Misc. Records

Where to Emigrate and Why - Frederick B. Goddard, Peoples Publ. Co., 1869

FLORIDA.

        IT was on Easter Sunday, of the year 1512, more than 350 years ago, that a brave and romantic old Spaniard named Ponce de Leon, while hunting for a marvelous fountain whose waters could restore youth and beauty, discovered Florida. It was then thought to be an island, and received its name on account of the flowery beauty of its vegetation and from the day of its discovery.

        It is the most southern State in the Union, occupying the position of a vast peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The State is 385 miles long, with an average width of about 175 miles, and contains 37,931,520 acres.

        SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS.—Florida is generally a flat country; in the southern portion of the State is an extensive marsh or swamp called the "Everglades," with occasional tracts of firm ground, which, during the rainy season, between June and October, appear like islands in a lake. North of this region the surface is, in the main, a dead level, interspersed with undulating tracts. West of the neck of the peninsula, near the Georgia borders, the surface is more or less broken and hilly, but nowhere attaining considerable elevations.

        LANDS.—The lands of Florida are classified as high hommock, low hommock, swamp, savanna, and pine land. The soil is generally sandy except in the hommocks, which are a mixture of clay and sand. The high hommock lands are the best. They are mostly covered with a growth of live and other oaks, pine, and magnolia, and vary in extent from a few acres to many thousands. Low hommock is liable to overflow, but is fertile when drained, and well adapted to sugar-cane.

        The savannas are the river bottoms and prairie lands.

        The pine lands are covered with a heavy growth of pine and cypress.

        The central portion of the State is the most productive. Farther west the lands are mostly inferior. The best lands of the State are unavailable for cultivation owing to a lack of drainage, but a large area is well adapted to grazing and stock-raising. Cattle may here be raised with little care and without winter housing. In most parts of the State hogs may be profitably kept. They will grow and fatten without other food than such as they derive from the roots and mast of the forest.

        PRODUCTIONS.―The natural and. agricultural productions of Florida are of a tropical character;—oranges, lemons, pineapples, &c., flourish luxuriantly; and all varieties of cotton, sugar-cane, rice, and many crops belonging to higher latitudes, are produced in great abundance.

        CLIMATE.—The climate of Florida is warm, but in many parts of the State is so tempered by the sea-breezes as to have given it the reputation of being one of the most delightful and salubrious places of residence upon the face of the earth, especially for invalids who are threatened with pulmonary diseases. In the southern portion of the State the temperature varies but little the year round.

        The winters of the Gulf are warmer than upon the Atlantic coast, and the interior of the State, unreached by the sea-breezes, is warmer than either. The average mean temperature of the State is about 73º, and the difference between summer and winter seldom exceeds 25°. The average rain-fall; 33 inches. St. Augustine and other points are much resorted to during the winter by invalids from the Northern States.

        Florida has a thousand miles of sea-coast and a number of navigable rivers. She had, in 1860, 401 miles of railroad completed and in full operation. Her population is now about 160,000. This State is a paradise to the hunter and fisherman; deer, wild turkeys, ducks, and geese abound.

        A great variety of the finest fish are found along both the eastern and northern coasts, and in the lakes and streams of the interior; the Florida oysters are especially delicious in flavor.

        TALLAHASSEE, the capital, is pleasantly situated on an elevated plain. It is well laid out and built, with public squares; it has a salubrious climate, and is a place of considerable resort.

        SAINT AUGUSTINE is the oldest town in the United States.  It is built on a plain, but a few feet above the sea; it is a place of great resort for invalids. Other prominent towns are Apalachicola, Pensacola, Key West, Jacksonville, and Fernandina. There are yet to be disposed of in this State about 17,500,000 acres of public land.

        A correspondent of the "New York Tribune," a journal known throughout the civilized world as prominent in its devotion to the interests of the cause of emigration, and the welfare of the emigrant, writing from Jacksonville, thus answers some of the many letters he had received making inquiry as to the advantages Florida offers to the intending emigrant. He says:—

        For convenience and brevity, I will number the questions, leaving out names and localities, which extend from Maine to Minnesota, showing a widespread desire of many people to get into a warmer climate. The visitors in East Florida this winter, represent every Northern and Western State, and a good many of them will return to spend their lives here in cultivating the soil, or in some way improving the country, or else to have a home in this delicious climate.

