A NEW CITY, A NEW HOUSE
TERRITORIAL PERIOD (1821–45)
Florida’s territorial period began in 1821 with the transfer of Florida from Spain to the United States. Tallahassee was established as the territory’s capital in March 1824 on land occupied for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples, including the Apalachee, Seminole, Muscogee, and others. Native peoples were still living in the area in 1824, though white settlement would soon push them south.
Territorial Capitol Building, ca. 1838
This building was constructed in 1826. Before that, the legislature met in a log cabin.
Drawing by Francis, comte de Castelnau, courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
In April, the first small band of settlers arrived in the new capital, and in November, the Legislature met there for the first time. The town grew rapidly. In 1825, a census of Tallahassee’s population showed 608 white people, 387 enslaved Black people, and only one free Black person in the town. The vast majority of those enslaved individuals were brought there by planters from other southern states who were moving into the region to establish new plantations. The capital soon became a trading town for the area’s cotton growers.
Tallahassee Railroad Company depot, ca. 1837–38
The railroad transported mainly cotton to the port at St. Marks, south of Tallahassee, where it was then loaded onto ships for export.
Drawing by Francis, comte de Castelnau, courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
Originally, a 200-foot cleared area surrounded the town, with town lots fronting it. The commercial district formed along Monroe Street, and shops and other businesses lined the street. The town built a courthouse in 1838, one of the capital’s few brick buildings. Stagecoach service connected Tallahassee to Jacksonville, where travelers could secure other modes of transport to continue their journeys to their intended destinations.
THOMAS HAGNER IN TALLAHASSEE
In 1838, Thomas Holmes Hagner arrived in this bustling town not much younger than he, to set up shop and begin his law career. Hagner would be the first occupant of the house today known as the Knott House. Rooms were in short supply when Hagner arrived in town, and expensive. However, he soon found both an office and a room in a boarding house. He was ready and eager to succeed. “My trap is set then, now for the game—as to success more anon.”
Hagner became one of the most prominent lawyers in Middle Florida, the region bordered by the Apalachicola River on the west and the Suwannee River on the east. In 1843, a fire destroyed much of Tallahassee’s business district, including Hagner’s law office. Hagner served on the relief committee that formed shortly after the fire.
Thomas Hagner’s advertisement offering his legal services, 1838
This ad ran in the November 3, 1838, edition of The Floridian newspaper.
From microfilm in the collection of the State Library of Florida
Letter, Thomas Hagner to Peter Hagner, November 13, 1838
Hagner had arrived in Tallahassee during the time Governor Richard Keith Call was directing the construction of The Grove, now a historic house museum on North Monroe Street. In a letter to his father, Hagner wrote, “The Gov. is building a very fine brick house there just in front of his present residence, which they say will be the finest house in the Territory.”
Peter Hagner Papers, #3117, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
THE HAGNER/KNOTT HOUSE
In 1842, Hagner purchased lot 78, then the edge of town. It fronted McCarty Street, the 200-foot cleared area. Though it is unknown for certain if a structure already stood on this site, it is known that an addition was built onto the home in 1846 that greatly enlarged the house. George Proctor, a free man of color, who constructed a number of homes in the area, may have built the original structure, the 1846 addition, or both. Today, the Hagner/Knott House stands near the heart of Tallahassee.
Plan of Tallahassee town lots, 1826
This plan shows lot 78 (circled in red, top right) when Ede Van Evor owned it. The lot passed through several hands before Hagner bought it.
Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
Letter, Catherine Hagner to Peter Hagner, May 16, 1846
In this letter to her father-in-law, Catherine Hagner, Thomas’s wife, describes the construction work taking place at the house. “The addition to the house is now in full progress and I have you to imagine the noise and confusion consequent upon it. This addition gives Mr. Hagner two rooms for this [his] office and me a chamber on the floor with the parlour which I have long desired. It is altogether a great improvement to the house.”
Peter Hagner Papers, #3117, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chaires mansion, ca. 1890
Originally, the Hagner/Knott House was a side hall structure, with rooms only on one side of the hall. The 1846 addition is likely when the house was doubled in size and became a central hall structure, with rooms on both sides of the hall. After the expansion, it may have looked similar to this house on North Monroe Street, which George Proctor built in the 1840s.
Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
CATHERINE GAMBLE HAGNER
Catherine Gamble, daughter of wealthy Florida planter John Grattan Gamble, married Thomas Hagner in 1844. They would have two children. In 1847, two years after Florida achieved statehood, Hagner served in the General Assembly of Florida. He had become quite successful, but died of illness in 1848. The house passed to his widow Catherine Gamble Hagner.
After Thomas’s death in 1848, Catherine Hagner remained in the house for a time with her children and brother, Dr. John G. Gamble Jr. Dr. Gamble died sometime between late 1856 and early 1857. Catherine Hagner left the house, but remained in Tallahassee until moving from the state sometime in the 1860s with her children. Though she retained ownership of the house, it would soon would acquire a new use.
Plan of Tallahassee town lots, 1867
This plan of town lots shows Catherine Hagner still owning lots 78 and 75. Thomas had purchased lot 75, behind lot 78 (upper right, circled in red) in 1846.
Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
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