Obit – Emory L. Dalton

On July 12, 2017July 12, 2017 By Denise OlsonIn BlogLeave a comment

Received today in the mail . . .

I am sending out obituaries that came from Melanie Crain’s “Dalton Newsletter” that she published for about twenty years. After publishing the Newsletters she archived them on a web site she maintained for a long time. But, she could no longer maintain the archival site and I thought the data should remain available to the American genealogical community. I suggested sending them to the GenWeb community and she concurred. So, I’m sending them to the coordinators.

Emory L. Dalton

Ponte Vedra Beach, St. John’s County, Florida

Emory L. Dalton, 72, died Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008, at his home in Florida. He was born July 15, 1936, to Jesse and Lula Dalton in Campbell County Virginia.

Emory was a longtime resident of Palm Valley, flew his own private airplane for a number of years, and played triple A baseball for a season with the New York Yankees.

Survivors include his wife, Hazel Wern Dalton; four children, Elizabeth Barkoskie (Martin), Jeffrey Farris, Karen Farris and Cory Dalton; one sister, Elizabeth Vernon; two brothers, James Irving Stockner and Donald Akers; two grandchildren; and one great grandchild.

[Contributed by Sharon Minton Hill to the “Dalton Gang Letter” published by Melanie D. Crain, Vol. XIV, No. 1, Winter 2009]

Spanish Land Grants

On November 1, 2016March 7, 2017 By Denise OlsonIn Blog1 Comment

In 1790, during the second Spanish period, Spain began to offer land grants to encourage settlement in the colony of Florida. When Florida became a territory of the United States in 1821, the United States agreed to honor any valid grants. As a result, family researchers now have access to those records which offer a fascinating look at the history of our area and the families who settled here.

Florida Memory has published their collection of Spanish Land Grants including scanned copies of the original grant documents. The collection is searchable by name or location.

Below is a list of “confirmed” land grants in St. Johns County. Beginning on page 18 of the land grant collection, the “unconfirmed” grants are listed. Note also that the place names and descriptions have changed over time so the list below may have missed grants in those areas.

