Courthouse tree

Dee Counts
Contributor

In Jefferson County prior to 1847 a small calaboose was used to incarcerate alleged criminals, white or black, requiring trial or proper disposition of their sentence. This was located in Monticello on the northeast corner of a block bordered by Pearl, High, Cherry and Waukeenah Streets.

Jefferson County’s first official jail, a two-story brick building, was built in 1847 on this same block.
Directly across Waukeenah Street, on the eastern side of this block was a large vacant lot. Here stood a large oak tree which, because of its close proximity to the calaboose, and later the jail, was used to carry out court-ordered executions by hanging.

This is documented in a March 22, 1979 Monticello News article written by Jefferson
County Judge Charles Anderson. (See at bottom of page)

This oak tree served its lethal purpose until about 1909 when a gallows was constructed at the southwest corner of the jail lot. The tree was cut down when the current telephone tower was constructed in the mid-20th century.

Although the above information documents early legal incarceration and justice, it does not address the topic at hand, the tree near the Jefferson County Courthouse recently thrust into media attention.
Folklore and undocumented rumors have created a dark and perhaps undeserved reputation for this majestic tree. Let’s set forth some of these statements and explore them:

1. Business closed every Thursday afternoon and slaves were hanged then on this tree.
Unfortunately, prior to the Civil War, slaves were considered property. These human assets were far too valuable to capriciously hang them “each Thursday afternoon.” If a plantation owner felt a hanging punishment was necessary outside of the legal remedies available, it would not have been done in downtown
Monticello. It would take place on the plantation.
In small southern towns in the early times merchants were open 12 to 14 hours on Saturday to accommodate the country folk who came to town then to do their shopping. The Thursday afternoon closing gave the merchants and their employees a break. It seems logical to consider that the custom of closing businesses became tangled with the lore of weekly hangings.

2. A slave auction was held on a regular basis here in Monticello.
Monticello was far too small to have had an established slave auction. Tallahassee would have been the closest slave trading activity.

3. This tree was considered a “meeting” place.
It is apparently agreed by most individuals, whether pro or con the tree, that in early days this area was a meeting place. It has been told that soldiers gathered here to bid their families good-bye before leaving for the battlefield. Why would folks continue to gather under or near an area that carried such a stigma as multiple hangings?

4. Do we even know if this particular tree was in existence during pre-Civil War times?
There have been extensive past efforts to save this tree because of its beauty enhancing the downtown area. Is there some documentation to determine its age?

There is no question that reminders of slavery are painful. Yes, there were hangings of both white and black individuals. There were lynchings after the Civil War. These have been well documented and can be found easily online with a Google search.

Several counties in Florida have been singled out as having significantly more lynchings than others. Jefferson County is one of the Florida counties that DID NOT have a significant amount of lynchings! Yes, common sense says there must have been some. Where were they? Shouldn’t we be placing monuments to commemorate this heartbreak? Let’s challenge all concerned to seek out & document these horrendous happenings so that monuments can be placed at the authentic place of occurrence.

This tree is being accused of being a “hanging tree” while it is well established that there was a valid “hanging tree” on the other side of town. The tree located south of the Jefferson County Courthouse is getting a bad rap with no documented facts confirming these accusations.

A decision by the Monticello City Council to destroy this tree cannot be made without absolute
proof that these accusations are valid. Where are the facts?