Today's Davis Report

100 years old in 2015

It was a slow day so I decided to speed up things a bit and drop by to visit The Davis's. Stepped in the door and Willard's caregiver, Patsy McBride Steadham was there.  I had a bag of boiled peanuts that Gordon Howell had given me for  Roy Allen, my blind buddy over in Allentown and was on the way give them to Roy but Roy is such a sport, I decided it was OK to give the boiled peanuts to Willard, who can't eat them because of the salt content anyway and then, Doug  will just pig out on them and ruin his supper. So I had them in my hand, fresh hot and boiled by Frank Lowry, up the road -  and bought by Gordon and passed to me by his wife, Lana for Roy  -- who would miss out regardless. Handed them to Patsy. She ate them while Doug and I and Willard got onto more pressing matters.

"So, Doug, have you found out anymore about that 1928 Colt automatic pistol that shoots ,25 caliber bullets? " Turns out he had -- and a whole lot more of the Doug Encyclopedia of random information began to spill out. All over the floor -

Doug Davis

So,  it seems the pistol is a miniature exact replica of the famous 45 cal. 1911 model which to this day can be bought brand new from several manufacturers. I then explained to Doug how this was the model I trained on in the Navy back in 1971. Had watched a film of a marine in Vietnam using one in a firefight in the jungle.  The pajama clad enemy jumped out of the jungle set on a movie lot somewhere and began to swing his rifle off his shoulder to the marine. The marine took his time to carefully draw his 1911 and carefully aim his pistol just like they teach you in the school ... controlled breathing (in-out) ... as if an instructor was on the movie set with him - calling the shots (so to speak).  And with the narration going on about careful aim and slow squeeze of the trigger - the marine got off ONE solid, very noisy and accurate movie shot at the enemy actor who dropped immediately into the flowing movie set stream and died (efficient inventory control of Navy bullets "One shot, one dead communist").  So ... yes, I know about the famous 1911. And at the time - I qualified "expert" with it.

But I digress.

Doug went on to explain that those Colt pistols were actually invented by Browning who had contracted to Colt.  He said Browning also contracted to Remington.  He designed tremendous shotguns and had Remington make them for him. Doug explained that he has a Browning shotgun direct from the Browning factory in Belgium - where his aunt got it in 1953.  It seems Remington made Browning shotguns for them until the President of Remington died and the new president did not like Mr. Browning. So Browning ended up getting a factory together over in Belgium back in the twenties (I think).  That factory fell into Nazi hands in WWII but after the war it went back to Browning and began making shotguns again and THAT is how Doug's aunt wound up with one for her husband.

Doug then told on his dad, Willard, who when he was a teenager, got hold of his dad's prized 12 gauge and was told by his dad to NEVER fire that thing -- "it will knock you down".  It was a single barrel, made by an obscure company called J.S. Arms - using heavy "armory steel" in 1915. The gun is this very year, ONE HUNDRED years old (and actually has cobwebs in the barrel). How it came into the possession of Willard is a story.  His dad, "S.S." (Sling Shot) Davis was 21 in 1915 and he spent $20 to buy this shotgun, an arsenal of shells for it and shells for a new .22 caliber squirrel gun he got the same day, his birthday present to himself.   These two guns were in the family as prized possessions even years after he married, except at some point the .22 was lost in an unforgivable

Willard Davis

exchange of property.

It seems the little .22 rifle did well until a spring broke and it needed to be replaced.  "Sling Shot" had mentioned publicly the hammer had to be manually set and released and was irritated about it.  He had an order in to Sears in Dothan for a ten cent spring to fix it but none of THIS information was transferred to the family conversation.  The very day "Sling Shot" went to Dothan to get the spring, a rolling store came by the house -- which I think at that time may have been near the towns of Esto and Noma - North of Bonifay Florida.

I know this because Doug once told me that "Sling Shot" (his grandpa) and migrated over to this county 100 miles distant back in the 1930's. It was the same time my mom's family - the Carswells made that migration. They all did that because they had word from a fellow neighbor - Mr. Marvin Lee who came "out West" earlier and found superb farmland.  Marvin Lee settled on Jessie Allen Road near Allentown.  The Carswells found a place to buy near the current UF Agricultural Experiment Station on Hwy 182 - and "Sling Shot" was coaxed into a nice spread closer to Chumuckla on Hwy 182.  So the point is a lot of these people knew each other for years but migrated almost simultaneously to a bit more easterly location, away from where the soil had about "played out".  They were thrilled to find good farmland in our County.

