THE SAGA OF STUMP-KNOCKER ROAD

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III
Aucilla Research Institute

In 1824, shortly after the acquisition of the Florida Territory, the U.S. Congress authorized the creation of a road from Pensacola to St. Augustine – to be constructed along much of the Spanish Mission Trail. Although there had been informal Native American and Spanish Mission trails crossing the Aucilla River, this project represented the first formal road crossing of the river. The following actual correspondence was abstracted from a paper by historian Mark Boyd published in the Florida Historical Society Quarterly in January of 1936. This correspondence provides an interesting story reflecting life and drama in territorial Florida during that era.

Congressional Appropriation for Road:
…in the territory of Florida, a public road from Pensacola to St. Augustine…on the old Spanish Road to , crossing the  river at Picolata; which road shall be plainly and distinctly marked, and shall be the width of twenty-five feet.

Decision to Outsource Construction: After a reconnaissance of the route, U.S. Army Captain Daniel Burch recommended that, while his troops could construct the road from Pensacola to the Ochlocknee River, the remainder should be contracted out:
It would take a long period of time to open this road with the very small force that can now be placed on duty in the Quartermaster’s department and I see no probability of its being materially increased. It is very important that the completion of the road should not be deferred, hence it is decidedly my opinion that the interests of the territory and of the government will be advanced by opening that part designated, and even more if the appropriation will justify it by contract. Negroes will be employed by contractors on this work, and as they do not require a tenth part of the transportation necessary for troops, I am of opinion that it will cost less actual money to the government by opening that part from the seat of government to St. Augustine by contract than if soldiers were employed on it.

Request for Proposals (RFP): Accordingly, U.S. Army Captain Burch advertised for proposals to construct the road:
Will receive proposals to open by contract the following named parts of the road laid out from Pensacola to St. Augustine, under the orders of the Department of War, during the winter of 1823-‘24, viz: … From the landing at “Murray's Ferry” on the east bank of the Ocklockny river, to the landing on the West bank of the St. John’s river, opposite to Picolata …
Scope of Work: Burch prepared very detailed specifications for the work which were included in the advertisement, some of which are provided below:
…The distance from the Ocklockny to St. John’s river, is about 185 miles
… from the Ocklockny to the St. John’s river, must be commenced on the first day of January next, or sooner if practicable. But if either of the contracts shall be completed before the stipulated time, such part of the road as it calls for will be received by me and promptly paid for. No advances can be made, but if it is desired, certain payments will be made by me from time to time, having special regard to the work actually done and remaining to be done … The road is to be opened, sixteen feet wide throughout, and all timber, brushwood and other rubbish to be removed from it. The stumps are to be cut down as low on the ground as possible.
All marshy, miry swampy ground must be causewayed with poles from 5 to eight inches in diameter, at the smallest end, laid down close and permanent…
It is contemplated to establish a ferry to the Suwannee river ... All the other branches, streams, creeks, lagoons or rivers are to be bridged… None of the main timbers of the bridge are to be less than 12 by 12 inches square …The flooring of the frame bridges is to be of sawed plank three inches thick…No other timber will be admitted in the construction of bridges except “light wood” or heart of pine, or some other wood known to be equally hard durable and lasting. The bridges must be built so high as that no part thereof from bank to bank shall ever be exposed to danger from the effect of the highest freshets.

Roadway Width: In correspondence to his Department, Captain Burch explained the difference in the specified road width from that required by the Congressional authorization:
… As it regards the width of the road I consider that it will be a useless waste of time and money to increase it beyond the sixteen feet. It is chiefly through an open pine barren and cannot be populated thickly, and it will be travelled for the most part by people on horseback-almost the only mode of travelling known in the south. In this opinion I am supported by the most intelligent men of the country.

John Bellamy’s Bid: John Bellamy (sometimes spelled Bellame), who had been born in South Carolina in 1776 and had migrated to the Aucilla River area to develop a plantation, responded to Captain Burch’s request for proposals as follows:
Tallahasse, 18th Dec., 1824 I will undertake to open the road from Ockolockony to the St. Johns river as noted in your proposal … for thirteen thousand five hundred dollars according to the terms and manner therein specified.

