Florida history comes alive at Destin Library

There’s a lot of Florida history on the Emerald Coast and Brenda Rees is happy to prove it.

“They have really lost our true West Florida history,” Walton County historian Brenda Rees told a crowd in Destin Library’s Calhoun Room Nov. 17. “A lot of people aren’t taught in school that West Florida and East Florida were the 14th and 15th colonies.”

“We aren’t all beaches, we had really large populations,” Sally LaChapelle of the Destin Garden Club said, introducing Rees and Panama City novelist Norma Hubbard to the audience, “but you don’t hear that much about the individuals who were responsible for bringing civilization to Florida.”

The presentation was a combined effort by the Garden Club and the Friends of the Destin Library. Rees spoke on Octavia Walton Le Vert, the Panhandle’s “white dove of peace,” and Panama City novelist Norma Hubbard described the life of the Seminole leader Osceola.

Octavia Walton Le Vert, Rees said, was the granddaughter of George Walton, who signed the Declaration of Independence, the daughter of George Walton Jr., Walton County’s namesake, and the woman who gave Tallahassee its name. Rees said Le Vert spoke at least five languages, including native American languages, and was named the white dove of peace by some of the native tribes.

Hubbard described the long history of warfare in the Panhandle area, and the life of William Powell, the talented boy who would achieve fame as the Seminole war leader Osceola.