Preorder my Latest Book: “Yankees in the Courthouse”

https://www.amazon.com/Yankees-Courthouse-Florida-Reconstruction-Biography-ebook/dp/B0FXHLH6H5

OLD AGE IS NOT FOR SISSIES

NOTHING IN LIFE IS TO BE FEARED

A Journey to Virginia’s Northern Neck — and a Walk Through Our Own History

by Filed Under: Following Old Trails, Genealogy, Travel Leave a Comment

My sister and I just returned from a trip to the Northern Neck of Virginia.

Most of you are probably wondering. Where in the world is that?

Until recently, I might have asked the same question.

Where Is the Northern Neck?

The Northern Neck is a long, tapering peninsula in eastern Virginia, shaped entirely by water. It is bordered by two broad tidal rivers, the Potomac River to the north and the Rappahannock River to the south, both flowing eastward into the Chesapeake Bay.

Screenshot

The land is gently rolling, not mountainous. Low bluffs overlook wide marshes. Pine and oak forests stretch inland. Creeks and inlets lace the shoreline. Herons lift from the reeds. Bald eagles and osprey circle overhead. Working farms sit beside colonial-era churches and family cemeteries that have watched centuries pass.

It is quiet there. Spacious. Unhurried.

The tides still seem to set the rhythm of life.

What Is There Today?

The Northern Neck remains rural and lightly developed. Small towns and historic villages are connected by winding two-lane roads. Fishing, crabbing, and oystering are not museum demonstrations. They are still livelihoods.

Large portions of shoreline remain untouched by modern sprawl, something increasingly rare along the East Coast. In many places, it feels as if the 18th century never fully left.

And that’s part of its magic.

Why It Matters

For such a quiet corner of America, the Northern Neck has an outsized place in our nation’s story.

It is the birthplace of George Washington, born at Pope’s Creek in Westmoreland County. It is also home ground for:

An extraordinary concentration of leadership emerged from this slender peninsula.

Why?

Because the rivers were the highways of their day. Wealthy landholding families had access to education, transatlantic trade, and political discourse flowing in from the Atlantic world. From that environment came men accustomed to governance, debate, and responsibility.

Today, Virginia is marking America’s 250th anniversary with the motto: “America — Made in Virginia.” After walking those shores, it is hard to argue otherwise.

Why We Went

We came because we believed the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding was reason enough to visit where it began.

But we also came for something more personal.

In the 1600s, our ancestor William R. Wroe settled in this very region. He is my eighth great-grandfather, a merchant from Lancashire, England. He married Judith Brown, who was born in the Virginia colony. Her grandfather, Henry Brooks, purchased land on the Neck directly from the crown, land that would eventually pass through descendants and be sold to a family named Washington.

Yes! That Washington.

That land became Pope’s Creek, the birthplace of George Washington.

Our “25 seconds of fame” is recorded on a kiosk at the George Washington Birthplace National Monument. My sister and I stood there, took our picture beside it, and quietly let that sink in.

We did not know any of this while my father was alive. It was only through DNA testing of my father’s brother — and connecting with Roe descendants from William Wroe’s son Benjamin — that the story came together.

John Wroe, the eldest son and our direct ancestor, later changed the spelling of his name to Roe. From Virginia, he moved his family to Pendleton, South Carolina. In 1832 they relocated to North Georgia. In 1920, my grandfather Roe moved from North Georgia to South Georgia, married my grandmother, and eventually settled in Monticello, Florida — my hometown.

From the Northern Neck… to Florida.

From colonial Virginia… to us.

A Mason Connection

There is one more thread.

After his first wife died, William Wroe married Hannah Mason. The Mason family was deeply rooted in Tidewater Virginia. From that same extended family came George Mason, often called the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, a direct influence on our U.S. Bill of Rights.

It is humbling to realize how closely family lines once intertwined in those early days.

Why It Matters to Us Now

For those of us over fifty, something shifts in how we see places like this.

We begin to understand that history is not just dates and textbooks. It is bloodlines. It is migration. It is courage and loss and starting over. It is names spelled one way in one century and another way in the next.

Walking the Northern Neck felt like walking backward into time and forward into gratitude.

