Restoring the Union following the destruction of the Civil War proved to be an enormous task. Several questions emerged in the wake of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865; namely, the pace and scope of reintegrating former rebels and Confederate states back into the Union, rebuilding the southern economy, and the futures of millions of newly freed slaves.

President Abraham Lincoln’s desire to enact swift Reconstruction clashed with the so-called Radical Republicans in Congress who wanted to punish the South. President Andrew Johnson, who took office after Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, tried to follow Lincoln’s general approach to Reconstruction and was eventually impeached for it (and acquitted.)

Part of the plan implemented by Johnson included granting amnesty to some former Confederates who pledged an oath of allegiance to the United States.

The only known physical description of James T. Magbee
These oaths of allegiance were entered in Leon County between May 31 and June 17, 1865. The signees, although primarily from Northern Florida, represented several Florida counties and a few different states. These rosters include information otherwise available in census or service records, such as date, name, residence and occupation. Of particular interest are Pages 5 and 6, which also include columns for complexion, hair and eye color, and height.

James T. Magbee of Wakulla Co, Lawyer, Light complexion, grey hair, blue eyes, 5 ft. 9 in. tall

See the entire document and transcription.

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

After the close of the war we all returned to our homes, which we found in most instances in a dilapidated condition. Tampa was a hard-looking place. Houses were in bad order. Streets and lots were grown up mostly with weeds and the outlook certainly was not very encouraging. To make matters worse two companies of negro soldiers were sent to garrison the place. White officers commanded them. It was not long before the troops became overbearing and in some instances threatened arrests of our citizens.

I was one that was to be brought before a military court, for the destruction of papers and documents. Getting uneasy over the many reports coming in, I with my brother Donald, mounted our horses and laid out in the woods for six weeks. The excited condition of the country and activity of the officers at this place being reported to Washington by a revenue officer, a special agent was sent here to investigate with authority to act and he soon had matters straightened out.

I received notice from my father to report to the commanding officer in the garrison before stopping anywhere, which I did and was given a paper stating that I was not to be molested only on order from Washington. Shortly after this event the negro soldiers were removed and white troops of the regular army went to garrison the place. It was not long before they were on good terms with the citizens - and assisted in pushing the town ahead, trying to make us forget that we were enemies at one time.

Of the seven storms during the 1865 storm season, two were hurricanes.  The seventh storm and final tropical hurricane of the 1865 season formed on October 18, just north of the coast of Panama. The storm brushed the country's coast with high waves for several days, causing $300,000 in damage. Moving north-northwestward, the storm intensified into a hurricane by October 21 over the western Caribbean. After turning more to the north, it struck Cuba, producing strong winds that destroyed the roof of the Belen College Observatory in Havana. In the city, the hurricane destroyed several boats and houses. A station on the island recorded a pressure of 975 mbar (28.78 inHg), suggesting winds of about 80 mph (135 km/h).

After crossing the island, the hurricane intensified further over the Florida straits until striking Key West, Florida, where peak winds were estimated around 105 mph (165 km/h). Its pressure was estimated at 969 millibars (28.6 inHg), and the hurricane either sunk or washed every boat ashore at the harbor in Key West. Rainfall totaled 4.10 in (104 mm) over a three-day period. In nearby Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, the hurricane destroyed one building and damaged several others, killing one person. It later moved across the Florida mainland, weakening slightly. About a dozen ships encountered the hurricane across the western Atlantic, before the storm was last observed on October 25 north of Bermuda.

Wikipedia - 1865 Atlantic hurricane season

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

My father succeeded in getting to Havana by a fishing smack and from his friends in Cuba got sufficient funds to take him to New York, landing there with only a few dollars in his pocket. Meeting the old merchants he dealt with previous to the war, they assisted him in buying a vessel named Honduras, costing $72,000, which had carried Union troops to Tampa.  He renamed it the Governor Marvin.

He also bought a stock of goods valued at $24,000. He left New York in October, 1865, with this vessel loaded and 165 passengers. He met a hurricane off St. Augustine and came very near losing the vessel and all hands, but by the graciousness of the Heavenly Father he pulled through it with some slight losses only.

Two or three days after the hurricane, in passing down along the Florida reef, he saw some 21 vessels of all kinds ashore, as quick as he could, he discharged freight and passengers that were for Key West, patched the steamer up, and left for a bark loaded with sugar and a steamer that was ashore and worked on them for two weeks, for which he received enough to pay for one-half of the Marvin.

The Honduras was originally built to carry cattle from Honduras to Cuba just at the beginning of the war, but was taken by the United States Government.  At that time she was chartered by the United States Government and was used as a transport along the Florida coast from New Orleans to Key West and the Tortugas.  My father purchased her in New York after the War in 1865, and I lost her in the hurricane of 1872, but got her into the harbor of Key West before she sank. She was named after the Provisional Governor of Florida who was and had been a true friend of my father long before the Civil War.

Many times have I read the log books of these vessels giving an account of this expedition. Captain Van Sice commanded the Honduras at the time of this expedition. I got acquainted with him in Havana after the war, he then being master of the City of Vera Cruz of the Alexander Steamship Line plying between New York and Havana. He discussed with me the capture of Tampa.  A few years later Captain Van Sice, with the City of Vera Cruz, was lost in a hurricane off St. Augustine.

