Walton

Name of County.

The name of the county honors George Walton, Secretary of West Florida under the provisional government of Andrew Jackson, from 1821 to 1822, and Secretary of the entire Territory from 1822 to 1826. He also enjoyed the distinction of being the son of a governor of Georgia, who was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. (The Semi-Tropical, Oct, 1877, vol. 3, no. 10, p. 596; George B. Utley, Origin of the County Names in Florida, in Florida Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 3 (Oct., 1908), p. 34.)

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In 1840, 15.7 percent of the white inhabitants in Walton County over twenty years of age, [sic] could not read or write. (U. S. Department of State, Compendium of the Sixth Census of the United States, 1840, p. 99.) By 1870, 26.5 percent of the total population ten years of age and over, could not read and 32.3 percent could not write. This increases in illiteracy was commensurate with the enlarged population, but was not wholly attributive to the negroes, as 27.8 percent of the whites could not write. (U. S. Census Offices, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870, pp. 18-19, 405.) The census report of illiteracy in 1900 omitted the women, but the percentage of illiterate men twenty-one years of age and over, was 16.6. (U. S. Census Office, Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, vol. 1, pp. 973-974.) There had been a decrease during the next two decades, bringing the rate to 9.5 percent in 1920, but by 1930 it had risen .01 percent. Of 8,830 whites in Walton County in 1930, of whom 169 were foreign-born, 13.7 percent were illiterate. The rate for negroes was 22.1 percent. (U. S. Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Population III, pt. [1], 415.

There were seven primary and commons schools in the County in 1840, with a total attendance of 131. (U. S. Department of State, Compendium of the Sixth Census of the United States, 1840, pp. 99.) During this period, Rev. John Newton of Massachusetts established a Presbyterian school at Knox Hill, in Euchee Valley. The achievements of this learned man noised afar bringing students from nearby counties, and even Alabama, for college preparatory work. (Brevard, op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 34-35.) In 1850 there was one public

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school in Walton county, with 20 pupils and one teacher. (U. S. Superintendent of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, p. 404.) A meager report on educational progress in the county in 1870, gives the school attendance as 250, of whom six were negroes. (U. S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870, p. 405.) Principally through the aid of the Florida Chautauqua, founded in 1885 by Dr. Gillet, Methodist minister, from Michigan, DeFuniak Springs became an educational center, (Rerick, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 360; vol. 2, p. 363.) and undoubtedly education in this section received greater stimulus when the first State Teachers' Institute and county superintendents convened at this town in 1886 to induce a full attendance, both railroad and steamboat companies operating within the county, lowered their rates to one-half cent a mile. The Florida State Teachers' Association was organized at this meeting and Rev. F. Pasco was elected president. The county seat continued to be the Mecca for this body for several successive years, ultimately resulting in an act in 1887, creating the State Normal School for whites. H. N. Felkel was elected the first principal, (Fla, Supt. Pub. Inst., Biennial Report, 1895, pp. 38-39, 45.)  

In 1905 Walton County had 66 schools, taught by 84 teachers for an average term of less than four months. Total value of school property was $11,137 and school expenditures were $16,189. (Fla. Supt. Pub. Inst., Biennial Report, 1906, ch. III, tables II, VII, XIII, XVII, XXVIII.) In 1936-37 there were 60 schools, taught by 117 teachers for an average term of eight months. Total value of school property was $272,823, and total school expenditures were $207,401. (Ibid., 1938 pt. II, pp. 121, 137, 145, 153, 169.)

The incorporation of DeFuniak Springs in 1901 (Record of Incorporations (Walton County), vol. 2, p. 74.) was not made valid for two years. (Acts, 1903, ch. 5341.) Eighteen years later, one act amended the charter, while another act reincorporated the town. (Acts, 1921, ch. 8936; ch. 8939.) In 1913 Glendale was incorporated, (Record of Incorporations (Walton County), vol. 2, p. 74.) The charter was abolished in 1917, (Municipal Charters (Secretary of State), vol. 1, pp. 1-2.) and again in 1931. (Circuit Court Minutes (Walton County), vol. 11, p. 542.) Lakewood, in the northern part of the county, was incorporated in 1908. (Record of Incorporations (Walton County), vol. 1, p. 68.)

