The Fate of a Gang of California Ruffians, Alta California, 1871

The Fate of a Gang of California Ruffians.

The Stockton Independent, noticing the refusal of the Grand Jury of Lincoln county, Nevada, to indict Barney Hood for killing Thomas Coleman, at Pioche, gives the following history of some ruffians with whom Coleman was associated:

In 1867, Edward Lloyd shot and killed a teamster named Thornton, at Oroville.

After two or three trials he was sentenced to ten years in the State Prison, but, through some decision of the Supreme Court, finally escaped.

He and his two brothers George and Thomas Lloyd, kept the Mountaineer saloon, in Sacramento, in 1861-62.

In the last-named year, if we are not mistaken, that the great fight occurred at the foot of K street between the steamboat runners.

There were two men, named Thomas Coleman, in Sacramento at the time.

The fight commenced between Edward Lloyd and Coleman, the steamboat runner.

Both drew pistols and commenced firing simultaneously.

Lloyd was reinforced by his brother George, his cousin Patsey Callahan and McAlpine, who has since earned a wide reputation us a prize fighter.

Coleman was supported by Joe McGee and F.N. Smith.

The Lloyd party was armed with but one pistol and one knife.

McGee stood a short distance off and fired with a revolver, wounding George Lloyd in the right shoulder and McAlpine in the wrist.

In the heat of the conflict, Smith approached Edward Lloyd from the rear and shot him in the side, killing him instantly.

Smith remained in the county jail just about six months, when the Grand Jury ignored the charge against him.

George Lloyd had by that time recovered.

Within fifteen minutes of the time Smith was discharged, George Lloyd shot and killed him, inflicting four bullet wounds.

Lloyd was tried several times and finally acquitted.

A year or two later Patsey Callahan was stabbed and killed at the Bank Exchange in Sacramento, by Thomas Sherman.

George Lloyd went to Nevada and Thomas Lloyd went to Idaho.

While in Sacramento, George Lloyd had had a rough and tumble fight with Johnny Daly, which was the subject of considerable talk among their friends.

The silver excitement took over to the vicinity of Aurora, George Lloyd, John Daley, Jimmy Sears and the other Thomas Coleman, who was a brother-in-law of the Lloyds, but who had nothing to do with the steamboat business.

Sears, soon afterward, while traveling on foot on the Aurora road, jumped on a horse in front of Johnson's Hotel, and rode off. He was pursued, shot and killed.

The Lloyd party was armed with but one pistol and one knife.

A short time afterward, Daly and Coleman engaged in a barroom fight with George Lloyd, concerning mining claims, the respective parties having been retained as fighters by conflicting claimants.

Several shots were fired and Lloyd was killed.

It was generally believed that the fatal shot was fired by his brother-in-law, Coleman.

Soon after this occurrence, Johnson, the hotel keeper, visited Aurora and was murdered in the night.

The proof was conclusive that he had been murdered in revenge for the killing of Sears.

A Vigilance Committee, previously organized, arrested, tried, convicted and hung Daley and three others for the Johnson murder.

The Thomas Coleman, who was recently shot and killed at Pioche by Barney Flood, is, we believe, the brother-in-law of the Lloyds.

One evening, perhaps in 1853 [1863], a man whose name we have forgotten, while in a saloon in Carson, was shot and killed.

The assassin fired through a window with a shot-gun, and escaped. Suspicion rested on McGee.

Precisely a year afterward, at the same hour in the evening, McGee, while in the same saloon, was shot, through the same window, and killed.

This assassin also, for the time, escaped. The same gun was found on the ground, having been used an on the first occasion.

Thomas Lloyd returned from Idaho to San Francisco. About eighteen months ago he shot and killed a man named Barry at Seventh and Stevenson streets, and is now serving out a ten-year term in the State Prison for the offence.

We understand the Coleman who fought the duel with Mulligan, to be the steamboat runner who still resides in San Francisco.

Mulligan, while under the influence of delirium tremens, at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, resisted the efforts of the police to arrest him.

An immense crowd gathered around the hotel. Mulligan fired and killed two men in the crowd, and was himself shot and killed by a policeman.

This is indeed a dark chapter in the criminal record of the coast, and we regret to say that in the matter of assassination we observe no change for the better within the last twelve years.

The only instance of punishment by law, in connection with this entire list of crimes, is that of Thomas Lloyd.

-- end of article

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The above article is published exactly as it appeared in Alta California, April 15th, 1871.

