Teacher’s Diary:

The everyday life of bachelor school teacher Frank Watt Hall probably wasn’t as fascinating for him as it appears to us in retrospect. Hall sailed a small sailboat everywhere he went: to school, to the beach, or to Captain W.D. Collier’s store on Marco, where his host family traded the game they hunted at Henderson Creek and Little Marco.

Hall was the school teacher for the Little Marco community from October 1898-April 1899, and kept a detailed and colorful diary of his day to day life. Most days he would rise in the morning, rig his sailboat, and sail to school. Some days it was a wild ride with salt spray coming across his bow. Other days he rowed to school, when the wind was too light, or too heavy, to sail. But most times there was sufficient wind to get to and from school.

Hall stayed with Reese Kirkland, his wife Caroline, and their family, consisting of “five boys, one roomed house, four beds, two trunks, one table, nine cats, four dogs,” according to Hall’s diary. “Odor of dead meat all around. Several million of skeeters."

The Little Marco and Henderson Creek areas are located on the mainland just north of Marco Island. In the 125 years since Hall’s diary was written, the topography of the area has changed drastically. Henderson Creek received its name from a surveyor of that name who had a camp there in the 1870s while running township and section lines. The settlement at Little Marco was near the high beach point on Calhoun Island and back of what was called Hall Bay.

Hall chronicled his first arrival at the Marco settlement (now known as Old Marco) where he met Captain W.D. Collier, on October 15.

"Capt. Collier took me through his grove of three thousand coconut trees,” Hall writes. "A beautiful sight seen from water side.”

Hall was taken from Collier’s place to Little Marco, where he saw his spartan school house for the first time.

"Went over and looked at the school house,” Hall said. "Palmetto shack 20’ x 30’, modern seats, no stove, my desk a pine box on slender legs."

Hall had eight students on his first day of school on October 17.

“They were very good,” Hall writes, “all are bright children. Had to keep a smoke in the school house all day to drive out the mosquitoes and sand flies. It rained in the afternoon and made the walk to the boat very unpleasant. I rowed nearly all the way home.”

Hall’s commute to school was roughly 1.2 nautical miles.

Like the other homesteaders and squatters in the area, the Kirklands were hunters and fishermen more so than farmers, though most did some farming.

On October 22 Hall sailed to Marco with Kirkland in heavy wind. The trip to Marco involved rowing or sailing 6.5 nautical miles from Kirkland’s homestead to Capt. W.D. Collier’s store.

"We sailed down and beat all the wind we could stand,” Hall writes. "When just entering the Marco Pass a squall struck us and nearly capsized us. We were forced to let go the sheet rope and then we were driven onto a sand bar. I was at Capt. Collier’s most of the time for we had to wait until the tide turned before we could beat back up the channel and bays. I bought some coconuts from Capt. Collier, six for a quarter, big fine ones. Ate dinner at Collier’s and had a fine dinner too; was very glad to get it too after a week of greasy food.”

They had a tough sail home.

“We left Marco and tried to sail home,” Hall writes, “but the wind was too strong so we rowed. Reached home at 7 o’clock."

On Tuesday, October 24, Hall was greeted by a meal of venison after rowing home from school.

"Sailed down this morning but had to row back this evening,” Hall writes, "Mosquitoes very bad today. A heavy rain falling tonight. Plenty of venison for Mr. Kirkland killed a deer yesterday, which makes five since I came. Rover (one of the Kirklands’ dogs) disappeared and has not been seen today.”

The next day Hall practiced shooting with the Kirkland boys.

“The boys and I practiced a few shots with the rifle today,” Hall writes. "I find I am not a very good marksman. Rover was found dead today and the boys think he was killed by a blow on the back of the neck, which Mr. Kirkland struck him with a hatchet while in a fit of passion. The old man has a fierce temper and is continually yelling at the dogs and sometimes curses them. Pieces of dead meat are lying about the place making things somewhat disagreeable. Bah! How some people live. I would often write more of my mind but the boys are so impolite that they crowd around and begin to read what I write as soon as I start.”

On his sail home from school on October 27, Hall stopped and harvested some oysters.

“Secured some oysters this evening and had a roast and a 'raw gobble' after supper. I succeeded in disposing of at least 20 myself.”

On Friday, October 28, Hall sailed to a neighbor's to deliver provisions.

“Sailed down this morning with a fine wind,” Hall writes. “Stopped at Hayden’s with some flour and lard for her to keep the family on until her hubby gets back, he having gone away to be gone for two weeks without leaving her or the children anything to eat. His father-in-law is not afraid to say that his son-in-law is one of the laziest and most shiftless of men.”

