TALLAHASSEE

During the 17th century several Spanish missions were established in the territory of the Apalachee to procure food and labor for the colony at St. Augustine. The largest, Mission San Luis de Apalachee, has been partially reconstructed by the state of Florida. The name “Tallahassee” is a Muskogean Indian word often translated as “old fields”[citation needed], and it likely stems from the Creek (later called Seminole) Indians who migrated from Georgia and Alabama to this region in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They found large areas of cleared land previously occupied by the Apalachee tribe. Earlier, the Mississippian Indians built mounds near Lake Jackson around AD 1200, which survive today in the Lake Jackson Archaeological State Park. The expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez encountered the Apalachees, although it did not reach the site of Tallahassee. Hernando de Soto and his expedition occupied the Apalachee town of Anhaica in what is now Tallahassee in the winter of 1538–1539. Based on archaeological excavations this site is now known to be located about 0.5 miles (800 m) east of the present Florida State Capitol. The DeSoto encampment is believed to be the first place Christmas was celebrated in the continental United States. During the First Seminole War, General Andrew Jackson fought two separate skirmishes in and around Tallahassee. The first battle took place on November 12, 1817. Chief Neamathla, of the village of Fowltown, just west of present day Tallahassee had refused Jackson’s orders to relocate. Jackson responded by entering the village, burning it to the ground, and driving off its occupants. The Indians later retaliated, by killing 50 soldiers and civilians. Jackson reentered Florida in March 1818. According to Jackson’s adjutant, Colonel Robert Butler, they “advanced on the Indian village called Tallahasse (sic) [where] two of the enemy were made prisoner.” Tallahassee became the capital of Florida during the second legislative session. It was chosen as it was roughly equidistant from St. Augustine and Pensacola, which had been the capitals of the Spanish colonies of East Florida and West Florida. The first session of Florida’s Legislative Council—as a territory of the United States—met on July 22, 1822 at Pensacola and members from St. Augustine traveled fifty-nine days by water to attend. The second session was in St. Augustine and required western delegates to travel perilously around the peninsula on a twenty-eight day trek. During this session, it was decided that future meetings should be held at a half-way point. Two appointed commissioners selected Tallahassee, at that point an abandoned Apalachee settlement, as a halfway point. In 1824 the third legislative session met there in a crude log capitol. From 1821 through 1845 the rough-hewn frontier capital gradually grew into a town during Florida’s territorial period. The Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, returned for a tour of the United States in 1824. The US Congress voted to give him $200,000 (the same amount he had given the colonies in 1778), US citizenship, and the Lafayette Land Grant, 36 square miles (93 km2) of land that today includes large portions of Tallahassee. In 1845 a Greek revival masonry structure was erected as the Capitol building in time for statehood. Now known as the “old Capitol,” it stands in front of the Capitol high rise building that was built in the 1970s.[11] Tallahassee was the center of the slave trade in Florida as the city was the capital of the Cotton Belt. During the American Civil War, Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi not captured by Union forces. A small engagement, the Battle of Natural Bridge, was fought south of the city on March 6, 1865. During the 19th century the institutions that would eventually be combined into what is now known as Florida State University were established in Tallahassee, firmly cementing it as a university town. These including the Tallahassee Female Academy (founded 1843) and the Florida Institute (founded 1854). In 1851 the Florida legislature decreed two seminaries to be built on either side of the Suwanee River, East Florida Seminary and West Florida Seminary. In 1855 West Florida Seminary was transferred to the Florida Institute building (which had been established as an inducement for the state to place the seminary in Tallahassee). In 1858 the seminary absorbed the Tallahassee Female Academy and became coeducational. After the Civil War much of Florida’s industry moved to the south and east, a trend that continues today. The end of slavery hindered the cotton and tobacco trade, and the state’s major industries shifted to citrus, lumber, naval stores, cattle ranching and tourism. The post-Civil War period was also when many former plantations in the Tallahassee area were purchased by wealthy northerners for use as winter hunting preserves. This included the hunting preserve of Henry L. Beadel, who bequeathed his land for the study of the effects of fire on wildlife habitat. Today the preserve is known as the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, nationally recognized for its research into fire ecology and the use of prescribed burning. Florida State Capitol, showing modern Capitol Tower under construction in 1976. Until World War II Tallahassee remained a small southern town with virtually the entire population living within 1 mile (2 km) of the Capitol. The main economic drivers were the universities and state government, where politicians met to discuss spending money on grand public improvement projects to accommodate growth in places such as Miami and Tampa Bay, hundreds of miles away from the capital. By the 1960s there was a movement to transfer the capital to Orlando, closer to the growing population centers of the state. That motion was defeated and the 1970s saw a long-term commitment by the state to the capital city with construction of the new capitol complex and preservation of the old Florida State Capitol building. In 1970, the Census Bureau reported city’s population as 74.0% white and 25.4% black. In 1977 a 23-story high-rise Capitol building designed by architect Edward Durell Stone was completed, which is now the third-tallest state capitol building in the United States. In 1978 the old capitol, directly in front of the new capitol, was scheduled for demolition, but state officials decided to keep the Old Capitol as a museum. Tallahassee was the center of world attention for six weeks during the 2000 United States Presidential election recount, which involved numerous rulings by the Florida Secretary of State and the Florida Supreme Court.

