Early Law Enforcement in Jax (warning, racist language)

[stephendare]

The following is from the History of Jacksonville
http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/DLData/NF/NF00000013/file24.pdf
History of Jacksonville, Florida, and vicinity, 1513 to 1924
Davis, Thomas Frederick, 1877-1946.
Florida Historical Society

as Joe has already pointed out, the writing is a little racist.  But the account is word for word from what is presently the official history of the city.

The Marshal constituted the active police force of Jacksonville in the days before the War Between the States.  His duties were manifold and varied, for it was for him to see that all of the town ordinances were carried out and obeyed.  He had the authority, nevertheless, to call upon any citizen of the town to help him when force was necessary, and a citizen refusing such assistance was liable to fine or imprisonment.  The Marshal's was a day time job.  At night, after 9 o'clock the Patrol went on duty in compliance with the Curfew Law.  The Patrol consisted of two of the towns citizens selected in their turn.  The fire bell was rung every night at 9 o'clock as a signal for the negroes to be in their quarters.  If found on the streets after that hour, or out of bounds, without a written pass signed by their owners, or if free negroes, without a legitimate reason, they were arrested by the Patrol and locked up for the night to be taken before the Intendant (mayor) the next morning for trial.  Usually the owner paid the small fine; it was only for the most serious offenses that the slave was whipped, and usually by his owner. 

The town had no regular whipping post, where the slave was beaten into unconsciousness and left with his head hanging upon his chest to be viewed by the passing residents.  All that sort of thing is fiction.  The negro was property in those days and to maim or injure him bodily was not the purpose of the punishment.  That there were cruel masters, there is no doubt.  But they were no more representative of the slaveholding Southerner than the cruel parent is of the American people today.  The town however, did possess a pillory and stocks outfit for white thieves, but its use was seldom needed as there was little thieving in those days.  On the rare occasions when it was used, the culprit was never known to remain in the community afterwards.

Every citizen of age, excepting clergymen and doctors, was subject to Patrol duty.  An exemption for one time could be obtained by the payment of $3 and providing a substitute, but not twice in succession.  Midnight usually found the Patrol slumbering serenely in their homes.  The negroes corrupted Patrol into 'patteroller' and a familiar medley among them was:

Run, nigger, run, the patteroller'll ketch yer,
Run, nigger, run, it's almost day;
I run, an I run, till I los' my way;
I run an I run, an I run my bes',
Till I run my head in a hornet's nes'.

In the beginning, the Marshal received only fees for his services, but later, in the 1850's he was allowed a specific salary besides, to wit:  Annual salary, $150; of taxes collected, 5%; of money collected for swimming or flatting cattle across the St. John's River, 5%;  of fines collected, 50%;  and allowed the same costs as a constable.

The names of only a few Marshals before the war have been found.

[stephendare]

This is actually a fascinating account, and I will be adding more chapters to this later on today.

Imagine that the entire law enforcement presence is one Marshal (a la Matt Dillon) with the power to deputize anyone, and two citizen picked Night Patrolmen---whose job apparently it was to make sure all of the brown people are indoors by 9.

Well at least they werent whipped publicly.  Usually.

[Joe]

It really is a fascinating book. Published in 1925 for those who didn't glean that from the title, which explains the inappropriate language.

[CrysG]

Not touching this with a 20 foot pole.

[Doctor_K]

As with all things historical, I love it.  Un-PC language and all.  Helps us to understand our culture at a radically different point.

[stephendare]

No doubt, Doctor K.

It seems like these Marshals were part handy man, part law man, part town clerk.

The story goes on to explain that the Marshall's collected fees for crossing people at the cow ford, but that he also had to muck in with them and get them across the water.

And the night patrol is kind of fascinating.

Two guys chosen at random every night.

Its a far cry from anything we presently think of as police work.

Wonder if you could get a sheriff to help you cross cattle over the st johns river today?

[Doctor_K]

LoL.

And just think, when they refuse, we can refer back to this and say, "but there's precedent!"

It's amazing to think of all of the things, all the minutiae, that contributed to get us where we are today.

[stephendare]

There is a movement in historical research that diverges from the traditional Dates/ Themes/ Geography approach to History, and that is the history of daily life.

It runs on the idea that you can tell a whole lot more about a culture or a civilization by how people lived on a daily basis, and what motivated them to do what they did.

There are a number of awesome books out there that take this approach, the Daily Lives of the Greeks and Romans are among my favorite in the field.

I think that the truth, as well as the devil, is usually in the details somewhere.

[heights unknown]

There is a movement in historical research that diverges from the traditional Dates/ Themes/ Geography approach to History, and that is the history of daily life.

It runs on the idea that you can tell a whole lot more about a culture or a civilization by how people lived on a daily basis, and what motivated them to do what they did.