Status Report: Bellamy’s proposal was accepted and construction of the road began. By June 17, 1825, Burch reported that the road construction was going well.
The contractor for that part of the road from Ockolockony to St. John’s is progressing well with his work and calculates to be ready to deliver it over to me by the first of December next. I have made him a payment of near $8000. on his contract. This sum is not in proportion to the work actually done and for which I was held bound to pay from time to time according to the terms of the advertisement, but I knew that in a short time he would have work done equal to the sum paid him, and moreover I am myself perfectly and fully secured against eventual loss from any difference that existed at the time between the work done and the sum paid.

Criticism of Road Construction: By April of 1826, even before the road had been officially completed, criticism of the road began - due to its width, bridge defects and stumps left standing. Some began to call it the “Stump-Knocker Road.” An example of criticism from John Rodman, Editor of the St. Augustine Herald follows:
From Rodman, John to Barbour, James, Sec. of War St. Augustine, 4th April, 1826 Feeling a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of this territory, I hope you will excuse the liberty I take in addressing you on the subject, of the public road which was to be laid out and opened between this city and Pensacola, in virtue of the acts of Congress of the 28th Feb’y 1824 and 3rd March, 1825. I find that a notice for proposals for making a part of this road, to-wit, from the Ocklockny river to this city, was published by Capt. Burch in the East Florida Herald in January and February 1825, a copy of which publication I beg leave to send you enclosed. In consequence of this advertisement, a contract was made with Mr. John Bellamy, of Tallahassee for the construction of this part of the road. It appeared from the publication for the contract that the road was to be made only sixteen feet wide, where by the above mentioned act of Congress of 28 Feb, 1824, it is expressly required to be made twenty five feet wide. I am ignorant of the cause of this discrepancy. Sixteen feet is certainly much too narrow for any public road in this country. The advertisement for the contract states, that. it is required that the road, causeways, and bridges must be made in substantial manner; and the stumps cut down as even to the ground as possible. Under this contract Mr. Bellamy has indeed opened the road as far as the St. John river, and I understand that he pretends it is thus far complete. But sir, I am sorry to inform you that it is in no respect made according to the terms of the publication for the contract. All travellers agree in stating that the work is done in the slightest manner possible; that the road cannot possibly last a twelve month: that even in its present state, travelling in any kind of wheel carriage is extremely difficult. The stumps of the trees on the road are left standing to a great height, instead of being “cut down as low to the ground as possible”. An ordinary rain must make the road absolutely impassable. No part of the road from the St. John river to this city had yet been opened. The causeways and bridges constructed on this road, from the Ocklockny to the St. John, are absolutely good for nothing. I sincerely hope that, the sum stipulated in the contract for this road has not yet been paid to the contractor; for if the contract was made in conformity with the advertisement for proposals, it certainly has not been faithfully performed.

