Conclusion  By Ariel Patterson

From Part 1: Fernandina is dissected by the post-war tax collection and land sale system. A Tax Commission was established on the island to levy and collect taxes on abandoned properties. If the taxes went unpaid, the abandoned lands were sold at auction. When those who had fled the island began to return, a conflict was created between them and those who had purchased the properties at tax auctions. When President Johnson took over the Presidency, he altered the system to favor reclaiming Confederates; the tensions increased, eventually leading to violence in the streets of Fernandina

The fight over land in Fernandina created by the tax collection and land purchasing system kept the small community in a tense limbo for nearly twenty-five years. Eventually, the anxiety and fear initiated by that uncertainty led to an outbreak of violence and reconfiguration of the property ownership on Amelia Island.

Many freedmen, after emancipation, had purchased lands fairly through tax sales or had begun farming abandoned lands as squatters. In 1865 a large amount of property owned by the Florida Railroad Company was turned over to the Freedmen's Bureau. The Bureau was permitted to rent out 40 acre tracts to freedmen and to ensure such occupancy for three years. While some officials warned the freedman that they might eventually be required to relinquish the property to its original owners, other officials delivered a different message, assuring the freedmen that the property was legally theirs and that those who had purchased it from the Bureau held clear government title to the property. Confused by these opposing declarations, many freedmen were left in an incredibly uncertain position. Many built houses on their land, made various improvements, and farmed it for years, increasing their sense of ownership. When President Johnson began his program intended to return property to its original owners, many freedmen were ousted from property they had lived on and worked for several years.

While freedmen faced what they saw as an unfair reclamation of property by the original Confederate owners, returning citizens wanted desperately to reclaim their property and begin their lives in Fernandina again. Among those returning to Fernandina was previous Florida Senator David Yulee. Yulee and his railroad company had been unable to pay taxes in the prescribed period, and the property had subsequently been turned over to the Freedmen's Bureau. But in 1866, the Railroad Company tendered a payment of $4,120.80. Yulee's attempt to reclaim the property was declined by the Treasury Department because too much time had passed since the original due date for the payment. The dispute continued for over twenty years, the check remaining in the Treasury Department's account the entire time.

                                    

                                       Davis Yulee and his Florida Railroad
                                        Company fought a losing battle for over
                                       20 years in an attempt to retain property
                                  lost during Reconstruction due to unpaid taxes.

                           _____________________________

 

The already tense situation was not helped by the composition of the Tax Commission. The Commission had been altered in early 1866. Lyman Stickney remained, but Harrison Reed and John Sammis were replaced by Austin Smith and Daniel Richards. Despite the new configuration, the commissioners continued to represent conflicting interests. Stickney openly favored those returning citizens attempting to reclaim their property. Smith, who had written a report criticizing Stickney, and Richards, an Illinois radical favoring Unionists and Freedmen, took the opposing position. Smith and Richards sought to protect those who had purchased the properties at tax sales and the freedmen who had been farming the property for years.

In October 1866, the tensions that had consumed the island came to a head. The Fernandina sheriff served a writ of ejectment on a tax purchaser, John Hubbard, requiring him to abandon the land he had bought according to the government tax collection system. Hubbard refused. Initially, the sheriff tried to gather military support, contacting the local commander to explain the situation and ask for back-up troops. Despite the sheriff's requests and the possibility of a violent outburst, the commander explained he could not help the sheriff eject a land purchaser. But, the commander would help if such a violent situation did ensue by arresting all involved parties.

In January 1867, the sheriff again tried to serve several writs of ejectment. And again, Hubbard refused. The sheriff, determined in this second attempt to return the property to its original owner, gathered a posse of local ex-Confederate citizens. When he returned to Hubbard's property, however, he was met by a large group of freedmen, vastly outnumbering the posse, all armed with rifles, pistols, axes, etc. According to a Gainesville newspaper account, "The greatest excited prevailed." Again, the sheriff went to the military commander for assistance, but again, the commander refused. The streets of Fernandina were subsequently filled with rioting mobs. Property was destroyed, but fortunately no one was injured.

           

The sheriff appealed to Governor Walker and Col. John Sprague for help to quell the uprising. The two visited Fernandina and urged both groups to refrain from any more violence until the land disputes could be settled. As a further precaution, Col. Sprague sent extra troops as reinforcements to those already mustered at Fort Clinch.

But the land disputes were never really settled. There were too many diverging interests, positions, and programs. Many previous landowners were able to quietly reclaim their property, but there were others who were unable to oust the tax purchasers or freedmen who had occupied their property according to martial law. Who owned what land was a question with many answers over the years in Fernandina. The answer varied depending on what politician was leading or what official was talking.

The land battles and controversy continued for years, finally coming to an end in 1895. The excess money accrued through years of tax collections was divided and distributed to heirs of property owners and tax payers involved in the disputes. Many Fernandinians had managed to reclaim their property while many tax purchasers remained in possession of their property. But as the excesses were distributed, the struggle was ended. When President Garfield took office, he initiated a program dedicated to protection of tax sale purchasers, but by that time matters had been primarily settled in the small community.

                           

                          Colonel John Sprague, military governor of Florida during
                                  Reconstruction, sent extra troops to Fort Clinch at
                                               the request of the local sheriff.
                                           __________________________

While Fernandina had managed to play a relatively small role in the actual battles of the Civil War, it became a hotbed of controversy and even violence in the war's aftermath. Divided over the age-old battle for possession, control, and ownership of land, the community was torn between the diverging interests of freedmen, tax sale purchasers, and reclaiming Confederates. When the struggle ended after nearly twenty-five years, property and allegiances had shifted repeatedly, but Fernandina was finally able to return to a calm it had not known since before the Civil War had divided the nation and Amelia Island's small community.

Photos in this article are courtesy of the Florida State Archives