Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-10-10
King of the Florida Crackers.

If the Crackers" is one of the riches
| cattle owners in tine State, one of its mos
eccentric characters and the first Amer
can baby born in Florida after the stat
was ceded to the United States governmen
| y the Spaniards in 1919 His ftht
ived in Alachua county, close down b.
he Indian line.
"Many hundred times" as he told me
he boy, Jake saw Young Osceola. who
IS boy and man, was most proficient II
he games of running and Jumping shoe.
ing and wrestling, and all manly spor
0 ceola was chosen as king of all tn
petty chiefs OF his tribe; his mother W.
laughter of the old king, and his fathe
was said TO have been white man. Whe
| | asked the King of the Crackers VIII
ne remembered of the young chiefs look
| be said -
"He was noble lookin' man. II
| hadn't the high cheek bones most Injuh
nave nor little varmlnty eyes. lie wan
pooty Injun, but he was manly lookr
md tall and straight, and you felt sol
Of an awe of his presence Yen couldn
shake eff "
At the breaking out of the Indian wa
in 1885 all the friendly Indians wei,
changed TO warriors and braves u ike
was then lad of 16 Once during this
war the sound of sheep bells saved h.
life; and once an old deerhound saved tn,
lives of over a thousand people. Thi
was the way OF it,
"Jake's' father. having fought the
Creek Indians in Georgia, knew that he
must place his wife and children IN Il safe
shelter than the isolated homestead. He
bundled them all into wagons and set our
tor settlement called Newmansvile
Other families were pouring into it from
every quarter; and there were soon
between one and Two thousand people
suddenly gathered together where only Il
few families had lived before. Foo
became scarce. The men had to wolh
hard TO build defenseS around the town
they dug trench and made wall o
ogs > feet high and doube-a log behind
each crack in the logs beforehand ut thi>
work they labored day and night. They
needed to be well fed. But there was no
way % get supplies unless a man took his
ife in his hand and made II stolen trip to
his deserted home with its smoke house
and its sweet potato patch. "Jako's'
father decided to do this. He took another
son and Jake and the three rode away
ogelher, each intending to bring back ali
his horse could carry. Ii was after dark
when they entered their home. There
was "bank" of sweet potatoes in the
yard. They found plenty OF meat in the
smoke house, and there was corn in The
barn, besides all the cotton they hau
picked that year. Corn meal and bacon
md potatoes would make "A splendid boo
to carry back and they picked up ns much
as they dared, knowing that possibly they
might lave to tide for their lives gong
home.
They loaded their horses and tied them
close to lhe house. and then AS there wei,
some hours to wait before the time when
1t would be best to start back, the boI>
threw Themselves down on the floor and
went to sleep. But the father watched
lie knew that the Indians had lhrealeneu
to burn his honse and wondered that it
mad bsen spared so long. BnG the crafty
enemy had been waiting for just such an
occasion as this, when he should be
tempted 10 come back to it, and even now
they knew that he was there and wert
creeping up on him, intending TO Kill hin
and his boys ana destroy his house all a
one stroke. But suddenly through the
Stiffness of the midnight II sound broke Oh
mis- ear--a sheep bell.
Up, boys. and out! The Indians are
on u.s." he cried: for the sheep wer,
rush NO toward the sheep pen. following
heir frightened leader, and he knew b,
he way they ran to their shelter that they
lad been startled by the approach of men
In a moment all three were in then
adde's lidlng for dear life, seeking no.
lows of thick wooded places and obscure
unknown paths for safety. Bat they wer,
not out OF sight when The glow of then
burning dwelling lit the sky, ana
hough they got safely into the fortiti
cations, the Indians took terrible revenge
upon the harmless animals that lad given
hem warning. There were more than
hundred sheep. They penned up the
nlea ing creatures and one by one they
skinned them alive! Flom some they tore
wide belts of fleece; others they lett with
bodies covered, but with legs stripped
some had their helpless heads and faces
skinned. All died in horrible suffering,
tortured by insects and birds of prey before
dying.
AS the hot summer went on there was
sickness and death IN the fortified village
behind the tall logs; and, as the indians
seemed to have deserted that part OF the
the times were changed. Moth rs
carried their sick bibles outside of the
walls and campeu and cooked in the shade
Of the trees, only returning inside when
darkness came. Day after day the for
was thus empted. Old men and boys, who
were the sole defense of the place, went to
lunt wild turkeys or other game; and all
'ested in careless sense of security. So
t was that one day ''old man Pendarvis'
went out TO see if he could kill u deer, and
iolowed narrow stream shaded by trees, |
came to drink. Suddenly his old dog
stopped with peculiar growl, and Pen
lal Wis, noting him, crept cautiously |
Onward until he saw two or three Indians
lrmed, naked, and painted with war paint,
,reepng up the stream.
He FASTENED back to give the alarm, and |
wild scene followed, women shrleking |
md rushing to the fort, carrying sometimes
heir own babies and sometimes other |
persons, picked up by mistake in the
lurry. Men were bewidered and panic
truck; they were but 500 Old men and !
housand women and children at stake.
The old deer hound had done his part; he
lad warned his master, and his master had
'utstripped the enemy by a few minutes,
Use the Indians would have surprised
hem completely and massacred the last
oul; for it was Osceola and 800 braves
Who were creeping up that brook!
CARPENTER Horn-a man that couldn't be
dle-in his leisure hours had made wheels
nd mounted little old cannon that had
'een thrown aside by some troops travel
ng south. A bushel of six pound balls
lad oeen left with it, and this cannon he
ook charge of and wheeled into place
when the Indians made their first dash at
be fort. The first shot from it killed two
indians. 1t was terrible surprise to the
ttacking party. They knew all about
uns, but a cannon they had mover heard
f, and its power and its noise so over
yhelmed them that some of them fled at
he mere sound. Bat others charged, and
here was fierce battle, which The cannon
nd Carpenter Horn finally won.
Perhaps had better say, just here, that
,hle the "crackers" in Georgia and other
,uthern statcs are poor white people. and