Community Sunday Favorites: The Sugar Rush of 1842

This drawling depicts of the ruined Gamble Sugar Mill, built in the 1840s, after it was destroyed during the Civil War by soldiers. Photo circa 1887-1888, courtesy MHS.

If you follow my column, you’ll know that I’ve mentioned the sugar industry in the Manatee/Sarasota area countless times. However, most of the history books I’ve read vaguely mention the involvement of slaves in these large-scale operations. Today we are taking a closer view of these businesses and how and why they succeeded or failed.

It’s no secret that slaves were employed locally to farm, harvest and cultivate sugar, but I’ve discovered new details from my newest history obsession, Sarasota Times Past: A Reflective Collection of the Florida Gulf Coast by Bernice Brooks Bergen.

First, let’s review what was going on during that period.

The sugar rush was spurred by the collapse of the Union Bank in Tallahassee, where many of Florida’s most profitable cotton plantation owners had unfortunately secured their investments. The crash coincided with the Federal Government’s decision to enact the Armed Occupation Act, which promised “any able bodied man” an 160-acre tract of land as long as he inhabited the property for five years and built some sort of residence there.

The idea behind the gift of the free land was to push a recently established nation of Seminole Natives further south as their presence and successful cattle and farming businesses were making government officials uncomfortable. But, like the land promises out west, the venture attracted a lot of attention.

The photo features the chimney of the old Braden Sugar Mill, seen when the plantation lands had been bought by Colonel Charles H. Foster. The large old sugar rollers are seen behind the trees but in front of the building, at left. Photo circa 1910-1915, courtesy of MHS.

While many of the people who took advantage of the land grab had nothing beforehand, like Madam Joe Atzeroth of Palmetto, those profiteers who went belly-up when the bank collapsed saw the opportunity for major revenues.

But the plantation farmers also had their eyes on Florida because of wide-scale flooding which was inhibiting production in already established sugar land in Louisiana.

Two of those business-savvy Tallahasseeans were Robert Gamble and Doctor Joseph Braden, according to Bergan. She says the men planned to “recoup their losses by developing the sugar industry in Florida,” and they weren’t above breaking the backs of many slaves to do it.

One hundred and sixty acres, although a generous donation for many, wasn’t quite enough land to start up the large-scale operation Gamble and Braden had in mind. Instead, they purchased thousands of acres along the Manatee River and Braden Creek. 

“In less than one year, the land south and west of the Manatee was off the market,” Berger explains.

It wasn’t the settlers, but slaves who planted the longs rows of sugar cane; Gamble brought 100 slaves with him to do his planting, while Braden transported 80.

Another family, the Craigs, also built a mill that included a fifty-foot chimney; the structure still stands today in Ellenton.

This photo shows the Big Chimney House in Ellenton, which was built around the remaining large chimney from the 1840s-1850s era Craig Sugar Mill. Photo circa 1940, courtesy MHS.

However, the Braden Mill and Gamble’s mill, which consisted of three buildings covering 430 square feet of land, were the most profitable. Miles of land was cultivated so water could drain from the crops, which were irrigated with four massive cisterns, each holding 20,0000 gallons of water.

Bergan describes Gamble’s irrigation system as “innovative” recounting a wooden pipe that carried water to boiling rooms where juice was extracted into large kettles and boiled down. The remnants were then poured into “shallow vats with porous bottoms through which molasses filtered and sugar cooled.”

Of course, none of this would have been accomplished had it not been for the slaves working on the plantations. Even Gamble’s impressive mansion, still standing in Ellenton, and Braden’s residence, which was referred to as a castle at the time, were constructed entirely with slave labor.

Business was booming during the 1850s despite a few hiccups in the form of Seminole uprisings. The two impressive dwellings of both Gamble and Braden became centers of the community and, on at least one occasion, served as a safe haven for settlers during a Seminole attack.

While the Caucasians were holding festive parties with music blaring across the river in celebration of their success, the slaves were recouping from a hard day’s work, rubbing salve on sore muscles or wrapping gashes obtained while cutting the stalks of the sugar cane.

A Plaque identifies the large sugar rollers from the Braden Plantation's sugar mill. They were located in the Bradenton waterfront park where Old Cabbage Head the locomotive was located. In later years the rollers were transferred to the Gamble Plantation. Photo circa 1953, courtesy of MHS.

During the day, they harvested thousands of acres and loaded endless amounts of product onto mule-drawn carriages. A horse-powered crane lifted the cane loads from the wagons at the Gamble mill in order for it to be processed.

The sugar was finally brought via sailing ship to New Orleans where it was transported by train all over the U.S.

The successful business ended during the Civil War. Northern troops looted the sugar operations along the Manatee River, taking the livestock, bombing the mills and liberating the slaves (often with the intention on recruiting them to join Union forces).

Of course, those plantations could never survive without slave labor and the plantation owners were not willing to rebuild after the troops had burned their livelihood. They ended up leaving their homesteads, selling their properties and abandoning their dreams.

The only structure to survive the war was the Gamble Mansion. It was completely renovated in 1925 after being purchased by the Daughters of the Confederacy and can be visited today.

The other sugar operations weren’t so lucky. Today there are a handful of clues that reveal the bigger picture of what was once a profitable business. The grand stone chimney constructed by the Craigs is now attached to a church, while the ruins of Braden Castle decorate the center of a subdivision in East Bradenton. The real purpose of the structures lives on only through the pages of various history books.