Remembering Suwannee: An early murder

Eric Musgrove

Contributor

The history of Suwannee County is replete with crimes, just like any other community. As not only the county historian, but records manager for the Suwannee County Clerk’s Office (that houses court records, among many other duties), I have available to me a plethora of not-so-pleasant records that showcase the worst that mankind has to offer. Some of these crimes predate the founding of Suwannee County in 1858, and today’s article discusses one of those.

Before I get into the murder itself, I’ve got to give a little background. Just before Florida became a United States territory (finalized in 1821), the settlers who were moving into the region under the Second Spanish Period did not always get along with the Seminole Indians who now lived in the region. This led to the short First Seminole War in 1817-18, when General Andrew Jackson (later President of the United States) led an army force into Spanish Florida and destroyed Native American villages along the way, turning back once they reached the Suwannee River and returning to American-held territory. The Seminoles and their allies, few of whom had actually been killed, simply returned and rebuilt their villages.

After Florida became a United States territory in 1821, many other settlers moved into the region, causing further issues with the Seminoles. Despite several treaties between the Seminoles and Americans, eventually the Seminoles had enough with American encroachment and attacked American settlers and military forces, beginning the Second Seminole War in 1835. This war would last until 1842, the United States’ longest war until Vietnam. What is now Suwannee County (then a part of Columbia County) was sparsely populated, and the Seminoles took advantage of this by attacking isolated settlers and their homes throughout the entire region. Regular military and militia units patrolled the area, but they could not be everywhere at once. Settlers would flee to one of the several “forts” established in the area for protection, especially during times of increased Seminole activities. These forts were often just converted homes or stores that had space to house soldiers, settlers and their families.

One of the larger communities in north Florida at the time was Newnansville, then-county seat of Alachua County, and many roads led to it, including the main federal road (nicknamed the Bellamy Road) running from Pensacola to St. Augustine, Jacksonville and beyond. This road entered what is now Suwannee County at Charles Ferry (Charles Springs), crossed roughly east-southeast close to McAlpin and O’Brien, and then exited the county near the Ichetucknee River.

In July of 1837, Captain Llewellyn Gilliland (first and last name spelled various ways in the records) had left Charles Ferry to travel to Newnansville but did not arrive. After a search by friends, he was found about 150 yards from his horse on the road from the Suwannee River to Newnansville at a place called Double Sinks close to the Ichetucknee River, both he and his horse dead from buckshot wounds. The captain’s body was found behind a tree, to which he had walked or dragged himself for protection and concealment. It was believed that runaway slaves in the area had murdered him. Gilliland had been a member of the Legislative Council, was serving in the military at his death, and was well respected. In fact, the fort in Newnansville (apparently converted from the Alachua County Courthouse) to which he was traveling when he was killed had been named for him in 1835 at the start of the war.

In August, Tom and John, two runaway slaves of Suwannee County native Micajah Dean, were arrested, found guilty and executed for the murder. According to the testimony at the trial, they had run away, “for the purpose and with the expectation of joining the Seminole Indians, whom they know to be at war with the Whites.” They had stumbled upon Captain Gilliland and killed him for his provisions. Before their execution, the judge in the case gave a stern warning to them, and to any slaves who entertained joining the Seminoles:

“Suppose you had joined the Indians, what would have become of you? They would hardly have treated you well; they would have been afraid to trust you; they would have made you slaves. But if they had not; if they had made you leaders and Chiefs, what would you have gotten by it? Why, if you escaped death from the hands of white people, you must at the close of the war, have been restored to your master, or sent out of the country, to some far away place, where your condition would be infinitely worse than it ever was here until now.”

Later that year, Dean petitioned the Florida Legislative Council for reimbursement for the slaves who were executed. Dozens of people signed the four-page document, over three pages of which were just signatures. Going through it, there is a wealth of information about people who lived in and around what is now Suwannee County, including many names I recognize as some of the first American settlers in the County.

Jacob Rhett Motte, an army surgeon in the Second Seminole War, wrote about traveling with a group to Newnansville because of the trial in his book “Journey Into Wilderness.” He also wrote that Captain Gilliland had entertained him and several of his compatriots in his home just a few months before his untimely murder.

Captain Gilliland’s murder would not be the only one in Suwannee County because of the Second Seminole War…

More history next week!

Eric Musgrove can be reached at [email protected] or 386-362-0564.