The Florida Historical Quarterly
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COVER Buyers examining tobacco about to be auctioned at Lake City in 1947. Continuing low prices and the boll-weevil finally ended Florida farmers’ concentration on cot- ton production in the early 20th century. One of the crops which replaced it was to- bacco, which had been grown in varying quantities in Florida since the 1820s. The Lake City auction was opened in 1938 to handle part of the annual crop which was inundating the auction at Live Oak, a facility which itself had opened in 1926. Pho- tograph courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, Florida State Archives. The Florida Historical Quarterly Volume LXXV, Number 1 Summer 1996 The Florida Historical Quarterly (ISSN 0015-4113) is published quarterly by the Flor- ida Historical Society, 1320 Highland Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32935, and is printed by E.O. Painter Printing Co., DeLeon Springs, FL. Second-class postage paid at Tampa, FL, and at additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Florida Historical Quarterly, 1320 Highland Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32935. Copyright 1996 by the Florida Historical Society, Melbourne, Florida. THE FLORIDA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Jerrell H. Shofner, Interim Editor Samuel Proctor, EditorEmeritus Nancy Rauscher, Editorial Assistant EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Raymond O. Arsenault, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg William S. Coker, University of West Florida David R. Colburn, University of Florida James B. Crooks, University of North Florida Kathleen Deagan, University of Florida Wayne Flynt, Auburn University Michael V. Gannon, University of Florida Maxine D. Jones, Florida State University Harry A. Kersey, Jr., Florida Atlantic University Jane Landers, Vanderbilt University Eugene Lyon, Flagler College John K. Mahon, University of Florida Raymond A. Mohl, Florida Atlantic University Gary R. Mormino, University of South Florida Theda Perdue, University of Kentucky Gerald E. Poyo, St. Mary’s University Joe M. Richardson, Florida State University William W. Rogers, Florida State University Daniel L. Schafer, University of North Florida Correspondence concerning contribution, books for review, and all editorial matters should be addressed to the Editor, Florida Historical Quarterly Department of History, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-1350. The Quarterly is interested in articles and documents pertaining to the history of Florida. Sources, style, footnote form, originality of material and interpretation, clarity of thought, and interest of readers are considered. All copy, including foot- notes, should be double spaced. Footnotes are to be numbered consecutively in the text and assembled at the end of the article. Particular attention should be given to following the footnote style of the Quarterly. THE AUTHOR SHOULD SUBMIT AN ORIGINAL AND A PHOTOCOPY, RETAINING A COPY FOR SECURITY Authors are asked to submit articles in IBM WordPerfect 5.0 or 5.1; please include both a hardcopy and a diskette. The Florida Historical Society and the editor of the Florida Historical Quarterly accept no responsibility for statements made or opinions held by authors. The Quarterly reviews books dealing with all aspects of Florida history. Books to be reviewed should be sent to the editor together with price and information on how they may be ordered. Table of Contents LANDLORDS AND TENANTS: SHARECROPPING AND THE C OTTON C ULTURE IN L EON C OUNTY , F LORIDA , 1865-1885 Clay Ouzts 1 FINDING FREEDOM IN FLORIDA: NATIVE PEOPLE, AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND COLONISTS, 1670-1816 Patrick Riordan 24 WIFE-KILLERS AND EVIL TEMPTRESSES: GENDER, PARDONS AND RESPECTABILITY IN FLORIDA, 1889-1914 Vivien Miller 44 FLORIDA HISTORY IN PERIODICALS ........................................................... 69 B OOK R EVIEWS . 75 B OOK N OTES . 110 H ISTORY N EWS . ..................................................................... 114 D IRECTORS M EETING . 118 BOOK REVIEWS SPANISH TREASURE. FLEETS, by Timothy R. Walton reviewed by Eugene Lyon FLORIDA IN POETRY A HISTORY OF THE IMAGINATION, edited by Jane Anderson Jones and Maurice J. O’Sullivan reviewed by Kevin M. McCarthy THE COLUMBIA RESTAURANT SPANISH COOKBOOK, by Adela Hernandez Gonzmart and Ferdie Pacheco reviewed by Martin Favata HISTORY OF BREVARD COUNTY, by Jerrell H. Shofner reviewed by Gordon Patterson A HISTORY OF ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FLORIDA, by Jerrell H. Shofner reviewed by William Warren Rogers FLAGS ALONG THE COAST; CHARTING THE GULF OF MEXICO, 1519-1759: A REAPPRAIS- AL, by Jack Jackson reviewed by William S. Coker TIDECRAFT: THE BOATS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA AND NORTHEASTERN FLORI- DA, 1550-1950, by William