A committee with the Okaloosa NAACP is working to memorialize Augustus “Gus” Tart, a man born into slavery who became a pioneer of what is now Okaloosa County.
It was about a year ago when a landmark popped up on a cell phone map.
“A family member saw it jump on her phone — Gus Tart’s grave,” recalled Diane Dillard, Okaloosa NAACP member-at-large. “And so that started the journey.”
Dillard, who moved to Okaloosa County in 2009, searched online for information on Gus Tart and found out he was born into slavery and became known as a skilled outdoorsman who hosted local and state leaders. She took her findings to Okaloosa NAACP to form a committee.
“It was like, he (Tart) was kind of reaching out from the grave for recognition,” said Dillard.
She asked longtime local Statia McNeese to help with further research, “and the rest is history,” she said.
Who is Gus Tart?
Augustus “Gus” Tart was born into slavery in 1840 in South Carolina. He came to Walton County (now Okaloosa County) from Andalusia, Alabama. He was a cook for T.C. Brooks, an early settler of Fort Walton Beach.
Finding historical records on African Americans can be difficult as enslaved people were rarely documented in census records before 1870. Perhaps the most extensive research into Gus Tart started with Jane Brooks, a descendant of the Brooks family. Now 95 but still “with it” according to her daughter, Kay, Jane made a point of finding out more about Tart.
“Mama does genealogy, and she was trying to see how far back she could go on the Brooks’ line,” said Kay. “When she was doing this, she told me, ‘There is family lore that there was a Black man in the family called Uncle Gus — Gus Tart.’ She thought, while she was looking into the Brooks, she would see what she could do about Gus Tart.”
In 1867, Tart registered to vote in Walton County, Precinct 7. He’s listed as No. 102 to register in that county. According to the 1880 Census Household Record for Precinct 9 in Walton County, Tart was a laborer and a widower. He had two sons, George, who was born in South Carolina, and William, born in Florida.
Articles in the “Pensacola News Journal” and book excerpts share glimpses into Tart’s life on Garnier’s Bayou. An article from Nov. 10, 1909, refers to Tart as “Old Gus.”
“…a familiar figure and a general favorite in the region (Garnier’s Bayou) for the past 30 years,” the article reads. “Old Gus has entertained some very distinguished people at his camp in Garnier’s in years gone by. They have included governors, United States senators, congressmen, judges, and other prominent men, and the marvelous woodcraft, quaint philosophy, and sterling honesty of the old Negro have them his friends for all time.”
In his research, McNeese was amused by an article where Gus entertains a Pensacola judge.
“The judge had a three-day court case set aside, and they finished in half a day,” McNeese recalled. “He calls counselors to the bend, and they’re seen talking to each other, and the next thing anybody knows is they’re all on Gus’s boat fishing in Pensacola.”
“That’s what made it fun to research him,” added Kay. “The amount of respect this man got. Some of the other pioneers here — they’re not talked about in the same vein that Gus was at all.”
By the end of his life, Tart owned 135.5 acres of land east of Garnier’s Bayou in what is now the Town of Shalimar. Tart received a land grant in 1903 under the Homestead Act of 1862.
“They called it Gus’s Place — people would come to him to host their hunting and fishing and things like that,” said Dillard.
Gus Tart fell ill in the fall of 1915. In October 1915, a will was made leaving his property to T.C. Brooks and his wife, Emma. Tart signed his will with an “X.” He died on Nov. 12, 1915, and was buried in a 10-foot by 12-foot plot on his land, where he made a name for himself — “Gus’s place.”
It seemed that Tart’s story was forgotten until 1977, when his grave was discovered in a land survey. In Shalimar Town Minutes from June 8, 1977, a historical marker for the Gus Tart grave site was discussed, but no action was taken.
A re-discovery
In 2016, Gus Tart made headlines when his gravesite was discovered — again — when the Shalimar Library was relocating to Richbourg Avenue, where Tart’s land was. Library board member Johann Behnken made the discovery. In a Daily News article, Jane Brooks said she was “delighted” to see the name Gus Tart appear in the paper.
In the years since, Kay and library members raised money for a gravesite marker. What was a nondescript corner of land is now a proper resting place.
The gravestone inscription reads:
“Augustus ‘Gus’ Tart
Born into slavery 1840 South Carolina
Returned to the Lord a Free Man Nov. 12, 1915
A Northwest Florida Pioneer”
As a transplant from Chicago, Dillard was fascinated by Gus Tart and thought more people should know who he was and what he contributed to local history.
“He was a prominent person. He was a founder. He was a pioneer. Those are the words I want to use,” she said. “I say it all the time. It’s not just Black history. It’s American history.”
Earlier this month, McNeese and Dillard gave a presentation to the Shalimar Town Council asking for assistance to pursue a state historical marker designation and identify Gus Tart’s gravesite in the county appraiser’s website. As it is now, when you click the parcel of land, it says “no information available.”
“We would like to have some recognition on Richbourg Avenue that says some information about Gus Tart … because, if you look at that map, that was all his land,” said McNeese at the February 10 meeting. “He needs to be recognized better than buried — no pun intended — behind the library. I’ve been here all my life, and I didn’t know about him until the last few years.”
The town council was receptive to the requests.
Another way the committee wants to recognize Tart is by adding his name to the Legacy Walk of Fame at Chester Pruitt Park in Fort Walton Beach.
After years of research, Kay Brooks said she feels a kinship to “Uncle Gus.”
“You better believe it,” she said. “Heck yeah. When it was rediscovered (in 2016), I talked to Johann and said, ‘Do you mind if we go forward and put up a fence and a permanent marker?’ Because, I mean, (Gus) barely escaped oblivion.”
Like her mother 10 years ago, Kay said she is grateful to see Tart be recognized. She would also like to see the future Shalimar Bridge Park be named for Gus Tart. It would be fitting since the bridge is a popular fishing spot, and Tart may be the town’s most iconic fisherman.
“There’s nothing Shalimar is famous for,” she said. “It might as well be Gus Tart.”
What the recognition committee hopes for is that no one will ask again, “Who is Gus Tart?” They’ll just know.
“He was lost twice,” said Kay. “He’s not going to be lost again.”