When reaching Tampa about the last of November, he entered into the shipping of cattle to Cuba but as the cattle were beginning to get poor and the grass being bad in Cuba, they did not sell for sufficient to pay for cost, duties, and freight and about the last of December he discontinued shipping them. In the meantime stores opened on Washington street and although there was not much money in circulation, still there was considerable business, mostly in trade.  K. Roberts and Company operated a weekly line of steamers along the coast from New Orleans to Havana, bringing freight and passengers. That was of great assistance to this section of south Florida.

Image from Florida Memory, State Library & Archives of Florida.  See all pages there.

Judge Perry G. Wall and the Civil War

Judge Wall Appointed to Freedmen's Bureau
 

Wall was to play a prominent role in Hernando County Reconstruction. On November 2, 1865, apparently after a meeting in Tallahassee, Wall was appointed agent for the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands in Hernando County. He was directed to "proceed at once to systematize the affairs of the county in so far as the Bureau has jurisdiction; and, especially so far as it is in his control, induce the Freedmen to make contracts for labor with the planters and other parties wishing to employ them."  The order was signed by Col. Thomas W. Osborn, Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau in Florida.

Writing to Thomas from Brooksville on December 8, Wall outlined his actions as agent:

The Bureau was established in the War Department in 1865 to undertake the relief effort and the unprecedented social reconstruction that would bring freed people to full citizenship. It issued food and clothing, operated hospitals and temporary camps, helped locate family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employment, supervised labor contracts, provided legal representation, investigated racial confrontations, settled freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands, and worked with African American soldiers and sailors and their heirs to secure back pay, bounty payments, and pensions.

On the presumption that I am superseded as agent by the Judge of Probate of this county, I will proceed no further in the duties thereof at least until I shall hear from you."

The records left by the Freedmen's Bureau through its work between 1865 and 1872 constitute the richest and most extensive documentary source available for investigating the African American experience in the post-Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Historians have used these materials to explore government and military policies, local conditions, and interactions between freed people, local white populations, and Bureau officials.  Read about the entire collection, including marriage records, at the National Archives

Judge Wall Controversy
 

In March 1866, Lt. William G. Vance, sub-assistant commissioner for the Bureau, was in Brooksville. He reported that he had visited Judge Wall "to have him accept the civil agency for the county which after some hesitation he did."  Almost immediately after his appointment, Wall was involved in controversy.  Acting at Vance’s direction, and in his capacity as civil agent, he performed a marriage ceremony for a black couple who had lived together for many years as man and wife. This violated an act of the state General Assembly and he was brought up on charges before the county criminal court.  Fearing that Wall might be subjected to a whipping or the pillory, Gen. Foster ordered the commanding officer at Tampa to send a force of ten men to Brooksville to keep order. If Wall, who was described as a "sound and truly loyal man," was sentenced to corporal punishment, he was to be taken to Tampa for protection. The trial was postponed to June and Vance wrote to Osborne on May 25:

They have got a very poor opinion of the Judge here and say he was a good secessionist as any of them till the War ended when he took sides with the Unionists. But from what I have seen of him he appears a good Union Man. The people in this section of the country are strongly opposed to those men who have been Unionists or in our army and every little chance they can get they bring them before the court, and punish them with very heavy fines while men of their own opinions go free after committing more grievous offences.

Judge Wall was forced to relinquish his position as special agent for the Freedmen’s Bureau in August 1867 because he was unable to take the "test oath," also known as the Ironclad oath, which was required of all Federal officers. The oath disqualified from Federal service those persons who had supported the rebellion. As a former county officer who had taken an oath to support the U. S. Constitution and later engaged in rebellion, Wall was also disqualified from holding Federal or state office under the 14th Amendment which was ratified in 1868. But when Congress passed its first act in 1868 removing disabilities from former Confederates, Perry Wall was one of 14 Florida men whose right to hold office was restored.

"To Faithfully Discharge My Duty - The Life and Career of Perry Green Wall" by Kyle S. VanLandingham, The Sunland Tribune, A Journal of the Tampa Historical Society, Vol. 23, Nov. 1997

Aug 9, 1866 ad in Tallahassee Florida Sentinel

The Florida Weekly - Nov. 12, 1867 - Magbee ad in Tallahassee newspaper

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

In 1866, during the summer, the trade with Cuba had increased to such an extent that my father purchased [another former Union steamship], the Huzzas and renamed it "Southern Star," to assist the Governor Marvin to freight cattle, but the demand did not last longer than that year, as the insurrection in Cuba broke out and buyers were afraid to put cattle on pastures.

Nov. 16, 1866 Floridian

Elections were held per the state legislature to reorganize the city’s incorporation. E. A. Clarke elected mayor; Dr. L.A. Lively, R.F. Nunez, Josiah Ferris, and B.C. Leonardi, councilmen; and John G. Robles, marshal. In order to meet financial obligations, occupational taxes were levied; many objections were raised; protests ensue with talk of real estate taxes; a “no corporation” slate of officers pledge to discontinue the government until better times return.

