The Dictated Personal History of
Sarah Rebecca Rivers Moore
The following article was dictated by Sarah Rebecca
Rivers Moore to her granddaughter Orrie Moore Kendrick in
about 1937. It appeared in the centennial edition of the
Lake City Reporter on December 13, 1974. Used with
permission.
"I was born in the District of Beaufort, Parich (sic) of
Prince William, S.C. on the 22nd day of June, 1838.
"My father, Abraham Isaac Jacob Rivers, was married to my
mother whose maiden name was Celah (sic) Samantha Manker, on
the 12th day of April, 1836 in the District of Beaufort,
Parish of Prince William, S.C. which was the native home of
both my father and my mother.
"These facts are taken from the family record in the Family
Bible which my father bought before the date of my birth.
Some member of my family reads to me each day from this
Bible, which I prize as a family keepsake.
"The first eight years of my life were spent in South
Carolina at the place of my birth, though about the only
recollections I have of these years are those of seeing my
father and his slaves going about the farm and crop work,
and of my father talking with other people about going to
California to find richer farm lands and I can remember my
father would usually say 'I think I will stay where I am."
"My mother was sick a great deal of the time which I can
remember my father talked and worried about considerably.
The cause of my mother's illness was stomach trouble, and
finally a man who lived not a great distance from our home,
came to see my father and mother one day, telling them about
a trip he had made to Upper Springs, Florida, (which is the
White Springs of today) for the benefit of his health, he
also being a sufferer with stomach trouble."
"He told my father and mother he had spent some time at that
point in Florida and had been very much benefited by
drinking the water and encouraged them to go to Upper
Springs where my mother might drink the water for her health
also."
"Seeing this man's much improved physical condition after
his stay at the Florida health resort, and after much
thought and discussion, my father decided to sell his
holdings and move to Upper Spring, Florida, for the sake of
my mother's health."
"The plans and arrangements to move were spread over a
period of several months, and after selling his farm, his
slaves, farming equipment and most of his household effects,
early in January 1846, my father with his family including
mother and four children, set out from Beaufort District,
Parish of Prince William, South Carolina, in a covered wagon
drawn by four horses, expecting to settle at Upper Springs,
Florida."
"On our journey to Florida we were joined by a caravan of
thirteen other covered wagons, all headed in the same
direction. All covered wagons were said to have left South
Carolina about the same time, but our family made it alone."
"We settled in the vicinity of Falling Creek, for when the
wagon reached the bridge over Falling Creek, which bridge
was at the same location as the bridge which now crosses the
stream at Falling Creek Methodist Church in Columbia County,
the lure of the water and the richness of the soil prompted
my father to settle there. He bought a farm located within a
half mile of this bridge and built a small home there."
"As soon as we were settled there my father went to Upper
Springs to make arrangments (sic) for my mother to go there
for a while and drink the water for her stomach trouble."
"My father finding the expense for my mother staying at
Upper Springs to be rather steep for a poor family, it was
suggested to him by someone that he might camp at Little
Spring, a small sulphur spring on the Suwannee river, one
mile above Upper Springs and have the benefit of that water
for drinking and bathing, free and which water my father was
told, contained the same curative value as the water of
Upper Springs."
"With this advice my father took two of his slaves whom he
had bought after arriving in Florida, and with their
assistance built a roomy log cabain of peeled pine poles, on
a high bluff near the banks of the Suwannee River at Little
Spring, on land which at the time was owned by the
Government."
"He moved his family there, together with a negro slave
woman whom he carried along to care for the children and to
assist my mother. We stayed there several months where my
mother drank the water and was almost permanently cured of
her stomach trouble. During the time we spent at Little
Spring, my father sold the farm he had bought upon arriving
in Florida and bought the farm which I now occupy as my
home."
"The house which is my present home was built more than
eighty years ago, and in its construction are many hand hewn
sills and other heavy timbers which are the work of my
father's hands."
"In our sugar house, we have, still in use two large syrup
troughs, which have inside dimensions of 20 inches by twelve
feet, these were hewn by my father when he was still a young
man, from large cypress trees growing at that time in the
swamps along Falling Creek." (These troughs were actually
hewn by Jimmy Russell - information provided by Ester
Moore.)