The Rolling Store had some things in it that Mrs. Davis was eager to have. The "broken .22 rifle" was something she could trade. So for a sack of flour, the .22 was given in trade  .... just as "Sling Shot" was finding the ten cent spring cure in Dothan (the nearest large town to Noma).

Willard said every time the .22 rifle was mentioned in his lifetime again - his face would glow with anger over the loss of his precious gift to himself on his twenty first birthday. When Willard was a teenager, he allowed curiosity to get the best of him and when the family was absent -  he took the 12 gauge single barrel J.S. Arms shotgun down from the wall and took it out to fire it.  Afterwards, he picked himself up and dusted off and carefully replaced the shotgun on the wall and never told them about it until long after he was married himself.  It's a family legend.

Find Chumuckla  (39)

"Sling Shot" died about 1987. He was 21 in 1915. So he lived to about 93 years old ... which Willard explains,led to another failed investment.  After moving to Chumuckla in the thirties, "Sling Shot" felt he needed life insurance to cover his fledgling farm mortgage and life needs for his young family in case he was to die. A  Fellow named Amos from Jay had moved to Milton and opened up a dime store there.  "Sling Shot" got a $1000 policy there for $33/year.  As it turns out, because of his very long life, he never got the full return on the policy.  Over time he spent over $1700 for his $1000 policy -which AFLAC paid out to Donnie Sowell's funeral home when "Sling Shot" died.   It seems Amos' insurance business in Milton was the seed for an institution that sprouted to great success over in Columbus, Georgia.  American Family Life of Columbus has an annoying duck -- (AFLAC) probably purchased with the honest profits from providing Life Insurance for "Sling Shot" who lived too long to get all his money back.

But he couldn't take it with him anyway. Right?

It turns out I saved back some peanuts for Roy. They were in a bag in the truck. I left WIllard and Doug, with Patsy. Miriam is back in the hospital  ( in Jay ) today with an infection that makes her hallucinate and talk in delirium. I hope she gets some relief.  She and Willard and Doug and Doug's sisters, Brenda and Sandra are among my favorite people in the world.

NOV 3 2015 - Vic Campbell  vic@buzzcreek.com

Your Peanut at Work

It is time to pick the peanuts. Tiger Godwin gives a little insight.

PEANUT HARVEST 2015

Here is the peanut harvest in 2015 in Santa Rosa County, Florida.  The process is to invert the plant so the peanuts can dry out. Then run them through the combine picker and transfer them to a basket and eventually a wagon to take to the buyer.  People around here enjoy the activity in the season and the special air of peanuts.  In the same general time frame, cotton is coming into season for harvest.  Its a busy time. In this video you might see footage that includes farms or famers -- Godwin, Campbell, Griswold, Enfinger, Cotton --- and more.  Chumuckla.com is full of interesting life. Enjoy more at me3tv.org (the youtube channel)

Peanut Harvest at Sunset

Sometimes you get to see the Amazing World of Agriculture in a whole new light. Here is the Peanut Harvest season in Santa Rosa County, Florida. I'll add a playlist of more scenes later.

Crockett on the Escambia River -by Dr. Rucker

Davy Crockett was a scout for part of Jackson's army in the Creek Indian War of 1814.  Here is Dr. Brian Rucker  to tell us about at least one incident on our local river at the time.

LIVE OAK LIFE

James Doyle Moore of Jay, Florida writes with depth. His writing and other talent in our area are being featured as local podcasts in this blog. Enjoy. AND when you are visiting your elders at home or in nursing homes, take out your smart phone and spool up some of these short and heartfelt memories for all to enjoy. The older folks often enjoy a little bit of AUDIO - especially when eyesight begins to fade away. You can sign up for email notice when a new post is made here. Please feel free to bookmark the page and to share by social media and email.

Peanut time in Santa Rosa - Sunset

Gucci Day and Oysters in Mobile !