C. Fleetwood, Jr. reviewed by Hampton Dunn WRITING OUT MY HEART: SELECTIONS FROM THE JOURNAL OF FRANCES E. WILLARD, 1855-96, edited by Carolyn De Swarte Gifford reviewed by Joan S. Carver THE INNER JEFFERSON: PORTRAIT OF A GRIEVING OPTIMIST, by Andrew Burstein reviewed by Ernest F. Dibble ROBERT E. LEE, A BIOGRAPHY, by Emory M. Thomas reviewed by W. Robert Houston TROUBLED WATERS: CHAMPION INTERNATIONAL AND THE PIGEON RIVER CONTROVER- SY, by Richard A. Bartlett reviewed by Harvey H. Jackson III JOHN MUIR: APOSTLE OF NATURE, by Thurman Wilkins, part of the series The Oklaho- ma Western Biographies, edited by Richard W. Etulain reviewed by Richard A. Bartlett CRUSADING FOR CHEMISTRY: THE PROFESSIONAL CAREER OF CHARLES HOLMES HERTY, by Germaine E. Reed reviewed by Jeffrey A. Drobney THE POLITICS OF RAGE: GEORGE WALLACE, THE ORIGINS OF THE NEW CONSERVATISM, AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN POLITICS, by Dan T. Carter reviewed by Timothy S. Huebner FROM DEMAGOGUE TO DIXIECRAT: HORACE WILKINSON AND THE POLITICS OF RACE, by Glenn Feldman reviewed by Jack E. Davis READING, WRITING, AND RACE: THE DESEGREGATION OF THE CHARLOTTE SCHOOL.S, by Davison M. Douglas reviewed by Linda O. McMurry THE SEPARATE CITY: BLACK COMMUNITIES IN THE URBAN SOUTH, 1940-1968, by Chris- topher Silver and John V. Moeser reviewed by Raymond Arsenault THE FDR YEARs: ON ROOSEVELT AND HIS LEGACY, by William E. Leuchtenburg reviewed by Ed Dolan WEAPONS FOR VICTORY: THE HIROSHIMA DECISION FIFIY YEARS LATER, by Robert James Maddox reviewed by Arch Fredric Blakey GOODBYE, MACHIAVELLI: GOVERNMENT AND AMERICAN LIFE, by Bernard W. Wishy reviewed by George B. Crawford Landlords and Tenants: Sharecropping and the Cotton Culture in Leon County, Florida, 1865-1885 by CLAY OUZTS N 1875 the poet Sidney Lanier visited Leon County, bordering I Georgia in northern Florida. Lanier left a favorable account of the red-hill countryside surrounding Tallahassee, the state capital. He described the area as having long fences which marked off pas- tures, ancient live oaks and other hardwoods spread across the rolling hills where "ample prospects, [came] before the eye."1 Al- most ten years later a northern observer remarked that the region was "exceptionally attractive" and that it was one of the "most desir- able localities imaginable for several characters of farm industry."2 Promotional literature in the 1890s continued to depict Leon County as a farmer's paradise. Attempting to attract immigrant workers and farmers, the state Bureau of Immigration published a glowing report in the mid 1890s which placed Leon county on an agrarian pedestal: "The rich agricultural . land of this county . is better suited to practical farming, dairying and fruit-growing than any other section," read the report. "Men of practical knowl- edge in agricultural pursuits will immediately recognize in the sur- roundings, the conditions incidental to success, comfort and profit."3 Such enthusiastic accounts masked the actual state of agricul- tural affairs in the county during the post Civil War era. Like much of the South, and the cotton belt in particular, Leon County was ag- riculturally and economically depressed. The region's experience _____________ Clay Ouzts is a doctoral student in history at Florida State University and instructor of history at West Georgia College. He would like to thank William Warren Rogers and Joe M. Richardson for their advice and assistance. 1. Sidney Lanier, Florida: Its Scenery, Climate, and History, (Philadelphia, 1876), 105. The quotations that follow remain as close to the original as possible. 2. W. C. Steele, Letters From Tallahassee (Tallahassee, 1885), 5-6. 3. Leon and Wakulla Counties (author and publisher unknown, 1894), Florida Room, Florida State Archives (hereinafter, FSA), 37. [1] 2 F LORIDA H ISTORICAL Q UARTERLY was typical of prevailing conditions in northern Florida, the south- ern extremities of Georgia, and southeastern Alabama. The cotton culture was partially to blame for the region's mis- eries. The farmer's post-war obsession with cotton set in motion a destructive one-crop agricultural pursuit, fed by the labor of freed- men through the deplorable system of sharecropping. Farmers in the latter half of the 19th century were never able to use their land to its full potential. Consequently, cotton growers experienced lit- tle success, comfort, or profit. In post-war Leon County the lives of planters, farmers, and freedmen were as uncertain and unpredict- able as the white staple they so passionately planted. On the eve of the Civil War, Leon County's economic outlook was optimistic. Businesses were expanding, cotton production was up, and so were cotton prices. Plantations increased in size and number, existing structures were improved, and new roads and rail connections were established. Yeoman farmers prospered as well, and Leon was Florida's richest county. In 1860 almost three-fourths