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

Governor Harrison Reed
9th Governor of Florida
Florida Memory State Archives

Aug. 15, 1868 Peninsular - Appointment of Magbee

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

A renegade judge of the court was placed in office in this section and with the notorious Jim Green and his deserters to assist him, they joined the republican party, the fight became quite interesting. The loyal Confederates soon were engaged in a struggle that was not much inferior to the war between the states.  At one time it appeared as another losing proposition but with the aid of the Ku Klux Klan, all over the south began to see daylight.

In 1876 this state as well as others, emerged from the fight by placing George E Drew in the governor’s chair, [but] Florida’s presidential vote was given to Hayes. It was not long after this when the renegades and deserters were fired from office and sound democrats installed. From that time this section began to improve, and every person felt safe and happy. Previous to this there were many night rides by the citizens, to accomplish what they did.

Rowell's American Newspaper Directory edited by George Presbury Rowell, 1870

William Benton Henderson, 1891
Photo from Florida Memory, State Library & Archives of Florida
 

Unlike many of Tampa’s identifiable sections, Tampa Heights was an area of many small subdivisions, established by original homesteaders or developers. Most of the early homes were constructed by individual contractors and while the area had its share of land speculators, the Heights was designed for Tampans with little newspaper promotion and attractions for Northern winter visitors.

Perhaps the four block Tampa Heights subdivision, created in September of 1889, by William Benton Henderson, best reflected the growing prestige of Tampa Heights in the last decade of the nineteenth century.

The eldest child of a large Georgia farm family, Henderson made his own way in life at the age of twelve. He came with his father to Fort Brooke in 1846 and started one of the first stores on the Alafia River. He married Caroline Spencer, daughter of Palma Ceia homesteader William Samuel Spencer.

It was during the Civil War that Henderson gained his Colonel status, serving first in Captain (judge) James Gettis’ Company D of the 7th Florida Regiment and later commanding John T. Lesley’s Company after Lesley was wounded. 

After the war, he joined Captain John Miller in a steamboat and mercantile business that dominated Tampa’s commercial contact with the outside world.

Henderson was a diversified and dynamic promoter: he introduced Durham bulls into the Florida cattle industry; he built Tampa’s first telegraph line; he started the banana trade with Central America; and consolidated two local papers into the Tampa Times.

His business ventures were so successful that he retired from active business, channeling his energies into financial investments and public service. This active involvement brought him even greater influence, as he served as: President of the Tampa Building and Loan Association, President of the West Tampa Land and Improvement Company,. President of the Tampa Publishing Company, President of Tampa’s first Railway Company, City Councilman, Chairman of the County School Board, and Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.

When he built a large house, complete with observation turret, on the bluff at Tampa Heights, he was soon surrounded by so many business and family associates that the two block section of Seventh Avenue East resembled a Henderson corporate center, which would heavily influence Tampa’s economic growth for many years.

Henderson' home on 7th Ave, in 1902

TAMPA HEIGHTS: TAMPA’S FIRST RESIDENTIAL SUBURB, By Marston C. Leonard
THE SUNLAND TRIBUNE Volume IV Number 1 November, 1978 Journal of the TAMPA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
 

By the end of the 1860s the City of Tampa faced a bleak future. Former Confederate officer and leading Tampa citizen John T. Lesley ran for mayor in Tampa’s 1869 election with a simple campaign promise: vote for him and he would abolish the City of Tampa.  Citizens of Tampa voted overwhelmingly for the No Corporation People’s Ticket. The platform of this party was to close the city government in Tampa, thus forcing the state legislature to revoke Tampa’s 1855 city charter by allowing it to lapse, effectively eliminating the City of Tampa as a legal municipality. The charter was revoked on October 4, 1869 due to the deadline in a state act providing for the reorganization of municipalities.

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

County commissioners decreed that “as the City of Tampa has forfeited its charter, all property of the City shall be taken over by the county clerk.”

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

  Legal battle sets the stage for more obstacles

Former Florida State Senator David Yulee is in the news for a lawsuit in New York involving Francis Vose.  Later, Vose would play an antagonist's role by impeding the progress of the railroad development in Florida.

Around 1859, the Florida Railroad bought iron from the firm of Vose & Livingston in New York, and gave its note endorsed by Sen. David Yulee 195 Internal Improvement Bonds for $1,000 each as collateral security.  Later, around 1870, the firm of Vose & Livingston would dissolve, and the note and bonds would come into possession of Mr. Vose as his share of the assets.  This issue would later escalate to the point of deterring the progress of the railroads in Florida. The story continues later.

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

I have been compelled to mention my father many times, which I could not prevent, from the fact that in the early days of Tampa there was not a single interest connected with the town but what he was either the originator, or connected with it in some manner. He was identified with every improvement in the town.

As this article is rather lengthy I will close, wishing you and all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year..

H. B. Plant's steamer Olivette was a 250-foot ship built under the supervision of Capt. James McKay, Jr. in Philadelphia and launched February 16, 1887. Captain McKay, Jr. brought the vessel in April 29, 1887 [to Tampa] and thereafter served as her master.

