds of coffee, the product
of two trees. Next year she will have eight coffee
trees in bearing, and at least one hundred young
trees in her nursery. As quite a diversity of
opinion exists in relation to the origin of the seed
from which the first coffee was grown in the United
States, I append the following communications
from Mrs. E. S. Warner, of Manatee, Fla., and
Dr. A. A. Russell, of Cordova, Mexico, published
in the Tampa Tribune, of September 26th, 1880:

" MANATEE, FLA., August joth, 1880.
" DR. WALL: Dear Sir — I inclose a letter from Dr. A.
A. Russell, of Cordova, Mexico, the gentleman from whose
plantation the coffee-seed was procured that has been suc-
cessfully reproduced by Madam Atzeroth here. As the sub-
ject of coffee-raising in this State is causing considerable
inquiry, and as this letter contains much valuable informa-
tion on the subject, I submit it to you for publication, asking
the favor of having a copy forwarded to the doctor from
your office as soon as issued. Very respectfully,

"E. S. WARNER."

" CORDOVA, MEXICO, May iqtk, 1880.
"MRS. E. S. WARNER: Madam — It was quite a plea-
sure to receive your very kind letter of April 1st. I con-
gratulate you most heartily, and am proud to learn that from
the seed I sent was produced the first coffee in the States. I
think I wrote you that the plant requires shade. In this
climate we prefer to plant in fresh, timbered land ; cutting
out at first only the undergrowth, and taking out a few trees

Note s ft oin Sttn/atit/. 31

every year after for two or three years, thus graduating the
shade and ventilating as appears to be required. The pala-
tine (or plantain, or banana, as you probably call it) makes
a good shade, and may be cut out, or under leaves trimmed off
as may seem to be necessary. Coffee requires a rich,
vegetable soil, or manure. The berry is fully ripe when
dark red, but the grain is matured if the berry is picked
when it has become yellow or only turning red ; however,
the coffee is of better quality if the berry is fully ripe, that is,
of a deep or dark red. When gathered, it should be spread
out at once to dry in the sun. It may be dried on mats,
scaffolds or platforms of planks or boards. In good or
favorable weather it requires 'about three weeks to dry.
Here it is often dried on the ground. It may be spread
from two to four inches thick, and should be stirred twice or
three limes a day ; and if it should get wet a few times on
the dryer, before half dry, no harm will be done and the
coffee not injured in the least, if frequently stirred to prevent
fermentation. When half dry it should be protected from
rain and dew. If it has been wet a few times it will be
more easily cleaned, but if frequently wet it will be of a
darker color; also much darker, and even black and spoiled,
if allowed to heat and ferment. It may be pulped by some
of the pulping machines now in use, the day it is gathered,
then washed and dried. The pulped coffee will dry in a few
days, occupies less space in drying, and is of a lighter color,
which, with you, I presume, are considerations of little im-
portance at present.

" You will know the coffee is sufficiently dry when the
hull crushes readily under the foot. The most simple, and,
by the way, not a very bad process for cleaning the coffee,
is the primitive mode of cleaning rice; that is, to beat it out
in a deep mortar with a heavy pestle, and as the chaff accu-
mulates dip out the coffee with a cup in the left hand, pour-

32 Notes from Sun' and,

ing back into the mortar from the same height, at the same
time blowing off the chaff with a fan in the right hand, re-
peating the process until clean.

" There are a variety of machines for hulling and clean-
ing coffee, which will be a matter of consideration when the
production requires it. Now that you have succeeded in
producing the grain, you will have less difficulty in propa-
gating from the acclimated seed, which should be thoroughly
ripe, squeezed out of the pulp and dried in the shade. Hope
you will continue successfully, and establish plantations of
importance. Your obedient servant,

" A. A. RUSSELL."
«

The portrait of Madam Joe, forming the frontis-
piece of this book, is a truthful likeness. Above
the medium height of her sex, with features bronzed
by a tropical sun and the exposure and hardships
of a pioneer life, she is nevertheless a well-pre-
served matron of seventy-four years, with as noble
and generous a heart as ever pulsated within the
breast of a human being. She is passionately fond
of music and waltzing, and can

" Trip the light fantastic toe"

as gracefully as a miss of sixteen. May her days
in the land be prolonged beyond fourscore years
and ten.

CHAPTER III.

THE WARNERS, MOTHER AND SONS — PALMASOLA CITY —
STEAM SAW-MILL AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS — SAM
NICHOLS AND HIS SHELL-MOUND — PALMASOLA BAY —
SARASOTA BAY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS — SNEAD'S ISLAND
— SHELL-MOUND — DATE-PALM AND OLIVE TREES —
UNCLE JOE AND HIS DOGS WITH GLASS EYES — SAPP'S
POINT — PALMETTO — THE PATTEN AND TURNER PLAN-
TATIONS— JUDAH P. BENJAMIN — OAK HILL — TERRA-
CEIA ISLAND — LANDING OF DE SOTO IN 1539.

WESTWARD of Fogartyville, on the south side
of the bay, among the most prominent residences,
are those of the Warners, mother and sons.
Thence westward, across a bayou, on a sand-spit
projecting into the bay, stands the steam saw and
planing-mill of Messrs. W. S. Warner & Co.,
just completed. This mill, wharf and warehouse
are the nuclei of Palmasola City, which is soon to
skirt the adjacent sand hills, and cause the sur-
rounding "wilderness to blossom as the rose."
Mr. Warner is a Bay State Yankee of indomitable
pluck, and his partner, Mr. J. S. Beach, who re-
sides at Terre Haute, Ind., controls the money
bags of a national bank. If capital and pluck
can build a city, the success of Palmasola may be

33

]4 Notes from

set down as assured. Along the bay, west of the
Warners, are the ranches of Messrs. Sweetzer,
Burgess, Sykes and Bishop. A few miles further
west is Shaw's Point, at the mouth of the bay.
Here, on an immense shell -mound, surrounded by
hammock and pine land, Mr. Sam Nichols, a native
of Alabama, has entered a homestead of 160 acres
of land. Although severely wounded during our
late "unpleasantness," Mr. Nichols has beaten
his musket into a plowshare, his sword into a
{mining-hook, and, like a good citizen, is earning
his bread by the sweat of his brow.

Along the Gulf coast, southward, skirting Pal-
masola and Sarasota Bays, may be found the hos-
pitable homes of Messrs. Farrar, Adams, Moore,
Buckner, Harp, Stephonse, Tyler, Spang, Crow-
ley, Dorch, Callan, Riggin, Dunham, Smith,
Helveston, Whitaker, Willard, Bidwell, Ed-
mondson, C. E. and M. R. Abbe, Liddell, Greer,
Yonge, Boardman, Young, Lancaster, Conliff,
Woodworth, Jones, Anderson, Crocker, Hansen,
Bronson Bros., Clower, Lowe, Webb, Griffith,
Bacon, Knight, Guptrel and Ro^ms.

On the north side of Manatee Bay, at its en-
trance into Tampa Bay, is Snead's Island, sepa-
rated from the mainland by a narrow and shallow
"cut-off" leading into Terraceia Bay, and also
by a wider and deeper channel opening into
Tampa Bay, and separating it from Terraceia Is-

Notes from Simla m/. 35

land. Midway of the island, fronting on Mana-
tee Bay, is a curiosity in the shape of a shell-
mound or earth-work, crescent-shaped, and some
forty feet in height. The distance between the
points of the crescent on the bank of the bay, is
five hundred feet. On the highest point of the
mound, and nearly in the centre, stands a frame
dwelling, somewhat dilapidated, erected by a
former owner of the place. On the eastern angle
are two date-palm and two olive trees. The
former are fifteen inches in diameter and forty
feet in height. The latter are eighteen inches in
diameter two feet above the ground, and fifty feet
in height. Both the olive and date-palms bear
fruit; the former in large quantities. On the
mound in the centre of the crescent, and near the
house, are two olibanum trees, eighteen inches in
diameter and fifty feet in height. Was this mound
an Indian burial place, or was it thrown up by
the early Spanish invaders as a defense against the
Natchez, a warlike and semi-civilized tribe of In-
dians, who, at the time of the Spanish conquest,
inhabited this j5rrt of Florida? Quicn sabe ?

The only human occupants of the island at this
time are uncle Joe Franklin and his wife, an aged
couple. Uncle Joe lives in a palmetto hut with a
shell floor, and with the old 'oman and two glass-
eyed dogs as companions,

" His hours in cheerful labor fly."

36 Notes from

Uncle Joe is a character, and all visitors to the
Manatee should call on him, examine his mam-
moth wild fig tree and hedge of century plants.
Mem. Ask him to chain his dogs before you go
ashore, otherwise the seat of your inexpressibles
will require repairs. I have been there.

Eastward, above the Terraceia cut-off, is Sapp's
Point. Further along, and directly opposite
Braidentown, is Palmetto, a young town contain-
ing two stores and a post-office. The reader will
perceive that Uncle Sam distributes post-offices
in Florida with a lavish hand. We have three of
these convenient institutions within a radius of
one and a half miles — Braidentown, Manatee,
Palmetto — and Palmasola City, only three miles
distant, will have one as soon as Postmaster War-
ner shall build an office to protect the mail matter
of that growing city.

