Casa de Laga Plantation was a forced-labor farm of located in west central Leon County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States established by George Alexander Croom. It was also known as the Ball and McCabe Place and later as Shidzuoka. In 1860, 70

enslaved people Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

worked the land, which was primarily devoted to producing cotton as a

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

Location

Casa de Laga was located along the southwest shores of Lake Jackson. Today the plantation's grounds are the neighborhoods surrounding Harriet Drive, Longview Drive, Faulk Drive, Shady Oaks Drive, and slightly across N. Monroe Street or U.S. Highway 27.

1860 plantation specifics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that the Casa de Laga Plantation had the following: * Improved Land: * Unimproved Land: * Cash value of plantation: $15,000 * Cash value of farm implements/machinery: $500 * Cash value of farm animals: $5850 * Number of slaves: 70 * Bushels of corn: 3,000 * Bales of cotton: 200 Croom had 96 head of cattle, 100 sheep and 100 swine. He also produced 200 pounds of wool and slaughtered livestock valued at $3000.

Owners

George Alexander Croom, was born October 7, 1821. He married Julia M. Church, who was the daughter of

Alonzo Church Alonzo Church (June 14, 1903 – August 11, 1995) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, logician, and philosopher who made major contributions to mathematical logic and the foundations of theoretical computer science. He is bes ...

, the sixth president of the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

on February 13, 1843. George Alexander Croom was the father of Alonzo Church Croom, Comptroller of the State of Florida from 1900 until his death on December 7, 1912 and the brother of Hardy Bryan Croom, a

planter Planter or Planters may refer to: Common meanings * A flowerpot or box for plants ** ''Jardiniere'', one such type of pot, mostly indoor types ** Cachepot, another term for the same ** Flower box, another type of planter, mostly for outdoors ** ...

and recognized naturalist, who discovered the rare Florida torreya tree and established Goodwood Plantation. He died July 5, 1890. In 1883 Casa de Laga was sold to H. D. McColloch of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. McColloch then sold the plantation 6 months later to Professor

E. Warren Clark Edward Warren Clark (January 27, 1849 – June 5, 1907) was an American educator who taught thousands of young Japanese the rudiments of modern science while employed as a teacher in Japan from 1871 to 1875. Biography Edward Warren Clark was b ...

Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island Narragansett Pier is an unincorporated village and a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Narragansett in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 3,409 at the 2010 census. Geography Narragansett Pier is loca ...

and Austn M. Purvis of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Clark would eventually turn the plantation into a game preserve. In 1891, a Charles T. Wilson of Cincinnati opened the Lake Jackson Hunting Lodge on the property.

External links

Rootsweb Plantations

{{Coord, 30.5144, -84.3325, display=title Plantations in Leon County, Florida Cotton plantations in Florida

Location

1860 plantation specifics

Owners

See also

Further reading

External links