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The census enumerators in 1830, credited Washington County with a population of 978. That total had declined to 859 (included 353 slaves) in 1840,
with the decline being attributed to the loss of territory (and population)
to Franklin County, created February 8, 1832, and to Calhoun County, created
January 26, 1838.
Washington County's population more than doubled to 1,950 during the decade
ending in 1850, however, the population gained slightly during the next ten
years. In 1860, the total population was 2,154, including 474 slaves
and 10 free persons of color. The number grew to 2, 302 during the
next decade, despite the War Between the States and its after-math. The
county's population nearly doubled during the decade ending in 1880, when
the total reached 3,039.
James Bright, a onetime North Carolina militia colonel, built a large,
three-story home on his plantation. The third story was a ballroom.
The home was known locally as the Bright Vallombrosa Mansion. Located near
by was the home of Nicholas and Ann H. Bright Mitchell, known locally
as the .Mitchell Mansion. Built near by were the homes of the Bright
and Mitchell slaves. Some of the slaves were skilled carpenters,
brick-makers, masons, blacksmiths and butchers and millers. They built
comfortable homes nearby for themselves.
The building skills of James Bright and some of his sons plus Mitchell, and
their slaves, remained in great demand in Pensacola and environs. They produced
Bright Vallombrosa brick from clay mines in Central Escambia County, for
home-building and commercial construction. The bricks were used in
some of the early Navy Yard construction at Pensacola. Some of the
bricks, bearing the name Bright could be seen many decades later, in a wall
near the entrance gate.
James Bright and Nicholas Mitchell, with some of their masons and carpenters
from Vallombrosa, built Old Christ Church in Pensacola, in 1832. It
had mahogany beams and siding inside and was later covered outside with English
ivy. The two men built handsome homes, mostly for winter occupancy.
The homes faced each other from opposite sides of Pensacola ,Palafox
Street. A marker has been erected near the church, attesting to its historic
status.
Erected in 1832, this is the oldest church building in Florida still standing
on its original site. Tradition ascribes the design of this Episcopal
Church to Sir Christopher Wren. Constructed of locally made brick,
it was used by Federal forces during the Civil War as a barracks and hospital.
The Parish moved in 1903. Deeded to Pensacola in 1936, it was
used as a public library until 1957. Pensacola Historical Museum established
there in August, 1960.
There is some evidence, all handed down orally, to indicate that the old
fort or blockhouse northwest of todays Moss Hill Church sometimes served
as a meeting place for both the Methodist and the Baptists. A cooperative
effort was required for the two denominations to provide services on anything
like a regular basis for the scattered frontiersman and their families.
The church building, erected in 1857, was one of the county's first all-frame
structures, and it is credited with being the second building in the county
to be equipped with glass windows. The first was the home of Robert C. Russ,
also in Holmes Valley. Members of the Church and their neighbors provided
construction labor, including some slaves. Provision was made for separate
seating of men and women, in keeping with frontier custom. One section
was reserved for slaves, who were provided spiritual guidance and training
at the church, prior to the post-Civil War years. During that era,
the former slaves who had attended services at Moss Hill and their descendants
joined others in establishing Sylvania A. M. E. Church. The church
was located two or three miles north west of Moss Hill and Mt.
Calvary Baptist Church (now Ebenezer).
Russ was the son of one of five brothers ,who came from Brunswick County,
North Carolina, early in 1822 . He settled in what is now known as
Jackson and Washington Counties.
Descendants of Robert E. Russ have in their possession ,records of his sale
of 200 acres of land, in Holmes Valley that was given to him by his mother.
Levi Potter in 1819, moved his family and slaves from North Carolina to Holmes
Valley. Holmes Valley, located in West Florida was destined to become
Washington County. They became well settled, by the time Florida officially
became United States Territory, in mid-1821.
Levi Potter died sometime between 1842 and 1846, leaving a substantial estate
to be distributed among his heirs. A settlement of the estate was to
be distributed among his heirs. A settlement of the estate provided
for a division of the slaves, without regard to some of their own personal
desires.
One such individual, a young woman, was carried to Georgia by her new owner.
She didn't want to go. She was deeply in love with Madison, a slave
that was to remain the property of Levi Potters widow. The young woman's
departure was a sad occasion for the young woman, Madison and Mrs. Potter.
Mrs. Potter promptly bought the girl. She then presented her
to Madison and soon took the happy couple back to Holmes Valley as husband
and wife. Mrs. Potter, who devoted more than three weeks of her time,
plus the hardships of frontier travel and the cost of the purchase, had
demonstrated evidences of affection and compassion seldom recorded, but that
were perhaps not uncommon in such frontier areas.
Madison was identified on the Holmes Valley (Ebenezer) Church records as
the Potter Estate. ****Was among 12 slaves baptized soon after that
church was organized in 1846. Other Potter Estate slaves baptized at the
same time were Harriet, Gibson, Louise and Mary. One of the three females
may well have been the girl that Madison , with determined help of the widow
of his former owner had brought back from Georgia as his bride.
Madison is mentioned in subsequent records of the church, indicating his
continued affiliation during the next 19 years that slavery existed.
Church minutes show on one occasion that he placed 50 cents in the
collection plate. That was considered a substantial contribution in
that era and perhaps an exceptional one, from one classified as a slave.
He and his wife were responsible citizens, also known for their
dependability and loyalty, especially to the woman who had gone with Madison
to Georgia to buy the girl from bondage so she could become his wife.
When the war Between the States ended, 47 Potter plantation slaves were freed.
But several of them remained nearby to engage in farming or other work.
Addie Horne, an infant girl, was the last child to be born into slavery
on the plantation. She remained with her mother in the household of
the widow of William R. F. Potter, who was killed at Chickamauga.
The little girl often remained, while her mother worked, in the care of Alexander
W. Potter (her senior by five or six years), the lone surviving child of
Mrs. Potter and late husband William R. F. Potter. Addie grew up in the Potter
household, as one of the family.
According to Sylvester Andrews, George and
Ellen were property of William R.F. Potter..
History of Washington County
for The Brown Family Connection.
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