I’ve put together (actually mostly copied and pasted) historical accounts of the Bulow Family and their plantation from three different sources, the timeline was written by Bill Ryan and posted by the Flagler Beach Historical Society on October 16, 2019, and I injected additional information to his timeline from floridastateparks.org and jaimemontilla.com.
Driving south on Old Kings Road from Palm Coast Parkway and the busy commercial area of Palm Coast you will encounter a sign for “Bulow Plantation.” The entry road running to the east much resembles the written accounts of the Old Kings highway described as 16 feet wide and topped with crushed white shell. Once this plantation was one of the largest and most successful sugar producers in Florida. It was destroyed by the Seminole Indians in the bitter war that began in December of 1835. While primarily only the ruins of the great mill and a few other items are left, the site is a beautiful glimpse of “Old Florida.” It has extensive hiking trails and is a popular site for fishing and canoeing. While the plantation existed from 1821 to 1836 in the Bulow family, it’s short 15-year history is very rich and worthy of knowing.
Sometime prior to 1779: Baron Joachim Von Bulow, a German immigrant, came to Charleston, SC to establish the Lutheran Church in the United States.
1779: Charles Wilhelm Bulow, the second son of Baron Bulow was born at Ashley Hall in Charleston, SC.
1779-1823
Late 1700s: A growing world demand for commodities such as rice, cotton and sugar brought the plantation economy to East Florida. These large operations thrived by using the forced labor of enslaved Africans.
1807: John Joachim, an only son, was born to Major Charles Wilhelm Bulow (I regret to tell you that Google contains no pictures of John. Weird, huh?) He was born in 1807 and was sent to Paris for his education possibly at 5 years old in 1812, when the world was at war.
Early 1800s: A turbulent era in Florida’s history as settlers established plantations on lands that the Seminole Indians believed to be theirs.
July 8, 1812: Shipbuilder John Russell sailed his two-mast schooner “Perservence” into St. Augustine harbor.
July 28, 1812: Russell is given a Spanish grant of some 4,675 acres (roughly 40 miles south of St. Augustine) in exchange for his ship which was needed by the Spanish authorities to import food. The Spanish named the ship “Barbarita.” Russell calls his new location “Good Retreat.” Russell believed his ship was worth at least $5,000 more than the value of the land the Spanish offered. Much disagreement and negotiations ensued as to obtaining the final land title. The Spanish said the property needed to be occupied for 10 years before the final title passes. War of 1812 prevents Russell from bringing all his slaves and assets from the Bahaman Islands.
1814: Russell dies in his daughter’s home in Fernandina, Florida (about 75 miles north of St. Augustine). Family legend said he may have been jailed by the Spanish as an “English Spy.” There are no firm records offering the reason for his death.
1815: Francisco Pedro Pellicer was a witness of transfer of property to son James Hunter Russell who was born in the Bahamas in 1796. (now age 25) He rode about breaking branches, throwing up sand and other physical actions to show ownership under Spanish rule. Lawyer Hernandez had been given power of attorney for Mary Russell, wife of John Russell (who is now deceased).
April 6, 1821: Charles Wilhelm Bulow (now 42), who is the younger son of Joachim Bulow of Charleston S.C., purchases a townhouse in St. Augustine. It is located at Marine Street bounded on the north by a lot belonging to the heirs of Antonio Benten, on the west by the house of Marin Hernandez (Gen. and attorney Hernandez’ father) and south by a second house and lot of Martin Hernandez. As a younger son of the very wealthy Bulow family of Charleston, Charles Wilhelm could not inherit. He wished to establish works all his own and knew that in 1819 Spain had lost Florida to the United States. The Spanish soldiers and residents of St. Augustine were departing in July of 1821. He had purchased the house from a Spanish widow who was departing. This townhouse would be his headquarters for the building of his plantation once he obtained clear title to some land.
July 1821: A group of desperate and starving Seminole Indians arrive in St. Augustine seeking Spanish aid. They had fled from the community of Angola on the West Coast which was raided by followers of Andrew Jackson. The Americans were now raiding Florida for as many free blacks as they could find, or what they called run-away slaves regardless that their families may have lived in Florida for several hundred years. Despair by local Indians at the departure of the Spanish. Andrew Jackson was appointed as governor of the new territory of Florida.
