THE DOMINICKERS
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PINEY WOODS HISTORY
Note: This is a revised version of an article I originally wrote for Wikipedia.org. I am still in
the course of revising it to make it more suitable for this website, and to add further details and
observations as time permits. This article represents the summation of all I have been able to find
out about the so-called Dominickers from published and unpublished sources, as well as my own
research in census records and a few other documents. But much more remains to be learned
about the origins of these families; see also my articles and family tree notes on the other pages
of this website.--Bill
The Dominickers were a group of biracial and triracial families who originated before the Civil War and
were concentrated in the Florida Panhandle county of Holmes, in a corner of the southern part of the
county west of the Choctawhatchee River, near the town of Ponce de Leon. The group was classified
as one of the "reputed Indian-White-Negro racial isolates of the Eastern United States" by the United
States Census Bureau in 1950. (Source 2) A few scholarly articles have also from time to time made
brief mention of their existence. (Sources 1 and 9) (See map on the Photos & Maps page.)
The Dominickers are noteworthy because of their persistence from before the Civil War until the 1960s
as a group distinct from both the white and black populations around them. However, since descendants
of these families have frequently married outside the group and retain few, if any, physical or cultural
differences from the surrounding population, it may be debatable whether the descendants still constitute
an ethnic group at all. Few facts are known about their origins, and little scholarly research has been
done on this group; nevertheless, there are some published sources from which information can be
gleaned.
the course of revising it to make it more suitable for this website, and to add further details and
observations as time permits. This article represents the summation of all I have been able to find
out about the so-called Dominickers from published and unpublished sources, as well as my own
research in census records and a few other documents. But much more remains to be learned
about the origins of these families; see also my articles and family tree notes on the other pages
of this website.--Bill
The Dominickers were a group of biracial and triracial families who originated before the Civil War and
were concentrated in the Florida Panhandle county of Holmes, in a corner of the southern part of the
county west of the Choctawhatchee River, near the town of Ponce de Leon. The group was classified
as one of the "reputed Indian-White-Negro racial isolates of the Eastern United States" by the United
States Census Bureau in 1950. (Source 2) A few scholarly articles have also from time to time made
brief mention of their existence. (Sources 1 and 9) (See map on the Photos & Maps page.)
The Dominickers are noteworthy because of their persistence from before the Civil War until the 1960s
as a group distinct from both the white and black populations around them. However, since descendants
of these families have frequently married outside the group and retain few, if any, physical or cultural
differences from the surrounding population, it may be debatable whether the descendants still constitute
an ethnic group at all. Few facts are known about their origins, and little scholarly research has been
done on this group; nevertheless, there are some published sources from which information can be
gleaned.
| The Dominickers of Holmes County, Florida |
| by William C. Hood, 2006 This article may be reproduced freely for personal and educational use only, with a citation and link to this page. All commercial use is prohibited. |
- First Mention, Origin, and Status
The first known mention in print of the Dominickers' existence is an article in Florida: A Guide to the
Southernmost State, published by the Federal Writers' Project in 1939. One of many New Deal
projects undertaken to mitigate the effects of the Great Depression, the FWP hired thousands of
unemployed writers, editors, and white-collar workers across the country to compile local histories. The
article "Ponce de Leon" identifies the Dominickers as being descendants of the widow of a pre-Civil
War plantation owner and one of her black slaves, by whom she had five children. (It could be, as is
said about another family in the area, that the slave was actually the mulatto half-brother of the woman's
deceased husband, but this has not been verified.) According to the article, three of the children married
whites, while the others married blacks; the appearance of their descendants varied from very fair to
"Negroid," even among the siblings of a single family.
The unsigned article states that numerous descendants still lived in the area at the time of writing, and
their children attended a segregated school (as required by Florida's Jim Crow laws). Dominickers were
not accepted as social equals by the white community, but they refused to associate with the black
community, even though they were compelled to "ride in Negro coaches and use Negro waiting rooms."
(Typescript 2) Thus, the Dominickers formed a small middle layer of Holmes County society separate
from both whites and blacks (somewhat analogous to the status of Louisiana Creoles), a rare thing in the
black/white social dichotomy of the rural South before the Civil Rights Movement of the postwar
period. This distinct racial identity made them notable as a "triracial isolate" in sociological terms, but
has practically disappeared in recent decades.
- Origin of the Term
divorce case described his estranged wife as "black and white, like an old Dominicker chicken." An
unpublished FWP account from the late 1930s (see Typescript 1) says that "about 20 years ago," the
court case arose after the couple divorced and the first husband sued for custody of their child; the
description applied to the woman's second husband. The group's nickname stuck, "much to their
distress." On the other hand, yet another unpublished account (Typescript 2) says, "As they were
mixed with both white and colored, the white people and better class of colored named them
Dominicker," and "they have [been known] by the name of Dominicker from 1860."
