Lost Church, Lost Battlefield, Lost Cemetery, Lost War

[Cliffs_Daughter]

LaVilla Junction - from what I see online, it was the where the
Jacksonville,Tampa and Key West Railway -and- the Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad met up.

OCK, this is your stuff, care to educate me on this?

[Ocklawaha]

i am stunned, fascinated and dying to hear more.

is there anyway for us to help preserve this site?

Devlin, pouring on the stage lights of history, and exposing every angle, is perhaps the best way to get the city's attention. Jacksonville is not unlike the Sleeping Giant of 1941, let's just hope it doesn't require a Pearl Harbor to wake it the hell up.

BTW, I came across some of your branch of the family's history, and have a sketch back to 1206.

OCKLAWAHA

[devlinmann]

i am stunned, fascinated and dying to hear more.

is there anyway for us to help preserve this site?

Devlin, pouring on the stage lights of history, and exposing every angle, is perhaps the best way to get the city's attention. Jacksonville is not unlike the Sleeping Giant of 1941, let's just hope it doesn't require a Pearl Harbor to wake it the hell up.

BTW, I came across some of your branch of the family's history, and have a sketch back to 1206.

OCKLAWAHA

would love to see that

[urbanlibertarian]

I seem to remember reading that 1.the Confederates had an artillery piece on a rail car that they used to harass the Union forces occupying Jax, 2. the red brick church was built as the result of a rift in the local Baptist congregation over race and 3. a large number of Union sympathisers were provided safe passage out of town during the first Union occupation.

[stjr]

(The Old) Brick Church Cemetery
Church site was on Church St (formerly Old Black Creek Rd) just W of Myrtle Ave
Cemetery site was "of considerable size just to the south of it"
Jacksonville, Fl

Help me out here.  It appears to me the site featured in the photos is on the EAST side of Myrtle.  This reference above from Samiam's cite is to the WEST.  Did Myrtle get relocated at some point?  West of current day Myrtle puts you in the midst of some industrial brick buildings and if you go far enough west (a few hundred feet) you end up on JTA property, where their buses exit, I believe.  In the midst of this is a drainage ditch the city had rebuilt a few years ago.  Wonder if they found any artifacts then?

By the way, I heard the Sun Battery building (built in 1914 per property tax records) at the end of Adams, west of Myrtle, may have some historic interest as well.  Someone might want to investigate that too.

[Dan B]

May be unrelated, but may not. A couple of peices kinda fit. Might be worth looking into more

Pastor of East Jacksonville church and of St. Paul's church in Lavilla, where he built the first brick church in Florida (AME) and paid for it.

I dont know much about Rev Braddock, not even sure if his age fits.

[stjr]

...ern soldiers pitched their camp in west Jacksonville in the pine woods between Broad Street and Myrtle Avenue. The Brick. Church became a picket station and ...

The below link to a 1963 scholarly journal of the Florida Historical Society is cited by Google above.  However, the subject pages are not available to non-subscribers.  Perhaps a subscriber here or a visitor to the public library could find more info in this article on the brick church.

http://www.jstor.org/pss/30139964

About Sam Proctor, the author (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Proctor ):

Samuel Proctor (1921â€"July 10, 2005) was an American historian.

Early life and education

Proctor was born in Jacksonville, Florida, one of six sons of a textile salesman and a housewife.

Proctor arrived at the University of Florida as a freshman in 1937 and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1941. As an undergraduate, he was on the staff of the Florida Alligator. He received his Master of Arts from UF in 1942 after only two semesters, in which the wrote a 560-page thesis on Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward.

Proctor served in the United States Army during World War II, where he taught reading and arithmetic to illiterate Army recruits at Camp Blanding near Starke.
[edit] Career at the University of Florida

Discharged from the service in 1946, he was offered scholarships to pursue an international law degree at Yale and Ohio State. However, he instead decided to return to the University of Florida, originally to attend the College of Law. One of his former professors, William Carleton (chairman of the freshman social sciences program and later namesake of Carleton Hall) convinced him to help alleviate the post-war shortage of teachers.