The Legendary Goat Man, Ches McCartney

The Legendary Goat Man, Ches McCartney
This is quite a tale for those who remember his travels through our region.

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Here is another link full of information about THE HUMAN BODY

In Memory of Ivo Duvall

Farewell, Ivo W. Duvall. You are a legend. Following seas ! Your spirit remains as a legend of American Native Spirit. Sailor. Alaskan pioneer. And master storyteller ! I hope ALL YOUR BOOKS continue to be reading material for those who want the feel of a rugged generation that made the best of a challenging world.  FOR MORE OF HIS BOOKS CHECK HERE (and explore his titles HERE)

County Heritage includes Turkey

Our speaker at the Genealogical Society for September 19, 2015 was Kelly Schwarz who is married to a lady with deep roots in our county - the Theresa Steadham Schwarz. We won't go much into the Steadham family in this talk- but it is a well known and storied history that includes some of the rare survivors from the massacre at Fort Mims in 1813. Kelly will be talking about his Great grandfather's trek to find his brothers. Among intrigue and wars in Turkey, a young man sought a way out - to America -where his brothers were already living in Detroit. Alas the ship to "AMERICA" was destined to SOUTH AMERICA and Argentina. The young man traveled and worked along the way for FOUR YEARS to reach his family in the OTHER America. This is a fascinating story and as time evolved, a descendant of this epic legacy is now here among us in Santa Rosa County.  The story is now available on a DVD file collection at the museum. Copies are available for a small donation.

A Young Man I Knew One Time

Stuart Pooley gives a reading of his recollections about a chance encounter with one soul at one moment in time in Nashville - years ago. A haunting and human passing of souls. Buzzcreek and ME3tV.org will be presenting Stuart's poems and the writings and talents of other regional talent in a podcast from Chumuckla.com - and www.incountry.blogspot.com

Stories from the Old Timers

Excellent writing and reminiscing shows up on the Jay Historical Society FACEBOOK Pages. I will try to transfer most of these to THIS BLOG or the JAY HISTORY blog for easy sharing and access outside of Facebook users.  This is tremendous reading. Enjoy it !

gradea - Yahoo Mail

From Today's Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-flawed-missing-men-theory-1439159236

The Flawed ‘Missing Men’ Theory

Mandatory-sentencing laws need an overhaul, but the dissolution of black families in the U.S. predates them.

By

Kay Hymowitz

Aug. 9, 2015 6:27 p.m. ET

245 COMMENTS

As riots tore through Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore this winter and spring, so did denunciations of a criminal-justice system that has placed a disproportionate number of black men behind bars. One widely aired theory holds that not only are racial disparities and mass incarceration patently unjust on their own terms, but they also result in, to quote Hillary Clinton in the first policy speech of her campaign, “missing husbands, missing fathers, missing brothers.”

The missing-men theory of family breakdown has the virtue of being easy to grasp: Men who are locked up are obviously not going to be desirable husbands or engaged fathers. It also bypasses thorny and deadlocked debates about economics and culture. Still, the theory has a big problem: It’s at odds with the facts.

What extensive data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Vital Statistics Reports show is that the black family was in deep disarray well before America’s prison-population increase. As the 1960s began, 20% of all black births were to single mothers. By 1965 black “illegitimacy”—in the parlance of the time—had reached 24% and become the subject of Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s prophetic but ill-fated report “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.”

Yet the figure that so worried future Sen. Moynihan turned out to be the ground floor of a steep 30-year climb. By 1980 more than half of black children were born to unmarried mothers. The number peaked at 72.5% in 2010 and is now just below 72%.

In the 1960s and early ’70s, as nonmarital births raced upward, the number of black men admitted to state and federal prisons annually hovered between 20,000 and 27,000, showing no significant trend up or down. The later 1970s showed a notable increase, so that in 1980 alone there were 53,063 black males admitted to prison. Throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, black prison admissions grew to historic highs and peaked at 257,000 in 2009. They have since declined slightly.

If anything, the timing of the two problems points to the opposite causation from the one assumed by “missing men” theorists: As the family unraveled, crime increased—the homicide rate doubled between the early 1960s and late ’70s, with more than half of the convicted being black—leading to calls for tougher sentencing to place more bad guys behind bars. In other words, family breakdown was followed by increased crime and more-crowded prisons.