Source: Wikipedia

Central Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written dates of 1834 and 1835)

The CENTRAL BANK OF FLORIDA was chartered on February 11, 1832. Benjamin Chaires, the banks president, was an important Tallahassee cotton planter who also participated in the founding of the Tallahassee Rail Road Co. At his death in 1838, his estate showed he had 10,000 acres of land and 80 slaves. Leslie A. Thompson served as the banks cashier.

1835 $1 Note from Harley L. Freeman Collection

1835 $1 Note Signed by Leslie A. Thompson, cashier and Benjamin Chaires, president
from Harley L. Freeman Collection

1835 $10 Note from Harley L. Freeman Collection

March 1, 1835 $10 Note Signed by Leslie A. Thompson, cashier and Benjamin Chaires, president. VERY Rare
from Harley L. Freeman Collection

$300 Check issued from the Central Bank of Florida

Union Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written dates of 1834 to 1836)

The UNION BANK OF FLORIDA, was chartered on February 12, 1833, and was the first to be approved by Governor Duval. The Union Bank would prove to be one of the most ambitious banks to operate in antebellum Florida. John G. Gamble remained president of this huge political entity, the governor and Territorial Council being in complete complicity with the bank officers. John Parkhill and later Charles F. Mercer, would serve as the bank’s cashiers.

18__ $1 B Plate Note

18__ Proof $1 A Plate Note from Harley L. Freeman Collection

18__ Proof $1 A Plate Note PROOF note
from Harley L. Freeman Collection

1835 $2 A Plate Note

1835 $5 E Plate Note Signed by John Parkhill, cashier and John G. Gamble, president

18__ Proof $5 B Plate Note PROOF note.

April 20, 1835 $10 A Plate Note Signed by John Parkhill, cashier and John G. Gamble, president

18__ $10 A Plate Note from Harley L. Freeman Collection

18__ $10 A Plate Note PROOF
from Harley L. Freeman Collection

Jany. 4, 1839 $10 B Plate Note, New design. Signed by John Parkhill, cashie and John G. Gamble, president

18__ $20 A Plate Note

January, 1836 $20 A Plate Note Signed by John Parkhill, cashier and John G. Gamble, president

May 1, 1836 $50 A Plate Note Signed by John Parkhill, cashier and John G. Gamble, president

Union Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written date of May 1, 1840)

Jany. 1, 1840 $10 A Plate Note Signed by Charles F. Mercer, cashier and John C. Gamble, president

July 6, 1840 Union Bank Check for $1000 Signed by C.F. Mercer, cashier and John G. Gamble, president

August 12, 1840 Union Bank Check for $1710.80 Signed by C.F. Mercer, cashier and John G. Gamble, president

Merchants & Planters Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written dates of August 1837)

Chartered originally as the Merchants & Planters Bank at Magnolia on February 8, 1832, a later charter was approved on February15, 1834 granting the right to establishbranches at St. Joseph and Tallahassee. When the town of Magnolia disappeared, the Merchants & Planters commenced business in Tallahassee in 1836 or 1837. The officers were Martin Brooks, president and Thomas Bertram, cashier.

18__ $3 A Plate Note

18__ $5 A Plate Note
from Harley L. Freeman Collection

1837 $10 A Plate Note from Harley L. Freeman Collection

August 1837 $10 A Plate Note Signed by Thomas Bertram, cashir and Martin Brooks, president. Both men served in same offices at the Bank of West Florida, Apalachicola.
from Harley L. Freeman Collection

1837 $20 A Plate Note

1837 Uncut Sheet of a $3, $5, $10, and $20 Note

Southern Life Insurance Trust Co., Tallahassee (written date of January 1, 1841)

The SOUTHERN LIFE INSURANCE & TRUST CO. was established in 1840 or 1841, the parent bank being located in St. Augustine. J. Williams served as cashier of the bank with George Field as president. Notes are of similiar style to those of it’s parent bank in St. Augustine.

