TampaPix is grateful to the Judges of the 1oth Judicial Circuit (Hardee, Highlands, and Polk Counties), namely, Hon. Judge Peter F. Estrada and Hon. Judge Michael E. Raiden, who both share an enthusiasm for Florida History and especially the local history shared by Hillsborough and Polk Counties.  They assisted TampaPix in obtaining the pertinent material from D. B. McKay's "Pioneer Florida" (a 3-volume work), and suggested other sources on Judge Magbee (named below), as well as providing other research advice.

Also, special thanks to Prof. James M. Denham, Professor of History and Chair of Florida Southern College, and to E. Canter Brown, Jr., historian, professor and author, for their assistance in attempting to locate a portrait of Judge Magbee.  Prof. Brown has written many great works pertaining to the Civil War era of this area, including Tampa Before the Civil War, Florida's Peace River Frontier, Tampa in Civil War and Reconstruction, Ossian Bingley Hart, Florida's Loyalist Reconstruction Governor, and many more. 

According to Prof. Brown, a portrait of Judge Magbee was among those hanging in the old Hillsborough County Courthouse that was demolished in 1952.  The portraits were then stored somewhere, but the whereabouts are currently unknown.

• Pioneer Florida, Volume 2, Chapter 10, "A Self-Made Scalawag" by Donald Brenham McKay, Southern Publishing Company, 1959.

• James T. Magbee: “Union Man, Undoubted Secessionist, and High Priest in the Radical Synagogue” By Kyle S. VanLandingham, at the USF Digital Collections.

Many more resources are listed throughout and at the end of this feature.

Also in this feature is information from "History of Hillsborough County, Florida, Narrative and Biographical, 1928" by Ernest L. Robinson, Director of High Schools of Hillsborough County, formerly Principal of Hillsborough County High School.  Robinson tells of the early history of Tampa through the use of County Commission meeting records.

The life of James T. Magbee is presented here primarily as the late Kyle S. VanLandingham wrote in James T. Magbee: “Union Man, Undoubted Secessionist, and High Priest in the Radical Synagogue” which appeared in The Sunland Tribune, Journal of the Tampa Historical Society, Volume XX November, 1994, of which VanLandingham was the Editor in Chief.  The text in blue in this feature is from that work; some details have been omitted.

The late Kyle VanLandingham, 1996, while President of the Tampa Historical Society.

Introduction
 

ames T. Magbee, at age 26, was the first attorney admitted to practice law in Tampa and was elected to serve as State Representative in the Florida House of Representatives by the age of 28, serving three terms from 1848 to 1854.  He was appointed twice as the Deputy Collector of Customs and Inspector of the Port of Tampa, first in 1855 and again in 1883.  He served as Senator in the Florida State Senate by age 40, from 1860 to 1862, and was appointed by Gov. Harrison Reed as Judge of the 6th Judicial Circuit of Florida in 1868. 

But he was notorious for public drunkenness, brawling, and his unconventional behavior on the bench, and he was despised by many in Tampa and the surrounding area for being a scalawag during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. 

In 1870, he was the first Florida official ever to face impeachment for judicial misconduct, and after having his trial dismissed in 1871, and receiving an honorable discharge, he faced impeachment again in 1875, on charges all based on his drunken behavior.  He resigned rather than go to trial, and went on to publish The Guardian newspaper in Tampa until his death in Dec. 1885.

He was married three times, for a total of 35 years, having outlived his first two wives, and had no children of his own. But he wasn't devoid of some good will or charity; he and his 2nd wife adopted an orphaned boy from Scotland, donated land to the city for Oaklawn Cemetery, and at least once made a donation of gold coins to help a family who had lost their home and possessions in a fire.

Ever since his arrival in Tampa in the winter of 1845-46, he was at the forefront of controversy, and after he died suddenly in Tampa, there was even more controversy over his will and his estate.

The header image above is a rearrangement of actual letterhead Magbee used.

Image from James T. Magbee: “Union Man, Undoubted Secessionist, and High Priest in the Radical Synagogue”
by Kyle VanLandingham

Where was James T. Magbee born?

D. B. McKay on why Magbee left his home in Georgia:

Mrs. Mary Caldwell once asked me, "Why didn't you talk to me before you wrote that incomplete story about old Judge Magbee?  (Referring to a story McKay had written for the Times.)  I could have told you where he came from, and why he left home.  I had an uncle living in Georgia who was a brilliant lawyer and the state historian. When I  was a little girl, my uncle told me that J. T. Magbee left his birthplace in a south Georgia county at the invitation of his neighbors, that the action was taken because of Magbee's bad conduct."

It was a polite way of saying his neighbors ran him out of town.

McKay knew Magbee personally; he referred to the time when he was a young boy working in Magbee's print shop during the time Magbee was publishing his newspaper, The Guardian, in the 1880s:

"As an apprentice in the printing business, I worked in the Guardian office several months, and to me the old fellow was always kindly and generous.  I was working in the printing business the day the first train on the South Florida Railroad arrived--Jan. 25, 1884..."

WAS MAGBEE BORN IN SOUTH GEORGIA?

Mrs. Caldwell said that Magbee "left his birthplace in a south Georgia county".  Numerous sources researched for this feature claim that James T. Magbee was born in Butts County, Ga. in 1820.  Those who have researched his ancestry say he was a son of Hiram and Susanna (Wooten) Magbee (married Oct 6, 1816).   The basis of his birthplace being Butts County appears to be due to the presence of his father on the 1830 census of Butts County. (The 1830 census recorded the name of the head of house only, with others enumerated as a count of males and females separately in several age ranges.)

James T. Magbee could not have been born in Butts County because it didn't exist in 1820; it was formed on December 24, 1825  from portions of Henry County and Monroe County. 

To further complicate matters, Henry County also didn't exist in 1820, it was created in 1821 from Creek Indian lands. The state legislature later divided land originally set aside as Henry County into Butts, Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, Newton and Spalding counties and large portions of present day Rockdale and Fayette counties.

Monroe County also didn't exist in 1820. It was created in 1821 from Creek Indian lands, later divided to make Pike and Lamar counties along with parts of Spalding, Butts, Upson and Bibb counties.

So was James born in the area that became Monroe or Henry County, which then became Butts County by the time of the 1830 census? As for what Mrs. Caldwell said about Magbee's birth place, none of these counties can be considered "south Georgia."

Henry & Monroe Counties, early 1820s
Before formation of Butts County

Present day Georgia Counties Map
Location of Butts County

1830 Census, Butts Co., GA

Censuses before 1850 only showed the name of the head of house, with the rest of the family counted in age groups.

In 1830, the Magbees are found in Butts County.  The one male age 30 to under 40 would be Hiram, and the one female age 20 to under 30 was his wife, Susan.  James would have been around 9 or 10 years old (depending on his birth month and the date of the census) so he should be one of the two males listed in the age 5 to under 10 column.  If he was 1o he would have been counted in the next column and there is no entry there.

There is one more male in the age group with James, and another under 5 years old which means James had two brothers born from 1820 to 1830.  The child under 5 would have been his brother Samuel, born 1830, so this leaves one male age 5 to under 10 (born after 1820 to 1825) unaccounted for.  The one female under 5 would have been James's sister Penelope Adeline. 
 

Evidence presented below will show that James was more likely born in Clarke County.

1820 Census, Salem, Clarke Co., GA

 

This census lists three households as "Mcbee" but the names suggest these are Magbee family members.  The first 6 columns count males (notice there is overlap with columns 3 and 4), the last 5 columns count females.  The age groups for males are:  Under 10, 10 to under 16, 16 to 18, 16 to under 26, 26 to under 45, and 45 & over.  Rachel is 45 or over 45 and the only member of her household.  This is a clue that she was Laban & Hiram's mother and widowed. Living on each side of her would be her sons, Laban and Hiram.  (See the Last Will and Testament of Rachel Magby.)

Laban has two males under 10, and he himself is age 27 to under 45.  Females include one under 10, two age 10 to under 16, and one age 26 to under 45 (Laban's wife).

Hiram has one male under 10--this would be his newborn son James T. Magbee. Hiram himself was age 18 to under 26.  There is only one female in this household, who would be Hiram's wife Susanna, also under 26. Hiram would later name a daughter for his mother; Rachel Elizabeth Magbee. 

This is evidence that James was more likely born in Clarke County and that Hiram and his family came to Butts County by the time of the 1830 census.

Georgia Counties
Early 1820s

Below, the location of Clarke County along with Henry and Monroe counties before Butts County was created. 
This shows that Clark County wasn't involved with the Henry/Monroe/Butts County creations and that after James was born, the Magbees moved to Butts County in time for the 1830 census.

Present Day Georgia Counties

For 1840 and later, the Magbees were in Heard County.

The Heard County 1840 Census of this family shows Hiram and Susan with 8 others in the household.  Five are definitely their children, the other 3 could be any combination of cousins or white farm hands/servants. There was a total of four males in the household younger than James.  One of the four would have been James's brother Samuel who would have been around 10.  Another was William, who would be around age 2 or 3 (as you will see on their 1850 census).  This leaves TWO males age 15 to under 20 who are unaccounted for. 

The female age 10 to under 15 would be Penelope Adeline.  There are TWO new females in the household.  One under age 5 would be a new daughter born into the family (Rachel Elizabeth) and an unknown female at age 20 to under 30.  It is not clear if this is a "1" and then marked out.  If this is indeed a "1", this could be a cousin or a housekeeper who moved in sometime after 1830 and was gone by 1850.

1850 Census, Heard Co., GA

On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the Union and William Dunn Moseley became the first state governor.

Born in Lenoir County North Carolina in 1795, Moseley pursued a legal career in his native state before moving to Florida.   He graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1818 and received a Master’s degree in 1821. He served in the North Carolina Senate from 1829-1832 before moving to Jefferson County, Florida in 1835.

Moseley served in both the territorial House and Senate before winning the hotly contested 1845 gubernatorial race against former territorial governor and popular Florida politician Richard Keith Call.

As governor, Moseley supported the expansion of agricultural endeavors, especially the planting of citrus, avocados, tobacco, and cotton. He was a strong supporter of states' rights and favored the establishment of state-funded public schools.  The state capitol was completed and fully occupied in the first year of his administration.

He served only one term as governor then moved to Palatka in 1851 where he became a planter and raised citrus on his plantation until his death on January 4, 1863.