And yes, for the folks who somehow think that the Old West only means what went on back East in places like Kansas and Nebraska and Missouri, the goings on in California and Nevada and Arizona rivals anything that took place back East over the Rockies. 

Two of my favorite quotes:

"Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready."

- Theodore Roosevelt, 1903

“I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”

― John Wayne, The Shootist, 1976

Ragtown: An Oasis Of Those Known Only To God

Dear Friends,

Along U.S. Highway 50 just West of Fallon, Nevada, a historical marker designates the site of the old town of Ragtown. It was later to be called Leeteville. 

Back in the Old West, the town was of huge importance to early-day travelers to California. Fact is, it was the last leg of America's Westward push over the Sierra Nevada. Because of that, it's said that Ragtown was never a town but more welcome oasis.

In reality, Ragtown was little more than a seasonal tent city. It was born each spring and was torn down each fall by enterprising men and women hoping to cash in and make a profit from the transcontinental wagon-train trade of the Westward movement. It's said that every Westward California-bound emigrant, weary from their crossing of the dreaded Forty-Mile Desert, found their first water, grass, shade, and rest along the banks of the Carson River right there in Ragtown.

The name "Ragtown" came about because travelers saw laundry hanging on nearby bushes to dry. It's true, local lore says the town site was named for the ragged clothing of those pioneers. Washed in the river nearby, they hung their ragged clothing to dry on every bush and tree they could find.

Originially called "Ragtown, later the name was changed to "Leeteville". And yes, before making the hard climb over the Sierra, travelers coming from the East would stop to rest and re-provision themselves there. In 1855, travelers Jules Remey and Julius Brenchley reported the station consisted of "three huts, formed of poles covered with rotten canvas full of holes."

That soon changed when Asa Kenyon, a pioneer and Churchill County settler, purchased the property the year before the Remey-Brenchley journal account. He farmed along the rich bottomlands of the Carson River and built the first permanent, wooden-framed structure that became his general store. Kenyon and his family owned and operated the station along the Overland Road for many years. 

Ragtown remained an Overland Stage Station after the Simpson route was surveyed and adopted in 1860. Nevada newspaper reporter Dan DeQuille reported in his 1861 column Washoe Rambles, "We were now heading for the ancient and well-known city of Ragtown. The whole town is owned by Mr. Asa Kenyon."

The Ragtown post office was established on May 14, 1864, and was active until May 29, 1867. It flourished again between 1884 and 1887. Asa Kenyon served as postmaster. An Order of Sale of Real Estate filed in Churchill County in July 1891 transferred the property of Ragtown from Catherine Kenyon, widow of Asa, to James Leete. And yes, With the change of ownership the property came to be known as Leeteville.

Leete had come to Churchill County about 1882. The Leete family ranched the area along with operating the old stage station and trading post for many years. It was the only stopping place between the county seat, Stillwater, and the communities of Wadsworth or Virginia City, depending on the road westward.

Today the district is still known by the name of Leeteville. The interchange of Highway 50 to Fernley and Highway 50A to Silver Springs and Carson City carries the name Leeteville Junction.

Early sketch of Asa Kenyon’s Ragtown, most likely from the second half of the 19th century. During this period, Kenyon developed his property into a successful farming operation as well as a way station on the Overland Road.

Known Only To God

I have always had an interest in old graveyards and gravestones. I guess my interest started when I found a grave and an old marker in the middle of nowhere on a large piece of land that a friend's family owned. It was thousands of acres and they didn't even know it was there until the day that I stumbled on it while ferreting out a few head of cattle from a small grove of trees during a gathering.

That was many many years ago, and I have since been amazed at how many graves there are here and there un-noticed, tucked out of the way, most with stones or boards unread for generations. Other than a deer or some other critter, all only visited by the wind, the rain, the sun and the stars at night. 

There is a small Pioneer Cemetery across from the train depot in downtown Fremont, California. I'm amazed at how many people living in that town don't even know it's there. And yes, among the few dozen folks buried there, there is a gravestone there that I found both touching and poetic, a loving tribute. The weathered stone reads:

Annie Hibbard

1866 

19 years, 11 months, and 15 days

This Whisper Of Her Own Sweet Self

Of Her So Wildly Dear

Who Was For Earth And Earthly Scenes

To Pure To Linger Here 

She Left Us As An Angel Leaves

She Gone Where Angels Go

And Tho We Feel Our Loss Her Gain

Still Bitter Tears Will Flow.