The first county officers appointed by Governor Duval at the time that Walton county was created were, James Bright, presiding judge, with Nicholas H. Mitchell and Peter McCaskill, associate justices. Archibald Anderson was appointed judge of Walton county in 1827. (Roland H. Rerick, Memories [?] of Florida, Atlanta, 1902, II, pp. 66, 69.) In 1871 the county officers were as follows: Daniel Campbell, Judge; J. L. McKinnon, Clerk; Samuel Rutan, Sheriff; Daniel C. Cunn, Tax Assessor, and Collector of Revenue; D. McCallum Treasurer; Daniel McLeod, Superintendent of Schools; A. L. McCaskill Surveyor. There were five justices of the peace, and five county commissioners. (J. M. Hawks, The Florida Gazetteer, New Orleans, 1871, pp. 103-4.)

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Walton

With the creative act of 1824 the "Big Spring on the Choctawhatchee river" was designated the temporary county seat of Walton county. (Terr. Acts. 1824-25, p. 252.) The following year this was repealed and an act was passed which specified the house of William Bailey, at the head of Alaqua Creek, as the provisional county site. (Terr. Acts, 1825, p. 83.) In February, 1833, with the revocation of the previous Act, it was provided that an election be held in the county in May to determine a permanent county seat. A further provision named Alaqua, and Sandy Creek Settlement near Campbell's pond, as the places for the ballot to decide. David Evans, Isaac M. Hunter, Neil McPherson, Esq., Jacob Pyburn and Richmond McDavid, were appointed commissioners to select the "most convenient situation in the settlement which shall be elected for the county site---" and they were authorized to contract for a courthouse at the chosen place, for a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars. (Terr. Acts, 1833, p. 54.) The enactment of 1833 was repealed the succeeding year when provision was made for the county court, "while in session", to either appoint commissioners to select the permanent county seat, or to order an election by popular vote. (Terr. Acts, 1834, p. 42.) In December 1845, Eucheeanna was declared the temporary county seat, (Acts, 1845, ch. 41, sec. 1.) and this was restated in July of that year. (Acts, 1845, ch. 4, sec. 3.) An amendment to this act, January 1849, nominated Walton [sic] [?] as the place for holding court, (Acts, 1848-49, ch. 251, sec. 1) and a still further act, repealing previous laws that had made Eucheeanna the county site, called for an election, in March

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Walton

of that year, of five commissioners to select the county site. (Acts, 1848-49, ch. 285, secs. 1-2.) At the close of two years, however, it was provided that Eucheeanna remain the county seat until a permanent place was selected and suitable buildings erected. (Acts, 1850-51, ch. 392, sec. 1.) The first Monday in October, 1853, was the definite date established for an election of a permanent county seat, and this act repealed all prior laws conflicting with the new act. (Acts and Resolutions, 1852-53, secs. 1-3, 6.) Eucheeanna was apparently the chosen place and remained so until some time in 1885, when the courthouse and all early records were burned. A special election was held here in February, 1886, to change the county site and out of 570 votes, DeFuniak Springs received 317. (Minutes of County Commissioners, vol. 1, pp. 1, 11.) At this place, C. C. Banfill furnished a house for the county officers for a year, and in 1887 contract for a courthouse was let. A new courthouse was built in 1926. (Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 14, 35; vol. 7, p. 205.)

Walton

DeFuniak Springs, built around a beautiful lake, miscalled a Spring. (Matson and Sanford, op. cit., p. 425; Rerick, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 364.) was first known as Lake de Funiak, and was named for a former president of the Louisville and Nashville, and the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroads. (George T. Belding, op. cit., p. 102.) It is one of the popular winter resorts of west Florida. (Harrison Rhodes, and [Mary] Wolfe Dumont, A Guide to Florida, New York, 1912, p. 246.)

