{"id":14626,"date":"2024-05-01T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?p=14626"},"modified":"2024-05-03T15:09:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T19:09:29","slug":"exploring-tallahassees-may-history-day-by-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2024-05-01\/exploring-tallahassees-may-history-day-by-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Tallahassee’s May History Day By Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published May 1, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updated May 1, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 1, 1833<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tallahassee\u2019s May Day Tradition Begins<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On May 1, 1833, Tallahassee\u2019s long-running May Day celebration most likely took place for the first time, less than 10 years after the founding of the Capital city<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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May Day Celebration in 1967 under the May Oak in Lewis Park (State Archives of Florida-Park)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

May Day events go back hundreds of years <\/a>to Medieval Europe celebrations and Pagan festivals announcing the arrival of spring. Tallahassee\u2019s version of May Day was held almost annually for 141 years before ending in the 1970s.  At that time, it was the longest-running festival in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the 14 decades it existed, the May Day celebration became a community tradition, occurring sometime within the first week of May and often with multiple events taking place over several days. The location eventually settled at Lewis Park under a giant oak tree that became known as the May Oak or the Lewis Oak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were also maypoles and May Queens.  According to a publication by the Trinity United Methodist Church Historical Society<\/a> of Tallahassee, the Queens were chosen going back to the very first year of the event. However, the information was not recorded because \u201cthe names of the young ladies were not printed in newspapers\u201d in those days.  Reverend Norman Booth recorded that Mary Antoinette Myers was crowned the May Queen in 1844.<\/p>\n\n\n