James McKay Jr. on his horse during the 2nd Gasparilla invasion, 1905.
Photo from the Lesley Collection, Tampa Bay History Center.
By TampaPix:  This photo might not be quite this old.  Compare to his 1902 election photo with beard and this Jan. 15, 1918 passport application photo.  The Gasparilla photo more closely resembles him in 1918.:

See his passport application, he is mistaken about his father's whereabouts from 1831 to 1876.

State Senator John T. Lesley, ca. 1885
Photo from Florida Memory, State Library & Archives of Florida
 

The antagonism between federal authorities and Tampa residents was the foundation for John Lesley’s mayoral campaign in early 1869. He campaigned on a single platform that Tampa’s charter should be revoked by the state legislature due to the City’s destitute financial condition. The majority of residents agreed and Lesley was elected mayor on March 1, 1869. While a city clerk, treasurer and a city council was elected, the Lesley Administration did little more than wait until the state legislature revoked Tampa’s Charter due to a inactive government.

Lesley was elected to the Florida House in 1876 and the Senate in 1878 being reelected in 1882. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1885. He was also owner of John T. Lesley's wholesale and retail drug store. He died on July 13, 1913.  Tampa’s status as a non-chartered city continued until 1887 when residents voted to re-incorporate the city.
 

James Dopson Green, Unionist
One of the earliest pioneers of the Peace River valley.  He was a county officer in the 1850s, a captain in the Union Army, and the area's main Republican leader during Reconstruction.
Photo and info from Florida's Peace River Frontier, 1997, by Canter Brown, Jr.

Capt. James D. Green, a pioneer settler of Hillsborough and Manatee counties, was a controversial figure in the Civil War and Reconstruction era in South Florida.  Green's most radical act while serving as Manatee's Representative was his efforts to impeach Governor Harrison Reed. In the special legislative session in November 1868 H. S. Harmon, James D. Green, and Marcellus L. Stearns were appointed a committee to prepare and report articles of impeachment against the governor. The ensuing resolution was reported to the Senate as though the governor had been impeached, and Lt. Governor William H. Gleason, an opponent of the governor, opportunistically interpreted it to mean he was governor. Governor Reed, however, outmaneuvered his enemies and successfully had Gleason removed from office as he had not been a citizen of the state for two years as required by the constitution.

James Dopson Green, by Spessard Stone

Gov. Reed has appointed the Hon. Perry G. Wall, Judge of the County Court for Hillsborough County. This is an excellent appointment and it will, we feel assured, give universal satisfaction. - Judge Wall has filled with fidelity many important offices in this State, and whilst he presides as Judge of the County Court he will do so intelligently, impartially and independently.

The local Republican County Committee, chaired by Judge James T Magbee, was not pleased with the appointment of Wall.  Magbee, having been impeached by the House, was awaiting trial and thus temporarily out of office,  retained influence but was opposed by other Tampa Republican leaders C. R. Mobley and Matthew P. Lyons.

Judge Perry G. Wall
Image from THE SUNLAND TRIBUNE, Journal of the TAMPA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Volume XXIII November, 1997

 

Magbee had reason to dislike the Wall family. One of the impeachment charges against him involved his alleged improper purchase and use of goods and supplies obtained from the firm of Eddington and Wall in Brooksville (co-owned by Billy Wall, a son of Judge Wall.)

As county judge, Perry G. Wall also served as ex officio probate judge and also as a justice of the peace. He and his son, Dr. John Wall, had their initiation into the printing business when Republican C. R. Mobley acquired the Florida Peninsular in late 1871. Mobley turned it into a Republican newspaper and hired William P Neeld who in turn retained the Judge and Doctor as editors. Publication continued only a few months until the paper went bust in the spring of 1872.

Judge Wall continued in office until April 26, 1873 when he tendered his resignation to Gov. Ossian B. Hart. On March 10, 1873, Judge Wall had received the lucrative appointment of Postmaster at Tampa from President Ulysses S. Grant. He served as postmaster until January 22, 1877 when he was replaced by Robert B. Thomas.

In retirement, Perry G. Wall suffered the loss of his wife, Barbara, on May 30, 1883. Her body was returned to the old home place at Spring Hill and she was buried in the Lykes Cemetery. Perry did not remain a widower for long and on December 4, 1883, he married Sarah Watlington of Key West, the 47-year old daughter of Francis and Emilene Watlington. Perry and Sarah entered in to a prenuptial agreement prior to the marriage. They lived at their home in Tampa, occasionally visiting Key West and spending some time at the resort of Rocky Point, on Old Tampa Bay, west of downtown Tampa. At 4 o’clock on the afternoon of July 8, 1897, at the home of his daughter, Julia Ann Wall Friebele, on Franklin Street, Perry Green Wall died, after an illness of several weeks duration. He was 87 years old. His will named his two younger sons, Joseph and Charles, as executors, he having outlived his three oldest sons.
 

Tampa rail hopes rekindled

Not all hope was lost for a railroad connection to Tampa. In 1870 south Florida’s cattle trade with Cuba began to prosper again, and local enthusiasm was rekindled. At Governor Reed’s urging, the legislature approved several lines into south Florida. One group, backed by area residents such as cattleman Francis A. Hendry and lawyer John A. Henderson, planned to build a line from near Gainesville directly to Tampa. Hillsborough and Polk County investors similarly organized the Upper St. John’s, Mellonville, Tampa & South Florida Rail Road to tie the town to the St. Johns River.