On that Saturday Hall went hunting with the three oldest Kirkland boys.

"Walked about 15 miles,” Hall writes, "and saw nothing but an alligator and some bear signs. Shot at birds some this evening and the dogs treed a coon, which I shot at long range. The boys led me to a place where a deer had been killed and I got the horns which are fine ones. We were caught in a rain and quite thoroughly drenched. Did intend going down to the bay and catching some mullet this evening but we finally decided not to.”

Hall was frequently irritated by the total lack of privacy in the Kirkland’s tiny one room homestead.

"Received a letter from home this evening,” Hall writes, “The boys were very much interested in whether my parents could read and write as well as I could. Their parents can’t read or write very well and they seemed surprised that my parents could do such a thing. They gauge the lives and accomplishments of others people by their own narrow and ignorant lives and environments. The boys say I am, ‘letting my pig root a little,’ meaning the pig carved on the end of my log-oak pen staff."

Hall did have fun with the Kirkland boys, as evidenced in his October 30 entry. They even did a little seashell collecting.

“Went to the beach by Little Marco Pass this morning and we three went bathing in the surf,” he writes. "Had a fine time against the breakers and enjoyed ourselves greatly. Found a few shells, but nothing fine.”

Much of their subsistence came from fish and oysters from Henderson Creek and the Gulf of Mexico.

“Had to row up this evening and I broke an oar,” Hall wrote on November 3. "The wind was furious. Went fishing with the boys tonight. We caught about 30 little mullet: no big mullet in the creek or bay. I threw the net a few times and succeeded in catching one little mullet. I think I will soon learn to cast the net, but it is hard on one’s teeth to hold a sinker between them. Had fish today and I ate a lot, you bet! The boys killed a turkey today and they discovered where three deer had been feeding in Reese’s potato patch.”

One day Hall was swimming with the boys sans swimsuits.

“While we were in the water,” Hall writes, “Mr. Kirkland happened to come down the creek and warned us that his wife was coming down in a boat just behind. We boys crawled in under the mangroves like otters and hid there until Mr. Kirkland and his wife were past. We were so amused at our position that the boys exploded with laughter just as the boat was passing. I was as much tickled as the boys for I was standing on my toes in the mud with my head stuck out of the water.”

It appears from Hall’s diary that there were some fun times in the Kirkland home, despite its cramped condition.

“This evening Noah played his harp and the smaller boys had a hoe-down. It is very amusing to see the little fellows dance jigs—especially little Reese.”

Hunting is a consistent thread through Hall’s diary.

“The boys have gone gator hunting tonight,” Hall writes on November 15, “they killed one gator today.”

On November 19, Hall writes, “We have nothing much to eat. The hunters came in this evening at dark with one deer and a turkey. They have killed six deer and several turkeys, but secured only one deer and two turkeys. Noah and Reese were hunting yesterday and they heard a panther jump on a deer and kill it two hundred yards away. But instead of running toward the noise of the fight, they hesitated for a few minutes and then sneaked up, but the panther had dragged his deer off into the swamp by the time they arrived on the grounds and they wouldn’t go in after him. They were very particular about their own skin.”

On November 24, Hall celebrated Thanksgiving with the Kirklands.

“Thanksgiving day this is,” Hall writes, “and a very pleasant day I have had. This morning the three oldest boys and I went to the beach where we spent the day in fishing and having a good time generally. In a little lagoon we found some young sawfish, six or seven, of which we killed. I killed two by jumping on them with my big shoes. I saved four saws, but the saws are too young. We fished at the mouth of the lagoon, which is about 15 feet wide and four feet deep and we caught four big redfish and two catfish. I caught a young shark and in the afternoon tried to spear several more little ones, but missed them all. I pulled off my pants and wading the little bayou went along the beach trying to spear redfish, but the water was too muddy. The boys said I looked funny and I expected I did. When I came back I took off my sweater and threw it to the boys on the other side, then I took a running jump and landed in the middle of the lagoon. The redfish all left for they thought it was a shark. About noon we pushed the boat out through the breakers and two of us sailed back to the pass, while the other two ran along the beach. We had for dinner turkey dressed with rice, bread, and venison. After dinner we caught some fiddler crabs and fished for sheepshead, of which we caught 10 or more. Noah, with a can of fiddlers, was running to the pass when he caught his foot on a stick and measured his length on the beach, upsetting the fiddlers, which scampered for shelter. We had a good sail home where we arrived near sundown."

On the morning of November 24, Hall was boating with the boys when Noah thought he spotted a gator.

