Capt. John Francis Bartholf - Manatee County Carpetbagger

Capt. John Francis Bartholf

By Spessard Stone

John F. Bartholf, a native of New York, was a Union Army captain, who became a prominent carpetbagger politician of old Manatee County.

John Francis Bartholf was born June 30, 1838, New York City, New York, and was a teacher prior to the Civil War. (The grave marker of Bartholf in Evergreen Cemetery has, "Capt. J. F. Bartholf, Husband of Mary Bartholf, Born in New York, June 30, 1837. Died Nov. 22, 1892." The 1880 census of Manatee County has him as 42. However, descendant Robert C. Hampton in an e-mail, dated May 3, 2001, cited June 30, 1838 for his birth. "Certificate Of Death" has his age at death in Nov. 1892 as 54, which would place his birth in 1838.)

During the Civil War, he first served as a private from April to July 1861 in Company G, 12th Regiment, New York State Militia before volunteering at New York City in Co. D, 66 Regiment, New York Infantry, to which he was enrolled as 1st Lieutenant on September 19, 1861. He, thereafter, was transferred and promoted to Captain, Company F on July 1, 1862. On December 13, 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, he suffered a gunshot wound in the left thigh. After treatment at a field hospital at Falmouth, Virginia and Lincoln General Hospital, Washington, D. C., he was furloughed for thirty days on December 30, 1862.

Capt. Bartholf was mustered out of Company F on October 5, 1863 to accept a transfer to Company I, 2nd Regiment, U. S. Colored Infantry, to which he was mustered in on October 20, 1863. Stationed at Fort Myers, Florida in the spring of 1864, he participated in a raid in Hernando County in July 1864. Present at Fort Myers on February 20, 1865 when Major William Footman’s Cow Cavalry demanded the fort’s surrender, Capt. Bartholf was designated as the officer to reject the ultimatum, and the Confederates, after a brief skirmish, withdrew. After the war, he was Provost Marshal of Tallahassee at the time the 2nd U. S. Colored Infantry was on duty there. He was mustered out with his company on January 5, 1866 at Key West, Florida.

According to family tradition, in 1864 at Fort Myers, he married Mary Hawkins Daniel, born January 11, 1841 at Micanopy, Florida. On May 30, 1865, they were married by Rev. Osgood E. Herrick at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Key West . Mary was the daughter of Enoch and Delilah (Hawkins) Daniel. Enoch Daniel, a pioneer settler of Fort Ogden and the Charlotte Harbor area, had been a prominent Unionist, who was instrumental in the formation of loyalists Floridians into the Second Florida Cavalry, U. S. Army. (The surname also appears as Daniels, but Robert C. Hampton on May 3, 2001 e-mailed, "The last name was Daniel, actually. Not Daniels. No s's. Again plenty with the documentary evidence to support this." My source for the marriage was Mary's pension application of March 24, 1893 in which the Rev. Osgood E. Herrick stated: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen This is to Certify, That John Francis Bartholf of United States Army and Mary Daniels of Key West Florida were duly married by me, on the 30 day of May A. D. 1865 in the City of Key West Fla. according to the form prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Osgood E. Herrick - Rector St Pauls Church Chaplain of Post. Witnesses Wm. A. McCulley Robert P. Campbell - Dated Key West May 30 '1865.")

Having decided to stay in Florida before their discharges, Bartholf and three other Union officers, J. E. Bergen, Nathan H. DeCoster, and Henry L. Slayton, petitioned on November 15, 1865 for a grant of 160 acres of the Whiting Reserve at Fort Brooke, but the Secretary of War did not act on their proposal.

Carpetbagger, a contemptuous term, referred to the Northern politicians, usually carrying their belongings in a single carpetbag, who went South to take advantage of unsettled conditions after the Civil War. Bartholf and DeCoster did not in one sense fit the stereotype as they came originally to Florida as military officers, but they stayed on and reaped the political spoils. Therefore, their views on the state are pertinent. The officers collectively found the tropical climate conducive to their health and saw opportunity in the undeveloped resources of the state. They believed the Floridians were generally of a sluggish disposition with no ambition beyond obtaining the mere necessities of life, while a perceptive minority were reaping large fortunes and opposed emigration to maintain the status quo. They further concluded, “Schools and churches are few in number and the consequence is the people generally are in a semi-barbarous state but little better than the Seminoles so recently driven from the soil they now occupy.”