Immediately in the rear of Palmetto is a prairie
of several miles in extent. North-east of the
town, about one mile distant in the hammock,
Mr. Hendricks, of Palmetto, has a promising six-
years-old orange grove, grown from seeds planted
with his own hands. Mr. Hendricks cultivates
vegetables between the rows of his orange trees,
and last year he realized several hundred dollars
by shipping his early tomatoes, cucumbers and
snap-beans to New York and other Northern
markets. To Mr. Hendricks belongs the credit

Notes frjm Sun land. 37 «

of starting the early vegetable boom in the Mana-
tee region. ,

Mr. David Zehner, from Louisiana, has recently
purchased a strip of scrub hammock, east of the
town, where he intends to make the cultivation
of grapes and strawberries a specialty. He has
already received several thousand cuttings and
plants of the choicest varieties. A few miles
further eastward, you reach the plantation of
Major W. I. Turner, the god-father of Braiden-
town, who has forty acres in tomatoes, cucumbers,
squashes and beans. He has already commenced
shipping his vegetables to the Northern markets.

Half a mile east of Major Turner's is the ex-
tensive plantation of Major George Patten. Gen-
eral Hiram W. Leffingwell, ex-United States Mar-
shal for the Eastern District of Missouri, has
recently purchased 200 acres of this land, and is
negotiating for more. Two of the general's
sons, with their families and an unmarried nephew,
are now encamped on the land, and are busily
engaged in erecting dwelling-houses and the ne-
cessary out-buildings. The general and his wife
will arrive later in the season. In addition to the
cultivation of the various fruits of the citrus
family, the general will devote his attention to
general farm crops and the growing of early vege-
tables for the Northern and Western markets.
Another St. Louis gentleman, Mr. C. G. B.

38 Notes from Sun.'atul.

Drummond, Assistant U. S. District Attorney,
has purchased 1 20 acres of land on the Rogers' ham-
mock near Oak Hill, on which he will set out an
orange grove this summer.

Mr. H. O. Cannon, a California Argonaut, and
late resident of New Albany, Ind., after having
spent several winters prospecting Florida, has,
like a sensible man, concluded to pitch his tent
on the Patten plantation. With this view, he has .
purchased twenty acres of land, which he has
commenced grttbbing and fencing, preparatory to
planting an orange and lemon grove. Mr. C. H.
Walworth, of Milwaukee, has purchased twenty
acres of land adjoining Mr. Cannon, which he
will have cleared, grubbed and planted in orange
and lemon trees this year.

In ante bcllum times, the present Patten planta-
tion was know first as the Gamble, and afterward
as the Cofield and Davis plantation, and was the
largest and most thoroughly equipped sugar plan-
tation in the State of Florida. The owners worked
200 hands, and had 1,400 acres of sugar-cane in
one field. Their sugar-mill and refinery contained
all the modern appliances, and, at the commence-
ment of the war, was worth half a million dol-
lars. Soon after the breaking out of hostilities,
most of the slaves were sent to Louisiana, and work
on the plantation was abandoned. During the last
year of the war, a Federal gunboat entered the

fi'oni Sunland. 39

Manatee Bay, and a boat's crew, commanded by
an officer, blew up the sugar-house and set fire to the
refinery. The destruction was complete ; and to-
day may be seen the ponderous fly-wheel of the en-
gine, broken shafts and crumbling walls — sad me-
mentos of the event. The family mansion, a large
two-story brick structure, with galleries around
three sides of both stories, escaped the hand of the
destroyer. Although bearing the finger-marks of
time, it is at this day, a substantial structure, and,
with slight repairs, would weather the storms of
another century. Connected with this old man-
sion is a history, now for the first time published.
Within these walls during the last days of the
Southern Confederacy, when that fabric (on paper)
was fast crumbling to pieces, Judah P. Benjamin,
a fugitive from justice, and flying for his life under
the assumed name of Charles Howard, was the
guest for nearly two months of Captain Archibald
McNeill, its then occupant. When on that mem-
orable Sunday, in the spring of 1865, Jeff. Davis
and his cabinet hastily fled from Richmond, Ben-
jamin and Breckinridge struck out for the wilds of
Florida, which seemed to offer a secure retreat.
Arrived at Gainsville, Breckinridge sought refuge
on the Atlantic coast, and Benjamin, under the
guidance of Captain L. G. Leslie, started for the
Gulf coast, via Tampa, and arrived safely at the
mansion of Captain McNeill. After remaining

40 Notes frctn Sunland.

nearly two months at Captain McNeill's, Benja-
min was conveyed in a boat to Manatee, and from
thence to Sarasoto Bay in a horse-cart, by Rev. E.
Glazier, of Manatee; from thence to Cape Florida
in a small sail-boat, commanded by Captain Fred.
Tresca, also a resident of Manatee. At Cape
Florida a larger boat was procured, and after
several hair-breadth escapes from Federal gun-
boats and the perils of the sea, Captain Tresca
landed his charge safely on one of the islands of the
Bahama group, and returned to Manatee $1,500
richer than when he left home. Benjamin reached
England safely, where he has acquired fame and
fortune. Should this page by chance meet his
eye, he will no doubt be pleased to learn that
Captain McNeill, past threescore and ten, has re-
tired from active life and settled in Manatee, sur-
rounded by a large family. Captain Tresca, or
Captain "Fred.," as he is called by his friends,
lives with his wife and two children on a small
plantation near Braidentown. Although he counts
his years away up among the nineties, he is still a
well-preserved "old salt." Rev. E. Glazier is
still a resident of Manatee, and looks as though
he had renewed his lease of life for another half
century. Judas betrayed his Master for the paltry
sum of thirty pieces of silver. Twenty-five thou-
sand dollars was the price offered by the United
States Government for the corpus of the fugitive.

Notes from Sunland. 41

The example of Judas was not followed by those
who assisted Benjamin to escape.

There are more than a thousand acres of the rich
hammock land belonging to this plantation for
sale at from $15 to $25 per acre, according to
location. When the fact that it cost originally
$75 per acre to clear this land, is taken into con-
sideration, it will be seen that the price at which
it is now offered is very low, and places it within
the reach of persons of small means. The land
will be sold in lots to suit purchasers.

Adjoining the grounds of the Patten mansion is
the residence of Hamet J. Craig, who has a young
orange grove of three hundred trees and ten acres
of hammock land under cultivation. Five miles
further on, in a north-easterly direction, is Oak
Hill, the former residence of Major W. I. Turner.
At this place the major has a bearing orange grove
of several hundred trees, and also one of the most
promising six-years-old groves of six hundred
trees to be found in the Manatee region. Adjoin-
ing Major Turner is the grove of Walter Tresca,
just coming into bearing, and near by is the young
grove of Mr. William Gillett.

Terraceia Island, separated from Snead's Island
by a narrow channel, is bounded on the west by
Tampa Bay, on the north by Frog Creek, and on
the east by Terraceia Bay. This island contains
several tracts of excellent hammock land, most of

42 *\'i>(< s from SitnlanJ.

which is under improvement. On this island are
located the bearing orange groves of Messrs. Hal-
lock, Lennard and Williams ; Messrs. Kennedy,
Howard, Gifford, Watkins, Hobart, Patten and
Wyatt are also located on this island. Judge
Cessna, of Gainesville, has recently purchased a
plantation on the island, and will soon locate
there. Other persons on the line of the Transit
Railroad having become disgusted with frost and
ice, are seeking homes in the Manatee region.
On the mainland, on the east side, and about mid-
way of Terraceia Bay, is the plantation of Mr.
John Craig. Mr. Craig raises the finest cane and
has the reputation of making the best sugar- in
Manatee County.

A short distance north of Terraceia Island, on
the mainland, Hernando De Soto, fresh from the
conquest of Peru, where he was associated with
Francisco Pizarro. landed his troops in the latter
part of May, 1539. He sailed from Havana on
Sunday, May i8th, 1539, with his troops embarked
in five large ships, two caravels and two brigan-
tines. The disastrous fate of his predecessors in
Florida cast no gloom on the mind of De Soto,
and his assurances of success imparted confidence
to those who accompanied him. He had never
been defeated in battle, and was believed by his
soldiers to be invincible. His officers were men
of valor and ripe experience, and his troops were

Notes from Sunland. 43

well disciplined, a majority of them having served
in many campaigns, and all were well acquainted
with Indian warfare.

His wife, Dona Isabella, did not share his en-
thusiasm, and desired to accompany him and share
the dangers she believed he was about to encoun-
ter ; but De Soto strenuously opposed her wishes,
and encouraged her to believe that the time of
reunion was not far distant. The conquest of
Florida appeared to De Soto to be an easy task,
from which he could soon return with large acces-
sions of wealth and glory.

Contrary and baffling winds kept the squadron
tossing about in the Gulf of Mexico for several
days. De Soto and his troops obtained their first
view of the Land of Flowers on the morning of
the 25th day of May, and in the afternoon of the
same day they came to anchor about two leagues
from the shore. The shoals which extended along
the coast prevented the ships from coming nearer.
They had, in the meantime, been discovered by
the natives, who had kindled beacon-fires along
the beach, now known as Pinellas, as signals to
collect their forces and be in readiness to repel
their enemies. De Soto's vessels were anchored
off the mouth of Tampa Bay, called by the Span-
iards the Bay of Espiritu Santo.

The Natchez, who inhabited the neighboring
country, were governed by a chief named Ucita,

44 Notes from Sunland.

whose hatred of the Spaniards is easily explained.
When Pamphilo de Narvaez visited this region in
1528, he was kindly received and hospitably en-
tertained by the Chief Ucita, and a treaty of
peace between them was formed ; yet, on a very
slight pretense, the wily and bloodthirsty Pam-
philo caused the chief's nose to be cut off, and
his aged mother to be torn to pieces by dogs !
Hence, the reason why Ucita displayed implaca-
ble resentment in his behavior to De Soto and his
companions in arms.

