[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3155-3156]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Yoho) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today not only to celebrate African 
American

[[Page 3156]]

History Month, but to celebrate two stories lost to mainstream history. 
The first story is the original Underground Railroad, and the other 
story is of Josiah T. Walls.
  Students across the country have heard stories about the Underground 
Railroad during the Antebellum Period; however, there was a Road to 
Freedom that existed before the United States was even established, and 
that road went south to the free territory of Spanish Florida. In fact, 
the National Park Service held its sixth annual Underground Railroad 
Conference in St. Augustine in 2012 to highlight this very story which 
started with eight recorded families seeking freedom in 1608 in 
Florida.
  During this period, thousands of men, women, and children fled from 
the colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. These 
individuals headed to Florida to gain their freedom thanks to the Edict 
of 1693, which was issued by the then-Spanish Government that stated 
that any man, woman, or child who found their way to Spanish Florida 
would be granted freedom.
  The people at the heart of this story are the Gullah Geechee who 
trace their lineage to West Africa. Once free in Florida, the Gullah 
Geechee people thrived, establishing communities, forts, and deep roots 
throughout Florida's Third Congressional District, roots that still can 
be felt today.
  The second story is of Josiah T. Walls. He was a man who was born 
into slavery in 1842 in Virginia. He worked as a slave. The Civil War 
broke out, and he was conscripted by the Confederate Army to serve as a 
cook in the Civil War. He got freed by the Union soldiers, served with 
the Union soldiers, and after the war, he moved to Florida to fight in 
the Seminole American wars. During that time period, the war ended, and 
he moved to Gainesville, Florida, where he became the first African-
American mayor of our city where I come from.
  During that time, he became a very successful businessperson. He was 
elected to the Florida Assembly, and then later he was elected to the 
U.S. Congress, serving in this very body here today. His elections got 
challenged, and he lost his role as a Representative in the House. He 
ran again the next year, won again, and served a full term. Then the 
third term he ran, he won again. His election got challenged by a 
Confederate soldier, and he lost his seat.
  He went on to become a prominent businessman in north central 
Florida, owned a farm, and was very successful until the freeze of 
1906, which put him out of business. He moved to Tallahassee and became 
a newspaper owner and printed a local newspaper.
  He rose to prominence, but at his death, he was but a footnote in the 
histories not just of our State, but of our country. Here is a man that 
was born into slavery, rose to prominence, and was forgotten by 
history.
  I tell these stories because these stories, like many stories in our 
early history, must never be forgotten and must be remembered by our 
history lest we repeat it. It must also be taught to our children so 
that they are inspired and they see themselves in the history books 
like these other folks.

                          ____________________