1840s:  James T. Magbee studied law in Georgia, then moved to Tampa

It is assumed that James studied law in Georgia, probably under the supervision of a practicing attorney, which was the standard of the time. After receiving his "frontier education" in rural Georgia, James Magbee came to Tampa.

In the winter of 1845-46, soon after Florida became a state, James Magbee appeared at Fort Brooke and was admitted to the law practice in 1846. He was around 26 years old.

Burgert Bros. photo of an illustration of Ft. Brooke in 1846 courtesy of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

At that time there were but few citizens who were civilian and but few houses outside of the government reservation. The military post was known as Fort Brooke, garrisoned by the Fifth Infantry, and commanded by Colonel Waite. There was but one store on the reservation, owned and operated by W. G. Ferris.  He was known as the sutler  for the post. These stores are now called post exchanges at army posts.

1845:  FORT BROOKE RESERVATION REDUCED

On January 21, 1845, Colonel William Worth reduced the military reservation to four miles square and, after approval by President James Polk, Hillsborough County obtained 160 acres to the north of the reduced military reservation to be used as the county seat.  Although Fort Brooke was not to be abandoned for 30 years, it would steadily decline in use by the military from that time.

The red outline shows the 160 acres obtained by Hillsborough County for the county seat.  Being drawn in 1852, it shows a rough sketch of the southern boundary of the village of Tampa which was surveyed and drawn by John Jackson from 1847 to 1853.  See section further below on Jackson and his plan.

The small 16.8-acre island in the bay was the smaller of two mud flats which would later play a role in the Civil War and eventually, with the larger one not seen here ("Depot Key"), become the foundation for Davis Islands in 1926.

1845 - 1846:  Magbee is quickly considered troublesome

Becoming a resident of Tampa around this time, young James T.  Magbee was immediately embroiled in a long-standing controversy between the settlers on the Ft. Brooke military reservation and the army commanders.

Capt. John H. Winder had assumed command at Fort Brooke in November, 1845. He soon ran into trouble with Indian agent Thomas P. Kennedy and decided to close the local trading post.

Also, hogs owned by the settlers were "running at large" on the military post and if they were killed by the soldiers the settlers would prosecute the guilty parties. Winder considered building a fence to keep out the hogs but preferred “...to kick out Thomas P. Kennedy, M. C. Brown, J. T. Magbee, and such others as from time to time may prove troublesome.”

[Winder may have found Magbee troublesome if he provided legal counsel to the  settlers in the prosecution of the soldiers. Perhaps they were his first clients.]
 

1846:  The earliest existing records of Hillsborough Co. Commissioner meetings
History of Hillsborough County, Florida, Narrative and Biographical, 1928" by Ernest L. Robinson, Director of High Schools of Hillsborough County, Formerly Principal of Hillsborough County High School. 

1846 - Jan. 5:  The board members, the lost book of 1845, pay and taxes

The first meeting (for which records still exist) of the Hillsborough County Commissioners was held.  The board consisted of William Hancock, M.C. Brown, Benjamin Moody, Simon Turman, and James A. Goff (not present). Simon Turman was Judge of Probate and President of the Board.  At this meeting, a small record book of the previous year's proceedings was turned over to the board by Manuel Alvilla, former Clerk of the County Court.  This book has never been found.  Also at this meeting, pay was established for the board at $2 per day while in session.  The county tax for 1846 was established at 50% of the amount assessed for the State.  S.L. Sparkman was the tax assessor and John parker the tax collector.

At this meeting, Thomas P. Kennedy was the Treasurer of the County and reported the balance to be $267.63. The commissioners were appointed to "superintend the building of a court house and other public buildings in the Village of Tampa" and instructed to "select the spot of ground for the said public buildings, make a plan to start the building and finish them as soon as practicable taking into consideration the funds on hand..."

At this meeting, Thomas Piper was granted "the privilege of establishing a ferry across the Hillsborough River at Tampa."  The grant was to last four years and he was to pay five dollars per year for the last three years.  The ferry fees were fixed at five cents per man and proportionately higher for vehicles. A road was authorized to be extended as well.

At this meeting, the  Board of County Commissioners ordered "...to continue the contract with Michael Ledwith for building the Court House provided he enter into bonds to have the house completed by the first Monday in next April."  [Michael Ledwith and his wife, Margaret Wyatt, were residents of Tallahassee.]

Also at this meeting, the Board ordered the President of the Board to get bids from ''two or more competent surveyors for laying off 40 acres into suitable sized lots and streets for a Town or Village at this place."

The Federal Government had donated these 40 acres just north of the garrison line to Hillsborough County for a county-seat.

At this meeting the tax collector reported that the amount of county taxes collected for the year 1846 was $148.69. The Board received bids from several surveyors for the survey of the forty acres granted for a town and gave the contract to John Jackson, former assistant City Engineer of New Orleans.
 

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923
 

The north side of the government reservation ran east and west along Whiting street. The village was situated north of this line, and was a bed of sand and thick growth of what was called the scrub. The post office was on the reservation. At the time our family came to Tampa, the postmaster was Dr. John M. Palmer. He constructed a small hotel on the north side of Whiting street near the river and named it the Palmer hotel. This was a building containing 10 or 11 rooms, with a dining room the entire length of it on the back, and about 15 feet wide, which was used later on as a dance hall for the young people.  Colonel Hugh T. Fisher was the manager of this hotel. He became the postmaster on June 10, 1850. Colonel Fisher was the grandfather of our present deputy sheriff, Mr. Brooks.
 

In 1846 Darling & Griffin opened a store at the corner of Whiting and Tampa streets. Later on the name of this firm was changed to Kennedy and Darling. My father also opened a small store in 1850, at the corner of Washington and Franklin street, where the Tampa Daily Times is now published.

[The McKay family arrived in Tampa in 1846]

Magbee quickly assumed a leadership role in Hillsborough County politics. Writing to Gov. William D. Moseley in July 1846, he complained that local officials had not received "the acts of the last legislature" which was required by law. This made it difficult to properly conduct county elections.

Governor William Dunn Moseley
First governor under statehood June 25, 1845 to October 1, 1849
From Dept. of State website

When permission had been given to Hillsborough County officials to erect a courthouse on land formerly occupied by the troops, a meeting of the board of county commissioners was called on January 11, 1847 for the purpose of receiving proposals for the building of a courthouse. "The proposal of James McKay to build and finish a two-story house 20 by 45 feet in the clear according to specifications named in his proposals for the sum of $1368 was accepted by the board."

Also at this meeting, in order to raise funds to pay McKay, it was ordered that a sale of lots in Tampa should be made on the first Monday of next April and that public notice be given in the Jacksonville News and the Southern Journal, published in Tallahassee.

(At the meeting of the previous October, the Commissioners of Public Buildings had been ordered to have the courthouse built by Michael Ledwith if he could meet conditions demanded. The contract had evidently not been carried out, and so we find this contract entered into with James McKay.) 

Accordingly, the sale of lots with prices ranging from $25 to $83 a lot was held on April 5, 1847.  This sale would represent the first legal transaction from government to private ownership of the Fort Brooke land.   

History of Hillsborough County, Florida, Narrative and Biographical, 1928" by Ernest L. Robinson, Director of High Schools of Hillsborough County, Formerly Principal of Hillsborough County High School. 

See the later section below about the courthouses.

Within two years of arriving in Tampa, by 1848, Magbee had established himself sufficiently to run for the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of Florida. He defeated the incumbent William Hancock by a vote of 114 to 27.  Magbee was around 28 years old.

An 1847 legal notice in the Jacksonville "The News"  shows he was handling the estate of Felix Ortis.

1848 - Magbee Appointed Guardian at Age 28
 

On February 15, 1848, according to Hillsborough County records,  James T. Magbee was appointed guardian of the person and estate of George Wanton, a free mulatto man.

The 1848 Tampa Bay hurricane, also known as the Great Gale of 1848, was the most severe hurricane to affect the Tampa Bay area and is one of only two major hurricanes to make landfall in the area, the other having occurred in 1921. It affected the Tampa Bay Area September 23–25, 1848, and crossed the peninsula to cause damage on the east coast on or about September 26. It reshaped parts of the coast and destroyed much of what few human works and habitation were then in the Tampa Bay Area. Although records of its wind speed are unavailable, its barometric pressure and storm surge were consistent with at least a Category 4 hurricane. A survivor called the storm "the granddaddy of all hurricanes."

The storm appears to have formed in the central Gulf of Mexico before moving northeast to make landfall near Clearwater, Florida. It then crossed the Florida peninsula and exited near Cape Canaveral.  After moving into the extreme western Atlantic, the cyclone continued to the northeast just offshore of the East Coast of the United States to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

Fort Brooke recorded peak winds of 72 miles per hour, and a barometer at the fort measured a minimum pressure of 28.18 inches of mercury (954 mb), though the winds were still blowing at the time that reading was made. The storm produced the highest storm tide ever experienced in Tampa Bay. The water rose and fell about 15 feet in six to eight hours. The tide inundated Pinellas County “at the waist,” covering all low-lying elevations, and reportedly submerged most of the Interbay Peninsula, where South Tampa and MacDill Air Force Base currently reside. “The bays [Hillsborough and Old Tampa] met.” General R. D. A. Wade, commanding at Fort Brooke, reported the destruction of the wharves, public buildings, and storehouses. B. P. Curry, the fort’s assistant surgeon, reported the hospital destroyed. Only five houses were left standing in Tampa, and they were all damaged. The water rose twelve feet higher than had been noted in the past, and strong winds downed many old trees.

On the Pinellas Peninsula, the storm destroyed the fishing rancho of Antonio Máximo Hernández, reputedly lower Pinellas’ first white settler, forcing him to emigrate permanently. The storm almost obliterated the citrus crop and destroyed the main house at St. Helena plantation—now part of Safety Harbor—forcing the residents to shelter on an elevated Tocobaga mound. Even so, they nearly drowned as the storm tide eroded part of the shell mound. Winds also felled almost all of the trees along what is now Indian Rocks Road in Largo.

The storm completely altered the coastal geography of the Tampa Bay area, cutting new inlets, filling in others, and altering the shape of bays and keys, thereby making navigational charts useless to mariners. Allen’s Creek was widened from less than 200 feet  to about half a mile at its mouth. Passage Key, between Egmont Key and Anna Maria, was obliterated but reformed later. The storm created what would become known as “Soldier’s Hole” at Mullet Key, so called because soldiers at Fort De Soto used it as a swimming hole. John’s Pass was opened but has since shifted north. After the storm destroyed the lighthouse on Egmont Key, the keeper (Marvel Edwards) rode out the storm in a rowboat tied to a palmetto tree. The end of the rope was later found 9 ft. off the ground, which had an elevation of about 6 ft.