"From time to time we made visits to Little Spring and
camped in the log cabin for a short rest and to drink the
water. For more than forty years, the log cabin which my
father built housed families from various parts of the
country, who spent time at Little Spring for the benefit of
the water there."
"Spinning and weaving was for many years a heavy dury with
the women folks and girls in my father's family and also in
my family after I was married and was the mother of
children.
"The spinning wheel which my father bought for my mother
soon after we came to Florida, was the one which I used also
for many years to do the spinning for my family consisting
of my husband, ten children and myself."
"My father bought the spinning wheel in Alligator, which is
the Lake City of today. The spinning wheel is still in
operating condition and is a part of a collection of
antiques belonging to my eldest granddaughter."
"On our journey to Florida in a caravan of wagons we would
stop often, at different points along the way, where my
father and the other men in the group would talk to the
citizens about farming and other advantages of the
communities through which we were passing and even though a
small child I soon learned what the subject of conversation
was going to be every time the wagon stopped."
"After travelling for more than two weeks and after the
caravan had thinned down to one covered wagon, that of our
own, my father stopped at a village and inquired of a
friendly looking man what place that we were passing
through, he was told by this man that it was Jennings."
"I can remember today, the nice smile which appeared on my
father's face when he learned we had at last reached
Florida."
"He then inquired of the stranger, his name, the man
extending his hand told my father that his name was John
Bradshaw, also telling him that he owned a large cotton
plantation near Jennings and a cotton gin in Jennings."
"I remember also, at that time cotton was being moved about
there in carts, probably to be stored or going forward to
market. It was thus I gained my first impression of Florida,
which, in my childish curiosity I was as eager to see as was
my father who rejoiced to be nearing the end of a long and
tiresome journey.
"While the war with the Indians had ended before we came to
Florida, there were outbreaks by the Indians from time to
time for about ten years after we came into the territory."
"Ocasionally citizens in this section would have little
skirmishes with them and at times it was necessary to have
the aid of State Troops to drive them back."
"This went on until finally the terror of the the raids were
felt in our community."
"In 1857, which was only two years after Mr. Moore and I
were married and when my eldest child was an infant, news
reached the neighborhood that a band of one hundred and
fifty Indians had gone into a thick swamp near Benton, about
twelve miles from our home. Thes Indians were trying to make
their way to the Okefenokee Swamp and on into Georgia.
"All the way from South Florida, from where they came, they
had terrified people along their course, burning houses,
killing live stock and even a few citizens before reaching
Columbia County. As soon as this news was spread, men from
all the nearby homes began to plan and to prepare themselves
to protect their families and property against these terror
spreading friends."
"This went on for a day and night and the second day the
Indians made their presence known when they advanced on the
home of the Howell family who lived near Benton."
"Seeing the Indians approaching, the Howell family locked
themselves in their home for safety."
"The Indians broke into the house, slew every member of the
family, seven in number, burned the barns and went away
leaving the entire family lying dead in the house."
"The Howells were poor like most of the people in the
community and there was no money to take care of burial
expenses for so many. There were no nearby saw mills in the
country where lumber could be bought with which to build
coffins and the neighbors who cared for these dead were
forced to place the seven dead in the body of the family
horse cart, nail some boards torn from the walls of the
Howell home, on for a top cover and place them in a grave in
this manner."
"This happening, of course spread a pall of horror as far as
it was known."
"The next day, William H. Cone, who was the grandfather of
our present Governor Fred P. Cone, got news that the Indians
were planning to move on that night toward the Okefenokee
Swamp and it was of course expected that they would make
raids along their route. Among citizens along the course
which the Indians were expected to travel, were Robert
Sandlin, a later generation of whose family is prominent
throughout both Columbia and Hamilton County today and
William Summerall, the late grandfather of Major General
Charles Summerall."
"Mr. Sandlin's home located one and one half miles from
Benton, being large and securely built, it was decided that
the men should gather there in a goodly number to fight the
Indians, should they make the expected raid on the Sandlin
home."
"Represented in the group who barricaded themselves in the
Sandlin home that night were, Cones, Sandlins, Turners,
Rivers, Moores, including my husband and many others,
including also, a number of slaves.Port holes were made in
the house for the men to fire their guns through, if
needed."
"Other men were stationed to protect the women and children
at the different homes where they had been assembled for
safety, while other men were to do the fighting."
