The Rise and Fall of William B. Nuttall A seven-part series – Part 1 of 7

Submitted by:
Aucilla Research Institute
John E. Ladson, III
Dr. George Cole

The generous assistance of Mr. Craig Barrow of Savannah, Georgia and Mr. William H. Bragg, author of “De Renne, Three Generations of a Georgia Family” is gratefully acknowledged.

Part I
Somewhere in the folklore surrounding the Aucilla River, its name is attributed to an Indian phrase meaning “River of Many Faces.” It is unfortunate that this derivation is not historically factual, because it does appropriately speak to the Aucilla’s peculiar habit of disappearing into the earth, then emerging to run for a while before repeating the same scenario numerous times.
Its trail from Thomasville, Ga. winds down through Jefferson County, Fla., separating it from Taylor County until its lower segments comprise the “Half Mile Rise”, “Kinsey Sink”, “Little River” and finally its seven-mile trek to Apalachee Bay in the Gulf. This terminal journey begins at the obscure, isolated community of “Nutall Rise” where the river pours upward from its lime rock tunnel and, at last, escapes its subterranean compulsion.

For a young boy in the 1950’s, fishing trips to the family property at Nutall Rise, known as “the camp”, were filled with excitement and adventure. They led to a unique world encapsulated by what seemed an eternal wilderness, beautiful and enticing yet intimidating. One could easily become lost in the adjoining swamps and hammocks, interspersed with sloughs, creeks, deep lime sinkholes and home to innumerable species of reptiles, insects, spiders and wild animals; including bears, boar hogs and panthers, or at least rumors thereof. In the clear waters of the Aucilla and the Wacissa Canal you could see schools of mullet, gar fish, bass and other fish, the sight of which inevitably sent a boy after a cane pole and tin can full of earth worms. Forays with adults including local guides into the swamp and out to the “Flats” on the Gulf were great fun and often highly successful fishing expeditions. There were Indian mounds and occasionally fossils of prehistoric creatures retrieved from the river. This was a universe in which a boy’s imagination and curiosity could soar. As the boy matured, his interests began to embrace local history, and Nutall Rise posed many questions. Certainly, a fundamental inquiry would address the origin of the place name itself. Who was Nutall? None of the local inhabitants bore that name. Their response, as well as that of family members, was brief and unwavering. The name came from a plantation owner who lived in the area prior to the Civil War, who was believed to have employed his slaves in digging the “Canal” linking the Aucilla and Wacissa Rivers. In pondering this explanation, the boy found it lacking. The region in close proximity to Nutall Rise gave no hint of a plantation’s cleared fields nor would its wetlands support such an endeavor. There was abundant evidence of slave labor in the Canal but no trace of any housing or other plantation infrastructure. These and other questions would linger with the boy into manhood as the personage of William B. Nuttall began to appear in old title abstracts and minor accounts set forth in various Middle Florida histories.