“Noah shot twice at what he thought was a big gator swimming rapidly,” Hall writes, “but it turned out to be the top of a small oyster bar out of the water. The boys nearly died with merriment when they discovered their ridiculous mistake.”

On November 25, Hall encountered a heavy storm on his sail home from school. He used some ingenuity.

“We got caught in a heavy shower this evening,” Hall writes, “but I jerked the sail down and we made a tent over the boat with it till the rain went past.”

On December 4, Hall did something special for the boys.

“After dinner I made a kite for the boys,” he said. "It was the first the two oldest had ever seen. It was quite a marvel to all of them and they had a great time with it until they tore it up. Noah and I went sailing down the bay. We had a fine wind. It is now turning cool very fast and I danced a jig a few minutes to get warmed up." 

When Hall reported to school on a cold and windy December 5, he found the students trying to stay warm.

“The children looked funny bundled up and sitting around in the scrub, out of the wind,” Hall writes. "The old school yard is all scrub behind the house. I do not like to teach outside, but it was certainly better than staying inside and freezing.”

The cold front was a long one, and Hall recounts cold temperatures on December 14.

“Cold this morning and the boys shivered,” he writes. "I felt cool myself and thought it better to build my pupils a fire outside and let them sit around it. Sailed down this morning with a fine wind, but had to row back this evening. Mr. Kirkland came in this evening with two deer on his mule. He will go to Marco tomorrow.”

Going to Marco meant that the deer would be traded for provisions on Marco Island.

On December 17, Hall sailed to Marco for a day of fishing.

“I left Marco at 12 and went out of Big Marco Pass and rowed up the coast to Little Marco Pass,” he writes. "The tide was coming into Marco Pass and I had to pull my boat against a terrific current. The current was so strong that I finally had to run up on the beach and get out and wade and pull the boat by hand. I had to row four miles, but the Gulf was very smooth. After reaching Little Marco, I fished for three hours and got a number of bites, but only caught one sheepshead and one redfish. Had to row home and was very tired. The boys were so lazy that I thought they would not clean my fish. They are so worthless that they are not worth the powder it would take to blow them up. Reese and Noah came in this evening with two deer and a turkey. Plenty of meat.”

On Christmas Eve Hall ventured to Marco to help decorate the community Christmas tree.

“I arose early this morning and after breakfast made myself ready to go to Marco to help with the Christmas tree. I went with the two oldest boys, who were taking four turkeys down for sale. I took supper at Collier’s. I shot a Roman Candle and sent up a paper balloon after supper. The tree was loaded with presents and after distributing them, the people were dismissed. After the entertainment the people went over to the hotel and had a dance. We started reaching home about 1 o’clock. I at once tumbled into bed."

Christmas Day was a rough one for Hall. He attempted to sail north to be with his mother.

“I rowed to the Gulf then sailed for a mile or two, then rowed until five miles north of Naples, where about 4 p.m. I encountered a NW squall which kicked up quite a sea. I rowed for two hours against wind and waves and made only about two miles. Darkness came on and the wind changed to NE and it began to rain. I put up my sail and sailed to Punta Rassa where I arrived about 2 a.m. Monday morning. I was so tired, cold, wet and miserable that I could hardly walk and I staggered all over the beach. Just as I reached Punta Rassa, a Northwester came up, which would have stopped my travel if it had caught me a few miles down the coast.”

The next day Hall was back on the water.

“I left Punta Rassa as soon as I could and reached Ft. Myers at sundown after a tiresome day of rowing and beating against a headwind. I was so dizzy from having been on the waves all day that I sometimes staggered, which made me ashamed of myself and for which I apologized by explaining the case of my seeming intoxication.”

On his trip back to Marco on January 4, Hall encountered a schooner that was beating its way against the wind.

“Her crew had whisky aboard and were all drunk,” Hall writes. “They came near me, and luffing their boat into the wind, called to me. ‘Come aboard pardner! Come aboard!’ They wanted me to have a drink with them but I had not time and said so. They cussed me a little and then went flowing on their way up the river, tumbling about on the deck, kicking up their heels, and yelling in drunken merriment.”

Three days later Hall had reached Little Marco Pass.

“I nearly got lost in Little Marco on account of a dense fog and I was forced to jump overboard on the sandbar and pull my boat over,” he writes. "I had to pull my boat through the Auger Hole and about daylight I reached Kirkland’s. I was terribly tired and went to bed at once.”

Hall was back in the classroom on January 9, where he found some improvements had been made.

“We have a new blackboard and little vest pocket heating stove in the school,” Hall reports. “Some new fans (palm fronds) have been put along the north side and over the holes so altogether our school house looks quite well.”