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May Day Celebration in 1905 at the May Oak in Lewis Park. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Leon High Graduate and Oscar Winning Actress Faye Dunaway in 1959 (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In those early years, the city\u2019s young people selected local girls to become the May Queen. In 1934, The Queens were chosen from the senior classes of Florida High and Leon High.  After World War II, Leon High School <\/a>became the regular sponsor of the event.  From then on, the school\u2019s student body chose the Queens from the girls of the Senior Class at Leon High School. In one notable election in 1958, it took three ballots for a young woman named Linda Gormley to beat a school newcomer by the name of Faye Dunaway.<\/a>  Dunaway lost by only 6 votes that year, but she had the last laugh. In 1977, Dunaway won an Oscar for Best Actress in the movie, Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gormley, who beat Faye in 1958, wasn\u2019t the only \u201cQueen of the May\u201d with an interesting backstory. In 1927, Marguerita Cawthon shaved her head the night before she was crowned.  Reportedly, it was an effort to get revenge on her parents.  They had previously punished her for sneaking out of the house one night. Cawthon was still crowned Queen that year, wearing a wig under her crown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other town institutions also held May Day celebrations over the years, choosing their own Queens.  Florida State College for Women, Florida High, and Old Lincoln High all held separate events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dancing and weaving the ribbon around the Maypole for the city’s May Day celebration in 1965 (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Gerald Ensley described in a 2011 Tallahassee Democrat article, the May Day \u201ctradition died in 1974\u201d but he detailed that it had been on a downward spiral for a few years beforehand.  It happened at the same time local schools were integrated in the area.   In the spring of 1968, the all-black Lincoln high school closed. While Leon had been integrated in 1963 when a few black students began attending, with the closing of Lincoln, the number of black students increased at all the high schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January of 1970, an article by United Press International (UPI), reported that the County\u2019s School Board voted to discontinue the event at the recommendation of Leon\u2019s principal, Robert Stevens, on the grounds that preparations were too time-consuming.  The article went on to say that the board \u201cdenied the action had \u2018racial overtones\u2019 although there has been some criticism of the all-white tradition of the event\u201d from black leaders.  That criticism is still heard today about the ending of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ensley\u2019s 2011 article also revealed some additional tensions between the various high schools in the years leading up to the end of Leon\u2019s involvement. The principals of the newer Rickards and Godby high schools had also expressed concerns that only Leon was allowed to be in charge of the May Day celebration.  However, neither of those schools took over the preparations after Leon stepped down. In fact, there were no sponsors in 1970 and the May Day celebrations didn\u2019t happen that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tallahassee Democrat says that in 1972, the Sons of the American Revolution took over the sponsorship with a focus on elementary children instead of high school teens. Meanwhile, Springtime Tallahassee, begun in 1968 and held earlier in the spring, grew. Interest in the May Day celebration continued to drop and after the 1974 event, it ended for good.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tallahassee’s May Day court in 1958 in front of the May Oak. The Queen at the center is Linda Gormley. One of the attendants in this court is future Oscar winning actress Faye Dunaway. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In 1986, the May Oak in Lewis Park, estimated to be over 200 years old, collapsed and died.  Its stump and a plaque remain in the park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 2, 1927<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A modern hotel era begins<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Hotel Floridan officially opened on the Northwest corner of Monroe and Call Street on May 2, 1927.  Going by the name Hotel Floridan as well as Floridan Hotel, it was the largest and most modern hotel of the times.  It was also very much needed in the city of Tallahassee. Just two years before, a fire destroyed the very large and historic Leon Hotel on East Park Avenue.  A group of local investors put together the plan for the Hotel Floridan under the name the Tallahassee Hotel Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hotel Floridan in 1927 on the Northwest corner of Monroe and Call Streets in Tallahassee. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Guests had been staying at the building for a month before the official opening day and all the rooms were already full on the day of the event.  A public three-hour reception was planned with music provided by the Florida State College for Women\u2019s College Orchestra. The hotel offered free tours of the building throughout the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Guest Room in Hotel Floridan in 1952. When the hotel opened in 1927, rooms with electric lights and a telephone were very modern luxuries. (State Archives of Florida-Slade)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The 68 rooms were described as consisting of various comfortable sizes and all having between one and five windows with copper screens to keep out pests. Each room had its own bathroom with a shower or a tub.  Plus, each room had its own telephone as well as electric fans, lights, and outlets. It was described as \u201cmodern in every detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Tallahassee Daily Democrat dedicates entire paper to the opening day of Hotel Floridan on May 2, 1927. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On the day it opened, the Tallahassee Daily Democrat dedicated their entire 32-page paper to the celebration.   With the large headline \u201cHotel Floridan Formally Opens Today\u201d and a large photo of the hotel\u2019s manager M.J. Watts leading the coverage, the newspaper included articles about the flowers and explored the extra space on the first floor designed to be leased to four businesses. Meanwhile, businesses across town placed advertisements in the paper congratulating the city and the owners of the new hotel and wishing both the best of luck with the new endeavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While no set number of visitors was recorded in the local paper, the Daily Democrat did say \u201cthrongs\u201d of people explored the hotel on the day of the opening. Legislators regularly stayed at the hotel over the years. One of the most well-known residents of the Hotel Floridan was Ruby Pearl Diamond<\/a>, namesake of the Ruby Diamond Concert Hall.  She began living in the hotel shortly after it opened and stayed there for decades.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1937 (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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1954 (State Archives of Florida – Kerce)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Hotel
1985 before demolition. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Hotel Floridan throughout the years (State Archives of Florida)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The hotel fell into disrepair and closed in the late 1970s.  Demolition had begun in 1985 when one last dramatic moment happened. A 30-foot section of a wall unintentionally collapsed and landed on the truck of one of the construction workers. Doug Booher barely escaped the truck before bricks crushed the vehicle. Booher later used a crane to haul what was left of his truck out of the debris.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Police on the scene after the unintentional collapse of a wall on a worker’s pickup truck on June 26, 1985. It happened during demolition of the Hotel Floridan. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Today, the Aloft Tallahassee Downtown h<\/a>otel stands in that same location. It was built in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 3, 1971<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NPR\u2019s All Things Considered debuts to Tallahassee listeners.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 1971, WFSU-FM was one of only two stations in Florida that was an original member of National Public Radio.  WFSU\u2019s radio station already had a long history by that point. It had begun back in 1949 and in 1970 became one of the 90 charter members of NPR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 3, 1971, the first episode of \u201cAll Things Considered\u201d<\/a> aired for the first time and still exists to this day.  ATC co-anchor and journalist Susan Stamberg <\/a>recalled that NPR had held a staff contest to come up with the name for the program.  NPR\u2019s Operations Manager George Geesey came up with \u201cAll Things Considered.\u201d The contest approach was used again in 1979 to come up with the title for \u201cMorning Edition.\u201d  Stamberg says her favorite suggestion for the show wasn\u2019t picked.  A producer had submitted \u201cTomorrow We\u2019ll Be Better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 5, 1944<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

