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Published in the
September 2009 issue of SGES Quarterly
SPICER
CHRISTOPHER
By J. G. Braddock Sr.
Few men
are more visible in pre-statehood records of Florida and were more
prosperous than Spicer Christopher. Yet no monuments or markers
commemorate his having had a high profile during Spain’s second
possession, a critical period in Florida’s history. His legacy is in
flesh and blood and bone. If it were possible to compile perfect
genealogies of descendants for all the men who lived in Florida during
those years, it would not be surprising to find that Spicer was
progenitor of the most descendants.
Although
numerous Spanish East Florida records give Spicer’s origin as
Maryland—historical records of that state substantiate his parents
being natives—no record has been found to pinpoint precisely when he
arrived in the province. As his first appearance in East Florida records
was the census of 1783, the year the Spanish regained Florida, he had to
arrive sometime during the years of British possession, 1763 to 1783.
He may have come as a Loyalist; however, no evidence,
circumstantial or otherwise, has been found to support this possibility.
To the contrary, several Georgia records indicate his brother Spencer
was a resident of that state from as early as 1796 until his death in
1819, except for a short sojourn in East Florida, and that he served in
the Liberty County, Georgia militia in 1800. It is unlikely he would
have been allowed to reside in Georgia, especially in an area that was a
hotbed of liberty, had he been a Loyalist. And it is also unlikely,
though possible, for one brother to have been a Loyalist and not the
other. It is more likely Spicer came with his parents and grew into
manhood after arriving. His father may have come to East Florida to
raise horses for the British military and was given a grant at what is
now known as Christopher Point on the St. Johns for the purpose of
raising them. After acquiring Florida from Spain in 1763, the East
Florida government scoured the colonies for tradesmen to help quickly
transform the flavor of their new province from Spanish to British. The Georgia
Gazette, in January 1764, mentioned that a great many blacksmiths
and home carpenters and 15 bakers from the Savannah area were being
engaged to go to East Florida.
According to James Cusick, curator for the University of Florida
Special Collections Library, Spicer became known for having the best
horses in the province, Arabians and English mares. He had to learn his
exceptional horse skills from someone.
To say
Spicer’s father, John Christopher, owned a plantation at Christopher
Point is not farfetched. A few years before 1783, Spicer married Mary
Greenwood, daughter of William Greenwood and Elizabeth Bryan. The
baptismal record of Mary’s sister, “Juana” Greenwood, giving her
nativity as “Rio de San Juan;” renowned John Bartram recording in
his journal a visit to Greenwood’s plantation near Goodbys Creek, just
three miles south of Christopher Point on the St. Johns, during his
1764-65 trip to Florida; and the census compiled by John G. William
DeBrahm’s, Surveyor General of the lower colonies during the British
possession showing, “William Greenwood, planter” have to be more
than mere coincidences. It is not a romantic fantasy to imagine that
Spicer, while growing up at Christopher Point, met and fell in love with
neighbor William Greenwood’s daughter Mary and married her.
After
marrying, Spicer apparently received a grant on Talbot Island from the
British. By 1783, when the Spanish reclaimed Florida and took a census,
he was ensconced on his estate on Talbot along with Mary, their two
children, his sister-in-law, four Negroes, and four horses. Included on
his census record are the comments “He cultivates the land” and
“seeks permission to leave the country.”
Thankfully, he chose to stay. His sister-in-law was Mary
Greenwood’s younger sister Juana Susannah. The two children were John
Bluett Christopher and William Greenwood Christopher.
Another
census the Spanish took four years later lists only one child, a
daughter, for Spicer and Mary. The daughter was one year old Martha. The
census made no mention of the two sons, John and William, who were on
the 1783 census, probably due to an enumerator oversight. The number of
Negroes and horses had increased from four to seven each since the last
census. Spicer is listed erroneously as a “Native of Georgia.” The
census also revealed that he was Protestant, farmed 30 acres and had
requested more, was a partner in a sloop, and that two free persons
lived with him on Talbot.
The
desire he expressed seven years earlier to leave the province apparently
melted away by late 1790 when he signed and oath of allegiance. During
this time, in addition to having increased his offspring to four with
the addition of Charlotte since the last census, he had begun showing
promise of being a good citizen of the province by capturing Spanish
army deserters on two occasions. According to the oath, he now had ten
slaves and his stable of horses had grown to eighteen.