The Great Gale of 1848 at Wikipedia

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923 and "Oldest Tampa Citizen Recounts Tampa's Deeds," Dec. 20, 1921, Tampa Times.

In 1848, the town was visited by a terrific hurricane causing the tide to rise above 15 feet above low water mark, washing away the W. G. Ferris store and the house we were living in; in fact, most of the houses that were located on the river bank.

At this time, my father was absent at New Orleans with his schooner, the Wm. H. Gotzmer, this vessel at that time being the only means of transportation with the outside world in securing supplies for the small colony of Tampa. 

Our family was moved to the Palmer hotel, and when driven out of there on account of the tide, to the Darling and Griffin store, and then to the military hospital on the reservation. The Palmer Hotel withstood the hurricane, although the water rose two feet over the main floor. 

After the hurricane, the military authorities issued my mother tents to house our family, which, with their assistance, was placed on the block now occupied by the Knight & Wall Hardware Co., that block at the time being owned by my grandmother, Sarah Cail.

When my father returned in his vessel, he had some logs cut and hauled in and a house built, where we lived for some 20 months, until he could bring lumber from Mobile and build a house on the block now occupied by the Almeria Hotel.

As soon as Mr. Ferris could obtain material he erected a small building on the south side of Whiting street near the intersection of Franklin, which did not extend farther south, on account of the reservation.

 A few years later Mr. Ferris, having some trouble with the military officials, was ordered off the reservation, so he moved his store to the corner of Florida and Washington streets and built his residence on the same lot. This residence became the old folks home and later on was moved to the site the home is now occupying and somewhat improved, or made larger.

E. L Robinson's account of the storm:

The turbulent weather preceding the great storm of 1848 commenced on Saturday, September 23. During Sunday the wind came in gusts from the east accompanied by occasional showers. A number of men went down the bay on Sunday to assist in bringing in W. G. Ferris' schooner, the John T. Sprague, due from New Orleans with a cargo of supplies. Great difficulty was experienced in towing the vessel against the strong wind, and it was necessary to "kedge" (move by hauling in a thick rope or cable attached to a small anchor dropped at some distance) more than once before reaching the landing. It was well for the troops and villagers that this cargo was saved, for it was some time afterward before more supplies came in. The schooner also brought specie (coins) and currency to be paid to the soldiers, Mr. Ferris being "acting'' paymaster at the time. 

On the morning of the 26th, the wind shifted to the south and finally to the southwest.  Then the trouble commenced. A high tide came in, and the velocity of the wind increased, driving the water deep into the garrison. Ferris carried his family to the Palmer House, then waded ·in "water up to his armpits back to the store, where he succeeded in getting out the currency and account books. Then upon looking southward, he saw the commissary building rolling and tumbling straight toward his warehouse. A moment later there was a crash as the warehouse was struck and away went the whole structure, reduced to a mass of wreckage that included $15,000 worth of goods and a large amount of specie.

The Palmer House now seemed doomed. Tables began to float around in the dining room of the old hostelry. Josiah Ferris, son of the sutler, distinguished himself by swimming out through the north door with a young girl in his arms. The refugees retreated to the Kennedy store, thence to still higher ground at the corner of Franklin and Washington. But the Palmer House withstood the storm. The scene in the garrison was now appalling, though sublime in its grandeur, as the great waves came charging in, and the bay as far as the eye could reach was lashed to a fury. The islands in the bay were out of sight under the water, and the tidal wave rushed across the peninsula west of the river into Old Tampa Bay. The tremendous pressure of wind and water raised the river until only the treetops were visible, far north of the village. The Sprague, with the government specie still on board, had been anchored up at the ship yard," and during the worst part of the gale the hull of an old abandoned boat floated against her and broke her cables, allowing her to drift out into the pine woods east of the river and somewhere west of what is now Franklin street with captain and crew still on board.

During Monday afternoon the wind died away and the waters receded somewhat, giving the villagers an opportunity of viewing the damage. In the garrison they found that the little church on the beach, the soldiers' quarters near by, C. B. Allen's boarding house, the Indian agent's office and the Ferris property had been wrecked, and all other buildings in that locality more or less damaged. North of Whiting street, the block house and the Turman and Ashley residences had been swept away. The roof of W. S. Spencer's house was blown off. The residence of Capt. James McKay, Sr., was spared. [Notice McKay says their house was washed away.]

On Tuesday morning the men from the Sprague came down out of the woods and brought some coffee, hard bread and other needed supplies. Learning that the food on the vessel was intact, the commander at the fort sent a detail of soldiers to bring the supplies to the village and these were divided between the storekeeper and the troops. Later, the government paid for these confiscated goods. Ferris' stock was scattered all the way from Sulphur Springs to Gadsden Point. Several days later the strong box was recovered by the sutler, the specie intact.

Whiskey flowed freely on the evening following the gale, several barrels of the potent stuff having been salvaged from the bay and river. Most of the liquor as well as a number of cases of wine was turned over to the post commander, however.  A number of cedar logs which Ferris had kept in a "bight" on the Alafia river were scattered along the shore from a point up the river around to the north shore of Old Tampa Bay. It is said that the waters of the bay were phosphorescent during several nights preceding the gale, and on Sunday night the light from this source was "almost bright enough to read by."

The village school, taught by a Mr. Wilson, had been dismissed on the forenoon of the day of the gale, and Mr. Henderson, who was one of the pupils, said that the velocity of the wind was so great the people were forced to hug the ground in order to get anywhere. During the storm the lighthouse at Egmont was so badly damaged that a new one was built. No lives were lost as a result of the gale, but there were many narrow escapes from death. As to the cause of the inundation, various theories were advanced. Many were of the opinion that the east wind had blown great volumes of water into the gulf, and that the south wind coming on with the tide, drove the waters of the overtaxed gulf into the bays along our coast. Of such was the memorable storm of '48.

History of Hillsborough County, Florida, Narrative and Biographical, 1928" by Ernest L. Robinson, Director of High Schools of Hillsborough County, Formerly Principal of Hillsborough County High School. 

In 1849, court minutes of Hillsborough County listed seven “attorneys and counselors at law” admitted to practice in the Hillsborough County Circuit Court. Among these were future Supreme Court Judge Bird M. Pearson and future Circuit Judge Thomas F. King.  James Gettis and Hardy D. Kendrick later became solicitors.  Those admitted to practice from April 14, 1846 to October 13, 1849 were James T. Magbee, James Gettis, Thomas F. King, Bird M. Pearson,  Alfred Gale,  David Provence, and Hardee D. Kendrick. 

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

History of Hillsborough County, Florida, Narrative and Biographical, 1928 by Ernest L. Robinson, Director of High Schools of Hillsborough County, Formerly Principal of Hillsborough County High School.

1849 - Magbee Makes an Appeal in Tallahassee for Protection of Pioneers
 

The Indian situation threatened to erupt into open warfare in the summer of 1849 when a raiding party attacked the settlement near Fort Pierce on the Indian River and the Kennedy and Darling store on Peas Creek. Shortly after the July 1849 raids, Magbee made a "hurried trip to Tallahassee and made a personal appeal to officials there" for protection of the pioneer settlements.  He was around 29 years old.

Read about the Seminole Wars at the Florida Dept. of State website.
 

The Peas Creek raid in the news

The Savannah Daily Republican, Sept. 14, 1849 published these letters concerning the warfare of July & August. 

The editor of the Ocala Argus, having no news of his own, sends the Savannah Republican the "P.S." of a letter from a gentleman at Tampa Bay, in order to show that the news received in Savannah via New Orleans is incorrect about Billy Bowlegs surrendering. 

The Aug. 27th letter from Tampa mentions the summer raids by the Indians.  He also writes about an apparently friendly Indian named Chi, and his wife Polly, who came to Fort Brooke and spoke with Gen. Twiggs.  Chi stated he left the Pease Creek store 3 days before it was burned, and had been hunting and fishing on the coast, not seeing any Indians since he left the store, and had no knowledge of the war until he came to Fort Brooke. 

"Some think Chi is a rascal, and others say he is a true friend.  I have no knowledge of him from which to judge, except that he and his wife Polly get (frequently) gloriously drunk--he is a strong, athletic, morose looking man."

Savannah Daily Republican, Sept. 14, 1849

1849 - Magbee buys 160 acres in Putnam County

On Sept. 1, 1849, William P. Brooker sold 160 acres of land he had received in a land patent to James T. Magbee.  Although the sale states it was in Alachua County (green on map), Brooker's land patent shows it was in Putnam County (red on map).  This difference can be attributed to the fact that Putnam County was formed out of Alachua County in 1849.

SeeBureau of Land Management:   Patent to William Brooker

Alachua County Clerk records:  William P. Brooker sells  160 acres in Alachua Co. to Magbee
 

This Indenture made the first day of September in the year of our Lord One thousand Eight Hundred and forty nine between Wm P. Brooker of Hillsboro County and State of Florida, Laborer and Margaret his wife, of the one part and James T. Magbee of the County and State aforesaid, a Lawyer, of the other part; Witnesseth that the said Wm. P. Brooker and Margaret his wife, for and in Consideration of the Sum of Seventy five dollars to them in hand paid by the Said James T. Magbee... Unto the Said James T. Magbee, and to his heirs and assigns all that messuage and tract of Land lying and being Situate in the County of Alachua...

Text has been edited, see complete text and image of this page of original document

The North East quarter of Section Thirty two, Township Ten South, Range Twenty then East, surveyed March Eighteen hundred and Thirty-five and described by Surveyor as follows to wit- NE 1/4 32.10.23. (the patent of the same having been issued in the name of William P. Brooker Upon Permit Under the armed occupation Act, being numbered 846)... tract of one hundred and Sixty Acres of Land,...Unto the Said James T. Magbee his heirs and assigns to the only proper use and behoove of the Said James T. Magbee his heirs and assigns forever; And we hereby Covenant with the Said

Signed Sealed & delivered in presence of Wm P. Brooker (L.S.) W.G. Ferris her Jas Gettis Margaret x Brooker (L.S.) mark
 

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In 1848-49-50 my father owned and operated the schooner Sarah Matilda (named for my mother) between Tampa, Mobile and New Orleans. With the exception of the government vessels, this was the only vessel that was being used commercially for this port. He also constructed a twin wharf at the foot of Washington street. Cattle were penned between the wharves, for shipment to Key West, by schooner.

