GILLILAND, LEWELLEN CAPT & ADJ US ARMY 6 FLA VOL INF
DATE OF DEATH: 07/10/1837 BURIED AT: SECTION B SITE 504
SAINT AUGUSTINE NATIONAL CEMETERY
104 MARINE STREET ST. AUGUSTINE, FL 32084
Over the past few years I've found myself repeatedly
drawn into this mystery and though I've gathered bits a
nd pieces of the puzzle, I've yet to fit them
into a complete picture. But let me start with the
record above. From the date and location of his death,
I assumed Lewellen died or was killed during
the Seminole Wars in Florida. I later confirmed this
fact from published sources of the time; a more
recent history provides details of how he was
killed: "Organized and random acts of slave violence
peaked during the first several years of the Second
Seminole War. In July 1837, a Capt. Gilliland was
found dead 150 yards from his horse on the road from
Suwannee to Newnansville,
his body and his horse both full of buckshot. It was
widely believed that runaway slaves in the vicinity
were responsible for the murder. In August,
two slaves named Tom and John had run away from the
plantation of Micajah Dean "for the purpose and with
the expectation of joining the Seminole
Indians, whom they know to be at war with the Whites."
In midst of their escape, the two fugitive slaves had
murdered Gilliland for any provisions they could find
on him. Before their execution, the judge reprimanded
them for attempting to escape to the Seminoles, a not
so subtle message for any others who would contemplate
doing so:"Suppose you had joined the Indians, what
would have become of you? They would hardly have
treated you well; they
would have been afraid to trust you; they would have
made you slaves. But if they had not; if they had
made you Leaders and Chiefs, what would you have
gotten by it? Why, if you escaped death from the hands
of white people, you must at the close of the war,
have been restored to your master, or sent out
of the country, to some far away place, where your
condition would be infinitely worse than it ever was here until now."*
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2F
www.gillilandtrails.org%2Fdocuments%2Fland%2Fland_
RabunCoSale.rtf&sa=U&ei=TknnUI37JI_U9AS8r4AQ&ved=
0CCAQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNEmQMDhlTZwJBFoyaHltlBQ_C4K-w
DATE OF DEATH: 07/10/1837 BURIED AT: SECTION B SITE 504
SAINT AUGUSTINE NATIONAL CEMETERY
104 MARINE STREET ST. AUGUSTINE, FL 32084
Over the past few years I've found myself repeatedly
drawn into this mystery and though I've gathered bits a
nd pieces of the puzzle, I've yet to fit them
into a complete picture. But let me start with the
record above. From the date and location of his death,
I assumed Lewellen died or was killed during
the Seminole Wars in Florida. I later confirmed this
fact from published sources of the time; a more
recent history provides details of how he was
killed: "Organized and random acts of slave violence
peaked during the first several years of the Second
Seminole War. In July 1837, a Capt. Gilliland was
found dead 150 yards from his horse on the road from
Suwannee to Newnansville,
his body and his horse both full of buckshot. It was
widely believed that runaway slaves in the vicinity
were responsible for the murder. In August,
two slaves named Tom and John had run away from the
plantation of Micajah Dean "for the purpose and with
the expectation of joining the Seminole
Indians, whom they know to be at war with the Whites."