Signing
the oath made him eligible to apply for land grants. Spicer did not
shrink from the opportunity. Over the next few years, he acquired
several grants: San Christobal on Talbot Island, Santa Maria south of
the Nassau River, San Carlos near the north side of the St. Johns River,
Old Township on the St. Marys River, Little Talbot Island, and Point
Hazzard on Lanceford Creek. Several St. Johns militia companies were
formed in 1793. Spicer
greatly enhanced the size of his grants by becoming a sergeant and
horseman in the 3rd Militia Company, which guarded Amelia and
Talbot Islands and the adjacent mainland. According to Spanish land
policies, gentlemen and mounted troopers received grants measured in caballerias.
A caballeria was a tract of land five times larger than what laboring
class people received and was usually granted for the purpose of raising
horses or cattle.
Spicer
not only added plantations to his family, he added offspring. By the
turn of the century, He and Mary had four more children: Spicer Samuel,
Lewis, Thomas, and Elizabeth Susannah.
Spicer’s
brother, Spencer, a shoemaker, had been living in Georgia with his
family. Spencer and Spicer
are listed in “Some Early Tax Digests of Georgia” as owing taxes in
Camden County in 1790. Spicer
had signed an affidavit in Camden County, Georgia November 15, 1796
saying Spencer was born in April 1795. Apparently, the year had been
miscopied when transcribing the affidavit to Camden County’s Deed Book
B, possibly a transposition of 1759. Four years later, a muster roll
made June 30, 1800 of the 4th Company, Liberty County
Battalion, lists Spencer as a private. And on January 4, 1803, while
staying with Spicer, he signed an oath of allegiance stating he had a
wife and four children, five slaves and 50 vicunas, was Protestant, and
had come from Georgia but was a native of Maryland. The same day, he
petitioned for 500 acres at Point Hazzard, north of Nassau River. The
governor approved the grant three days later. Prevented by illness from
taking possession of the grant, he petitioned for the same acreage south
of Nassau River the following year. Several Georgia Historical records
indicate that at some point he gave up his grant and returned to
Georgia. The book “Sunbury on the Medway,”
by John McKay Sheftall, mentions that Spencer was listed on the 1808 tax
digest as owning land in the Sunbury District, that according 1814-15
Sunbury Tax Digest he was taxed $250 on a house and lot, that in 1817 he
mortgaged Sunbury lots 279 and 280, and that Mrs. Christopher and her
daughter were robbed one night while walking home from Mrs.
Christopher’s shop. Spencer is listed in a book, “History of
Baptism,” published in 1817, as a subscriber. Records of
historical Midway Church in Georgia show that he died in 1819. The same
records show that a Martha Christopher, presumably Spencer’s wife,
died two years earlier.
Spicer
conducted himself well as a militiaman, especially during a small scale
invasion attempt fomented by French minister Edmund Genet in the summer
of 1795. After being promoted to lieutenant in 1808, Spicer publicly
proposed splitting the 3rd Militia Company into two
companies, contending that it was too great an inconvenience for one
company to protect both the island and the mainland. He recommended
himself to be commander of the new company. His proposal did not sit
well with the 3rd Company’s commander, who had him arrested
on the spot. In a written report, the commander advised the governor of
Spicer’s attempt to divide the company. The governor ordered Spicer to
be removed from the militia.
Testimonies
by others in records of Spicer’s grants give some insights into him
and what he had made of his plantations. Juan Parades, commander of the
royal schooner San Augustin for many years, said that he had become
familiar with all of Spicer’s plantations and could certify to their
being in excellent condition. Thomas Asa O’Neill testified that Spicer
had sole charge of the King’s highway running the length of Talbot
Island, that his residence was in the center of the island with houses
for overseers and slaves on the outskirts, that he bred pedigreed mares
and had $3,000 invested in horses, and that he raised China oranges.
Timothy Hollingsworth told of everything being in good condition and of
the conveniences Spicer shared with passersby on the road that ran
through Talbot Island and of Spicer’s fine cattle pens and pedigreed
mares and stallions. David Solomon Hill testified to Spicer’s
entertainment of wayfarers. A couple of letters in the Florida
Heritage Collection reveal the compassion he and 12 fellow East Florida
residents showed in late summer of 1808 when the town of St.
Marys, Georgia suffered a plague of fever that killed many of the
town’s residents and forced all but ten to flee. They subscribed a
total of $191, a sum worth considerably more then than what it is today,
for the town’s relief. Spicer contributed $20, which was as much as
any of the other subscribers.