On January 10, Hall ventured to Marco.

“I rowed to Marco and got my mail,” Hall writes. “I arrived at home about an hour after dark and ate a hearty supper of turkey and venison. The boys came in this evening with four deer and while I was away had killed two others.”

On January 14, Hall recounted a hunting trip with Reese Kirk and his two oldest sons.

“We went to hunt otters,” Hall writes, “but we found none for the creatures all seemed to have run out of the country. We found three squirrels and the dogs rooted out some coons, which we did not shoot. The dogs also rooted out two deer which got away. We walked about 15 miles and part of the way was through the thickest jungle I have ever been in. Part of the way was through muddy salt water marshes and flats. I saw some big moccasins and some small gators.”

On January 21, Hall returned to the beach for some spear fishing.

“The water was too cold,” Hall writes, “and the weather too cloudy, so I saw none. I spent three or four hours on the beach and gathered some shells and sand dollars, but the wind was too strong and cool for pleasure. The wind was fair and I sailed home this evening.”

On January 24 Hall had to sail to and from school in strong wind.

“We had a quartering headwind this morning and a quartering aft wind this evening and they were both as much as we could stand. We shipped several gallons of water this morning and had to beat some. Grub is getting scarce. There was nothing for supper except sweet taters, coffee, heavy biscuits, rice, and some grease.”

On January 25, Reese Kirkland returned from a five-day hunt.

“Mr. Kirkland and three fellows came in this evening with two deer and three turkeys, besides two coon skins,” Hall writes.

Four days later the Kirkland boys were successful hunting.

“We had oysters for supper, which I ate a quart,” Hall writes. “The boys just came in with three deer.”

On February 3, Hall celebrated Arbor Day with his male pupils.

“We grubbed all around the school house and planted 15 trees: five mangos, six guavas, one tamarind, two lemons, and one sapodilla. The girls helped us a little by throwing the roots out of the way. I sailed up this evening with a lively wind. Mr. Kirkland and the boys came in with four deer and seven squirrels this evening. 

On a blustery day, February 13, Hall took advantage of a day off school for a sailboat race in the bay.

“The two boys, Walter Carroll, and I raced down to the back landing and back,” Hall writes. "Walter and Noah beat down, but Reese and I beat them back by a quarter of a mile. The bay was rough and the waves broke over the boat’s deck in sheets. We were all wet. We dipped several times, and one man in each boat was kept busy bailing all the time. The weather is cold tonight and I am almost sure it will freeze before morning. We have all hugged the stove today and have also shivered. The boys killed two ducks this morning and we had them baked for supper.”

Hall had a surprise on Valentine’s Day at the school house.

“I gave each of my pupils two valentines today,” Hall writes, “and I found that none of them knew what Valentine’s Day was. They had never heard of it.” 

Hall’s Valentine’s Day gift to himself was the saw from a sawfish. “I purchased the 13" saw from Reese for 10 cents.”

On February 16 Reese and the boys had a great hunting day.

“Mr. Kirkland and the boys came in this evening with five deer,” Hall writes, "and will go to Marco in the morning.”

On February 22, Halls shows signs of frustration.

“Food is getting scarce,” he writes, “I am getting tired of this school on account of by boarding place. I will be glad when I get away from here.”

But three days later, Hall finds himself appreciating the beauty of his surroundings.

“This afternoon I went in the little boat up to the head of the creek,” Hall writes. "It is a pretty creek and is a very picturesque place. I found a pretty, open hammock near the head of the creek where I sat under the trees and studied my Sunday School lesson for an hour or more.”

His enthusiasm was dampened when he returned home to witness Reese Kirkland being abusive to his dogs.

"Mr. Kirkland grew angry at the little pups this evening and kicked one of the poor creatures half crazy,” Hall writes. "He is a brute.”

On March 8, Hall writes of a rare Marco-area Florida frost.

“The weather was cool this morning and there was frost,” Hall writes. “There has been a strong NE wind and I had to row against it today. The tide is lower than I have seen it before and all the oyster bars are high and dry.”

A hunting trip for Hall and the Kirklands was treacherous, but a highlight was discovering the beauty of what is now the site of Royal Palm Hammock State Park.

“Noah, Reese and I want to Palm Hammock,” Hall writes. “We killed 11 squirrels and one turkey. We walked about 22 miles. We were all very tired when we reached home, but after supper we felt better. We found the woods nearly dry and could get water to drink only twice, once in Palm Hammock Lake and once in a hole, which we scratched in the mud of a swamp. The Royal Palm trees we saw were about 60 feet high and two feet in diameter at the ground. The Royal Palm is one of the most beautiful of the palm family.”