FAMC Student and Tuskegee Airman lost in WWII<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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James Polkinghorne ( U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

James Polkinghorne, Jr. had just finished his Junior year at Florida A and M College when he decided to enlist in the military on May 31, 1942.  Polkinghorne became the first FAMC student to be accepted into the U.S. Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 301st<\/sup> Fighter Squadron. The 301st was one of four squadrons that made up the all-black 332nd<\/sup> Fighter Group known as the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polkinghorne finished his initial flight training in 1943. By the end of the year, he had been promoted to First Lieutenant and in 1944 headed to Europe with his squadron.  According to the Commemorative Air Force Rise Above website, on May 5, 1944, Polkinghorne was assigned to lead a third of a 12-plane strike team attacking targets on Italy\u2019s western coast.  During the mission, Polkinhornes\u2019s group and another descended below the clouds to attack, while the third remained above.  As the two teams returned above the cloudbank, enemy fire from the ground followed them. The strike team realized Polkinghorne\u2019s plane did not return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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James R. Polkinghorne (third from left) with his Flight Class 43-B in 1943. <\/em>Left to right: Roy M. Spencer, Claud B. Govan, James R. Polkinghorne, John R. Prowell, William H. Walker, William E. Griffin, Walter M. Downs( U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He was declared missing, but Polkinghorne\u2019s body was never found. Polkinghorne was declared dead a year later. In 1948, FAMC named the 170-unit planned to house veterans Polkinghorne Village. It was demolished in 2012.  In 2014, a new 800-unit residence hall was built and called FAMU Village.  The new village was renamed James Polkinghorne, Jr. Village in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The newer version of Polkinghorne Village on Florida A & M Campus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Check out this WFSU-FM Perspectives Audio Interview from 2019 about the renaming of FAMU Village to Polkinghorne Village.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

May 5, 1960<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sit-in protestors are released from jail<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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Article in the Philadelphia Tribune about the jailed students on the CORE tour talking about their experiences in the segregated south. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On May 5, 1960, the first Tallahassee protestors who had been arrested and found guilty of disturbing the peace for the February sit-in at the Woolworths lunch counter <\/a>were released after 49 days in jail.  The judge had originally ordered that the 11 originally arrested and convicted could pay a $300 fine or serve a 60-day sentence. Eight chose to stage a \u201cjail-in\u201d <\/a>and started their sentence on March 18th<\/sup>. Over time, three left to file appeals, leaving sisters Patricia<\/a> and Priscilla Stephens, siblings John and Barbara Broxton, and William Larkins behind bars.  By the end of 49 days, those five were released early for good behavior.  Patricia later wrote in her book, \u201cFreedom in the Family,\u201d that the Tallahassee black community threw them \u201ca hero\u2019s welcome\u201d rally.  All five protestors had been students at Florida A & M University, but because they had missed so many classes while in jail, they were asked to withdraw and re-enroll in the fall.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A few days later after their release, headed out on a CORE-sponsored Publicity Tour to talk about their Civil Rights experiences.  The jail-in participants spent the rest of the summer traveling around the country. All continued to fight for equal rights in the years ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 8, 1945<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Victory in Europe, Changes at Home<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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The front page of the Daily Democrat (later the Tallahassee Democrat) on May 8, 1945.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On May 8th<\/sup>, 1945, Victory in Europe (VE Day) was declared during World War II.   Within a few months, the United States would drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan leading to the declaration of Victory in Japan (VJ Day). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The returning American soldiers changed the country, Florida, and Tallahassee in many ways. One was in the high number of veterans entering local colleges on the GI Bill. That led to a restructuring of higher education in Florida. Initially, the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida (TBUF) was established at the Army base at Dale Mabry Army field. The male TBUF students took classes at Florida State College for Women.  Later, FSCW was officially made co-educational and converted into Florida State University in 1947.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Students of the newly co-educational Florida State University stand in line outside of Montgomery Hall for class registration in 1947. (State Archives of Florida) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

