The Calhoun County War, Part Two

We continue today with our discussion of the 1860 "Calhoun County War," a violent outbreak that took place in Northwest Florida on the eve of the War Between the States. For more on the events leading up to this incident, scroll down the page and read yesterday's post.

During the fall of 1860, with the national election in an uproar and threats of secession spreading across the South, the other great issue of the time - slavery - ignited outbreaks across the South. It is a little known fact that thousands of white Southerners, many of whom would fight for the Confederacy, opposed slavery before the war. During the last months of 1860, pro-slavery regulators attempted to suppress these views and violence often resulted.

The Northwest Florida counties, where only a very small percentage of the population owned slaves, were fertile ground for anti-slavery sentiments. In Calhoun County, a small group of people opposed to slavery began meeting at the home of Jesse Durden during the late summer of 1860. Thirty-one years old, Durden was a farmer with family spread through Calhoun and Jackosn Counties.

The meetings quickly drew the attention of a group of pro-slavery men, who circulated a petition calling for either the expulsion of the Durdens and their friends from the county or their extermination. A band of "regulators" was formed and threats were issued, but despite the warnings, the meetings continued.

Events finally came to a head on September 24, 1860, when the regulators attacked the Durden home. The Marianna Patriot filed a report on the incident the following day:

Yesterday a party in Calhoun, styling themselves 'Regulators,' went to the house of one Jesse Durden, and we learn shot him, giving him a mortal wound. They then met and shot Willis Musgrove from his horse, who died instantly, also wounding Larkin C. Musgrove. These are the facts as we have been able to gather them, but it is believed that last night another battle was fought between the Regulators and the Durdens. All this happened near Abe's Spring Bluff, in Calhoun Co.

The report that Willis Musgrove had been killed was premature, he actually survived the fight, but Jesse Durden was killed as reported. Their outraged families and neighbors fought back with a vengeance and fighting soon erupted through the piney woods of Calhoun County. In less than a day, the county deteriorated into a state of open warfare.

We will continue the story of the Calhoun County War in our next post.