CSA/KGC/OAK in Florida

ECS

Banned
Mar 26, 2012
11,639
17,694
Ocala,Florida
Primary Interest:
Other
:hello:We were getting some GOOD info about Cottonwood Plantation, Yulee Family, etc. CARRY ON! ... :icon_thumleft:
There are three stories concerning the portion of the Confederate Treasury that was buried at Cottonwood,before the Union seized the rest with the Davis family's personal property,including their clothes.
1.Mrs Nannie Wickcliffe Yulee had a slave bury it on the property.
2.One of CSA Capt Watson Van Benthuysen's men buried it on the property.
3. 15 yo C Wickcliffe Yulee and CSA Lt John S Purviance,Co G,10th Fla Reg,buried it on the property.
Two of these stories are verified in diaries written by those who took part in hiding the gold,one is based on local lore.All site buildings on the plantation as a reference point,but the original buildings are no longer standing.
 

L.C. BAKER

Silver Member
Sep 9, 2012
3,805
4,643
Nebraska City, Nebraska
Primary Interest:
Other
There are three stories concerning the portion of the Confederate Treasury that was buried at Cottonwood,before the Union seized the rest with the Davis family's personal property,including their clothes.
1.Mrs Nannie Wickcliffe Yulee had a slave bury it on the property.
2.One of CSA Capt Watson Van Benthuysen's men buried it on the property.
3. 15 yo C Wickcliffe Yulee and CSA Lt John S Purviance,Co G,10th Fla Reg,buried it on the property.
Two of these stories are verified in diaries written by those who took part in hiding the gold,one is based on local lore.All site buildings on the plantation as a reference point,but the original buildings are no longer standing.

it seems that these caches should be easier to find because they would be shallow in the sandy soil. They would have been unable to shore up any deep digs, and the water tabel is pretty shallow there as well. Just my 1.5 cents

L.C.
 

ECS

Banned
Mar 26, 2012
11,639
17,694
Ocala,Florida
Primary Interest:
Other
CSA Sec of State Judah P Benjamin after staying in Ocala with CSA Brig Gen Robert Bullock and his Ocala Benjamin cousins,travelled to Ellenton Florida and stayed at the Gamble Plantation before escaping to the Bahamas.
Benjamin,as is known,was a prime member of the KGC,and had set up and directed the spy and blockading networks of the CSA-so why go to the Gamble Plantation?
The Gamble family was from Virginia,and had moved to Florida after the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1821,when Florida became part of the United States.Captain Robert Gamble's daughter,Agnes Sarah had married William H Cabell,who became govenor of Virginia,and his son,Robert H Gamble(Ellenton,Florida)married Leticia Breckinridge,sister of CSA Sec of War,John Cabell Breckinridge,who was also related to the Cabell's of Virginia.
There many blood family connections that occur during the flight months of April-May,1865,from Davis's baggage(guarded by his family) at Yulee's Cottonwood Plantation,to the stay of Davis's nephew Wood with Benjamin and Breckinridge in Ocala,to Benjamin at Gamble Plantation.
Who,besides,Benjamin,may have been part of the KGC?
 

L.C. BAKER

Silver Member
Sep 9, 2012
3,805
4,643
Nebraska City, Nebraska
Primary Interest:
Other
I have always looked at Lewis Powell and wondered why he went clear to Baltimore before he became a Knight in the order. It would make more sense to me if he was already a knight before he got that far North. Although it is stated that Powell was arrested for beating a black servant while in Baltimore, and that a certain store owner there brought him into the K.G.C., I have an underlying suspicion that he was indeed already a knight before he got there. This would also explain the beating of the servant. Just my 2 cents.

Great stuff ECS! thanks for posting it, L.C.
 

ECS

Banned
Mar 26, 2012
11,639
17,694
Ocala,Florida
Primary Interest:
Other
Lewis Powell also had a Florida connection.His family moved to Live Oak,Florida from Alabama in 1859 when Powell was 15.At 17,Powell enlisted in the CSA 2nd Florida Infantry,Co I in Jasper,Florida.
In 1992,Powell's skull was discovered in storage at the Smithsonian,and was shipped to Geneva Cemetart in Seminole County Florida to be re-interned next to his father.
 

L.C. BAKER

Silver Member
Sep 9, 2012
3,805
4,643
Nebraska City, Nebraska
Primary Interest:
Other
That very connection is why I suspect him being acquainted with the K.G.C. in Florida before going to Baltimore. The fact that he too was decapitated is also quite strange. However, his skull did eventually find it's way to his body in Florida!

