Why is Yellow River Baptist Church’s (northern Okaloosa County) history so important to the Florida Panhandle’s history? Now, I might be a bit prejudiced on the side of importance because my family has been involved with the church from its beginnings but there is a broader, more important reason. It is the oldest Baptist Church … Continue reading Teasing Out the History of Yellow River Baptist Church
King Family in Northwest Florida
Miles Jerome King and Dorothy Marie Rice King: Military Lives Well Spent
The end of the year with its holidays focused on family and gratitude always bring me back to thinking about my ancestors and their lives and being grateful that I’ve had the time and funds to research and explore their lives for the last thirty plus years. One ancestor who I heard a lot about … Continue reading Miles Jerome King and Dorothy Marie Rice King: Military Lives Well Spent
In Celebration of Father’s Day
This coming Sunday is Father’s Day. For some reason, it never gets quite as much attention as Mother’s Day. I decided to do a video on the men of the Upper Yellow River area from 1818 on. Very much like I did for Mother’s Day and the women of Oak Grove and surrounding communities. I … Continue reading In Celebration of Father’s Day
Keeping Warm in By-Gone Days
Most Floridians, whether native or transplant, prefer warm and/or hot weather. Most of the time, winter isn’t too bad. We get a good, low-swinging cold front in December, or sometimes November, and we get a dip or two in January and February. And then there is the Easter cold snap that those of us who … Continue reading Keeping Warm in By-Gone Days
Southern Music Back in the Day
We drive around these days listening to the radio, free or paid; listen to music from our TV satellite service; watch musical videos that entertain visually more than stimulate our hearing sense; and have a band accompanying many church services so the voices can't be heard well. Many people can't read music, can't play an … Continue reading Southern Music Back in the Day
The Little Red (or White or Log) Schoolhouse in Northwest Florida: The Student Experience
This week we will skip forward a bit and leave the system and enter the schools of our ancestors. Many of our grandparents and great-grandparents in Florida attended those famous one-room schoolhouses. Generally, this meant all of the students were in the same room, studying materials for their own level; and the older students helped … Continue reading The Little Red (or White or Log) Schoolhouse in Northwest Florida: The Student Experience
Yellow River Baptist Church, Oak Grove, Okaloosa Co, FL
1840-1865 By June of 1840, the small settlement of Oak Grove had managed a small but steady community of residents. The 1840 census showed about 377 residents in the general area from what is now 85 N west to what is now known as Blackman and south to what was once known as Peaden Town … Continue reading Yellow River Baptist Church, Oak Grove, Okaloosa Co, FL
Bertha Alma King Barrow, 1897-1981
Recently, my maternal grandmother has been on my mind a lot. As I mentioned in the previous post, I made contact with a cousin who has sent me some wonderful photographs (see photo at top and names under Resources below) and quite a few letters from my grandmother to her youngest sister from 1959 through … Continue reading Bertha Alma King Barrow, 1897-1981
Panhandle Photographs and Postcards
I love old pictures and postcards. I have been known to buy old photographs of people I don’t even know just because I can’t stand the thought that they are lost to descendants and languishing in an antique shop. While I have generally been able to talk myself out of purchasing photographs of unknown people … Continue reading Panhandle Photographs and Postcards
The Florida Chautauqua Assembly in DeFuniak Springs, FL
The history of the Chautauqua Assembly starts before the Civil War in Chautauqua, New York. Its early beginnings were as informal camp meetings begun in 1855 by Methodists on the shore of Lake Chautauqua. Seventeen years later a Methodist minister and a layman in the Methodist faith expanded the camp meetings into formal education for … Continue reading The Florida Chautauqua Assembly in DeFuniak Springs, FL
