Local News

Page 2 The Yulee News

June 16, 2022 Pioneers Who Lived in the Yulee Area Two Hundred Years Ago

by John Hendricks, local historian

After Congress ratified the AdamsOnis Treaty in 1821 in which Spain gave Florida to the US, the early settlers living in the newly acquired American territory had to scramble to prove they owned the land on which they lived. The US government gave all Floridians an ultimatum: locate their deeds, survey their property and gather dispositions from the closest neighbors then prove to a US land court that they were the rightful owners or lose their lands. Settlers in the sparsely populated area in between the St Marys and Nassau Rivers were no different. During the next decade over two dozen settlers in today’s Yulee area began the painstakingly tedious process of gathering the necessary documents in order to retain their lands. They ranged from small families to large landowners with slave labor and from widows to war veterans. Most were successful in their claims with the US, but a couple were not as fortunate, thus they lost ownership of the land in question. shortly thereafter). Lowe owned 6,000 acres to the south of Waterman’s grant and together their combined land-holdings stretched from today’s Hedges northeast to Chester, then west to the US 17 blue truss bridge spanning the St. Marys River. Most of Waterman’s mill grant would remain productive timberland for the next two hundred years.

Dissecting Waterman’s mill grant is the slow, winding waterway called Lofton Creek. It was named for John Lofton who was among the first Anglo pioneers in the area, having settled here in the late 1700s. Though not a rebel, the 1795 rebellion against Spanish rule forced Lofton from his waterfront home. Months later he returned, but then Lofton died shortly thereafter. In 1822, his sons, William and John, had to file documents with the US courts that proved their father was the legal owner of the property, despite the senior John’s brief exodus. The two sons successfully proved their case and soon split their father’s parcel into two identical 354-acre lots that straddled the tea-colored river. There were six other families that lived on Lofton Creek in the 1820s. They were Nathaniel Wilds (who also settled here in the late 1700s), Henry Young (190 ac), John Carr, John Wingate, William Walker and John Vaughan (1075 acres). An eighth claimant, Charles Broward, could not produce the necessary documents on 100 acres on Lofton Creek, thus lost his case and his land.

Unlike the nearly-vacant land on Lofton Creek, there were many settlers living to the north on the tall sandy bluffs of the St. Marys River. There were about a dozen who lived between White Oak Plantation eastward to Rose’s Bluff. The most notable were Susan Cashen (Widow of James Cashen, Reid’s Bluff); Charles Seton (large timber landowner on the south banks of Nassau River in today’s Duval County); Spicer Christopher (Old Township/Crandall); Nathaniel Wilds (Wild’s Landing and ferry) and John Frazer (Thomas Cryer’s former plantation on the Roundabout peninsular just west of today’s I-95 St. Marys River Bridge). Settlers were not limited to owning one parcel. Susan Cashen and John Vaughan also owned land on Amelia Island during this time.

The two largest landowners in the Yulee area two hundred years ago were Eleazer

Waterman and John Lowe.

Both owned adjacent sawmills on Bells River near today’s Chester.

The two largest landowners in the Yulee area two hundred years ago were Eleazer Waterman and John Lowe. Both owned adjacent sawmills on Bells River near today’s Chester. The Spanish government granted all timber sawyers, including Waterman and Lowe, 10,000 acres called mill grants so they could harvest the timber to supply their mills. Waterman’s total land holdings throughout the district quickly grew to 16,000 acres, making him the largest landowner in the area at the time. (Some of Waterman’s timberlands were once owned by George Arons, who was branded a rebel for participating in the short-lived 1795 rebellion against the Spanish and moved

1821 survey of part of Eleazer Waterman’s vast timber grant with boundaries using the “chain” (66 feet) as the unit of measurement and carving marks in trees as reference points. The land, located north of Yulee, has been a productive timberland for 200 years. Source: Floridamemory.com.

The Nassau River is not nearly as long as its sister river, the St. Marys, yet the swift waterway drains well over half of today’s Nassau County watershed. At the time of the Adams-Onis Treaty, there were about a half-dozen settlers living on the north banks of this river. Moving John Christopher (698 ac, Santa Maria, Nassauville).

In all, over two dozen landowners living in the 1820s in the area now called Yulee had to file claims in the US land court. Some cases were not resolved until well into the 1830s. A couple of claims were dismissed while others had to be resolved by the heirs after the claimants died. But for most of these settlers, their perseverance paid off and they were able to stay and continue to cultivate their properties. In 1824, they become citizens of the newly formed county of Nassau.

In all, over two dozen landowners living in the 1820s in the area now called Yulee had to file claims in the

US land court. Some cases were not resolved until well into the 1830s.

eastward from today’s Four Creeks Preserve to Nassauville, they were Robert Harrison (880 ac), John Uptgrove (Peach Orchard), Cyrus Briggs (798 ac) and John Hendricks is a local historian and director of the West Nassau Historical Society. You can join him on the 4th Thursdays of each month at 6:30 pm at their meeting inside the historic Callahan Train Depot.

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