        1. "What are the promises of Florida to Northern settlers ?"

        Every thing that an industrious man can ask of a wilderness, the soil of which is good, the climate healthy, where he can work more days without being driven in by storms, cold, or heat, than in any other State in America.  

        2. "Can a young man who is obliged to seek a warmer climate for his health, improve it there ?"

        Yes, if not too far gone, as half are who come here. Don't come here to die—come to live.

        3. "Should persons of moderate means be justified in going  from Western New York to Florida, to live an agricultural life ?"

        Yes; why not? Land is cheap, productive, easily tilled, though millions of acres are yet wilderness, because there never has been a sufficient population here. If you read history you will know why.

        4. "What part of the State would be the best for me ?"

        The part you like best when you see it. In previous letters I have partially described different sections. I prefer the St. Johns region, both, on account of climate, productions, and people, and convenience of access.

        5. "What are the best articles of produce ?"

        Oranges are the most profitable. But you must wait five years for the first crop. So you must for a profitable crop of apples, or grapes, in your own State. Orange-trees, full grown, will yield from 1,000 to 10,000 fruit per annum, and as certain as any other crop. No part of the world produces better oranges, lemons, limes, citrons, than East and South Florida. Peaches and figs grow here to perfection. Two hundred bushels of sweet potatoes per acre may be fairly counted upon, or a ton of sugar upon land that you would probably consider barren sand, if you saw it for the first time, when bare of vegetation.

        6. "What is the distance, time, and expense from New York to Jacksonville ?"

        By steamer from New York, to Charleston or Savannah, $15 to $25; time, three days. By rail: leave New York at 7½ P. M., on sleeping-car; wake up at Crisfield at 6 next morning and take the steamer across Chesapeake Bay—eight hours; then, cars from Portsmouth, Va., to Weldon N. C.—four hours; then, sleeping-car to Wilmington—eight hours; cross the ferry and take cars, and arrive in Charleston, S. C. at 2½ P. M.; 43 hours, $26, from New York, besides meals and berths; about 800 miles. If you are not a politician, you can go through Washington, in the same time and cost. Two first-class boats from Charleston—the Dictator, Tuesday night, and the City Point, Friday night—arriving next morning in Savannah, and next morning in Jacksonville; fare, $15, distance about 250 miles. From Savannah, by rail, 260 miles; time, 16 hours. The Lizzie Baker runs weekly from Savannah, by the "inside route." All these boats go up to Pilatka; the Darlington and Hattie make weekly trips between here and Enterprise, leaving Sundays and Wednesdays, fare $9.

        7. "What is land worth, within four or six miles of Jacksonville ?"

        From 50 cents to $50 an acre. The first is State lands, in the woods; the second, improved places. There are also some tracts of United States land near here, and much of it in the State.

        8. "What is the condition of wild land ?"

        Mostly thinly covered with hard-pine trees, under which is  tough sod of wild grass. Some land grows "saw palmettos," which have large, troublesome roots on the surface, rich in potash and tannin. The soil is sand sea-shells, in a pulverulent condition.

        9. "Will the land produce wheat, rye, oats ?"

        No.

        "Corn?"

        Yes, 15 or 20 bushels per acre, lightly manured.

        10. "Is it good for grapes and peaches ?"

        Yes, but the birds will eat the grapes, and you will eat a few of the peaches, and probably feed the rest to the pigs, and import canned fruit from New York, paying for it with cotton.

        11. "Is it good for pears and apples ?"

        No.

        12. "Will potatoes, beets, onions, cabbage, &c., grow there ?"

        Yes, so they will in New Jersey, and be eaten in Florida.

        13. "Are there any flats on the St. John ?"

        Yes, a great many at this season, but they are generally too sharp to undertake the cultivation of swamp land, while dry upland is abundant.

        14. "Do you have good water ?"

        Yes.

        15. "Wells, or springs?"

        Both.

        16. "How deep ?"

        Various, four to forty feet. Wells are slightly limy; springs are sometimes soft, sometimes too sulphury and warm for use.

        17. "What are your building materials ?"

        Pine lumber, brick, coquina rock, or shell concrete.

