CHAPTER XXIII.

FLORIDA

TEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONS OF STATES.- CONTINUED.

DEPENDENT ON OTHER STATES -THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNOR, JOHN MILTON HIS SUCCESSOR, GOVERNOR WALKER-FLORIDA ADOPTS THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT — LEGISLATION AS TO NEGROes, fireARMS, MARRIAGE, CONTRACTS, AND VAGRANCY - VIRGINIA ATTEMPTS TO RECONSTRUCT GENERAL BUTLER'S ACTION GENERAL WEITZEL AND PRESIDENT LINCOLN AT RICHMOND PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S ORDER — PIERPONT'S GOVERNMENT – ATTEMPTED REPEAL OF WEST VIRGINIA SECESSION - CONGRESS INDIFFERENT-INDORSEMENT OF JOHNSON'S POLICY-LOUISIANA-GENERAL BUTLER AND THE COLORED PEOPLE-HIS VERSATILE AND VALUABLE QUALITIES — ATTEMPTS TO ORGANIZE COURTS - REGISTRY, VOTERS, AND GOVERNMENT — GENERAL BANKS AND HIS EFFORTS — GOVERNOR HAHN AND HIS PELICANS — GOVERNOR WARMOUTH AND HIS RADICALS - ONE-TENTH VOTING POLICY-PRESIDENT JOHNSON INTERVENES — BLOODY RIOTS OF 1864- WARMOUTH GOVERNOR - NEW CONSTITUTION IN 1868-WARMOUTH'S LETTER - ITS STATEMENTS DENIED - OTHER RIOTS UNTIL 1868-LOUISIANA RECLAIMED - CONFISCATION AND RASCALITY - WINTER DAVIS' BILL-ARKANSAS-HER EARLY MOVEMENTS - RADICALS IN CHARGE - LEGISLATIVE CRUDITIES-CONVENTION OF 1866-LABOR QUESTIONS - SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS BOTH TYRANNICAL-THE POLAND COMMITTEE GARLAND SAVES THE STATE-SKETCH OF GOVERNOR, SENATOR, AND

ATTORNEY-GENERAL GARLAND.

F

LORIDA was an out-lying state, of small population and wealth. She had escaped the ravages of war. No strategic advantage was to be gained by contesting the possession of any of her extensive territory, except Pensacola. It was well understood that her fate would follow that of the adjoining states, and that their submission to the arms of the Republic would compel her compliance.

The governor was John Milton. Although not conspicuous for his energy, he was as representative a man as any of the five who are pictured in the preceding chapter. His life is worth a study in its relation to the great events of which it formed a part. He served during the whole war, as

governor. He was thoroughly devoted to the Southern cause. Even in its sinking condition, he displayed heroism beyond all praise, amid distraction and despondency. He was born on the twenty-first day of April, 1807, in Jefferson County, Georgia. He was the son of Col. Homer V. Milton, of the United States Army, and grandson of the John Milton for whom, in our early history, Georgia cast her vote for the Presidency of the United States; so that he had brave, rebellious, and patriotic blood in his veins. He was educated at the academy in Louisville, the county seat of Jefferson County. He studied law under Rodger L. Gamble. He practiced in his native county. After a year or two he moved to Columbus, Georgia; and while there he became engaged in politics. He ran for Congress on the nullification question. He was defeated. He afterwards resided in Mobile and in New Orleans. In both places he had a large practice. In 1846, he moved to Jackson County, in the State of Florida. He settled on his farm. He only appeared in court occasionally. He was devoted to agricultural pursuits. His hospitality was proverbial. His social qualities not only transmuted acquaintances into friends, but made all strangers welcome. His conversation was of rare quality and full of wisdom and wit. His knowledge of national and state measures, and prominent men, was immense. He was a surprise to his friends, for, although he was not a hard student, he seemed to grasp matters by intuition. Nature did much for him. Although he preferred domestic life, the people would not allow him his coveted ease. At every election, from 1846 to 1860, his voice was heard. He marshaled the Democratic forces. He was elected to the legislature in 1849. He was one of the Democratic electors in 1848, and visited and spoke in every portion of the state. He became thus fully known to the people of Florida. They appreciated his abilities as a statesman and orator.

