The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-07-21

throat or scuttled boat"
The Forbes Purchase.
n General William Augustus Bowles was Mary
#lander who held command in the British army
Min the Revolutionary War He was man OF
brilliant mind, versatile talents and doubtful hon
or. Dismissed from the British army at Pensa-
\ cola, he turned pirate and cruised the Apalachi-
cola bay and neighborng waters In a small boat
manned by Indians, carrying a six-pounder.
His piratical adventures were so successful
q that he amassed comfortable fortune, married
4 the daughter of an Indian chief and lived among
the Creeks. In 1889 he led an unsuccessful ex-
#pedition against Pensacola, then In the hands ~
II the Spaniards and was for this act restored to
\ favor with the English He soon became dissau-
isfed with his life and went north and became an
actor, and afterwards achieved a reputation as 4
portrait painter In the Bahamas,
Returning to America he was sent to establish
n trading post among the Indians, but being ambi-
tiOus his mission did not satisfy him, so he went
among the Indians and persuaded them to join
him in making war against the Spaniards.
Il So persuasive was he that the Indians not only
consented to join him, but gave him the title OF
King OF Florida, and under his leadership,
marched against st. Marks and captured the fort.
Shortly afterwards the Spaniards forced him to
give 1t up and his Indian followers surrendered
him, whom they now called the Lying Captain, 70
4 the Spaniards who took him to Moro Castle
where he ended his adventurous life in It's dur
geOns
In 1903 great tract of land bordering on the
Apalachicola River and St. George Sound was
coded by Spain to John Forbes Co., successors
to the firm of PantOn Leslie & Co., in payment OF
debts incurred by the Indians and for depreda-
tons their boats had suffered from the piratic;.l
adventures of William Augustus Bowles.
BowIes Reincarnated In Graham.
II could subscribe to belief in the re-incarna-
ton Of spirits, would say that the spirit of VIII
liam Augustus Bowles, pirate and adventurer, had
been reincarnated in Jonn Alexander Graham, OF
Manatee. Bowles had seen the land, and had
forced unwilling tribute to the black flag, under
which he sailed. Graham operated on the land,
but his methods were none the less those OF the
pirate.
Between the Ocklocknee and Apalachicoa riy-
ers lies the county of Liberty, large part OF
which was the original Forbes purchase. From
border to border, life moves on simply naturally,
It's quiet undisturbed and unbroken by the shrill
whistle OF the locomotive, any Of the sounds at
tendant upon the march OF Observation-Disclosures
and primeval.
In Arcadian simplicity the people titled the
soil. in peace their children grew to manhood
and wOmanhood around the humble home, mar
rled and lived just as they had lived before them.
kindhearted trusting law-abiding content In the
homely plenty the soil yielded for their simple
wants, they lived their allotted time and were
gathered to their fathers.
Bristol the county seat, Is clean little village
OF perhaps two or three hundred people, al
though the census gives 1t population OF only
nifty. To reach Bristol you go by boat from the
landing at River Junction down the river.
About thirty forty miles, as the bird flies, YOU
ind the town. hidden away mile from the river,
high up among the pines and black-jacks
To this Arcadian corner where the razor-back
roams the streets his rights unquestioned, and
where the whippoor-wil and nooting owl hold
nightly concerts, while the stars look down from
the peaceful heavens. along in the eighties came
young man who was employed as clerk In the
State Department OF Education under Superinten-
dent Russell.
Enter the Serpent.
John A. Graham's advent into Liberty county
was to lecture at the Teachers Institute held that
year at Bristol. His polished manners and fluent
tongue gained him the friendship of the simple
trusting people he met and this trip, lecturing
to the teachers, he laid the plan OF the bOldest
piece Of piracy that has been perpetrated in Llb