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Walton

The legislature chartered the Pensacola and Atlantic railroad in 1881, (Rerick, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 192.) and the opening of this line in 1883, which crosses Walton County from west to east, revealed hidden possibilities within a section hitherto unknown. Large tracts of land advertised by the railroad at attractive terms, brought settlers that year from the [Western] states and Connecticut. The line had two stations, Argyle, settled by Edge and Edge, and M. M. Morrison, merchants, and Lake DeFuniak, now DeFuniak Springs. The names of Cawthorn, Saunders, Garret, Henderson, and Stubbs, were associated with the entry of the latter. These towns were also post offices, (Wanton S. Webb, Historical, Industrial and Biographical Florida, New York, 1885, pp. 113-14.) and by 1885, Freeport, Portland, Red Bay and Point Washington had developed. (Ibid.) The Yellow River railroad, formed in 1887, merely crosses the extreme northwestern corner of the county. Both this and the Pensacola and Atlantic are now part of the Louisville and Nashville system. (Rerick, op. cit., pp. 192, 194, 363.) Prior to, and following the coming of the railroad into the county, steamboats plied the Choctawhatchee river and bay. (See J. M. Hawks, The Florida Gazetteer, New Orleans, 1871, p. 103; Commissioner of Agriculture, Tallahassee, 1904, p. 583.) Other remote sections not reached by the railroad, have become accessible through improved roads. (Department of Agriculture, North and Northwest Florida Tallahassee, n. d., p. 133.) Walton County issued bonds amounting to $70,000 about 1912 and 1913, for road improvement. (E. H. Sellards, Statistics On Public Roads, in Fla. St. Geol. Survey, Annual Report, 1913, p. 295.)

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Walton

A United States highway now parallels the railroad across the county, and a cross-county state highway, north to south, joins one along the northern shore of the bay, while south of the bay, within the county, runs the Gulf Coast Scenic Highway. (Department of Agriculture, North and Northwest Florida, Tallahassee, n. d., p. 133; [Standard] Oil Road Map of Florida, New York, 1940.)

Walton

In 1850 the assessed valuation of all property in Walton county was $56,945, of which $42,955 was the value of farms. (U. S. Superintendent of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, p. 407.) For 1870, the figures had increased by 35 percent and of this, $56,585 was the value of farms. (U. S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States, pp. 116-117.) The total valuation in 1886 was $667,222 and that of real estate, including town lots and railroads, $171,359. (Fla. Comptroller Report, 1886, p. 24-25.) Fifty-two years later, 1938, the total was $2,002,236 and that of real estate, $1,599,235. Of this latter figure, $788,745 was the assessed valuation of lands under tax sale certificates or exempted as homesteads. (Ibid., 1939, p. 169.) Total taxes for the years 1886 and 1938 including state taxes, were respectively, $7,131. (Ibid., 1886, p. 25) and $80,724. (Ibid., 1939, p. 169.)

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Agriculture, stock-raising and lumber form the principal industries of Walton county. There are 97 cane mills, five grist mills and one cotton gin, to handle three of the seven staple crops, the remainder being peanuts, sweet potatoes, velvet beans, and forage. Truck farming operates on a small commercial scale and many are engaged in the culture of miscellaneous fruits. Dairy products are readily marketed. (See Fla. Commissioner of Agriculture, Report of Manufacturing in Florida, 1937, p. 53; Dept. of Agriculture, North and Northwest Florida, Tallahassee, n.d., p. 131.) and sheep raising for wool has continued since its introduction into the county by the Scotch settlers. (A. A. Robinson, Dept. of Immigration, Florida, Tallahassee, 1882, pp. 185-186.) The forests yield lumber and naval stores products. (Ibid., p. 133.) Around 1884, Point Washington excelled in the lumber industry. The mills there of McSones, and W. L. Criglar and Son, produced 8,000,000 feet annually. (Webb, op. cit., p. 114.) Under direction of the Florida Forest Service, a watchtower ? [sic] has been erected in northwest Walton county to prevent forest fires. (Dept. of Agriculture, op. cit., p. 133.) In 1937 one naval stores ? [sic] plant employed an average of 25 workers, while the average number employed by three saw mills in the county, was 172. (Fla. Commissioner of Agriculture, Report of Manufacturing in Florida, 1937, p. 53.) A brick plant, conducted by G. H. Murphy, operated at Glendale in 1924 for local needs. (Olin G. Bell, "A Preliminary Report on the Clays of Florida (Exclusive of Fuller's Earth)", Fla. St. Geol. Survey, Annual Report, 1924, pp. 211-212.) From both fresh and salt water streams in the county, fish are commercialized, (Dept of Agriculture, op. cit., p. 133.) and oyster banks are extensive along Choctawhatchee

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bay. (Rerick, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 286.) The county has a bottling plant, hosiery mill, and two printing plants. (Fla. Commissioners of Agriculture, op. cit., p. 53.)