The author met him first at the National Democratic Convention, at Charleston, in 1860. He deplored the necessity that caused a division in the Democratic party. He feared that it would produce a rupture between the states. He was a warm supporter of General Breckenridge. In 1860, he was nominated for governor. He made a thorough canvass of the state, and was elected by a large majority. He was inaugurated as governor in 1861, for four years. After the withdrawal of the state from the United States, like a large portion of the Southern people he felt that the election of Abraham Lincoln, as a sectional candidate, was a sufficient cause for the withdrawal of Florida. He favored a confederacy, not only for the protection of states rights, but to preserve the rights of property in slaves. He warmly indorsed the action of his state. It was in accord with his ideas of 1832. When war was declared, he foresaw that the South had much to contend with. Her success would be doubtful; but his voice and material aid were freely given. He cheerfully and resolutely cast his fortune with his people. Although in the latter part of 1864 he saw that the for

REORGANIZATION IN FLORIDA.

419 tunes of war were with the United States, and began to doubt the wisdom of secession, he never varied from the cherished ideas of his early manhood. In 1864 and 1865, there were heavy and repeated calls for men and provisions made upon the Confederate States. The old and young of Florida, through the influence of their governor, had enlisted in the war, regardless of age and exemption. Her coast was extensive, and easy of approach. It required more men than she had, to guard it. Invasion was threatened, and in some points it was actually made. Tallahassee, the capital, was an objective point; and in March, 1865, the troops of the United States landed at St. Marks. They sought to hold that part of the state, but were repulsed at the Natural Bridge, with loss, and obliged to re-embark. In the eastern part of the state, similar attempts were made. These attacks, with the knowledge that the Confederacy was daily growing weaker, caused much distress to Governor Milton. He was approachable by all. He listened to the complaints of his people. As a parent with his offspring, he sympathized in their sufferings. These anxieties, linked with mental work and constant care, produced softening of the brain. On the 1st of April, 1865, he died. In him the land of flowers lost a devoted friend and a good governor. The requiem over his grave was as sincere as it was sad. The president of the state senate, Abraham K. Allison, succeeded him. On April 8th, the day before the surrender of the Confederate forces, Mr. Allison issued a proclamation for an election of governor, to take place on June 7, 1865. The election was never held. The proclamation was countermanded by Major-General Gilmore, who held military possession until the inauguration of Mr. Johnson's civil provisional governor.

On the 13th of July, 1865, the President appointed William Marvin provisional governor. An election of delegates to a convention was ordered to be held October 10th. The electors were to be of the same classes with those designated for North Carolina. On August 2d the governor addressed a meeting at Jacksonville. In his speech he explained the policy of the President. He called attention to the necessity of radical changes in the constitution and laws. Referring to the exceptions made by the general amnesty, he said that he would recommend to the President's consideration all who gave evidence of penitence. Abandoned property that had been seized would be restored, when, after a hearing, it should be decided to pardon the owner. He appealed to the people to lay aside revengeful feelings, and to enter heartily upon the work of reconstruction. He had no authority to resuscitate the civil authorities, but he could aid the people in doing so. The proclamation, issued the next day, reiterated these sentiments. It stated specifically the things necessary to be done. In regard to the negro, he said that the freedom guaranteed to him was that of a citizen of the United States.

On the 10th of October, in obedience to the proclamation, an election of delegates took place. The delegates chosen met at Tallahassee on the 25th

of October. The governor, in his message to the convention, urged the necessity of guaranteeing the civil rights of the negro. He undertook to define what he understood to be implied in the idea of freedom, under an organized government. He recommended that the convention declare the secession act null and void from the beginning; but that body only agreed to declare it void. The ordinance for repudiating the debt contracted by the state in aid of the rebellion was adopted. The convention ordered an election for governor, legislature, other state officers, and congressmen. It was to take place on November 29th, and the legislature was to convene on the third Monday in December. The election resulted in the choice of David S. Walker for governor, and Ferdinand McLeod for Representative in Congress. The vote polled was less than 4,000, or little more than one-fourth of that cast in 1860 for the Presidential candidates.