August 1821: Major Charles Bulow (who by now is a wealthy merchant from Charleston, SC), obtains the title to some 4,675 acres of Russell land for $9,944.50. It’s wilderness that borders a tidal creek that would later bear his name. He had obtained some additional land in the area from John Addison making his ownership a total of some 9,000 acres and said to be the largest holding in Florida. We do not have information on the building of his plantation but it is assumed that slaves were sent (as many as 300) from his older brother’s holdings in Charleston. There would be an immense task of clearing land and cutting trees, (1,500 acres for the production of sugar cane, 1,000 for cotton, and lesser plots for indigo and rice), and building numerous necessary outbuildings. Slaves could be brought by ship to Mosquito Lagoon to the south, and brought by boat north on connecting Smith Creek to the Bulow property via boat from a location on the Lagoon called “Live Oak Landing.” One account said that in 1822 Bulow had some 159 slaves with 800 acres in active growth.
May 1, 1823 Charles W. Bulow dies in his new townhouse on Marine Street in Bulowville, Florida at the age of 44. He is buried in Huguenot Cemetery St. Augustine (FYI – a Huguenot is a non-Catholic and weren’t allowed to be buried with the Catholics). Since Charles W. died in May, the period from August 1821 to May 1823 probably did not present much time for extensive crops, or the finishing of a plantation house on the Bulow property. No information could be located on this short time period. There was much Yellow Fever in the area at this time. Bulow had a daughter named Emily who was listed in some accounts as “adopted.” (You must read Bulow Gold for this story.) Bulow’s wife, Abigail (Adelaide) Bulow moved to New York City from Charleston upon his death to live with Emily who was then married.
September? 1823 Charles W. Bulow’s son John Joachim Bulow arrives from Paris. He was underage upon his return (about 16 years – his birth month is unknown). Francisco Pellicer (sr) was appointed as his guardian and his son Francisco Pedro Pellicer (Francis) was appointed as a plantation manager. The Pellicer family had holdings along what would eventually be called Pellicer Creek (Princess Place Preserve today) and also a large Spanish grant immediately to the north of the Bulow lands.
1823 – 1831: We do not know exactly when everything on the plantation was built. But the plantation prospered under John and it became synonymous with bounty and wealth. He was a dashing young man (how do they know that if there are no pictures??) who had been educated in Paris, France. He built a great sugar mill and a large two-story house where he entertained many (some distinguished) guests.
1828: James Emanuel Ormond III lived on the Bulow plantation and later wrote a brief account. He said there were some 300 to 400 slaves, a big library full of fiction books, a wonderful eight-oar fishing boat large enough for guns, nets, tents, and cooks. The 2 1/2 story plantation house which measured 62′ x 42′ (about the length of our former sticks and bricks home) had two separate kitchens. There were 46 well-built slave houses located in a semi-circle around the house, a sawmill, corn house, huge sugar works with a steam engine, cotton gins, poultry houses, cooperate (I think he means a place that held birds, but I couldn’t find this definition anywhere), blacksmith shop, fodder storage. A few of these buildings have been located. Crops were molasses (did you know that molasses was a by-product of making sugar?), corn, sweet potatoes for the slaves, cotton, Indigo (this is a plant they harvested for dye), and large rice fields located across Smith Creek to the east. A roadway and bridge were built from the plantation, across the creek and leading to the ocean on the east. Also, several extensive coquina quarries (a limestone created by ancient shells and pieces of shells) were used to cut valuable building material.
James Ormond III wrote of the good relationship and visits young Bulow had with the Seminole Indians including young Wild Cat (Coacoochee Tribe), his father King Philip, Billy Bowlegs; all of whom came to trade in wild turkey, venison, wild hogs, and Contie flour (this is a type of flour the Seminoles used to live on. It’s from a green plant.). They desired trade cloth, Spanish silver dollars (for jewelry), rum and whiskey. He said young Bulow had some wild ways from his French education and loved to party, entertain, hunt and fish. Later Plantation Manager Pellicer wrote that the works had a good profit of in excess of $20,000 yearly which was large for the times (just under $500,000 today). This was at a time when other competitive planters were struggling due to a low price for sugar and lacking the extensive labor resources available to Bulow.
1830: A government census was called and Bulowville is documented as having 46 cabins that were home to 197 men, women and children. Their cabins were arranged in a semi-circular pattern around the main plantation house. The 12- by 16-foot buildings had shingled roofs and wood siding. Each dwelling had a coquina fireplace for warmth and cooking. In comparison, the main house was a French Colonial style mansion. The cabin area was a place of community for the slaves. Slaves created and sang songs to relay hidden messages. Slave resistance came in work slowdowns and faked illnesses. Some of the daily work at BulowVille consisted of:
- Maintain machinery and farm implements
- Plant, grow, harvest and process sugar cane, cotton, rice and indigo crops
- Feed and clothe workers
- Take care of all plantation animals
- Build all equipment and buildings
December 1831: Probably on Christmas day, the naturalist John James Audubon walked (about 15 miles) to Bulowville from the MalaCompra plantation of Gen. Hernandez where he had been visiting. Since Audubon was brought up in Hispaniola (Haiti) both he and John Joachim Bulow spoke perfect French. They did an animal hunting and bird seeking trip (for birds to put in Audubon’s book “Birds of America”) in January which was written about by Audubon in good detail. Audubon wrote of the hard rowing in salt marshes, difficulty wading in mud, and fighting sand flies and mosquitos. Audubon frequently used BulowVille as a base for his trips to find birds. On one trip he traveled to the McRae plantation near the Tomoka River and on to Spring Garden, which is now De Leon Springs State Park. He wrote that he was well-treated at BulowVille and enjoyed staying there.