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Diversified farming has been an industry of Walton County since the time of its settlement. In 1850 there were 9,951 acres in farms valued at $42,955. The livestock included 9,061 stock cattle for which no valuation was given in the 1850 census. (U. S. Superintendent of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Statistics of Florida, p. 407.) Of the 276 farms in 1870, 21 comprised less than ten acres, 234 were from ten to 50, 16 from 50 to 100 ? [sic], and five were larger than 500 acres. The value of all farm products was estimated to be $151,833 and all livestock, including 7,328 stock cattle, 2,537 sheep, 2,770 "milch" cows, and 5,886 swine was valued at $147,244. (U. S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870, Statistics of Wealth and Industry, II, 116-117, 348.) The 1,198 farms in the county in 1937 averaged something more than 57 acres each. The total value of field and truck crops was $478,349, while 20,763 stock cattle were valued at $308,333. (Commissioner of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics of Florida, Twenty-first Census, 1936-37, pp. 191-192, 211.) The poultry industry, begun in 1923 at DeFuniak Springs, has attained success, (Frank Parker Stockbridge and John H. Perry, So This Is Florida, Jacksonville, 1938, pp. 266-67.) its value in 1937 being $28,239. (Commissioner of Agriculture, Id., p. 214.) The citrus crop that year was small, and worth less than a thousand dollars. The miscellaneous fruit production, of which pears were the most important, was valued at $13,620, and $4,140 was the value of the pecan crop. (Commissioner of Agriculture, Id., pp. 241-5, 250.)

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Walton

Walton county was created from Escambia, by an act approved December 29, 1824, and the boundary was defined as follows: "...beginning on the boundary line at the north east corner of Escambia county, running east along the boundary line of said territory to a point on the said line, whence a line running south East [sic] will strike the south east side of Hickory Hill, thence a direct line to Wood's ferry on Bear Creek, thence down said creek to St Andrew's Bay, thence through the middle of said bay to the Gulf of Mexico, thence along the shores of the Gulf to the beginning..." (Terr. Acts, 1824-1825, pp. 260-262.) In less than a year the original boundary was changed by an act which repealed that of 1824, and gave the county "its first definite boundary line": "Beginning on the boundary at the point where the same crosseth the Black Water Creek, running east along the boundary of said territory to where the same intersects the Choctawhatchee River; thence down the channel of the same including the Bay to the Gulf of Mexico; thence along the shores of the Gulf to the beginning..." (Terr. Acts, 1825, pp. 35-36.) The same boundary was reestablished in 1828. (Terr. Acts, 1828, p. 3.) With the formation of other counties adjoining Walton changes occurred in the boundary in 1848, 1851, 1853, 1913 and 1915. (Acts, 1848, ch. 176; 1851, ch. 411; 1853, ch. 571; 1913, ch. 6508; 1915, ch. 6937.) The same statute that created Okaloosa county from part of Walton in 1915, redefined the boundary of the latter which is the present one, and is as follows: "Beginning on the Alabama State line where it is intersected by the line dividing

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Walton

Creation of County 

centrally range eighteen, west; thence south along the section lines to the line dividing townships two and three, north, in range eighteen, west; thence east to the Choctawhatchee river; thence down the main channel of the Choctawhatchee river to a point where said Choctawhatchee river intersects the range line dividing ranges seventeen and eighteen, west; thence south along said range line to the Gulf of Mexico; thence in a westerly direction following the meanderings of said Gulf to the range line dividing ranges twenty-one and twenty-two, west; thence north up said line to the dividing line between Florida and Alabama; thence easterly along said State line to the place of beginning." (R. G. S., 1920, secs. 11 and 12.) The area ? [sic] of the county is 677, 120 acres. (Agricultural Statistics of Florida, 1936-37, Tallahassee, 1938, p. 191.)