The Indians having moved to the Everglades and the country being in a peaceful condition, many settlers came into the country and some located in Tampa, purchasing lots and building homes, clearing up the scrub as they would build, putting down plank sidewalks and in some instances shell, but the sand remained in the streets making it hard on teams as well as pedestrians. No lot of 105 feet by 105 feet sold for more than $25 or $140 for the square. That is what our family paid for the lots where the Olive hotel is, also The Times lot, and the Almeria hotel square.

1850 - Marriage at age 30 to Susan Tatum
 

The year 1850 was an eventful one in the life of James T. Magbee.
 

On January 17, 1850, he married Susan A. Tatum in Leon County. (Tallahassee)

According to Gene Jeffries of the Orangeburgh German-Swiss Genealogical Society, Susan's middle name was "Almeria" and was born Aug. 8, 1828 in S. Carolina.  She was one of seven children of Capt. John Tatum and Phoebe Harriet Cleveland who married in Beaufort District, SC in 1826. 
 

Marriage license of James T. Magbee & Susan A. Tatum from Florida Marriages 1830-1993, Leon Co.
Familysearch.org

Lodge photos from their Facebook page

The Lodge in use today, on the corner of Kennedy Blvd. & Morgan St, was built in 1927.

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

I am under the impression that my father was one of the charter members of this lodge, and had as much if not more than any other citizen in its organization and construction but later on had a difficulty with one of the members, withdrawing from the lodge, saying he would never enter it again as long as this party was a member, and I do not think that he ever attended a lodge meeting after that.

I am under the impression that he had several hundred dollars of stock in this organization which he lost for some reason. If I have made incorrect statements in reference to this matter and the lodge has records on file in regard to it, I would be very glad to be put right in the matter. We children attended school in this lodge building. Rev. J. K. Glover, a Methodist minister, was the teacher.

[James McKay, Sr. became a member of Hillsborough Lodge No. 25, F&A.M. Apr. 10, 1850. He was expelled Dec. 15, 1855 due to a dispute with fellow Mason Madison Post. McKay was reinstated in the lodge, Sept. 5, 1863.]

1850 Federal Census of Jas. T. Magbee and Susan A. (Tatum) Magbee, Tampa

James would have been closer to age 30 than age 28 shown here on his 1850 census.  His wife Susan was listed as 20, so their age difference was around 9 to 10 years.  His occupation was "Lawyer" and his real estate property valued at $1200.  His place of birth is shown as "Georgia" and his wife's "S. Carolina."
 

1850 - Magbee Participated in Support of the Nashville Convention

Slavery and the future of the Federal Union were much on the minds of Hillsborough County residents in 1850. On April 8 and 11, citizens met at the Hillsborough County courthouse to support the Nashville Convention, a proposed gathering of delegates from the Southern states which would enunciate at the convention, the position of the slave holding states and their relationship with the Union. Magbee played an active role in these local meetings.

     The Nashville Convention (1850) was a two-session meeting of proslavery Southerners in the United States. John C. Calhoun initiated the drive for a meeting when he urged Mississippi to call for a convention. The resulting Mississippi Convention on Oct. 1, 1849, issued a call to all slave-holding states to send delegates to Nashville, Tenn., in order to form a united front against what was viewed as Northern aggression.
     Delegates from nine Southern states met in Nashville on June 3, 1850. Robert Barnwell Rhett, a leader of the extremists, sought support for secession, but moderates from both the Whig and the Democratic parties were in control. The convention ultimately (June 10) adopted 28 resolutions defending slavery and the right of all Americans to migrate to the Western territories. The delegates were ready to settle the question of slavery in the territories by extending the Missouri Compromise line west to the Pacific.
     In September the U.S. Congress enacted the Compromise of 1850, and six weeks later (November 11–18) the Nashville Convention reconvened for a second session. This time, however, there were far fewer delegates, and the extremists were in control. Although they rejected the Compromise of 1850 and called upon the South to secede, most Southerners were relieved to have the sectional strife seemingly resolved, and the second session of the Nashville Convention had little impact.  Information from Britannica.com

May 9, 1850 The Florida Republican Meeting in Hillsborough Co, April 8 & 11
Seven resolutions cut from the article, see the whole article at above link.

1850 - Magbee Narrowly Reelected to 2nd Term in the Florida House of Representatives

In the fall of 1850, at only about 30 years old, Magbee stood for reelection to the Florida House of Representatives. It was a very close race. Running as a "Union man," he defeated fellow Democrat Lucius D. Rogers by a vote of 93 to 91. Elias J. Hart received 60 votes.

An angry Dr. Lucius Rogers followed Magbee to Tallahassee to contest the election. In spite of some "slight irregularities," the Assembly declared Magbee the winner by a vote of 92 to 88. Rogers received "$33 for eleven days attendance, and $70 for his traveling expenses from Hillsborough Co. to this place, a distance of three hundred and fifty miles."

                        Jan 2, 1851 Florida Republican

Soon afterward, Magbee, exhibiting a vindictive streak in his personality, attempted to have legislation passed which would prohibit the allowance of pay and mileage for candidates contesting election results to seats in the General Assembly.  That legislation did not pass, 15 for, 21 against.

On Dec. 6, 1850, Magbee was one of the committee which submitted a bill to provide for the final removal of the Seminole Indians.

Though considered a "Union man" by his constituents, Magbee voted along with those attempting to postpone consideration of a strong pro-Union resolution. But his most important vote at the 1850-51 session was to elect Stephen R. Mallory to the United States Senate over incumbent David Levy Yulee.

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In 1849 Mr. Payne’s store situated near Peace River, present Hardee County, was burned by a party of Indians and he was massacred. The Indians being at peace the government demanded that the perpetrators of this crime be delivered to the authorities and they pressed this demand with such force that Billy Bowlegs surrendered three of his tribe*.

They were placed in jail and held for some time, when one day about noon, they gave a war whoop and when the sheriff went to the jail found all three of them dead, hanging to the bars, by their blankets. One of them did the hanging and then stood on a bucket, kicked it from under him, as he was found with his feet on the floor and his legs bending so as to throw his weight on his blanket, showing how determined they were. Benjamin J. Hagler was the sheriff at that time. I was a boy [8] years of age and I have never forgotten how these Indians looked, while hanging. This incident was so impressed on my mind that it has remained with me to this date.

[*McKay combined two memories into one. The three involved at the Peace River incident were later sent to the Indian Territory. In August, 1850, Daniel Hubbard, an orphan boy, was abducted by Indians and murdered. In 1851, Billy Bowlegs delivered the three alleged murderers to civil authorities in Tampa. See "The Seminole Indian Murders of Daniel Hubbard," by Jas. W Covington, Sunland Tribune, Vol. XV, Nov. 1989.]

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In 1851 we shipped cedar logs that were cut from up the Hillsborough river, to Blanchard and Fitch in New York, for making pencils. In 1851 my father erected a saw mill at the place where the Tampa Steam ways is now situated, for the manufacture of lumber. Previous to this, all lumber was freighted from Mobile. Sawdust from this mill was placed on the municipal streets to assist teams in hauling. When the yellow fever appeared in town many of the citizens claimed it was from decayed sawdust and the practice was stopped.

Fort Myers was established, I think, in 1850 by the government. My father was appointed sutler of this post in 1852 and used a small schooner named Emma to take his goods from Tampa to Fort Myers. He also opened a store at Fort Denaud, which was on the Caloosahatchee river some 20 miles above Fort Myers and chartered a little steamer he owned, named the Woodduck to the quartermaster department to carry supplies to the troops at that place. She was operated between Punta Rassa, Fort Denaud, and Fort Myers.

The mails were brought to Tampa overland from Gainesville by stage first weekly, then semiweekly, under contract with my father in 1852. The first court house was constructed in 1848 and the second and larger court house was built by the Rev. John H. Breaker, being a two-story building in 1854.

The Location of James McKay Sr's Sawmill

These two Sanborn fire insurance maps from the University of Florida Sanborn Maps collection show the sawmill area when it was Tampa Steam Ways (left) and close up (right) in 1915.  It was located just south of the Magbee Spring and Tampa Waterworks in the Tampa Heights area along the river.  Today, the area formerly occupied by McKay's sawmill is the southern tip of Tampa Waterworks Park and part of the

Tampa Steam Ways Co., formerly abutting the present day Water Works Park to the south, was primarily involved in marine repair and boat construction, but also received shell and sand. Available fire insurance maps showed two marine ways with marine railways on Tampa Steam Ways’ property.  The Corps of Engineers survey indicated that the business had “marine ways” capable of accommodating vessels up to about 120 feet in length with drafts of 8 to 10 feet. A circa 1899 photograph of Tampa Steam Ways  already showed an active marine repair business on the site and large boats moored at its wharf. As late as January 1956, Tampa Steam Ways constructed a wooden-hulled 73-foot exploratory fishing vessel for the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service.  

Brief Historical Review of Dredging History Tampa Heights Shore Protection & Docking Facility Project by Land Assessment Inc., 2006

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

About this time the Know Nothing Party was organized against the Democratic party. The political excitement reached our quiet little town, and Rev. Glover advocated the party so strong, denouncing the Democratic Party, that we were removed from his school and sent to James Petty as teacher. Well do I remember the public meeting that was held in the court house. Rev. J. K. Glover advocating the tenets of the Know Nothing party and Mr. Alfonso DeLaunay denouncing the Know Nothing party and defending the principles of the Democratic party. Their speeches were bitter but the people believed that Mr. DeLauney was right. The Know Nothing party was of short life. Mr. DeLaunay was appointed postmaster Dec. 21, 1852 and served a little more than 8 years, he was of French descent, very intelligent and a fine talker.
 

The Hillsborough County Courthouses
[Red text from E. L. Robinson's History of Hillsborough County]

The first courthouse had been erected in Tampa soon after the County of Hillsborough was organized. Hillsborough County was created on January 25, 1834, from Alachua and Monroe counties, during the U.S. territorial period (1822–1845). The new county was named for Wills Hill, the Earl of Hillsborough, who served as British Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1768 to 1772. The County was created through efforts by Judge Augustus Steele.

