Macclenny in Baker County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Ernest Harvey Jr.

1923 - 1998

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, September 21, 2022

1. Ernest Harvey Jr. Marker

Inscription.

Ernest Harvey Jr.. , Born August 15, 1923 in Seven Mile Camp in Columbia County. The son of Ernest Sr. and Sarah (Davis) Harvey. Mr. Harvey survived a horrific childhood with dignity and strength of character to become one of Baker County’s most beloved and respected citizens. An educator of children, he served for more than two decades as principal of Macclenny Elementary School and was a faithful member of Manntown Congregational Holiness Church. , , Running away from an abusive adoptive father after years of cruelty, he hid out in the woods. He was so starved for education that he often crawled through a broken window pane in the boy’s bathroom of the Sanderson School at night and slept on the first aid cot, leaving before the caretaker arrived and returning to his palmetto hide-a-way until school started. He would search for food where he could find it. Many times it came from garbage cans. He carried his one pair of pants wrapped in a newspaper beneath his arm, never letting go. In years later he said the school children were cruel, especially the girls, holding their noses as they’d walk behind him and shout ‘phew you’. , , He washed his change of pants in the creek and would dry them on a rock or in a tree to keep clean. In a 1993 interview he commented on his life… , ,

“Our bellies were always hungry.” , , “Our railroad home was so small that when the company relocated, a crane just picked up the house with the family in it, placed us on a flat bed train car and settled us on the next site.” , , “If mother got any money on pay day she’d cook a big meal and we seven children would eat until we got the belly-ache. We knew we would starve the rest of the week.” , , “You might say my father traded me to someone for a pint of moonshine. He called me out of my fourth grade class room one day and handed me to a local bootlegger who adopted me to satisfy my father’s moonshine debt.” , , “My adopted father took me to a door-less and windowless old farmhouse. I was 12 years old and expected to take care of the 20 acres. I was not provided any food and huge rats crawled on the rafters above the dingy cot full of bedbugs that bit me throughout the night. In the morning the bed would always be covered with my fresh blood. I had one thin blanket during the winter and no pillow to lay my head. I was always scared.” , , “I was forced to lay on a large mound of dirt while being beat with a heavy flat shovel.” , , “I had to search the woods for food and sometimes I could catch a fish with a pin I used for a hook. Walter and Mary Woodbright, a negro couple who lived down the road, would sometimes send one of her children to invite me to eat. She would have my own little table setup with a starched white cloth. She said it wasn’t proper for a little white boy to eat at the same table with black people…” , , “I was drafted in world war two and afterwards I enrolled in the University of Florida in Gainesville on the $81 a month furnished by the G.I. Bill. Dean Little told me my assignment was the most pitiful excuse for written communication that he had ever tried to read and that my kind just never finished college. Much to his surprise I did pass that English course and received a master’s degree. I was the only student he ever gave a hug. While I was in college I learned to exist on one meal a day for the three years I attended.” , , “I hold no malice against any man.”

Born August 15, 1923 in Seven Mile Camp in Columbia County. The son of Ernest Sr. and Sarah (Davis) Harvey. Mr. Harvey survived a horrific childhood with dignity and strength of character to become one of Baker County’s most beloved and respected citizens. An educator of children, he served for more than two decades as principal of Macclenny Elementary School and was a faithful member of Manntown Congregational Holiness Church.

Running away from an abusive adoptive father after years of cruelty, he hid out in the woods. He was so starved for education that he often crawled through a broken window pane in the boy’s bathroom of the Sanderson School at night and slept on the first aid cot, leaving before the caretaker arrived and returning to his palmetto hide-a-way until school started. He would search for food where he could find it. Many times it came from garbage cans. He carried his one pair of pants wrapped in a newspaper beneath his arm, never letting go. In years later he said the school children were cruel, especially the girls, holding their noses as they’d walk behind him and shout ‘phew you’.

He washed his change of pants in the creek and would dry them on a rock or in a tree to keep clean. In a 1993 interview he commented on his life…

“Our bellies were always hungry.”
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“Our railroad home was so small that when the company relocated, a crane just picked up the house with the family in it, placed us on a flat bed train car and settled us on the next site.”