It's said that at one time there was a cemetery at Ragtown right there in the windswept plains of Nevada. The graveyard supposedly held over 200 graves. Imagine that. 

Hazards along the trail took many lives of our early pioneers. Besides raiding parties made up of both Whites and Indians, the most prominent ailments that lead to their death were cholera, fever, and exhaustion. Remember, many walked the trail West. Supposedly, graves along the trail were marked by pieces of furniture that was being hauled with the families. But also logging chains, wagon wheels, wooden crosses, boards, piles of rocks, or whatever else was at hand were used.

During the winter of 1861 to 1862, floods obliterated everything in the Ragtown area including that old graveyard. All of the names of the folks buried there was lost. And yes, it makes me wonder sometimes if we will ever find them again.

Though it's a shame that we will probably never find their graves, or know who they were, I've heard it once said that what's lost to man is known only to God. And yes, that's really all that counts.

Tom Correa

ObamaCare Big Brother Data Sharing

 

ObamaCare Data Hub = Big Brother Data "Sharing"?

Yes, Your Personal Data Can Be Given To "Law Enforcement" And For "IRS Tax Audits"

And yes, it can also be used as an unofficial National Gun Owners Registry.

It is called the "Federal Data Services Hub."

The Data Hub is a comprehensive database of personal information being established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement the federally facilitated ObamaCare health insurance exchanges.

The purpose of the Data Hub, according to a June 2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, is to provide “electronic, near real-time access to federal data” and “access to state and third party data sources needed to verify consumer-eligibility information.”

So would you trust thousands of low-level Federal bureaucrats and contractors with one-touch access to your private financial and medical information?

Under ObamaCare you won’t have any choice about whether it happens or not.

It is being reported that Maryland's Health Connection, the state's ObamaCare marketplace, has been plagued by delays in the first days of open enrollment for ObamaCare.

If users are able to endure long page-loading delays, they are presented with the website's privacy policy, which of course the "fine-print" agreement on websites that often go unread.

The ObamaCare privacy policy contains many standard statements about information automatically collected regarding Internet browsers and IP addresses, temporary "cookies" used by the site, and website accessibility.

Users are asked to check off a box that they agree to the terms - but really, that's just a formality. Fact is once you give them your person private information, you're screwed!


Sure they say that your personal information submitted with an application will be secure.

Sure they say they adhere to what the policy states about how all information to help in applying for coverage and even for making a payment will be kept strictly confidential and only be used to carry out the function of the marketplace.

And yes, officially, there is however one exception:

"[W]e may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities."

Here is the entire paragraph from the policy the includes the exception [emphasis added]:

1)  Should you decide to apply for health coverage through Maryland Health Connection, the information you supply in your application will be used to determine whether you are eligible for health and dental coverage offered through Maryland Health Connection and for insurance affordability programs.

2)  It also may be used to assist you in making a payment for the insurance plan you select, and for related automated reminders or other activities permitted by law.

3)  We will preserve the privacy of personal records and protect confidential or privileged information in full accordance with federal and State law.

4)  We will not sell your information to others.

5)  Any information that you provide to us in your application will be used only to carry out the functions of Maryland Health Connection.

6)  The only exception to this policy is that we may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities.

The site does not specify if "appropriate authorities" refers only to state authorities or if it could include the Federal law enforcement agencies as well.

Neither is there any detail on what type of law enforcement and/or tax audit activities would justify the release of the personal information, or who exactly is authorized to make such a determination.

This does not cover the information contained in the Data Hub that is accessible to all according to the Freedom Of Information Act.

But as I said earlier, you give them your information and you are screwing yourself!

The Federal Services Data Hub is the worse thing that can happen to our Freedom because Information is Power and the Government does not Need to know everything about us!

Friends, in an era when the Obama administration has authorized secret domestic surveillance by the intelligence community, and political appointed IRS officials and state tax agencies are using private information for political purposes, its not smart to give all of your information to one source.

Today the police can electronically log every license plate that passes by, so yes, the idea of the centralized Federal Big Brother Information Data Hub should be enough to make a citizen think twice about handing over every bit of information to the Federal government.

Is the potential for abuse enormous? You bet it is!

Fact is, the massive centralized Federal database will include all comprehensive personal information such as your income and financial data, family size, citizenship and immigration status, incarceration status, social security numbers, gun ownership information, vehicle ownership information, contacts both social and business, and of course your very private health information.