Margaret Acosta – St. Augustine vicinity
James Alexander – St. Augustine vicinity
John Andrew – North River/Guana Creek
Clara Arnau – St. Augustine vicinity
Clara P. Arnau – North River
James Arnau – North River
Joseph Arnau – North River/Capuaca (east)
Stephen Arnau – St. Augustine vicinity/North River
Mariano A. Berta – North River/Cartel Point Neck
Roman Catholic Church – Esperanza/St. Augustine
James Bosley – Bella Vista/Moultrie Creek
Sarah Bowden – Julington Creek
Antonio Canobas, Jr. – St. Augustine/Matanzas River
Lorenzo Capella – St. Augustine (town lot)
Lorenzo Capo – North River
Benjamin Chairs – North River/Cabbage Swamp
Stephen Cheves – Matanzas River/plantation of Tom Johnson
C. W. & G. J. F. Clarke – Matanzas River south of Moses Creek
Charles & George Clarke – Matanzas River
Chas. & George J. F. Clarke – Matanzas River, Durbin Swamp, Johnsons Swamp, Emerys Swamp
Daniel Clarkd – Durbins Swamp, Road to St. Johns Bluff
James Clarke – Durbins Swamp
James & George Clarke – Matanzas River (west)
Margaret Cook – St. Augustine (town lot)
Alexander Creighton – St. Johns River
Emanual Crespo – St. Johns River (Toco)
James Curtis – North River
Mary Ann Davis – St. Augustine vicinity
Phillip & Mary Dewees – Guana River
Horatio S. Dexter – St. Johns River, McCulloughs Point, Picolata
Guidon Dupont – Moultrie Creek, Matanzas River
John Edge – Julington Creek
F. Falany – Matanzas River, Moultrie Creek
James Falany – Matanzas River
Francis J. Fatio – Sampson’s Creek
Francis P. Fatio – New Switzerland, St. Johns River
Francis Ferreira – St. Augustine vicinity
Jesse Fish – Tods Field, Matanzas River
Valentine Fitzpatrick – Sams Hammock, Matanzas River
Heirs of Valentine Fitzpatrick – Grahams Swamp
Davis Floyd – North River, Guana Creek
John Floyd – Guana Creek
Mary Fontane – Moultrie Creek
Ramon de Fuentes – St. Augustine (town lot)
Francisca Fusha – St. Augustine vicinity
Edward R. Gibson – Moultrie Creek
Robert Gilbert – Matanzas River
Charlotte Gobert – St. Marks, St. Augustine vicinity
Elias B. Gould – Durbins Swamp
Lewis Guibert – Cedar, St. Johns River (east)
Joseph Hagins – Julington Creek
James R. Hanham – North River, Guana River
Frederick Hartley – Old Field Branch, Julington Creek
George Hartley – Old Field Branch, Julington Creek
Henry Hartley – St. Johns River vicinity
Joseph Hernandez – St. Augustine (town lot)
Anthony Hiasman – Araguey
John Huertas – St. Johns River, Tacoi, Buena Vista, Big Cypress
Daniel Hurlburt – Levet, St. Augustine vicinity
Stephen M. Ingersoll – St. Augustine vicinity
James James – Julington Creek
John Kershaw – Chimnies, Guana River
Flora Leslie – Springer’s Branch, St. Augustine vicinity
Bartelome Lopez – St. Augustine (town lot)
Heirs of Juan Lorenzo – St. Augustine (town lot)
Bartolome M. Maestre – Matanzas River, Holmes Old Plantation
Heirs of Theresa Marshall – North River
Geronimo Martinely – Guana Creek
Ferdinand D. McDonnell – Matanzas Bar, Pellicer Creek
Francis Menicis – North River, St. Augustine vicinity
Pedro Mestre – North River vicinity
Francis Miles – North River, Camino San Diego
Peter Miranda – Blides Old Field, Cabbage Swamp, North River
Robert Mitchel – Mitchells Grove, St. Augustine vicinity, San Sebastian River
Joseph Noda – St. Augustine vicinity
Lazaro Ortega – North River, Guana Creek
Andres Papy – Moses Creek
Joseph Papy – Fort Picolata vicinity, Six Mile Creek
Michael Papy – Deep Creek
Juana Paredes – Marshalls Plantation, North River, Guana Creek
Mathias Pons – Matanzas River, Cassapula
Jose Reyes – Moultrie Creek
James Riz – Picolata
Eliza Robinson – Stockade, St. Augustine vicinity
Charles Robion – Matanzas River (west side)
Nicholas Rodriguez – Anastasia Island
Antonio Rogero – St. Augustine (town lot)
F. P. Sanchez – Guana Creek
Joseph M. Sanchez – St. Augustine vicinity
Joseph S. Sanchez – Navarro Creek, North River
Scipio (A Free Black)* – Padanarum, St. Johns River
Peter Sevelly – Long Bay, St. Augustine vicinity
J. Allen Smith – St. Augustine (town lot)
Manuel Solana – San Sebastian River, Solana’s Ferry
Phillip Solana – Two Sisters, Diego Plain, Guana River
Thos Travers – St. Augustine vicinity
William Travers – North River
Phillip Weadman – Picolata Road, St. Augustine vicinity

*For more information, see “Spanish Florida offered land grants to African-Americans” by Susan Parker.

The Minorcan Cultural Society

On October 28, 2016 By Denise OlsonIn AssociationLeave a comment

The Menorcan Cultural Society was founded in the 1980s to preserve and promote the heritage and culture of the Menorcans who left their Mediterranean homeland to make a new life in the New World. We are the only Menorcan society in the United States, and we enjoy a worldwide membership.

http://www.menorcansociety.net

Florida Public Archaeology Network

On October 28, 2016October 28, 2016 By Denise OlsonIn Association, BlogLeave a comment

original colony location — View from the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park across to the great cross at the Mission of Nombre de Dios.

The Northeast Region of Florida’s Public Archaeology Network is headquartered at Flagler College in St. Augustine. Although archaeology seldom provides details on individuals, it does a great deal to help us understand the environment our ancestors lived in. This is especially useful when records are lost due to disaster, war or other events. Their purpose is . . .

The Florida Public Archaeology Network is dedicated to the protection of cultural resources, both on land and underwater, and to involving the public in the study of their past. Regional centers around Florida serve as clearinghouses for information, institutions for learning and training, and headquarters for public participation in archaeology.

Through archaeological digs, we now know that the original St. Augustine colony was located in the area that is now part of the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park and the Mission of Nombre de Dios.

Family History Centers

On September 22, 2016September 22, 2016 By Denise OlsonIn Research SupportLeave a comment

Family History Centers are facilities operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are more than 4,600 family history centers in 134 countries. All family researchers are welcome to take advantage of the services these centers offer. Services include free public access to online resources, one-on-one help, how-to classes, and microfilm and microfiche readers. You can also order genealogical materials from the Family History Library which will be sent to your local center for you to view.

Find a Family History Center near you using the locator at FamilySearch.

First Plots?