Thus, it will be seen that from the earliest his-
tory of our country, the aborigines have been
treated with the most impolitic and unchristian-
like barbarity; and it is highly probable that
much of that ferocity which characterizes the In-
dians of the far West at this time, maybe ascribed
to the harsh and merciless treatment which their
ancestors received from the early Spanish ex-
plorers, who acted on the principle that the In-
dians had no rights that a'white man was bound to
respect.

Wishing to avoid a collision with the Indians
at that time, De Soto weighed anchor, and pro-
ceeded with his fleet two leagues further up the
bay, where he disembarked his troops in boats. The
place where he landed was on the eastern shore
of Ilillsborough Bay, above the mouth of the
Little Manatee River, and near the line which
separates Hillsborough and Manatee Counties.

Notes from Sunland. 45

The Indians being anxious to get rid of De Soto
and his followers, informed them that El Dorado,
for which they were seeking, was further north-
ward. De Soto sent his ships back to Havana,
and commenced his toilsome march overland,
which ended with his death and burial in the
Mississippi River, on the 5th day of June, 1542,
three years and one month after the date of his
arrival in Tampa Bay.

CHAPTER IV.

— ORANGE AND BANANA GROVES — LEMONS
AND LlMES — COFKKE TREES AND PlNE- APPLES — CALI-
FORNIA GRAPES — QUALITY OK THE LAND — MODE OF
CULTIVATION — FLORIDA, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE —
INCREASED PRODUCTION — BETTER AND CHEAPER TRANS-
PORTATION — INTERROGATORIES AND ANSWERS.

HAVING given the reader a hasty outline of the
Manatee region, I will add a brief resume of my
personal experience at "Sunnyside" during the
past eighteen months. On my arrival in Braiden-
town, in the fall of 1879, mv ^an^ was a "howling
wilderness." At this time I have a young orange
grove of six hundred trees, sixty lemon, fifteen
lime, ten guava, half a dozen olive, two soft-shell
almond, twenty coffee, four each Japan plum and
persimmon, two pomegranate, two cocoa-nut and
four Le Conte pear trees, all of which are growing
luxuriantly. I also have one acre in bananas and
sixty pine-apple plants, both of which will bear
fruit next year. Around the fence inclosing my
house lot, I have sixty California grape-vines of
the choicest varieties, viz. : Flaming Tokay,
White Muscat of Alexandria, Mission and Rose
of Peru. The vines are looking well, and will
bear fruit next year.

46

Notes from Simla ml. 49

The land on which I am located is spruce-pine,
interspersed with water-oak and scrub palmetto,
which would be pronounced by the average Flo- •
ridian worthless. I had at the commencement,
and still have, abiding faith in the white sand of
Florida with a mulatto sub-soil. No matter how
white the surface, if underlied by a mulatto or
yellow sub-soil, the citrus family will thrive. The
foliage of my young trees is dark green, and their
vigorous growth astonishes the "crackers," who
predicted a failure. Owing to the mildness of
the climate — my location being exempt from frost
— my trees grew all last winter. My orange trees '
are set in parallel rows, thirty feet apart each
way ; the lemon and lime trees twenty-five feet
apart ; the bananas twelve feet, and the pine- •
apples two feet apart. I hoe my grove every two
months, and plow it four times a year. Thus, by
keeping the soil constantly tickled with the hoe,
my trees laugh with a bountiful foliage. What I
have done, can be performed by others. There
is no secret about the matter. We welcome im-
migrants from the frigid North, from the prairies
of the West, and from the lands beyond the sea.
To all we say, come and tarry with us.

Florida, the first State belonging to the Union,
discovered and settled by Europeans, has, during
the past 350 years, been hustled about from pillar
to post like a shuttle-cock. The repeated Indian

50 Notes from Sunland,

wars from 1816 to 1858, rendered life so insecure,
that the early settlers literally carried their lives
in their hands. Is it then a matter of surprise
that Florida is so sparsely populated ? Mr. J. S.
Adams, former Commissioner of Immigration,
truthfully remarks: "The wonder truly is, not
that she has not attained a more flourishing con-
dition, but that she exists at all, and that her
boundless forests, her lovely rivers and her beau«-
tiful lakes are not fast locked in the silent embrace
of a moveless desolation." Since slavery, which
rested like an incubus of original sin on the soil
of Florida, has been removed, immigration has
been pouring in from the North and the West,
and from the isles of the ocean. Germany, Italy,
France and England have each furnished their
quota, and the forests along the line of the rail-
roads, as well as those accessible by steamboats,
are beginning to show the effects of an advanced
civilization. The gigantic undertaking of drain-
ing Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, to-
gether with the construction of a ship canal, con-
necting the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of
Mexico, by Mr. Hamilton Disston, of Philadel-
phia, and his coadjutors, is proof positive that anew
era is beginning to dawn on the Land of Flowers,
and, ere many years, the southern portion of the
State will be one vast orange grove, interspersed
with the guava, lemon, lime, pine-apple and ba-

Notes from Sunland. 5 1

nana. I hear the skeptic say: "You will over-
stock the market, and your fruit will not pay the
cost of transportation." The orange par excel-
lence can be grown only in the soil of Florida,
therefore competition with foreign countries need
not be feared. Florida will soon be able to sup-
ply the cities of the Mediterranean with a superior
fruit to that grown on their own shores, and more
cheaply. Increased production and transporta-
tion will cause a corresponding reduction in
freight, and also insure greater and better facili-
ties in the modes of transportation. There will
also be a large reduction in price to the consumer,
which will enable the man of limited means — in
other words, the poor man — to indulge with the
millionaire in the daily luxury of the golden apple
of the Hesperides — the Florida orange. The
above may be deemed by some persons chimeri-
cal, but time, the great arbiter of events, will solve
the problem.

By every mail I am in receipt of letters asking
all manner of questions in relation to the climate,
soil, productions, etc., of this part of Florida.
At first I cheerfully complied with the requests of
my numerous correspondents, but the novelty has
worn off, and the task has become slightly mo-
notonous. Recently, I received a four-page cap-
sheet letter from a gentleman in Utah Territory,
to which was appended seventeen interrogatories

52 Notes from Sunlanil.

in relation to the Gulf Coast of South Florida.
That straw broke the camel's bade, and, in reply
to the following question: "I see by the last
census that Manatee County has a population of
over 4,000, and not a death recorded for 1880.
Do people ever die there?" I wrote immediately,
"Hardly ever. When we want to start a grave-
yard, we kill a man." I am firmly impressed
with the belief that my Mormon correspondent,
with a " family of ten persons," will not immi-
grate to the Land of Flowers. Below will be found
twenty-five questions in relation to Florida, from
correspondents the "wide world over," with an-
swers appended :

ist. "At any time of the year do you have
severe storms of thunder and lightning?"

During the rainy season, thunder showers, ac-
companied by lightning, frequently occur, but
they are not more severe than in the Northern and
Western States.

2d. "Are venomous reptiles numerous?"

During my residence and travels in Florida, I
have never seen a rattlesnake ; I have seen a few
moccasin, garter, coachwhip and blacksnakes.
The two latter are harmless, and are seldom killed
by the natives. Alligators are not numerous in
this vicinity, and are comparatively harmless.
Scorpions and centipedes are seldom met with.
Their sting is no more severe than that of a bee.

Notes from SunLind. 53

3d. " Is the land about Braidentown sandy or
clayey ?' '

The land on the margin of the bay is sandy ;
further back in the hammock, the soil is dark gray
and chocolate color, underlied with clay and lime-
stone.

4th. "Are the people mostly Northern?"

Like an Englishman's favorite beverage, they
are 'alf-and-'alf.

5th. "What is the name of your nearest town
of any importance?"

Have no towns of " importance " in this section
of the country; they are in the womb of time —
not hatched yet.

6th. "What is the character of your society?"

Mixed.

7th. " Do you consider Florida as healthy as
California?"

I consider this Manatee region the sanitarium
of the world. A more healthful spot cannot be
found on God's footstool.

8th. "Do malarial fevers prevail in your section
any time during the year?"

In the rich, low hammock lands, where vegeta-
tion is rank, malarial fevers exist in the fall of the
year. Chills and fever here yield more readily to
proper medical treatment than in the West. Pine
land is exempt from malaria.

gth. " Does the summer heat prove enervat-
ing?"

54 Notes from Sunland.

That depends on a man's constitution. If born
tired, yes.

loth. "Is it true that the summer weather with
you is more pleasant — less oppressive — than at the
North?"

Yes; the thermometer rarely registers more than
96°. It reached that point only twice last summer.

nth. " Are the nights in summer always cool ?"

Generally; sometimes cooler than in the winter.

1 2th. " Can you work out of doors during the
day in summer time?"

Yes, when it does not rain. I have not seen a
day too hot to work out of doors since my arrival
in Florida.

1 3th. " Do the crops of vegetables and grass
burn under the summer sun ?"

We don't raise vegetables in the summer. Our
vegetables are grown in the winter' and spring,
when the land at the North is locked fast in the
embrace of frost and ice. The grass here is very
nutritious, and large herds of cattle fatten on it.
This section of country supplies Cuba with beef.

i4th. "Are insects — fleas and mosquitoes —
more troublesome than at the North?"

Fleas sometimes make it lively with us ; but
there are fewer mosquitoes in this locality than in
a majority of the Northern States.