- Church, Cemetery, and School
However the term arose, for much of the twentieth century, two small institutions maintainted a distinct
Dominicker identity. From at least the early years of the twentieth century, and very possibly before
that, most Dominicker families attended Mt. Zion Baptist Church, a few miles east of Ponce de Leon,
and the adjoining cemetery contains many Dominicker graves. The original wooden church building also
served as an elementary school (see photo of pupils and teacher at Mt. Zion School circa 1910) for
Dominicker children until a new one-room school was built for them a couple of miles closer to Ponce
de Leon, sometime in the late 1940's or early 1950's. It was abandoned in the late 1960's and is now
used as a farm shed. The original church/school building became dilapidated and was torn down in the
early 1960's, being replaced with a modest concrete block structure in 1968, now called Old Mt. Zion
Baptist Church, which is still in regular use.
- Further Sources
Two unpublished typescripts prepared for the FWP Florida guidebook, but not included in it, are now
archived at the University of Florida library in Gainesville, and were probably the sources for the
published article. These articles would have been written between the founding of the FWP in 1935 and
the publication of the completed Florida guidebook in 1939. More so than the published article, these
are highly derogatory of the Dominickers and would be considered racist by modern standards,
providing a glimpse into the highly biased attitudes of local whites at the time. For that reason, their
descriptions are perhaps not to be taken too literally.
- Appearance and Behavior
These typescripts go into further detail than the published article on the appearance and behavior of the
Dominickers, calling them "sensitive, treacherous, and vindictive" and "pathetically ignorant." The men
are described as "big and burly looking," known for their skill at breaking horses and making moonshine
whiskey (a clear, highly potent variety known locally as "white lightning"). The women, however, are
much less kindly described as "thin and worn" or "low in stature, fat, and shapeless," wearing loose
clothing and going barefoot all the time.
As one writer describes, "The Dominickers come to town once a week for supplies. Their dilapidated
wagons are drawn by anemic looking oxen. Each wagon is literally spilling over with children. They
attend their business quickly and quietly and leave as unceremoniously as they came."
The writer goes on to say that Dominickers were "treated with the same courtesy that a Negro
receives--never served at a public fountain nor introduced to a white person. It would be ridiculous to
prefix “Mr.” or “Mrs.” to their names." A few Dominicker children were allowed to attend the white
high school in Westville, but they were "never allowed to actually graduate."
Photographs of people of known Dominicker descent taken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
show that their appearance ranged from fair-complected to swarthy; the women, especially, seem to
have had an olive-skinned, wavy-haired, Mediterranean look, much more attractive than the typescript
authors' description suggests, and not "Negroid," as claimed. Indeed, as one scholarly writer, a native
of the area, has observed, "Most of these people are Spanish or Cuban in appearance," (Source 4)
which raises the question of whether there might be some as-yet undocumented Latin blood in their
ancestry. Unfortunately, family historians have not yet been able to trace these families much further
back than the 1850 census.
- Native American Ancestry
The typescripts give five different accounts of the Dominickers' origins, which are said to include
Euchee Indian ancestors. The existence of a variety of accounts of their beginnings suggests that there
were originally several distinct mixed-race families in the area with various combinations of white, black,
and Indian blood, descendants of whom intermarried, all of them eventually being considered
Dominickers. One typescript states firmly that "they are about three-fourths white and one-eighth Negro
and one-eighth Indian." For more details of the Euchee Indian ancestry of some (not all) Dominicker
families, see the Native Americans page.
- Census Records and Field Notes
Federal and state censuses of Holmes and the adjacent counties of Walton and Washington dating back
to 1850 list many individuals descended from the families named in the FWP articles, and they are
variously designated as white, mulatto, and black, the racial designation varying even among members
of the same family. The designation for a given individual often changes from one census to the next;
some handwritten census designations seem to show evidence of being erased and overwritten with a
different designation, usually "white."
In the 19th century, once a local census had been taken, and before the final enumeration was sent to
Washington, a copy was left in public view "for the inspection of all concerned," often at the county
courthouse, "for the purpose of correcting [the] enumeration by striking out or adding the designation of
persons improperly enumerated or omitted." (Source 5) It may be that this common practice was the
source of the apparent changes in racial designations in some Holmes County census records.
The census records demonstrate that in the decades following the Civil War many of the so-called
Dominickers, despite their segregated status, often married into white families, thus making it difficult for
researchers today to determine precise boundaries for inclusion in the Dominicker group. Furthermore,
the Holmes County courthouse burned in 1870 and again in 1902, thus destroying many original
records of the 19th century, which is a further obstacle to researchers seeking documentary evidence of
the origins of this group.
