As we close this year of 2022, lest old acquaintances be forgotten, we look back at those who were part of the Seminole Wars living history community but who are no longer with us or able to be active. This close-knit community of interest comprises academic historians, for sure. It also hosts large numbers of public historians, the people we call citizen scholars. No paper chase for them to publish or perish. They research for the pure joy of discovery and the ability to share that discovery with like-minded individuals.
With that criteria in mind, we can think of no one better to chat with today than Jeffrey Snively. Jeff is an everyman; that is, he is a spectator who comes out to the Seminole Wars living history events. He could be anyone. In his case, he might be a representative of the audience given that he has been coming to these events for four decades. Let’s just say, he knows where the bodies fell and can even tell you how!
He grew up in Florida, the son of a Marine who fought at the Battle of Okinawa and who earned the Silver Star. A navy veteran himself, Jeff is neither an academic historian nor a living history interpreter. He’s just – as he says, a regular guy, one with a deep passion for interest and desire to dig deeper to find out the whys in history, in our case, the Seminole Wars.
Jeff has been attending commemorative events at the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park since 1983, before battle reenactments were introduced even. For forty years, Jeff has met and observed everyone who has been part of raising awareness of these wars. And he’s here to tell us what he recalls. We’re in for a treat and it is not even Halloween.
Citizen Scholar Jeff Snively has attended Dade Battle commemorations at the park before they even introduced the living history spectacle in the mid-1980s.
Jeff Snively recalls Frank Laumer, author and living history reenactor of Pvt Ransom Clark.
On left, Frank Laumer's signature and inscription to Jeff for Massacre! On right, Jeff Snively with the memorial wreath at the reconstructed soldier breastworks at Dade Battlefield Historical State Park. He regularly attends the annual battle commemoration, which is separate from the battle reenactment, and is held on the actual day of the battle, Dec. 28.
The late Seminole Billy L. Cypress is the second recipient of the Frank Laumer Legacy Award. Billy Cypress was a Seminole tribal historian who directed the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum and spent a lifetime educating children and adults in the ways of Florida's largest Indian tribe. He appeared opposite Frank Laumer and presented the Seminole side to the Dade Battle of 18354 during living history battle reenactments. Below, his wife Carol accepts the award on his behalf at a Convocation of Seminole Wars Historians in Okeechobee in 2019.
Jeff Snively unearthed a letter from a wounded officer, Richard Bland Lee, a cousin of Robert E. Lee, in the Battle of Welika Pond. An Army adjutant attests to Lee's wounding. This letter provided key information about the battle and its contents had been previously neglected by historians.
At Fort Foster, which Dr. John K. Mahon told Jeff was accurate down to the last nail, Jeff made friends with U.S. Navy reenactor Greg Centanne, who has portrayed a sailor of the Seminole Wars-era who served at Fort Foster.
Jeff Snively examined one of the Navy books Greg presents and found a photo inside of his own father, a Marine in combat at the Battle of Okinawa.
Below are some of the books Seminole Wars Foundation members have published on the Seminole Wars and Seminole. In this episode, Jeff Snively recalls the late Dr. John K. Mahon, the late Dr James Covington, and the very-much-still-with-us Dr Brent Weisman. Seminole Wars Foundation carries these books for sale.
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Fla.
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SW0119 GARI Archaeologists Excavate, Survey to Locate ’Lost’ Seminole Red Town of Chucochatti
SW0118 An Uneven Fate awaited the International Cast of Characters after Prospect Bluff Battle
SW0117 Historian Dale Cox Recalls the Tragic, Devastating American Attack and Destruction of the ’Negro Fort’ at Prospect Bluff in July 1816
SW0116 A British-built Fort at Prospect Bluff in Spanish Florida Shielded Blacks and Indians from U.S. Territorial Designs on Apalachicola River
SW0115 Scholar David Fowler Recovers and Presents Riveting Narratives from One National Newspaper’s 1st Draft of Florida’s U.S. History
SW0114 Marine Vietnam Vet Preserves Corps Heritage as Seminole War-era Leatherneck
SW0113 The Great Rivalry at War: Regulars versus Militia Performance in the Second Seminole War
SW0112 History Hunter Steve Carr Sifts Developer’s Dirt Fill Piles to Reveal Okeechobee Battle Artifacts
SW0111 Dogged Researcher Used Shovels and Smarts to Confirm Okeechobee Battlefield Site
SW0110 Louie Bears Heart Living Historian Issues Urgent Call for Help to Restore Fort Foster
SW0109 Author and Explorer Doug Alderson Examines the Impact of Florida Rivers on Seminole Resistance and Soldier Removal Efforts
SW0108 US Army Scores Rare 2SW Victory in Battle of Camp Monroe with Dragoons, Stubborn Defense, and a Timely Assist from a Navy Gunboat
SW0107 Marines Escape Andrew Jackson’s Wrath with Timely Florida War Deployment; Show Great Value on Land/Swamps in Second Seminole War
SW0106 Marines Earned Sea Legs in the US Frigate Navy; Engaged British, Pirates, Creeks and Seminole on Florida’s Early 1800s Gulf Coast
SW0105 Sanford Living Historian Offers Glimpse into Arduous Lives of Florida Women Pioneers
SW0104 Fort Pierce Black Seminole Heritage Informs Specialist’s Outreach Connects Tribal Members with Educational Opportunities
SW0103 Silent Stone Sentinels and Replica Wooden Structures Stand as Testaments to Florida’s Frontier Fort Past
SW102 Jake Tiger, Descendant of Billy Powell (aka Asi-Yahola), Kindles Seminole Nation Spirit
SW101 Pirate and Heritage Festival Features Pre-Seminole Wars Character Reenactors and Crafts
SW100 Foundation President Details Back Story to Convocations, Publishing, and Member Bennies
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