Petals Plucked from Sunny ClimesBrooks, A. M. (Abbie M.)
History
Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes
Brooks, A. M. (Abbie M.)
Cuba -- Description and travel; Florida -- Description and travel; Florida -- History
Besides the constant state of alarm in which the citizens lived, there
were tragic occurrences happening in their midst too true for jesting,
and too shocking for sensitive nerves to hear related, without
shuddering for their own safety. We find this one, among others, bearing
date January 22, 1842:
"On Sabbath a band of Indians, supposed to number thirty-five or forty,
attacked two wagons loaded with salt, whisky, etc. They stripped the
negroes of their clothes, except their shirts, taking every thing from
the wagons. Whilst engaged in their work of plunder, Mr. Solomon Mather
rode up, when the Indians pursued him, firing five or six times,
wounding him slightly in the shoulder. In the meanwhile the negroes put
whip to their mules and escaped. This affair took place at the Flat
Branch, on the Magnolia Road, about fourteen miles from Tallahassee,
near the residence of Mr. J. H. Byrd."
The lands lying around Tallahassee evince marks of taste, having been
inclosed by the Cherokee rose, which forms a fine hedge, whose evergreen
foliage lives all the year, while its snow-white blooms crown it with
beauty in their season. The magnolia grandiflora, queen of the forest,
with its smooth, glossy, green leaves and immense flowers, grows without
culture; while the sickly, dwarfed oleander and cape jasmine, of
Northern culture, is used here to shade the avenues of pleasure-grounds.
The fine brick residences, of extensive proportions, add testimony in
confirmation of its past prosperity. Churches of different
denominations, substantially built, speak for the morals of the
community, while the kind-hearted people can speak for themselves. The
installation of the first Presbyterian minister in Florida took place on
the 28th of March, 1841, in Tallahassee. Although many persons have
lived here who were, no doubt, celebrated, in their own estimation, yet
none of royal blood has ever been traced with certainty but Colonel
Napoleon Achilles Murat, whose last residence was about one and a
quarter miles from town--the place now being owned by ex-Governor
Bloxham. He was a son of Joachin Murat, King of Naples, who was shot in
Castle Pizzo for insurrection. When required to meet his doom, a chair
was offered him, and a bandage for his eyes, to which he replied, "I
have braved death long enough now to face it with my eyes open and
standing." Achilles Murat, with his mother, came to America in 1821,
settling near Monticello, Florida, naming his plantation Liponia, but
afterward retired to Bellevue, near Tallahassee, where he lived several
years, with his wife, who was a relative of General Washington. Having
witnessed the vanity of pomp and display in his youth, he assumed very
little style during the last days of his life. A short time previous to
his death, the bishop from Mobile made a visit to Tallahassee, he being
apprised of the fact that upon a certain day Colonel Murat would make
him a visit, dressed in his robes of State, to receive princely blood,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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