January 1, 1841 $50 A Plate Note Signed by J. Williams, cashier and George Field, president

January 1, 1841 $100 A Plate Note Signec by J. Williams, cashier and George Field, president

Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written date of February 14, 1843)

Feb. 14, 1843 $3 Note Without Kennedy, signed by Rutgers, cashier and Booth as president (B-8)

1844 $3 Note with Kennedy engraved. Signed by Rutgers, cashierr and Graham as president (B-22)

18__ Uncut Proof Sheet of $1, $2, $5, and $10 Notes These are the only notes known of this unique design and issue. (B-1-4)

Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written dates of March 1843, titled EXCHANGE)

1843 $2 Note

1843 $5 Note

1843 $10 Note

Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (At the office of D.L. Kennedy, New York)

1843 $5 Note

1843 $10 Note

1843 $20 Note

1843 $5 Note

1843 $10 Note

1843 $20 Note

Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written date of February 1, 1844)

1844 $1 Note Kennedy engraved, signed by Rutgers, cashier and Graham as president (B-20)

18__ Proof Partial Uncut Sheet Of $1, and $2 Notes

18(44)Proof Partial Uncut Sheet Of $1, and $2 Notes (B-20-21)

1843 $4 Note without Kennedy engraved signed by Rutgers, cashier and Booth, president (B-9)

1844 $4 Note With Kennedy engraved signed by Rutgers, cashier and Jas. Geo. Graham, president (B-23)

State Stock Bank, Tallahassee (engraved date of April 2, 1853)

The State Stock Bank was a fictitious bank, notes were produced by modifying the plates of notes of the Government Stock Bank of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Most notes are from reconstructed backs of South Carolina and Floirda notes, as seen below. Also featured here is one original intact $5 note with plain back.

1853 $5 B Plate Note (B-51)

1853 $5 A Plate Note Reconstructed from South Carolina notes

$10 State Stock Bank Note Reconstructed from the back of 75 Cent Corp. of Tallahassee Notes

State Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (written dates of 1859 and 1860)

Demand notes printed by American Bank Note Company. On Januart 21, 1851, the state legislature authorized the incorporation of the State Bank of Florida but, it was not until 1855 that the legislature approved a viable bank, and Florida’s first bank aftr statehood raised money and opened in early 1859. Denominations overprinted in large red letters except on pro0fs.

1860 $5 B Plate Note Signed by W.R. Pettes, cashier and Wm. Bailey, pres. with T.W. Brevard, Comptroller (B-40)

18__ Proof $5 B Plate Note

18__ Proof $10 A Plate Note (B-41b)

1859 $20 A Plate Note (B-42)

18__ Proof $20 A Plate Note (B-42b)

State Bank of Florida, Tallahassee (engraved date of July 1, 1862)

1862 Framed $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, and $20 Notes

Corporation of Tallahassee (written dates of 1837 to 1841)

Scrip redeemable at the Union Bank of Florida, handwritten dates between 1837 and 1841.

1840 6 1/4 Cent Note (B-63)

1838, The Corporation of the city of Tallahassee.
12 1/2 cent note features Maiden on left, train in the center, and on the right is a steamship (Unique and Unlisted)

183_ .75 Cent Note (B-67)

1841 $1 Note (B-68)

Corporation of Tallahassee (engraved date of March 1, 1862)

Scrip redeemable at the State Bank of Florida. Printed date of March 1, 1862. Signed by William Bailey, B.C. Lewis or W.R. Pettes.

March 1, 1862 Framed Set of Corporation of Tallahassee Notes (5 Cent, 5 Cent, 10 Cent, 10 Cent, 25 Cent, 50 Cent, 75 Cent Notes)

Tallahassee Rail Road Company (written date of January 10, 1834)

The Tallashassee Rail Road Company was incorporated by an act of the Territorial Legislature on February 10, 1834. The legislation gave the company 500,000 acres of land and broad authority to take whatever land, lumber or stones they needed along the route provided owners received just compensation.

1834 .50 Cent Note Payable in Freight or Passage. Earliest known note on this railroad, probably unique!