        18. "Are saw mills near ?"

        Yes, very near Jacksonville. It is surrounded. This is a great lumber mart; price from $10 to $35 per thousand.

        19. "What shingle timber ?"

        Pitch pine, cypress, and cedar. Timber do., and live oak.

        20. "Have you blacksmiths and wagon-makers ?"

        Yes, sir, and tinsmiths, and steam-engine builders, plow-makers, carpenters, joiners, masons, &c., but plenty of room for more.

        21. "Any schools?"

        Yes; do you think we are heathen ? But there might be more, and better ones, if we had more helping hands.

        22. " What are the diseases ?"

        Malarious.

        23. "Any yellow fever ?"

        Yes; once, imported from Havana. So has New York.

        24. "Any ague or chill-fever in Florida?"

        Yes; and also in every other State. It is no more prevalent than in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and other Western States, and is generally of a milder type.

        25. "Do steamers come from New York to your city ?"

        No; sailing vessels do, every week, and freight is cheap.

        26. " Have you any stages ?"

        Yes; a daily line, forty miles, to St. Augustine. The principal modes of travel from this town are by railroad, steamboats, mule-carts, and a more primitive way, rather slow but quite independent.

        27. "In short, do you like Florida, for a home ?"

        "In short," if I did not, I would use some of the above modes of locomotion, and get out of it.

        28. " How much money should one have, to start from New York, pay expenses, and get a farm of 100 to 300 acres ?"

        I assure you, that you can not have too much. How much, you may judge from what I have told you about expenses. Lying here is less expensive than at New York, because food is generally plainer, and clothing and bedding lighter, fuel much less, and house-furnishing not so extravagant. A tract of land, called a farm, of 100 acres, can be bought for $300 to $1,000, according to "improvements," which are in new country style.

        33. "What are farm wages of hands ?"

        From $7 to $20 a month. The blacks are faithful, but slow, and want constant superintendence, unless the work is straight forward.

        34. "How about churches, or preaching out in the country?"

        Generally pretty hard. You must depend upon home service mostly, with an occasional sermon from a wine-grass preacher."

        35. " What is wood worth per cord, and what is the quality?"

        The cost of cutting and hauling. The quality is excellent, being pitch pine (known as " light wood") and solid oak. Coal can be got here at a low freight.

        36. " What fencing material is used in the country ?"

        Pitch pine rails, almost exclusively; sawed stuff about towns; no hedge.

        37. " Is there much swamp land ?"

        Not in this part of the State, as it is all drainable, and muck is the best manure, and generally attainable for use upon sandy soil.

        38. "Are swampy districts unhealthy ?" 

        Yes, generally, here or elsewhere; but it is more so here than in any other State.

        55. " I have a wife, two small children, and a thousand dollars. Can I go to Florida under these circumstances, commence life on a farm, and by industry support my family ?"

        Yes, sir, you can; and you can labor here as well as in any other climate. Indeed, you can do more days' work in a year than in any other State; and I do not know of any part of the United States where a man can support a family with less labor than here.

        56. "What are the prices of lots in Jacksonville?"

        Without buildings, from $200 to $2,000, A full lot is 105 feet square; six in a block. The streets are broad, sandy in the middle, with plank sidewalks. Such houses as white folks live in here, cost from $300 to $3,000. A very comfortable house with ten rooms, together with the lot, can be purchased for $2,000 to $2,500. There are a few lots with buildings which would sell for $5,000 or $6,000. There is a great need of more houses here for rents are high, and generally pay 25 per cent profit.

        57. "What are day wages ?"

        Common laborers, $1 to $1.50; carpenters and masons, $3 to $3.50. Common laborers are abundant; skilled workmen scarce and dear.

        58. "Above all other considerations, is a loyal man safe in person and property in your State ?"

        Yes, sir; as safe as in yours (Illinois), particularly in your "Egypt." In Jacksonville, he is not only safe, but may express his opinions as freely as in Chicago. Indeed there is quite a similarity in the population.