This old trail follows not only the birth of our nation, but the settlement of our earliest ancestors. It reminds us that the American story is not abstract.

It is personal.

I’ll be sharing more photos and updates on my “Old Age is Not” Facebook page. A link can be found on this web site.

From Frontier to Reconstruction: The Final Palmetto Pioneers Story

by Filed Under: Books, Entertainment Reviews, Family History Writing, Genealogy, Palmetto Pioneers

I launched the latest book in the Palmetto Pioneers series late fall, and the book sales have been wonderful. Several readers told me that this is the best book of the series.

Though I earlier introduced the book to this blog, I still wanted to tell you a little more about its storyline.

Yankees in the Courthouse: A Florida Civil War & Reconstruction Biography

Sunlight filters through tall pines and rambling live oaks. Palmetto fronds crackle in the wind. A wagon creaks down a sandy, clay road toward a future both uncertain and full of promise. Their faith is strong, tempers simmer, and survival demands everything. Thus, all describe Florida and its palmetto pioneers.

The Palmetto Pioneers series captured the essence of frontier Florida—its beauty and brutality, its heart and history. Think weathered wood porches, cattlemen in the swamps, cotton fields after rain, courthouse steps heavy with secrets, and women whose strength is quiet but unbreakable.

Jefferson County, Florida’s 19th Century Courthouse

The palmetto pioneer’s story is an aesthetic of grit and grace—where faith collides with conflict, families hold fast through loss, and the human spirit endures beneath the Southern sun.

The long-awaited third and last book in this series was released last fall. Entitled Yankees in the Courthouse, the reader returns to Florida deep into the Civil War, when she sends her boys and men north to fight far from their homeland. 

Using faith, family, and fortitude, the palmetto pioneers shaped and tamed terratorial Florida’s wild frontier in the first book. It is a quintessential American frontier saga. By the second book the pioneers increased their progeny and prosperity during Florida’s first significant peace time, but by the end of the book, the winds of a war threaten far to their north. This book returns the reader to just before the height of this war, when the South fights to retain Tennessee and Virginia.

All together, all three books are rich in historical detail and rooted in real 19th century Florida events. The trilogy brings to life the spirit of early Florida–its trials, its triumphs, and the legacy it leaves behind. 

Yankees in the Courthouse covers several tropes.

Tropes, more commonly used by our younger people, quickly describe a recurrent theme in literature, film, and other forms of storytelling. Some of those more common are coming of age, enemies to lovers, and a cozy mystery. The first book in the Palmetto Pioneers series was a “coming of age” story for both its main character Mary and for the state of Florida as well.

For ease, I’ve encased the following tropes in quotation marks. Yankees in the Courthouse weaves together several historical and dramatic tropes. For example, it is  “postwar reconstruction” as Jefferson County struggles to rebuild after the devastation of the Civil War. The narrative also embodies a “divided town with divided loyalties,” where neighbors, friends, and even families find themselves torn apart by competing convictions and lingering wounds. 

As a “Southern Reconstruction drama” the novel follows the tension that rises when outsiders–Yankees–arrive to enforce new laws on a community still reeling from loss. And central to it all is the “courthouse confrontation,” where justice is tested in the very square occupied by Union soldiers and where the secret of a small-town scandal arises.

There are character and relationship tropes, such as “enemies to allies,” where former foes find common ground for survival or justice. The series’ main character Mary Adeline Walker Andrews brings one trope to life, because she becomes a “strong female protagonist,” a woman who navigates hardship and loss using her moral compass. All of the characters, though, have “faith tested by fire,” where they wrestle with forgiveness, justice, and God’s will. It all adds up to their “family legacy,” where generations are shaped by their past choices.

When you read Yankees in the Courthouse, you’ll get an emotion and theme of “redemption and renewal,” a rising from ashes, personally and collectively. There are instances of “cost of conscience,” where the pioneers do what is right even when it comes at a price.

All in all, the book is about tradition vs. change, when Old South values collide with new realities. It describes how pioneers heal from their war wounds through forgiveness, reconciliation, and by rebuilding their community.