That little log courthouse was burned by the Indians at the outbreak of the Second Seminole War.  At that time, fewer than a thousand people lived in Hillsborough County and cattlemen came to the courthouse most often to complain about stolen livestock. And, of course, judges and attorneys traveled long distances by horseback or stagecoach to cover their “circuit," a name still in use today.

When the first County Commissioners met in 1846, the general topics were taxes, transportation, a new courthouse and jail, and downtown development. The next year, the Commissioners accepted the bid of Captain James McKay to construct a two-story courthouse, which was 20 ft x 45 ft. at a cost to taxpayers of $1,358.  This is the courthouse most refer to as the "First courthouse" although it was really the 2nd one.

This courthouse was completed and accepted from James McKay on January 3, 1848 and his bill paid; including ten dollars allowed for additional work.

This, the "first court house" of Hillsborough County, was erected on the block bounded by Lafayette, Franklin, Madison and Florida. The entrance was on the south side and there was one large room for a court room and two small rooms on the west side for offices and jury rooms. The material for this building was brought to Tampa from Mobile by Captain McKay who had come to Tampa in [1846].

This building was soon outgrown and no longer adequate for the increasing business of the county. When a new building was ordered this building was sold to John H. Redbrook who moved it to Franklin street. Later it was moved to the comer of Zack street and Florida avenue and used as a store house for the Peninsular Telephone Company.

A third structure was erected in 1854, the one in the photos below.  It was built at a cost of  $5,000 and was used until 1891.  Of course, it also had a picket fence to keep the animals out of the courtyard.

Hillsborough County Courthouse, Lafayette Street entrance, looking east from intersection with Franklin Street, 1886.
This is the courthouse Magbee would have held court in for Hillsborough County trials.
Burgert Brothers photo from University of South Florida Digital Collection

Hillsborough County Courthouse seen from Lafayette St. and Franklin Street, circa 1880s.
Image from Florida Memory State Archives and Library collection.

JAIL HOUSE DOOR
The iron door from the jail in the old Court House built in 1848* by Capt. James McKay I is preserved by Dr. Albert Gutierrez in his bird sanctuary at the mouth of Palm River and McKay Bay. Shown studying the relic are Robert McKay, left, son of D. B. McKay and great grandson of the famed captain, and his cousin, Dr. Gutierrez. Photo by Tony Pizzo.
*It may have been from Mr. Breaker's 1854 courthouse if they, too, thought McKay's courthouse was the one used until 1891.

 
In August 1892, an ornate, red brick courthouse with a silver dome was built, occupying the same block in downtown Tampa, but facing west to Franklin St. The architect, J.A. Wood, also had designed the Tampa Bay Hotel.  This courthouse was demolished in 1952 because of it's poor condition, but mainly because of the need for parking space.   The property became a parking lot until a horrible, ugly blue-cube building and parking garage was built there.

Info from the 13th Judicial Circuit Hillsborough County history website** (Except for the last two sentences and except where noted.)

 

**Contrary to what the judicial website says, this dome is not at Joe Chillura Park Square now, it is a scaled down replica there.
 

1852 - Magbee's First Client in a Supreme Court Case

Magbee continued his legal practice and in March 1852 when he was around 32, the Florida Supreme Court met at Tampa for the first time. During this brief term, in which three cases were decided, Magbee represented his first Supreme Court client, Thomas Mitchell, before the High Court and won. Before the Justices took their leave of Tampa, a gala dinner was held at the home of Dr. Samuel B. Todd. Lawyers and laymen feasted "on turkeys, ducks, ham, pies, etc." and then the endless rounds of toasts began. "Sparkling vintage" and cake were served, and Magbee and others took turns hoisting their glasses until several hours later, when the festivities finally adjourned.

Information from University of Miami Law Review -  "A History of the Florida Supreme Court" by the Honorable Joseph A. Boyd Jr. and Randall Reder:In July 1845, the Florida General Assembly elected the circuit court judges who would also serve on Florida's first supreme court. The general assembly elected Thomas Baltzell, George S. Hawkins, Isaac H. Bronson, and William Marvin to serve as circuit court judges for the Middle, Western, Eastern, and Southern Circuits respectively. Two of those elected, Isaac Bronson and William Marvin, declined the invitation to serve. Thomas Douglas was appointed to serve in place of Isaac Bronson, and George W. McCrae was appointed to replace William Marvin. The first session of the Florida Supreme Court convened in January 1846, and at that session Thomas Douglas was selected to serve as chief justice.

In January, 1851 the Florida legislature created a new supreme court independent from the circuit courts. The chief justice and the two associate justices of this new supreme court were each to be elected by the legislature to serve for a term of eight years.  Walker Anderson was elected as the court's chief justice, and Leslie Thompson and A. G. Semmes as the associate justices. These three men were important in establishing the Supreme Court of Florida as an independent judicial body.

This legislatively elected supreme court met for the first time in Tallahassee on January 30, 1851 in a political atmosphere still flushed with the pride and excitement of the state's recent admission to the Union.  The difficulties and obstacles that had postponed statehood were forgotten. The panic of 1837 and the associated bank failures and economic depression were but a dim memory. Even the problems with the Indians seemed to wane in the face of this new state.  It was in this vibrant and optimistic atmosphere that the court began holding sessions in each of the four circuits, first convening in Tallahassee in January, then moving to Jacksonville and Tampa, and finally completing its term in Marianna by March.

Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Supreme Court of Florida, Term at Tampa, Southern Division, March 1852

Thomas P. Kennedy, Appellant, vs. Thomas Mitchell, Appellee.

Gettis and Pearson for Appellant Kennedy
Magbee for Appellee Mitchell

 

Justice Semmes delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court.:  "We are of the opinion that the court below committed no error in overruling the plaintiff's motion, and in dismissing the suit upon the verdict of the jury finding the issue in favor of the defendant. 

Per Curiam-Let the judgment of the court below be affirmed.

Arthur H. Morse, Appellant, vs. Isaac Garrison, Appellee

Pearson for Appellant
No counsel for Appellee

 

Chief Justice Anderson delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court:  The judgment of the court below dismissing the levy must be reversed, and the levy re-instated, with directions to the proper officer to proceed therewith according to law.

William Sanders, Appellant, vs. Marshal Pepoon and Robert Olcott, Appellees

King for Appellant

 

Justice Thompson delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court:  The judgment of the court below must be reversed, with costs; and inasmuch as it appears by the record that the amount of the judgment and costs has been paid by the appellant, let a writ of restitution of the amount so paid issue from this court, upon the application of the appellant or his counsel.

 

Read about these cases in their entirety.

In 1852 we opened a ferry at the foot of Jackson street, so as to cross the stage with the mail. It was also used by the public. Ponds that were located on the east end of Jackson street caused the city officials as well as the people, considerable annoyance, especially during the rainy season. One of these ponds at the corner of Jackson and Marion street would take in all four corners and prevent pedestrians from passing in that direction. I have skated rocks over ice on this pond when it was frozen over during the winter.

The authorities dug a ditch in the center of Jackson street to drain these ponds, and in some places it was 12 feet deep. Across Franklin and Tampa streets small bridges were placed so as to permit passage of teams and the public. This did not accomplish what was desired so the ponds were filled in later on.

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

1852 - The Florida Senate settles election results dispute
 

On August 27th, the Senate voted to end a contested election between David Levy Yulee and Stephen R. Mallory of Jacksonville. When Yulee’s seat came up for reelection in 1851, he lost the balloting to Mallory by two votes. Yulee contested the election.

David Levy Yulee
In 1845 Florida's first two US senators, David Levy Yulee of St. Augustine and James D. Westcott, Jr., of Tallahassee, presented their credentials and took their oaths of office. Senator Yulee, born David Levy in St. Thomas, West Indies, June 12, 1810, was the first Jewish-American to serve in the Senate. Taking office as David Levy, at the senator’s request, the Florida state legislature officially changed his name to David Levy Yulee in 1846.
See Biographical Directory of Congress for more info.

On August 27, 1852, the Senate voted in favor of Mallory. In 1855 Yulee returned to the Senate, and he and Mallory served together until 1861.
 

1852 - Magbee wins 3rd term as State Rep.

In the fall of 1852 Magbee ran for his third term in the Florida House of Representatives, once again as a "Union man." Out of a total of 302 votes cast, he received 120 with 99 for John McNeal and 83 for William Hancock. Magbee's plurality was about 40%. The ensuing legislative session was marked by action on the railroad and Indian questions.  Magbee was around 32 years old.

Stephen R. Mallory
Photo by Mathew Brady from Wikimedia.
 Born in Trinidad, West Indies, about 1813; immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in Key West, Fla., in 1820.  See more information at this source:

Biographical Directory of Congress

1853 - June 4 - Formation of a Vigilance Committee

A meeting takes place in Tampa to discuss rumors of a large cow trail found leading from the stock yard toward the Indian Nation.  It is suspected that the Indians have been stealing their livestock.  A proposal for an armed party to investigate is turned down so as to not stir Indian hostilities, and they postpone pursuit until next October.  Two committees are set up.  The correspondence committee of 5 men: Magbee (Chairman), Crawford, Sparkman, Moore, and Turman.  The vigilance committee is comprised of 22 men.  Any information obtained by a vigilance committee member was to report to the chairman of the correspondence committee, who would report to the Executive Department.

The July 21 Florida Republican newspaper (Jacksonville)
 

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

It has been remarked that Tampa had not been visited with a hurricane since 1848 until the one of 1921, which is an error, Tampa was visited with a pretty stiff hurricane in 1853, that I recollect very well. The schooner John Roalef owned by W. G. Ferris and sons arrived from New Orleans with a cargo of general merchandise and just as she had finished discharging this cargo, this hurricane came along, bringing in a tidal wave with it that landed this vessel about 100 yards north of the A. C. L. railroad warehouse where it stands now and about 100 yards from the river bank. My father bought this vessel, had her jacked up and repaired, dug a canal to the river and launched her into this canal, floating her. The tide must have risen some 10 feet above low water mark as this vessel was drawing some five feet or more of water, at the time she went ashore.

After lots were put on sale for the first time in April of 1847, land owners apparently began to be written to the original plan as seen below. 

Image from Judge Steele Left His Mark by Rodney Kite-Powell, Jun. 30, 2013, Tampa Bay Times online. (Read this article to see how Jackson expanded on the first plan for Tampa by Judge Augustus Steele.) This image is low resolution so it was extremely difficult to make out the lot owner names.  The more recognizable names have been added as an overlay.  Place your cursor on the image to see the added names.  It is possible that there is some error here. 
 