According to a "special report" summary by the Census Bureau, "In 1950, for the first time,
enumerators were instructed to report persons of mixed white, Negro, and Indian ancestry who live in
certain compact communities in the Eastern United States, in terms of the name by which they are
locally known. These communities, or 'racial islands,' are of long standing and are locally recognized by
special names . . . ." (Source 11) In Holmes County, Florida, and nowhere else, 60 Dominickers were
so enumerated; they were designated as white on the census. (Source 2) However, it can be
established from earlier census records that known Dominicker families had produced several hundred
descendants over the preceding century, though most of them were not living in the so-called
Dominicker settlement of Holmes County by the time of the 1950 census.
In 1956, a United States Public Health Service worker, formerly employed by the Census Bureau, who
had compiled the data obtained on triracial isolates in the 1950 census, made a brief field trip to the
area and interviewed some white residents, but was unable to make contact with any Dominickers, who
were said to number about 40 at that time. His field notes indicate that at least one Dominicker claimed
to be of "Spanish and Indian" descent. He also noted that "the term Dominicker is not acceptable to the
group and is not used in their presence."
- Assimilation and Dispersal
Questions remain as to exactly how individuals and families navigated the process of moving from
segregated status to assimilation with the white community. For persons who appeared white and did
not remain in the Dominicker settlement, it would seem that in practice, the color line was not always
drawn as rigidly as state laws and the documents quoted above would suggest.
One of the unpublished FWP typescripts draws this picture: "The Domineckers live in their little
settlement and have few outside interests. . . . They just live from day to day—certainly not an
ambitious group. Each generation marries into the lower class of white people, their original group will
soon be extinct. Common law marriage is practiced, as a matter of fact—most of them 'take-up' with
each other." The other unpublished typescript says, "They are not allowed to go to white schools and
neither will they attend colored schools or churches. So they are off to themselves but the sorry poor
class of white people marry them."
Thus, it would seem that by the late 1930's, the group was already beginning to lose its distinct identity
as a result of intermarriage with local white families--most of whom were, contrary to the typescript
accounts, of ordinary, respectable standing in the community, as can be shown by examination of
census records and other documents. It can also be demonstrated that many local descendants of
Dominicker families served in the armed forces during World War II, and were listed as white on their
service records. This contradiction between the rigid social barriers suggested by the FWP writers and
documented cases of more fluid assimilation suggests that color boundaries were more permeable in
Holmes County in the first half of the twentieth century than might be imagined today.
- Late Twentieth Century
At some point in the 1960's, in the wake of the famous Brown vs. Board Supreme Court decision, the
segregated school in Ponce de Leon was closed, and students were integrated into other public
schools, at first being sent to school in De Funiak Springs, nearly 20 miles away, instead of to Ponce de
Leon. Some descendants of the Dominicker families still live in the area, but with the increased mobility
of American society since World War II, many have scattered to other parts of the country. Although
some residual racial stigma may still be felt, those remaining in Holmes County and nearby localities
have quietly assimilated into the white community over the last half-century, and there is no organized
affiliation of Dominicker descendants.
Since there are no longer any Florida laws requiring segregation or defining who is or is not "white," it is
an academic question at this point as to who could be considered a Dominicker nowadays, especially
since intermarriage between whites and Dominickers over several generations has tended to eliminate
obvious differences in appearance. It is not known what has become of any Dominicker families who
intermarried with blacks, or whether such descendants maintain any group identity.
Many white families in the area claim descent from the Creek (Muskogee) Indians, a nation with whom
the Euchees were once affiliated. The local Choctawhatchee Creeks are organized and said to be
seeking state recognition. (Source 7)
- Similar Groups in the Region
The Dominickers are sometimes given a brief mention in sources discussing Melungeon people, a
controversial term which is subject to wide debate; however, there is no known link between the
Dominickers and any other mixed-race group, such as the also little-known Cajans (Source 9) of
Mobile and Washington counties in Alabama (not to be confused with the famous Cajuns of Lousisiana)
and the Dead Lake People (Source 8) of Gulf and Calhoun counties in Florida.
Interestingly, some sources (Source 3) claim that about 1857, over 100 mixed-race families migrated
by wagon train from Holmes County to Rapides and Vernon parishes in Louisiana, where they became
part of the people known as Redbones, and in a mass meeting shortly after their arrival, supposedly
swore one another to secrecy concerning their true origins. The Redbones are well known in
southwestern Louisiana, though their origins are still debated. A few links by marriage between
members of that group and relatives of the Holmes County Dominickers are known, but there is no
evidence at this time to suggest a common origin for the two groups.
| by William C. Hood, 2006 This article may be reproduced freely for personal and educational use only, with a citation and link to this page. All commercial use is prohibited. |