Bartholf and DeCoster first settled at Fort Winder, about twenty-five miles from the mouth of the Peace River on the west bank. With $3,000 capital and money, they were for a time in the mercantile business together, but DeCoster soon moved to Charlotte Harbor. Bartholf, thereafter, earned his living in a variety of ways, including farming, cattle, and a general land and claim business. With 46 head of cattle in 1866, Bartholf belatedly registered on September 7, 1867 his mark and brand, crop slope in one ear, swallow fork and under bit in the other, “JB.” On April 19, 1869, Mary Bartholf recorded for herself and their children crop slope under slope in one ear, swallow fork, upper and under bit in the other. In 1871, Bartholf was taxed on 621 cattle.

Bartholf’s main interest, however, was politics. On June 20, 1866, he solicited unsuccessfully for an appointment as an agent of the Freedmen’s Bureau. He expressed sympathy for the freedmen who “are necessarily exposed to much cruel persecution and wrong,” for whom he expressed a willingness to establish a school as he had many years experience as a teacher. Bartholf, along with Enoch E. Mizell and John Lomans (black), served as a registrar for Manatee County for the elections in 1867. James D. Green, for whom Fort Green was named, had served as a captain in the 2nd Florida Cavalry, and, after the war served almost five years as Manatee County’s Representative to the State Assembly, in which position he exerted considerable political power. In the summer of 1868, Green arranged to have Bartholf appointed clerk of the circuit court of Manatee County, and in 1869 Bartholf moved his family to Pine Level, the new county seat, where they became the first permanent settlers. Bartholf, with, at various times, Enoch E. Mizell and James T. Magbee concurring, recommended county officers to the governor, and, thereby controlled the county. Bartholf, besides his other duties, served as postmaster of Pine Level from June 1871 to December 1872, and, again, April 1874 to January 1875.

In 1869, a state law was enacted for tax supported public schools, and Bartholf secured the appointment as superintendent of public instruction for Manatee County, in which position he served until July 1876, while continuing as clerk of the circuit court. Bartholf was the father of public education in much of the Peace River Valley. Schools under his tenure, were opened at New Hope Church near Fort Hartsuff, Sweet Water near now Wauchula, Charlie Apopka near William Smith’s, Fort Hartsuff, Fort Green, Joshua Creek, Fort Ogden, Pine Level, Fort Winder, and Hickory Bluff (Charlotte Harbor).

After James D. Green was defeated in a bid for state senator in 1870, his influence waned as Bartholf’s power increased. While favoring Republicans, Bartholf prided himself on not hesitating in recommending to the governor Democrats whom he judged competent and willing. These included: Edgar M. Graham, County Judge; Ziba King, Justice of the Peace; Archibald McNeill and William Smith, County Commissioners; William. I. Turner and F. B. Hagan, Board of Public Instruction.

The Republicans’ power was ebbing in 1876; nevertheless, a vigorous campaign for governor was anticipated in the November elections between Republican Marcellus L. Stearns and George F. Drew, the Democratic candidate. Unpectedly, on August 24, 1876, Bartholf submitted to Governor Stearns his resignation as clerk of the circuit court as “my health will not admit of continuing in office” and moved to Charlotte Harbor. There from December 6, 1876 to September 16, 1879, he was postmaster.

When Governor Stearns received the resignation on September 20, he ignored Bartholf’s endorsement of G. H. Johnson to replace him. Instead, Andrew Green, son of James D. Green, was named clerk in early October. Then Andrew, acting in accord with his father's directive, refused to post bond for the issuance of his commission, thereby leaving no legal clerk for the Manatee elections, in which the Democrats were heavily favored. Manatee Democratic leaders proceeded anyway with the November 7 election and in a landslide carried the county for the Democratic slate; however, the local election, along with others in the state and nation, was contested. As part of a national compromise, the Manatee votes (with others) were counted for Drew, but excluded for Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic candidate for President, which gave Florida a split ticket of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes for president and Democratic Drew for governor. Reconstruction ended.