"Soon after dark the Indians were heard approaching the
Sandlin home and reaching there they rushed onto the
premises and were fired upon by the men inside the house."
"A furious battle of shots were fired and a number of
Indians fell dead."
"The Indians soon saw than many men were inside the house
and that these men were well supplied with guns and
ammunition, so they decided to set fire to the house and
force the white men out to fight them in the open, though
each Indian who would attempt to fire the house would be
shot down by the light of this own fire. The Indians then
set upon a different plan, going to the barn, they loaded a
cart with corn shucks and drew the loaded cart up very near
the house and set fire to the shucks thinking this would
burn the house also, but instead their fire so lighted the
elements that the men inside could see the Indians and in
this manner many of them were shot down as they fled to
conceal themselves."
"The Indians were soon forced to retreat, the house did not
burn, and the Indians were driven into the swamp by the
citizens. In the skirmish at the Sandlin home and on to the
swamp, not a single white man was killed and only several
slightly wounded. The Indians remained in the swamp for
several months, doing but little harm or damage to the
citizens and their property, though occassionally an Indian
who would attempt to pilfer and destroy would be killed."
"When they finally decided to return to south Florida, they
set out in two groups, each group traveling a different
route. There was said to be only about forty Indians in each
group, many of them having been killed by the white men. One
group passed in the vicinity of Jasper, crossed the Suwannee
River at Lower Springs (which today is Suwannee Springs) and
going southward by way of Wellborn, where they went on a
raid leaving destruction in their path, killing stock and
burning barns."
"None of the citizens were killed by the Indians there,
though a vicious attack was made upon a young white woman
who had gone some distance from their home for wood."
"She was seized and scalped by an Indian who escaped unhurt.
The family of the young woman had fled to safety when they
saw the Indians approaching, and did not witness her
encounter, they thinking she was likewise safe until they
found her scalped. The victim was a Miss Powell, and fully
recovering her scalp injury later became a Mrs. Tillis, who
with her husband and Children were citizens of the Wellborn
community for many years. The second group of these Indians
traveled through Columbia County by way of Ocean Pond and on
down the state, doing little damage as they went along."
"This was the last trouble of any consequence which the
citizens of this section experienced with the Indians."
"Then came rumblings of a war between the states."
"While Florida, along with other southern states were (sic)
gravely concerned over the prospects of war and the
contention for the freedom of our slaves, our real trouble
began again when Florida along with other states, drew out
of the Union and the Federal armies sought to seize all our
coastwise towns, tear up our few railroads and take our
State Capitol at Tallahassee, and this trouble came as near
our home as Lake City, which is only four miles distant, at
the time of the battle of Olustee, when the Federal army was
defeated and driven back to Jacksonville. My first actual
knowledge of this battle was the sound of guns which I heard
very clearly in the late morning of the day of the battle."I
was at my home where my father and our faithful slaves were
gathered with me and my children to protect us if needed. My
husband at that time was a soldier with the Confederate
forces in Virginia."
"We heard the report of the guns from the battle of Olustee
for several hours and of course every one for many miles
around was in a state of great fear and anxiety, though
before the next day we had learned that our men had won the
battle and had driven the Union forces away after killing
and wounding many of them. The Union men carried their dead
and wounded to Jacksonville. The dead and wounded of our
army were brought to Lake City. The wounded were cared for
in a hospital set up for that purpose, in the Cathey
building, then located on what is now North Marion Street in
Lake City."
"This building was torn down only a few years ago."
"The dead were buried in Lake City cemetery, and once each
year on a day set apart in May, the graves of these soldiers
are decorated and appropriate ceremonies held in their
honor."The officers quarters of the Confederate forces who
fought in the battle of Olustee were located in what was
then known as the Hancock building on Marion Street in Lake
City and which is the present site of the Blanche Hotel."
"The horses and supplies were quartered on the Quincess
property on North Marion Street, in Lake City, this site is
now occupied by a modern Tourist Park."
"My husband answered the call of more volunteers in the fall
of 1862 and was sent to join the Confederate forces under
General Lee in Virginia."
"Soon after the battle of Gettysburg my husband (actually
refers to Lewis William Rivers, not P. G. Moore. ?56) was
taken a prisoner by the Union army and was held on a boat of
the Potomac river for many weeks, he finally excaping (sic)
by throwing a barrel overboard and jumping into the river
himself, rode the barrel to the shore."
