Editing Manatee County, Florida (section)

==History==

=== Prehistoric history ===
The area now known as Manatee County had been inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years. Shell middens and other archaeological digs have been conducted throughout the county including at [[Terra Ceia, Florida|Terra Ceia]] and at [[Perico, Florida|Perico Island]]. These digs revealed materials belonging to peoples from the [[Woodland period]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Willey |first1=Gordon |title=Culture Sequence in the Manatee Region of West Florida |journal=American Antiquity |date=January 1948 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=210 |doi=10.2307/275425 |jstor=275425 |s2cid=161791092 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/275425 |access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bullen |first1=Ripley |title=Terra Ceia Site, Manatee County, Florida |journal=Florida Anthropological Society |date=1951 |pages=7–9 |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00066144/00001 |access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref>

=== European exploration and early settlement ===
[[File:Manatee Map from 1856.jpg|310px|thumb|Map of Manatee County in 1856, shortly after its creation]]

Some historians have suggested that the southern mouth of the Manatee River was the landing site of the [[Hernando de Soto (explorer)#1539 to early 1540 in Florida|De Soto Expedition]].<ref>Bullen. p. 7</ref>

Due to conflict during the [[Patriot War (Florida)|Patriot War]] and [[Seminole Wars|First Seminole War]], many Native American and African American refugees fled to the Tampa Bay region of Florida and some settled in modern-day Manatee County.<ref>Oldham, Vickie, ''[https://www.lookingforangola.org/ Looking for Angola]''</ref> The settlement they founded on the Manatee River was called [[Angola, Florida|Angola]].<ref>Eger, Issac, ''[https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/news-and-profiles/angola-enslaved-people-florida Angola Highlights Florida’s History as a Haven for Escaped Enslaved People: The settlement has been called one of the most significant historical sites in Florida and perhaps the United States]'', Sarasota Magazine, October 19, 2023</ref> By 1819, the population of Angola may have reached as high as 600-700 people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rivers |first1=Larry E. |title=Slavery in Florida : territorial days to emancipation |date=2000 |publisher=University Press of Florida |location=Gainesville |isbn=9780813018133 |pages=7–8}}</ref><ref>Time Sifters, ''[https://www.timesifters.org/rememberingthemanateemaroons/ Remembering The Manatee River Maroons Of 1821: Heritage, Archaeology, and Digital Reconstructions]'', Time Sifters Archaeology Society, Sarasota, Florida</ref>

The Manatee area was opened to settlement in 1842 with the passing of the federal [[Armed Occupation Act]].<ref name=statutes>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=005/llsl005.db&recNum=539|title=An Act to provide for the armed occupation and settlement of the unsettled part of the Peninsula of East Florida|access-date=April 13, 2022}}</ref> Early settlements included the Manatee Colony led by Colonel Samuel Reid that numbered thirty-one individuals both black and white.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knetsch |first1=Joe |title=The Army Vs. The Indians Vs. The Settlers: The South Florida Frontier Between the Seminole Wars |journal=Sunland Tribune |date=2000 |volume=26 |issue=10 |page=2 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1337&context=sunlandtribune |access-date=April 13, 2022}}</ref> Other prominent early settlers were Joseph and Hector Braden who moved into an area near the Manatee River in 1842.<ref name="bradenton">{{Cite news|url=http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article34739931.html#0|title=Manatee History Matters: Braidentown, Bradentown, Bradenton - What's in a name?|work=bradenton|access-date=April 5, 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522164614/http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article34739931.html|archive-date=May 22, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The two had lost their land for their plantations in Northern Florida during the [[Panic of 1837]]. They were said to have heard that there was abundant land in the area. The brothers moved into a log cabin five miles north of the mouth of the Manatee River. Four years later Hector drowned while trying to cross the Manatee River on his horse during a hurricane. Despite this tragic event, Joseph decided he would still build the Braden sugar mill {{efn|Sugar production became a major industry in the area during the 1840s and several major sugar works were established.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Camp |first1=Paul |title=The Attack on Braden Castle: Robert Braden Castle: Robert Gamble t Gamble's Account |journal=Tampa Bay History |date=1979 |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=1–8 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=tampabayhistory |access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref>}} at the mouth of the Manatee River and the Braden River. He later built a dock where Main Street was and fortified the area near his house by building a stockade. A few years later in 1851, he built the Braden Castle, which was made out of tabby and served as his residence. In spring of 1856, the fortified home was attacked by Seminole Indians during the [[Seminole Wars|Third Seminole War]].{{sfn|Camp|1979|page=1}} It later became a popular tourist attraction in the early 1900s with [[Tin Can Tourists]]. He would only stay there for the next six years before moving to [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]].<ref name="bradenton"/>