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.

Prospects improve for a railroad line to Tampa

With the legislature's approval of several railroad lines into south Florida, and Hendry and Henderson's plan to build a line from near Gainesville directly to Tampa, along with investors organizing to build two lines, excitement again was in the Tampa air, and the town’s prospects were boasted.

An 1871 "Commercial Convention" attempted to organize local efforts, and its members prepared to notify the country of the area’s "many natural advantages” to draw in business.

July 8, 1871 Florida Peninsular

(Edited for brevity.)

Francis Vose derails Tampa's hopes

But within months, the hopes of Tampa came crashing down. A New York investor in Florida bonds, Francis Vose, obtained a federal injunction barring the state from granting land to support railroads. Construction plans came to an immediate halt.

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.

Facts of the Vose case

The Vose case was described in a general statement of facts in the June 2, 1875 Jacksonville The New Sun:

Republican meeting at courthouse leaves Magbee without support

July 22, 1871 The Peninsular takes its usual dim, satirical view of the day's planned Republican meeting.

July 29, 1871 Peninsular-An article about the July 22, 1871 meeting

Editor H. L. Mitchell delights in Magbee's downfall at the meeting of radical leaders and citizens of the previous Saturday.

1871 - Oct. 23 Town of Tampa votes to not incorporate

Florida Peninsular, Oct 28, 1871

Florida Peninsular, Nov 18, 1871

1873 - August 11 - Tampa becomes a Town, Lipscomb elected Mayor

By mid-summer of 1873 economic conditions had improved to such an extent that the citizens decided that a municipal government should be re-established.  On August 11, 1873, a public meeting of “persons residing within the original 160-acre township” took place at the County Courthouse and the 48 electors who attended voted to incorporate, this time as a town instead of as a city. The vote was 48 to 0 for incorporation as a town.

James Edgar Lipscomb, at age 23, was voted the first mayor of the Town of Tampa. Charles Hanford, clerk, and John G. Robles, marshal. Councilmen elected were W. T. Haskins, E. A. Clarke, John T. Lesley, Josiah Ferris and Henry L. Crane. Soon afterward, the first town seal was designed and adopted. It showed a palm-surrounded waterfront with a few sail and steamboats in the foreground.

The corporation went by the name Town of Tampa until it was granted its second City Charter by the Florida State Legislature in 1887. 

The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015 
Tampa, A History of the City, etc by Karl H. Grismer

1873 - Aug. 11 to Jul. 15 - Mayors during the Town of Tampa years

Mayors of the period: James E. Lipscomb, Harlan P. Lovering, Thomas E. Jackson, Dr. John P. Wall, Henry Clarke Ferris, George B. Sparkman, Duff Post, and Herman Glogowski.

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

Owen Huggins Dishong, 1st Sheriff of DeSoto County
1887 to 1894 & 1897 to 1901
Photo from DeSoto Co. Sheriff website - Our History"

E. A. Clarke
10th mayor of Tampa

O. H. Dishong is buried in Owen Cemetery, Arcadia, DeSoto County.
Photo from Finda-a-Grave.

Illustration from
D. B. McKay's Pioneer Florida,

Marcellus Lovejoy Stearns
Florida's 11th Governor
Mar. 18, 1874 - Jan. 2, 1877. 
Photo from Florida Memory,
State Library & Archives of Florida

Savannah Morning News,
Feb. 24, 1875 -- page 1

Toddy - a usually hot drink consisting of liquor (such as rum), water, sugar, and spices.

Savannah Morning News, Mar. 18, 1875 -- page 2

Mar. 6, 1875 Jacksonville's The New South
The New South's editor urges that the Vose Suit be settled at any cost, before it reaches the Florida Supreme Court.

Savannah Morning News,
Apr. 28, 1875 -- page 1

Worthy Chief Templar was Dr. John P. Wall, also noted for his former drinking habits. When Wall's half-brother, Joseph Baisden Wall, a local attorney, was proposed for membership, Magbee objected. Shortly after, Magbee was charged with violating his pledge by becoming intoxicated and was expelled. His wife was also expelled on the charge that she had cast two blackballs against the admission of Wall.

Savannah Morning News, May 19, 1875 -- page 1

Savannah Morning News, Aug. 7, 1875 -- page 1

Savannah Morning News, Aug. 14, 1875 -- page 1

Savannah Morning News, Sep. 11, 1875 -- page 1

Savannah Morning News, Oct. 5, 1875 -- page 1
Magbee appointed as Notary Public by Gov. Stearns

Savannah Morning News, Nov. 16, 1875 -- page 1

Savannah Morning News, Jul. 7, 1876 -- page 1

Savannah Morning News, Aug. 19, 1876 -- page 4
This one is interesting because in 1885 Magbee would marry a young lady from Philly.

Monroe St. was renamed Florida Ave. in the 1880s.

