Judge F. C. May has been visiting again with his venerable friend John W. Davis of Lecanto and as is invariably the case, he came away with a thrilling story of pioneer life in Florida. Judge May bemoans that when John Davis dies much of Pioneer Florida history will pass into oblivion with him, but Judge May is striving earnestly to rescue and record the memories of the fine old gentlemen, now nearing the century mark. He writes of this latest contact:

Many stories of bad men operating a tough trading post at a cross-roads in the wilderness were told when I first came to Florida but at least in the central part of the state, where I lived and operated, that part of early Florida life had passed into history. However, stories of those wild days were still current, and I heard many of them. It was said that murder and robbery were not uncommon and crime was an occupation of many. "One of the worst of these places was operated at a cross-roads somewhere in Alachua County, not far from the Santa Fe River and not many miles from the present High Springs. It had been discontinued when I came to High Springs in the early nineties, but many stories were current of carrying on at that place many years before and I heard of a man who killed an attacking panther with his bare hands. These were hazy, and I never heard the details of who did these things. If I ever heard the name of the man connected with these stories I do not remember."

"But last week, in a talk with my old friend Hon. John W. Davis of Lacanto, I heard many of the details and got a clear picture of at least some of the events. John knew little more than I did of the trading post near High Spring. It was closed about the time he came to Lecanto, now several more than 80 years ago, and the killing of the panther occurred when he was a small boy, but he knew the same man who kept the trading post and later killed the panther."

" I knew Bronson Lewis when I was a boy. According to rumor, he came from South Carolina, and was an well-educated son of a wealthy antebellum family, which occupied a position high in the society of that aristocratic state. But early in life he became involved in crime and fled to Florida, the Mecca of bad men of that period. Lewis established a trading post in the wilderness, at a crossroads in Alachua County, near the Santa Fe River, somewhere between old Newmansville, and the present High Springs. He called the place Shakarag, but from it's reputation it soon became known as Helltown, and that name stayed with it as long as Lewis operated the place."

"It was said it was too mild to describe its activites. Lewis was the cock-of -the-walk: a king among bad and desperate men. He prospered greatly, and when he was aging he decided to retire and take life easy. He bought land on Otter Creek, near where it flows into the great Gulf Hammock in Levy County. He established a large farm and had many cattle, and expected to enjoy a comfortable old age."

"But one night he heard a commotion in his cow pen. The cattle were bellowing, as cattle will do when they smell blood. Lewis got up, slipped on his shoes and went out to the pen in his night clothes. None of his people knew he had left the house. When he came into the cow pen the cattle were nervous, but he saw nothing wrong. He walked among the herd, and saw what he thought was a calf lying down. It was too dark to see clearly. When he approached it growled, and then he knew it was a panther, which had killed and was devouring a calf."

"He started to walk away, but as soon as he turned his back the beast leaped and knocked him down. Man and panther went into action and Lewis tried to choke it, but could not get a hold on its throat. It was tearing him to pieces with tooth and claw, and he knew he could live only a few moments. In the fight his hand came in contact with a rope which he had been used to hold off the calf when milking and had been left on the ground. The rope had a noose an Lewis succeeded in getting it around the panther's throat and pulled it tight. When if began to choke, the panther released Lewis and tried to get away, but Lewis held on and got a rail from the fence and with one blow broke the animals back. He then beat the panther to death."

"He crawled and staggered to his house and woke his family. He was literally torn to pieces and it was believed he could not get well. There were no doctors and it is probable that he had no medical attention. Lewis said that two mattresses rotted under him, soiled and kept wet by the seepage of his wounds, but after more than six months he was able to stand on his feet again, he found most of his cattle and other live stock and much of his personal property had been carried away by thieves, his farm was neglected and run down, and he was financially ruined."

"Weakened by age and his terrible wounds, he was never able to recover his business standing, and became very poor. And that is when I came in contact with this remarkable man. We were living at the place, which is now my home, and when I was about 10 years old Mr. Lewis moved into the settlement with his family. He was very poor, and my father gave him a wagonload of food and feed for his horse from our farm. Mr. Lewis had married again and had a family of six children, the oldest boy being about 14, and they graded down to an infant."

"One day when he was visiting at out house my father asked him to take off his shirt and show us the wounds made by the panther. They covered his body completely and I saw no natural skin. It was a continuous callus and you could not put your finger down without touching a scar. Lewis said that the panther attacking him was old and some of its teeth were broken. He doubted that he could have killed it if it had been young and vigorous-but Florida men of that period were tough and hard to kill. Lewis was about 80 years old when I knew him."

"When my father was a boy in South Carolina he knew of Bronson Lewis, although he did not know him personally. The two men often sat on the porch of our log house and talked of old times, before either of them came to Florida."

"Lewis was of medium build, with clear brown eyes which age had not dimmed, snow white hair and long white beard. He had become a preacher and I heard him often. He was a good speaker, used good grammar, and his appearance in the pulpit was dignified and austere. He made no excuses for his pastlife. He said he could probably have done more to make the world a better place to live in, but he had missed that opportunity, or failed to take advantage of it. He was truly a remarkable man."

"I do not know what became of his children, but several of them where younger than I am and could still be living. Lewis had been married before, and had at least one son who was grown. I would like very much to hear from some or any of these children of their descendants."