<\/p>\n
During the past year I have carried on a correspondence with Mrs. Leila Chamberlain of Lakeland, Florida, which has revealed some interesting information about the development of Florida business by a group of Maine men more than a hundred years ago.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Chamberlain, before her marriage to a noted hotel man, Henry Chamberlain, was born in Bowdoinham, Maine, daughter of Will Hutchins, a druggist. The family had their first automobile in 1905, the 216th registered that year in the entire state. Later Will Hutchins became associated with the newly formed Strout Farm Agency and became their New York State manager. Previous to that the family had moved from Bowdoinham to Augusta.<\/p>\n
Leila Hutchins was married to Henry Chamberlain in 1913. In 1925 Chamberlain and his father-in-law started a real estate firm in Lakeland, Florida. When the Florida boom burst in the late 1920’s, Chamberlain went to other states as a hotel developer. He built the Lee-Meade Inn near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and successively took over the management of the Lincoln at Ocean Grove, the Manor at Ashville, Tennessee and others. In 1949 the Chamberlains — for she was just as active as her husband in the business — bought the Manasta Hotel at Bradenton, Florida. They retired from that business in 1951. Then Mr. Chamberlain built some 35 prefabricated houses in Lakeland, where Mrs. Chamberlain has lived since her husband’s death two years ago.<\/p>\n
Now for the story about Maine promoters in Florida long, long ago. All that is left today of the once prosperous town of Magnolia, Florida is an abandoned cemetery. Only a few of the ancient headstones can now be deciphered. One of those reads: “In memory of Weld Hamlen of Augusta, Maine, died 1829.” The old cemetery is the only visible reminder of the town that once stood nearby. The town was founded by Weld Hamlen and his three brothers, John, George and Nathaniel. in the summer of 1827. It had an existence of only a dozen years, but in that short time it boasted two banks, forty dwellings, a newspaper, a port of customs, and 200 inhabitants.<\/p>\n
In 1816 five Hamlen brothers had come from Augusta, Maine to New Orleans in a vessel captained by their father, and bringing a cargo of textiles, iron kettles, guns and whiskey, which they traded for hides, tallow and cotton. The father returned to Maine, but the sons went to Liberty County, Mississippi, to buy government land and resell it in small parcels.<\/p>\n
After one of the brothers had died, the other four appeared in Florida after the United States purchased it from Spain. They bought land along the St. Marks River and sailed up that stream on a coastal packet in July, 1827, anchored above the old Spanish St. Marks Fort, and proceeded to layout a town, to which they gave the name Magnolia, because of the trees along the river bank.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 12, 1827 there appeared in the Kennebec Journal an advertisement urging Augusta and other Maine people to buy land in Magnolia. With typical Maine caution, a number of Kennebec Valley persons decided to take a look before they bought. So in 1829 some thirty of those men boarded the schooner Delta at Augusta and set out for Florida. On board was no less a personage than Samuel Cony. He did not stay in Florida, nor do we have any record that he invested in Magnolia land.<\/p>\n
The Hamlen boys’ sister Sarah had married Joseph Ladd, a prosperous mill owner on the Kennebec. Joseph decided to go to Florida to see about the prospect of shipping cotton to Maine. He decided to stay at Magnolia. He not only dealt in cotton, but also traded in timber, carded wool, dressed cloth, ground grain, and developed several farms. He built and operated a line of packet boats that ran between Magnolia and Augusta. Ladd died of yellow fever in 1835. In the Winthrop Street Cemetery at Augusta is a stone marked: “Joseph Ladd, died at Magnolia, Florida, August, 1835. Age 50.”<\/p>\n
Daniel Ladd, Joseph’s son, became the richest cotton broker on the St. Marks River.<\/p>\n
In 1829 that Maine-founded town of Magnolia handled nearly all the cotton export from Middle Florida. While Ladd was prominent in the business, it was the Hamlen family that dealt directly with the settlers. The general store at Magnolia bore the name of J.N. and G.H. Hamlen Co. In the newspaper that the family also owned in the town, the store advertised such commodities as fancy chairs, sperm candles, German steel, and Irish potatoes. Manager of the Bank of Magnolia was Nathaniel Hamlen. Bank and store cooperated in the sale of Magnolia lots. In 1827 the Pensacola Gazette carried this ad: “Lots in the town of Magnolia are offered for sale. The 4 river can be navigated to the town by vessels drawing eight feet of water. The situation is high, dry and healthy. For information and terms, apply to J.N. and G.H. Hamlen.”<\/p>\n