Tallahassee to St. Marks Historic Railroad Timeline

Tallahassee to St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail History

1826A road was being constructed from Tallahassee to the St. Marks River

1831The Tallahassee Railroad Company received the first Congressional Land Grant ever given to a railroad

1835 The Tallahassee Railroad Company was approved by the Florida Legislative Council

1836 The first train traversed the railway

1837 Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad construction completed and regular business operations began

1838 30,000 bales of cotton traveled on the railroad since its operations began

1839 The railroad was extended to Port Leon with the construction of a bridge over the St. Marks River

1843 A hurricane demolished the section of rail in and leading to Port Leon, and St. Marks became the new southern terminus of the railroad

1856 The wooden rails are replaced by steel rails and the mule-drawn carriages were replaced by locomotives

1865 Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad moved hundreds of confederate troops during the Civil War to the Battle of Natural Bridge

Engraving of railway depot – St. Marks(ca 1876) Credit: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.

1983 Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad stopped operating

1984 The Florida Department of Transportation purchased 16 miles of the corridor and Florida’s first “Rails to trails” project began.

Tallahassee Rail Road Company (written dates of 1852 to 1856)

1856 $1 Note

1841 $1 Note
Signed Gov. R.K. Call, Pres. and S.R. Belton, Sect.

1856 $2 Note

1857 $2 Note
“Transportation” written in

Tallahassee Rail Road Company (written dates of 1859 and 1860)

Demand notes payable in transportation. Printed by the American Bank Note Company. Signed by F.H. Flagg as secretary and E. Houstoun as President. Later issue with elaborate printed backs signed by Flagg and either J.S. Stone or M.L. Littlefield as President.

1860 $1 “B” Plate Note

1860 $1 “A’ Plate Note

18__ Proof $1 “B” Plate Note

1860 $2 “A” Plate Note

18__ Proof $2 “A’ Plate Note

1867 $3 “A” Plate Note

18__ Proof $3 “A” Plate Note

Tallahassee Rail Road Company (written dates of 1860 to 1870)

1870 $1 “A” Plate Note

186_ $1 “A’ Plate Note

186_ $2 “A” Plate Note

1870 $3 “A” Plate Note

186_ $3 “A” Plate Note

18__ Uncut Sheet of $1, $1, $2, and $3 Notes

The Tallahassee Railroad was one of the first operational railroads in the United States headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. It was constructed in 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge.

The railroad was conceived and financed by leading cotton planters who needed a way to get their crop to textile mills in England and New England. It was also used by naval store merchants and timber interests of the area to transport the their goods to East Coast ports.

The Tallahassee Railroad Company was approved in 1835 by the Florida Legislative Council. Also that year, the Tallahassee Railroad Company received the first Federal land grant to a railroad. In 1835 construction began on the Tallahassee St. Marks Railroad.

The drawing by Francis Count de Castelnau is captioned with: “Railway depot at Tallahassee. Florida already has a railroad, which although short renders great service. It extends from the capital to Saint-Marck on the Gulf of Mexico about 7 leagues away. It crosses such a very deep sandy region that, before construction, it was scarcely possible to cross it on horseback. It serves chiefly to transport cotton from the interior to the sea.”

The railroad was completed in 1837 and began operation that year. It was a mule-drawn railroad that connected Tallahassee, Florida, then the territorial Capital, with the Gulf port of St. Marks — a distance of 22 miles (35 kilometres). By 1838 the railroad extended three miles south to Port Leon.

In 1843, Port Leon destroyed by massive hurricane. The railroad terminal there is moved back to St. Marks. In 1856, the wooden rails are replaced by steel rails and mules are replaced by locomotives. During the Civil War, the Confederates used the railroad extensively to move troops, artillery and supplies in defense of Tallahassee. In March 1865, the railroad achieved its highest military significance when it was used to deploy Confederate troops quickly south from Tallahassee in the face of an advance by Union troops. The railroad enabled Generals Samuel Jones and William Miller to put enough men into place to defeat Union General John Newton at the Battle of Natural Bridge on March 6, 1865. In 1880, the railroad began to transport naval stores and timber for Leon County’s logging industry.

In 1983, the Seaboard Railroad filed to abandon the line between Capital Circle in Tallahassee and St. Marks. The Tallahassee-St. Marks line has the distinction of being the longest operating railroad in Florida and served the area for 147 years. One unknown traveler called it “the worst that has yet been built in the entire world.” In 1984 the corridor was purchased by the Florida Department of Transportation. The Florida Park Service currently maintains it as the St. Marks Trail.

