Published by Haunted America
A Division of The History Press
Charleston, SC
www.historypress.com
Copyright 2020 by Madonna Jervis Wise
All rights reserved
Cover: Photograph by Ernest E. Wise.
First published 2020
E-Book edition 2020
ISBN 978.1.4396.7112.2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020938495
Print Edition 978.1.4671.4681.4
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.
To Rachel, Mamie and Jervis
If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.
Rudyard Kipling
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Open your perspective as you delve into the entries that follow! The places and folks are well researched. Based on primary and secondary sources, many of the mysteries included are based on written accounts or tales passed down from generation to generation. Primary sources in all historical accounts are viewed by the perception of the eyewitness.
From my earliest days, I sat at the feet of my grandparents and neighbors, mesmerized by the details of their life stories, most particularly the nuances of their daily lives that infused superstition, intuition and coincidence, as well as deep faith. As a lifelong educator, I employed experiential learning techniques used in the teaching of historyoral history, interviews, field trips and review of diaries and artifacts.
History is a multisensory experience. A childhood memory evokes an image, a smell, a nostalgic longing and an emotion. Often what lingers in a historical recollection is the sensory aspect of the experience. Enjoy this collection of stories about a diverse group of people and places that shaped Central Florida history.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Margaret Beaumont, Scott Black, Sheryl Bryant, Jeff Cannon, Willa Bahr Chapman, Jamie Chastain, Dennis Cole, Ronnie Collins, William G. Dayton, Nicole Ferro, Shane Forrester, Erica Freeman, Leslie Gilmore-Lagosky, Billy Grant, Evan Green, Joe Gude, Kelly Hackman, Steven Herman, Brandie Kagey Hunter, Clinton Inman, Jeff Jeter, Ted Johnson, Buddy Jones, Bob Langford, Nick Linville, Joy Lynn, Susan Maesen, Cecil McGavern, Edith McGavern, Susan McMillian, Jeff Miller, Taylor Napier, Allan Near, Stephen Ove, Evie Parks, Derick Pontlitz, Linda Rodgers, Brian Schmit, Marco Stanley, Anna Stutzriem, Brian Swann, John M. Taylor, Danny Triplett, Bobbie Van Dercar, Irene Anne Westermann and Ernest E. Wise.
INTRODUCTION
WITH HISTORICAL MAP AND DISCUSSION OF HISTORY OF THE COUNTY AND FLORIDA
A Haunted History of Pasco County, Florida, conjures up images of misty, foggy, warm waters with unfolding enigmatic phantasmagorias that invigorate the imagination. It is a place where one squints for cognition of an object or aura and finds oneself hypnotically fantasizing over a fading horizon at a Gulf beach with its rhythmic tide rushing in and out. Its no wonder folklore of Florida is unique. The romantic land has long been sought after from a diverse and mesmerizing history that comes with numerous unique cultural origins, legends and lore. Mysterious legend and even haunted history come from as early as 10,000 BCE and run the gamut through indigenous culture, Spanish explorers, open range, homesteading as well as Seminole wars and the twentieth century with the Great Depression, Prohibition, moonshining and the development of communities.
The Land of Flowers holds magnetic appeal that stems from an enigmatic quest for the fountain of youth. In 1513, ruthless conqueror Ponce de Leon ironically named the area Land of Flowers. He had sailed with Columbus on his second expedition in 1493 and served as governor of the Spanish colony of San Juan (now Puerto Rico) and was ruthless in his treatment of Native Americans in the Caribbean. He sought out a contract in 1512 to look for the fountain of youth, and after making landfall around St. Augustine, he traveled down the peninsula to the Florida Keys. Later, when he returned to the area, the arrow of an indigenous warrior ultimately proved fatal. As you read the haunted history in Central Florida, you will see a pioneers quest for a fountain of youth/healing as the account of Crystal Springs unfolds.
Lithics recovered in Pasco County date from throughout the Paleo-Indian Period (14,000 BCE8000 BCE), Archaic Period (8000 BCE1000 BCE) and the Woodland Period (1000 BCE900 CE), as well as artifacts from the Timucua (1000 BCE900 CE), Tobago (9001600) and Seminole (1750 present). Shane Forrester, a lifelong collector of Native American artifacts in central and eastern Pasco, explained that often lithics were repurposed over time from the most ancient of times to the Seminole. Similarly, in western Pasco, Herb Elliott, also a lifelong collector, has located thousands of stone artifacts. On the banks of his home near New Port Richey, the oldest were determined to be over ten thousand years old.
Dr. Jerald Milanich, author of Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe, attempted to retrace the expedition of Hernando de Soto through Florida. From the Spanish documents he reviewed, he assumed that the expedition passed along a Native American trail in, or very near, present-day Dade City. It was here where the Spanish saw the first Native cornfields known as Plain of Guacozo. There is no conclusive evidence of which tribe the Spanish encountered; however, many Native groups across Florida were decimated by European-introduced diseases, leading to a population vacuum by the early eighteenth century. In the mid-eighteenth century, various southeastern Indians, the majority of whom were Creek, began settling in the area. They became known as the Seminole. Beginning in 1835, and until 1842, the United States and the Seminole were at war. Another war (the Third Seminole War, 185558) drove the Seminole from the region, encouraging further White settlement.
Make no mistake, Florida was a frontier, and the settlers who chose to come to Pasco County were hardworking and innovative. Gazing at historical archives, one cannot help but marvel at the pioneerstheir tenacity, ingenuity and ability to withstand hardship and loss. The community of Pasco County was interrelated yet diverse. The stories collected from interviews and records capture anecdotes of Native Americans, Black workers in turpentine communities and railroads, farmers and cow hunters during open range and early entrepreneurs. In the burgeoning towns and villages there were scarce populations of settlers, and isolation was the norm. Only the Sunday church service or meeting at the general store brought them together. In that atmosphere, superstitions flourished, and family legends and rituals sprouted and were passed down.
A family was self-sufficient in handling every nature of life event from birth to burial. Loss was a common occurrence, and rugged subsistence life made sentimentality unviable, so rationalizations and traditions were born. Fighters and soldiers returning from skirmishes or conflicts like the Civil War had undefined melancholy that would be later named post-traumatic stress. It is little wonder that an array of ghost stories, supernatural tales and strategies for coping emerged that brought belief in enchantment, superstition and just plain dumb luck.