        59. " Is the climate congenial for a rheumatic person ?" '

        Yes, sir, or for any other person. The thermometer has been down to freezing point only twice this winter. Upon two mornings we have seen a little ice. And since November there has not been a single day that you could not have done a fair day's work in ordinary clothing without getting wet through. The winters are remarkable for their dryness. The latter part of summer is the rainy season. Yesterday was a mild, sunny day. Last night a thunder-storm, with heavy winds, which continued to-day; but so warm that only moderate spring clothing is needed. Yet do not imagine that people are not affected by cold here. I assure you that flannels and warm winter clothing are not only comfortable, but necessary more than half the days of winter. You will also find it pleasant and healthy to have a little fire in your sitting-room nearly every morning and evening of the winter days. The air is often so charged with moisture that people feel chilly with the thermometer at 50° or 60°. It is so seldom at 30°, that whenever it falls to that point, people quit work outdoors, "because it is so cold." Notwithstanding what is said above of moisture, this can not be considered a damp climate, as fogs are rare, and clothing and other articles in the house never mold except during the rainy season, and then no more in this climate than yours.

        We have been favored by Governor REED with a copy of his message to the Legislature of Florida, July 8, 1868, from which we extract the following:―

        No State in the Union presents superior inducements for immigration, and the profitable investment of capital, than Florida.

        With an unrivaled climate for salubrity, health, and comfort; an area of territory larger than the State of New York; a sea-coast equal in extent nearly to the whole of the Atlantic States, abounding with harbors and inlets; with navigable waters susceptible of extension, with little expense, to fifteen hundred miles in length; with a railroad system projected of a thousand miles in extent, near four hundred miles of which is completed; with millions of acres of unoccupied but fertile lands, which can be had for the occupation and payment of the veriest trifle; with forests of pine, live-oak, and cedar, without limit; with lakes and streams abounding in fish, and forests abounding in game; with a free government, that respects alike the rights of all; a free school and a homestead system which welcomes alike the poor as well as the rich —if only we will appreciate and improve the advantages we possess, Florida may speedily become one of the wealthiest and most thriving States of the Union.

        The subjoined is from the February, 1868, Report of the Department of Agriculture :―

        REAL ESTATE.―Our returns from Florida are rather meager, only about one-fourth of the counties furnishing responses to the circular sent out. From the northern tier of counties Jackson and Leon report an average decline of seventy-five per cent in the value of farm lands since 1860, and Liberty fifty per cent decrease; while in Duval, interior lands have declined twenty per cent, but on the St. John River have advanced one-third in value since the date named; and in Baker the estimated increase is fifty per cent. Alachua County shows a decline of fifty per cent. The next county south reports no change since 1860, our correspondent remarking that but few persons there own the land they live upon, the custom being to settle in the woods, put up a log-house, clear a small tract and plant it for a few years, and when it begins to get poor, move into the woods again, or move about where the range is good for cattle. There are, however, some fine farms near the county seat, where good corn and some cotton is raised. The value of improved lands is increased by cow-penning. The land is worth from five dollars to twenty dollars per acre. Good pine land can be bought at five dollars per acre, with houses, fences," &c. Still farther south, in Manatee County, bordering on the cypress swamp regions, lands are rated at one-half the estimated value in 1860. In fact, throughout the State the prices now given for farming lands are merely nominal, consequent upon the unsettled state of affairs, and comparatively few sales are made. The average decrease for the State, on the basis of these returns, is 55 per cent.

        PRICE OF UNIMPROVED LANDS.—There is a large area of wild or unimproved lands in the State held at figures varying from ten cents to eight dollars, averaging from one dollar to two dollars per acre. In Jackson the unimproved lands are claimed to be better than the nominally improved—will yield from ten to twenty bushels of corn, or from six hundred to one thousand pounds of seed-cotton to the acre, and may be purchased at from one dollar to two dollars per acre. In Liberty the average value is given as low as ten cents—land low, sandy hommock, capable of producing oranges, sugar-cane, corn, potatoes, rice, and long cotton; Leon, one dollar and fifty cents per acre—quality medium, fair while fresh, easily cleared and cultivated, and will produce twenty bushels of corn or half a bale of cotton per acre, and, by a little manuring, can be kept up to this; Baker County, one dollar and fifty cents per acre—very productive for cotton, sugar-cane, potatoes, vegetables, &c.; Duval County, average, fifty cents per acre. In Alachua nearly all the wild lands are owned by the State, the General Government, or railroad companies. State lands are held at from fifty cents to eight dollars, mostly at the former United States lands are only in the market as homesteads, and railroad lands vary in price from one dollar to two dollars and fifty cents. The land is principally "pine barren;" considerable heavy pitch pine interspersed with cypress swamps, and in sections hommocks, the latter being very rich. The greater part of the land, however, is valuable only for timber and turpentine. In Levy the wild land is chiefly timber, and valued according to its location. A portion of this land is comparatively worthless, consisting of sand-hills and scrub lands, covered with brush and filled with a variety of wild animals; and people living adjacent are compelled to keep gangs of dogs for protection. There is plenty of Government land upon which to settle, some of it the best hommock land, capable of yielding an average crop of forty bushels of corn; prices from one dollar to five dollars. Manatee County also has considerable hommock lands of first-rate quality, underlaid with marl; worth from five dollars to ten dollars per acre. The timber of the hommocks consists of live-oak, hickory, red cedar, bog, &c., while the pine is the turpentine or long pine.