Below is the new Feb. 1853 survey which shows structures already in place sketched in red.

1853 plan of Tampa certified by surveyor John Jackson
From the University of South Florida digital map collection

"I hereby certify this map is the original general map or plat of the Town of Tampa made and drawn by me in February AD 1853 from surveys made by me in the years 1847 - 1850 and in January 1853. Witness my hand and private seal.
(Signed) John Jackson

Witness
(Signed) H. C. Crane  [Henry Crane]
(Signed) Willam Brown
 

         Click the map to see it larger, then click the new window to see full size.
 

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

1854 - Magbee decides not to run for 4th term in the House
 

In 1853, railroad meetings were held in Tampa but Magbee apparently was not actively involved, although he did speak out on the Indian question.  He was reported to have been willing to be the "candidate of the Whig party" for reelection in 1854, but he eventually decided not to run.

Despite the town’s excitement, two years passed, and no railroad construction had begun. All hopes were not dimmed, though, for in January 1855 the legislature enacted a comprehensive program of subsidies for railroad construction. Known as the Internal Improvement Act of 1855, it granted railroad companies land in exchange for new tracks. The state government supported the railroads because better transportation would help facilitate a stronger economy for Florida. With state support, railroad developers began linking East and West Florida.  It specifically provided support for a line "from Amelia Island, on the Atlantic, to the waters of Tampa bay, in South Florida, with an extension to Cedar Key." The language clearly applied to Yulee’s road. Within months, however, suspicions were aroused that Yulee intended to build only the more lucrative northern portion of his line. Under the leadership of Hillsborough County politician and lawyer, James T. Magbee, local citizens held out the possibility of the county investing in the railroad while demanding that the company "undertake to construct the road upon the whole route according to the intent and meaning (of the law).”  Before their efforts could show results, though, the Third Seminole or Billy Bowlegs War broke out in December 1855. For a time, the railroad question took second place in the minds of south Floridians. Tampa and the Coming of the Railroad, 1853-1884, by Canter Brown, Jr, in The Sunland Tribune, Volume XVII November, 1991 Journal of the Tampa Historical Society.

1855 - April 2:  Hillsborough Circuit Court session opens; Press mingles with the lawyers

"...who know how to enjoy themselves by indulging in witty satire, brilliant repartee, brandy smashes, gin cocktails, pungent innuendoes, and occasional dips into their client's pockets..."

1855 - Magbee appointed as Collector and Inspector

By early 1855, Magbee had secured appointment to the lucrative position of Deputy Collector of Customs and Inspector of the Port of Tampa. He was around 35 years old.

With a salary of $1,095 per year, Magbee greatly supplemented his income. The position was political and had been granted under President Franklin Pierce's Democratic administration. Magbee's immediate superior, Col. Hugh Archer, the Collector at St. Marks, directed Magbee in March 1855 to “proceed to have the serpentine course of the channel from Hillsborough River to the Bay, properly defined by permanent stakes and the navigable courses of the bay made clearly intelligible by the fixture of iron buoys."

 

While the Seminole Indian war raged, construction work on the Florida Railroad was started in the summer of 1855 at Fernandina, slowly progressing southwest.  

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In 1855 the Morgan Steamship Line operated their steamers between New Orleans and Havana, touching at all the Florida ports semi-monthly, which also gave the town mails, freights and passengers.

The Leonardi brothers conceived the idea of erecting a hotel of some 25 rooms on the lot occupied by the Scottish Rite building, naming it the Florida House. This building my father purchased from them and operated as a hotel until the beginning of the war. It was full every winter, with tourists who visited the town for their health.

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

The Florida Peninsular mentioned the dissolution of the Town of Tampa in the Sept. 20, 1855 issue of their newspaper, when they announced the appointment of Simon Turman as President of the Board of Health for the port of Tampa, and Darwin A. Branch, M.D., as the appointed port inspector.

Sept. 20, 1855 - Florida Peninsular
Circuit Court convened on Sept. 17.

Sept. 20, 1855 - Florida Peninsular
James McKay rents his Tampa store to M.C. Brown
and moves his business to Ft. Myers.

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

"This incorporation was finally made effective by an act of the State Legislature on December 15, 1855, which date is really the birthday of the City of Tampa."  (E. L. Robinson)

History of Hillsborough County, Florida, Narrative and Biographical, 1928 by Ernest L. Robinson, Director of High Schools of Hillsborough County, Formerly Principal of Hillsborough County High School.

The Florida Peninsular - Dec. 29, 1855
"What a difference there may be
twix Twedledum and Twedledee."

Maj. Gen George Lucas Hartsuff
Photo from RootsWeb feature by Spessard Stone

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In the month of December, 1855, the Indians again went on the war path and the early part of 1856 found a number of volunteer companies mustered into the military service, and also more regular troops sent to Fort Myers and Tampa. The government sent also two small steamers from New Orleans named Grey Cloud and Texas Ranger, to ply between Tampa and Fort Myers. My father also purchased the schooner** Venice at Mystic, Conn., to freight goods from New Orleans to Tampa. Things around Tampa began to be active and quite a lot of money was placed in circulation.

[**Gov. records show the Venice was classified as a bark, not a schooner.]

The Indians burning and massacring settlers near Tampa, the citizens were organized and performed picket duty on all the roads entering Tampa. Boys as well as the men were used in the discharge of this duty. The stage conveying the mails had a guard of several soldiers mounted, to protect it. The court house bell was to sound the alarm in case of a night attack and the citizens were kept in a state of excitement all the time.

Considerable improvements were made on the reservation. New barracks and officers’ quarters and store houses were erected.

In the first election under the city charter, Judge Joseph B. Lancaster was elected mayor; Councilmen chosen were  Micajah C. Brown, C.Q. Crawford, R.J. Hagler, and Darwin A. Branch; William Ashley, clerk; E.N. Lockhart, treasurer; and A. N. Pacetta, marshal.

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline
Feb. 16, 1856 Florida Peninsular newspaper image below from the University of Florida digital Newspaper archives

Tampa’s 1st Mayor

JOSEPH BRADFORD LANCASTER
Term: February 14, 1856 – November 25, 1856 (died in office)
Lawyer, Judge, State Representative, and Politician
Born: 1790, Kentucky
Died: November 25, 1856, Tampa, Florida
 

Joseph B. Lancaster was a Florida Supreme Court judge (1851), speaker of the Florida House (1843-1847), and mayor of Jacksonville, Florida (1846-1847). Lancaster and his wife Annie moved to Hillsborough County in 1853 with their daughters Laura Louise and Eliza Caroline. Four years after statehood, on January 18, 1849, Tampa’s population had increased to officially incorporate as the “Village of Tampa.” Tampa was reincorporated as a City on December 15, 1855, and Judge Joseph B. Lancaster became the first mayor in 1856. He had served successfully as judge of Alachua County, chief clerk of the Territorial House of Representatives, a captain of volunteers during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), and a customs collector.

Elected only months after the beginning of the Third Seminole War (1855 – 1858), Lancaster’s administration dealt almost exclusively with war-related issues. The constant threat of attack produced an influx of settlers seeking refuge to a city that had little means nor funds to feed, shelter, or care for them. Lancaster sought assistance from the state, which could provide only limited funds, and was in need of recruits for the war effort. The City’s financial base worsened when the Florida Railroad Company chose to extend the line to Cedar Key instead of Tampa. Lancaster died while in office, serving less than one year as Tampa’s first mayor.

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

Included among the other buildings of that time was J. B. Allen's boarding house, about a hundred yards east of the commissary, and the Kennedy store, which stood on the lot next to the Palmer House. A few hundred feet north of Kennedy's was the place of L. G. Cavacivich. Still further north, along the river, was a large blockhouse built for a refuge in case of attack by the Indians. Judge Simon Turman had just completed a double log house on the ground where the customs house was afterwards erected, hard by the present site of the Lafayette street bridge. The blockhouse, Judge Steele's residence and William Ashley's house were situated near the foot of Lafayette meet, or between there and Jackson street. Further eastward from the river stood the original court house, on the site of the present court house. This building was a wooden affair having two rooms only, and it served as a school house also.

History of Hillsborough County, Florida, Narrative and Biographical, 1928 by Ernest L. Robinson, Director of High Schools of Hillsborough County, Formerly Principal of Hillsborough County High School.
 

Tampa’s 2nd Mayor (Acting)
DARWIN AUSTEN BRANCH

[No photo]               

Term: November 25, 1856 – December 6, 1856
Physician Born: November 28, 1832, Vermont
Died: August 16, 1858, Tampa, Florida

Born in 1832, Darwin Branch was trained as a physician. Politically dynamic, Branch served from 1854 to 1855 as Secretary for the Florida Know-Nothing Party (also known as the American Party). The Know-Nothings in Florida and other southern states were adamant that the national party support a strong proslavery platform. This platform was adopted at the 1856 Presidential Convention that nominated former President Millard Fillmore. After Fillmore’s defeat in the presidential election the Know-Nothing Party’s deteriorated as a national party.

Darwin Branch remained politically active in Tampa and served as President of Tampa’s City Council in 1856. In early September of 1856, Mayor Lancaster became too ill to perform his duties and as City Council President, Darwin Branch became the acting mayor.

Although he stepped in for Mayor Lancaster at this time, he was not officially recognized as acting mayor until Joseph Lancaster died on November 25, 1856.  At 24 years old, he was Tampa’s youngest mayor until James Lipscomb (who was twenty-three years old when he took office) in August of 1873.

During his short term, Branch essentially served as a caretaker until December 6, 1856 when the City Council appointed Alfonso DeLaunay as acting mayor to complete the remainder of Lancaster’s term of office.

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

Tampa’s 3rd**  Mayor
J. ALFONSO DELAUNAY
(**Or 2nd Mayor, depending on how you consider Austen Branch's "acting" term.)

  
Term: December 6, 1856 – February 9, 1857
Lawyer, Hotel Manager, Postmaster
Born: 1810, Virginia
Died: July 28, 1865, Tampa

J. Alfonso DeLaunay was the son of a Revolutionary War patriot born in France.  A lawyer by profession, he came to Tampa around 1848 in search of health and operated the Palmer House hotel, and became active in local politics. DeLaunay was Tampa's first postmaster and served from December 21, 1852 until April 1861.