Savannah Morning News, Feb. 9, 1877 -- page 1 
Magbee removed as Notary by Gov. Drew

Sunland Tribune, July 28, 1877 --p John Wall ad 

(Above) Sunland Tribune, August 17, 1878 --p2
Dr. John P. Wall considers the Guardian to be "a convict's paper--the proper medium for all kind of ribaldry, scurrility and other indecencies, from blackguards and poltroons."
 

Sunland Tribune, August 31, 1878 (Right)
Another Bait of Crow
 

Criticism of Gov. Drew, who when campaigning for governor, promised not to appoint anyone to office without conforming to the will of the people and the party which put him in power. Despite delegates' request to have Magbee removed as State Notary during the previous governor (Stearns) term, Drew reappointed him as Notary anyway.  Democrats take it as an insult.

With the end of Reconstruction, emboldened Democrats often sought revenge against their former enemies. Magbee was indicted April 13, 1877 by the Polk County grand jury for "maliciously threatening an injury to the person of another with intent thereby to extort pecuniary advantages." A year later, on April 10, 1878, he was convicted but Magbee succeeded in having the verdict set aside with an order for a new trial. Another year passed and the charges were dismissed on May 19, 1879.

Savannah Morning News, Sep. 20, 1877 -- page 1 

Sunland Tribune, August 17, 1878 --p3 Caning

Joseph Baisden Wall prospered as a lawyer, entered politics, and by 1886 was President of the State Senate. He was hot tempered like his nephew-in-law, James E. Lipscomb.
 

Portrait from the 10th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida

The Lipscomb caning incident

On August 12, 1878, Magbee was caned on the streets of Tampa.  James E. Lipscomb, the former mayor who had (reportedly) tried to kill Magbee in 1874, accosted him about an Aug. 10, 1878 article in his newspaper, the Tampa Guardian, which he considered offensive to the late William W. Wall, Lipscomb's former employer and the uncle of his wife.  According to the Democratic Sunland Tribune, Lipscomb asked for the author of the article and Magbee "drew a pistol." Lipscomb "collared and jerked the old sinner out of his buggy and caned him to his entire satisfaction.” 

William "Billy" Washington Wall, a son of Judge Perry Green Wall, was a well-respected Tampa businessman. His death in 1878 was considered a serious calamity by all of Tampa. In 1884, Billy's mercantile business was resurrected. Henry Laurens Knight, a son-in-law of Billy Wall, formed the Knight & Wall Company with Billy's young son, Perry G. Wall, II, who was only 17 at the time. (Photo below.)

Perry's uncle and financial guardian, Edward A. Clarke (a former mayor of Tampa) authorized all the necessary legal documents and from the resources of the estate he financed Perry as a partner in the business.

The firm was originally known as Clarke and Knight but the business name was changed to Knight and Wall in 1888 when Perry turned 21.

Perry (right) was the 41st mayor of Tampa.  Joseph Baisden Wall was Perry's uncle, a half-brother of Dr. John P. Wall. 

See Knight & Wall feature here at TampaPix
 

Sunland Tribune, Sept. 7, 1878  (Right) Lipscomb, Wall & Magbee are arraigned in Mayor's court for fighting & riotous conduct on September 2, 1878, with acting Mayor W.T. Haskins, Pres. of City Council, presiding in absence of the Mayor (who was none other than newly-elected Dr. John P. Wall.) A witness for Magbee commits flagrant perjury but due to oversight is released and he runs. A warrant is issued for him, J. S. Barrow, a "white tramp."  The green text in the yellow area represents digital repair to a hole in the image.

Sept. 14, 1878 - Sunland Tribune  Joseph B. Wall's response to Magbee's caning by Lipscomb. (Below)

In a Sept. 11 letter to the Tribune, (of which his half-brother is editor) J. B. Wall denies that any member of the Wall family touched Magbee, and that he was the only Wall family member present at Lipscomb's caning of Magbee.  He goes on to justify the caning by saying that Magbee is sufficiently young and strong enough to be vicious, and therefore "by all social laws amenable to chastisement," a fact Magbee was prepared for by going out armed with a pistol ready and cocked on the seat of his buggy. (Magbee was 58.)

Wall goes on to say that in the Mayor's court, Magbee claimed that he had no foreknowledge of the Aug. 10 article in the Guardian which mentioned Wm. W. Wall, but that former mayor Thomas Jackson swore on the stand that Magbee had told him about the articles on the previous day of its publication.

Born in Hernando County, Joseph B. Wall was the son of Judge Perry Green Wall. He studied law at the University of Virginia 1868-1869. He began his practice at Brooksville, Florida before relocating to Tampa in 1872 where he practiced with Henry L. Mitchell.  J. B. Wall's career included service as State Attorney in 1874. In 1882 he participated in a lynching of a white man outside the courthouse in Tampa, and was barred from federal practice.

He was elected to the Florida Senate in 1886, President of the Florida bar in 1887, and served as the President of the Florida Senate in 1889. He was appointed judge of the Criminal Court at Hillsborough County by Governor Mitchell in 1893 and to the 6th Judicial Circuit by Governor Bloxham in 1899.

