Reviews of Florida During the Civil War. By John E. Johns. (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1963. ix, 265 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, index. $6.00.); Lore of the Wreckers. By Birse Shepard. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1961. viii, 278 pp. Foreword, illustrations, bibliography,  notes, index. $5.95.); I Take This Land. By Richard Powell. (New York: Scribners, 1962. 437 pp. $5.95.); Ninety Years of Service 1873-1963: The Story of St. Luke\u27s Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida (Jacksonville: 1963. vi, 170 pp. Preface, illustrations.); The Urban Political Community: Profiles in Town Politics. By Gladys M. Kammerer, Charles D. Farris, John M. DeGrove, Alfred B. Clubok. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1963. viii, 216 pp. Preface, appendix, index. Paper $1.95.

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Florida Historical Quarterly Volume 42 Number 4 Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol 42, Number 4 Article 8 1963 Book Reviews Florida Historical Society membership@myfloridahistory.org  Part of the American Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida Historical Quarterly by an authorized editor of STARS. For more information, please contact STARS@ucf.edu. Recommended Citation Society, Florida Historical (1963) "Book Reviews," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 42 : No. 4 , Article 8. Available at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol42/iss4/8 BOOK REVIEWSFlorida During the Civil War. By John E. Johns. (Gainesville:University of Florida Press, 1963. ix, 265 pp. Illustrations,bibliography, index. $6.00.)    This volume is the first comprehensive study of Florida in theCivil War since William Watson Davis’ The Civil War and Re-construction in Florida, which was published in 1913. It is ap-propriate, therefore, that its publication should have been spon-sored by the Florida Civil War Centennial Committee. And it isdoubly welcome because Davis’ book has long been out of printand because Dr. Johns has been able to draw upon material, pri-mary and secondary, unavailable a half century ago.The narrative falls roughly into three parts-secession andmilitary affairs to 1863; the domestic scene, economic, social,and political; and military affairs from 1863 to the end. Thediscussions of such matters as secession, seizure of the forts, theFort Pickens truce, Governor Milton’s relations with the Confed-eracy, the occuption of the east coast towns, and the Olusteecampaign traverse familiar ground. The chapters on domesticaffairs, to which more than half the text is devoted, constitute,both literally and figuratively, the heart of the book.Dr. Johns evidently grasped every shred of material illustra-tive of daily life, and it is surprising how much he found. Hischapters on planter and slave and the home front are the mostinteresting in the book and will appeal especially to the generalreader. His treatments of state politics, finances, and the break-down of local government are also good. Particularly enlighten-ing is the discussion of Governor Milton’s successful fight againstthe radical element for control of the administrative machineryof the state.There are omissions. The reader will look in vain for a sys-tematic account of the blockade in Florida waters, for any noticeof the operation of the Federal Direct Tax Commission in EastFlorida, or for the stories of such minor military actions as theBattle of Gainesville and the West Florida raids. Exclusion ofsuch matters was no doubt dictated by considerations of space.A more serious shortcoming consists of inaccuracies due ap-[ 369 ]1Society: Book ReviewsPublished by STARS, 1963370 FLORIDA  HISTORICAL  QUARTERLYparently to an uncritical acceptance of secondary accounts, tounfamiliarity with contemporary names, and to carelessness.Madison S. Perry was not, and had not been, a trustee of theinternal improvement fund in 1856 (p. 4), and Harrison Reed,of course, was never provisional governor of Florida (p. 200).McQueen McIntosh was a Confederate, not a state, appointee (p.155). Federal losses at New Smyrna were eight killed and sevenwounded-not 42 killed (p. 73). The legislature did not estab-lish a system of circuit courts in 1861 (p. 78), but merely trans-ferred cases in federal courts to existing state courts.Errors in spelling are numerous: “Vallandingham” for “Val-landigham” (p. 48); “Juda” for “Judah” (p. 50); “Brosenham”for “Brosnaham” (p. 60); “Gailbraith” for “Galbraith” (pp. 87,92, 96); “J. S. G. Baker” for “J. L. G. Baker” and “Lowe” for“Love” (p. 210); “Pauleston” for “Puleston” (p. 172); and“Boker” for “Baker” (p. 218, 219). “Henry” (p. 197) is incor-rectly indexed as “Hendry.” Similarly, A. B. Noyes is mentionedas “Albert B.” in the text (p. 138) and as “Alonzo B.” in thebibliography (p. 246).It is too bad that an otherwise creditable and credible bookshould be marred by such errors. They will force the scholar touse with caution a work which is too important for him to ignore.They will not, fortunately, affect the general reader, whose en-joyment and edification they will in no wise diminish.Florida State LibraryDOROTHY  DODDLore of the Wreckers. By Birse Shepard. (Boston: BeaconPress, 1961. viii, 278 pp. Foreword, illustrations, biblio-graphy, notes, index. $5.95.)  