"Being in the water for some time before making the shore,
he afterward became ill from the exposure, though finally
made his way back to re-join General Lee's forces, and upon
reaching territory where the Confederates held forth, he was
again taken a prisoner by men of the southern army who
mistook him for a Union man."
"It was not until he was recognized by Colonel Arthur
Roberts as being one of his own men, that he was released to
again take up service."
"Being still ill from exposure in making his excape (sic)
from the Federals, he was given furlough and came home to
visit his family."
"During the time which my husband spent at home on his
furlough, the spring clock which my father gave to us at the
time we were married, stopped running."
"Mr. Moore carried it to town and with a cash difference of
$5.00 he traded it for an eight day clock."
"Now during my later years, since I am no longer very active
and spend much of my time indoors, I find very sweet
companionship in this clock, which, while it ticks away the
time, brings to me many recollections of a past both bitter
and sweet."
"The clock has never been removed from the mantel above the
fireplace but one time since Mr. Moore brought it home and
placed it there in 1864, and that was for minor repairs
which it received about twnety-five years ago."
"It still announces the correct time from day to day."
"The years which my husband spent away from home during the
Civil War were very hard for me as well as for all southern
people at that time, though with the aid my father gave me
and the help of slaves who were faithful, I managed to keep
our little farm going and to care for our children in a
fairly comfortable manner."
"When my husband came home after the surrender, a little
crop was growing on our farm, though we had not much else."
"In the early years of my life I did not read a great deal,
being a busy mother, with both my heart and hands full, most
of the little time which I had to read was spent reading the
Bible, for being married at the age of seventeen, a mother
at eighteen, left with three children at the age of
twenty-three when my husband went to war, and left a widow
with ten children when Mr. Moore passed away, I felt very
keenly, the need [for] spiritual knowledge for my guidance
through[ou]t the problems along with the blessings which
life has held for me, though throughout all my life, God and
world has been kind to me and me own."
"There were churches near our home in South Carolina and
there were churches in this community when we came to
Florida. When I was a small child, my father rode on
horseback from our home to here to attend services at a
Baptist church in Alligator, which is now Lake City."
"The name of the village, which it was, remained Alligator
for a number of years before it was changed to Lake City."
"I became a member of Falling Creek Methodist Church in
1855, (It is unknown when the church at Falling Creek was
established. In its beginning it was probably Baptist; it
did not become Methodist until 1866. ?56) and I still find
great spiritual comfort in worshiping there on the first
Sunday of each month."
"I enjoy hearing the word of God preached and hearing of the
spiritual advancement of the world today."
"I experienced great difficulty for both myself and my
children in obtaining even a limited education and it is a
joy to me to see my grandchildren, my great grandchildren,
and my great great grandchildren of whom I have three, along
with the youth of today having the opportunities which they
do, for education and training for better living."
"I do not think that modern customs have corrupted our
youth, I think the youth of today, sweet and sensible."
"Living as I did in the days when Florida did not have any
railroads to speak of, the days of horse drawn conveyances
for travel, over roads which were not much more than mere
trails, through thick woods where danger from Indians
lurked, I can appreciate with the present generation, the
many nice ways of travel, and transportation which we now
have."
"I have heard my father say, that at the time we moved to
Florida, mail was carried on horseback from Centerville,
Georgia, on the St. Marys River near Folkston to Jasper,
Florida, once weekly and that this was one of the longest
continuous routes carried on horseback in our section of the
country at that time. My father said this round was carried
by the late William Haddock Cone"
."At that time we received our mail only twice weekly, and
that by a horseback carrier, who carried mail from Alligator
to Benton. In my mail, I received letters and cheerful
messages not only from my relatives and my friends though
also from many kindly people who know me only through the
blessing which God has given me a life of more than one
hundred years, and while I am ready to go when the supreme
voice calls me, I still find great joy in living. There are
nodding in the cold February air and sending out the same
perfume which they gave for my precious mother, Jonquils and
daffodils, blooming in my yard today from bulbs which my
mother dug from South Carolina soil and brought them with
her when we came to Florida almost ninety-five years ago."
"I remember as though it were only yesterday, the
assassination of President Lincoln, and the state of turmoil
and uncertainty the peopleof our country were in at that
time.""
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