For Southerners the period immediately after the Civil War, or Reconstruction, lasted from 1865 until 1876 (see blogs Part I and Part II). For the rest of the country, the end of the War brought a significant amount of change and innovation up until the Great Depression. This is the period in our history where … Continue reading Southern Farmer Unrest, 1865-1905
Walton County, Florida
Oak Grove in Okaloosa County, FL: It’s Importance & Development in the History of the FL Panhandle
Anyone who knows me, or follows my blogs, knows I have an affinity with the upper Yellow River area known as Oak Grove. For the last couple of years, I’ve been researching the genealogy and history of the area that will eventually culminate in a book. Some of us with family from the area like to … Continue reading Oak Grove in Okaloosa County, FL: It’s Importance & Development in the History of the FL Panhandle
Florida’s Secession from the Union and What That Teaches Us About the War – Part 2
As the nation entered 1861, South Carolina had adjourned its Convention and issued its Declaration (17 Dec 1860 - 20 Dec 1860, Declaration issued on 20 Dec 1860 and adopted on the 24th) and several more Southern states had determined to have a Convention to discuss secession (though the assumption in most cases was that … Continue reading Florida’s Secession from the Union and What That Teaches Us About the War – Part 2
The Shadow Occupation in the Florida Panhandle – Ancestors Bootlegging for Fun and Profit
Sooner or later if you study and/or write about America, the South, or the Florida panhandle, you will likely find references to the making of moonshine. I did not have to find my first reference to this once shadowy endeavor, my grandfather spent a year in the Atlanta Penitentiary after being picked up for his … Continue reading The Shadow Occupation in the Florida Panhandle – Ancestors Bootlegging for Fun and Profit
“Walton County – Great West Florida Empire” – 16 March 1913
If your ancestors helped settle the Florida panhandle in the early 19th century, at some point they lived in either Escambia, Walton or Jackson counties because that was the earliest panhandle counties. In 1821, Escambia was the only county in the panhandle. The following year Jackson was added. In 1823, Gadsden separated the eastern part … Continue reading “Walton County – Great West Florida Empire” – 16 March 1913
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
Some Upper Yellow River Area Women Through History – A Video
Bonus April posting - The original rendition of this video was created for my Mom's 90th birthday party. I've added a number of women to the video to create a video celebrating Mother's Day. The song is Mother's Patience by RimskyMusic. If you have a documented photo of any of the women who are included without … Continue reading Some Upper Yellow River Area Women Through History – A Video
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
A Woman’s Work Is Never Done
In the last post, we began talking about the histories of our female ancestors in the Florida panhandle for Women’s History Month. In this post, I want to talk about what their lives were like. Since that has changed over time, I will pick a time period of great change in the United States, and … Continue reading A Woman’s Work Is Never Done
The Challenge of Holmes County Family History Research
Introduction I, like a number of other native Floridians, have ancestors who helped settle Holmes County, Florida. It is a difficult county to research in. As I mentioned in my post of 8 January 2018, the early moving county boundary lines for the area that would become Holmes County in 1848 makes it a challenge … Continue reading The Challenge of Holmes County Family History Research
Northwest Florida History & Genealogy 