Read more about J. B. Wall and his hot temper, along with incidents of the caning of James T. Magbee, and his assistance in the lynching of a rape suspect, here at "Knight & Wall"

 Judge J. B. Wall information from the 10th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida

1878 - Magbee runs again for State Senator

It was in this climate that Magbee reentered the political arena as a candidate for the State Senate in 1878.  His opponent was John T. Lesley and the Sunland Tribune poured vitriol upon Magbee until election day.

Sunland Tribune, Oct 5, 1878 p2    Radical program and ticket
J.P. Wall alludes to secret collusion between Magbee and Sweat who are expected to run as independent candidates.

Sunland Tribune, Oct 12, 1878 p2   The County Democratic Nominees - J. P. Wall praises the members of the Democratic convention for nominating men...

"known to be true and good--men of irreproachable character and worthy of the confidence of the people...that not one of them is an office seeker, and in consenting to accept the honor...as true, high-minded men, every other motive save that of genuine patriotism, to serve the people to the extent of their best ability."

"The idea that they represent any ring or clique in Tampa or elsewhere is too absurd to be entertained for a moment, and is only worthy of that class of men whose envious natures close their souls to every liberal thought or generous impulse."

 

 

 

1879 Julia Magbee Tampa Guardian newspaper article

The Guardian’s assistant editor was Mrs. Julia Magbee. While she was the editor’s wife, articles such as this imply that her title was not merely for show.  From the Tampa Guardian, June 7, 1879, p. 3.

The woman who works in some honorable way to maintain herself, loses none of the dignity and refinement of true womanhood, and is just as much, even more, an ornament to her sex than the women whose days are passed in luxurious indolence and indulgence.

The following year Magbee announced that the "Guardian in the future will be published as a Republican journal.” (Magbee continued publishing the Tampa Guardian until his death on Dec. 12, 1885.  H. J. Cooper and C. H. Baxter carried on the paper until Dec. 8, 1886, when Cooper announced the publication would cease.)

An ad for the Guardian placed in "A Descriptive Pamphlet of Hillsborough County, Florida, with numerous maps, Engravings, etc."  Published by the Hillsborough County Real Estate Agency in 1885.

 Read this excellent  description of Tampa in Oct. 1879 in the Savannah Morning News

Sunland Tribune Dec. 11, 1879 Dr. John Wall response to "Bystander"
In the editorial below, Dr. John P. Wall refers to an article signed "Bystander" in Magbee's Tampa Guardian newspaper of Dec. 6, 1879, as "no doubt" having been written by Magbee.  Wall calls the paper a "Radical organ" and a "high-toned" and "scurrilous sheet."  He refers to Magbee's "deserved scrubbing" by Judge Mitchell for his habeas corpus stunt and Magbee's contempt of court fine against Henderson.  Apparently, Magbee's article in the Dec. 6 Guardian criticized Judge Mitchell and connected him with an issue regarding the resignation of a Manatee County court clerk.

Savannah Morning News, Jun. 23, 1880 -- page 1

1880 - Magbee is doing quite well

By early 1880 the former judge was prospering. He entered into a partnership with A. S. Mann of Brooksville for the practice of law in Hernando County. He established an orange grove on Florida Avenue, about a mile north of town, on the "brow of the rising ground overlooking Tampa" (now Tampa Heights), and furnished the paint for the Nebraska Avenue school.

When additional land was needed for the expansion of the town cemetery (Oaklawn), Magbee "deeded as a gift land adjoining the burial ground to the east. This was immediately divided into lots and offered for sale."

He playfully attacked rival editor John P. Wall in May 1880:

"Dr. Wall, editor of the [Sunland] Tribune, admits that the scent of bad whiskey is the true Democratic password and wants to prove that we are Democrat because we used to drink whiskey. Now Doctor, when we drank whiskey it was not the Democratic stuff,  for we drank nothing but the very best.  As neither of us now drinks whiskey, and for that reason and for no other, we ought to be Republicans--We will leave it to the community in which we live, as to which of us has drunk the oftener. 

There’s an old adage--a veritable fact, that the kettle should ne’er call the pot black.

And another that says 'none but drones, in glass houses living, will throw stones.'"

adopted son

Two of James T. Magbee’s major interests were to bring the railroad to Tampa and the growth of the Florida Republican party.

Wm. D. Bloxham served twice as Florida's Governor. First as the 13th Governor from January 4, 1881-January 6, 1885 and then as the 17th Governor from January 5, 1897 until January 8, 1901. State Archives of Florida

He was angered that President Rutherford B. Hayes’ conciliatory policy had harmed the interests of the party in Florida and he resented having to share the federal patronage with his political enemies.  Referring to the Democratic party as that "old enemy of human rights," Magbee asserted that it deceived and stole from the "poor white man" by telling him that if he voted Republican he belonged to the "Negro party." It "preyed upon his prejudices to make him steal from himself, by his vote, his own and his children's liberty.”

In the 1880 elections, the Guardian endorsed Republican James A. Garfield for President and Democrat William D. Bloxham for Governor. When the election was over and Garfield and Bloxham had won, the Tallahassee Floridian declared that James T. Magbee must be the "happiest man, politically," in the State of Florida.

With the election of Garfield, Magbee sought a suitable political reward. He traveled to Washington in July 1881, but the President’s assassination required another trip the following year.