Spicer
Christopher died in July 1811, some sources say on the 10th,
at the age of 52. In his will, which he wrote five years before on
February 12, 1806, he stated that he was “of frail body but of sound
judgment and mind.” After directing that he be buried by the rites of
the Church of England, he wrote, “I give and bequeath to my well
beloved wife Mary Greenwood Christopher one half or moiety of all my
moveable property consisting of horses, hogs, cattle.” He also willed
her 32 slaves, which he listed by name. He then stipulated “that she
shall be allowed to live upon and work the above slaves on any
plantation or island belonging to me for this Province without any
molestation whatever during her natural life, and at her decease the
said Negroes to be equally divided among the children hereafter
mentioned or their lawful representatives.”
He then divided the remaining slaves between his surviving seven
children. Thomas, his youngest son, may have died earlier as he was not
mentioned. Spicer left San Carlos plantation to son John, Point Hazzard
to son William, Old Town to son Spicer, and divided Talbot Island and
Santa Maria equally between daughter Elizabeth and son Lewis. He
appointed his wife Mary, son John, and son-in-law John David Braddock as
executors.
Between
the time he wrote his will and his death, he signed deeds of gift to his
widowed niece Martha Bluit Grisholm for her son Jesse Grisholm, to
William Braddock for grandson John Spicer Braddock, to John David
Braddock for granddaughter Mary Christopher Braddock, to John David
Braddock for grandson Spicer John Braddock, to William Braddock for
granddaughter Elizabeth Greenwood Braddock, and to son William
Christopher for granddaughter Martha Louisa Christopher. Each was deeded
a slave.
The value
of the inventory of his estate totaled 36,732 pesos, a lot of money back
then, even in pesos. Of that, the land of Talbot Island, along with its
cultivated fields and grove of fruit trees, was valued at 20,000 pesos.
His residence was valued at 1,500 pesos. Among other structures listed
under “Casas”—houses—were two kitchens—it was common back then
to cook in a separate building to avoid burning down the residence—a
stable, a cotton storehouse, a corn storehouse, a carpentry shop, six
slave quarters, two cottages, a grinding shed, and a tannery.
Included
under “Muebles de Casa”—furniture of the house— were a mahogany
table, six chairs, two old mirrors, a dozen knives and forks, a crystal
glass bottle, six iron pots, two irons bells, eight dozen plates, a
half-dozen platters, and twelve table spoons.
Under the
heading “Animales”—animals— were listed two burros, two mules, a
herd of branded beef cattle valued at 450 peso, 30 pigs, an illegible
number of horses valued at 300 pesos, three horses valued at 160 pesos,
and eleven mares and seven colts worth 1080 pesos.
Legible
items listed under “Utencilios de labronia”—tools of
farming—were a cart, three plows, a mill stone, two machines for
deseeding cotton, two machines for cleaning cotton, a copper pan, a safe
with shelves, two hand-saws, three old brushes, three old drills, two
old hammers, 50 hoes, 25 axes, an iron pot, two saddle mounts, two
stools, an old farrier—for horse-shoeing—a canoe, a boat with six
oars and a rudder, and a ship, which could have been the “Lord
Nelson,” the family's enormous periagua, a large open-deck ship that
was used to transport cotton. Or it could have been “Tiburon” or the
unnamed sloop in which the 1786 census mentions him as being partner.
Under “Eslavos,”—slaves—46
are listed with names, ages, and value.
As said
earlier, Spicer Christopher’s legacy is in flesh and blood and bone.
By the time of his death, all seven of his surviving children were
married, most of them finding mates in the family of widow Lucia Cook
Braddock, who lived at Black Hammock plantation, a stone’s throw
across Sister’s Creek from the Christopher stronghold of Talbot
Island. John married Lucia’s youngest daughter Hester, a marriage that
quickly ended in divorce. William married Lucia’s granddaughter
Elizabeth Edwards. Martha married Lucia’s oldest son John David.
Charlotte married Lucia’s youngest son William. Spicer Junior married
Lucia’s granddaughter Ann Edwards. The name of Lewis Christopher’s
wife is not known. And, Elizabeth, at the age of 13, married neighbor
John Houston II. According to this writer’s imperfect genealogy
database, Spicer, through these marriages, was progenitor of over 10,000
descendants spread among over 1,100 surnames. That is a lot of flesh and
blood and bone. That is a lot of legacy.
A more detailed genealogy of Spicer
Christopher’s descendants is on this web page:
http://www.woodenshipsironmen.com/Bradgen/ghtindex.html
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