Richard Wood

Hi, welcome to my blog. A few years ago I started writing about the darker side of the Florida Panhandle. There seems to be an endless supply of stories and characters from this area that are slowly fading away through the erosion of time. There were serious feuds, random murders, killings for monetary gain, revenge, jealousy, and to silence potential witnesses. The Panhandle was thriving with the lumber mills processing the longleaf pine trees that were being clear cut throughout the southeast U.S. and the turpentine camps that were harvesting the sap to be distilled into naval stores, or turpentine. There were many rough, hardy men and women here and scant law enforcement. Justice occasionally was dealt without the benefit of a day in court. The area is in a much tamer state now, but the people and events that formed the northwest corner of the state should not be forgotten.