Source: Wikipedia

Willis Alston (written date of February 17, 1834)

1834 6 1/4 Cent Scrip
from Harley L. Freeman Collection

1834 25 Cent Scrip

Achille Murat (written date of March 1, 1834) E. Loockerman's Store

Photo of Achille Murat

Post Card of Prince and Princess Murats Tombs

March 1, 1834
12 1/2 Cent Scrip Payable “at E. Loockerman’s Store, in the City of Tallahassee” signed by Achille Murat, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte

July 1828 Term This day the Court of the County of Gadsden was opened agreeable to law. Present his Honour Judge Robinson.No. 1 Elihu Atwater and Leslie (?) A. Thompson were nominated by Francis A. Cash Esqr as practicing attorneys of this Court and were admitted accordingly.Personally appeared R. K. Call who being duly sworn deposeth and saith that Charles Louis Napoian Achelle Murat has been a resident of this Territory of Florida more than on year, during which time he has behaved as a man of good moral character, that he appears attached to the preamble of the Constitution of the United States and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. R. K. CallNo. 2 Sworn to in open Court by R. K. Call this 14 July A.D. 1828 E. A. Robinson, Clk by H. McNeil, D. ClkCounty Court of Gadsden County, Territory of Florida July Term 1828Personally appeared in open Court Charles Louis Napolean Achelle Murat, a native of France, who having produced to the Court satisfactory evidence of his being entitled to become a citizen of the united Sates and of his having been a resident of this Territory for more than one year and after being duly sworn deposeth and saith that he will support the Constitution of the United States of American and that he doth absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all alegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state or soverignty whatever, and that owing no allegiance to any prince, potentate, state or sovereignty he cannot renounce such allegiance to any of them by name, and that he doth furthermore renounce any and every hereditary title of nobility which he has borne or to which he is entitled in any state or Kingdom whatever. No. 3 Achille Murat

Jno. Ashe (1837)

1837 6 1/4 Cent Scrip Unlisted Unique Scrip

1837 6 1/4 Cent Scrip
Unique Generic Scrip (B-78)

William Hilliard, Tallahassee Post Office (written date of July 10, 1837)

Scrip, payable in postage, with the imprint of Morris Printer Philadelphia. Signed by William Hilliard though records do not indicate him ever being a postmaster.

1837 Partial Remainder Sheet of 6 1/4 Cent Script and 12 1/2 Cent Script

1837 Partial Remainder Sheet of .25 Cent Script and .50 Cent Script

1837 Proof 6 1/4 Cent Script

1837 .18 3/4 Cent Script

William Hilliard, Tallahassee Post Office (undated)

These notes, signed by William Hilliard, were payable in postage or current bank notes. Imprinted by New England Bank Note Co. Boston.

12 1/2 Cent Note

1839 .25 Cent Note

1839 .50 Cent Note

1839 .75 Cent Note

1839 $1 Note
from Harvey L. Freeman Collection

Henry L. Rutgers (written dates of November 1841)

Henry L. Rutgersw served as treasurer of Florida Territory and as cashier of the Bank of Florida. Two series of scrip were issued payable in Union Bank notes on demand at the Union Bank of Florida.

1841 6 1/4 Cent Scrip

1841 Framed Set of 12 1/2 Cent Scrip, .25 Cent Scrip, and .50 Cent Scrip

Henry L. Rutgers was a successful lawyer that issued two set of scrip, one from November 1841 and the other dated January 1, 1842.

Henry L. Rutgers (written dates of January 1842)

1842 Framed Set of Henry L. Rutgers Scrip (6 1/4 Cent, 12 1/2 Cent, .25 Cent, and .50 Cent Scrip)

Henry L. Rutgers was a successful lawyer that issued two set of scrip, one from November 1841 and the other dated January 1, 1842.

Robinson's Store (Leon County) (engraved date of October 1, 1877)

1877 .25 Cent Scrip
Unique!

W.L. Robinson Dated scrip October 1, 1877 that was good for 25 cents payable in merchandise only. Imprinted by the American Bank Note Co. Philadelphia. Printed location is Leon County Florida rather than Tallahassee.

First National Bank of Tallahassee (4132)

1882 $100 Brown Back Note. Charter #4132 Tallahassee Signed by W.C. Lewis, Cashier and George Lewis, President. (Only 3 are known to exist)

1902 Date Back 3rd Charter note on the First National Bank of Tallahassee, FL.
Charter #4132 Signed by President George Lewis and cashier George E. Lewis.
This is the ONLY 3rd charter note known on the bank and 1 of 2 $100 Date Back notes on the entire state of Florida

1883 Ad cover from B.C. Lewis & Sons Bankers which became FNB of Tallahassee 1889

The First National Bank of Tallahassee was issued a national charter on October 2, 1889. The officers chosen to run the bank was George Lewis, President and W.C. Lewis was appointed the cashier duties. In July of 1916 First National forfeited their charter to become Lewis State Bank, a voluntary liquidation aided the process.

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