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Walton

Walton county lies mostly in the pinehill region of West Florida, immediately west of the Choctawhatchee river. It extends from the Florida - Alabama boundary ? [sic] to the Gulf of Mexico. (Olin G. Bell, A Preliminary Report On the Clays of Florida, Exclusive of Fuller's Earth, in Fla. St. Geol. Survey, Annual Report, 1924, p. 211; Stuart Mossom, A Preliminary Report on the Limestones and Marls of Florida, Fla. St. Geol. Survey, Annual Report, 1925, p. 184.) There is a surface range in altitude from about sea level near the coast to nearly 300 feet above sea near the northern border. Broad, flat terraces constitute the southern portion of the county. Three of these terraces have altitudes of 20 to 25 feet, 40 to 60 feet, and 70 to 100 feet. Along the large streams terraces also occur merging with the three mentioned. Extending from the western line eastward beyond DeFuniak Springs, is a ridge of high land. Other level tracts are numerous, especially in the northern part where they form more or less extensive table-lands, rising in places from 200 to over 250 feet above sea. Near the coast the land is low and swampy with a few shallow lakes. There are also a few. [sic] small lakes in the northern portion and swamps are not uncommon along the larger streams. (George C. Matson and Samuel Sanford, Geology and Ground Waters of Florida, in U. S. Geol. Survey and Fla. Geol. Survey Reports, Washington, 1913, p. 422.) In a precipitous place northwest of DeFuniak Springs, there is a dense [titi] swamp [with] steep, sandy, pine-

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Walton 

covered slopes around its head. (Roland H. Harper, A Preliminary Report on the Florida Peat Deposits, in Fla. St. Geol. Survey, Annual Report, 1910, p. 253.) The county is drained by the Shoal river and its branches, tributary of the Yellow river, in the north section where also a natural bridge occurs. The Alaqua Creek and its tributaries falling into Choctawhatchee Bay, drain the southern part. The Choctawhatchee National Forest extends westward into Walton County.

The population in Walton County in 1840, the first year that the census was not combined with that of Escambia and Washington counties, was 1,461 of whom 231 were slaves and 41 free negroes. (U. S. Department of State, Compendium of the Sixth Census of the United States 1840, pp. 96-98.) In 1850 there were no free negroes in the county. The slaves had increased by 23 percent but they formed only 18 percent of the total population of 1818, while the whites constituted 81 percent. (U. S. Superintendent of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, pp. 396, 398, 399.) A gradual ascent during the next two decades raised the total figure to 3,041 in 1870 and of this number, 53.6 percent was born in Florida and 44.9 percent in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the Virginias. A total of 23 were born in foreign lands. (U. S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870, p. 349.) As the result of a steady increase, by 1915 the summit was reached, followed by a decline and the state census of 1935 gave a total population of 13,894, nearly 3,000 less than that of 1915. Of these latest returns the Florida-born still exceed, being 61 percent. Only 2.7 percent was born in the United States outside of the South, and negroes formed 16 percent of the total. (Fla. Commissioner of Agriculture, Sixth Census of the State of Florida, 1935, pp. 10-11, 106, 118.)

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Walton

Walton was one of the west Florida counties that was "strongly Whig" in its political trend, and this attitude was reflected by its delegates to the convention, held at Tallahassee in 1861, to decide the question of secession. Both men, John Morrison and A. L. McCaskill, voted against withdrawal. (William Watson Davis, The Civil War and Reconstruction In Florida, New York, 1913, pp. 61, 62, 64; Journal Of The Proceedings Of The Convention Of The People of Florida, Tallahassee, 1861, pp. 5, 21.) In December, 1863, the west Florida Federal Commander, General Alexander Asboth, dispatched Captain Galloway from Barrancas on a trip which included Choctawhatchee bay. Here he was to gather up for recruits, deserters and refugees who were probably hidden in the woods. (Off. Rcds. Rebell., s. 1, v. 35, pt. 2, p. 63-Asboth to Stone, Dec 27, 1863.) In April 1864, Asboth wrote his chief, General Charles P. Stone, of knowledge gained from "refugees and deserters, and my own scouts" that Confederate troops under General Clanton had marched from Pollard, Alabama, southeastward and that some were operating in Walton county as far as the Choctawhatchee river. Their headquarters was at McDade's pond, "between Yellow and Pea rivers". (Ibid., s. 1, v. 35, pt. 2, p. 56-Asbath ? [sic] to Stone, April 16, 1864.) Eucheeanna was raided by Federals under Asboth ? [sic] on September 23d [sic], 1864. They entered the village at dawn, imprisoned fifteen men, looted homes and appropriated the horses and mules. (Davis, op. cit., p 311.) Confederate blockaders, active on Choctawhatchee bay, one of their principal points, smuggled cotton, tobacco and turpentine. (Ibid., p. 197.) Point Washington on Choctawhatchee bay was destroyed during the war. (Wanton S, [sic] Webb, Historical, Industrial and Biographical Florida, New York, 1885, p. 14.)

