Are the walls of a Florida "haunted house" bleeding???

Bleeding Walls at Haunted Russ House?

Employees working at the historic Russ House in Marianna, Florida, walked in to an unexpected sight this week - bleeding walls!

The beautiful old structure currently houses the Jackson County Tourism Office and the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. Various ghost hunter and paranormal investigation groups have visited the Russ House and proclaimed it to be haunted, but none of them encountered anything like this!



Russ House in Marianna, Florida

The mysterious "bleeding" liquid was coming from the wall below a storage area, but nothing found in the storage area could explain the source of the liquid.  It is the first time staff of the house have encountered anything like it and they were visibly disturbed by the phenomenon when I visited shortly after it was discovered to take the photographs seen here.

What is it?  No one knows!

Another View of Strange Liquid

According to tradition, the house is haunted by several restless spirits.  The best known of them is said to be that of the home's builder, Marianna businessman Joseph W. Russ, Jr.  He had the house constructed in 1895 in a traditional Victorian style, but his wife later had it remodeled to its present magnificent design.

Russ committed suicide during the Great Depression and legend holds that he still roams the halls of his beloved house to this day. 

You can read more about the Ghosts of the Russ House at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/russhouseghosts.

New book explores Murder & Mayhem in 1930s Florida

My newest book, "The Claude Neal Lynching," is now available in print or as an instant download for users of Amazon Kindle devices or Amazon's free software for your computer, iPad, etc. 

"The Claude Neal Lynching" tells the story of an outbreak of murder and mayhem in 1930s Florida that shook not just a state, but the entire nation. The chaos began on November 18, 1934, when a 19 year old woman was brutally murdered at a hog pen near the small town of Greenwood, Florida. The physical evidence pointed to a neighbor, farm worker Claude Neal, who later confessed repeatedly to the crime.

The crime was so brutal that men of the area decided Neal should not live and set out to lynch him.  Jackson County at the time, contrary to the claims of many writers, was not a hotbed of lynching. In fact, there had not been a lynching in the county for nearly 30 years. Sheriff W.F. Chambliss and his deputies tried to protect Neal, moving him to jails in Chipley, Panama City and eventually Pensacola. From there he was slipped away to the jail in Brewton, Alabama.  It was in Brewton that the lynch mob finally found him, forcing its way into the jail with pistols, shotguns and dynamite.

Neal was lynched in the swamps of Jackson County on the night of October 26, 1934, by a small group of six men. Thousands more, representing more than ten states, wanted to take part and had even gathered to do so, but were presented not with a living suspect but a dead body.  They went on a rampage, carrying Neal's body to the county seat of Marianna and hanging it from a tree on the courthouse square.

The building chaos turned into a full-fledged riot as local authorities tried to defend citizens and carry out their duty.  Even a Florida Supreme Court justice became involved, boldly stepping out through the courthouse doors even as the rioting mob was preparing to knock them down with a battering ram. With no weapon other than his powerful voice, he drove back the mob and saved the lives of the men inside the building.

National Guard troops were sent in, as newsreel cameras rolled, and positioned machine guns on all four corners of the courthouse square. The sheriff had to be protected by armed soldiers and troops also stood guard at funerals and court proceedings.  It was one of the most chaotic events in the history of any small town in America.

The events of October 1934 have been misunderstood for years and, while the lynching and riot have been discussed in more than 3,000 books, not a single one has even correctly spelled Lola Cannady's name.

"The Claude Neal Lynching" is a chronological history of an outbreak, written by a resident of the county where it happened.  It includes never before discussed evidence, interviews with participants in the lynching about how and why they did what they did, and more.  I hope you will consider it.

To order the book through Amazon, please follow this link: 
The Claude Neal Lynching: The 1934 Murders of Claude Neal and Lola Cannady

Amazon Kindle is available by clicking here:  The Claude Neal Lynching

The Claude Neal Lynching: FBI investigating 77 year old Florida crime

Edited Photo of Claude Neal Lynching

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a new investigation into the notorious 1934 lynching of Claude Neal near Marianna, Florida.

FBI agents have been looking at archival records and interviewing family members of Neal as well as public officials in Jackson County, where the lynching took place. The Justice Department neither confirms nor denies such investigations, but has said that it is looking into nearly 100 such cases as part of a new focus on unsolved crimes of the Civil Rights era. Officials in Marianna, speaking off the record, confirmed that they have talked with the FBI about the case.

Claude Neal was a 23 year old black farm laborer in Jackson County at the time of the lynching. The series of events leading to his death began on October 18, 1934, when a 19 year old woman named Lola Cannady left her home in a rural area and walked a few hundred yards across an open field to water her family's hogs. She never came back.

Location of Lola Cannady Murder, 1980s

As concern over her disappearance grew, family members and neighbors started to search the surrounding fields and woods. Near the hand pump at the hog pen they found indications of a large fight. Footprints went around and around in circles and there were blood splatters on the ground. They also found a man's footprints leading from the scene across a field to a nearby home.

When they followed the prints to the house, they found two women - Sallie and Annie Smith - trying to wash blood from a man's clothes. Annie's son, Claude Neal, was not home and would not return home that night. A bloody hammer was also found at the house.  The women would soon admit that the clothes belonged to Neal and Annie Smith would tell Sheriff W.F. "Flake" Chambliss that she had seen Neal and Cannady near the hog pen and had heard her screams.

Lola's mother looking at her daughter's body, 1934.

