Posts

Godwin History

Mary Reid Godwin, arrived in the Florida territory in 1826. Her husband, William Solomon Godwin, Sr. and three of their children lay buried in Georgia.  She and her four surviving children: Robert Jacob, Richard Jefferson, William Solomon, Jr., and Susannah Zilla; left Georgia with many neighbors to establish homestead in the Wild Territory of Florida.  The Godwins first settled in the Duval County area for a few years, a common stopping place for many of the settlers coming into Florida from Georgia.  There Susannah married William Bevin and passed away soon after. The boys established neighboring homesteads near the junction of New River and the Santa Fe River now in the Bradford County.  Jacob lived out his life on the New River.  His one child with Elizabeth Sparkman, was James who married Elizabeth Knight and they had one son, Jacob.  James died in 1862 a casualty of the Civil War. Jacob attended Teacher's Normal and school teaching became his pri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wright Carlton

Image
My great-great grandfather is Wright Carlton, a pioneer settler of Nocatee, Florida.  He was  a  soldier, cattleman,  citrus grower and farmer, as well as a land developer,  and church leader. Wright Carlton was born September 17, 1843 in Thomas County, Georgia. His parents, Daniel  and Sallie Ann (Murphy) Carlton, moved through Alachua and Marion Counties in Florida and settled briefly in the Alafia Settlement in Hillsborough County, Florida where they were listed in the 1850 census. Soon the Carlton family moved to Fort Meade and then to Troublesome Creek (between present-day Wauchula and Ona), and after the Civil War to Nocatee, Manatee (now DeSoto) County, Florida. Wright was a unmarried when he  enlisted as a private on April 10, 1862 in Company E, Seventh Florida Infantry, C.S.A. Soon after being enlisting, the Seventh was ordered sent to join the Army of Tennessee, with which they took part in all its campaigns. He was captured December 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Where Are You From?

Image
The words we use for the chores we do or the things we own may shed a light on where in the U.S.A. we live or even where our ancestors came from.     If your family were Dutch settlers, you might call the area if front of your doorsteps a stoop or if from the South a verandah with or without the "h"; while, in other areas you might hear porch.         A paper grocery container is often a paper sack in the South or a paper bag in the North but the ubiquitous plastic grocery container is always a plastic bag. Reusable grocery bags are often called reusable  totes in some areas or green bags in others.             I think one of the best way to trace your background might be what you call that delicious item sold at Dunkin' Donuts. Crullers are Dutch, New England might call them fried cakes, in the Midwest dunkers, while in the South we look for the blinking hot sign.   ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Postcard from Nocatee

Image
              I found this post card in some old papers my mom saved.  It was written and mailed July 19, 1929 at 8 A M from the post office in Nocatee,  Florida. Her grandfather, Edmond H. McQuady sent it to Mrs. Ida McQuady, my mother's grandmother, who was visiting 312 E-22nd St. Jacksonville, Florida. All this information, I took from the front of the post card.  How it arrived in my mom's possession, I have no idea.  Edmond was the first postmaster of Nocatee, appointed on September 25, 1886. I thought I would let you enjoy a glimpse into life in a small Florida community by sharing this note with you: 7/19-29 Yes my Dear Boss All orders have been literally obeyed. Am worried some to find scraps to keep life in pup & cat and the rooster has ___ bad eye, daubed him with ax' grease then kerosene his head no improvement yet.  Hens are doing well.  Sold 2 Doz eggs in 4 days.  You...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Alachua Trail

Image
    As I continue to add branches to my family tree, I notice that the majority of my family arrived into Florida via the Alachua Trail; some even taking time to marry , have children, and be buried in Alachua County (and I thought my only connection was the University of Florida).  My ancestors followed the same trail taken by William Bartram and written about in his book published 1791 entitled, Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida.   Alachua County would have appeared to them as Bartram described it: "The extensive Alachua savanna is a level green plain, above fifteen miles over, fifty miles in circumference, and scarcely a tree or bush of any kind to be seen on it. It is encircled with high sloping hills, covered with waving forests and fragrant Orange groves, rising from an exuberantly fertile soil. The towering magnolia grandiflora and transcendent Palm, stand conspicuous amongst them. At the same time...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Little History

Image
I hope I have not lost you in my story with many parts; and, I hope you will not run away as I tell you I feel compelled to insert a little history in the blog today.  We lived for many years with a home in a rural community whose history was unknown to us. Life was a five day a week drive into Gainesville where Michael restored historical buildings and I worked in finance. We knew Gainesville and its historical significance; but except for Sunday church and the fact our younger children rode the bus to school there each day we had no connection to Hawthorne.( Even later, when I began teaching at Chester Shell Elementary School in Hawthorne I still didn't really know it's history.)  And, the fact that an elderly neighbor had mentioned Rex, well, that community no longer existed.     Paging through the computer I have discovered that the area known as Rex, was a small community in Alachua County east of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Couple of Newspaper Articles

Image
We settled into the old house on 219-A; growing gardens, raising chickens, having a cow and a horse and three children.  As we met our neighbors, we found out the Seminary part of the house's name meant school.  (Several of the older neighbors had actually gone to school there.) When Jenny Wren was in second grade she interviewed one of those neighbors and found out that the schoolhouse was located in what was once the community of Rex and the old hand drawn well had water so good families would come back to the school just to take a drink. ( Even though this well is still right next to the house I can not verify this fact-I never dared to  test it. ) The Godwin Seminary House needed lots of restoration. ( It had been changed from a school into a home used by tenant farmers for many years until Sidney Godwin and his wife decided to make it their own.)  There was a good reason the lights were low and the curtains were closed when we fir...
3 comments
Read more