The legislature met at the time appointed,-December 18th. It was organized. The provisional governor renewed his suggestions in regard to the negroes. He added, that they should be required to fulfill their contracts of labor. Three days later he was superseded. This was done by order of President Johnson. The governor-elect, Walker, was immediately inaugurated; but for some reason he failed to assume the duties of administration until Jan. 17, 1866. In his inaugural address, Governor Walker indicated a policy similar to that of his predecessor. He was opposed to granting suffrage to the negro. The direct tax imposed by Congress upon all the states, during the war, remained to be collected at its close, in the states which were then in arms. The quota of Florida was $77,522. The legislature memorialized Congress to allow the state to assume this tax as a debt, and thus to waive its collection. In the end, however, this tax was abandoned altogether by the government, as to the South, after some of it had been collected.

The legislature ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. But this was not done until the 28th of December, ten days after Mr. Seward had announced that the amendment had become a part of the Constitution.

An act passed on Jan. 11, 1866, while it accorded to the colored people the right to sue and be sued, and abolished the laws relating to slaves and free negroes, provided that the laws forbidding the migration of free negroes into the state, and the sale of fire-arms to them, should continue in force. Another act of the same date required all colored inhabitants living together as husband and wife, and who had not been joined as such agreeably to the laws, and who should desire to continue in that relation, to appear within nine months after the passage of the act before some person legally authorized to perform the ceremony, and be joined in matrimony. The issue of the prior cohabitation of such parties was declared to be legitimate. All laws relating to marriage between white persons were extended to people of color.

REORGANIZATION IN VIRGINIA.

421

An act of January 12 related to contracts of persons of color. It provided that they should be in writing, in duplicate, and that they should be explained to the parties in the presence of two witnesses. One copy was to be retained by the employer, and the other to be filed with some judicial officer. Contracts for service or labor for less than thirty days might be made by parol. Refusal or neglect by the employed to perform the stipulations of the contract by willful disobedience of orders, wanton impudence or disrespect to the employer, or agent, failure or refusal to perform the work assigned, or idleness or abandonment of the premises,-subjected the offender on complaint of the employer or his agent, under oath, to the penalties of the vagrant act. The offender, in such case, immediately, or at the expiration of his contract, was liable to summary ejection from the house occupied by him, on the application of the employer to the judge of the criminal court. The question of failure of the employer to comply with the contract, was triable by jury on complaint of the laborer to the criminal judge. Either party was entitled to an appeal.

Thus was Florida launched again upon a sea of troubles. Was she to remain tranquil? The sequel will show.

The passage of the secession ordinance by Virginia in 1861 was the signal for the secession of the western from the eastern counties. The new State of West Virginia came into being in an abnormal manner. She was admitted into the Union as a free and independent state.

The original Pierpont government of Virginia was recognized by President Lincoln. Its organization was completed by President Johnson. Other states, some successfully and some unsuccessfully, followed the example of Virginia. The subsequent chapters will show the trials through which these states passed before they became engrafted upon the Federal stock by accepting the amendments of the Constitution, and other conditions. It is enough now to say, that the only condition annexed to the recognition of a seceding state was, that there should be a proportion of loyal or pardoned people in it, of one-tenth or more to the population. These were to give the initiative to the movement. Forty counties in Virginia became the only new state created during the war, except Nevada. Their delegates were thought to have power to break up a sovereign state into fragments equally sovereign. The Senators and Representatives of this new creation sat in Congress, and voted on problems concerning the status of the Old Dominion. Was she legitimate, and if not, was she in existence at all? Such was one of the inconsistencies which spring up when the law of force directs the movements of men toward social order.

The futile attempt to organize a loyal government in a few of the eastern counties and parts of counties which had come under the control of the Union forces in 1863 and 1864, deserves notice. It was an experiment at