A few month ago, before my life altering event, I was contacted by the staff of the genealogy show, Finding Your Roots, about the supposed contraband mentioned in the after-action report from the Raid on Marianna, FL. I had to disappoint them that while the report mentions hundreds of people freed, there is no documentation … Continue reading A Dive Into the Deep End of History
Bay County, Florida
Some of the Oldest Cemeteries in Northwest Florida
Let me start by saying that I do not have connections in every county in the Florida panhandle. Both sides of my family are mostly congregated in the northwestern end of the panhandle: Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Holmes counties. In the 20th century when family began moving out of the area they skipped … Continue reading Some of the Oldest Cemeteries in Northwest Florida
“The New County of Bay, a Paradise for the Homeseeker, Agriculturist and Sportsman”, Pensacola Journal, 12 April 1914
Bay County was one of the late-comer counties in the panhandle. It was created from Calhoun and Washington Counties in 1913 at the same time that Walton County obtained a significant shoreline from Washington County. Two years later, Okaloosa County was formed from Santa Rosa and Walton Counties. Unlike the other postings in this series … Continue reading “The New County of Bay, a Paradise for the Homeseeker, Agriculturist and Sportsman”, Pensacola Journal, 12 April 1914
Washington County: Highlights from the 1907 Pensacola Journal newspaper
A few months ago I was browsing early Pensacola Journal newspapers at the Chronicling America website and discovered that they would occasionally do a whole section of the paper on a Florida Panhandle county with ads and articles about the county. I quickly got sidetracked from what I had gone there to look for and … Continue reading Washington County: Highlights from the 1907 Pensacola Journal newspaper
Early Northwest Florida Churches
I have to admit that one of the many things I find interesting in history is the efforts to organize churches early in human settlements. Churches served a number of purposes other than the education and nurturing of the soul; they were ways for people that were often scattered, isolated and busy trying to survive … Continue reading Early Northwest Florida Churches
The Great Depression: The Experiences of Samuel and Nealie Bell Nichols Marsh
Researching to Tell A Story I am an advocate for doing an expansive form of family history. Not just researching, documenting and identifying your direct ancestors, but researching and identifying all of the family of your direct ancestors AND researching and understanding the historical patterns that they likely experienced and how they may have reacted … Continue reading The Great Depression: The Experiences of Samuel and Nealie Bell Nichols Marsh
Northwest Florida History & Genealogy 