On June 1, 2016November 2, 2016 By Denise OlsonIn Cemetery, MilitaryLeave a comment

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA You are looking at the southwest corner of the St. Augustine National Cemetery. The marble slab on the ground in the corner is plot 1 and contains the remains of Lieut. Stephen Tuttle. The nearer slab is plot 4 and contains the remains of John Winfield Scott McNeil. If you are thinking these were among the first burials in this cemetery, you would be wrong.

This cemetery served the U.S. Army Post of St. Augustine long before it became a National Cemetery in 1881. The first interment was 1828 with most of the early graves resulting from casualties of the Seminole Wars. Most notable among these was the Dade Monument [ see article at Graveyard Rabbit of Moultrie Creek].

Tuttle Stephen Tuttle was a 1st Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and was serving in St. Augustine on a huge project to rebuild and extend the seawall protecting the town. He died in 1835. J.W.S. McNeil served with the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons and died in 1837 of wounds received in action at Mosquito Inlet. Both were originally buried at the Huguenot Cemetery just outside the city gates and reinterred at the National Cemetery many years later.

McNeil Some time back, I received a call from Greg Moore, Command Historian for the Florida National Guard, wondering if I had run into these two officers as part of my Huguenot Cemetery research because he thought they had been buried there first. Sure enough, looking at a cemetery inventory from 1892 published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (see Huguenot inventory ), we found both men with descriptions of the graves and the inscriptions on their tombstones. These tombstones match the descriptions from the Huguenot inventory.

A search in Google Books turned up an Annual Report from the Secretary of War published in 1916 stating:

“During the year the following remains of soldiers were removed from fields and abandoned cemeteries and reinterred in national cemeteries: . . . 2 known officers from old Huguenot Cemetery, St. Augustine, FL to the St. Augustine (Fla.) National Cemetery; . . .”

Huguenot Cemetery had been closed in 1884 and there are many reports of various efforts to clean up and restore the cemetery. The first serious project didn’t begin until 1946 so from the Army’s perspective this cemetery may well have been a concern for the veterans interred there.

So, why were these Soldiers initially buried in the public cemetery instead of the post cemetery? What were the circumstances of their move? And, how did they become the first plots at the National Cemetery? This mystery will take a lot more research to unravel.

The plots thicken.

References:

Leeds, B. Frank. Inscriptions in the Old Protestant Graveyard at St. Augustine, Fla., The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vols. 37-52. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1883-98.
United States War Department. Annual Reports of the Secretary of War. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916.
Florida. St. Augustine National Cemetery Index and Biographical Guide: (Preliminary Abridged Edition). Special archives publication, no. 44. St. Augustine, Fla: State Arsenal, St. Francis Barracks, 1980.

Minorcan Research

On April 9, 2016April 12, 2016 By Denise OlsonIn HistoryLeave a comment

In 1763 the British took control of Florida. The British saw the economic potential of the area and encouraged colonists with land grants to come and settle in the colony. Among those settlers was Andrew Turnbull. In 1768 he arrived with more than 1200 indentured colonists to build a settlement on the coast south of St. Augustine. He named the colony New Smyrna.

The colonists were recruited from Greece, Italy and Turkey, but most of them came from Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. Collectively they are referred to as Minorcans.

Life in the New Smyrna colony was difficult. In addition to illnesses and Indian raids, the colonists were mistreated by Turnbull and his overseers. They revolted in 1777 and walked to St. Augustine where they asked the govenor for santuary. When Florida returned to Spanish control in 1783, the Minorcans remained.

Below are a number of research resources available for Minorcan research. Note that links to books point to WorldCat. Use WorldCat to find the closest library holding the book.

Menorcan Cultural Society welcomes anyone who is of Menorcan ancestry or is interested in supporting Menorcan culture and history.
Passenger List: Passengers from the Balearic Islands to Florida in 1768 via Olive Tree Genealogy.
Mullet on the Beach: the Minorcans of Florida, 1768-1788 by Patricia Griffin, University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida
Minorcans in Florida: Their History and Heritage by Jane Quinn, Mission Press, St. Augustine, Florida, 1975
Florida’s First Families: Translated Abstracts of Pre-1821 Spanish Censuses by Donna Rachel Mills, Mills Historical Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Naples, Florida, 1992
Dr. Andrew Turnbull and the New Smyrna Colony of Florida by Carita Corse, Drew Press, Florida, 1919 (free download at Internet Archive)
The Micklers of Florida by Patricia Ferguson Mickler, The Mickler House Publishers, Chuluota, Florida, 1991
Fromajadas and Indigo: the Minorcan Colony by Kenneth H. Beeson, History Press, Charleston, South Carolina, 2008
The Minorcans of Florida: Their History, Language and Culture by Philip Rascio, Luthers Press, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Father Pedro Camps’ Golden Book of the Minorcans by Leonard Joe McCown, L. J. McCown, Irving, Texas, 2003
Mayport Remembered, People and Places by Helen Cooper Floyd, Alpha Printing Company, Pascagoula, Mississippi, 1991
MayPort Remembered, Along the Waterfront by Helen Cooper Floyd, Alpha Printing Company, Pascagoula, Mississippi, 1992
In the Shadow of the Lighthouse: A Folk History of Mayport, Florida by Helen Cooper Floyd, Alpha Printing Company, Pascagoula, Mississippi, 1994