Alfonso DeLaunay was married twice; first to Miss St. Johns of Georgia,  and secondly to Victoria Montes de Oca, daughter of Juan Montes de Oca, a Spanish gentleman of high family.  Juan came to Tampa from his native country around 1830. Being highly educated and a master of languages, he acted as interpreter for the Government at Fort Brooke and the surrounding area. He was beloved alike by the Americans and the Indians. Juan wooed and wed a beautiful Indian maiden, lovely of soul as in person. This girl wife died early in life, leaving their little daughter, Victoria motherless. Victoria was reared by Robert and Nancy (Coller) Jackson (of what would later become Hyde Park). Victoria grew to womanhood and married Alfonzo Delauney, of French birth, a lawyer by profession, who came here to be restored to health.

By Victoria, Alfonso had four children:  Pauline, Emma, Harry and Florida.  Victoria, was a woman of noble character and lofty mind, and their children were very intelligent. Two of them, Pauline and Emma, were among the most prominent teachers in the public schools of the early days.

Previous to his marriage to Victoria, Alfonso DeLaunay was married to a Miss St. John of Georgia, who died in childbirth of their son, St. John.  The boy was brought up by his uncle, James DeLaunay, in Columbus, Georgia, coming to live with his father and step-mother Victoria by 1860.

On December 6, 1856, DeLaunay was appointed mayor by the council to complete the remainder of Joseph B. Lancaster's term of office (Tampa's first mayor). DeLaunay replaced Acting Mayor, Darwin Austin Branch who had served eleven days immediately after Lancaster's death, before resigning as mayor. DeLaunay served as mayor for slightly over two months to complete Lancaster's term, during which time he attempted to manage the influx of local settlers coming into Tampa who were trying to escape attacks by the Seminoles during the Third Seminole War (1855-1858) and also dealt with the State Legislature's demand that Tampa supply more recruits for the war. Concurrently, DeLaunay guided the transition of the city's administration to conform to the procedures established by the Legislative Act of December 15, 1855 which provided 160 acres of land to homesteaders.

After losing to Darwin Branch in the next election, DeLaunay returned to his position as Postmaster of Tampa. In 1858, he also became editor for the local newspaper, Florida Peninsular but resigned in early 1860 to found the Sunny South newspaper with his brother. The first issue of this newspaper appeared on January 29, 1861.

A strong supporter of secession, DeLaunay served as a Hillsborough County delegate to the Florida Convention which voted overwhelmingly for secession. He ceased publication of his newspaper when the Civil War began and hid the presses and other related equipment in the interior of Florida to prevent their confiscation by Union troops. In April 1861, the Confederate government appointed DeLaunay Confederate States postmaster and deputy inspector of customs for the Port of Tampa, serving in both capacities throughout the Civil War.  He later served as a private in the Confederate Army and was mustered out on April 26, 1865 and returned to Tampa, where he died on July 28, 1865

Tampa historian Tony Pizzo, in his book Tampa Town 1824-1886: The Cracker Village With a Latin Accent (Tampa, 1968), states that Alfonso DeLauney, Tampa’s second mayor, brewed the first beer in the area -- Spruce Beer "a delicious and healthful drink." p. 76.

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

**The information above about Juan Montes de Oca, Alfonso's family, marriages, and first son comes from "The Blue Book and History of Pioneers, Tampa, Fla, by Pauline Brown-Hazen, 1914.  She gives the details of St. John's upbringing by his uncle. 

In Grismers's biographies section of his book Tampa, A History of the City and the Tampa Bay Region of Florida, by Karl H. Grismer, edited by D. B. McKay, 1950. he also mentions St. John of Alfonso's first wife, in his biographies section,  but in the narrative history of Tampa, Grismer says St. John was Alfonso's brother: "After leaving the PENINSULAR, DeLaunay immediately started to get backing for a new paper. O. C. Drew and St. John DeLaunay, brother of Alfonso, advanced money and became publishers. The first issue of the paper, called the SUNNY SOUTH, appeared January 29, 1861."
Alfonso appears alone on Tampa's 1850 census in Tampa. 

On his 1860 census he's married to Victoria.  He has a 19-year-old [son] named John, born in Georgia, even though Victoria and the rest of the children were born and raised in Florida.  This would support the story by Pauline Brown-Hazen that "St." John was his son from a prior marriage before coming to Florida.


 

In 1857 the Florida Congress authorized land grants to subsidize construction of railroads, and it was believed that the action, as one newspaper put it, "doubtless will operate as a stimulus to effect an immediate practical commencement of that portion of the road (to Tampa.)"  Everyone expected that from Gainesville the road would head south to Tampa.  By April, 1858, seventy miles had been completed from Fernandina and thirty additional miles to Gainesville had been graded.

Tampa, A History of the City and the Tampa Bay Region of Florida, by Karl H. Grismer, editor D. B. McKay, 1950.

Tampa and the Coming of the Railroad, 1853-1884, by Canter Brown, Jr, in The Sunland Tribune, Volume XVII November, 1991 Journal of the Tampa Historical Society.

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In 1857 during the summer, Tampa was visited by an epidemic of yellow fever, but it being very late in the summer and cold weather coming on, there were not many cases and but few deaths, but in 1858 it started early in the season and spread rapidly over the town. All that could move to the country did so but there were many deaths, some of our best citizens passing away. I was stricken with the disease and only for my mother and grandmother, being most excellent nurses, they having passed through an epidemic in Mobile sometime previous, I would not be here today writing this article.

There were many theories advanced from what source came the disease. Some stated that it was introduced from New Orleans by schooner. Others claimed it originated from filth in the town. Any way there was a campaign of cleanliness and sanitary measures were adopted in the winter of ’58 and early ’59. These measures were rigidly enforced and before the summer of ’59 came in, the town was placed in fine shape. But it gave the town a setback from which it did not recover for two years.

Billy Bowlegs, or Billy Bolek (Holata Micco, Halpatter-Micco, Halbutta Micco, and Halpuda Mikko in Seminole, meaning "Alligator Chief")
Image from Wikipedia

The government finding it difficult to drive the Indians out of the country or capture them, concluded to enter into negotiations with them and with this plan in view sent Major Rector, with 50 civilized Indians from Arkansas, into the Everglades some distance below Fort Myers, in [1858]. These Indians scouted around until they got in conference with Billy Bowlegs and Sam Jones, the Seminole Chiefs and at a meeting induced Bowlegs to leave them and emigrate to Arkansas with his band. They were concentrated on Egmont Key and when all reached that point were embarked on the Steamship [Grey Cloud], for New Orleans. Sam Jones declined to leave the state, but this ended the Seminole war.

by James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

Mustering out of the [Seminole War] volunteers threw a lot of disreputable men on the town and they became so bad that the citizens organized themselves as a band of regulators, whipping some and driving them out of town and in one or two instances hung some. This broke up lawlessness and the town was restored to quiet and order.

After the excitement of mustering out of volunteers was over and the unruly element driven out of town, business began to improve and all citizens co-operated in making improvements to their property and others locating in the town, adding to the population, Tampa put on city airs. There was not an over plus of skilled mechanics "out sufficient to carry on all building and construction work. These mechanics were experts in their lines of work. None better could be had in the state. Houses were built to last a lifetime.

by James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

To the Editor Peninsular:

As the Mayor of the City of Tampa is absent, I beg leave to make a few remarks, in relation to a statement made by James T. Magbee which, unless properly explained, is calculated to convey a false impression, with regard to the "facts of the case," manifestly to the injury of the reputation of the absent Mayor, and to the credit of the Citizens of Tampa.  He says:  "we were arrested by the Marshal, and carried before the Mayor, who, without hearing any evidence, that we are apprised of, ordered us to jail."  The above is James T. Magbee's statement.  I will now give you the Mayor's version, and pledge myself, that he will verify it, nearly word for word, on his return to Tampa.

"When Col. Magbee was brought before me, scarcely waiting being interrogated he said, 'I don't want any witnesses, I am guilty--I am guilty--fine me--fine me!' In addition to Mr. Magbee's confession of guilt, the Mayor told me, he was an eye witness himself to the commencement of Magbee's disgraceful row [fight] at James McKay's store. The Mayor has given a certificate now in the possession of the Collector at St. Marks, that Mr. Magbee was sent to jail for an infraction of the 5th Ordinance, of the city of Tampa.  You will oblige several other Citizens besides myself, by publishing the aforesaid Ordinance.

Ordinance No. 5
Any person or persons who shall commit a riot, or an affray, or who shall make loud noise, or vociferation, or shall do malicious injury to private or public property, or shall do any other act or acts having tendency to disturb the peace of the inhabitants within the incorporation, shall be deemed guilty of disorderly conduct, and on conviction thereof before the Mayor shall suffer punishment at his discretion."

My reason for this communication is to defend M. Post as Mayor of the City of Tampa from the charge of having fined and imprisoned one of his fellow citizens without any testimony to convict him of the infraction of any Ordinance, which would subject him to the penalties thereunto appended.

[Signed] FAIR PLAY

Henry A. Crane had a modest but successful military career in the 2nd and 3rd Seminole Wars.  He was a man of moderate means, but his literary abilities provided him with the opportunity to serve in many minor political positions.

Crane was born in New Jersey in 1811 and worked as a clerk in Washington DC.  He came to Florida during the 2nd Seminole War where he engaged for the first time in fighting for his country.  After his enlistment expired, he settled in St. Augustine where he met and married Sophia Allen.  Their only son, Henry Lafayette Crane, was born in 1838.

In the 1840s he staked out a claim in Orange County, near Fort Mellon, now part of Sanford.  He was a Clerk of the Circuit Court and in 1844, Gov. Moseley nominated him for judge of probate at Orange Co.  In 1852 he brought his family to Tampa, gave up farming, and worked full time as the printer of the Tampa Herald newspaper.

He was intelligent and inquisitive enough to profit from his readings about new inventions elsewhere in the world.  He became interested in photography during its early development, and 6 years after ambrotype photography was introduced, he listed his occupation as an ambrotype artist.

Read more about Henry A. Crane further down in this feature.

Blockaders, Refugees, & Contrabands - Civil War on Florida's Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 by George E. Buker, "Henry Crane - Unionist"

The legal system was being attacked in the Peninsular and lawyers like Magbee were charged with misleading juries.

On June 5, 1858, the embattled Magbee set forth his case in a four-page letter to the Peninsular. He denied that he had "neglected any of our official or professional business on account of drink" and also attacked the Regulators. (Unfortunately, the issues of the Peninsular online from May 1, 1858 to June 12, 1858 are missing.)

