Frontier Oligarchy
The Capitol building in Tallahassee as drawn by Francis de Castelnau, ca. 1838
Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
After Florida became part of the United States in 1821, a frontier elite developed in Middle Florida, in the region between the Apalachicola and the Suwannee Rivers. Planters migrated from Virginia and the Carolinas, attracted by the fertile soil of the new American territory. A group of Virginians operated the Union Bank, with John Gamble as bank president, John Parkhill as cashier, and Thomas Brown as the head teller. Access to the bank was confined to well-connected planters. Gamble was at the center of a powerful group of families, related through marriage and financial alliances, which included the Randolphs, Parkhills, Browns, Eppes, and Nuttalls.
The bank opened with approved capital totaling $1 million, worth $36 million today. Planters subscribed to stock by opening a twenty-year mortgage on their land and on the people they enslaved. Planters could then borrow two-thirds of the value. The actual capital was created by selling bonds on the stock to northern and foreign investors. The faith of the territory, or public credit, was pledged to back these bonds. This cash infusion financed the rapid expansion of plantation agriculture and slavery.
Drawing of the Verdura Plantation mansion, home of Benjamin Chaires in Tallahassee, ca. 1870
Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida
Planters often “worked” the appraiser and created elaborate schemes to receive high values on property appraisals and favorable outcomes for loan requests. According to 1840 Senate testimony, between property assessments, the appraiser was fed a lavish meal. Meanwhile, enslaved people were moved between properties, dressed differently, and given other names to achieve a high assessment value.
