After the close of the Civil War, Levy County residents struggled to get their lives back together and move forward. The Florida Railroad which ran from
Fernandina on the East Coast of Florida to the Cedar Keys on the West Coast, opened up a new avenue for local farmers to market their crops. One such farmer was James Henry Wilkinson of Newtown, a small community about eight miles northwest of Bronson. Wilkinson grew Sea Island cotton on his farm, a long staple cotton raised originally on the Sea Islands of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Sea Island cotton was a superior cotton of long fiber known for its silky feel. Prior to the Civil War average grades of Sea Island cotton were bringing about 40¢ a pound with superfine bringing as high as one dollar a pound. An average bail of cotton weighed about 550 pounds. In 1873, Wilkinson consigned a 361 pound bag of cotton to a representative of Gourdin Matthrinin & Company, who added Wilkinson`s cotton to the cotton of other local farmers and sold the shipment to Fraser & Dill of Charleston, South Carolina. Fraser & Dill were "Commission Merchants, Cotton and Rice Factors." Frederick E. Fraser and Joseph Taylor Dill were partners in the business located on Adjers Wharf N. in Charleston.
Wilkinson was paid 45¢ a pound for his cotton for a total of $162.45, but the selling agent deducted $4.73 for shipping and handling, $2.35 for storage, $2.44 for Fire Insurance at @1/2%, and $4.06 for a 2-1/2% Commission. The net amount paid to Wilkinson was $148.87. Our thanks to Sammye Hart of Chiefland for sharing this piece of family history from the Wilkinson papers. James Henry Wilkinson was married to Mary Amanda Highsmith, one of Sammye`s ancestors. Thanks also to Daniel R.M. Ginnane-Gannon of Charleston, SC for the information on the Fraser and Dill firm. A bill of sale for the sale of Sea Island Cotton by
James H. Wilkinson of Newtown, Levy County on 09 June 1873. | 
