Let’s do a thought experiment to open this month’s post. It is June 1863. You are a 32-year man who was born and raised in the Florida panhandle. You are married with four children still living. Your wife is a small woman with a strong will but losing a couple of children over the last … Continue reading April 1863 – April 1864: The Independence Experiment Begins to Falter and the Florida Panhandle Homefront Becomes Chaotic
Unionism in Civil War
The Hidden History of the Florida Panhandle During the Civil War, Pt 3
This is the third in a series of blog posts on the 1st Florida Union Cavalry and the Florida panhandle (and south Alabama) during the War for Southern Independence (aka War Between the States or Civil War). You can find the first blog here and the second one here. Again, let’s pickup where we left … Continue reading The Hidden History of the Florida Panhandle During the Civil War, Pt 3
The Hidden History of the Florida Panhandle During the Civil War, Pt 2
We left off last time exploring which States the men of the 1st Florida Cavalry Union Volunteers were living in during the 1860 census. Let’s pick up from there and dig a little deeper. Today the Northwest Florida panhandle consists of the following counties: Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, … Continue reading The Hidden History of the Florida Panhandle During the Civil War, Pt 2
The Hidden History of the Florida Panhandle During the Civil War, Pt 1
Pensacola Bay Today outside the ranks of the intensely interested students of the Civil War, many do not know of the Southern participation in the Union Army. Many Southerners are unaware that every Southern state, except South Carolina, had at least one white regiment fighting for the Union. For those of us in the Florida … Continue reading The Hidden History of the Florida Panhandle During the Civil War, Pt 1
Florida’s Secession and how NW Florida Families Experienced the War – Part 3
For my last two blogs (Part 1 and Part 2), we’ve been looking at Florida’s Secession Convention and its Declaration in support of secession that led to Florida leaving the United States and within a short period of time becoming a part of the Confederate States of America. In this final blog in this series, … Continue reading Florida’s Secession and how NW Florida Families Experienced the War – Part 3
Did Your Southern Ancestor Serve With the Union? An Exploration of the 1st Florida Union Cavalry Volunteers
The War for Southern Independence (aka the American Civil War or the War Between the States) was a difficult war as experienced by Floridians and south Alabamians. It was not just about “do I side with the Confederacy or the Union”, it was about the safety of families left behind and whether they would survive … Continue reading Did Your Southern Ancestor Serve With the Union? An Exploration of the 1st Florida Union Cavalry Volunteers
The 1870 Walton County Census: A Glimpse in Time
Have you ever been looking at a census, scanning pages for an ancestor’s name, and begin to notice a pattern that may be telling you something about that community, during that time period? I have, on a number of occasions. One of the more recent ones was when I was scanning through the 1870 Walton … Continue reading The 1870 Walton County Census: A Glimpse in Time
Questions of Honor and Courage: Individual Decisions During the Civil War
Many of us with ancestors in the Florida panhandle know there was a Union regiment of Southern men that served during the Civil War at Ft. Barrancas. Many of us have ancestors who served with that regiment and we have family stories or reasons that they served that we hold to be true. But most … Continue reading Questions of Honor and Courage: Individual Decisions During the Civil War
Approaching the Coming Crisis: 1840-1860 in the NW Florida community of Oak Grove
Our little side journey meeting some of my ancestors has for the moment ended. Let’s return to Oak Grove, Okaloosa Co, FL in the decades of the 1840s and 1850s. In the last post on Oak Grove we left the area with the 1840 census. I listed 51 households from the 1840 census that I … Continue reading Approaching the Coming Crisis: 1840-1860 in the NW Florida community of Oak Grove
Big Fish in a Small Northwest Florida Pond: William Franklin and Mary Ann Malissa Hart King
The Kings were latecomers to the Oak Grove area, arriving sometime between 1880 and 1885. It isn’t known what motivated them to move west from Walton County and settle in the small, rural community of Oak Grove. But they are there by the 1885 Florida census and William Franklin is teaching, running a general store … Continue reading Big Fish in a Small Northwest Florida Pond: William Franklin and Mary Ann Malissa Hart King
Northwest Florida History & Genealogy 