[FHStoday] TODAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY FOR DECEMBER 23

[Nick Wynne]

TODAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY
DECEMBER 23
1817            Fernandina was surrendered to U.S. military forces by 
officers of the "Republic of the Floridas" headed up by Mexican Luis Aury, 
a general in the independence movement. The United States flag was the 
fourth to fly over Amelia Island in a six-month period.

1856            Lafayette County, the 33rd county in the state, was created 
today.  Named for the Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette, 
Lafayette County recognized the contributions the Marquis made to American 
independence.  The U.S. Congress had earlier granted him a township of land 
located near present-day Tallahassee.  Although Lafayette did not come to 
Florida, he was responsible for the settlement of French families in the area.

1856            Taylor County, the 35th county in Florida, was established 
today.  Taylor County is named for Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of 
the United States and commander of the United States Armed Forces in 
Florida during the Second Seminole War.

1861            Confederate President Jefferson Davis forwarded the names 
of William Davis, George W. Pratt, and John M. Hendry, all Floridians, to 
the Congress with a recommendation that they be commissioned as chaplains 
in the Confederate Army.

1863            A detachment of Federal troops, commanded by Henry A. 
Crane, was dispatched to Charlotte Harbor to disrupt the flow of Florida 
cattle to Confederate armies.  It was estimated by Federal authorities that 
2,000 head of cattle were herded northward each week to supply the Army of 
Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia.

1926            Twenty people died today as two Florida-bound trains 
collided in Georgia.