Bartholf, afterwards, felt it necessary to defend his record and further declared: “I feel satisfied that the hearty, honest adoption of a sentiment of good-will on the part of the people towards so-called Carpet Baggers, will do more towards building up the State than anything else can be done. Let it but become generally known that any honest, northern man can settle here, and regardless of politics, have an equal chance with all others, and the State will soon settle up with a desirable class of emigrants.”

Bartholf and F. C. M. Boggess of Fort Ogden became partners in a land office. In 1881, they published South Florida The Italy of America, a 76-page pamphlet, which promoted the Charlotte Harbor, Caloosahatchee and Peace River country.

Bartholf’s experiences left him with ambivalent feelings towards the Republican Party. In October 1880, he repudiated an endeavor by Republicans to have him run for the State Assembly and scathingly criticized party leaders. In April 1881, he, however, defended the party by blaming the unfortunate condition of the state on the people who had permitted themselves to be controlled through their prejudices, rather than voting for the party that valued men according to their ability, worth and honesty, without regard to their race or color.

By 1883, the Bartholf family had moved to Manatee Village where he served as postmaster from May 2 to October 1883. About 1886, they moved to Jacksonville where Bartholf was stamp clerk of the city post office.

Capt. John F. Bartholf died, probably from heart disease, on November 22, 1892 at his home just beyond the city limits of Jacksonville. ( "Certificate Of Death" has his death Nov. 23, 1892, age 54, which would place his birth in 1838. His widow, however, in her pension application on December 23, 1892 gave his death as "22d day of November, 1892.")

Under the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was a member, he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Bartholf had received a pension from his service, and on December 23, 1892, Mary H. Bartholf applied for a pension as his widow. She gave her address as c/o John L. Bartholf, corner 2nd and Ashley Streets, Jacksonville, Florida. In continuing her claim on April 8, 1893, Charles and Sarah Daniels of Zolfo gave a supporting affidavit. Her application was subsequently approved.

Mary H. Bartholf died at her home on 530 Roselle Street, Jacksonville on May 15, 1921. Funeral services were held at the Wesley Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church with burial in Evergreen Cemetery, Jacksonville.

Mary was survived by three daughters, Mrs. Frank Dale of Atlanta, Mrs. Mollie Gardner and Mrs. E. H. Haddock of Jacksonville; and two sons, John L. Bartholf, Sr. of Jacksonville and W. L. Bartholf of Punta Gorda.

References: Bartholf pension application, NA; Bartholf et al to Sec. of War, Tampa, Nov. 15, 1865, R.G. 105, Fla., Asst. Comm., Let. Rec., Entered Vol. 1, 1865-66, Box 1 [A-G], NA; 1866 and 1871 Manatee Tax List; Bartholf to Osborne, June 10, 1866, R.G. 393, Dept. and Dist. of Fla., Let. Rec., Box # 1 [1865, 1866--A-D], NA; “Manatee County: Early Marks & Brands,” South Florida Pioneers 23/24 (January.Apr. 1980), pp. 36-37, and 27/28 (Jan./Apr. 1981), p. 37; Bartholf to Hugh A. Corley, March 7, 1867, IITF, Gen. Corr., R.G. 593, Series 914, Box 12, Fla. State Archives; Seventeenth Elections District, 1867, Fla. Archives; Manatee County Clerk, “Appointments,” Florida Peninsular, August 1, 1868, p. 2; Bartholf, “Pine Level, Manatee County, Florida,” U.S. Centennial Orations, 1876, Mss. Div., LC; Bartholf to M. L. Stearns, August 24, 1876, Sec. of State Corr. -- Letters of Resignation and Removals, 1845-1904, Box 6, R.G. 150, Series 24, Folder 10 [Manatee County], Florida; Florida Times-Union, October 9, 1876, p. 3; Tampa Guardian, May 15, 1880, May 22, 1880; Key of the Gulf (Key West), Sat., May 7, 1881; “Captain Bartholf Dead An Old Soldier Crosses to the Last Camping Ground,” The Evening Telegram [Jacksonville], November 23, 1892; Florida Times-Union [Jacksonville], May 16, 1921; Canter Brown, Jr., Florida’s Peace River Frontier, 1991; Robert C. Hampton, May 3, 2001.

The original profile was published in The Herald-Advocate (Wauchula, Fla.) of November 23, 2000.

Originally posted to web site on January 20, 2001 and emended May 4, 2001.