The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-08-25

With your permission will infiict
upon your readers a description Of
early pioneer life in what is now cali
ed central Florida, but in early times
all that part of Florida east and south
OF the Suwannee river was known as
east Florida, between that river and
the Apalachicola river was known as
middle Florida, and all west of the
ApalachicoIa was known as west Flor
ida. Afterwards all that portion Of
Tie peninsula south of a line across
the state from east TO west at the
south end of Marion county was call
ed south Florida. hope you and your
readers viii pardon me if / confne
these "reminiscences mostly to events
that occurred in my own family.
I think that it was in 1914 that my
father, with his wife, one child and
negro slaves loaded a few necessary
household goods and farming imple-
ments into a two-horse wagon and
started for Indian river; on the east
coast of Florida His route took him
through Quincy, Tallahassee, AXE
City, (then called Alligator), New
Evansville and on down TO the west
end Of Orange Lake, where he found
his old friend, Paul Mccormick, who
had recently settled there, and was
having large wild orange grove cut
down, getting the land ready for cot
ton He found his friend, Mccormick.
in homemade hammock, which was
suspended from the branches of a
large spreading oak tree that grew
near his house, and this tree may be
living yet on the place now owned by
Mrs. S. A. Stewart, and beneath him
was smudge burning, to drive away
the mosquitoes. Mr. Mccormick was
so glad to see his old friend from
Georgia that he insisted on him stop
ping few days. From there he came
on to Ocala, passing the plantation of
Mrs. Frances Piles, seven miles north
OF Ocala, where he stopped TO noon.
ne sent negro boy to the house for
bucket of drinking water from the
well This negro boy was named
Wash" and is living a few miles
north OF Ocala, and is known as
Washington WiIliams). Mrs. rAes
came out to the well and made nu-
merous inquiries as TO who we were
and where We were going, etc. and as
Wash" left with the water, she said
TO him: Il don't want you folks TO
steal any Of my niggers." Wash" re-
piled that his master had plenty CT
niggers of his own, 'thout stealing
any of her'n."
AT Ocala father met two more of
his old Georgia friends. Capt. E. D
nowse and Samuel QuattIebaum. Mr.
Josiah Paine. late of Maine, was then
building the first Ocala House. He
had little log store and there vas
a log court house Father stopped
there a few days, and while there
Capt. Howse told him of a place on
large lake in the southern part of the
county flor at that time Marion
county also included all of Sumter
and good part OF Lake counties)
that he had pre-empted the year be-
fore and had built a small log house.
and the Indian old fields were ready
for cultivation. and that he would sell
his claim for a small consideration.
He went with father to see the place.
and the result was that father bought
his claim and settled at what is now
called "Yalaha." on Lake Harris.
which was then supposed to be part
OF Lake Griffin. where was born a
few years afterwards. At that time
there was no one living nearer than
thirty 10 forty miles of this place.
The Indians had only left that part
of Florida a few years before. Pump
kins were still growing in their old
fields. When We were there about
six months father thought he could
see a horse and buggy coming down
the road about a half mile away. he
called out TO mother, Sarah, sarah.
| do believe someone is coming down
the road in a buggy" and a lit lie
while afterwards he called out that
Il was true, and he believed one was
a woman. AS they came nearer he
ran out and pulled down the bars 1--WE
had no gates) for them to enter, and
he said 10 the woman to go straight
into the house to his wife, for tney
had been living there six months, and
she was the first white woman they
had seen since they came there.
All the meal and hominy we used
on the place was ground on a steel
hand mill. which was like an old
fashioned coffee mill. only much larg-
er, and it had two handles, one on
each side. I forget the names of the