        RESOURCES.—The resources of Florida are to be found in her timber and soil, there existing (so far as yet developed) little of mineral wealth within the limits of the State. In Alachua a small deposit of bog iron is reported, and our Levy County correspondent states that there is a good iron mine in that county which has been worked, but not properly developed. The ore is said to contain seventy-five per cent of pure iron. The mine is not now worked, and could be purchased cheap. Timber in variety abounds in almost unlimited quantity, but in some sections the lumber business has been overdone, and the mills may be purchased at half cost. The climate and soil are exceedingly favorable to the culture of fruits and to successful general agriculture, Our Levy County correspondent writes: " The resources of this county are the best I ever saw at any place. The soil is not as good as at the West, but the climate is fine, and less work is required to make a good living;  and with the same spirit of enterprise here as is seen in the West, would develop a land not now known in the United States."

        CROPS.—Cotton, corn, sugar-cane, rice, potatoes, and fruits are the principal crops, but under the present system of culture yields are small and agriculture not profitable. In a number of counties cotton has been the specialty, but under present prices its production will doubtless decline in favor of other crops. Sugar-cane is considered a good crop, and is getting more in favor; it is easily cultivated, and, as our Leon correspondent says, "would be a good crop for white labor." In Baker County, sea-island cotton and sugar-cane are the chief productions. Duval County, sweet potatoes, corn, and sugar-cane; corn yielding twenty bushels per acre, sweet potatoes one hundred to two hundred bushels, sugar­cane two hundred gallons sirup and two hundred pounds of sugar; the latter is the most profitable crop. In Alachua, sea-island cotton is the specialty, of which our reporter says: "The price of this cotton last year ranged from 40 cents to $1.60 per pound; this year, from 35 to 90 cents. The average yield is about eighty-five pounds of lint per acre, but as high as four hundred pounds have been raised. At 50 cents, with the present labor, it is a paying crop. Cotton is a hard crop to raise, takes the whole year, and, for the labor expended, is the least paying crop in the country. During the past season ninety-nine out of every hundred have lost money. Corn produces an average of eight bushels on pine lands, and fifteen bushels on hommocks. Sugar-cane does well, but is raised for home consumption only."

        Wheat is not grown as a crop in Florida, though a correspondent writes from Levy County, that he thinks it would do well on their hommock lands, and our Manatee reporter says he has sown a package sent from this department, and it now looks as well as he has ever seen wheat in Maryland or elsewhere.

        There are a variety of natural grasses growing throughout the State, and, as a general rule, cattle are pastured on the wild lands and without expense, frequently the whole year round. Among the grasses named by our correspondents are, Bermuda grass, crabgrass, crowfoot, joint-grass, carpet-grass, wire-grass, &c. Our Levy County correspondent writes:—"The grasses are all wild; stock runs out all the year in the woods. They are gathered in the spring, and penned every night until about August, when they are again turned out to run during the fall and winter. While kept up they are branded, and the cows are milked, though they are generally small, and give but little milk, from one to three quarts per day. The calves, during the summer, are kept from the cows, except morning and night; during the fall and winter they run together."

