Lying comfortably in a bed encased with white sheets, Rev. Squires
Jackson, former slave and minister of the gospel living at 706 Third
Street cheerfully related the story of his life.
Born in a weather-beaten shanty in Madison, Fla. September 14, 1841 of a
large family, he moved to Jacksonville at the age of three with the
"Master" and his mother.
Very devoted to his mother, he would follow her into the cotton field as
she picked or hoed cotton, urged by the thrashing of the overseer's
lash. His master, a prominent political figure of that time was very
kind to his slaves, but would not permit them to read and write.
Relating an incident after having learned to read and write, one day as
he was reading a newspaper, the master walked upon him unexpectingly and
demanded to know what he was doing with a newspaper. He immediately
turned the paper upside down and declared "Confederates done won the
war." The master laughed and walked away without punishing him. It la
interesting to know that slaves on this plantation were not allowed to
sing when they were at work, but with all the vigilance of the
overseers, nothing could stop those silent songs of labor and prayers
for freedom.
On Sundays the boys on the plantation would play home ball and shoot
marbles until church time. After church a hearty meal consisting of
rice and salt picked pork was the usual Sunday fare cooked in large iron
pots hung over indoor hearths. Sometimes coffee, made out of parched
corn meal, was added as an extra treat.
He remembers the start of the Civil war with the laying of the Atlantic
Cable by the "Great Eastern" being nineteen years of age at the time.
Hearing threats of the War which was about to begin, he ran away with
his brother to Lake City, many times hiding in trees and groves from the
posse that was looking for him. At night he would cover up his face and
body with spanish moss to sleep. One night he hid in a tree near a
creek, over-slept himself, in the morning a group of white women fishing
near the creek saw him and ran to tell the men, fortunately however he
escaped.
After four days of wearied travelling being guided by the north star and
the Indian instinct inherited from his Indian grandmother, he finally
reached Lake City. Later reporting to General Scott, he was informed
that he was to act as orderly until further ordered. On Saturday
morning, February 20, 1861, General Scott called him to his tent and
said "Squire; I have just had you appraised for $1000 and you are to
report to Col. Guist in Alachua County for service immediately." That
very night he ran away to Wellborn where the Federals were camping.
There in a horse stable were wounded colored soldiers stretched out on
the filthy ground. The sight of these wounded men and the feeble medical
attention given them by the Federals was so repulsive to him, that he
decided that he didn't want to join the Federal Army. In the silent
hours of the evening he stole away to Tallahassee, throughly convinced
that War wasn't the place for him. While in the horse shed make-shift
hospital, a white soldier asked one of the wounded colored soldiers to
what regiment he belonged, the negro replied "54th Regiment,
Massachusetts."
At that time, the only railroad was between Lake City and Tallahassee
which he had worked on for awhile. At the close of the war he returned
to Jacksonville to begin work as a bricklayer. During this period, Negro
skilled help was very much in demand.
The first time he saw ice was in 1857 when a ship brought some into this
port. Mr. Moody, a white man, opened an icehouse at the foot of Julia
Street. This was the only icehouse in the city at that time.
On Sundays he would attend church. One day he thought he heard the call
of God beseeching him to preach. He began to preach in 1868, and was
ordained an elder in 1874.
Some of the interesting facts obtained from this slave of the fourth
generation were: (1) Salt was obtained by evaporating sea water, (2)
there were no regular stoves, (3) cooking was done by hanging iron pots
on rails in the fireplaces, (4) an open well was used to obtain water,
(5) flour was sold at $12.00 a barrell, (6) "shin-plasters" was used for
money, (7) the first buggy was called "rockaways" due to the elasticity
of the leather-springs, (8) Rev. Jackson saw his first buggy as
described, in 1851.
During the Civil War, cloth as well as all other commodities were very
high. Slaves were required to weave the cloth. The women would delight
in dancing as they marched to and fro in weaving the cloth by hand. This
was one kind of work the slaves enjoyed doing. Even Cotton seeds was
picked by hand, hulling the seeds out with the fingers, there was no way
of ginning it by machine at that time. Rev. Jackson vividly recalls the
croker-sacks being used around bales of the finer cotton, known as short
cotton. During this same period he made all of the shoes he wore by hand
from cow hides. The women slaves at that time wore grass shirts woven
very closely with hoops around on the inside to keep from contacting the
body.
Gleefully he told of the Saturday night baths in big wooden washtubs
with cut out holes for the fingers during his boyhood, of the castor
oil, old fashion paragoric, calomel, and burmo chops used for medicine
at that time. The herb doctors went from home to home during times of
illness. Until many years after the Civil War there were no practicing
Negro physicians. Soap was made by mixing bones and lard together,
heating and then straining into a bucket containing alum, turpentine,
and rosin. Lye soap was made by placing burnt ashes into straw with corn
shucks placed into harper, water is poured over this mixture and a
trough is used to sieze the liquid that drips into the tub and let stand
for a day. Very little moss was used for mattresses, chicken feathers
and goose feathers were the principal constituents during his boyhood.
Soot mixed with water was the best medicine one could use for the
stomach ache at that time.
Rev. Jackson married in 1882 and has seven sons and seven daughters.
Owns his own home and plenty of other property around the neighborhood.
Ninety-six years of age and still feels as spry as a man of fifty, keen
of wit, with a memory as good can be expected. This handsome bronze
piece of humanity with snow-white beard over his beaming face ended the
interview saying, "I am waiting now to hear the call of God to the
promise land." He once was considered as a candidate for senator after
the Civil war but declined to run. He says that the treatment during the
time of slavery was very tough at times, but gathering himself up he
said, "no storm lasts forever" and I had the faith and courage of Jesus
to carry me on, continuing, "even the best masters in slavery couldn't
be as good as the worst person in freedom, Oh, God, it is good to be
free, and I am thankful."