It will compile files on you based on information obtained from the IRS, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Social Security Administration, state Medicaid databases, and for some reason the Peace Corps.

And yes, that includes any groups that may be deemed a threat to the government such as the VFW, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the Republican Party, and even the Libertarian and the Tea Party.

Depending on who is in control of the White House, a threat to the United States may be your membership to the Sierra Club and the Democratic Party.

The Federal Services Data Hub will provide web-based, one-stop shopping for anyone who has the desire to pry into a person’s personal affairs.

If you were worried about the National Security Agency and a lot of other Federal Government agencies spying on you, just go ahead and give up even more of your private information to ObamaCare Date Sharing program called the Federal Services Data Hub.

Then, and only then can you see what happens?

Find out if ObamaCare sends that information to your employer, or school, or maybe your insurance company?

What happens if they send derogatory information to DMV and you lose your license to drive, or wrong information to Credit Bureaus and it effects your credit rating or you get turned down for loans?

What happens if they send your information to the FBI, the IRS, the ATF, or ICE? Maybe they will send it Homeland Security?
Can they use that information to stop you from buying and owning a firearm, or how about stopping you from taking a trip to sun and fun in Mexico?

You bet they can!

Can you see yourself investigated by one of the dozens of law enforcement agencies in the Federal Government?

Who do you think will investigate you?

You'll know who received your information when the Feds come out and start asking your neighbors pointed questions about you and your family.

That's usually how it works before they knock on your door to talk with you.

Information compiled by Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS - Obama's War On Americans?

FIRST SHOT! 

Are You On Overload Yet?

Lately, I've been asked why I bother to post Old West history or something on livestock or guns when there is so much going on in the News these days?

Well, as for posting more Old West history and the like?

I find that we can learn a great deal from what took place in the past. And yes, too often people ignore the lessons taught us and instead do the insanity thing.

The insanity thing? Yup, the insanity thing!

It was Albert Einstein who said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I find that to be a daily occurrence where Liberals are concerned. It seems they enjoy chaos.

Here in California, we have our share of the craziness.

In Sacramento, our state capital, Conservatives are non-existent; and the crazies on the Left are doing everything they can to make California into a Socialist bastion of over-regulation, over-taxation based on a Communist ideology and social engineering.

The result is that the state of California is pushing businesses into relocating anywhere other than here; and with residents paying higher taxes - for the first time in the history of California, more people are leaving than coming in.   

Of course the mass exodus is also due to California's insane Political Correctness as defined by the Liberals who occupy the state capital, San Francisco, and Los Angeles where alternative and deviant lifestyles are looked upon as normal.

California's Leftist crazies in charge of the capital are busy with important work as they perceive it.

And that, well that's pushing an agenda that smacks of San Francisco and Hollywood lunacy - such as declaring that a child who has not yet completely developed mentally can now declare himself or herself whatever gender they please.

Yes, it is now the law of the land in California, a boy or a girl may in fact choose to be a gender other than the one they were born. 

Isn't it amazing that the Liberal politicians in California are amazed to find out that more and parents are Home Schooling their kids just to get them away from the Liberal Indoctrination Camps that California calls public schools. 

As for Washington DC, Republicans control half of Congress, or 1/2 of 1/3 of the three branches of the Federal government - and God only knows how many are really Conservatives versus RINOs.

Since the Republicans in the House of Representatives decided that they were not going to fund ObamaCare until it fixed some major problems - including its exemption of the President and Congress and their staff members from having to abide by the new law - the President and his Democrats are throwing a tantrum and shut down the government.

Of course, that's not really true, the golf courses and Air Force One and the 5 Cargo Planes that it takes to get the President to one of his vacation spots is still operating.

The furlough effects 800,000 "non-essential" government employees who will get paid for staying home in the form of "back-pay"? Yup, that makes no sense to me either!

Of course the guys that should be furloughed is the President and the Congress and the Supreme Court - you bet that that would get them off their dead asses and off their high horses and on the job to fix things!

As for ObamaCare?

Well, the built-in exemption, the one which Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats who controlled Congress at the time made sure they got in the law as a condition for passing it in 2010, subsequently puts politicians above the law they passed.

As a result, President Obama and his fellow Democrat Harry "The Weasel" Reid who runs the Senate allowed the government to shutdown.

They refuse to restore the government until the Republicans relent and give in and allow ObamaCare to go through as stands - problems or not, with exemptions, and screwing the American people.

