SPICER CHRISTOPHER 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.
Published in the September 2009 issue of
SGES Quarterly
By J. G. Braddock
Sr.