Dirt Road Wonder – Gadsden County’s Rich History

We are so blessed in Gadsden County to be able to go to actual sites where our history took place.

Not around here or near here, but here on this spot is where it happened.

I would like to tell you about a couple of significant and interesting historical events that happened when Florida was still a territory, before it became a state on March 11, 1845.

The first one is the Scott Massacre of 1817; this was during the time that the United States and the Seminole Nation were at war.

Lt Richard Scott was ordered down the Apalachicola River to assist Major Muhlenburg who was having trouble with the strong current on his way up to supply Fort Scott.

Major Muhlenburg exchanged 20 of his soldiers that were sick with a fever for 20 of LT Scott’s able-bodied soldiers.

On December 30, 1817, the sick soldiers were put on Scott’s boat along with seven women (the wives of soldiers) and four children, and they started upriver to Fort Scott.

At a bend in the river, it was shallow enough for the Seminoles to wade into the river and attack the Boat.

Of the 31 passengers of that boat, only seven survived; six were soldiers that escaped, but the seventh was a woman.

The woman that survived, Elizabeth Stewart, became a very wealthy woman by the time she was rescued.

The Indians didn’t want the money that they found among the goods they had taken because it was paper and threw it on the ground; Elizabeth picked up all that currency and hid it.

She had amassed a small fortune by the time she was freed.

If you go to Chattahoochee and stand on the Gadsden County side of the river, between the highway bridges and the railroad bridges, you will be looking out at the site of the massacre.

Before COVID changed everything, there would be reenactments of the Scott Massacre by Dale Cox and his band of historical actors - I will be glad when we can again have those.

When you go down the Lake Talquin Road and turn right on the road that goes to Greensboro, you will be traveling on the Old Federal Road.

The original road was built when Florida was a territory and went from Pensacola to Saint Augustine.

It was started in 1824 and followed an old Indian trail; it was built by United States soldiers who were paid an extra 15 cents per day for their labor.

It would only be wide enough for one wagon but would be wider in the swamps for two wagons to pass each other.

The Gadsden County section of the Federal Road remained in use for several years.

It was one of the main roads used during the Second Seminole War.

I am so glad that we know where it is and can still drive a small section of the original old Federal Road.

When I am on that road, I think of all the pioneers, Native Americans, rum runners, escaped slaves, circuit riding preachers, bad men, and good men, that traveled that road before I was born.

So many historical places have been lost to condos and shopping centers - aren’t we lucky that we can still go to the original spot where our history took place?

‘Till next time, keep on the sunny side.

Gwynn Peacock Kidd Gwynn0720@Comcast.net

Dirt Road Wonder – Gadsden County’s Rich History

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Dirt Road Wonder – Gadsden County’s Rich History

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From the Editor’s Desk: So…Where Ya From?

Exploring Gadsden County: Cypress Cove Nature Park

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