Florida Inmates Kept as Slaves

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Before a committee of the Florida legislature on May 8, 1923:
“'Mrs. Franklin related that Mary Sheffield, a negro woman, and her daughter were shot and killed last Wednesday by Warden Thompson at one of the Knabb camps,' the [Jacksonville] Times-Union reported.”


The “Knabb camps” here are tree farms used for turpentine owned by Florida state senator T.J. Knabb. His brother, William Knabb became a business partner. The business was later known as Knabb Turpentine and still exists today as Knabb Lands. Inmates were leased from Baker, Alachua and Bradford counties. Ironically, it became illegal to lease inmates in Florida state prisons in 1909 but it was still legal to lease county prisoners. That ended in 1923, after this testimony.



This testimony before legislative committees came about when Martin Talbert, 22, died at a camp in Dixie County. Talbert was from North Dakota and of prominent family. The state of North Dakota demanded an investigation. The camp where Talbert died wasn't owned by the Knabbs but by an out of state timber company.



Story:
Turpentine and prisons: The dark legacy of a prominent Baker County family

Legislature's investigation reveals inmate horrors



By Clifford Davis Tue, Sep 9, 2014 @ 2:38 pm | updated Wed, Sep 10, 2014 @ 11:59 am


Link:
Turpentine and prisons: The dark legacy of a prominent Baker County family | jacksonville.com



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[Dale]

One of the inmates who died at Knabb's turpentine camp was Jimmy Beach, a man of about thirty. He came to the camp to beg for food and was arrested for vagrancy. A local judge sentenced Beach to six months in jail for vagrancy and he was leased out as a worker to the Knabb operation.


“A few days later Beach was dead.”


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[Dale]

Paul Revere White, 19, was arrested for vagrancy while walking on the side of the road in Alachua County. He was fined but jailed because he couldn't pay the fine and leased to Knabb's turpentine camp in Glen St. Mary.



On February 24, 1923, John B. Thomas, prison inspector, and Joe Jones, Jr., Sheriff of Baker County, visited the camp. They found White “nearly dead.” Thomas compared the place to a “slaughter pen.” White reported beatings and whippings on an almost daily basis.



White was removed to the Baker County Jail and treated by Dr. R.L. Lamb. Lamb found fractured ribs, skin peeled off of the hands and feet, and ulcers on White's legs.



White said that John Roddenberry, “whipping boss,” warned that convicts who complained of sickness wound up in the cemetery.



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[Dale]

Here's something that shows there are some good people around while all this is going on. Knabb's most notorious turpentine camp is near the town of Macclenny. When word got out about the horrible conditions in Knabb's turpentine camp, some Macclenny businessmen took up a collection and paid the fines that were holding convicts there. All of the convicts were freed since there was no longer any excuse to hold them. This was reported May 1, 1923.



Now the downside of this story. Three days later, on May 4, a fire of unknown cause burned down the Macclenny Hotel and several other nearby businesses. Immense damage was inflicted on the business district of this small town. Apparently no one was ever prosecuted.


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