The When of Song of Jaybird
When was resin harvested from the pine trees?
The sun warmed sticky pitch inside the channels of pine, and when men made an axe cut, the sap dripped into a box or cup.
Oozed resin released from openings without the help of humans. For example, resin trickled down bark after a red pileated woodpecker jabbed into pine trees looking for insects. The hotter the temperatures, the more fluid the sap flowed. However, laborers worked in the forest all year round.
When was the Hurdy cup introduced?
Professor Charles Hurdy received a patent for his clay cups in 1902. He presented his new cup and gutter system at the Naval Store convention in the fall of the same year.
The success of Hurdy's new method showed more resin production and extended the trees' life compared to the old "box cut.” By 1903, the system had replaced the ancient technique; however, some turpentine operators refused to change.
When was the Clyatt Peonage case tried?
Samuel M. Clyatt forced two laborers back to Georgia in 1901, handcuffed for leaving his camp for a better job in Florida. After the trial, his sentence was four years of hard labor.
However, his case was appealed with the help of funds raised for his defense by the TOA. Attorneys retried the case in 1904, and the final decision in 1905 reversed the charges against him.
This case was important to the Florida turpentine operators because they were the worst offenders; if it could happen to Clyatt, then it could happen to them.
When was the Florida vagrancy law extended?
In 1907 the Governor extended the 1905 Florida Vagrancy Act, which was developed to make it difficult for laborers to move "freely" from one camp to the next or to seek better employment for cash-paying jobs. TOA strongly lobbied for this to keep workers in peonage or increase cheaper labor cost using convict camps.
A man or woman sentenced for a misdemeanor, loitering, for example, then a judge sentenced them to convict camps under much worse conditions than the laborers in Song of Jaybird. Convicts were considered cheap labor and padded the operators' pockets, encouraging false charges and increased forced labor in the forest.
When was hard rock phosphate first discovered and mined?
In the late 19th century, phosphate, nicknamed "white gold," was found near Dunnellon and Floral City. Laborers excavated with picks and shovels like the woodsmen harvested with axes and trowels. What might appear today as sleepy little towns or ghost towns were once thriving metropolitan areas.
Most phosphate mining companies used the same debt peonage or forced prison labor as turpentine. However, there were a few mines that paid cash instead of scrip. Song of Jaybird includes the close connection of phosphate mining to people's livelihood during Etna's time.
Photo credit: http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/141763