Since man first put out to sea in a craft of his own designhe has placed his life in jeopardy. Since he first launched shipsladen with cargo he has risked both life and property. From thevery beginning some men have waited on land ready to comb thebeaches for such treasures as wind and wave might wrest fromtroubled ships and toss ashore. But there were also marinerswho stood by with their own ships, scanning the treacherous2Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 42 [1963], No. 4, Art. 8https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol42/iss4/8BOOK  REVIEWS 371waters, ready to help rescue distressed ships. These were thewreckers, men who made a living from rescue and salvage opera-tions and who, by the very nature of their work, rendered them-selves both heroic and suspect.It is of the wreckers that Miss Shepard has written. They areher own special brand of heroes, and in her account they comeoff very well indeed, although she has not hesitated to label someas scoundrels. Like any other segment of men constantly chal-lenged by danger, the wreckers exhibited the very best and thevery worst of human traits.With the discovery of America the pace of maritime com-merce quickened. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centurieshundreds of vessels made their way across the ocean followingsea-lanes which often skirted perilous waters. Scores of treasure-bearing ships broke up at sea or ran aground near Sable Islandoff Nova Scotia, Cape Cod, the Long Island area, and the Dia-mond Shoals of North Carolina. The Florida Straits, boundedon the south and east by the Bahamas and Cuba and on thenorth and west by the Florida Keys, were particularly treacherous.The Florida reefs took a heavy toll of the ships that sailed to andfrom the ports of the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, and theSpanish Main. And here wrecking flourished to a degree un-equalled elsewhere.The famous Brilanders established a lucrative wrecking busi-ness on Harbour Island in the Bahamas in the eighteenth cen-tury. In the 1820’s, with the transfer of Florida to the UnitedStates, the wrecking center shifted to the Florida Keys, with KeyWest its capital. It is with this area that some of the soundestand best-documented portions of Miss Shepard’s book deal. Al-though she has slighted no part of the wrecking scene, Key Westlooms particularly important in her scheme. Wrecking was thelife of Key West throughout the nineteenth century. When theKey West Wrecking Register was officially closed in 1921, itspages bore the names of some of America’s most prosperous entre-preneurs, many persons of cultivation and high intelligence. Wil-liam Curry, when he died in 1896, was one of the richest men inFlorida. He had built his fortunate on wrecking.This book has obviously been a labor of great love. Miss Shep-ard has exhumed much material from remote and romantic3Society: Book ReviewsPublished by STARS, 1963372 FLORIDA  HISTORICAL  QUARTERLYplaces. She confesses to having spent many “happy days on thekeys and cays, browsing in libraries and museums, and pokingaround the edges of the sea, listening to tales of the olden days.”It is written with charm and good humor. She has released her-self from the rigid demands of documented history by designat-ing her work as only “a lighthearted approximation of it [history],offered with clean hands and a frank warning that much of itcan never be verified.” Disarming as this admission may be, itshould not be assumed that this book has no historical word. Itmust be given a place among the important books written aboutwrecking.University of FloridaE. ASHBY  HAMMONDI Take This Land. By Richard Powell. (New York: Scribners,1962. 437 pp. $5.95.)Mr. Powell’s novel opens aboard a wood-burning Baldwin10 Wheeler railroad locomotive in South Georgia in 1895. Itmoves swiftly to Tampa, and from Tampa to the town of “FortTaylor,” which, as Mr. Powell explains in an “Author’s Note,”bears a close and deliberate resemblence to Fort Myers. Thecountry between Fort Myers and Lake Okeechobee is the set-ting for most of the story. The period is from 1895 to 1946,and the historical theme is the development of a frontier villageinto a modern city.The goals of the historical novelist differ from those of theacademic historian. The academic historian might spend half alifetime trying to determine whether Ponce de Leon landed inFlorida in 1512 or 1513, and consider the time well spent if hecame up with a definite answer. To the historical novelist thedifference between 1512 and 1513 is not particularly important;he would much rather