        The capabilities of Florida for raising tropical and semi­tropical fruits are well known, and must soon attract the attention of fruit-growers. In Jackson County grape culture is becoming prominent, the Scuppernong variety being most popular, as it succeeds finely, and is free from disease; the soil and temperature of the county is said to be adapted to the production of grapes, which grow naturally, and in abundance. Our Liberty correspondent says:—" We have a small orange orchard of twenty-five trees, which yields at the rate of $25 per tree. The trees cost but $1 each annually, for pruning and keeping clear of insects." In Baker County, oranges and peaches, vegetables, &c., do well, and pay largely. Our correspondent writes:—" Send us some of your gardeners who understand the business. Last year a gardener planted fifteen acres in tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, &c., which were ready for market eight weeks in advance of Northern vegetables. He shipped to New York, and his net gain was $22,000. I think he is from Maine. An orange and peach orchard of about 100 trees yields to the owner $1,200 annually. We need enterprising men to improve our lands." Large orange groves are being planted in Levy County, and Northern men are settling along the coast, planting fruit-groves and improving the islands, where peaches, oranges, lemons, pineapples, bananas, grapes, grape-fruit, &c., may be raised in abundance. Tropical fruits do well in Alachua County, especially the more hardy ones, figs, pomegranates, &c., while in Manatee, farther south, the capacity for such fruits is unsurpassed, and only requires communication with Northern markets to develop capabilities in this regard, and to attract industry and enterprise from other States.

        The Rev. C. O. REYNOLDS, pastor of the  Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine, writing to the New York Observer, November 4, 1868, says:—

        As to the most desirable localities for invalids, the most accessible are on the St. John River and St. Augustine. The interior or central portion of the peninsula may present a climate even better for pulmonary invalids; but those parts of the country are not supplied with suitable accommodations, and are not much visited. St. Augustine, on the sea-coast, has long been a favorite resort, and has advantages, social and religious, not possessed by any other place, and physicians of the first ability. The places on the St. John River are: Jacksonville, a flourishing town, with hotels and many boarding-houses, several churches, and good physicians; Hibernia, a single boarding-house; Magnolia, not now open for visitors; Green Cove Spring has several boarding­houses; Pilatka, a small town, with hotel and boarding-houses; and Enterprise, with a single boarding-house, at the head of navigation.

        There are no first-class hotels. This want will soon be supplied. The hotels and boarding-houses are of various grades; most invalids prefer the latter, and find comfortable rooms and fare, and all the attention and kindness needful. Many return to the same house for many successive winters. It is becoming a frequent thing for those who find they can not live at the North in winter to purchase or rent a house or rooms and keep house. This can be done much more economically than boarding. Thee accommodations for visitors have been very largely increased during the past summer. The prices of board vary from $10 to $20 per week—average about $15. Rents are low in all places except Jacksonville. Prices of beef and fish are very low, especially at St. Augustine. There is much game—venison, wild turkeys and smaller birds—brought into all these places and sold at reasonable prices. Sweet potatoes are abundant at $1 per bushel. But it is well to state that there is not as great a variety of food here as at the North.

        Range of the thermometer and the weather. The Army Meteorological Register gives the monthly mean temperature for twenty years at St. Augustine, and for thiry-one years at West Point, N. Y., as follows : —

        Most of the common garden vegetables flourish all winter, oranges ripen on the trees, roses bloom, and mocking-birds sing. A few times we have frost—three times, I believe, last winter. Do not suppose there are no changes of temperature, though there are fewer than in any other State. There are many, and, at times, they are sudden; but the thermometer rarely goes down to freezing, and the shock is far less to a delicate constitution than where it goes far below. During the greater part of the time the sun shines brightly, and invalids can be in the open air. This is the greatest benefit of the climate. I have known many who dared not set foot on the ground from November to April at the North, who have spent part of every day walking, riding, playing croquet, or hunting and fishing. Often, parties are formed who go down the peninsula, camping out, and, as they get beyond the reach of frost within 100 miles south of St. Augustine, such life is most enjoyable for those who have strength for it. Much of the time during every winter we sit with open doors and windows. Above all things, it is important for those who come here for health to keep as much as possible in the open air.

        It may not be amiss to state, in conclusion, that in all East Florida there is, politically, perfect quiet, and not the slightest reason to fear annoyance. We possess and enjoy freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

        ST. AUGUSTINE, Nov. 4, 1868.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.