Yes, Liberals can say screw America, you and me, because there are no consequences to their horseshit behavior.

Fact is, like children, Democrats are a spoiled bunch of brats. And yes, their constituents have allowed them to become the way they are  - abusive of the power they have.

If they were really held responsible for their actions, then maybe we would get better from them? But they're not, and they know it.

They know that the only thing they have to worry about is being re-elected.

They also know with money, power, and people who will vote for them solely on their liberal ideology, that they have no real worry.

For me, I'd like to furlough the Democrats who don't care about the consequences of messing with our government.

I'd like to initiate fines and penalties, and withhold pay or perks until they get their shit together.

Maybe then Democrats would start caring about the job they are doing - instead of only caring about their political party and holding on to their constituents like Slave Masters do their slaves?

SECOND SHOT!

What's Being Unnecessarily Shutdown By Obama and the Democrats to Inflict Pain on the Public

Yes, it is my opinion as well as that of millions of others, President Obama is a very vengeful arrogant individual full of spite and hate for Americans.

He is proving that fact everyday.

He and the Democrat Party have decided that they will wage war on the American public rather than give up their exemptions and special privileges.

Obama has shut down these specifically. He has:

1)  Refused special funding for the treatment of Children suffering from Cancer. 

This move is one that Harry Reid sees has no big deal, even going to the point of saying what makes them so special.

2)  Furloughed Military Chaplains. 

The Obama Administration has even gone so far as to threaten the Christian Chaplains with arrest if they administer religious services to our troops even on their own time - working for free. 

Yes, Obama sees nothing wrong with arresting Chaplains.

3)  Obama has ordered "open-air" memorials which are normally open to the public 24/7 to be closed and those trying to enter them will be arrested by the National Parks Service.

Imagine that? Guards are now keeping Americans away from

• the Lincoln Memorial,
• the Statue of Liberty,
• the Grand Canyon, 
• Yosemite National Park,
• Yellowstone National Park,

It was reported that visitors there were detained in the hotel - many believing they were under arrest for some unknown reason.

Obama's modern day Gestapo didn't give anyone a reason. They just did what they were told. Smacks of Nazi Germany! Obama should be proud.

• Ford's Theatre

The famed Washington theater where Abraham Lincoln was shot has also been caught in the shutdown.

Though the group that operates the theater is a nonprofit - and it survived the last shutdown - Ford's Theatre was closed last week. It is believed the order to shutdown came from the White House.

The group has since moved performances down the street.

"There are no federal employees, no federal expenses. . . . We are just a pawn caught in the game," Paul R. Tetreault, Ford's director, told The Washington Post.

• Mt. Rushmore

Yes, the Obama administration has given orders to try to stop Americans from even "looking" at Mount Rushmore from afar.

In South Dakota, the park officials put up traffic cones to prevent passersby from pulling over to take pictures of Mount Rushmore. Imagine that!

As chicken shit as that sounds, the Obama administration isn't finished yet.

The Obama administration also closed

• the St. Louis Arch,
• the Vietnam Memorial,
• the D-Day Memorial,
• the World War II Memorial

We know that a group of seniors, all World War II Veterans, made a trip to Washington DC to see "their" memorial and were at first turned away - but that did not stop them from getting pass barricades (that were brought in specifically to close it to the public) and seeing it. 

The next day, the Obama Administration had made it known that they would arrest anyone, seniors included, if they breach the security at the World War II Memorial. 

The Obama Administration also brought in additional Parks Police with K-9 units to scare away the Americans visiting the site.

"It cost more money to barricade the monuments than it would to keep them open," Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., complained on the House floor on Tuesday.

And yes, he's right! 

• Other memorials, landmarks, and national parks around the nation were also closed, including Valley Forge.

In fact, a Pennsylvania man who went jogging at Valley Forge National Historic Park informed Fox News that he was hit with a $100 fine because the area was technically closed.

He claims he parked his car in an area that was not blockaded. He claims he thought jogging was still okay.

He was met by two armed park rangers and slapped with a ticket.

Yes, when a tyrant says its closed - he means it!

4)  Obama has closed over 100 Privately-Managed Parks that cost no money to run.

5)  Obama has closed Hotels, Beaches, Boat-Docks, Concession Stands, Restaurants, and even Police Parking lots - even though they did not cost a the Federal Government a dime. 

These were located at or near lands, or ones receiving Federal funds.

6)  Obama ordered the National Park Service to close the entire Florida Bay for the duration of the shutdown.