1 5th. " Do you consider Manatee County one
of the best to settle in?"

Notes from Sun land. 55

It suits me better than any other part of Florida.
You might go further and fare worse.

1 6th. "Do you think the Gulf Coast equal to
the Atlantic Coast for climate, health, etc.?"

Yes j far superior.

1 7th. "What is the price of land in your sec-
tion?"

That depends upon quality and location. Here,
in the settlement of Braidentown, land is selling
at from $25 to $100 per acre. ' A short distance
back of the town, pine land can be purchased at
from $1.50 to $5 per acre ; and hammock land at
$10 per acre. Across the bay, nearly opposite
Manatee, on the Patten plantation, good ham-
mock land, once under cultivation, can be pur-
chased at from $15 to $25 per acre, according to
location. This land is being rapidly metamor-
phosed into vegetable gardens, whose products —
tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peas, etc. — reach the
Northern markets during the month of March.

1 8th. "What are the business prospects for a
new-comer?"

That will depend a great deal on the "new-
comer." Come, investigate and judge for your-
self.

19. " Can sugar-cane be grown to advantage in
your neighborhood ? and what amount of sugar
can be made to the acre ?' '

The Manatee region is the natural home of the

56 Notes from Sun/and.

sugar-cane. Here it tassels, and consequently
fully matures. Florida is the only State of the
Union in which the cane tassels. When the Co-
field and Davis, now Patten plantation, was in
full operation, the average product was two hogs-
heads of sugar to the acre. The cane here ra-
toons from six to eight years.

20th. " What is the cost of clearing land ?"

That depends on the quality of the land. The
average pine land can be cleared and grubbed at
from $10 to $20 per acre. Hammock land will
cost double that price.

2 1 st. " Can lumber be had on the Manatee, and
if so, at what price?"

Heart-pine lumber, suitable for fencing or
building purposes, can be had here at $15 per M.
Light wood posts can be purchased at $10 per
hundred.

22d. "What is ^he price of labor in your vicin-
ity?"

Colored laborers can be hired at from $15 to
$20 per month, with board or rations. The price
is $i per day when the laborer boards himself.

230!. "Are fish, oysters and game plentiful?"

Our rivers and bayous are literally alive with
mullet — the mackerel of the South. Sea-trout
(black bass), jack-fish, sheepshead, red-fish, angel-
fish, drum and pompino can also be had in abund-
ance in the water around Palm Key, at the mouth

Notes from Sun/and. 5 7

of the bay. Oysters and clams of a superior
quality can be had in Terraceia and Sarasoto Bays.
Deer, squirrels, quail and wild turkeys abound in
the adjoining hammocks.

24th. " Can you refer me to any person in your
vicinity whose health has been benefited by the
climate?"

Yes ; several. Rev. Edmund Lee, of Manatee,
arrived here forty-five years ago, a confirmed in-
valid ; in fact, nearly gone with pulmonary con-
sumption. On his first arrival he was so weak
that it required considerable effort to pull a mullet
off a grid-iron. The healthfulness of the climate,
together with out-door exercise and a clear con-
science, have enabled him to fight the flesh and
the devil successfully to the present time. He is
at this time a well-preserved patriarch of seventy-
two years ; has outlived two wives, and bids fair
to remain many years longer on this side of Jor-
dan.

Mr. John M. Helm, residing some three miles
south-east of Braidentown, arrived from Windsor,
Ind., about four years since. He also was nearly
gone with consumption. One lung was hepatized,
and on the other a tubercle formed, and dis-
charged after his arrival here. Physicians at the
West pronounced his case hopeless — beyond the
reach of medicine — and recommended the cli-
mate of Florida as a last resort. He is now a well

58 Notes from Sun land.

man, and can hoe more orange trees in a day, and
hoe them better, than any man I know in Florida.

Two years ago I arrived here, clad in porous-
plasters, suffering with chronic rheumatism. Two
months later I was as frisky as a lamb in spring
time. I am convinced that my old complaint has
left me never to return, so long as I remain here.
I could record other cases, but the above must
suffice for the present.

25th. " State the most direct route to Braiden-
town."

By rail to Cedar Key, the terminus of railroad
communication, thence by the boats of the Tampa
Steamship Company to this place. A boat leaves
Cedar Key on Monday and Friday afternoon of
each week, and arrives at Braidentown early on
the following morning. Fare, $8. The above is
the advertised programme, but it is sometimes
changed to suit wind and weather. Captains
Jackson and Doane are thorough seamen, and do
everything in their power to render passengers
comfortable. Whatever may be the opinion of
travelers in regard to the speed and accommoda-
tions of the boats, they will unanimously agree
that the fare — $8 for a distance of less than 100
miles — is first-class. A line of light draught,
modern-built and comfortably fitted-up steam-
boats, between Cedar Key and Braidentown,
would be liberally patronized. Shall we have the
boats? Echo repeats the question.

CHAPTER V.

FLORIDA LETTER PUBLISHED IN A CALIFORNIA PAPER —
EDITORIAL REMARKS — THE " FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH " —
THE MANATEE RIVER AND ITS SURROUNDINGS— TROPI-
CAL FRUITS — GAME AND FISH — THE SPORTSMAN'S PAR-
ADISE— LETTER TO THE EDITRESS OF THE "PHILADEL-
PHIA SUNDAY TIMES" — THE LAND OF PROMISE —
SUNSTROKE AND HYDROPHOBIA UNKNOWN — COOL
NIGHTS DURING THE "Doc DAYS" — PREPARING THE
LAND AND PLANTING AN ORANGE GROVE — THE FLO-
RIDA ORANGE — ROUTE TO THE MANATEE — CLIMATE OF
THE GULF COAST OF SOUTH FLORIDA — RECORD OF
THERMOMETER AND RAINFALL FOR THE YEAR 1880 —
No FROST — REPORT IN RELATION TO THE EFFECTS OF
THE FREEZE ON THE ATLANTIC COAST IN DECEMBER
LAST.

As THE following letters and communications
have a direct bearing on the Manatee region, the
reader will pardon their republication. Among
the chaff perchance may be found a few grains of
information that will pay for the perusal. The
first letter was written to a personal friend in the
city of New York, who forwarded it to the San
Francisco Examiner. It was first published in that
paper with the following editorial remarks :

" Old Californians are not unfamiliar with the name of Mr.
Samuel C. Upham, an editor upon this coast in the early

59

60 Notes from Stinland.

day-;, and, of late, the author of a work entitled Voyage to
California via Cape Horn, and Scenes in El Dorado in 1849
and 1850. We are permitted to copy a letter from that gen-
tleman, written in his humorous style, and addressed to an
old Californian friend, which may prove of interest to others."

PHILADELPHIA, June i6tk, 1879.

FRIEND C : I owe you a letter, and the following is

what I have to say : You are aware that I went South last
winter for the benefit of my health, and that I returned in the
spring as frisky as a lamb. The late hot weather has pulled
me down considerably, and I sigh for the Land of Flowers,
where Ponce de Leon searched for the fountain of youth, and
Upham found it. I was so charmed with the climate of the
Gulf Goast of South Florida, that, while there last winter, I
purchased 225 acres of land on the Manatee River, fifty
miles south of Tampa, and Mrs. U. and myself are going
down to that land of promise the coming fall, to plant an
orange grove, and sit under our own vine, orange and euca-
lyptus trees. It is a delightful country, away down below
" frost line," where the pine-apple, banana, guava, sapadillo,
pomegranate, date, cocoa-nut, orange, lime and lemon grow
almost spontaneously. The rivers are overflowing with fish,
and the forests are overrun with game. Roasted wild turkeys
run about with carving-knives and forks sticking in their
backs, and ask to be eaten. The country now is a trifle wild,
but will soon become tamed and civilized. The people are
hospitable, and welcome all classes 6f strangers, with the ex-
ception of " carpet-baggers." They have been tried and
found wanting.

I shall locate in the village — if two stores and four houses
can be dignified by that name — of Braidentown, Manatee
County, Florida. The place is scarcely twelve months old,
but is bound to be heard from — after I locate there. The

Notes from Sunland. 61

climate is delightful — sort of an earthly Paradise. The ther-
mometer during the winter months ranges from 70° to 75°,
and in summer rarely exceeds 90°, with a sea-breeze blowing
constantly either from the Atlantic or the Gulf. The nights
in summer are invariably cool, and one can lie comfortably
under blankets during " dog days.'

I do not expect to make money in Florida, but I do
pect to enjoy better health than in this city ; hence the reason
of my exodus. I shall, first off, plant an orange grove of 500
trees, which, in eight years, barring accidents, ought to yield me
a handsome revenue. Should I " shuffle off this mortal coil "
before these orange trees commence bearing, I shall feel dis-
appointed— that's all. I think the change will give me a
renewed lease of life ; and, as I intend to plant three-years-old
trees, I think the chances are rather in my favor. The Good
Book says : " What does it profit a man if he gain the whole
world and lose his own life?" I am not prepared to "hand
in my checks " just yet ; hence my change of base. I have
been watching and praying the past four or five years for the
"good time coming " to put in an appearance, but it has not
arrived, and will not, I fear, during my sojourn in this vale
of tears. I have a mortal dread of the poor-house. In Florida
that institution is unknown. My eldest son will take charge
of my store and laboratory in this city, so the business will
go on without interruption. As I have spun out this letter to
a great length, I will say domino.