Lola's body was found in a wooded area the next morning. She had been raped and beaten to death. A blood-stained piece of cloth was found near her body. It matched a piece that had been torn from the sleeve of Claude Neal's shirt. Searchers also found the stem and loop of a pocket watch at the scene. When he was arrested that day, Neal was carrying a pocket watch but deputies quickly noted that it was missing its stem and loop. The watch parts found near Lola's body fit perfectly onto the broken part of Claude's watch.

The Jackson County sheriff tried to protect Neal from a growing mob that was determined to exact revenge on him by taking him from authorities and turning him over to Lola's father. The suspect was moved to jails in Chipley, Panama City and Pensacola, Florida, before finally being moved to a double-locked cell at the jail in Brewton, Alabama.  He was taken from the latter place by mob members armed with shotguns, pistols and sticks of dynamite.

National Guard troops from company sent to Marianna.

Claude Neal was carried back to Jackson County where he was tortured and then killed by a small group of six men who held him in the woods near a riverboat landing on the Chattahoochee River. His body was then carried to the Cannady farm and from there it was taken to Marianna and hanged from a tree on courthouse square.

Marianna was the scene of rioting on the day the body was found at the courthouse and Florida Governor Dave Sholtz had to send in two companies of the Florida National Guard to calm the situation.

The Claude Neal lynching became a focal part of an effort by the NAACP and other groups to secure the passage of a national anti-lynching law. The men that killed Neal were never tried and all are now dead. The shadow of the lynching, however, lingers even today as an important part of both the history and present of Florida.

To learn more and see a new online video on the case, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/claudeneal.

New Book is now Available in Hardcover and Paperback

I am pleased to let you know that my latest book - The History of Jackson County, Florida: Volume One - has officially been released.

If you pre-ordered a copy, your book should arrive no later than the end of next week. If you are expecting a copy and it hasn't arrived by then, please let me know so I can check on it for you.

If you are interested in ordering a copy, I recommend you order directly from the printer for fastest service. I'll include details at the bottom of this post.

This book is the first in a three volume series on the history of Jackson County, Florida. Although the book is technically a county history, Jackson County was so closely tied to major events in the early history of Florida and the Deep South that I think you will find it of interest far beyond the borders of the county.

Volume One covers the years from 1674-1860 and covers the Spanish mission era, American Revolution, War of 1812, First Seminole War, early settlements, Second Seminole War, Trail of Tears and even includes an in-depth study of Jackson County's favorite ghost story as well as the truth behind the legend of the county's lost pirate treasure.

The book is large (well over 300 pages) and features maps, photographs and a detailed appendices that includes the county's 19th century Native American census. Paperback copies are $24.95 and hardcover copies are $29.95. Profits from the book are being donated to the Daughters of the American Revolution to assist in developing a new historic marker program for Jackson County.

Please click here for information on ordering a paperback copy of the book for $24.95.

Please click here for information on ordering a hardcover copy of the book for $29.95.

New Book: The History of Jackson County, Florida (Volume One)

I'm pleased to announce that the first volume of my new three volume set, The History of Jackson County, Florida, will be released for online sales on Monday, July 7th.

If you would like to go ahead and place an order, you can do so by visiting: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/jacksonbook.

The cost is $24.95 plus $5 shipping and handling. Proceeds from the book will be donated to the Chipola Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, to help fund historic markers in Jackson County.

Volume One of the series covers the years from 1674 to 1860 and includes details on Jackson County's Spanish missions, Native American reservations, early settlements, Florida's oldest Baptist Church (Campbellton), the Marianna vs. Webbville fight, the county's role in the American Revolution, the Calhoun County War of 1860, the story of Jackson County's "Rip Van Winkle," Bellamy Bridge and much more.

The book will be available at Chipola River Book & Tea in downtown Marianna, Florida in about two weeks, but internet orders will begin shipping next week. If you have already placed an order for the book, your copy will arrive in the next two weeks.

I hope you enjoy it!

Two Egg, Florida

It could very well be called America's hometown because no one seems to be able to so much as hear a mention of the quaint little community of Two Egg, Florida and not feel a smile cross their face.

Two Egg is located in Jackson County, about one hour west of Tallahassee. It is a place with no city services, no city taxes, no city restrictions and no city bad manners.

Founded before the Civil War, the community did not receive its unique name until the Great Depression. Today it is little more than a crossroads, but it may very well be the biggest little spot on the map in all of the American South!

If you would like to learn more about Two Egg, Florida (including the story of its unusual name), please visit our new website at www.twoeggfla.com.

A Southern ghost story and a bit of Florida history!

If you enjoy a good ghost story now and then and like to learn more about the true facts behind the legends, then you will probably enjoy the story of the "Ghost of Bellamy Bridge" at http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/.

This legend is one of Florida's oldest ghost stories and revolves around the 1837 wedding of Samuel and Elizabeth Bellamy at Marianna, Florida.

Wealthy newcomers who moved to Florida from North Carolina, the Bellamys were among the social elite of the Territory. Samuel was a physician, businessman and politician who served as a Jackson County delegate to Florida's first Constitutional Convention. His wife was the young daughter of one of North Carolina's richest families.

To learn more about the unusual story and the claims that her ghost can still be seen roaming the banks of the Chipola River near Marianna, please visit http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ and scroll down the page to the Index. Just look for the "Ghost of Bellamy Bridge" link under the Florida heading.