“If mother got any money on pay day she’d cook a big meal and we seven children would eat until we got the belly-ache. We knew we would starve the rest of the week.”

“You might say my father traded me to someone for a pint of moonshine. He called me out of my fourth grade class room one day and handed me to a local bootlegger who adopted me to satisfy my father’s moonshine debt.”

“My adopted father took me to a door-less and windowless old farmhouse. I was 12 years old and expected to take care of the 20 acres. I was not provided any food and huge rats crawled on the rafters above the dingy cot full of bedbugs that bit me throughout the night. In the morning the bed would always be covered with my fresh blood. I had one thin blanket during the winter and no pillow to lay my head. I was always scared.”

“I was forced to lay on a large mound of dirt while being beat with a heavy flat shovel.”

“I had to search the woods for food and sometimes I could catch a fish with a pin I used for a hook. Walter and Mary Woodbright, a negro couple who lived down the road, would sometimes send one of her children to invite me to eat.
Photographed By Brandon D Cross, September 21, 2022

2. Ernest Harvey Jr. Marker
She would have my own little table setup with a starched white cloth. She said it wasn’t proper for a little white boy to eat at the same table with black people…”

“I was drafted in WWII and afterwards I enrolled in the University of Florida in Gainesville on the $81 a month furnished by the G.I. Bill. Dean Little told me my assignment was the most pitiful excuse for written communication that he had ever tried to read and that my kind just never finished college. Much to his surprise I did pass that English course and received a master’s degree. I was the only student he ever gave a hug. While I was in college I learned to exist on one meal a day for the three years I attended.”

“I hold no malice against any man.”

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Education.

Location. 30° 16.726′ N, 82° 8.06′ W. Marker is in Macclenny, Florida, in Baker County. Marker can be reached from Lowder Street just south of Railroad Avenue, on the right when traveling south. Located in Heritage Park Village. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 102 S Lowder St, Macclenny FL 32063, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Postmaster Walter Turner (here, next to this marker); Olustree Memories (a few steps from this marker); Clyde Sands and Mamie Thrift

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(a few steps from this marker); Harold and Fay Mathews Milton (a few steps from this marker); Alverdo A. Geitgey (a few steps from this marker); Ida Raulerson Gainey (a few steps from this marker); Elisha Greene and Samuel Spearing (a few steps from this marker); Ida Estelle Corbett Mathews (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Macclenny.

Also see . . .
1. Heritage Park Village. (Submitted on September 26, 2022, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
2. Once Upon A Lifetime in and near Baker County, Florida, Volume No. 1. 1993 manuscript by La Viece (Moore-Fraser) Smallwood on USGenWeb Archives. Excerpt:

Until this time, Ernest said his life wasn't too much different than many of those he knew. But all that changed on a cool crisp November morning when Ernest Sr. came to the Sanderson school house and summoned his son out of his fourth grade class. With him was German Crews, a local bootlegger. To satisfy a whiskey debt, Ernest Sr. gave his son up for adoption.

"You might just say my father traded me to someone for a pint of moonshine," said the mild-mannered Ernest. "And believe it or not, I had mixed emotions about it. After all, German Crews had a store in Margaretta and food on his table so I thought I'd be better off. I never blamed my father for what happened to me." The adoption had cost German Crews and his wife Evelyn $30. Ernest was transferred to school in Glen St. Mary where his teacher was Baker County native Arlie Rewis.

Life was to be better, and it was for three months. As quickly as it began it was over. Crews had purchased a 20 acre farm four miles from his business. Ernest was taken to the farm and introduced to his new home and surroundings. As German Crews drove away, he left a small parcel of food for Ernest and some musty stale corn for the hogs. It was to be the last food the 12-year-old would receive from his adoptive father in the almost three years he tilled the man's land.

(Submitted on September 26, 2022.)

Credits. This page was last revised on October 3, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 26, 2022, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 330 times since then and 29 times this year. It was the Marker of the Week October 2, 2022. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 26, 2022, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.