Truly yours,

S. C. UPHAM.

The following letter was published originally
in Taggart's Philadelphia Sunday Times, under
the following caption : " Life in Florida. Inter-
esting letter from Samuel C. Upham, formerly of

62 Notes from Sun/and.

Philadelphia, but now located in Florida, ad-
dressed to our lady editress. Hints to those who
may wish to visit the Flowery Land."

SUNNYSIDE COTTAGE,
BRAIDENTOWN, FLA., June 8th, 1880.

MY DEAR MRS. BLADEN: In the Sunday Times of the
3oth ult., you say :

" Mr. Samuel C. Upham, whose popular songs and won-
derful California experiences render him a Philadelphia celeb-
rity, has a large plantation near Jacksonville."

It is pleasing to know, when one is far away, that he is not
entirely forgotten by his friends ; but you are slightly mistaken
when you say I own a large orange plantation near Jack-
sonville. I am located on the Manatee River, some eight
miles above its entrance into Tampa Bay, on the Gulf coast
of South Florida, in latitude 27^°, and below "frost line."
I visited Jacksonville and all the towns and landings on the
St. Johns, Halifax and Matanzas Rivers, and also " did" the
Suwanee pretty thoroughly before locating in Braidentown.
I prefer this part of Florida to the Atlantic coast for the fol-
lowing reasons : Heathfulness of climate, purity of water
and immunity from frost and insects. My health has im-
proved wonderfully since my arrival in the Land of Flowers,
and I am pretty thoroughly convinced that I have obtained a
new lease of life. The sea breezes that fan my brow at
morning, noon and night, act as a tonic on my enfeebled con-
stitution, and I am daily gaining strength and muscle. I have
to-day worked six hours in my banana grove, with the ther-
mometer at 90° in the shade, without experiencing any in-
convenience from the heat. The heat is so modified by the
constant sea breeze that one can work in the sun at all hours
of the day and at all seasons of the year. Sunstroke and

Notes from Sunland. 63

hydrophobia are unknown here. This statement can be taken
•without salt. In midsummer the nights are invariably cool.
Blankets at night are the rule, not the exception. This much
about location and climate; now, a few words about that
orange grove.

My ranch is new, and consequently rather crude. When I
located here in November last, a large portion of it was a
" howling wilderness." Since that time, I have felled the
trees, piled the logs, burned the brush, grubbed and fenced
fifteen acres, on ten acres of which I am now setting out 500
two-years-old sweet seedling orange trees, which I hope to
live long enough to see bear fruit. Some two months since,
I set out 200 banana plants, and they are doing remarkably
well ; many of the stalks are six feet in height. They will bear
fruit in about eighteen months. I also have a patch of sixty
pine-apple plants which will bear fruit next year. I have a
few coffee and tea plants, Japan plum and persimmon, pome-
granate, almond and olive trees that are growing luxuriantly.
I brought with me from Philadelphia, half a dozen cocoa-
nuts, which I planted on the 1st of November last, and had
given up all hope of ever seeing them sprout, when, to my
great surprise, some two weeks since, two of them threw up
sprouts. They are now one foot high, and are growing vig-
orously. The guava thrives admirably here. I have several
trees, and expect soon to luxuriate on guava jelly of my own
manufacture. I will send you a few sample boxes.

Have you ever eaten a Florida orange, fresh plucked, that
ripened on the tree? If not, visit Florida, and enjoy the
greatest luxury of your life. It is the fruit par excellence —
fit food for the gods. I have, in the course of my somewhat
eventful life, eaten oranges in the groves of the Mediterra-
nean, South America, Mexico and the West Indies, but none
can compare with the orange grown in this State. Our soil
is peculiarly adapted to the growth and maturity of the per-

64 Notes from Sun land.

feet orange. No other soil can produce it. The West India
and Louisiana seedling orange tree is wonderfully improved
by being transplanted in Florida soil. South Florida will,
ere long, be one vast orange grove, and will supply the world
with her incomparable fruit. She will supply the Mediterra-
nean ports with better oranges than can possibly be raised in
that country. Won't that be "carrying coals to Newcastle ?"
I may not live to see the above prediction verified, but there
are persons living at 'this time who will.

If any of your numerous friends think it would be a good
thing to have an orange grove, advise them to visit the Gulf
coast of South Florida before locating elsewhere. Also tell
them to drop in at Braidentown. They may go further and
fare worse. The most direct route to this place is by rail to
Cedar Key, the present terminus of railroad communication,
thence by steamer down the coast. The mail steamers leave
Cedar Key twice a week for this place and Tampa. Leave
Cedar Key at 4 o'clock P. M. on Monday and Friday of each
week, and arrive at Braidentown at 7 o'clock the following
morning. Au revoir. S. C. UPHAM.

The following communication was published in
the Florida Agriculturist in January last, under
the caption of the " Climate of the Gulf Coast cf
' Soiith Florida. ' '

Having kept a record of the state of the thermometer at
6 o'clock A. M., 12 o'clock M. and 6 o'clock P. M. at Brai-
dentown, Manatee County, Florida, from the 1st day of Jan-
uary to the 3 1st day of December, 1880, inclusive, I herewith
inclose you a synppsis of the same for publication in the
Agriculturist, with the hope that it may interest your numer-
ous readers, especially those in the Northern and Western
States who are seeking homes in

The land of the orange and guava,
The pine-apple, date and cassava.

Notes from Sunland.

I also send a statement of the rainfall for the year 1 880.

TEMPERATURE.
Average temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., . . . 71^3°
Average temperature at 12 o'clock M., . . . 83^3°
Average temperature at 6 o'clock P. M., . . . 78%°
Highest temperature at 12 o'clock M., July 1st and
August 26th, 96°
Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., Dec. 3ist, . 38°

RAINFALL.

•

"Rainy Days.

>,

0

u

9

U

Cloudy and Partly
Cloudy Days.

January,

5
3
3
i

12

18

1-2
IS

13
10

3
6

19

24

24
29

4
8
6
8

15
19

IS

17

12

5
7
i
27

22
25
23
15
12

15
H

February,

March,

April,

May,

June,

July,

August,

September,

October,

November,

December,

Total,

104

1 88

177

Rainfall during year, 69^ inches.

At least one-half the days classed as " cloudy and partly
cloudy" were clear one-half of the day, and a majority of
the "rainy days" were clear three-fourths of the day. Dur-

66 Notes from Sunland,

ing the gale on the 29th and 3oth of last August, which was
so destructive on the Atlantic coast of the State, rain fell
here almost uninterruptedly for nearly forty-eight hours, but
the wind did little or no damage. The rainfall during the
two days was six and one-half inches, the heaviest of the
season. I have resided here during the past fourteen months,
and, up to this time (January 7th, 1881), there has been no
frost, and my tropical fruits and plants have grown luxu-
riantly every month of the year. The year just closed, in its
dying throes, kicked the mercury in the thermometer down
to 38°, and a slight frost occurred on the opposite side of the
Manatee River, and also in the hammock four or five miles
south-east of Braidentown. The water protection — being
surrounded on three sides by the aqueous fluid — has rendered
Braidentown exempt from frost.

Although the rainfall of 1880 has been some nine inches
in excess of the average rainfall in this State, I have passed
one of the most agreeable summers of my life. While the
denizens of the St. Johns and Atlantic coast are shivering in
the chilling blasts of winter, we on the Gulf coast of South
Florida are basking in the sun, with a temperature of 65° at
6 o'clock A. M., 75° at 12 o'clock M. and 70° at 6 o'clock
P. M. If any locality north of latitude 27^° can present a
more favorable record, Braidentown will yield the palm.
Nous verrons.

S. C. UPHAM.
SUNNYSIDE COTTAGE,

BRAIDENTOWN, FLA., Jan. 7th, 1881.

The following report, now for the first time
printed, explains itself:

Notes from Sunland. 67

SUNNYSIDE COTTAGE,

BRAIDENTOWN, FLA., Feb. j///, i88r.

D. H. ELLIOTT, ESQ.,

Sec. " Florida Fruit Grcnvers1 Association"
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.,

DEAR SIR : In the Report of the Proceedings of the
Eighth Annual Meeting of the " Florida Fruit Growers' As-
sociation," held in Jacksonville on the 27 ult, and published
in the Daily Union of that city on the following morning,
the annexed resolution was published, with the name of your
humble servant appended as one of the committee :

" Resolved, That a committee be appointed to investigate
the effects of the late freeze on the orange and other fruits
and vegetables ; said committee to report to the secretary at
Jacksonville at the earliest practicable moment."

Having received no official notice of my appointment to
serve on the aforesaid committee, I have resolved myself into
a committee of one, and have the honor to respectfully report
as follows :

The old and trite aphorism — " If the mountain will not
come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain " —
seems peculiarly applicable to the above resolution. Ergo,
if the orange and other fruits of the citrus family will not
thrive 'mid frost and ice, cultivate them in a more genial
climate. With the experience of last fall and the present
winter before me, together with a careful investigation of the
climatology of Florida during the past fifty years, I have
come to the conclusion that the fruits comprising the citrus
family cannot be successfully cultivated in this State north of
the 28th parallel of latitude, and the sooner and more widely
this fact is promulgated, the better it will be for all persons
interested or about to become interested in this laudable and
growing industry. The fact that the late freeze killed the

68 Notes from Stmland.

scale insects on the orange trees in middle and north Florida,
is cold comfort for those engaged in orange culture. There
are fruits better adapted to the climate of Florida north of
latitude 28° than the orange, lemon, lime, guava, banana and
pine-apple. Why, then, persist in endeavoring to cultivate
those fruits with so dim a prospect of success ? It is kicking
against the pricks, hoping against hope. In conclusion, plant
your orange, lemon, lime and banana groves below the 28th
parallel of latitude, tickle the soil constantly with the hoe,
and success will crown your efforts. So mote it be.

