THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (3rd in a series)

Although Billie Bowlegs and his party agreed to go to the Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, one of his braves, Tiger Tall, refused to leave his homeland. He drank a glass of water to which he added ground glass, spread a blanket on the beach, laid down on It, and died.

While Mrs, Whitaker and her daughters, Nancy and Louise, were encamped at Fort Branch, the Seminole Indians burned their log house at Yellow Bluffs. Bill Whitaker, a captain in the company of volunteers, had gone to seek help in fighting the Indians. When the family returned to Sarasota, they built a wood frame house at what is now the southeast corner of 12 th Street and the Tamiami Trail (Route 41). It was completed in July 1857.

Bill then set about to round up the cattle that had been allowed to roam free, The herd had grown considerably and he was able to sell many of them.

One day in 1857, William was riding the cattle range and heard a noise from a clump of palmetto, It was a Negro men, who was frightened, hungry, and Ill, and had been abused by his master. William lifted the runaway slave onto his horse, behind the saddle, and took him home, Mary Jane cared for him until he was well. The slave's name was Jeffrey Bolding and had been on the run for a month. William contacted Jeffrey's master in North Carolina and purchased him for $1,000. Florida was a pro-slavery state and Jeff was the first slave in what is now Sarasota County.

Later that year, Mary Jane and William bought three more slaves, Harriet, John, and Hannah, at an auction in Manatee. Folklore has it that the Union Bank foreclosed on the Gamble Mansion mortgages and the auction of Gamble's slaves was ordered to satisfy those debts, Jeff and Hannah fell in love and were married by a Negro minister in a ceremony attended by many Negroes from nearby plantations.

On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States; pressure from the northern states to abolish slavery was increasing.

On January 10, 1861, Florida seceded from the Union; South Carolina and Mississippi had previously done so. On February 8, 1861, seven southern states set up the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as President. The Civil War began when the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumpter In Charleston, South Carolina on April 12 and captured It on April 14th By May, 11 states had seceded, and William had gone off to join the Confederate Army.

The Union Navy blockaded the coastal ports cutting supplies to a trickle. Shoes and clothing had to be repaired, patched, and mended. Salt was obtained by boiling bay water and scraping the residue from the sides of the kettle, Coffee was made from roasted corn.

Several times, Union gunboats came into Sarasota Bay and sailors came ashore for food, water and oranges. Upon sighting these arrivals, the chickens were scattered and the cows driven into the woods.

In one instance a Union soldier threatened to burn the Whitaker's home, Mary Jane handed him matches and dared him to burn down the home of a defenseless woman. That "saved the day".

In another instance, a soldier stole Furman's rifle; he was seven or eight at the time. Mary Jane told him to go to the soldier's encampment, find the officer in charge, and demand the return of his rifle, which was necessary to help keep the family in food. Furman did so, the officer found the gun, and returned it to the boy, with apologies.

(To Be Continued)..

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