San Lorenzo Cemetery

On October 11, 2015January 22, 2016 By Denise OlsonIn CemeteryLeave a comment

When the Diocese of St. Augustine was established in 1870, Tolomato Cemetery was serving the local Catholic community. The City of St. Augustine ordered Tolomato and the public burying ground (Huguenot) closed in 1884. Catholic burials were then held at the Mission of Nombre de Dios. Because its location on the water was not ideal for a permanent cemetery, the diocese continued to look for a more appropriate cemetery location.

San Lorenzo Cemetery photo — San Lorenzo Cemetery, St. Augustine, from the author’s collection at Flickr

Also at this time St. Augustine was enjoying a boom in tourism thanks to Henry Flagler’s railroad and elegant hotels. City fathers wanted the new cemeteries away from the primary tourist areas. Evergreen Cemetery, the new public graveyard, was located across the San Sebastian River in what was then called New Augustine (now West Augustine). The diocese also chose a spot west of town, but further to the south. San Lorenzo Cemetery opened in 1892 and is the oldest cemetery still operated by the Diocese. It continues to accept burials today.

Bishop's house photo — Bishop’s house at San Lorenzo Cemetery from the author’s collection at Flickr.

A mortuary chapel was built in 1924. It is often called the Bishops House because Archbishop Josephy Hurley and Bishops John Moore, William Kenny and Patrick Barry are interred there. Surrounding the chapel are the graves of nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph and priests who have served the diocese.

The cemetery is operated by the diocesan Office of Catholic Cemeteries and is located between U.S. 1 and Old Moultrie Road just north of the K-Mart shopping plaza.

Sources:

Julie Conrey, At the Hour of Our Death, St. Augustine Catholic Online, November 2006.
Charles Tingley, presentation at the T’omb It May Concern conference on the historic cemeteries of St. Augustine, June 11-13, 2009.

William Jenkins Worth Monument

On May 25, 2015February 4, 2016 By Denise OlsonIn MilitaryLeave a comment

The Seminole Wars in Florida dragged on for decades and became hugely unpopular and a political hot potato. In 1841, then Colonel Worth took command of the Florida army and in May of 1842 President Tyler decided it was time for this war to come to an end. Colonel Worth made that happen – officially. In reality, sporadic skirmishes with the Seminoles continued until the beginning of the Civil War.

Promoted to brevet brigadier general for his Florida accomplishments, Worth went on to become a hero in the Mexican-American War for his actions at Matamoros, Monterrey and Veracruz. He died in San Antonio of cholera in 1849 while commanding the Department of Texas. His popularity continued to grow after his death.

In 1857, Worth’s remains were re-interred with much pomp and ceremony in New York City at what is now known as Worth Square. Below is a copy of the commemorative booklet printed for the occasion. After his death, his widow, Margaret Stafford Worth, returned to St. Augustine where she lived until her death in 1869. She is buried in the St. Augustine National Cemetery along with her daughter, Mary Worth Sprague who died in 1876. Colonel Sprague, Mary’s husband, served as Worth’s adjutant during the Florida campaign and was the military governor of Florida during Reconstruction.

A copy of this booklet has been passed down to my family – through our Worth cousins in Savannah – and was donated to the Worth Museum in Texas by my father.

Wm J Worth Monument Commemorative Booklet 1857

References:

The Handbook of Texas Online. “Worth, William Jenkins“, accessed 2 November 2008.
The Handbook of Texas Online. “Sprague, John Titcomb“, accessed 2 November 2008.
Edward S. Wallace, General William Jenkins Worth, Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1933.

St. Augustine Genealogical Society

On April 14, 2015January 12, 2017 By Denise OlsonIn AssociationLeave a comment

The St. Augustine Genealogical Society was founded in 1989 and meets every second Saturday at the Southeast Branch – St. Johns County Public Library.

The society maintains an impressive genealogy collection housed at the Southeast Branch library. They also operate an active group on Facebook.

St. Johns County FLGenWeb

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