S. C. UPHAM.

Notes from Sun/and.

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of January, iSSo, -with Remarks
in relation to Wind and Weather.

Date.

|a

1 •

Is

la

3

'3

Remarks.

*

£j

.0

*

M

i

65

80

76

E.

/sin.

Cloudy A.M. .clear P.M.

2

64

78

76

E.

Clear.

3

4
5

68
64
66

82
80
80

74
77
74

E.
E.

S. E.

A. M. clear, P. M. cloudy.
Clear with strong E. wind.
Clear A. M., cloudy P. M.

6

64

So

74

E.

Clear.

7

62

So

72

N.W.

"

8

62

78

70

W.

Cloudy.

9

62

82

72

W.

Clear.

10

61

84

75

E.

"

ii

62

82

72

E.

"

12

62

82

74

E.

"

13

64

74

70

N.E.

......

«

14

58

78

73

E.

"

15

•* 58

72

S.

"

16

55

86

68

E.

"

J7

58

78

72

W.

«

18

55

76

66

N.W.

"

'9

52

74

70

E.

"

20

78

68

S.W.

"

21
22

64

g

70
72

S.
S.

2 in.

Cloudy.
Rain A. M., clear P. M.

23

65

82

56

W.

Ys in.

24

54

58

58

N.W.

*/i in-

Clear A. M., rain P. M.

26

7'

i

70
7°

E.

S.W.

Min.

Cloudy.
Rain A. M., clear P. M.

27

64

68

62

W.

Cloudy.

28

58

66

63

N.W.

"

29

58

So

72

E.

Clear.

3°

63

86

7°

S. E.

"

62

80

70

W.

Sums,

1,788

2,3'S

2,168

3^in.

Av'ge

57'A

74**

70

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., igth inst

Highest " 12 " M., i6th and joth insts.

Notes from Sunlami.

METEOROLOGICAL:

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of February, 1880, with Remarks
in relation to Wind and Weather.

.

M

M

o**

% .

a

3

Date.

•3*

•3*^

Zr£

jj

Remarks.

Z*

°

"ofW

1

rt

i

2

%

76
80

68
73

N. W.
S.

Y& in.

Cloudy. [all day.
Rain at night. Strong wind

3

66

70

72
80

62

58
74

N. W.
S. E.
E.

Wind has blown a gale all day
Clear A. M., cloudy P. M.
Rain during night, clear all

6

52

68

62

E.

Cloudy. [day.

7

55

74

64

E.

.....

Clear.

8

62

80

70

W.

"

9

60

74

68

E.

"

10

58

86

72

W.

"

ii

57

83

76

E.

"

12

62

82

74

W.

"

'3
14
15

66
H

79
80

74

74
75

S.
S.
N.E.

i'l'n

Clear. Wind blowing a gale.
Rain during night, cloudy all
Clear. [''ay.

16

49

78

68

E.

"

17

58

82

76

E.

"

18

64

86

74

S.W.

"

19

63

84

70

N.W.

"

20

63

85

72

E.

"

21

62

77

70

W.

"

22

67

76

66

W.

"

23

53

79

69

W.

"

24

56

81

73

E.

"

25

60

80

72

S. E.

"

26

62

80

74

S.

"

11

58
60

88
82

74
72

N.E.
W.

',',

39

68

87

74

S. E.

Sums,

1-744

2,303

2,034

i* in.

Av'ge

60 Vii

79%

m

Ixjwest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 4th inst.
Highest " 12 " M., 27th inst..,

Notes from Sunland,

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidenlozun,
Florida, for the month of March, iS8o, "with Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

Date.

Is

_o

1"

a

T3,~i

1

Remarks.

"o <i*

"o

"o P1*

"••

°rt

•; '

2

o

*

P4

i

60

79

74

• s,

Clear.

2

3

64

68

82
80

761

N. W.
S.W.

\

4

67

82

73

S.W.

'

5

64

83

75

s.w.

'

6

64

83

76

W.

'

8

i

83
81

11

s.w.
s.w.

'•

9

76

82

78

s.w.

'

10

ii

6*8-

84
84

73
73

s.w.
s.w.

',

12

71

86

73

s.w.

'

13

67

86

73

s.

'

14

72

86

73

s.w.

'

IS

69

85

73

s.

'

16

70

84

78

s.

Cloudy.

17

84

76

s.w.

"

18

73

84

78

s.w.

Clear.

19

76

84

78

s.w.

"

20

21
22
=3

1

65

1*
80

81
75

74
74
72

74

E.

E.
E.
E.

?:?•

Rain during flight, cloudy all
Cloudy. [day.
Rain during night, cloudy all
Cloudy. ["ay.

=4

63

80

75

N.W.

Clear.

25

63

83

78

E.

"

26

65

82

78

E.

"

27

68

82

77

S.W.

"

28

75

72

72

W.

A in-

Rain A. M., cloudy P. M.

29

69

78

69

W.

Clear.

30

62

76

74

S. E.

"

31

52

76

74

E.

Sums,
Av'ge

2,093
67*4

2,53"

2,359
76%

tfin.

4

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 3151 inst 52°

Highest " 12 " M., i2th, i3th and 141)1 insts 86°

72

Notes from

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Uraidentown,
Florida, for the month of April, iSSo, -with Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

•8

| .

o •

B

."rt

Date.

~p .

~ts

la

1

Remarks.

NO

i

"op,'
to

P

'3
K

I

63

81

72

w.

Clear.

2

60

79

75

w.

"

3

67

82

76

s.w.

"

4

70

So

75

s.w.

'

5

69

Bi

76

s.w.

'

6

65

83

76

s.w.

1

7

63

82

79

s. w.

'

8

68

82

78

s. w.

'

9

10

70
59

76

69

68

s.w.

N. W.

^..i.n:

Cloudy, with rain in the
Clear. [evening

ii

65

79

75

s.w.

"

12

6s

78

76

S. E.

"

13
14

58
62

11

&

s.w.

E.

<

IS

65

83

78

N. W

•

16

68

83

78

N. W.

1

17

70

84

78

W.

'

18

75

85

79

S.W.

'

19

20

76

8s
$6

Si
8S

w!

!

21

73

86

82

w.

c

22

69

86

8l

s.w.

'

23

72

85

79

s.w.

'

24

73

87

80

s.w.

'

25

73

86

79

s.w.

'

26

72

87

84

s.w.

*

27
28

9

86
88

84
8s

s.w.
s.w.

'.',

29

74

87

82

s.w.

"

3°

76

88

86

s.w.

Sums,

2,065

2,497

2,35i

/i 'n-

Av'ge

685

78^

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., i3th inst 58°

Highest " 12 " M., i4th, 28th and soth insts 88°

Notes from Sun/and.

73

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of May, iSSo, ivith Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

! '

H

1L

«

5

Date.

"°3

•bS

?

la

e

°rt

Remarks

VO

M

•f>

i

73

89

86

E.

Clear.

2

72

89

79 .

S. E.

%'in.

Cloudy, tvith rain P. M.

3

72

83

79

S. E.

" with Scotch mist.

4

78

84

84

S.W.

Clear.

5

75

79

81

S. E.

Cloudy, with Scotch mist.

6

74

83

83

E.

Cloudy.

7

74

74

E.

i in.

Rain during P.M. and night.

8

75

8O

76

E.

25i 'n-

9

76

85

78

E.

Cloudy, with Scotch mist.

10

74

8?

86

S.W.

Partly cloudy.

ii

73

87

79

S. W.

i in.

Rain in the afternoon.

12

75

78

78

S.W.

il/i in.

a a «

13

72

83

83

S.W,

Cloudy.

14

75

84

83

S. W.

"

75

81

E.

Cloudy; wind blowing a gale.

16

72

85

79

E.

tt it it

17

70

86

80

E.

Cloudy.

18

73

8?

83

E.

"

J9

73

9°

84

E,

"

20

75

90

82

S. E.

H '"•

Rain during P.M. and night.

21

75

9°

80

S. E.

i in.

" ' " "

22

75

79

78

S. E.

2 in.

" ' the day.

=3

78

86

78

S. E.

i in.

« < it

24

78

86

78

S. E.

*/i in.

it i it

76

75

78

S. E.

Yt in.

" ' "

26

76

88

z8

S. E.

Cloudy, with Scotch mist.

27

75

89

86

S. E.

Partly cloudy.

28

76

89

89

S. E.

a a

29

76

9°

87

S. E.

A in.

Rain during night, day clear

3°

78

95

87

S. E.

Clear.

80

91

86

S. E.

Sums,
Av'ge

2,319

Tin

2,657
85)4

2,523
8iJi

»*»

•

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 2d, 3d, i3th and i6th insts...72°
Highest " . 12 " M , 30th inst 95°

74

Not<. s from Sun .'ami.

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of June, 1880, -with Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

M

M

z .

O •

ft

Z3

3

Date.

"o"

"o^

*O«

c

Remarks.

*o ^

"b*

"o oj

. — ^

*?

10

M

10

*

K

1

80

88

84

S.E.

M in-

Cloudy.

2

82

82

81

S.E.

M in.

"

3

80

87

85

\V

% in.

Rain in the afternoon.

4

78

91

8s

S.E.

Cloudy, with Scotch mist.

