The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-12-16

to reorganize after the war; they or
ganized under the name of Simpson
and Company. There were six equal
shares. The members were E. z.
Simpson, B. Overman, B. w. Thomp-
son, James Creary, R. NJ Bushnell and
Z. w. Davis. In January, 1866, they
started the first mill, small circular
saw mill. In January, 1857, they start
ed another circular mill and in 1869
they commenced to rebuild the gang
mill, which was completed in April.
1870 There were many changes in
the membership, but it continued
under the same name until it was
sold to the present owners, the
Stearns-C Culver Lumber Company.
The Slaves Were Happy.
Moot of the mills owned their own
labor and l have never heard one of
Simpson and Company's slaves COM
plain of bad treatment. On the other
hand l have heard them say that they
always had the best of food to eat
and the best of clothes and had more
money at a time than they do now.
They said they would frequently go
TO Milton on a Saturday night with a.
twenty dollar piece in their pockets.
Around the mills the company ALWAYS
provided work to do at night and paid
them for it so they had chance to-
make extra money. In the woods they
were given so many logs to cut in a
week and all over that they would get
extra money for cutting them.
B. W. Thompson at the commence
ment of the war owned over one hun
bred slaves have never heard one of
them speak of him only in the kindeSt
terms. He owned a negro woman who
always lived in his yard who was the
mother of 10 children. All the chill
dren around, both white and black,
called her Nanny" Two of her sons
are living here now, one is a mill
wright and the other is sawyer.
General Morton owned about the
same number and the conditions were
i the same with him. A number of his
slaves are good mechanics, mill
wrights, engineers, blacksmiths, brick
layers, carpenters, etc.
! All the business dore in this Sec
| ton then was done with New Or
leans. There were a number of fine,
|
| fitted up with nice cabins for the ac
commodaLion of the pass engers. With
a good wind it was a very pleasant
trip. They entered Lake Pontchar-
| train and the canal to the basin There
was ship yard at Milton and one at
Bagdad for the building and repairing
| of these vessels.
| vt then took Simpson and Company
| from IL to Is months to cut the trees,
| get them to the mill, saw them, dry,
plane and ship to New Orleans. To-
! day, the Stearns-Culver Co. can cut the
| trees, haul to the mill, dry. plane and
! deliver in Cincinnati or Chicago in
ten or twelve days. T. E. Simpson and
Company sawed about twenty thous-
and feet per day in long day and the
Stearns-Culver Co cut about hundred
thousand feet of small lumber in ten
hours to day. There are no more
mills now than there were in 1860,
but the cut Is a great deal more. Work
then was done by main strength; to-
day machinery does the most of it
all the man has to do is to work the
machine
Land Values.
In 1860 the population of the county
was about five thousand, now it is
! fifteen thousand. Very few heads of
| families owned their homes; today
they own good homes and farms. The
county is now more prosperous than
ever. In 1898, was member of the
| legislature and member said to me:
"The lands OF Santa Rosa county must
be very poor; there is not an acre
of wild land in the county assessed
over twenty-five cents per acre." and
it was all wild. Today the same land
sells at from five to fifteen dollars per
i acre.
A party told me that he cut logs
| from some lands five miles from here
for the mill at Arcadia siXty-five years
ago and it has been cut several times