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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 120/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

There were many problems to be solved. Freedom had come
suddenly to the blacks of the county, and many of the freedmen had
left in 1865 facing an uncertain future in Jacksonville and other
areas. Congress authorized the formation of the Freemen’s Bureau
to assist blacks in this period of transition. The Bureau was
authorized to handle all matters relating to freedmen and refugees.-
It was to provide for emergency relief and administering con­
fiscated and abandoned lands held in the South by the United
States Government. Abandoned and confiscated lands could be
rented to freedmen in 40 acre plots. After three years the tenant
freedmen could take title to the land by paying the assessed value.
In practice not many blacks obtained land in this fashion. To assist
blacks in obtaining farm work the Bureau helped draw up con­
tracts with plantation owners. The Bureau also helped with initial
relief problems. During the winter of 1865-1866 supplies were
issued each month to feed some 700 destitute freedmen and
refugees in Jacksonville, Fernandina, and St. Augustine. When
smallpox appeared in North Florida in 1865-1866 the Bureau
hired physicians to vaccinate both white and black Floridians. Dr.
William Porter was assigned to Lake City to assist in this project.14
The various problems facing the county after the war all found
expression in the arena of politics. Whites were concerned over the
introduction of black voters into state and county politics, and were
especially fearful of secret meetings of blacks even though such
meetings were often for religious worship. One early black po­
litical group was the Lincoln Brotherhood which informed blacks
about political issues but was not a threat to the safety of whites.
Most black voters understandably favored the Republican Party—
the party of Lincoln. The Republican Party in Florida was divided
into Radical and moderate factions. The Radicals favored sweep­
ing social and political changes and organized blacks into the
Union League, which functioned as a secret society in Florida.

"Ibid., pp. 63-65, 79.
118

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