5

80

89

82

S.E.

iJ4 in.

Rain in the afternoon.

6

81

87

80

S.E.

/•£ in.

" " "

7

79

85

S. W.

Clear.

8

80

89

87

s. w.

"

9

82

9*

9°

s. w.

i in.

Rain in evening.

10

78

92

78

s. w.

i in.

" " afternoon.

ii

80

9°

s. w.

y\ in.

" " "

12

79

92

88

s. w.

Clear.

13

82

90

88

s. w.

"

14

84

91

87

w.

"

IS

86

92

88

w.

"

16

85

87

w.

"

J7

79

89

88

s. w.

i in.

Rain A. M., clear P. M.

18

83

88

88

s. w.

Clear.

jn

77

79

83

s. w.

'/'in.

Rain A. M., clear P. M.

20

83

86

76

E.

Cloudy.

21

76

80

78

s. w.

Yz in

"

22

74

88

80

S. E.

K in.

Rain P. M. and at night.

23

78

87

84

s.

i in,

Rain during night.

24
2S

78
78

2°
87

84
86

S.E.
S.

Ain.

Cloudy.
Rain during afternoon.

26
27

80
86

92
9l

86
84

S.E.
S. W.

Shower during afternoon.
Light shower in afternoon.

28

82

88

89

S. W.

'/* in-

*' " " "

29

81

86

86

S. W.

" " " "

3°

S3

94

86

S. W.

J

Sums,
Av'ee

2,408
So'/

2,657
88'X

2,53'
84 'X

8% in.

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 22d inst.
Highest " 12 " M., 3oth inst...

Notes from Sunland.

75

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of July, 1880, with Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

M

•*

Date.

**

|s

"is

ii

Remarks.

VO

O "
M

op,

VO

._<

•|

X

i

82

96

82

s.w.

iji in.

Rain during the afternoon.

2

82

92

87

s. w.

Kin.

" " "

3

84

91

90

s.w.

Clear.

4

84

91

84

s.w.

Cloudy.

5

82

93

91

s.w.

Clear.

6

84

92

88

s.w.

Scotch mist in the afternoon.

7

84

79

84

S.E.

?»in.

Rain during P. M.

8

84

93

89

S.E.

% in.

tt tt tt

9

81

85

Si

S.E.

Ji in.

" " "

10

82

92

88

S.W.

Clear.

ii

86

89

82

S.W.

Cloudy, with Scotch mist.

12

82

84

86

s.w.

tt tt tt

13

83

93

87

s.w.

Cloudy.

'4

86

90

83

s.w.

A 'n-

Rain in the afternoon.

IS

82

92

88

s.w

Cloudy.

16

88

88

s. w.

**

17

86

§9

88

S.E.

"

18

84

93

90

s.w.

" , .

'9

86

90

88

s.w.

"

23

88

91

89

s.w.

Clear.

21

88

93

9°

s.w.

,.\.,

"

22
23

88
84

9°
92

87
84

s.w.
s.w.

*!.!'

Cloudy; rain in the evening.
Cloudy.

24
$

I4 '
So

93

i4

So

88
82
83

s.w.

S.E.
S.E.

£in.

Cloudy ; rain in the evening.
Scotch mist in the afternoon.
Rain in the evening.

27

So

So

83

S.E.

i in.

" " afternoon.

28

80

87

83

S.E.

J4in.

" " "

29

83

9°

87

S.W.

Cloudy and misty.

30

83

00

85

S.W.

Clear.

3'

So

§4

83

S.W.

&in.

Rain at noon.

Sums,

2.593

2,778

2,688

7Kin.

Av'gc

86M

°97t

""•'74

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A.M. ,26th, 27th, 28th and 3151 insts..8o°
Highest " 12 " M., ist inst 96°

76

Notes from Sunland.

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidento-wn,
Florida, for the month of August, 1880, with Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

1

|

* •

M

rt

*3

Date

•§^

?g

"§

Is

'a

Remarks.

^

S

oO<

i

i

i

82

91

86

s. w.

Clear.

3

82

91

83

S. E.

"

3

4
5

82

72

78

9°
82
80

80

T,9
82

S. W.
S. E.
S. E.

i in.

Rain during night.
" day and night.
" forenoon.

6

78

83

82

S. W.

fin.

" afternoon.

7

79

93

80

S. W.

in.

" "

8

82

92

84

S. E.

i in.

« a

9

82

92

83

S. E.

% in.

" "

10

81

91

88

S. E.

Cloudy.

ii

82

94

80

S. E.

A 'n-

Rain in the afternoon.

12

84

94

84

S. E.

/^ in.

" " "

13

82

90

8?

S. E.

Cloudy.

81

91

92

S. W.

"

IS

82

93

79

S. E.

% in

Rain in the afternoon.

16

80
82

93
95

84
80

S. E.
S. E.

2 in.

Cloudy.
Rain in the afternoon.

18

80

91

86

S. E.

Cloudy.

jg

78

93

9°

S. E.

Clear.

20

82

4

86

S. E.

A >n-

Cloudy, rain in the P. M.

21

80

89

89

S. W.

Clear.

22

84

92

89

S. W.

"

23

86

96

90

S. W.

"

24

84

93

88

S. E.

A in.

Cloudy, with rain in the P.M.

25

82

95

85

S. W.

/i in-

a a a a i<

26

81

96

88

S. E.

i in.

" " " " "

27

82

94

91

S. E.

Clear.

28

82

95

88

S. E.

[and night.

29

84

84

83

S. W.

31A »n.

Rain, wind blowing gale day

3°
3'

t

82
90

82
84

S.
S. E.

3 in.

Rain during the forenoon.

Sums,

2,520

2,814

2,642

17 in.

Av'ge

84

93%

88

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 4th, 5th, 6th, jgth and sothinsts.

78°
Highest " 12 " Mv 23d and z6th insts 96°

Notes front Sunland.

77

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentouun,
Florida, for the month of September, fSSo, with Remarks
in relation to Wind and Weather.

.*'

o'S

0

"o

rt

"a

Date.

°o

"o*s

"o

"cS

*2

Remarks.

"o<!

"o&I

£

'a

VO

M

>0

"

A

i

81

86

82

S. E.

tfin.

Cloudy, with rain in P. M.

2

78

88

78

S.W.

i in.

it a a

3

78

92

8!

S.

i in.

" " "

4

80

92

88

S. E.

Clear.

5

82

92

8?

S. E.

Clear A. M., cloudy ?. M.

6

81

9°

87

S. E.

Clear.

7

81

88

85

S.W.

"

8

81

90

84

S.W.

"

9

82

92

86

S.W.

A in.

Rain in the afternoon.

10

80

94

87

S. E.

Jiin.

it

82

92

88

S. E.

Cloudy.

12

82

94

87

S.W.

i in.

Rain in the afternoon.

'3

So

92

90

S.

Clear day, rain during night.

*4

82*

9°

88

S. E.

Clear.

y

So
78

9*

77

83
78

S. E.

S. E.

*?.?:

Clear day, rain duringnight.
Cloudy, with Scotch mist.

'7

75

87

88

S. E.

Clear.

18

78

85

81

S. E.

Cloudy, with strong wind.

J9

75

90

81

S. E.

/S '"•

Clear A. M., rain P. M.

20

78

90

84

S. E.

lfy in.

Rain in the afternoon.

21

78

93

88

S. E.

l/i 'n-

" " "

22

78

92

87

S. E.

Clear.

23

78

94

89

S. E.

"

24
26

77
80
78

94
90
92

S

87

S. E.
S.

s.w.

?i

" [night.
Rain during early part of

27

So

87

86

S.W.

i in.

Rain in the morning.

28
29

85
79

g

86
84

N.W.

S. E.

Clear.

30

70

90

87

S. E.

Sums,

2,377

2,702

2,562

7l/s in.

Av'ge

79*

90

85

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 3oth inst _ 70°

Highest " J2 " M., loth, i2th, 23d and 24th insts... 94°

78 Notes from Sunland.

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of October, iSSo, with Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

Date.

Is

0 .

•a

_o

Is

o^

n

1

Remarks.

o<!

VO

n

'0{±

«j

i

'3
K

i

73

92

87

S. E.

Clear.

2

7°

9°

85

S. E.

"

3

76

92

87

S. E.

"

4

76

92

85

S. E.

"

5

77

86

81

S. E.

J/sTn.

Cloudy, with rain.

6

76

80

80

S. E.

Mi in.

" " "

\

78
82

80
86

78
85

S. E.
S. W.

3 in.
2 in.

Cloudy, with heavy rain.
Clear A. M., rain P. M.

9

80

82

79

S. E.

Cloudy.

10

76

90

87

S.

Clear.

ii

78

86

E.

"

12

78

88

82

E.

"

13

70

88

88

E.

"

14

76

93

82

E.

"

15

7°

8?

82

E.

"

16

68

87

80

E.

"

i-j

72

85

77

S.

% in.

Rain in the afternoon.

18

66

79

75

E.

Clear.

jg

69

84

N. E.

"

2O
21
22

75
70
78

86

87
82

80
82
76

S. E.
S. E.
N. W.

i in.

Rain in the morning.
" during the night.
" in the morning.

23

68

78

73

N. W.

Clear.

24

62

80

76

S. E.

"

25

60

79

80

E.

"

26

62

82

80

S. E.

"

27

68

86

81

S. E.

"

28

74

72

74

S. E.

i^in.

Cloudy, with heavy rain.

29

70

80

79

N. W.

% in.

" rain.