There are a number of awesome books out there that take this approach, the Daily Lives of the Greeks and Romans are among my favorite in the field.

I think that the truth, as well as the devil, is usually in the details somewhere.

STEPHENDARE:  Putting your fascination aside, how do you really feel about the way things were done, racially I mean, back in those days?  And this question is also fielded to other members of this forum and within this thread regardless of color.

I find the way things were done back then repulsive, inhuman, unfair, unGodly (despite most people who practiced such things claiming to be Christians), and the people that did those things to people should have been lynched and murdered themselves.  I always say "let sleeping dogs lie," but be cautious and careful around them, that is, treat everyone the way you would want to be treated, move on, and don't dwell on the past but be aware of what happened in order to see it for what it was and in some cases still is.

Thanks.

Heights Unknown

[Doctor_K]

There is a movement in historical research that diverges from the traditional Dates/ Themes/ Geography approach to History, and that is the history of daily life.

There are few things more entertaining and enlightening, Steven, than to hear a bonafide, seventh-generation Appalachian hillbilly recount an oral history of his 'holler' and surrounding region.  Asheville//Burnsville/Mars Hill, NC offers a plethora of such oral historians.  It's still in their blood.  Phenomenal to experience.

I'd love to find someone from any part of Florida who was a true 'Florida Cracker' descendant offer up their own oral history.  I know it'd be fascinating.

**EDIT** Thanks to this site and Ocklawaha, my appetite for such things is at least pacified from time to time.

[stephendare]

Well Heights, I think it was pretty much abominable.

Im one of those Universal Brotherhood of Mankind believers, and almost outright a libertarian when it come to personal liberties, so your question about the racial aspect is pretty easy for me to answer.

I hate the circumstance it describes, both from a standpoint of human equality, and also the idea that other people believe that they should have the right to exercise power over another human being this way.

Really?  Someone has the right to tell you to get your ass off the street that you paid for with your tax dollars on general principle?

It makes my blood boil actually.  Both in the historical context as well as the present day context.

Unsure how I feel about the pillory post for white thieves.

Seems to have cut down on thievery a good bit, but then again, that is also the unsupported opinion of the old guy writing the history.

I think its a bit alarming that our idea of law enforcement comes from the Nightwatch men.  And the tradition for that (at least here) is rooted in racism pure and simple.  But I think that authoritarianism is usually based in the power of the powerful over the unpowerful, whether its black/white, catholic/protestant, turkish/greek, native american/west coast white, or straight/gay.

And I say authoritarianism rather than serving the idea of simple laws and general order.

I think I would prefer the old way in some aspects:  Citizen based patrols, simple laws and the corresponding general respect for them.  But I would hate to be subject to the same unfairness and underlying assumptions.  I don't believe in curfews, and certainly not based on ethnography or affiliation.

I think its hard to retroactively judge individuals for behavior which characterized the times they lived in, frankly.

If it makes you feel any better, things were pretty much identical for 'White Trash".  Its why they lived out in the swamps.

The species is venal and weak, brutish and loutish, but it is also inspiring and beautiful, brilliant and strong, resourceful and possesses aspirations that surpass whatever passes for the divine.

We never have been, nor will we we ever be, purely one or the other, I think. 

What do you think, Heights?

[BridgeTroll]

Was about to respond to Heights when I read Stephens post and agree whole heartedly.
This quote is especially true...

I think its hard to retroactively judge individuals for behavior which characterized the times they lived in, frankly.

Many of the passages and racist descriptions hold true for many immigration groups throughout our history.  I have been looking through Polish immigration descriptions and histories in Wisconsin in the mid to late 1800's and you can see many of the characterizations attributed to Blacks of the time to Poles recently emigrated...

[Doctor_K]

Yes!
..and the Irish, and the Italians, and the Slavs...

[stephendare]

But those qualifications aside.  The local form of bigotry was anti black.

I can't remember who it was that was claiming that the local police force 'goes back to 1822'.  I guess they mean this, since its the only notation about law enforcement.

[heights unknown]

I forgot that there were in fact certain and sporadic bigotry against other ethnic groups though they were white, but let's face it, as Stephen said the primary and local form of bigotry was racism against blacks and a hard down anti-black sentiment.  Also, though other countries in the world also fielded blacks from Africa as slaves, they soon realized how wrong it was.  While the rest of the world was apologetic to the Africans who were slaves America continued to opress and hold them down which eminated from the bitterness and anger of having to let the slaves go in the 1860's; mainly more of a southern thing than the whole nation.  The southerners (who were white) felt that the slaves were inferior and were not even human beings.  Hard to imagine, in these modern times, people even attempting to think in that vain.

Heights Unknown