By 1835 the Hamlen business had declined, perhaps because of their extensive speculation in lands and cotton. A Magnolian, Alexander Campbell, petitioned the Hamlen creditors in New York to take action because the brothers could not meet their financial obligations. The creditors applied to the Florida county sheriff, who closed the business. George Hamlen, in bitter indignation, encountered Campbell on the street and horse-whipped him. Campbell challenged George to a duel with pistols. They met on an old dueling ground at the Florida-Georgia border. George Hamlen proved that Maine men knew how to shoot, for Campbell was killed at the first shot.<\/p>\n
While duels continued to be common, especially in the South, until long after 1830, they seldom had public approval, especially if a duel had fatal result. Of course Campbell had friends in Magnolia, and George Hamlen soon found it wise to leave town. But he stayed in Florida and died at Key West in 1836.<\/p>\n
The second generation of Hamlens in Florida got into trouble in the 1860’s. They were outspoken opponents of secession. They were not anti-slavery men, but they firmly believed in preservation of the Union. Young Weld Hamlen had become so good a Southerner that he enlisted in the Confederate Army. However, he soon repented of that act, deserted, and returned to the St. Marks area of Florida, hiding out on an island near Magnolia. Apprehended, he was sentenced to death as a deserter, but by the intercession of his uncle he was instead sent to Andersonville Prison. The uncle’s influence came from his successfully getting his ship past the Union blockade to bring badly needed supplies to the Confederacy. Weld Hamlen escaped from Andersonville and sweated out the war in Florida swamps, supplied with funds by his family.<\/p>\n
Only two years ago, in November, 1965, the Tallahassee Democrat published an account that gives us further information about a member of the Ladd family. Daniel Ladd, born in Augusta in 1817, was a son of Joseph Ladd, the mill owner. Going to Florida with his father in 1827, Daniel Ladd went into the cotton trade on a large scale, and in a few years became the chief money lender of the whole region.<\/p>\n
When a kind of horse railroad — drawn by a mule, it was called a mule train — was extended across the river to Port Leon in 1836, Daniel Ladd saw the handwriting on the wall. The port of Magnolia was doomed by the activity of the larger town. Daniel decided to buy lots in Port Leon. He made a hundred thousand dollars in less than a year. He was not yet 30 years old, but he kept right on expanding his wealth. He moved farther up the river to Newport. He in effect operated a bank out of his own pocket, loaning money over a wide area. When the Civil War broke out, he was worth a quarter of a million dollars.<\/p>\n
Then, at the magnificent home he had built on the St. Marks River, using hard woods brought down from Maine, Daniel Ladd was faced with the agony of divided loyalties. He sympathized with the Southern cause, but he opposed secession. Before the war was over, Ladd saw his business destroyed by the very Union that he upheld and loved. In 1864 Yankee troops moved down the St. Marks and burned Ladd’s warehouses. His fortune meanwhile had been depleted by his purchase of worthless Confederate bonds. A broken man, he died soon after the close of the war.<\/p>\n
Maine records are not entirely void about Kennebec interests in Florida many years ago. North’s History of Augusta has the following passage: “John, George and Nathaniel Hamlen, sons of Theophilus, had bought a tract of land on the St. Marks River in Florida and had laid out a town which they named Magnolia. The new town grew so rapidly that in 18 months it had nine stores and warehouses and was a port of entry. The Hamlens were known as Augusta boys and their success gave an El Dorado tone to Magnolia and induced many young men of the Kennebec to visit the place.”<\/p>\n
According to North’s history another man to go to Magnolia was a relative of Waterville’s early settler, Asa Redington. Samuel Redington, instead of coming to Winslow, had gone down the river from Vassalboro to Augusta. He joined the group that went to Florida on the schooner Delta in 1829. But Redington did not remain in Florida. He returned to Augusta and established a dry goods business on Water Street. Just as soon as plans matured in 1836 to build the Augusta dam, Redington bought lavishly of Augusta real estate and made a fortune. He developed at the new dam the Kennebec Locks and Canal Company and erected several mills.<\/p>\n
Why were the Hamlens and the Ladds eager to bring cotton from Florida to Augusta?<\/p>\n
Because the beginning of cotton manufacturing was already under way, although it was not until 1845 that a big mill with 10,000 spindles was erected on the west bank of the Kennebec at Augusta. Samuel Redington was very much a part of that enterprise, and it was he who put up a whole battery of mill houses to rent to the workers.<\/p>\n
But Samuel Redington did not forget Florida. Several years after the town of Magnolia had been abandoned, he and his son Alfred visited the place and paid their respects at the graves of the Hamlens.<\/p>\n
That is the story of how a group of Maine men founded a town in Midland Florida 140 years ago.<\/p>\n
Year: 1967<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #739, Broadcast on October 22, 1967<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[752,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}