The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1910-08-26
NOT A TRADITION.
Editor PALATKA NEWS:

1
II | understand the word tradition, u
ii means when all eye witnesses are dead
and the incident or action is only known
as remembered by those 10 whom it was
related by those having seen it,
The above being true, Mr.. James r.
Hill would have to wait until Mr. James
w. Long of Crescent City and have
passed to the great beyond before his
Legend of Lake Crescent" lin your
issue of March 25th, 1910, could be con.
sidcred in the least traditional, so far, al
any rate as relates TO the sinking of the
Confederate boat in Haw Creek.
The steamer st. MaryS was the only
boat sunk in Haw Creek during the war
time, and therefore take il that Mr..
Hill had her in mind.
will give you the story of the St.
Marys as we having been on the
ground at the time) know it:
AT the commencement of the civil
war the ST. Marys was plying between
Palatka and Savannah. AT the time the
southern ports were blockaded she was,
perhaps, purposely left on the St. Johns
river for the reason that there were a
greater number of out-of-thc-way places
in which she might hide in safety from
the enemy. Finally, however, ii was
decided upon as the safer way to take
her as far up Haw Creek as she could be
safely run and there sunk to lie till such
time as they might think it safe to raise
her. About one year after the sinking,
il was decided whether by the Confed-
crate government or the owners ! do
ar to II III III Al.
upper decking and load her with bales
of cotton so as to make her as strongly
defensive as possible, slip her out of the
river at night and take the cotton TO
some foreign port, most likely Nassau,
n. P. Any way they had a crowd of
men go and raise her, fix her up in good
shape and take her to or near Jackson
vile, when she was loaded with cotton
preparatory TO running the blockade.
Whether by information or accident |
do not know, but the Yankees came up
the river, gave her chase up Black Creek,
where they captured her, so far as have
ever heard, without the firing of a gun.
OF course the cotton was confiscated and
the boat held till the close of the war,
when the owners regained possession of
King" in honor of the man who ran, if
not owned her.
1t has been long while since visited
the place where she was sunk in Haw
Creek, but to the best remember, it is
about three miles from the lake. have
no doubt but what some of the old piles
are yet to be seen.
So far as the bones are concerned,
am sorry TO unmix them and leave those
of previous wars TO moulder and decay
alone, for as natural conclusion, if
there was no battle fought there at the
fine of the sinking of the St. Marys,
there could be no bones to decay.
And another thing let me add: There
never was battle of any kind, nor even
a hostile shot fired on Dunn's Lake dur
ing the civil war. The nearest approach
TO it was skirmiSh at Braddock'S farm,
two miles south of where Crescent City
now is, between Capt. ]. ]. Dickson
and the provost marshal of ST. Augustine
who had come out with a company of
men and wagons 10 get load of seed
cotton. However that was not in the
story and need not have been mentioned.
Fruitland, Aug. 10Th, 1910.