L.C.
 

L.C. BAKER

Silver Member
Sep 9, 2012
3,805
4,643
Nebraska City, Nebraska
Primary Interest:
Other
The word Southern in Southern Baptist Convention stems from its having been founded and rooted in the Southern United States. Following a split from northern Baptists over the issue of forbidding Southern slave-owners from becoming ordained missionaries, members at a regional convention held in Augusta, Georgia, created the SBC in 1845. After the American Civil War, another split occurred when most black Baptists in the South separated from white churches to set up independent congregations, regional associations, and state and national conventions, such as the National Baptist Convention, the second largest Baptist convention.Slavery in the 19th century became the most critical moral issue dividing Baptists in the United States. Struggling to gain a foothold in the South, after the American Revolution, the next generation of Baptist preachers accommodated themselves to the leadership of southern society. Rather than challenging the gentry on slavery and urging manumission (as did the Quakers and Methodists), they began to interpret the Bible as supporting the practice of slavery and encouraged good paternalistic practices by slaveholders. They preached to slaves to accept their places and obey their masters. In the two decades after the Revolution during the Second Great Awakening, Baptist preachers abandoned their pleas that slaves be manumitted. Lewis Powell was born in Randolph County, Alabama on April 22, 1844 to a Baptist minister, George Cader, and his young wife Patience Caroline

L.C.:thumbsup:
 

ECS

Banned
Mar 26, 2012
11,639
17,694
Ocala,Florida
Primary Interest:
Other
If one looks at the political history of Florida,during Reconstruction when armed guards prevented the "wrong" people from voting up to the late 1890's,KGC/OAK activities abound,especialy in timber aquisitions handed out by Florida govenors.
 

OP
OP
R

Rebel - KGC

Gold Member
Jun 15, 2007
21,680
14,737
There are three stories concerning the portion of the Confederate Treasury that was buried at Cottonwood,before the Union seized the rest with the Davis family's personal property,including their clothes.
1.Mrs Nannie Wickcliffe Yulee had a slave bury it on the property.
2.One of CSA Capt Watson Van Benthuysen's men buried it on the property.
3. 15 yo C Wickcliffe Yulee and CSA Lt John S Purviance,Co G,10th Fla Reg,buried it on the property.
Two of these stories are verified in diaries written by those who took part in hiding the gold,one is based on local lore.All site buildings on the plantation as a reference point,but the original buildings are no longer standing.

Just TEMPORARY "deposits"...
 

ECS

Banned
Mar 26, 2012
11,639
17,694
Ocala,Florida
Primary Interest:
Other
George F Drew was born in New Hamshire,moved to Georgia,and became one of the richest slaveholders in Lee county,Georgia.When the War broke out,Drew high-tailed it to the safety of a Union controlled region of Florida to avoid CSA conscription.After the War and by 1869,Drew and his New York moneyman,Louis Bucki,had gained control of vast tracts of virgin southern pine forest in northern Florida.
Drew needed workers for his lumber and turpine operations,so he ran for govenor of Florida in 1877,and enlisted the aid of former CSA Capt J J Dickinson( of Marion county and known as Florida's swamp fox)and his Regulators to make sure the "right" people voted for the "right" person by armed persuasion.
In return for Dickinson's help "getting the vote out",Drew named him as his Adjutant General,as Florida's chief military administer.
Drew still needed workers for his business operations,so he formed state authorized work camps,mainly Drew's turpintine operations,which provided him with free labor.Drew also began "convict leasing",renting out prisoners to other businees and land owners who required cheap labor.This practice continued until 1949.
Drew also advocated the elimination of public high schools,and in some areas closed all public education completely.
Other Florida govenors with KGC/OAK connections include:
William D Bloxham (1881-1885) born in Florida
Edward A Perry (1885-1889) born in Massachusettes
 

Last edited:
OP
OP
R

Rebel - KGC

Gold Member
Jun 15, 2007
21,680
14,737
it seems that these caches should be easier to find because they would be shallow in the sandy soil. They would have been unable to shore up any deep digs, and the water tabel is pretty shallow there as well. Just my 1.5 cents

L.C.

Was just TEMPORARY "deposits"... meaning that SOME $$$$$$$$$$$$ went SOUTH with the Confederados (Brazil) & SOME $$$$$$$$$$ went WEST to Texas c/o KGC-TEXAS.
 

Last edited:

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top