The following week (June 12) the Peninsular responded with this.  Included in the response are details of Magbee's "violation of the 5th ordinance" stemming from the April altercation with Hays:
 

Parts of the rest of the Peninsular's response:

• Mr. Magbee may not be apprised of the fact, but over and over again he has apprised the community of this fact by his drunken brawls in the streets.

• With a modesty that ill becomes the poltroon, Magbee inquires...

• He is guilty of deliberate falsehood, for it is fact well know to our citizens..

• ...is worthy of the man who quotes from Virgil--an author he cannot read in the original, nor understand by means of his translation.

• He is undeniably a blackguard.  Yet his chances of success at the outset of his career in this County, were great and manifold.  Our delegation in Congress took him by the hand, bestowing upon him an office, the duties of which he did not understand, and would not perform.  Fortune favored him, a frontier education and society--expanded and polished his natural love of liquor, and improved his manner into the insinuating and the irresistible address of the drunken loafer.  He early became popular with that class, and might have erected a laudable reputation in their midst, had he possessed ordinary meanness.  His moral stamen was weak, and instead of seeking the comparatively bracing and healthy society of dock loafers, he preferred the impurer airs, and gave way readily to lower and more...[illegible] of his descent, after many warnings.

• His tendency has always been downwards.  He has been cautioned, punished and forgiven.

• Competency, love, friendship, reputation all were neglected and forfeited--abandoned under the detestable passion for drink and ignoble company.

• ...He became a vagabond, the slanderer of honest men--the delirious drunken vagabond of the lowest shops--hated by some--despised by others, and avoided by all respectable men.

• He has attained the lowest abyss of moral imbecility, and disrepute...

• Aside from his gross intemperance, his character is jealous, irritable and weak altogether, wanting in honesty of purpose in all that is frank, manly and generous.  Add this to his moral depravity and you have a picture of the man--one that every resident of this City will recognize and confirm.

• His address is a disconnected mass of falsehood--known to be such by our community--intended to be used abroad and among strangers.

• Before our next issue he will be supplanted in office by an honorable and high-minded gentleman.  This will give an impetus to the cause of Democracy that cannot be shaken.  In fact, our party will hang out her ensign, inscribed, "Redeemed, regenerated and disenthralled."

• "We are done with Col. Magbee, -- so has the party!!" 

See the entire response  VanLandingham refers to it as Henry Crane's "diatribe."]

Crane criticizes Magbee's English grammar and his Latin, then hints at how to decipher TRIUQS.  He also makes reference to James Hays, with whom Magbee had his last altercation, and Veritas, Latin for "Truth."

See the entire June 12, 1858 Crane exposé on the Mystic Society in Hillsborough County.
It starts at the top of column 2, on the front page.

A posthumous portrait of Hamlin Valentine Snell by artist Ruth Finney Horney. Snell was one of the early settlers of the Village of Manatee. As president of the Florida Senate, he introduced the bill that created Manatee County in 1854.   He was Tampa's 8th mayor, though only from Feb. 2 to May 1861. On hearing the news that Confederate guns had fired on Fort Sumter, Mayor Snell proclaimed a day of celebration. On April 21, 1861, the 20th Florida Regiment took over the abandoned Fort Brooke and declared Tampa under martial law. About three weeks later, Snell resigned as Mayor and hurriedly left Tampa after selling his properties. Photo from the Manatee Co. Public Library System. Info from the same and City of Tampa.
 

June 26, 1858 Florida Peninsular
Alfonso DeLaunay resigning as Postmaster

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In 1858 my father came to the conclusion the country would be benefited from the exportation of cattle to Havana, Cuba, so he purchased the brig Huntress, fitted her up with cattle pens and contracted with the Morgan Steamship Line to load their decks twice each month, paying $1,500 per trip, whether he loaded the decks or not. He constructed a small dock at Ballast Point and lightered the cattle out of these vessels. Through this source quite a sum of money was placed in circulation in south Florida. In fact after the military left this part of the country the shipment of cattle was the only source of obtaining money. There was only a small amount of sea island cotton made in this section and some potatoes, sugar and hides. These were brought to town and sold in trade, for other goods.

Faced with what they considered to be Sen. David Yulee's treachery, the Tampa area residents decided to build their own railroad line. In the summer of 1858 these men-including future governors Ossian Hart and Henry Mitchell-organized the Florida Peninsula Railroad. Bragged Tampa's newspaper, "This movement is the very thing we needed, and we heartily rejoice at it.  A yellow fever epidemic devastated the community, however, and no progress was made. Another effort was launched in 1859 under the chairmanship of Capt. James McKay.17 Before financing could be secured, the Civil War extinguished any chance of construction.

Tampa and the Coming of the Railroad, 1853-1884, by Canter Brown, Jr, in The Sunland Tribune, Volume XVII November, 1991 Journal of the Tampa Historical Society.

The Floridian & Journal, July 3, 1858

While deeply involved in his varied enterprises, in 1859, Captain McKay, Sr. was elected Mayor of Tampa. He served as Tampa's 6th mayor, from  February 12, 1859 to Feb. 1, 1860, the only non-U.S. citizen to ever do so.

Read more about James McKay on this separate page at TampaPix.

The Scottish Chief, the celebrated side wheeler steamship in Tampa's history, arrived in the Hillsborough River for the first time on July 26, 1859; her owner was William G. Ferris.  "Her arrival was announced by the booming of cannon, the flourish of trumpets, and the hearty huzzas of the entire population. The Tampa cornet band boarded her, with a few citizens and she steamed up the river a short distance and returned to the delight and entire satisfaction of all concerned." 

[The above information about the debut of the Scottish Chief is from Tony Pizzo's "James McKay The Scottish Chief" article.  He does not cite the source but it sounds like a newspaper article. The July 30, 1859 Peninsular makes no mention of this event, neither does the Aug. 6 issue or the July 16 issue. or the July 9 issue.]

In 1860, as mayor, McKay sought to purchase the entire Fort Brooke military property for the city since the Fort was no longer needed for military purposes. Unsuccessful in purchasing it, he was able to lease it from the government.  The City held the property until the Civil War broke out and the Confederate Army occupied the garrison.

The flag of the Confederacy was then unfurled by the citizens with appropriate ceremonies. Captain McKay raised his flag in front of his store, followed by Charlie Brown's clothing establishment.  Mr. Ferris and son, not to be outdone, hoisted the U.S. flag in front of their store--upside down.

The Civil War brought an end to McKay's lucrative cattle trade with Havana. A few weeks before the war, McKay had purchased 10,000 head of cattle for transport to Cuba, but most of these were driven to Tennessee for the Confederate Army.

By James McKay, Jr. in "Reminiscences - History of Tampa in the Olden Days"  Dec. 18, 1923

In January, 1860, there was constructed a pasture fence, beginning on Hillsborough Bay just near the present site of the Spanish sanitarium, extending across the peninsula about two miles north of Port Tampa, to old Tampa bay, for the purpose of concentrating cattle.

The demand for cattle had increased to such an extent that my father in the spring of this year went north to purchase a steamer suitable for the trade and after searching the eastern ports, not finding a suitable vessel, went to Chicago and there purchased the steamer Salvor. She was not of sufficient size for the trade, so he took her to New York, cut her in two, putting 70 feet in the middle of her.

Before leaving Tampa he purchased from Captain L. G. Lesley, his entire stock of the S. V. brand of cattle, as well as 2,000 head of beef cattle from other parties. These cattle were all delivered to this pasture by June 5. The steamer should have arrived here by June 1, but owing to the slow manner of completing the work on her, she did not reach Tampa until the middle of July. 

In the meantime the pasture went dry, not a drop of water for cattle and many died before the rains began. There were only about some 3,500 head that were in a condition to stand shipping, and those that were left alive, we altered the marks and brands and drove to Manatee county. The pen where I received all this number of cattle, some 8,000 head, was situated some 200 yards from where I am now living. At that time there was but one house within one mile of the pens. What wonderful improvements have I witnessed since that time.

Jan. 14, 1860 Florida Peninsular
Magbee represented the widow of judge and former mayor of Tampa, James B. Lancaster.
 

Jan. 14, 1860 Florida Peninsular
Proposals are being solicited since Dec. 24, 1859 for repairs to the courthouse.

1860 - Magbee Wins a Senate Seat at age 40

In 1860 the political tides turned, and during the election year, a bitter election season, with a little serendipity, two pro-frontier candidates attained legislative seats -- Magbee managed a comeback by defeating William B. Hooker’s son-in-law, Benjamin Hagler, for election as southwest Florida’s state senator, and Joseph Howell was victorious in the House. 

William B. Hooker
 Photo from LaMartin.com

Madison Post
Tampa's 5th mayor
Photo from City of Tampa

Benjamin Hagler, who became Wm. B. Hooker's son-in-law in 1851, succeeded Hooker’s brother John as sheriff in 1849 and remained in office as Sheriff until 1853. John Parker (who had married the widow of Hooker's brother Stephen) was elected to the county commission in 1849 for a two-year term. Thus Hooker’s position and power were enhanced by the presence of his relatives in high positions. Hooker and his wife Mary were concerned that their children marry well and live comfortably. They gave $2,000 a year to each son-in-law. Capt. Hooker was opposed to his daughter, Martha, marrying Benjamin Hagler, whom he considered an "old fogy" with an irritating speech impediment. He preferred that she marry her suitor, George G. Keen, from Columbia County. But Mrs. Hooker prevailed, believing Sheriff Hagler to be a wealthy match for her daughter. As it turned out, Martha married Hagler in 1851, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1866.
 

1860 Federal Census: Magbee a Wealthy Man

At the end of 1860, James T. Magbee was a wealthy man. He had 760 acres of land and improvements valued at $3,000 and 14 slaves worth $8,500. The census reported his household in the city of Tampa and the value of his personal property, including slaves, at $13,700.  He was listed as 40 years old, which is consistent with an 1820 birth year.  His wife, Susan (Tatum) was 29--an 11-year age difference. Living a few households away was William B. Hooker and his famil

Magbee ad in May 1861 Peninsular newspaper--an ad he had been running since at least Feb. 1855.

Nov. 10, 1860 Peninsular - The Tampa Cornet Band gave a concert on Nov. 8 to an appreciative audience.  The band is "an institution of which our citizens justly feel proud.  Long may it--blow!"