know whether or not it was raining, or ifthere was a high surf when Juan Ponce went ashore.The purpose of the historical novelist is to create a visualpicture, and in this way help his reader relive some specificera. If there is nothing known about the weather, then thenovelist feels free to create his own. On the other hand, he mustnever (if he takes his work seriously) be demonstrably wrong.4Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 42 [1963], No. 4, Art. 8https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol42/iss4/8BOOK  REVIEWS 373He can create his own weather only when the real weather is notknown, and what he creates must fit in with those facts that areknown.This means that the historical novelist must do a tremendousamount of research, and not only on one phase of his subject, asthe academic historian may limit himself. In I Take This LandMr. Powell deals at some length with railroads and railroad build-ing in South Florida, with citrus and the development of thecitrus industry, the cattle industry, the business of egret hunt-ing, and, of course, the daily life of his people. On all these sub-jects it was necessary to acquire a vast amount of major andminor information. For example: the exact cost of oranges in1896, the amount of fruit produced per acre, the cost of egretplumes, the usual width of an ox-drawn wagon. If he has madeany errors I did not catch them, and I carefully checked a num-ber of items.On the other hand it may annoy the precise historian thatPowell has deliberately taken some liberties with history. Hebrings his railroad into Fort Taylor eight years before a railroadactually reached Fort Myers, and he moves Julia Tuttle’s rail-road-snaring orange blossom from the east coast to the west. Butin his “Author’s Note” he makes these facts clear, and the changesdo not alter the accuracy of the broad picture.All in all, the average reader, the non-professional historian,may quite possibly learn more about life in South Florida in thefirst half of this century from Mr. Powell’s novel, than he wouldfrom a half dozen books of straight history.And it also tells a good story.WYATT  BLASSINGAMEAnna Maria, FloridaNinety Years of Service 1873-1963: The Story of St. Luke's Hos-pital, Jacksonville, Florida (Jacksonville: 1963. vi, 170 pp.Preface, illustrations.)  Ninety years are but a second in history as we know it, butin the development of St. Luke’s Hospital it represents the periodof its birth in a tiny frame structure to a large metropolitan hos-pital. Although Jacksonville’s temperate climate had encouraged5Society: Book ReviewsPublished by STARS, 1963374 FLORIDA  HISTORICAL  QUARTERLYmany infirm and elderly people to move there, 1873 was a yearof adversity. The financial panics which were sweeping thecountry had repercussions in Florida, and there were many inJacksonville who thought the establishment of a hospital was notnecessary, at least at that moment. Only through the determinedefforts of a group of dedicated Jacksonville women-Mrs. Theo-dore Hartridge, Mrs. J. D. Mitchell, and Mrs. Aristides Doggett-was the goal achieved.St. Luke’s Hospital opened March 11, 1873. It was the firstinstitution in the state devoted exclusively to the care of the sickand the first charitable institution in Jacksonville. The story ofSt. Luke’s is a microcosm of Jacksonville and Florida’s growthand development during the late nineteenth and twentieth cen-turies. Its history, as outlined in his book, produced by its officersand directors, reveals the sincere and enthusiastic support that itreceived from the whole community. People of all faiths and rep-resenting every economic group gave of their time and means toensure the success of the hospital. The history of St. Luke’s re-minds us of the hardiness and individuality of our ancestors.Government subsidies and fund-raising organizations were littleknown at the time that St. Luke’s was getting started. The hospitalwas erected by the people, for the people, and of the people. Thisbrief but very readable book also reveals the ability of Americansto rebuild out of the ashes of destruction. St. Luke’s had hardlybegun its growth in the community when it was destroyed in theGreat Fire of May, 1901. Quickly it was rebuilt, larger in size,more efficient in operation, and even better equipped to serve thepublic.In 1885 Florida’s first school of nursing was established inSt. Luke’s. It already had a woman doctor serving as superin-tendent. These were still the days when female doctors were re-garded with a great deal of suspicion.A large number of men and women, doctors and lay people,are responsible for this book and here again we have an exampleof a community project. This volume reflects the thoughts ofnumerous people connected with the growth and development ofSt. Luke’s. The pictures and sketches add to its interest and val-ue. There is a list at the end of the book showing the hundredsof donations that have been given to the hospital over the years,everything from preserves, carpentry work, whiskey, cakes, old6Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 42 [1963], No. 4, Art. 8https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol42/iss4/8BOOK  REVIEWS 375flannel, a copy of Schiller’s poems, to fruit, men’s underclothing,and children’s toys.S IDNEY  STILLMANJacksonville, FloridaThe Urban Political Community: Profiles in Town Politics. ByGladys M. Kammerer, Charles D. Farris, John M. DeGrove,Alfred B. Clubok. