History of Ocheese Landing, Florida
Live Oak at Ocheese Landing
This ancient oak has survived
since the days when Ocheese
Landing was an inportant
landmark and community.
This ancient oak has survived
since the days when Ocheese
Landing was an inportant
landmark and community.
Site of a Propserous Village
Fields cleared at this site on the
Apalachicola River by Native
American families made
Ocheese Landing a natural point
for settlement during Florida's
early U.S. history.
Fields cleared at this site on the
Apalachicola River by Native
American families made
Ocheese Landing a natural point
for settlement during Florida's
early U.S. history.
History of Ocheese Landing, Florida
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by: Dale A. Cox
Located on the Apalachicola River in the northeastern corner of Calhoun County,
Ocheese Landing is a site of considerable importance in the history of the Florida.
Native Americans had lived in this area for thousands of years, and by the 1770s,
Ocheese Bluff was the home of a town of Lower Creek people who allied
themselves closely with the developing Seminole Nation in Florida. By the end of
the 18th century, the town was the home of a white trader named John Mealy who
did a brisk business with local warriors, supplying them with hunting rifles, supplies
and other goods in exchange for deer skins and other fur products. His name
appears on various documents of the time either as an interpreter or witness.
As did many similar traders, Mealy married the sister of the town's principal chief.
Since the Creeks followed a tradition whereby the nephew of the chief became the
next chief of a town, this meant that Mealy's son was the Ocheese chief's heir
apparent. When the chief died in around 1810, Jack Mealy rose to the leadership of
the village.
He allied himself with British forces during the War of 1812, supporting their efforts
to establish forts on the Apalachicola River and pledging his warriors to assist in a
planned invasion of Georgia from the region. The war ended before the invasion
could take place, but Mealy again allied his town against the United States during
the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. His warriors took part in the Battle of Ocheese
which began on December 15, 1817, as well as in several other encounters. After
the war, pursuant to instructions from General Andrew Jackson, he abandoned his
town and relocated with his followers up into the primary Creek Nation.
By 1821, when Spain transferred Florida to the United States, white settlers were
flooding into the area and Mealy's abandoned fields were quickly settled. Several of
these settlers, in fact, anticipated the cession and relocated to Ocheese prior to the
legal date. Among these were Stephen and Thomas Richards, well-known figures
in the early settlement of Northwest Florida. Both appear to have been living at
Ocheese Bluff by 1820. They later relocated south into what is now Gulf County.
With the arrival of steamboat traffic on the Apalachicola, Ocheese became an
important commercial center. A small town grew here, complete with a post office,
stores, homes, etc. During the 1830s, Ocheese became the county seat for
Florida's short-lived Fayette County. A political anomaly, Fayette County was carved
from Jackson County in an effort to upset the political power of that growing entity.
The effort failed, however, and the town's days as a county seat were short-lived.
Even so, the community remained the center of an important plantation district.
In 1849, a local plantation owner named Jason Gregory, probably using slave labor,
constructed a beautiful columned home at Ocheese. Dr. Charles Hentz, a physician
who came to practice in the community not long after the construction of the Gregory
house, described the town in his autobiography as including a warehouse on the
river bluff, a number of slave houses, a large cotton gin, etc.
The Civil War, for all practical purposes, brought an end to all of this. The liberation
of the slaves brought about the downfall of the large Apalachicola River plantations,
although some continued to operate on a much smaller scale for many years.
Ocheese remained an important river landing well into the 20th century. Among the
later inhabitants of the Gregory house, in fact, was a riverboat pilot who made his
living guiding paddlewheel steamboats up and down the Apalachicola.
In 1939, the house was moved across the river to newly-developed Torreya State
Park where it was restored to something of its original appearance and opened as
a museum.
Ocheese today is a popular boat landing and recreation area on the Apalachicola
River. There are no historic markers or other interpretive facilities at the site,
although one of the large oak trees that once graced the front lawn of the Gregory
house can still be seen. None of the original buildings of the settlement survive.
Ocheese Landing is a site of considerable importance in the history of the Florida.
Native Americans had lived in this area for thousands of years, and by the 1770s,
Ocheese Bluff was the home of a town of Lower Creek people who allied
themselves closely with the developing Seminole Nation in Florida. By the end of
the 18th century, the town was the home of a white trader named John Mealy who
did a brisk business with local warriors, supplying them with hunting rifles, supplies
and other goods in exchange for deer skins and other fur products. His name
appears on various documents of the time either as an interpreter or witness.
As did many similar traders, Mealy married the sister of the town's principal chief.
Since the Creeks followed a tradition whereby the nephew of the chief became the
next chief of a town, this meant that Mealy's son was the Ocheese chief's heir
apparent. When the chief died in around 1810, Jack Mealy rose to the leadership of
the village.
He allied himself with British forces during the War of 1812, supporting their efforts
to establish forts on the Apalachicola River and pledging his warriors to assist in a
planned invasion of Georgia from the region. The war ended before the invasion
could take place, but Mealy again allied his town against the United States during
the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. His warriors took part in the Battle of Ocheese
which began on December 15, 1817, as well as in several other encounters. After
the war, pursuant to instructions from General Andrew Jackson, he abandoned his
town and relocated with his followers up into the primary Creek Nation.
By 1821, when Spain transferred Florida to the United States, white settlers were
flooding into the area and Mealy's abandoned fields were quickly settled. Several of
these settlers, in fact, anticipated the cession and relocated to Ocheese prior to the
legal date. Among these were Stephen and Thomas Richards, well-known figures
in the early settlement of Northwest Florida. Both appear to have been living at
Ocheese Bluff by 1820. They later relocated south into what is now Gulf County.
With the arrival of steamboat traffic on the Apalachicola, Ocheese became an
important commercial center. A small town grew here, complete with a post office,
stores, homes, etc. During the 1830s, Ocheese became the county seat for
Florida's short-lived Fayette County. A political anomaly, Fayette County was carved
from Jackson County in an effort to upset the political power of that growing entity.
The effort failed, however, and the town's days as a county seat were short-lived.
Even so, the community remained the center of an important plantation district.
In 1849, a local plantation owner named Jason Gregory, probably using slave labor,
constructed a beautiful columned home at Ocheese. Dr. Charles Hentz, a physician
who came to practice in the community not long after the construction of the Gregory
house, described the town in his autobiography as including a warehouse on the
river bluff, a number of slave houses, a large cotton gin, etc.
The Civil War, for all practical purposes, brought an end to all of this. The liberation
of the slaves brought about the downfall of the large Apalachicola River plantations,
although some continued to operate on a much smaller scale for many years.
Ocheese remained an important river landing well into the 20th century. Among the
later inhabitants of the Gregory house, in fact, was a riverboat pilot who made his
living guiding paddlewheel steamboats up and down the Apalachicola.
In 1939, the house was moved across the river to newly-developed Torreya State
Park where it was restored to something of its original appearance and opened as
a museum.
Ocheese today is a popular boat landing and recreation area on the Apalachicola
River. There are no historic markers or other interpretive facilities at the site,
although one of the large oak trees that once graced the front lawn of the Gregory
house can still be seen. None of the original buildings of the settlement survive.
| Copyright 2007 by Dale A. Cox |