Greetings,
I am Kevin Bair, owner of history with kev.com, a Ph.D. (2023) historian, and board member of the Apalachicola Area Historical Society. I gave a presentation in beautiful Gulf and Mexico port town of Apalachicola, Florida, on May 2, 2022, at the David C. Raney Carriage House next to the Raney house, on everyday life in Antebellum Apalachicola as viewed from the Thomas Orman store ledger of 1853-54.
The ledger gives great insight into what people were buying along with what sail and steamships were in port. It reveals who bought what, what kind of groceries were sold, what alcohol was bought, and what ships were in port. Did you know Florida had over a thousand plantation? Most of the Florida’s cotton, as well as much of central and west Georgia along with parts of Alabama’s cotton was exported from Apalachicola to Liverpool England, Boston, New York and many other ports. Did you know Apalachicola was an international port hosting ships from all around the world and more than 200 steamers cruised up and down her rivers.
Come and find out what the crews of visiting the steamships and the sailors we’re buying. Did you know, an 1853, you could go bowling in Apalachicola? One of the popular songs of the 1850s with the Camptown Races, and the controversial book of 1852 was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Do you know the difference between a screw and steamed cotton press?
If any of this history interests, you then click view and watch my presentation.
I’d like to thank the Apalachicola area historical society for allowing me this opportunity.
Thanks for watching
Kevin