Bellamy’s Request for Final Inspection while addressing the Criticism: The following month, Bellamy requested a final inspection of the road. In that correspondence, he disclosed that Captain Burch had married his daughter, Martha, and suggested that someone else other than Burch be assigned to inspect the road to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.
To Jesup from Bellame St. Augustine, May 19, 1826 As contractor for opening a road, from the east bank of the Ocklockony river, beginning at Murray’s landing on said river, to the west bank of St. Johns river, and also for the opening of a road from the east bank of St. John river to St. Augustine, which contracts were entered into by me, with Daniel E. Burch, Asst. Qr. Mr. U. S. Army, and agent for the United States of America: and as I am informed, acting under your superior orders, I have thought both prudence, and my interest required I should address a letter to you, which Major Pierce, stationed at this place, has had the politeness to offer to enclose. It may be necessary, to apprize you, that very lately Capt. Burch, has married in my family, and now assumes to me, the relationship of son-in-law. By the contracts between him and myself, of which I presume you have been furnished with copies; it will be seen he has stipulated, when the road is reported ready for inspection, and delivery, that he (Capt. Burch) shall immediately thereafter inspect and receive it.
It is true sir, the unparalleled wetness of the season, last year, prevented me from being able to tender the road as soon as I supposed I should have been able to do. But I now conceive it completed, and ready to deliver-I even think I have done much labour upon it, not required by my contract-Capt. Burch who a few days ago, passed over the road with me, had however pointed out some amendments which he thinks are required by the contract: although we differ in opinion, I shall not hesitate, but with all convenient dispatch, shall do what he considers necessary to be done, or what any authorized agent of Government can reasonably require.
But sir, the captious, the idle, the profligate, and besides those possibly, some well disposed people in this Territory, who really are entirely unacquainted with the road, or the contract, undertake to decry the one, and decide the other not complied with and even pronounce against me, an unqualified decision without any better testimony than mere rumor: from such a tribunal under any circumstances, but particularly as I did not contract to submit to it, I must appeal and beg to be shielded. Under these circumstances should Capt. Burch inspect, and receive the road it may be the subject matter of insidious remarks against him, as well as against me.- I should therefore prefer- greatly prefer, your releasing him from this responsibility and imposing it upon any other intelligent, and impartial man whom you may think proper to appoint for that purpose, who together with a man selected by me, and in case of disagreement an umpire chosen by them, shall inspect and receive the road, or point out to me, what is further necessary to be done, which I will forthwith do; and when done that they, or a majority of them be authorized to receive the road.- Already one of my important bridges has within a few days past been destroyed by fire from an Indian encampment adjoining it, which because the road is
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Assignment of Replacement for Final Inspection: Captain Isaac Clark was assigned to make a final inspection of the road. Captain Burch sent him the contract documents along with comments on issues that had been addressed verbally during the course of the construction.

To Clark, Capt. Isaac, Ass't Qrmr, U. S. Army, Tallahassee from Burch Tallahassee, July 21, 1826 I enclose herewith the contracts made with Mr. Bellamy for opening certain roads in Florida. By the contract of 21 December 1824, you will preceive that he was expressly required to work under my direction; I therefore enclose herewith a copy of such as were given at various times to govern him in particular places as to the manner of opening the road.-The contract is itself I believe sufficiently clear in most things else, but as the stumps have been complained of as to height I have to remark in relation to them, that my directions were to cut them where the level of the roots joint on to the trunk of the tree. This is not in the strictest sense of the word “as low as possible”, yet such was the explanation I gave to that part of the contract; intending by it that the stumps should in all cases be cut so low as to offer no obstruction to the passage of the lowest constructed description of carriages in use. Before the signing of the contract much conversation took place relative to the meaning of the “marshy, miry, swampy, ground to be causewayed with timber”, whether it included low flat piny woods, to which I expressly stated that it did not…after the inspection of the road shall have been made I request you will return to me the contracts.

Final Report from Captain Burch: At the end of August 1826, in a lengthy rambling report, Burch advised that the road construction had been inspected and approved by Captain Clark. In that correspondence, he also addressed the complaints from the editor of the St. Augustine Herald and suggested that it was due to the fact that the request for proposals had not been published in that paper. In addition, he suggested that the military should not be involved in the construction of future public roads, and commented once more on the difficult terrain over which the road was constructed.

To Jesup from Burch Pensacola, August 31, 1826 I enclose herewith a copy of an agreement between Mr. Bellamy and myself according to your order of the 10 June last ... Capt. Clark arrived at Tallahassee and relieved me in the duty of receiving it on the 21 July when I delivered to him the contracts as per the enclosed copy of my letter to him…

