The Talking Walls: Historic Haile Homestead
A Nonprofit Organization That Raises Funds For The Upkeep Of The Famous Plantation That Features The Talking Walls
One of four plantation buildings still left standing in Alachua County, Florida, the Historic Haile Homestead appears alive and vibrant. Standing inside of the 6,200 square foot home, decorated in décor from the 1880s, visitors feel as if the 17 people that once lived there are still walking amongst them, still talking and chattering in each room. And that's because the walls speak: There are over 12,500 words written on the walls throughout the historic home, something that has been a huge source of curiosity and mystery for visitors and historians alike.
One of those historians Karen Kirkman, president of the Historic Haile Homestead, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for the upkeep of the building. Kirkman calls it the Talking Walls.
Before the Haile Homestead was open to the public, Kirkman remembers stories being published throughout the 1990s about the house being restored. In these articles they would refer to the writing as “graffiti,” but to Kirkman, that term didn't give the Talking Walls justice. It didn't give readers a sense of just how much writing there truly was all over the walls of the house.
Kirkman volunteered to transcribe the writing on the walls. For six months she came out to the Haile Homestead with a notebook. When she typed up all of the writing on the computer the word count came out to 12,500. And the number is still growing.
Two years ago Kirkman saw writing in pencil behind cracked plaster on a wall. Realizing that restorers had covered the wall back in the 1990s, Kirkman and a few other volunteers began to scrape the plaster off, revealing an entire wall of writing. The writing was Civil War-era writing from Serena Haile, the mother of the 15 children who lived there and wife to Thomas Haile.
So what does the writing on the walls of this historic home say?
Writing from the early 20th century on the large public rooms within the Haile Homstead include a lot of medicinal recipes. These are mostly written by Serena, who used the parlor as a bedroom during that time. The family also used the walls freely in the more private rooms of the house. There were notes like “hot sharp vinegar will take off mortar and paint from window glass” and “soda water will remove smoke from the walls.” Many rooms feature grocery lists and other things that seem like daily reminders, things family members didn't want to forget.
When Serena passed away in 1895 and her husband later in 1896, the Haile Homestead became a “party house,” said Kirkman. The property was passed down to their 14th child Evan, a prominent defense attorney in town. He would often have friends over and they'd all write on the walls, filling in some of the free space with a list of names of party goers and “funny little sayings” like “If love to be cold do not despair, there's always flannel underwear.”
So why were these lists, these notes, written on the walls? Why weren't they written on paper? This is a question that Kirkman is often asked during tours of the Historic Haile Homestead and her theory has changed over time.
Not only has Kirkman transcribed the writing on the walls, but Serena's diary from 1874 to 1893. The frequent diary writing provided a clue as to why the walls are flooded with this mysterious scribbling. In January of 1886 there was a freeze, where the thermometer didn't go over 36 degrees. Serena wrote about this issue in her diary.
“So I guess it wasn't a lack of paper that led to writing on the walls,” noted Kirkman, “like people once suspected: That there was no paper. I realized there was some overlap in areas, where she would write the same thing in the diary and on the walls. The new theory is that when she would run out of her formal writing packets she would write on the walls while waiting for more formal writing packets. Then she would rewrite it in the packets.”
The writing on the walls gives visitors a sense of connection to history that they won't find anywhere else. That's what Kirkman loves about the Haile Homestead, which she has been volunteering at since 2001 when it first opened to the public. The passionate history buff is proud of the work that the volunteers have done at the Haile Homestead, including finding out the names of 56 of 66 of the enslaved laborers that worked at the plantation.
The Haile Homestead was built by enslaved craftsmen between 1854 and 1856. According to Kirkman, many people don't think of Florida as having slavery and plantations, but in fact it was quite common during that time. The Haile Homestead is a reminder of this rich and negative history, helping people understand “how we got to where we are today” while paying tribute to the people who “survived and struggled” during that time.
Thomas and Esther Serena Haile (who liked to go by Serena) both came from prominent cotton planting families in South Carolina. Thomas' father also owned a gold mine. Serena's aunt was the famous diarist from the Civil War, Mary Chestnut. With many crop failures starting to plauge South Carolina in the 1850s, many people took advantage of the cheap land in Florida, including the Haile's, who had five homesteads in the area.
While the Historic Haile Homstead has a rich, dynamic history and many valuable lessons for visitors, the most interesting part of the house, according to Kirkman, are the Talking Walls.
“Transcribing the walls was like discovery,” she recalled. “You're reading this old cursive handwriting. You're trying to get into somebody's mind, who lived so long ago. It's a whole different time. Going back to Sept. 11, 2001 I got great comfort in coming out to the homestead and standing there, working on the walls. That happened just months after we opened and I was working on the walls and it really provided a great comfort. There was this continuity. Life will go on.”
Olivia Richman
A graduate of East Connecticut State University in Journalism, Olivia has written for Stonebridge Press & Antiques Marketplace among others. She enjoys writing, running and video games.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Travelers Campground, with all kinds of animals to visit like donkeys, horses, cows, parrots, goats. All located on beautiful grounds with rolling hills and plenty of shade.