It’s also prohibited fishing in Biscayne National Park.

To enforce these closures, the National Park Service plans to pay agents to stand around making sure no American can enjoy the ocean.

To enforce its closure of Florida Bay, the Park Service will be using more man power and money than it usually takes to keep access to the Bay open - but that does not matter to a vindictive Obama.

Obama has also closed the Thompson Boat center in Washington DC

7)  Obama has closed the Self-sustaining Colonial Farm which has not received Federal Funds since 1980.

8)  Obama has also closed all Military Commissaries which is used by both Military Families and Retirees.

Please understand that while Obama has closed the Commissaries to families, he has made sure that the Golf Course at Andrew's Air Force Base remains open because he golfs there.

No joke! That's for real!

9)  Obama has stopped the BURIAL BENEFITS of our troops killed in action.  

America's military chief's have announced that the Department of Defence will not be able to pay death benefits to families of soldiers who have been killed in combat, even though Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed a bill to restore that funding.

The problem is that any bill passed by the Republican controlled House of Representatives has to go to the Democrat controlled Senate for passing - and Democrat Harry Reid said that he will kill any Republicans attempt to fund the government in any way.

Yes, President Obama has stopped this!

"I think it's disgraceful that they're withholding these benefits," Speaker of the House John Boehner said in an effort to urge President Obama to sign the bill that the House will take up again on Wednesday.

THIRD SHOT!

Obama Kills The Last Wish Of Dying Child 

14-year-old Morgan Jones has a fatal disease and is legally blind but all she wanted was to visit the Statue of Liberty. But thanks to Obama’s shut down, she has been denied that last request.

Morgan is from Ashland, Kentucky and was visiting New York to fulfill a life-long hope of visiting the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island.

But with the government shut down engineered by the Democrats, the young girl is not going to be able to visit the symbol of American Liberty.

Morgan will be returning home without having visited the symbol of American liberty on a trip arranged by the Lexington Dream Factory, an organization that helps dying kids fulfill wishes.

“She’s heartbroken. Her whole dream was to climb up the 354 steps to the crown,” mother April Keelin said.

Morgan was born with glutaric acidemia Type 2, a disease that impairs the body’s ability to break down fat and protein.

She must eat every three hours or risk a brain hemorrhage. Only 50 people in the world are said to have the disease.

Sadly, the girl may not live long enough for a return trip.

Morgan’s mother is a music teacher and said that they can’t afford to return any time soon.

“We don’t know if we’d ever get back to do this for her again,” the girl’s mother said.

Thank you, Mr President. Your compassion is overwhelming.

LAST SHOT!

A Complete Lack Of Common Sense Has Taken Over Bartow Florida

The Florida city orders residents to remove "God Bless America" signs

It's true! Asinine sure, but it's true!

Bartow Florida has a problem with residents saying "God Bless America".

Residents of the small Florida city who have had "God Bless America" signs posted on their front lawns for months have been ordered by local officials to remove them.

MyFoxTampaBay.com reports that the First Baptist Church of Bartow distributed some 300 signs to residents following a Fourth of July celebration.

The city only permits residents to display signs during major holidays is starting to crack down on the displays.

"Being a veteran, I felt like I was just kicked in the gut. I couldn't believe it, that I couldn't display my love for my nation by putting a sign up that says "God Bless America," Bartow resident Marcus Seger told the station.

The Bartow city's code enforcement division recently notified "offending" residents that its temporary sign ordinance has been in place for 13 years and already allows for some exceptions for yard displays.

"They can have those signs out on holidays that are relevant," ," Bartow Code Enforcement Director Gregg Lamb said. "You can have a temporary sign around Christmas if it's related to Christmas. Or the 4th of July. The sign ordinance has exceptions for that."

While the city has obviously gone crazy, some Bartow residents have not and totally disagree with the ordinance - they have no plans to comply with the city's request.

"This is my yard that I'm paying the taxes on. It's my right," Emmett Purvis, an area resident with a sign, told MyFoxTampaBay.com.

Several residents are expected to seek a waiver from the ordinance at an upcoming Bartow City Commission meeting.

The city's code enforcement division does not enforce fines or penalties for non-compliance, according to the report.

City Manager George Long released a statement late Friday reminding residents that code enforcement officers are targeting all types of signs, regardless of the message.

If the message "God Bless America" is in violation of city code in any community in America, we may be in more trouble than even I suspected.

And yes, that's how I see it!

Compiled by Tom Correa