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,1963. viii, 216 pp. Preface, appendix, index. Paper $1.95.)This short paper-back on local politics is a by-product of re-search on the problem of city manager tenure and turnover. Hav-ing completed their technical monograph on that specific prob-lem, the authors wisely decided to re-examine their data for thelight they might throw on more general problems of local politics.While the book is addressed to “the undergraduate student of po-litical science,” it will have appeal to any reader interested in theenduring problem of how man governs himself. Even those withno general interest in political science will find it a fascinatingaccount of political life in eight Florida communities-and theycan, moreover, enjoy the detective game of trying to discoverwhich real communities are represented by the fictitious namesemployed by the authors.The objective of the study is quite broad: “to acquaint thereader with the political process at the local level-with theforces that produce significant community decisions.” The re-search sites are eight communities ranging from 5,000 to 60,000in population. All of the communities utilize the council-man-ager form of government, which eliminates the possibility oftracing their differences in political style to differences in formalgovernmental structure. The authors take advantage of this situa-tion, which has the effect of holding one important set of vari-ables constant, to look for other sources of variation in politicalstyle. The data came from structured interviews with “influen-tials” in the communities. The authors do not dwell on technicalproblems of methodology, such as specifying precisely the uni-verse of influentials or indicating the number of interviews con-ducted in each community. People in major governmental andcivic positions in each community were interviewed, and their7Society: Book ReviewsPublished by STARS, 1963376 FLORIDA  HISTORICAL  QUARTERLYreports were regarded as valid when they were in agreement.Since the researchers sought factual information about politicalevents rather than opinions on those events, this procedure ap-pears well suited to their task.Each political profile offers material on the city’s history,population, appearance, economy, and power structure; its po-litical structure; major issues in deciding what kind of city itshall become; decisions on hiring and firing city managers; andtrends in the clique structure of the community. As a departurefrom the traditional treatment of local government in primarilyformal terms, these profiles offer keen insights into the politicalprocess. The reader is left to draw his own conclusions until thefinal chapter of the book, which brings the comparative findingstogether into basic generalizations about local government.Two limitations of the book are deliberately built into theresearch design: it cannot deal with formal political variables asan independent influence on political behavior, and its findingscan be applied to non-Florida cities or cities outside the popula-tion range included in the study only with great caution. Thisreader felt that another limitation came from the tendency to ac-count for variations in political style - “monopolistic” or “competi-tive” - in somewhat circular terms: politics will be monopolisticwhere a common interest (generally socio-economic) is dominantand competitive where conflicting interests seek control. The au-thors would join with the reviewer in the hope that future re-search will address itself to the conditions under which single orconflicting interests can be expected to emerge. Non-Floridianswill be impressed by the reference to the first occupant of anapartment house for ‘‘upper middle-class retirees” as a retired mil-lionaire who was born to wealth. What does it take to be lowerupper-class in Florida?In addition to its descriptive interest and its theoretical im-plications, this book deserves praise for what it is not. Unlikemost volumes with as many as four authors, it is not incoherentor inconsistent in concepts or organization, and its style is notsuch as to suggest it was written by a committee. It should provea useful and readable supplement to the standard treatments oflocal government.JAMES  W. PROTHROUniversity of North Carolina8Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 42 [1963], No. 4, Art. 8https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol42/iss4/8

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