We shouldn’t take this alternative theory too far. Crime and prison rates are unlikely to have a single cause: Demographics, policing and sentencing policies, environmental toxins, and who knows what else may all play some role. Perhaps the most controversial of those policies was the “war on drugs,” first declared by President Richard Nixon in 1971. There’s little question that the government’s hard line on drugs eventually put large numbers of black men behind bars.

However, if the war on drugs played any role in shaping the contemporary black family, it is almost impossible to decipher from the data. As of 1979, only 5.7% of U.S. prisoners were incarcerated for drug offenses. Yet by that time nearly half of black births were already to single mothers. The number of men imprisoned for drug crimes rose only modestly until 1990, four years after Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, legislating harsher sentences for crack cocaine, a move often cited as a cause of the disproportionately black prison population.

Far from leading to more fatherless children, the growing number of black men imprisoned for drugs coincided with a flattening of the percentage of black single mothers, after a 30-plus-year upward climb.

Whatever its errors, the war on drugs doesn’t take us far in explaining racial disparities in prisons, despite claims from many pundits. “More than half of federal prisoners are incarcerated for drug crimes in 2010,” goes a typical formulation, from the Huffington Post. It’s true, as far as it goes—but “federal prisoners” make up only about 14% of all incarcerated men. In the far larger state system, the majority of black men are doing time for violent crimes. Between the federal and state system, almost 2½ times the number of black men are serving sentences for murder, assault and the like than they are for using and selling drugs.

The preponderance of violent prisoners splinters another plank of the missing-men theory: that mass incarceration of black adults has harmed black children. Researchers have made a compelling case that when fathers go to prison, their absence takes a toll on their children. Boys, especially, have more behavioral problems, including aggressive acting out, and lower educational achievement.

You can construct a reasonable argument that the children of men sentenced for drug offenses—and the communities they live in—would be better off if fewer fathers were behind bars. But when it comes to men prone to violence, that supposition is dubious. The difficult truth avoided by most missing-men adherents is that men doing prison time are part of a larger population that doesn’t provide much in the way of paternal care, even if they never are locked up.

None of this means that incarceration policies aren’t ready for an overhaul. The country needs a vigorous examination of mandatory-sentencing laws, the war on drugs, and racial disparities in arrests and sentencing. But that debate shouldn’t be used to evade the realities of family life in neighborhoods like Ferguson and Baltimore’s Sandtown. Evasion has been the preferred modus vivendi over the past 50 years, ever since Moynihan’s warning of rising fatherlessness drew sharp condemnation. Look where it has gotten us.

Ms. Hymowitz is a contributing editor to City Journal, from whose summer issue this article is adapted.

Living off the Land

http://musingswithkimmee.blogspot.com/2015_08_01_archive.html?m=1

IN COUNTRY PODCAST in development

Calling all Writers, Storytellers, Photographers, Musicians with original work and local to our region.  A new venue to present works by Authors, musicians and storytellers will debut in the coming weeks.

Your works will be critical to build an audience, creating good will for your work and for the community at large. Tentative name is "IN COUNTRY" . The blog - www.incountry.blogspot.com will likely be the host. Facebook pages for me3tv, Jernigan Landing, Chumuckla group, Jay Historical, Santa Rosa Genealogical Society -- and more will have access.

One of our expected STORY tellers !

Imagine - something like "A Prarie Home Companion" - a mix of talents from the area - produced about every two weeks. Initially the "podcasts" will probably be about 10 minutes long with some short 90 second versions designed for radio and other means of distribution. Youtube is the likely cloud host.  The shorter versions may help promote local historical groups as well.

Please comment on the me3tv Facebook page with this post if you are interested.  (or by email to vic@buzzcreek.com) There are logistics to work out (how do we get a storyteller on tape and then on the web?)  Perhaps some of our talent will pitch in with the production effort.  But most of these things can be managed ONLINE without having to GO TO many locations.   "www.chumuckla.com" will also soon become a regular stopover for a lot of viewers. A link will be there too. "Podcast" (think of a simple youtube presentation with only a few pictures and mainly depending on the quality audio presentation).