Regarding the complaints published in the St. Augustine Herald: These statements injured me in a much greater degree than that of the Pensacola Gazette. For from the first it was inferred that either my neglect of duty or misconduct had rendered it necessary for an inspection to be made, and from the second that my views were to keep the proposals secret to favor friends in the contract, but so far from that I would have advised them against such a measure, for if I really wished an enemy injury I would advise him to engage in contracts with the Government. For my own part, I perfectly understand the paragraph, the paper it is well known is managed, in fact edited by Mr. Rodman, and the meaning intended to be conveyed to public was, that by my management the contract was to be thrown into Mr. Bellamy’s hands as he was my father-in-law. But if such had been my views should have met but indifferent support from him in carrying the measure into effect. For long before the contract was offered at all … I have heard him declare that he would not again engage in a contract of the kind under the Government if he was to receive five dollars per day for each one of his hands, so much had he suffered in mind from the idle clamors of persons who had nothing to do with his contract or the work done under it. And when he was first informed of the measures taken in consequence of the complaint of Mr. Rodman he resolved to abandon the road as it was, to the Government, without further effort-although so nearly completed, but was prevented from doing so by the persuasion of friends who induced him to continue to work on it. …

Regarding the failure to advertise the project in the St. Augustine Herald: I will venture to say that if I put it into his paper only, not twenty persons in the county of Duval and Alachua of Florida and Camden in Georgia, would have had it at all, and it was from Duval county only that bidders likely to get the contract were to be expected as the route of the road lay directly through it … When I first issued proposals for opening roads in Florida the contract was like to be of very considerable amount and I availed myself of all neighboring papers as well as those of Florida. And in the second instance of one of the papers of Florida in addition to the hand bills, but these publications did not produce the least beneficial effect nor in fact attract the least attention… In the last case I did not think it worth while in making so small contracts to incur the extra expense of publishing in the papers, and the not getting some thirty or forty dollars for the same was one of the sore points with the Editor of the Herald.

Reporting the completion of the project: Yesterday I received a letter from Capt. Clark informing me that he had passed Mr. Bellamy’s road, and as I have made such repairs as were wanting on this end of it I consider all my duties in relation to roads in Florida to be … nearly brought to a close…

Regarding the use of the military for such projects: And I hope that I may never again have similar duties to perform. Not that I am at all averse to employment, and I would with pleasure undertake the performance of any work of the kind that was strictly military, done by the troops with the proper funds … But where special appropriations are made for roads passing anywhere at all, having relation to the settlements, the people of the country deem it a matter exclusively their own and no military officer can expect either to give satisfaction or be free from open censure. Moreover, both officers and soldiers, and more especially the former are decidedly averse to working upon roads where military movements are not immediately concerned, deeming it to be a degrading and unmilitary employment…

Regarding the nature of the land over which the road passed: The following extract of an unofficial letter to me from Capt. Clark gives a clear idea of the country in which both him and myself have been engaged :- “I arrived here … last evening … from St. Augustine after swimming near half the way. My bridges have had a severe trial, I swam my horse over many of them, they are all safe but one seven miles from here over a creek; the country is so much under water I cannot tell whether the bridge is there or not, I am in hopes it is still standing.” This very same country last spring and early in the summer would have scarcely afforded water for the traveller and his horse. to drink, so that persons unused to such a country or bred in towns would take their ideas of any road in it according to the season when they happened to be travelling.

Thus ends the saga of Stumpknocker Road. Although the subject of complaints, the road opened the Aucilla River area to relatively direct access from the population centers at both St. Augustine and Pensacola and resulted in the rapid settlement of the Aucilla River area. The road has long-since been replaced by roads such as U.S. Route 90 and Interstate 10. Nevertheless, it represents an interesting step in the development of the region.

Early Photograph of Bellamy’s Road
(from Florida Memories)

As a sad postlude to this story, shortly after the completion of the project, Captain Burch’s young wife, Sarah Bellamy Burch, passed away, at the age of 20, at Burch’s post in Pensacola. According to an obituary printed in the local newspaper, her death was due to “dropsy of the head” (encephalitis). Both she and her father, John Bellamy, were buried in the Bellamy-Bailey Cemetery off of Basset Dairy Road in Jefferson County. Although the cemetery today has become overgrown with trees and brambles, their gravestones may still be viewed there.

Bellamy-Baily Cemetery