May 9, 1967<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prohibition in Leon County ends after 63 years<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prohibition across the nation lasted from 1920 to 1933, a total of 13 years. However, in Leon County, the flow of alcohol stopped in 1904 and didn\u2019t start up again until May 9, 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dubois’ vineyard in Tallahassee (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The work to turn the county \u201cdry\u201d began in the 1800s, but first, there was an effort to plant some very \u201cwet\u201d roots in the region.  In the early years of settling the U.S. Florida Territory, one of the first and largest landowners in the Tallahassee area, the Marquis de Lafayette, encouraged the creation of vineyards.  He wrote to friends in France and other European countries suggesting that they move to the area for the purpose of creating a region dedicated to growing French-style wine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While his personal efforts to settle the region failed, others did follow through on the idea of growing grapes for wine in the area.  One well-known Frenchman who dug into Lafayette\u2019s idea was Emile Dubois.  Dubois established the county\u2019s first vineyards on his property where the Mission San Luis Living History Museum now sits and at another property near Lake Hall, part of present day Maclay Gardens State Park.  By the 1890s Dubois was making thousands of gallons of wine a year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Emile Dubois (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

It all changed for Dubois and the county on August 30, 1904. That was the day voters in Leon County voted 494 to 372 to prohibit the sale of alcohol and Dubois ended up moving his wine operation to New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of stopping the sale of alcohol had been growing over the years in the United States.  In the 1800\u2019s the idea that alcohol led to financial and moral problems in the home led to the creation of organized groups, mostly by women, demanding prohibition (and often the right to vote too). One of the first and largest organizations was the nationwide Woman\u2019s Christian Temperance Union.  As early as the 1870\u2019s the group had influence in Tallahassee. A photo dated from that time of the group at a Tallahassee parade can be found in the State Archives of Florida.  When the 1885 Florida Constitution made it possible for each county to individually decide this issue of alcohol sales and production, pressure increased.   <\/p>\n\n\n

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Woman’s Christian Temperance Union parade in Tallahassee in the 1870s. (State Archives in Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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William and Louella Knott celebrating their 50th anniversary. Note the tea cup instead of a wine glass to toast the occasion. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

One of the leaders of the temperance movement in Tallahassee was Louella Knott.<\/a>  Louella was the wife of State Treasurer, William Knott, and together they were the future owners of what is now called the Knott House Museum.  Moving to Tallahassee in 1897, Louella worked to organize the fight against alcohol in Tallahassee and Leon County.  A men\u2019s auxiliary group was created to join the fight in 1904 called the Leon County Local Option League and by the summer of that year, the issue was on the ballot and passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the now alcohol-free county wasn\u2019t quite that dry.  According to a Tallahassee Democrat article by Patrick Riordan in 1990, the Capital City \u201cwas wetter than the Gulf of Mexico.\u201d  While Dubois and his vineyard left the state and the city\u2019s saloons closed, alcohol was also still sold legally in nearby Gadsden, Madison, and Franklin counties. Speakeasies and bootleggers within the county flourished. Lobbyists were encouraged to bring and conceal their own alcohol when they headed to the capital for the legislative session.   It appears that it wasn\u2019t until the national Prohibition of Alcohol and the accompanying Volstead Act that more enforcement tools were available in the county.   Florida was the 15th<\/sup> state to ratify the 18th<\/sup> Amendment and on January 16, 1920, the amendment ushered in the Prohibition Era for the rest of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Once Leon County was a “dry” county Temperance organizers widened their focus . In this photo Theo Proctor drives a car in 1917 decorated to encourage state and national Prohibition<\/em>. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

