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Mandarin Museum & Historical Society
The Mandarin Museum and Historical Society at Walter Jones Historical Park celebrate the nautical roots of Mandarin, Florida, once home to Native Americans and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society

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Museum Report - A River Community’s Civil War Ties

By Robert A. Mattson
April 2015
Naval History
Volume 29, Number 2
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The Mandarin Museum aims to celebrate and preserve the history of Mandarin, Florida, located at the southern end of the greater Jacksonville metropolitan area. The museum is situated in the 10-acre Walter Jones Historical Park, which was acquired after the Civil War by Major William Webb, a former Union Army officer, who established a homestead and farm on the site. Walter Jones eventually acquired the property, and his heirs sold it to the City of Jacksonville to preserve its historic character. The current site includes the original Webb/Jones home, a barn and outbuildings, the museum, and a building moved there from the local Losco Winery.

The community owes its lengthy maritime history to the adjacent St. Johns River, the region’s main transportation artery for centuries. During the Civil War, U.S. Navy gunboats patrolled the river, while the Union Army leased civilian steamers to transport its men, animals, and equipment. In late March 1864, the Union transport Maple Leaf landed troops and supplies at Jacksonville, then took aboard a group of cavalry and headed upriver, landing them at Palatka. She departed on the evening of 31 March to return to Jacksonville. Early on the morning of 1 April, the steamer struck one of 12 torpedoes placed near Mandarin Point by the Confederates a day earlier. She quickly went down, along with most of the personal effects of three U.S. Army regiments: the 112th New York, 169th New York, and 13th Indiana; four crewmen were killed.

Jacksonville dentist Keith Holland became particularly interested in the Maple Leaf’s story and researched the details of her sinking. In June 1984, he and his colleagues discovered what they were sure was the wreck of the Maple Leaf buried under sediment in the river bottom off Mandarin Point. After getting funding and dealing with numerous permitting and legal issues, they began to excavate the wreck, which confirmed its identity as the Maple Leaf. Visitors to the park and museum can walk out on the public dock and look south to Mandarin Point, where the wreck lies beneath the river. Displays in the museum give additional details on the location of the wreck and the salvage efforts.

The Maple Leaf’s remains turned out to be an immense treasure trove of material detailing the personal lives of Civil War Army personnel. The artifacts recovered from the wreck, which Holland and his team turned over to the State of Florida, included military equipage (weapons, uniform buttons and buckles, leather gear), personal effects (smoking pipes, personal grooming and writing items, bottles and flasks of various types), and items plundered from raids on Southern plantations (fine china, silverware, etc.). Even organic items such as leather and paper have been recovered; the lack of oxygen at the bottom of the St. Johns River created an ideal environment for the preservation of these artifacts. Retired National Park Service chief historian Ed Bearss has noted, “The wreck of the Maple Leaf is unsurpassed as a source for Civil War material culture. . . . It is the most important repository of Civil War artifacts ever found, and probably will remain so.”

Among the permanent exhibits at the Mandarin Museum are a chronology of the area’s history from the time of the Native Americans to the current day and an exhibit on renowned author Harriet Beecher Stowe, perhaps best known for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who owned property and spent her winters in Mandarin between 1867 and 1884. But perhaps most intriguing is a display that details the history of the Maple Leaf and the efforts of Holland and coworkers to recover her material. Visitors will see artifacts, a dive suit used in the excavation, and a model and illustrations of the ship.

To observe the 150th anniversary of the sinking of the steamer, the Mandarin Museum opened a special exhibit in April 2014. It includes artifacts recovered from the wreck and archived by the Florida Division of Historical Resources that have never been seen by the public. Visitors can see a rubberized canvas hat with a neck covering, which served as a rain hat for a Union soldier, and unique personal effects, including a carved wooden finger ring and a smoking pipe bearing the name “V. D. Quillard.” Research by the museum staff found that the pipe belonged to Union Army soldier Victor Quillard, a Frenchman who joined the 13th Indiana, served in Florida, and was killed at the Battle of Cold Harbor about two months after the Maple Leaf sank. The special exhibit will be on display through April 2015.


Mr. Mattson became interested in the naval Civil War in Florida ten years ago and has been participating since then in living-history and reenactment events as a member of the USS Fort Henry Living History Association. He is also a contributing blogger to the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial website.
 

Mandarin Museum

11964 Mandarin Road, Jacksonville, FL 32223

Phone: (904) 268-0784

Open Sat., 0900 to 1600, and for scheduled tours

Admission: donation suggested

www.mandarinmuseum.net

Visiting a good museum? Why not contribute a report? Contact us at: [email protected].

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