Bob Patterson - Forgotten Tales of Florida

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2009 by Bob Patterson

All rights reserved

First published 2009

Second printing 2009

Third printing 2012

e-book edition 2013

Cover design by Natasha Momberger.

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.62584.265.7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Patterson, Bob.

Forgotten tales of Florida / Bob Patterson.

p. cm.

print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-799-9

1. Florida--History--Anecdotes. 2. Florida--Social life and customs--Anecdotes. 3. Folklore--Florida--Anecdotes. I. Title.

F311.6.P38 2009 398.209759--dc22

2009035284

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Foreword

Bob Patterson is an extraordinary man. He seems to never bury a talent, but in time develops each one to strengthen those he has already nurtured into well-being: photography, music, storytelling, writing and more.

It is my understanding that he spent quality time camping, canoeing and fishing with the talented musician Will McLean and highly talented wordsmith Gamble Rogers. They were his mentors as he perfected his ability to evoke chills, laughter and tears.

Bobs latest feat, Forgotten Tales of Florida, is a delectable collection of folk tales and personal stories all dressed up in a designers attire. The saga of William Ellis is sheer delight from beginning to end.

Every cache of Florida stories will be sadly incomplete without a copy of this book.

Annette J. Bruce

Author/storyteller

Co-founder Florida Storytelling Association

Preface

Let me begin by telling you that I am not originally from Florida. As a matter of fact, Im from up north. When you say that to folks around Florida, youre going to get many different responses. I met an old Conch once down in Key West and asked him, Hey man, do you ever get up north? He looked me straight in the eye and said, Yep, yep, I git up to Miami about twiced a year. But I did grow up in wilderness. I practically had to pack a lunch just to go to the mailbox. I grew up alongside a river, a river that got so low at times that you could walk across it in places. In other times, the floodwaters would come crashing up against our house, and I was always amazed at how my daddy insisted on carrying everyone in the family out through the floodwaters. There was Mom, my two sisters and myself. Sometimes the water would be right up to his chin. We all thought that was just incredible, because my father was the only one in the family who didnt know how to swim.

I learned how to hunt, fish and trap alongside that river. You know, Henry David Thoreau said that we all ought to learn how to do that because of the lessons that they teach you about wild things and wild places. He said that if we really learned those lessons well, wed quit. And its no surprise that as a young man growing up in the 1940s, one of my childhood heroes was Tarzan. Weve all seen those Tarzan movies and know that the storyline takes place in Africa. But the truth of the matter is that most of those movies were made right here in Florida. So when I moved to Florida some forty years ago, my first impression was that I had moved to Africa. I thought, Wow! This is a wild place!

Over the years, Ive learned the importance of wild places to the human condition. Everybody has their favorite wild place. For you, it might be your own backyard, the empty lot across the street or the woods down at the end of the road. This book is about my favorite wild place: Florida. It was created from a lifetime of personal experiences and encounters with Floridas folklore, history, people and culture. I hope youre entertained by the stories, and I hope that you will join me in helping to protect this wondrous place we know as Florida for generations to come.

Ive always told little stories as introductions to songs during my career as a singer/songwriter. It wasnt until I began working with Gamble Rogers that I started to understand the power of storytelling. It was during this same period of time that I befriended Floridas Black Hat Troubadour, Will McLean, who suggested that I direct my writing and music skills toward saving Floridas environment. I am grateful for having known these fine human beings. I am grateful, too, for knowing Annette Bruce, who introduced me to the Florida storytelling community and who has been so helpful with my storytelling adventures. I want to thank those dear friends who read the manuscript, offering good suggestions and checking for typographical errors. Mostly, I am grateful to Erin Wiedemer (www.awriteword.com), who not only edited the manuscript, but also was a constant source of guidance for this writing project.

Forgotten Tales of Florida

OLD TEN DOLLAR BILL

When I first met William Ellis, he was already ninety years old. I was struck by his ability to recall events in his past with a clarity of mind that was much brighter than my own, though I was nearly half his age when we met. William Ellis was born and raised along Floridas wild and pristine Ocklawaha River during a time before the automobile had arrived. To Bill, the Ocklawaha was a magical, mystical and holy place. He told me once that it had been created when a ribbon fell from Gods hair.

Bills best friend was ol Doc Ziegler, a man revered to this day in Putnam County as one of the best can do, will do old-time physicians around. Bill and Doc liked to go fishing on the Ocklawaha. Bill, known to have a mischievous streak, especially liked to take Doc under low-hanging tree branches so that he could bump a branch with his oar to get a water moccasin to fall into the boat. You see, he liked to watch Doc tiptoe around the gunnels of the boat until he could swat the snake out with an oar. All the time Bill would be laughing, Oh, those are just those little copper-headed-rattle-water moccasins. They aint gonna hurt ya! Why, if they bite ya, they just gonna make you a little sick.

Well, one morning, William Ellis was working one of his favorite fishing holes when he looked on the bank and saw the largest water moccasin hed ever seen in his life. It was eight feet long and as wide around in the middle as a mans thigh. Bill claimed that it had a pretty blue color to it. Why, his first reaction was to pull out his pistol. He cocked the hammer and got ready to squeeze off a round, when he thought, That snake aint really bothering anybody. So he uncocked the gun and returned it to its holster. He remained pretty curious about the snake, though, so he reached into the bottom of the boat and pulled out one of his long cane poles. With the tip of the pole, he reached over and poked the snake. It didnt react much, so Bill, feeling a little bolder, ran the tip down the snakes back. He did it once, twice and on the third time something really amazing happened. That snake rolled over! Bill continued to rub the belly of the snake with the cane pole. Why, when he went home that night, he could hardly sleep for thinking about the curious events of the day. So, the next day, he returned to his old fishing hole and saw that same water moccasin up on the bank. He pulled out his cane pole and began rubbing the water moccasins back. He would pet the snake with his fishin pole each and every day, and each day he would get a little closer, a little closer and a little closer. One day, William Ellis found that he could actually walk up to that snake and rub its back with his bare hands. Then the snake would roll over and Bill would rub its belly. And it wasnt long after that before William Ellis could actually hand feed that snake bream and shell crackers.