On March 12, Hall was disturbed to observe Reese Kirkland’s treatment of his wife, though his contempt for his brother wasn’t much better.

“Today I learned that Mr. Kirkland thinks the women ought to be last in everything,” Hall writes. “At his table, if there is more than a table full, the men and children eat first and the women have what is left. Mrs. Kirkland has told me all of their family affairs. I heard Mr. Kirkland talking about his brother William. He said, ‘Kin folks are the poorest property anyone owned in his life.’”

On March 16, Reese Kirkland accomplished quite a hunting feat.

“Reese came in with two deer,” Hall writes, “and went to Marco this afternoon. He killed both the deer at one shot, and didn’t see one of them when he shot.”

On Sunday, March 26, Hall decided to shave off his facial hair.

“I shaved off both my beard and mustache,” Hall writes. “They make much fun of me and say I look ugly, that my lips stick out too far, that I look like Capt. Collier’s female cook, and numerous other complimentary things.”

Things didn’t get much better for Hall the next day at school. “The children had much fun today because they thought I look very odd since I have shaved. They were inclined to snicker every time I caught their eyes. What a nasty place. Only three weeks more.”

On March 28, Reese Kirkland killed a Florida Panther.

“When we came home this evening,” Hall writes, we were told that Reese had killed a very large, old panther. Sunday evening he went back to the swamp and killed three more half-grown panthers. They sold the skins to the taxidermist. They also killed four deer and the two boys have gone to Marco to sell the meat. I saw the panther skins that were ready for mounting. The huge claws and grinning teeth were savage-looking enough to be alarming. The large panther was seven feet long. Two more weeks of school!

On April 1, Hall went gator hunting with Reese and his son Noah.

“We started early and went straight to Rattlesnake Hammock where we found a pond with several gators in it,” Hall writes. "I did most of the grunting and Reese and Noah shot most of the saurian. I wade around in the water. moss, and mud up to my waist. I waded out and got three gators the boys had killed. While after one dead gator, a large one with its eye shot out suddenly popped up in front of me. I grabbed it by the nose and took it ashore. I stood in one place and shot three gators, but was able to get only one ashore. There were great numbers of huge, ugly, cottonmouth moccasins in the swamp, but none of us were bitten. I got in a terribly thick place once while following the dogs after otters and I thought I would never get out. Once I started to wade across a little open place when suddenly the dirt under my feet caved in and I went suddenly up to my waist in a gator’s cave. I tumbled out of that cave much fast than I went into it. We told the people at home that we had seen three big panthers. We had them fooled, for this is April Fool’s Day."

On April 5, Hall is feeling optimistic.

“Only seven more days until school ends,” he writes. “We secured some oysters this evening and I ate two or three. The boys killed a gator and two big otters. Mr. Kirkland went to Marco today and he capsized the boat in the creek this morning.”

Hall was happy on April 13, the last day of school, but sad to leave his students.

“Today was the last day of my school,” he writes, “and I was glad of it, too. I had no literary exercise, but as the children wished me to read to them, I read some stories and some fables from Aesop. I was somewhat sorry to leave my pupils, yes, very sorry. Little Velma, after reading her last lesson this evening, ran to her seat and cried some. I hate to leave my little pupils.”

Returning home, Hall saw an animal he had only seen signs of while living in Henderson Creek.

“Mr. Kirkland and the boys had come in from the wood with three deer, two bears, and one turkey,” Hall writes. “The bears were the first I have seen in this country and are of the black species. They are small of size and when grown, the largest only weigh about 400 pounds. The largest of the two only weighed 200 pounds. I finished packing my things and am now ready to leave in the morning. The bear skins are hanging outside the house and I dislike the smell of them very much. These people like to smell blood, I believe.”

On April 14, Hall left Henderson Creek and his cramped accommodations.

“This morning I arose early,” he writes, “shaved and then prepared to take leave of my ‘delightful’ boarding place. Mr. Kirkland took me and my baggage to Marco in the old boat. When we reached Marco I saw a hammerhead shark lying at the edge of the water. The shark was a queer-looking animal and its eyes seemed to be out on the ends of its ears. I took dinner at the hotel, read some, and talked to Mayme Vick. At four o’clock the mail came about the schooner, the anchor was raised and after much fuss and work, the schooner slipped out of the little channel into Marco Channel. The wind was SW and we had to beat out of the channel and round the buoy farthest out before the wind was fair for us. The wind died out about sundown and for two hours we lay perfectly motionless, except as the tide carried us up the coast. About nine o’clock an offshore wind sprang up and we proceeded on our way."