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Walton

Walton county is in that region of Florida that was peopled by Indians of the "later tribes, the Yuchis." These were led by Chief Cherokee Leechee down from Georgia by the way of the Flint and Apalachicola rivers, into Florida about 1716. Their agricultural trend and civilized habits contrasted with those of the savage hunter, and they were known to have had a higher moral standard than many of the Creek towns. (Frederick Webb Hodge, Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bu. Amer. Ethn., Bulletin No. 30, pt. 2, Washington, 1910, pp. 1003-1005.) By the middle eighteenth century the Yuchi had affiliated with the Creeks, (William A. Read, Florida Place - Names of Indian Origin and Seminole Personal Names, Baton Rouge, 1934, Introd.) ? [sic] who claimed to have subjugated and enslaved them. (Hodge, op. cit., pt. 2, p. 1004.) Euchee Creek, and Eucheeanna the town, commemorate this tribe. (Read, op. cit., Introd.) The Creeks incited to hostility toward the Americans by the English, and unrestrained by the Spanish, were committing depredations upon white settlers in West Florida prior to, and about 1818. During this year Andrew Jackson led his army against the Indians, marching from the Apalachicola river through Walton county to Pensacola. (Brevard, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 46-54.) Captain Boyle, officer of his army, was severely wounded near the Choctawhatchee river in 1818. He reported that forty or fifty marauding warriors were probably concealed near the river in Walton County. (Niles Weekly Register, March 27, 1819. vol 16, p. 90.) That the Indians still possessed the land in 1820 in that area that is now Walton county, is evident in the record of the first white settler, Neil McLendon who came from North Carolina that year. He received hospitality from Sam Story, tribal Chief, who offered

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Walton

McLendon a choice of land in the Euchee Valley. Here, before the transfer of Florida to the United States he brought his family and, with the few friends who followed, began a colony which became an important constituent of the state. (Caroline Mays Brevard, A History of Florida From the Treaty of 1763 to Our Own Times, vol. 1, pp. 107-108.) Some of these pioneers settled on Alaqua Creek, navigable fifteen miles from its junction with Choctawhatchee bay, at which point they later established the landings of Vaughn's and Wood, within a short distance of each other. (John Lee Williams, The Territory of Florida, New York, 1837, pp. 45-46; Id., A View of West Florida, Phila., 1827, map.) Others built around McDade's pond, on the northern border of this county. (Williams, A View of West Florida, p. 83.) and although they had introduced a new economical and social order, the Indians lived among them in friendly relations for several years. (J. M. Hawks, The Florida Gazetteer, New Orleans, 1871, p. 103.) Following the exchange in 1821, more settlers from the states arrived. All were Presbyterians of Scotch descent, and some themselves were from Scotland. Log cabins were built, lands were cleared and planted, and they vanquished wolves and panthers in the surrounding forest. Nor were they content with mere physical achievement, as they erected churches and schoolhouses and provided for teachers to instruct their children. Part of their social life was given to cornshuckings, logrollings, quilting bees, and spelling matches and they were skilled anglers and hunters. When without a regular clergyman, religious services were conducted by the schoolmasters or another

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Walton

layman. Improved roads and post routes facilitated a wider communication but these Scotch-Americans remained a homogeneous people over a long period. Their first harvests were grain and vegetables; to these was added sugar cane and this was ground in home-built mills, in which was communal interest. Water-run grist mills gradually replaced Indian [mortars] and handturned corn mills. With further land clearing cotton was planted and hand-ginned by the women in their evening hours. The first ginhouse was built by Colonel McKinnon sometime in the thirties. Lucrative returns were realized in common from a saw mill, also a grist mill, built by one of the McLeods. (Brevard, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 107-109.) By 1839 these thrifty farmers, having but few slaves, had become an opulent, respected people, (John Lee Williams, The Territory of Florida, New York, 1837, p. 128.) and the county, along with other counties in west Florida, was relieved of all Indians during the final year of the Seminole War. In this year, 1843, the "Uchees", who had not altogether lost their identity, were sent to Arkansas with the Creeks and Seminoles. (John T. Sprague, The Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida War, New York, 1848, p. 501.)