Page 68 - John Anderson

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The discovery of the "(Old) Lost Causeway" created a lot of excitement
among the settlers, and as John Anderson was always an ardent ad-
vocate of building good roads, there began a project to clear out the
old causeway, and the neglected King's Road at Buckhead Bluff. John
Anderson wrote about this in an article entitled "The Road Meet at
Buckhead Bluff." Thirty men volunteered for the project, but some of
the men such as J.E. Francis, L. Moreton Murry, and H.B. Shaw, could
not attend and hired black men for substitutes. It was these black
men who were the first to turn up for the "Road Meet" under the
charge of James Carnell.

Axe heads and grub hoes flashed in the sunlight as tough palmetto
roots were dug out, and stubborn palmettoes were chopped down.
There were rough jokes, hearty laughter, and wild songs as the men
bent their backs, and swung their strong arms in a determined
assault on the heavy undergrowth.

At noontime, the sweet notes of John
Anderson's bugle summoned the men
to a hearty lunch prepared by the
women of Ormond, and Anderson and
Price furnished a roasted pig.

When the causeway had been cleared
as far as Thompson's Creek, a boat had to be brought up to transport
the men across the creek. At the beginning of the road at Buckhead
Bluff the men tied a wild grapevine to the bow of a boat, and then
prepared to drag it by the vine the mile and a half to the creek. The
word "Go!" was given, and away plunged thirty men gripping the
grapevine and with the boat slithering and bouncing behind them
over the newly cleared road. At one place in the road it was
discovered that a colony of bumblebees had settled there, and John
Anderson wrote a humorous account of how this problem was solved:

"Halting about one hundred feet short of the danger point, the men
rested and took breath. Their axes and hoes were brought to "trail
arms" and grasped close to the blades in the offhands. Thirty bronzed
hands tightened their grip upon the towline and the word "go" was
given ... One man went down and everything went over him — men,
boat and all — but he was up and after the race before even the

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