3°
31

75
72

80
82

76
78

N. W.
S. W.

Cloudy
Clear.

Sums,
Av'ge

2,245
1*%

2,625

2,502
80%

;

,*„

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 25th inst 60°

Highest " 12 " M., i^th inst 93°

Notes from Sunland.

79

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of November, 1880, -with Remarks
in relation to Wind and Weather.

M

M

Date

l§-

JJ

I*

rt

la

1

°ri

Remarks.

NO

M

>o

^

K

i

2

68
68

86
82

79

S.E.

N.W.

Cloudy A. M., Clear P. M.
Clear A.M. .Cloudy P.M.

3

68

83

78

S.W.

Clear.

4

70

80

80

N.E.

/& in.

Rain during the night.

5

78

86

82

S.

Clear.

6

77

86

81

S.

"

7

74

75

76

N.

Cloudy.

8

70

80

77

S. E.

"

9

72

9°

85

E.

Clear.

10

77

§5

78

S.

Cloudy.

ii

70

84

78

S. E.

Clear.

12

70

82

82

E.

"

13

70

87

86

S.E.

"

14

74

83

80

S.

A in.

Clear day, rain at night.

15

70

70

66

N.E.

Cloudy.

16

5°

72

71

S.E.

Clear.

'7

60

75

73

W.

"

18

64

80

76

W.

Cloudy.

19

70

?8

79

E.

"

20

77

75

72

N.E.

A 'n-

Rain in the forenoon.

21

62

77

E.

Clear A. M., Cloudy P. M.

22

68

84

76

E.

" " " "

23

63

76

67

N.E.

Cloudy.

24

65

79

79

S.E.

"

25

71

80

74

N.W.

" and foggy.

26

71

75

75

S.E.

"

27

72

80

76

S.E.

Clear.

28

71

84

78

S.

"

29

71

84

84

S.E.

"

3°

70

86

78

S.E'.

Sums.

2,081

2,412

2,321

iV in

A v'ge

60 1A

80^

77/4

™/J

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., i6th inst.
Highest " 12 " M. ,9th inst

..50°
,.90°

So

Notes from Sunland,

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of December, f8So, with Remarks
in relation to Wind and Weather.

'

M

M

Date.

| •

|s

rt

3

c

Remarks.

"o ^

"o

"o CL

^

rt

<o

N

VO

*

_

i

71

80

So

S.

Cloudy.

2

76

84

84

w.

"

3

72

82

82

s. w.

Clear.

4

69

82

80

s.

"

5

7°

82

78

s.

......

"

6

76

77

73

s. w.

}/± in.

Cloudy, with rain.

7

56

68

6S

N. E.

Clear.

8

45

72

64

E.

"

9

52

73

72

N. E.

"

10

52

69

68

N. E.

"

ii

45

72

69

N. E.

"

12

So

75

72

N. E.

"

13

5°

79

75

N.W.

"

14

58

78

7°

S. E.

"

15

60

78

73

S.

"

16

65

81

75

S.

"

I7

66

82

75

S.

"

18

70
70

82
77

74
70

S. W.
S.

Hi":

Rain morning and afternoon.
Rain in the afternoon.

20

70

81

65

N.W.

Cloudy,

21

58

60

55

N.W.

"

22

42

56

54

N. E.

"

23

46

68

S. E.

Clear.

24

58

71

67

S.W.

"

25

62

69

68

S.

%in.

Rain in the afternoon.

26

52

66

58

N. E.

Cloudy.

27

S2

63

60

N.W.

"

28

43

65

65

S. E.

Clear.

29

3°

54
38

?i
Si
50

60
45
S3

S. E.
N.W.
N. E.

'/sin.
i in.

Rain in the afternoon.
Cloudy. [of the year.
Drizzling rain. Coldest day

Sums,
Av'ge

1,788

2,237

2,117
68 %

'*.!?•

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 3ist inst...
Highest " 12 " M., 2d inst

.38°

Notes from Sunland.

Si

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of January, 1881, ivith Remarks
in relation to Wind and Weather.

•3*

|

i

rt

3

Date.

•SM

•°s

? .

js'

c

Remarks.

vS^

z

<o

£

&

i

2

54
5°

78
67

I

S.
E.

<*•-•

Rain during the afternoon.
Clear.

3
4

£
69

g

77

E.
S.

"

I

68

66

S.
E.

i in.

Rain nearly all day.
Rain in the afternoon.

I

P

65

67
68

§

E.

S. E.

i in.
Kin.

Rain morning and afternoon .
Rain in the afternoon.

9

10

ii

66

75
80
76

72

67i

S. E.
S.
N.W.

Cloudy.
Rain during the night.
" afternoon.

12

54

62

62

E.

Cloudy.

13

48

78

75

E.

Clear.

14

15

68

75
77

70
7°

S.
W.

/sin.

Cloudy.
Rain in the afternoon.

16

66

82

76

s.w.

Clear.

i?

64

83

80

s. E:

"

18

66

8?

79

E.

"

19

66

83

,78

S. E.

"

20

66

77

72

S.

Cloudy, with Scotchmist.

21

66

75

70

S. W.

Clear A. M., cloudy P. M.

22

60

76

66

S. E.

Clear.

23

57

60

5^

N.E.

ii in.

Rain P. M. and night.

24

53

60

56

N.W.

/<i in.

tt tt

25

52

55

52

N.E.

Cloudy.

26

44

76

64

N.E.

Clear.

27

48

72

62

N.E.

"

28
29

i

80

64
74

N.E.
E.

Cloudy.
Clear.

30

60

78

76

N.W.

"

31

55

78

74

N.W.

•

Sums.

1,861

2,293

2,132

5^ in.

Av'ge

60

74

68^i

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., 26th inst

Highest " 12 " M., i;th and 19111 insts.

Notes from Sunland.

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at firaidentown,
Florida, for the month of February, 1881, with Remarks
in relation to Wind and Weather.

Date.

6 o'clock
A.M.

12 o'clock
M.

6 o'clock
P. M.

Wind at
M.

Rainfall.

Remarks.

i

56

76

72

S. E.

Clear.

3

65

71

7°

S. W.

/4 '"•

Rain in the afternoon.

3

54

70

67

S. W.

Clear.

\ 4

5°

65

62

S. E.

Cloudy.

5

52

75

69

N. E.

Clear.

6

62

75

69

N. E.

Clear, wind blowing a gale.

7

66

78

72

N. E.

" " " "

8

64

79

73

E.

tt tt it tt

9

68

72

70

S. E.

/& in.

Rain in the afternoon.

10

65

84

78

S. E.

Clear.

ii

70

81

75

S.

"

12

64

72

64

S. W.

/4 in.

Rain in the afternoon.

13

66

69

59

W.

Clear.

14

48

66

62

N.W.

"

IS

52

75

66

N.W.

"

16

58

80

74

N. E.

"

i?

59

84

76

S. E.

"

18

62

85

76

S. E.

"

'9

67

82

74

S. E.

«

20

69

8!

74

S. W.

"

21 .

65

76

69

N.W.

"

22

60

80

66

S. W.

"

23

58

So

73

S. E.

"

24

58

So

74

N. E.

"

2i

26

60
60

79
84

74
77

E.

S. E.

Cloudy.
Clear. [gale.

27

65

79

69

S.

2 in.

Rain, with wind blowing a

28

69

76

66

W.

Clear, "

Sums,

1,712

2,054

1,970

2^ in.

Av'ge

61 %

73%

Lowest' temperature at 6 o'clock A. M., i4th inst

Highest " 12 " M., iSth inst

TH>J LIBRARY

Notes from Sunlaiui.

METEOROLOGICAL.

Record of the Thermometer and Rainfall at Braidentown,
Florida, for the month of March, 1881, with Remarks in
relation to Wind and Weather.

Date.

Remarks.

*o «

o _ -f- X

I

SO 7.1

1
61

N. W.

Clear.

2 ! 59 75

69 N. W.

'•

3 : 60 ?<;

71

S.W.

4

59 7'

63

N.W.

"

5

66 74

63

N.W.

"

6

59 68

68

N.W.

"

. 7

53 72

73

E.

"

8

60 78

69

S.

i/4 in.

Rain P. M. and night.

9

62 78

67

N.W.

Clear.

10

57 72

70

S. E.

"

ii

52 79

73

S. E.

"

12

73 81

75

S.W.

Cloudy, with Scotch mist.

13

73 75

72 N.W.

" " "

'4

65 80

77

N. E.

Cloudy.

15

67 i 88

80

N. E.

Clear.

16

67 83

75

S.

"

— '7

66

So

76

S.W.

"

18

72

82

78

S.W.

"

'9
20

72
68

79
7°

c

64

S.W.
N.W.

i in.

Cloudy, rain P.M. and night.
Cloudy.

21
22

63
62

67

61

S.W.
N. E

'£.!"'

Cloudy, with rain at night.
Clear, wind blowing a gale.

23

S2

66

58

N.W.

Clear.

24

59

74

71

N.W.

"

25

56

74

66

S.W.

"

26

65 70

69

S.W.

Cloudy.

27

60 72

63

S.W.

Clear.

28

52

78

71

S. E.

"

29

57

75

7°

S.W.

"

3°

59

65

64

N.W.

Clear, wind blowing a gale.

3'

60

68

63

N.W.

Sums,
Av'ge

''fez14

74#

^

2% in.

Lowest temperature at 6 o'clock, A. M., nth, 23d and a8th insts 52°

Highest " 12 " M., istn inst 82°

THE LIBRARY

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