The Wandering Disciple

Ding Ding Ding, come and get it, supper's done.  Dinner bells like this one were a common fixture on plantations and farms throughout the country.  They were used to alert workers to come in from the fields for a hot meal.  This dinner bell is at the Gamble Plantation, former sugar plantation on the banks of the Manatee River.  Today the mansion is restored and part of the Florida State Parks System.  (Photo: August 7, 2009)

Florida was one of the first states to secede from the Union and as a result, one of the first southern states to have their own currency.  This Civil War era $2 bill is on display at the Gamble Plantation in Ellenton.  The Gamble Plantation was one of the largest sugar plantations of the south during the Civil War and saw its place in history as the hiding place of Judah P Benjamin, a member of Confederate President Jefferson Davis's cabinet.  (Photo: August 7, 2009)

A sugar roller sits on display at the Gamble Plantation near the banks of the Manatee River.  Rollers like this were used to grind sugar cane throughout plantations in the south.  (Photo: August 7, 2009)

The sitting room of the Gamble Plantation is a glimpse in the past of a prosperous sugar plantation owned by Major Robert Gamble. While it is named after its first owner, the plantation’s most notable resident is Judah Benjamin, the Secretary of State of the Confederate States of America. Benjamin sought refuge here while escape to Europe to avoid being charged with treason at the conclusion of the Civil War. (Photo: August 7, 2009)

The water well of the Gamble Plantation is seen here behind the antebellum mansion. Owned by Robert Gamble, the sugar plantation was the hideout of Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin at the end of the Civil War. (Photo: August 7, 2009)

The Civil Way era antebellum mansion of the Gamble Plantation is the only surviving plantation house in South Florida. The mansion was home to Robert Gamble and was once home to a large sugar plantation. But the mansion holds an ever bigger place in history as it was a hide-out for Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin while he tried to flee the country to avoid being held for treason against the United States. Today the mansion and 16 acres of the plantation are maintained as a historic park by the Florida Park System. (Photo: August 7, 2009)

Ellenton, Florida: In 1843, General Robert Gamble claimed 160 acres along the Manatee River as part of the Armed Occupation Act following the Second Seminole War. As part of the agreement, settlers were provided 160 acres of wilderness in exchange for living on the land for a minimum of five years. Gamble took the deal and began building his sugar plantation. It took almost six years to complete the Antebellum mansion. It is a two story mansion that was built out of tabby. The mansion was built to withstand the elements of the time period; Indian attacks and the Florida weather. There were no exterior staircases, the only way to access the second floor was through an interior stair. The back portion of the house, the children’s room was accessible by a rope ladder in which the boys would drop down as they needed to get out and pull back up when they were back in their rooms. The mansion even included an early alarm type systems as it was surrounded by sand and each night the sl...