In 1953, University President J. Hillis Miller, Sr. named Proctor the first UF Historian and Archivist and commissioned for him a book on UF history in honor of the university’s 100th anniversary. The resulting work was submitted by Proctor as his dissertation, and he received his Ph.D. in 1958. Proctor remained the UF Historian and Archivist until his death, serving even in retirement. He published a history of the university, Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida, in 1986 with Langley Press.

Proctor became a professor of history at the UF and taught at the university for 50 years.

Proctor was a leading figure in the development of oral history. He founded the Oral History Program in 1967 (which is now one of the largest oral history programs in the United States) and was its director. The program was later renamed the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program in his honor.

He was also noted as an expert on Florida history, and edited the journal Florida Historical Quarterly for over 40 years. He held the titles of Julian C. Yonge Professor of Florida History and Distinguished Service Professor of History. Proctor also held the post of Curator of History at the Florida Museum of Natural History and was the director of the Center for Florida Studies. Proctor also served as the University of Florida Historian. He established the University Archives and wrote major works on the university's history. Proctor is also credited with helping to establish the Center for Jewish Studies at UF.

Proctor was one of two academics to be on the 1998 Lakeland Ledger list of the "50 Most Important Floridians of the 20th Century," selected by a panel of distinguished Floridians.

Proctor retiring from teaching in 1993 but remained involved with the university, maintaining an office in Turlington Hall and heading several University of Florida Alumni Association and University of Florida Foundation committees.

Proctor also served as an expert witness in court and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Historical Society. The Samuel Proctor Endowment was established in his honor for history graduate students, known as Samuel Proctor Scholars.

Proctor was a longtime friend of Bob Graham, the Florida governor and U.S. Senator who was one of his students.

[Ocklawaha]

STJR, Myrtle appears to cut off the southwestern most 1/3 of the property of the old church, based on a sighting of the 4 massive trees. There are several angles in the original routes, as the grid and the old roadways don't always match.

Dan B, Interesting find, the Braddocks a white family of Cracker Pioneers lived along the Crescent Lake, South of Palatka. If the pastor was a "man of color" then the connection may go back to slavery or to free immigration of muleto French, English and Spanish. English names were often taken from a mentor or kind family or friend, many more were taken from the slave family but usually that is somewhat limited to those that treated their servants well.

One of the battlefields where I placed a marker is at "The Battle of Braddocks Farm," located in the SW edge of Crescent City at the old Braddock cemetery. Another of Florida's many small Confederate victories, JJ Dickison and the 2Nd Florida Cavalry ambushed the wagon train of the 17 Connecticut Infantry. The battle had a Hollywood ending with Dickison shooting the charging commander of the 17Th, Col. Wilcoxson out of the saddle.

Here's the story from my little group: http://www.fcphs.com/Battle_of_Braddocks_Farm.htm

Florida was the Confederacy's least populated State, so it was not able to supply as many men to the War effort(FL did provide more per capita than any State and also suffered more losses per capita), but was able to supply many needed items, such as meat, food, wood, and cotton. The Union knew that if the supply to the Southern troops could be cut off, they could starve the Confederacy into surrender. In February, Col. Albert H. Wilcoxson, the Commanding Officer of the Union forces at St. Augustine took approximately  75 men on a raid of the interior of the State. He traveled to Braddock's farm, and used it as a headquarters from which he could raid area farms.

Capt. J.J. Dickison heard of these raids and set out to end them. With  approximately 50 men, he caught up with Wilcoxson and the 17th CT  Infantry as they were leaving Braddock's farm with ten wagons loaded with Cotton and other confiscated items. Dickison's troops caught the 17th CT off guard, and a quick, but decisive battle ensued. When Wilcoxson realized he was under attack, he drew is pistol and began firing from horseback. When his bullets were exhausted, he drew his            sword and charged Capt. Dickison. Dickison drew his pistol and shot Wilcoxson from his horse. This brief, but fiery skirmish resulted in no Confederate casualties, but the Union lost four men. After the fight,  Dickison approached Wilcoxson, lying on the ground, and asked why he had charged. Wilcoxson simply said, "Don't blame yourself, you are only doing your duty as a soldier. I alone am to blame".  Approximately eight Federals escaped into the swamps and made it back to St. Augustine. All others were taken prisoner.

