Goat Island hermit : the state of Florida vs. Rollians Christopher

Name/Title

Goat Island hermit : the state of Florida vs. Rollians Christopher

Entry/Object ID

Library.865

Description

315 pages : illustrations, map ; 21 cm Goat Island hermit : the state of Florida vs. Rollians Christopher by Tim Gilmore. Includes many photos of R. Christopher. Summary:"In 1955, Rollians Christopher, an illiterate goatherd who'd long claimed squatter's rights on Goat Island, across from the fishing villiage of New Berlin in the St. Johns River, found himself in a battle between multiple governmental authorities. Duval County wanted to develop the rattlesnake-infested island for industrial shipping purposes; the Florida Ship Canal Authority wanted the island for barge terminals. Christopher's opponents complained of his ethnic ambiguity--was he Black? White? American Indian? Spanish?--and claimed he'd killed someone, while defenders from around the state wrote letters to Congressman Charles Bennett, Govenor LeRoy Collins, and the heads of the entities who wanted him gone. Duval County won the fight and developed Rollians Christopher's home into Blount Island. So what happened to Rollians Christopher? Where did he come from? If he wasn't connected to the Christophers, one of the largest and most diverse pioneer families in Northeast Florida, who was he? And what happened to his 1100 goats?" -- page [4] of cover

Collection

Library

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Book

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Other Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Search Terms

Christopher, Rollians., Blount Island (Fla.) -- History., Duval County (Fla.) -- History -- 20th century., Jacksonville (Fla.) -- Biography, Jacksonville Port Authority., Jacksonville (Fla.) -- Authors.

Publication Details

Author

Gilmore, Tim, 1974-

Publisher

www.jaxpsychogeo.com ; [San Bernardino, Calif.] : [CreateSpace Independent Publishing]

Place Published

* Untyped Place Published

[Jacksonville, FL]

Call No.

HE 554 .G55 2018

ISBN

9781537484013