There was speculation that Magbee was next in line for Collector of Customs at Key West or Postmaster at Tampa. He received his reward in February 1883, with his appointment as Deputy Collector of Customs at the Port of Tampa. After almost twenty-five years, Magbee had gotten his old job back. 

Magbee also lived to see the completion of the railroad to Tampa, January 22, 1884. It is fitting that Magbee, who had fought for almost thirty-five years to achieve this goal, was present at the gala celebration at the Orange Grove Hotel that evening.

Rail Georgia

1883 -1884 Magbee in ill health

It is of interest to note that Magbee's participation at the railroad celebration at the Orange Grove Hotel took place during the period of being "seriously sick" as described below. 

According to an affidavit presented to the Supreme Court of Florida by Magbee's associate counsel, in the case of J. T. Magbee vs. T. P. Kennedy, et ux., Magbee was "frequently absent on professional business, and at other times unavoidably absent, and when at his office at home was busy a greater part of the time in professional and other matters that claimed his almost constant attention."  Another affidavit presented by his wife, Julia, stated her husband was "seriously sick the greater part of every day from the middle of December, 1883, to the beginning of April, 1884, so that he was wholly unfit to attend his law business, and that nearly all the work he did as Deputy Collector of Customs at the port of Tampa was done while confined to his room."

Cases adjudicated, Florida Supreme Court, Jan. term, 1890   Southern Reporter, Vol. 7, Feb. 19 - Sept. 17, 1890

Tragedy struck on January 27, 1885 when Julia Ann Magbee died. The death of this "brilliant and pungent writer," who had been assistant editor of the Guardian, was a heavy blow to the aging lawyer and newspaperman.

He retired as editor of the Guardian but remained active in civic affairs, helping to organize the Tampa Board of Trade the following May.  Magbee was 65.

1887 - July 12
The City of Tampa's first election "...a disgrace to an intelligent and civilized community..."

Tampa had 895 registered voters in 1887 and the Tampa Journal reported that only 575 of these men exercised their opinion - only 64%.   Mr. Sparkman was elected as the new Mayor by 14 votes.

The Journal reported on the election as follows:

As a public servant, the Journal would be derelict in its duty if it passed over some of the irregularities and disgraceful occurrences of Tuesday’s election without calling attention to them. It was such an election as we hope never again to see in Tampa. For two or three days before the election, whiskey was dispensed free by some of the saloons. On election day the streets were lined with drunken men; the most obscene, vulgar and profane language could be heard, not only in the streets, but in the room in which the election was held. Frequent rows and fights occurred, and during the entire day and night a drunken and riotous mob held possession of the town. Such a state of affairs are a disgrace to an intelligent and civilized community, and the Journal desires to place itself on record as being opposed to any such proceedings. We denounce the buying of votes by any man, either with money or whiskey; we do not believe in coercion or intimidation, and we call upon the respectable, law-abiding and intelligent citizens of Tampa to see to it that the like does not happen again.

The new Mayor didn't need to concern himself with a job description. The Journal did this for him and for his officers as well:

Many things have been promised by the newly elected Mayor - and many reforms are hoped for. There are two or three things to which the Journal desires to direct His Honor’s special attention. One is the closing of the saloons on Sundays - back and side doors as well as the front doors. There can be no disproving the assertation that the law has been shamefully violated in this matter.  All that is necessary to close these places effectually on Sunday is for the policemen to do their duty.

Another important matter that demands prompt and aggressive attention to the city’s officials is the houses of ill-fame and their occupants. There are several of these vile dens within the corporate limits of the city; that they are exerting a most demoralizing and pernicious influence on the community, there can be no question; young men - often mere boys, are being enticed from the path of virtue and started on the downward road to shame, disgrace, disease and hell; their very life-blood is being sapped by these degraded and fallen creatures. The boldness and brazen effrontery exhibited by these women is already notorious and shameful.  Almost any hour of the day or night they can be seen either walking or driving through the streets, visiting the saloons and making themselves generally conspicuous. Something must be done to check this growing evil for the sake of the boys as well as the girls.

The police whose duty it is to look after violations and report the same to the proper officials simply do nothing. You can find the whole work force lounging along the saloon block at any time half asleep.

THE SUNLAND TRIBUNE Volume VI Number 1 November, 1980 Journal of the TAMPA HISTORICAL SOCIETY - What Happened in Tampa on July 15, 1887, by Joseph Hipp

Historian Karl Grismer differentiates the date of the act of the Florida Legislature and the election of Mayor Sparkman., in Tampa, A History of the City and the Tampa Bay Region of Florida, by Karl H. Grismer, edited by D. B. McKay, 1950.
 
The Mayors of Tampa 1856 - 2015,  A project of the City of Tampa, City of Tampa:  Incorporation Timeline

Major rivers and railroad lines in the Tampa Bay area, circa 1890

Enhanced map from map by Ted Starr at "Florida's Peace River Frontier" by Canter Brown

Carrie B. Magbee is described as "young widow," the Tampa Journal newspaper was the source.  Carrie is "visiting Tampa" so she apparently had moved away before 1890.

HH is not explained in the abbreviations list.

TJ = Tampa Journal newspaper, followed by date

HCTR = Hillsborough Co. tax roll