1831-1835: John Bulow used to travel in state on an eight-oared barge as far as Jupiter Inlet (about 200 miles!), with his guns, nets, tent and cooks.
December 28, 1835: The period when John Bulow could live as “monarch of all he surveyed” ended abruptly, with the outbreak of the second Seminole Indian War. Militia under Major Benjamin A. Putnam was sent from St. Augustine to protect the plantations to the south. They called themselves “Mosquito Roarers” and arrived at Bulow Plantation from Rosetta plantation to the south. Major Putnam moved his headquarters to Bulow Plantation along with many refugees from plantations that were being attacked and burned by the Seminoles who were now at war, but as the Major and his company entered the plantation, they were met with resistance from John who fired a four-pound cannon (most likely with powder only) at the troops. as they came onto his property. (Bulow did not agree with the U.S. government’s intentions to send the Seminoles to reservations west of the Mississippi River.) He demonstrated his disapproval by firing. His objection was that if his property was fortified, it most certainly would be attacked and destroyed. His resistance resulted in his being locked up and “enlisted” into the Militia under army authority. He was locked up and forbidden to eat at his own table. The plantation was fortified with a log fort constructed in front of the Plantation House, a well dug for the fort, and barricades set up using Bulow’s bales of cotton. The “Mosquito Roarers” went south on Smith Creek using Bulow’s boats to raid the Indians at Dunlawton Plantation to the south. According to Mr. Ormond III’s account (he was present) the somewhat undisciplined Militia soldiers had a disaster and returned to Bulow with many severely wounded and sick.
January 23, 1836: Bulowville was abandoned in a midnight trip traveling north on Old Kings Road to the then doubtful safety of the Hernandez St. Joseph’s Plantation approximately 10 miles to the north. Bulow had to walk behind his own Ox carts and wagons taking the wounded, sick soldiers north. He was not permitted to remove any of his valuables.
January 31, 1836: Bulowville was burned and destroyed by the Seminoles. It was reported that a “great rosy glow” was observed that night in St. Augustine. John’s house and furniture were valued at $5,000 ($141,000 today). The house was never rebuilt. John, discouraged by the destruction, died three months later. He was 29 years old.
April 1, 1836: John J. Bulow appeared before a Justice of the Peace making a statement of losses due to the army occupation. Sworn statements of many from the “Mosquito Roarer” group were taken in support.
May 7, 1836, The mysterious death of John J. Bulow in St. Augustine: Many contemporary authors had young John J. Bulow returning to Paris and dying there.
May 11, 1836: A statement appeared in the Florida Herald of Charleston saying that Bulow had died in St. Augustine on May 7th. Further, researcher James Fiske of the Flagler County Historical group, found a copy of the burial notice in St. Augustine saying Bulow was buried on Sunday, May 7, 1836, and officiated by Reverend Parker of Trinity Parish. The location of the burial was unfortunately not given. He left no heirs so the estate went to his sister Emily Ann; Mrs. William G. Bucknor of N.Y.
1858 (or thereabouts): Charles Bulow Bucknor, son of Emily Ann and heir of the Bulow plantation, presented a claim to Congress in the amount of $83,475. The bill passed both the House and the Senate but never in the same session, so it finally lapsed.
1893: The heirs hired John Wedderburn of the Examiner Bureau of Claims to again file a claim against the U. S. and Seminole Indians. but it was dismissed
1906: The claim was again dismissed on the Government’s motion for non-prosecution.
1945: The Florida Park Service acquires the ruins. (I have no idea from whom)
1970: The ruins were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but the registration document has not yet been digitized. Today, 150 acres of the Bulow Plantation and its ruins stand as a monument to the rise and fall of sugar plantations in East Florida.
All that is left today of this plantation are the coquina ruins of the sugar mill, several wells, a spring house and the crumbling foundation of the mansion. The cleared fields have been reclaimed by the forest, and the area looks much as it did when it belonged to the Seminoles.