A New Capital
Simmons and Williams Meet
Simmons Route,
Williams Route, Simmons & Williams
Simmons arrived at Fort Marks on October 10th expecting to find Willams already there. Unaware of the troubles Williams was having at sea, Simmons took some time to rest and enjoy the cool October weather. Entries in his journal were simple:
October 11th.-The weather warm and clear.
October 12th.-Very cool and clear.
October 13th.-Again warm, with flying clouds.
October 14th.-Warm, with great appearance of rain
October 15th.-Violent northeast storm of wind and rain.
October 16th.-Very cool but cloudy and threatening rain.
October 17th.-The weather cool and clear
On October the 18th Simmons decided to take action and on a frosty morning, “Set out with Captain McClintock, commander of the post, for Judge Robinson's on Little River in the hope of meeting my colleague in that direction or of hearing of him.” The companion being the missing Williams. After traveling all day through low pine barrens and hardwood hammocks, crossing “considerable hills” and streams, they arrived at sundown at the ferry on the Ocholochney river where they spent the night in an unfinished shed. There was no room in the inn, for there was no inn.
After a morning breakfast with the ferryman, they crossed the river and continued westward traveling through alternating strips of pine forests and hardwood hammocks. As they crossed a “handsome plank bridge” across a small stream they approached Judge Robinson’s plantation on the Little River where they were “most hospitably received by Judge Robinson”. Simmons described the Judge’s plantation:
“…everything evinced the raciness of a new and fertile soil. The cotton crop of long staple was superior to any I have ever seen in the Southern States; the average height of the stalks was from ten to twelve feet and many of the plants reached fifteen, yet all were loaded with forms and opening freely. Some rice and cane had been planted, which also flourished well. The Judge informed me that the high land did not produce corn well the first year but very abundantly the second. Cotton did better the first year than corn.”
They stayed with Judge Robinson’s five more days until the 24th of October when Simmons,
Hearing nothing of Mr. Williams, I determined to return to St. Marks, and there wait a week longer, not being able to extend my stay beyond that time, from the unforeseen expenses to which I have been put, and the urgency of many calls I had in St. Augustine. On my way I stopped at Mr. Ellis', four miles from the ferry.
The following morning Williams arrived at Mr. Ellis’ with Dr. Foster by foot from St. Marks. It seems horses were hard to get, Simmons wrote,
As Mr. Williams had not been able to obtain horses at the Fort, I lent him mine to go to Judge Robinson's where he hopes to procure them. In the evening he returned, having been unsuccessful. I now determined that my two guides should walk and we would forthwith commence our survey with the horses I had.
Williams
After a day of rest at Fort Marks, Williams was unable to obtain horses. Anxious to join Simmons, he obtained a pirogue, a small boat, and with Dr. Williams, surgeon of the Fort, proceeded up the Ochlocknee River to Wakulla springs which he described as,
At the distance of about 11 miles from its embouchre, it bursts at once from the earth, a navigable stream. The spring is a beautiful oval basin of almost an unfathom- able depth. It presents to the eye a pale azure transluscent surface, under which are seen myriads of fish in little companies, at times sporting in the flood, and again dis- appearing behind the cliffs of rock which project into the fountain.
From the springs to the ferry the Ochlocknee was a distance of twenty miles. Leaving the pirogue behind with Dr. Williams to return to the fort. Ok, a bit confusing here, there are two Williams, John Lee Williams of Pensacola, and Dr. Williams, Fort Marks’ surgeon. So John Lee Williams along with Dr. Foster set out on foot going overland to the ferry on the Ochlocknee where they arrived at midnight and remained until morning.
The following morning, October 26th, they crossed the ferry where they found Dr. Simmons at Mr. Ellis’s estate.
Updated: 2026-08-07