CHARLES WILLIAM CROFT

Born: 27 Jan 1836 - Barnwell Co., SC
Died: 19 Jun 1919 - Dade City, Florida

Father: Jacob H. Croft
Mother: Abigail Hunter

Charles William Croft moved with his family from Barnwell, South Carlina to Lowndes Co., GA as an infant. He was raised on his father's farm along with fourteen brothers and sisters. He married Mary Jane McLeod in Moultrie, GA in 1857 in a double wedding with another couple by the name of Mobley. The exact date of the marriage is unknown because records in the newly formed Colquitt County courthouse were destroyed in a fire in 1881. Colquitt Co. was carved out of Lowndes in 1856. The couple moved to Florida not long after.

Charles and Mary Jane's first child was born in Georgia and the rest were born in Florida, dating their move to Florida in 1858 or 1859. They first moved to New River County near Lake Butler. His father and all his siblings but one brother (Jacob Croft, Jr.) moved to the same area about the same time. Charles volunteered for duty in the Confederate Army in 1861 and served for four years. On a visit home in 1865 he found his family starving and did not go back.

In 1874 Charles moved his family to Pasco County where he acquired land and prospered. That same year he hired a man by the name of Jim Smith to work for three months during the harvest season for $15 per month. Smith worked for one month, became dissatisfied and quit. He demanded $15 for the month he had worked and brought a suit against Charles for the $15. Charles went to Brooksville and hired a lawyer named Charles Harrison to represent him. It was Harrison's first case. The story of the trial appears in a book of Harrison's memories called Reminiscenses, published in 1997. Harrison put on a successful defense and received $15 for his fee. Smith became furious at the outcome and began cursing the court, the judge, the lawyer, and Charles. That resulted in a fist fight in the courtroom which Charles also won.

By 1895 Charles had acquired orange groves and a packing house, but that year a severe freeze wiped out his groves, and his packing house business went under. He never replanted the orange trees, but chose to farm the land instead.

In 1889 former Lt. Gov. Milton Mabry retired from politics and built a large home on a hill about 1/2 mile from the home of Charles Croft. He wrote of the economic effects of the 1895 freeze, mentioning in particular the plight of his neighbor. The mercantile house of Coleman & Ferguson extended credit to those hurt by the freeze. Charles Croft "drew heavy on them and continued to do so even after the freeze when all hopes for payment were gone..." They continued to honor him. "He would come in and pay a little and charge his account with much more. One day he was asked how he ever expected to get even and if he knew how much he owed. He replied that, yes, he knew. He owed them enough to be considered a partner."

Five years after his wife, Mary Jane, died Charles married "Miss Mary." That was 1907. Miss Mary was Mary Martin who had lived in Pasco County since she was two years old.

Sources: 1850 Census - Colquitt Co., GA
1860 Census - New River Co., FL
Memories of Clemmie Croft Berg, his granddaughter
Interview with Drew Croft, his grandson
Death certificate on file
Reminiscenses of Judge Charles Harrison, 1997
Letter from historian, Dr. Canter Brown, Jr., 30 Dec 1997

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