=== County formation and development === 
Manatee County was carved out from a vast [[Hillsborough County, Florida|Hillsborough County]] in January 1855 and led by [[Florida Senate]] President [[Hamlin Valentine Snell|Hamlin V. Snell]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Smith, Jr. |first=Gilbert A. |title=Lawyers & Legends of Manatee County: The History of Lawyers in Manatee County from 1855-2012 |publisher=Johnson Printing, Bradenton, FL |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-615-74080-5 |pages=}}</ref>  The new county covered 5,000 square miles and included all of what are now [[Charlotte County, Florida|Charlotte County]], [[DeSoto County, Florida|DeSoto County]], [[Glades County, Florida|Glades County]], [[Hardee County, Florida|Hardee County]], [[Highlands County, Florida|Highlands County]], [[Sarasota County, Florida|Sarasota County]], and part of [[Lee County, Florida|Lee County]].<ref>{{cite web|title = Pioneer Life in Manatee County|url = https://www.mymanatee.org/home/government/departments/community-services/kids-pages/our-history/pioneer-life.html|website = www.mymanatee.org|access-date = January 25, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160201151358/https://www.mymanatee.org/home/government/departments/community-services/kids-pages/our-history/pioneer-life.html|archive-date = February 1, 2016|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Manatee County Sheriffs Office: 1855-2005 150th Anniversary History and Pictorial |date=2005 |publisher=Turner Publishing Company |location=United States |page=7}}</ref> The original county seat was Manatee, a village on the southern shore of the Manatee River in what now is eastern Bradenton. In 1866, the county seat was moved from the village of Manatee to [[Pine Level, DeSoto County, Florida|Pine Level]], as a result of a referendum mandated by the Florida Legislature.<ref name=":1" />  In 1887, the county seat was moved again due to the creation of [[DeSoto County, Florida|DeSoto County]] within the existing boundaries.<ref name=":2" />  Braiden Town ([[Bradenton, Florida|Bradenton]]) was selected as the new county seat by referendum of the county residents who mostly resided near the Manatee River.<ref name=":1" /> In 1921, Sarasota County was created by the [[Florida Legislature]] and further reducing Manatee County to its current boundaries.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Allen |title=The Florida Handbook 1997-1998 |publisher=The Peninsular Publishing Company, Tallahassee, FL |year=1997 |edition=26th Biennial |pages=}}</ref>

=== American Civil War ===  
Following the Seminole Wars, Manatee County continued to grow both in population and in economic output. Hogs and some sheep were raised, but the land was primarily used for cattle raising.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Otto |first1=John Solomon |title=Open-Range Cattle Herding in Antebellum South Florida |journal=Southeastern Geographer |date=May 1986 |volume=26 |issue=1 |page=56 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44370789?read-now=1&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> Processed sugar and molasses was produced and exported. This agricultural economy, like much of the south, was increasingly becoming reliant on slave labor.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Janet |title=Edge of Wilderness |date=1983 |publisher=Caprine Press |location=Tulsa, OK |isbn=0914381008 |page=249}}</ref> A federal census in 1860 showed that the county had a population of 601 white people and 214 enslaved black people.<ref>{{cite web |title=1860 8th Federal Census |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1860/population/1860a-09.pdf |access-date=April 11, 2022}}</ref> After the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], Manatee County provided supplies to the Confederate army. Aside from the [[Union blockade]], the Federal army dispatched raiding parties throughout Florida to further limit the Confederate supply chain. For example, in August 1864, the Union schooner [[USS Stonewall (1863)|USS Stonewall]] came up the Manatee river on a raid. According to the Florida State Archives, Dr. Braden's sugar works was destroyed during the raid.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr. Joseph Addison Braden's sugar mill - Bradenton, Florida |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/25724 |publisher=State Archives of Florida |access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref> However, another source states that Braden's property was left untouched.{{sfn|Camp|1979|page=3}}

According to a partial list of soldiers of the Confederate States of America, the county also sent at least 100 of its citizens to fight.{{sfn|Matthews|1983|page=254}} Some of the men from Manatee would be recruited to the [[7th Florida Infantry Regiment]], which fought as part of the [[Army of Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle Unit Details: 7th Regiment, Florida Infantry |url=https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=CFL0007RI |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=August 23, 2022}}</ref>

Within Manatee County is the [[Gamble Plantation Historic State Park|Gamble Plantation]], a sugar plantation and home of Major Robert Gamble.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manatee Genealogical Society - Manatee County|url=https://mgsfl.org/cpage.php?pt=12|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=mgsfl.org}}</ref> According to some, following the Civil War, the Confederate Secretary of State, [[Judah P. Benjamin]], took refuge at the mansion before escaping to England.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Bob |title=Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation - Ellenton, Florida |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/35760 |website=Florida Memory |publisher=Florida Department of State |access-date=April 4, 2022}}</ref>

{{Further|Sarasota Assassination Society}}