The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-24
A PIONEER OF FLORIDA
OR A CARPENTERS CAREER IN THE
LAND OF FLOWERS

6CbS Al las k1dAAS 2@AAC AS~ - -
Bears and Panthers-steamoos tini
on the St Johns Kiver-Fighting tbs
Seminole Indians-How Justice was
Administered - Fighting With the
Confsd erates-Success as an Orange
Grower.
OsTEEN, FLA, Aug. 15-In the town o.
Derby, Orleans county, Vermont, on Oct
%, 1917, was born Ora Carpenter. who wa
destined to become q roamer and adventurer
hunter and soldier aud captain, civilian
steamboat captain. lighthouse keeper
county officer, successful orange grower
and christian.
Ora Carpenters father was prosperous
Vermont farmer, and brought up bis son t
dig and deIve, believing that it would bt
none the worse for his brains or muscles
The sequel shows that he was correct In bis
Judgment.
At nearly 20 years Of age Ora Carpenter:
intellect remains unimpalred, especially as
to memory. For hours on stretcn SAT
and listened to his own recital If his inter
esting thrilling, adventurous and romantic
life in three states Of The union. Ills BOY
hood was spent on a farm IN his native
state. He never ate any idle bread, and the
first money he ever had he made doing up
the tasks set for hlm y his wise AID saga
cious father first, and afterward cultlvatlhg
his own patch. This has been lifelong
stimulus To him, and he thinks that every
bow with good sense and industry would do
well TO start this way in life, l. e., make his
own first dollar.
After he left home and while boarding
with family, he joined them on a trip
west The vehicle was not sufficient Tor
. . 81, -
Carpeuter volunteered 10 walk, and he did
walk every step of the way. A part of the
time he had the chills and fever every other
day. When he found one of these parox-
ysms coming on he filled his vessel with
water and spread down his blanket aud
shook and burned while the wagon rolled
forward.
The driver Of the wagon dropped in the
middle of the road an implement v hich lert
its certain impression as it dragged along,
and by this the convalescent young tramper
was able TO find his way to the camp. He
never lost his way, but sometimes was as
late as 10 o'clock p. III. catching up with bis
friends
The country out west, however, did not
suit him, 50 young Carpenter wended his
way toward and took up
HIS RESIDENCE IN FLORIDA
in 1S41, when the crack Of Indian rife and
the whoop of Indian desperate might be
heard, and when the dwelling places Of the
For nearly quarter of century
succeeding, Mr.. Carpenter lived
in the midst of adventures and
dangers, shooting aligators, hunting
down bear and tiger and panther; hiding
from ''red man" aud getting ready Co meet
him in battle array and bloody affray
listening to the mournful sounds Of the
heaying and rolling sea, and watching its
dashing waves aud splashing sprays, keep
ing time to the Keeling and rocking ships Of
old oceans deep. Ora Carpenter settled
first in Florida at Ente prise, in 1912, where
the nearest white settlement was at st.
August @, a little less THAI 100 miles away.
Here he met and wooed and won the
woman whom he loved and married early
in the forties, who has shared his adven-
lures and hardships varying fortunes and
successes, and whose physical health and
vlgor are even more robust than his own
to-day. They lived at Enterprise until
1649. and this period forms chapter of
INTERESTING AND THRILLING INCIDENTS.
1t could hardly be otherwise when we
take into consideration the unsettled and
wild state Of the country, when all South
Florida was an almost unbroken wilder
ness, in which few white people dwelt.
"Shal we Join the unlonP'
was one of the questions Of
the day that called for speedy and definite
answer. An election was called and held,
and the unanimous and hearty answer
was, YES, we will go into the union. Let
the stars and stripes float over this new and
glorious country of ours" "Where shall
our county site beln This was the next
great question. shall it be at Enterprise
or at Melonville?n Previous to the settle
ment of Enterprise, in l64l, all this section
of country was embraced in Mosquito
county. AT the outbreak of the old Indian
war the records of Mosquito county were
carried to st. Augustine for safekeeping
At this period they wers brought forth
again, and. after the question of county site
was settled in favor OF Melonvile, they were
turned over to the clerk of the court for the
new county of VOlusia. His name was
Henry A. Crane. His office was in his OWE
house at Melonville.
The United States barracks at Melon
vile, q two-story buildi 40 by 50 feet
with 20-foot posts from ground to plates,
became tue court house. This structure was
crowned by big wooden cupola 10 feet
square and feet high, fitted up with perma-
nent blinds.
In this commodiouS and somewhat pecul-
iarly shaped building the county courts
were held regularly in fall and spring. 1t
took IN those DAYS nearly everT man IN the
~ lOi III u JUL anu OlUb Uue grand
jury made no presentment. Toe time was
spe1t for the most part in fun and fr0lic
card playing and whisky drinking. Occa
sionally d fight was indulgei in.
A THREE DOLLAR FINE.
was proposed by jury as a penalty fol-
one man who had whipped another. The
judge demonstrated, SAYING it ought not &c
be less than So, as he himself had never
been fined less than tina for doing a similar
job. Five dollars was then imposed by
that pliable jury as fine in the case men,
toned. One of the most prominent and
influential citizens Ia all the coun-
try at that time, Mr.. CARPENTER
says, was Maj. Cornelius Taylor, who
founded Enterprise He was man Of
family, and about this time he buried his
13-year-old daughter, Polly, in q graveyard
where there are sixteen graves in all, and
only hers visible. Tie marble slab which
Maj. Taylor erected over the grave of his
daughter is still standing, well preserved. at
the site of old Enterprise, on the premises
of the now famous Buen Retro, where
went the other day and saw it,
Maj. &. Taylor was the first settler AT
Enterprise in 1S4l, when the country was
full of Seminole Indians, and in the mids,
of their notion; there was no white settle
ment nearer than st. Augustine. He left in
1S47.
Ora Carpenter relates an interesting and
amusing incident of a Methodist preacher
and a bear that took place around thi.
grove between the years of 1865. Tn,
story runs as follows. and is given as 1t wa.