Here is an example (maybe a bit long) of an author interview. Probably most podcasts will have an author introduction and a short "reading".
https://plus.google.com/+VicCampbell/posts/A2kr7MWYUDs

A hoped for result is that eventually there will be advertisers for the "podcast" and the talent that contributes will eventually find compensation from participation or from improved exposure to their own works.

Coming SOON to a BARN near YOU !

From this web site and others, links will quickly take the audience to the most recent podcast and a list of past programs.  

Economics today

http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-warren-buffett-economy-why-its-days-are-numbered-part-4/

Vic's Documentary on USS Houston

Attempted to make a streaming version available inexpensively with GBOX. It seems to have gone away.  Sorry....

Here is Part ONE of the documentary on GBOX.  You can pay what you think it is worth to you or a minimum of fifty cents). You can then view this from the internet at anytime when signed into GBOX. You can also SHARE a free viewing with up to THREE friends. (Joining gbox is similar to joining any other media site - pick a username and password. )  The DVD's are no longer available since 2020. Maybe they will reappear in a streaming platform in the future.  

Riverloggers: Alabama Hiking Trails

Riverloggers: Alabama Hiking Trails: Mr. Henderson and some associates attended a regular meeting of the  Gulf Coast Alabama Hiking Trail Society  where the  Alabama Lands Man...

Meet Cesar

Cesar was one of my students in TV production at Sussex County Community College in NJ. What a worker he was. Look ! He grew up into a successful film editor ! Go Cesar !

IF PERFECTLY AGREEABLE - Sims Talk

Anne Stanton Sims, author of the collection of letters called "IF PERFECTLY AGREEABLE" spoke to the Jay Historical Society in March. The letters reflect a courtship and lives of two late 19th century residents of two sides of the Escambia River. The insights to our area history are fascinating. Copies are available at the link above to Amazon or from the Jay Historical Society Museum.

Jay Historical President, Bobby  Boutwell, Anne, and her husband who is the photographer for the cover of the book. He is known as Mr. Sims or - "the guy who made the picture".

MORE PHOTOS

Local War of 1812 - Crockett in 1814

LINKS and Story of Crockett in NW Florida.
Uriah Blue's arm of Jackson's Army cleans up the Creek Indian threat in the Spanish Florida panhandle.  Jackson learns of the British plans on New Orleans and leaves post haste to meet the threat. Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans were all made safe in short order. The link above is from Vic's presentation at the Jay Historical Soc. The below event is Dr. Rucker's presentation! GO SEE IT! Note the very last action of the 1812 war was a blocking raid by  Uriah Blue on the Pensacola (NAVAL AIR STATION) to stop British landings at Fort San Carlos (Barrancas). See the END of the NOTES.

Writers Write: Randy Cassingham's Blog

Writers Write: Randy Cassingham's Blog

So ... I probably need to read this.

Vietnam Christmas and End of War

USS O'Callahan finds itself mostly near the DMZ on the gunline in the closing days of the Vietnam War. Recordings of News Broadcasts and seasonal music from the ship's radio plus radio and internal ship chatter during gunfire missions. Some photos are added for period reference. More about the ship at www.ussocallahan.org . THE NEWS reports give a very good sense of what was going on at the time. The actual cease fire occurred January 27 ZULU time - Jan 28 Our time - 1973. It is fascinating to listen to the history being; made on the radio - when many of the topics were actually concerning where my ship was at the time. Note the radio broadcasts of both news and music were simply recorded off the radio in the wardroom of the ship. There are some occasional attempts at dark humor. The Radio chatter and on board ship sound powered phone chatter might be hard to understand but if you catch it - at one point we note a point of a radio report from USS Turner Joy, having fired the VERY LAST ROUND of the war prior to the Cease Fire. My ship was at that point in time OFF the gunline and in reserve and refueling or resupplying perhaps 10 miles out in the Gulf. Our very last round was fired perhaps three to five hours earlier.

MORE AFVN radio is brought back to memories by THIS superb radio broadcast. See if you can get it sponsored to air in your area !  http://www.1330weby.com/index.php/afvn-details-mnu