There were arrests and there were raids over the next 13 years, but the alcohol kept flowing in the dry county. There were still local speakeasies (called \u201cblind tigers\u201d) and pharmacists realized they could legally sell items with alcohol in them for \u201cmedicinal purposes only\u201d.  Some local law enforcement also avoided the enforcement of the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Depression came, Florida became the 30th<\/sup> state to ratify the 21st<\/sup> Constitutional Amendment which officially ended the national prohibition on alcohol on December 5, 1933. While Leon County had voted in favor of that Amendment, it was still a dry county. Over and over again, the issue of wet v. dry came up in local elections with the sale of alcohol banned over and over again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tallahasee Officers pour moonshine down city drain after a local raid, 1959 (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tallahassee Police Officer Burl Peacock looking over whiskey discovered in raid, 1960 (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were some wins. In May 1933, Leon County voters agreed to the sale of 3.2% beer.  In June of 1960, voters agreed to allow liquor sales at package stores.  However, a vote to approve liquor by the drink\u2014the kind that could be sold in bars and restaurants\u2014lost in that same election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 1965, Luella Knott, who had continued to fight against the sale of alcohol over the decades, passed away.  Three years later, on May 8, 1967, Leon County voted once again on the issue. Voters decided 12,187 to 6,277 to approve the sale of liquor by the drink which ended Leon County\u2019s dry status.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“The Leon” was a liquor store, bar and pool room that served alcohol from 1892 to 1904 when the county went dry. The bar may have shut down, but the building at the corner of present day Monroe and College streets remains. (top photo: State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

May 10, 1865<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Florida Surrenders<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Confederate General Robert E. Lee may have signaled the end of the Civil War when he surrendered at the Courthouse at Appomattox in April 1865, but on May 10, 1865, Florida\u2019s Confederate forces began their surrender in Tallahassee.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Union Brigadier General Edward McCook in 1870 (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On this day, Union Brigadier General Edward McCook entered Tallahassee with a small band of 5 officers. He had left approximately 500 men from the Second Indiana Cavalry and Seventh Kentucky Cavalry four miles north of town on Thomasville Road while he went on the mission. Once in Tallahassee, McCook met with Confederate Major General Samuel Jones to accept the surrender of Florida\u2019s Confederate Troops.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCook settled into the Hagner House (later known as the Knott House) at the corner of Calhoun and Park Avenue and made that his temporary headquarters.  His troops joined him in Tallahassee the next day.  On May 12, the fort at St. Marks was officially surrendered to the Union as well.  On May 20th<\/sup>, McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation on the steps of the Hagner House and held a ceremony officiating the transfer of power with the raising of the American Flag over the state capital building.   <\/p>\n\n\n

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The Knott House Museum, formerly known as the Hagner House. The Emancipation Proclamation was read for the first time in Florida on the steps of this building. (State Archives of Florida-Queral)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Tallahassee had been the only state capital in the south that had not fallen during the war.  Earlier that year, Union troops had tried to take the city from the south.  Marching up from the St. Marks lighthouse, the group was stopped by Confederate soldiers and students from West Florida Seminary at the Battle of Natural Bridge.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Abraham K. Allison in 1853. He was acting Governor of Florida at the end of the Civil War. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The acting Governor of Florida at the time of the May 10th surrender was Abraham Allison.  He had taken over for Governor John Milton<\/a> after Milton\u2019s suicide on April 1st<\/sup>.   According to the State Archives of Florida, Allison tried to go around McCook to work with Lincoln\u2019s successor, President Andrew Johnson, to accelerate Florida\u2019s return to the Union.  A letter in the archive dated May 12th<\/sup> shows that Allison commissioned David Levy Yulee and four others (John Wayles Baker, Edward Curry Love, Mariano D. Papy, and James Lawrence George Baker) to meet with the President. Allison also called for a state legislative session on June 5th<\/sup> with a new election for governor on June 7th<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allison\u2019s actions came so quickly after the surrender that he angered many Unionists.   McCook was ordered to not recognize any local or state government.  On May 19th<\/sup>, Governor Allison resigned.  On May 22nd<\/sup>, McCook placed the state under martial law.  Union troops arrested Allison on June 19, 1865, and imprisoned him at Fort Pulaski with other Confederate officials for six months.  President Johnson appointed William Marvin as the next Governor of the state on July 13, 1865.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more https:\/\/www.floridamemory.com\/items\/show\/341933<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore more about North Florida’s experiences in the Civil War by watching this episode of WFSU’s documentary series called Florida Footprints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n