In midst of their escape, the two fugitive slaves had
murdered Gilliland for any provisions they could find
on him. Before their execution, the judge reprimanded
them for attempting to escape to the Seminoles, a not
so subtle message for any others who would contemplate
doing so:"Suppose you had joined the Indians, what
would have become of you? They would hardly have
treated you well; they
would have been afraid to trust you; they would have
made you slaves. But if they had not; if they had
made you Leaders and Chiefs, what would you have
gotten by it? Why, if you escaped death from the hands
of white people, you must at the close of the war,
have been restored to your master, or sent out
of the country, to some far away place, where your
condition would be infinitely worse than it ever was here until now."*
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2F
www.gillilandtrails.org%2Fdocuments%2Fland%2Fland_
RabunCoSale.rtf&sa=U&ei=TknnUI37JI_U9AS8r4AQ&ved=
0CCAQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNEmQMDhlTZwJBFoyaHltlBQ_C4K-w
GILLILAND, LEWELLEN CAPT & ADJ US ARMY 6 FLA VOL INF
DATE OF DEATH: 07/10/1837 BURIED AT: SECTION B SITE 504
SAINT AUGUSTINE NATIONAL CEMETERY
104 MARINE STREET ST. AUGUSTINE, FL 32084
Over the past few years I've found myself repeatedly
drawn into this mystery and though I've gathered bits a
nd pieces of the puzzle, I've yet to fit them
into a complete picture. But let me start with the
record above. From the date and location of his death,
I assumed Lewellen died or was killed during
the Seminole Wars in Florida. I later confirmed this
fact from published sources of the time; a more
recent history provides details of how he was
killed: "Organized and random acts of slave violence
peaked during the first several years of the Second
Seminole War. In July 1837, a Capt. Gilliland was
found dead 150 yards from his horse on the road from
Suwannee to Newnansville,
his body and his horse both full of buckshot. It was
widely believed that runaway slaves in the vicinity
were responsible for the murder. In August,
two slaves named Tom and John had run away from the
plantation of Micajah Dean "for the purpose and with
the expectation of joining the Seminole
Indians, whom they know to be at war with the Whites."
In midst of their escape, the two fugitive slaves had
murdered Gilliland for any provisions they could find
on him. Before their execution, the judge reprimanded
them for attempting to escape to the Seminoles, a not
so subtle message for any others who would contemplate
doing so:"Suppose you had joined the Indians, what
would have become of you? They would hardly have
treated you well; they
would have been afraid to trust you; they would have
made you slaves. But if they had not; if they had
made you Leaders and Chiefs, what would you have
gotten by it? Why, if you escaped death from the hands
of white people, you must at the close of the war,
have been restored to your master, or sent out
of the country, to some far away place, where your
condition would be infinitely worse than it ever was here until now."*
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2F
www.gillilandtrails.org%2Fdocuments%2Fland%2Fland_
RabunCoSale.rtf&sa=U&ei=TknnUI37JI_U9AS8r4AQ&ved=
0CCAQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNEmQMDhlTZwJBFoyaHltlBQ_C4K-w
DATE OF DEATH: 07/10/1837 BURIED AT: SECTION B SITE 504
SAINT AUGUSTINE NATIONAL CEMETERY
104 MARINE STREET ST. AUGUSTINE, FL 32084
Over the past few years I've found myself repeatedly
drawn into this mystery and though I've gathered bits a
nd pieces of the puzzle, I've yet to fit them
into a complete picture. But let me start with the
record above. From the date and location of his death,
I assumed Lewellen died or was killed during
the Seminole Wars in Florida. I later confirmed this
fact from published sources of the time; a more
recent history provides details of how he was
killed: "Organized and random acts of slave violence
peaked during the first several years of the Second
Seminole War. In July 1837, a Capt. Gilliland was
found dead 150 yards from his horse on the road from
Suwannee to Newnansville,
his body and his horse both full of buckshot. It was
widely believed that runaway slaves in the vicinity
were responsible for the murder. In August,
two slaves named Tom and John had run away from the
plantation of Micajah Dean "for the purpose and with
the expectation of joining the Seminole
Indians, whom they know to be at war with the Whites."
In midst of their escape, the two fugitive slaves had
murdered Gilliland for any provisions they could find
on him. Before their execution, the judge reprimanded
them for attempting to escape to the Seminoles, a not
so subtle message for any others who would contemplate
doing so:"Suppose you had joined the Indians, what
would have become of you? They would hardly have
treated you well; they
would have been afraid to trust you; they would have
made you slaves. But if they had not; if they had
made you Leaders and Chiefs, what would you have
gotten by it? Why, if you escaped death from the hands
of white people, you must at the close of the war,
have been restored to your master, or sent out
of the country, to some far away place, where your
condition would be infinitely worse than it ever was here until now."*
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2F
www.gillilandtrails.org%2Fdocuments%2Fland%2Fland_
RabunCoSale.rtf&sa=U&ei=TknnUI37JI_U9AS8r4AQ&ved=
0CCAQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNEmQMDhlTZwJBFoyaHltlBQ_C4K-w
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