Caretakers House at Orange Bluff Circa 1900 .
The Lucas Family in the Bluffton House - by Eddie Lucas
Leroy Lucas, who was the eldest of the Lucas offspring, recalls his memories of the Bluffton, where the Lucas clan spent a good many years.
"The property we lived on at Bluffton was owned by Mr. William E. Bird from new York. We had twenty-five to thirty acres fenced in, which included the house, the yard, the grove the fields and what we called the upper bluff, and my hog range at that time.
Now Old man Bird always leased the Bluffton as a ten year lease and we lived there and took care of it. Hekept half of the orange crop for the taxes and whoever lived there kept the other half. At that time from what I can remember, the grove would yield about two-thousand boxes - pickin' field boxes--which were a bushel and five-eights. And I think 75 cents was the hightest we ever got for a box at that time. I usually ran around 50 cents.
Now how we ended up at Bluffton was, there were three Lucas families living at Alco, and all three families did commercial fishing at that time and shipped the fish to Jacksonville. And before we were there, Brad and Lizzie Douglas lease the land at Bluffton and in the meantime, they moved -- and I don't remember what year that was, but I know it was before 1920. And then Grandpa and Grandma, Cara Mae and Ila, moved to Bluffton. And when Grandpa moved there, he put in a big can mill--a big grinding mill with a big boiling furnace. Where he'd cook the cane juice and make the syrup.
And our old horse George, who pulled the Mill .
After Grandpa moved to Bluffton, he didn't do any mor commercial fishing. He made quite a bit f money out f his garden and sold a lot of vegetables and cane syrup. After Grandad's stroke. Cara Mae moved to the Bluffton house in 1923-24 to take over the lease. Willie Mae, Curt, Lois and Eddie moved in also.
(more History on the Lucas Family under People, notable visitors and residents)
"The property we lived on at Bluffton was owned by Mr. William E. Bird from new York. We had twenty-five to thirty acres fenced in, which included the house, the yard, the grove the fields and what we called the upper bluff, and my hog range at that time.
Now Old man Bird always leased the Bluffton as a ten year lease and we lived there and took care of it. Hekept half of the orange crop for the taxes and whoever lived there kept the other half. At that time from what I can remember, the grove would yield about two-thousand boxes - pickin' field boxes--which were a bushel and five-eights. And I think 75 cents was the hightest we ever got for a box at that time. I usually ran around 50 cents.
Now how we ended up at Bluffton was, there were three Lucas families living at Alco, and all three families did commercial fishing at that time and shipped the fish to Jacksonville. And before we were there, Brad and Lizzie Douglas lease the land at Bluffton and in the meantime, they moved -- and I don't remember what year that was, but I know it was before 1920. And then Grandpa and Grandma, Cara Mae and Ila, moved to Bluffton. And when Grandpa moved there, he put in a big can mill--a big grinding mill with a big boiling furnace. Where he'd cook the cane juice and make the syrup.
And our old horse George, who pulled the Mill .
After Grandpa moved to Bluffton, he didn't do any mor commercial fishing. He made quite a bit f money out f his garden and sold a lot of vegetables and cane syrup. After Grandad's stroke. Cara Mae moved to the Bluffton house in 1923-24 to take over the lease. Willie Mae, Curt, Lois and Eddie moved in also.
(more History on the Lucas Family under People, notable visitors and residents)
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