After the battle, Wilcoxson's widow wrote to Capt. Dickison. She told him that her husband's captured sword was a gift to him from his Masonic Lodge in Norwalk, CT. She asked that it be returned to her so that she could present it to the Lodge. Capt. Dickison, also a Mason, obliged her and told her that it was being returned, "on account of the feelings I entertained for your husband as a brave officer." The sword is still in the possession of Wilcoxson's Lodge.

OCKLAWAHA

[Bill Ectric]

Fascinating!

[LPBrennan]

Also interesting in that the stream known as Brickyard Branch ran just west of Myrtle Avenue- it's that low place on West Church Street that fills with water when it rains.

[stjr]

Also interesting in that the stream known as Brickyard Branch ran just west of Myrtle Avenue- it's that low place on West Church Street that fills with water when it rains.

LP, is that the stream in the drawing posted by Stephen?  If so, the cemetery in the drawing would indeed appear to be west of Myrtle and the street labeled "Cleveland or Division Lane" may be the current day Myrtle.  This would also be consistent with the quote and post in my post #56 in this thread above.

[stjr]

Stephen, I don't see Myrtle named on the map.  After looking at the property appraiser's maps, it appears this stream shown on yours lines up very closely with modern day property lines just west of Myrtle.  So, I am thinking Myrtle might approximate the unnamed street on the map starting at the top between block numbers 114 and 115 and running down to the bottom between block numbers 61 and 10.  Please compare your map to the property appraiser's  maps on their web site to see how similar the stream line matches up.

Also, a sample legal description for a property at the modern day southwest corner of Myrtle and Church reads as follows:

40-2S-26E .795
LENGLES S/D PT BAPTIST CHURCH LOT
Subdivision    01240 L ENGLES S/D W PT BAP CHC

This implies to me that, indeed, a Baptist church owned property at some point WEST of Myrtle.

Give me your take on all this.

[stjr]

Stephen, I think I might be on to something more here.  Here is a quote from the 1999 warranty deed of the property to the WEST of Myrtle I cited above and it specifically mentions a church cemetery and Brickyard Branch (the stream I referred to and which appears to match your drawing):

Parcel 1:
"said Northerly boundary line also being the northerly line of the old Baptist Church Cemetery..." and "... to the Easterly line of Brickyard Branch as the same is now located ..."

Parcel 2:
... a tract known as the Baptist Church Lot in LaVilla ..."

Link to full deed image (Go to page 3, Exhibit  A.): http://www.duvalclerk.com/oncoreweb/showdetails.aspx?Book=8404&Page=1411&BookType=OR

Could there be two cemeteries? 

[Bill Ectric]

All this is so much fun to read! I can't believe I am just now finding all you folks interested in this sort of thing.

[stjr]

So the church you are talking about would be south of the cemetary?

Stephen, I can't say where exactly as I have no other information.  Everything I know I posted and you can see.  I can't see your full map, other documents, or what else you saw that is not in the pictures so that doesn't influence me presently.

Not sure it matters.  This deed places both a cemetery and a church WEST of Myrtle.  Your map, when measured against a modern property map, appears to do the same, to me.  And, so does Samiam's previous posted link and citation.  So, I am reasonably convinced a church and cemetery were WEST of Myrtle.

I guess it is possible that one church and one cemetery were large enough at some point to envelop both sites and all the land in between (we are only talking about a block or so).  Maybe Myrtle was built down the middle of the church's property if it came through later.  It does seem plausible that a church built near Brickyard Branch would bear the name "Brickyard Church".  We may very well be talking about the same church/cemetery "complex".

I would think that if someone did a full title search (can you get records here before the 1901 fire?), and read the deed descriptions of all the subject lands, you may find the final answers.