Most of all, the reader will understand the small town of Monticello itself as a character, where its courthouse and town square embodies the heart of the conflict and the overall story.

The pioneers had weathered the wilderness, survived division, and endured war. In this last book, they faced the uncertain years of Reconstruction, when their town was occupied, their freedoms curtailed, and their future clouded by mistrust. Yankees in the Courthouse tells the story of resilience in the face of loss, and of ordinary families struggling to rebuild when history itself seemed against them.

Yankees in the Courthouse – Book 3 of the “Palmetto Pioneers” Series | Launching Nov. 15, 2025

by Filed Under: Genealogy, Palmetto Pioneers

I’m thrilled to share some exciting news—Book Three in the Palmetto Pioneers series, Yankees in the Courthouse, is almost here!

This latest installment continues the sweeping story of the hardy settlers who carved a life out of the Florida frontier. If you’ve followed along from The Emigrants and From Harmony to Hostility, you know the journey has been filled with hardship, resilience, and the forging of a community against the odds.

Now, in Yankees in the Courthouse, the story moves into the turbulent years during and following the Civil War, when families who had already endured so much must face new upheavals, struggles, and questions of loyalty and justice.

📖 Mark your calendars:

  • Pre-orders will open by November 1, 2025
  • Official launch date: November 15, 2025

If you’d like to be the first to know when Yankees in the Courthouse becomes available for pre-order—and get behind-the-scenes updates as I move through the publishing process—I’d love for you to join my mailing list. Sign up below to have news delivered straight to your inbox, so you’ll never miss an announcement or a launch day surprise! I do not share this list with anyone!

I can’t wait for you to step back into this world and see where the next chapter of the Palmetto Pioneers’ journey leads.

If you’ve enjoyed the series so far—or if you’re just discovering it now—this is the perfect time to catch up before the release of Book Three. Stay tuned here on the blog for more updates, behind-the-scenes stories, and a few sneak peeks as we get closer to launch day! You can find the books on my website or on this site on the Booktable.

https://www.palmettopioneers.com

Thank you, as always, for reading and walking this journey with me. Your encouragement and support mean the world.

A One-Year Anniversary Update for “Palmetto Pioneers: From Harmony to Hostility”

by Filed Under: Books, Family History Writing, Genealogy, Palmetto Pioneers

Palmetto Pioneers: From Harmony to Hostility was published on March 22, 2024 on Amazon and several months later on other sites such as Barnes and Nobles.  As of this today, it has been available more than a year. In the fall, Amazon allowed me to rename the e-version of the book for better sales. In the fall, I renamed it, Palmetto Pioneers: A Historical Biography About Florida’s Path to the Civil War. It has been a successful year.

It was chosen as a Nonfiction Regional Finalist in the 27th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards. They’ll announce the winners in June. 

As of March 22, on Amazon, the book held a sales rank of 762,184 in the Kindle Store out of the millions of books provided. It ranked 269 in History of the U.S. Confederacy. On Amazon, 67% of those who rated it gave it 5-stars for an overall rating of 4.3 out of 5. 

Book 2 in the Palmetto Pioneers Series

Here’s what others are saying about the book, including in a professional review.

Theme(s):

The book’s central themes include: 

1. Resilience Amidst Frontier Challenges: The book showcases the Andrews family’s endurance as they confront the hardships of mid-1800’s life in Florida, including economic fluctuations and societal changes. 

2. Impact of Socio-Political Turmoil: The story delves into the effects of political events, such as Florida’s secession and the Civil War, on the family’s dynamics and their community.  

3. Strength of Family Bonds: Throughout the upheavals, the family’s unity and support for one another are emphasized, highlighting the importance of familial relationships during turbulent times.

These themes are interwoven to depict the family’s journey through a transformative period in Florida’s history, illustrating their resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity. 

Characters:

This historical narrative follows the lives of William H. Andrews and Mary Adeline Walker and their children during this transformative period in Florida’s history.  

The Book’s Back Cover

Plot and Characters:

The story begins in the later 1840s, portraying the couple’s seemingly idyllic life in Florida. William, a refined gentleman from Washington, D.C., marries Mary, the illiterate daughter of a Florida pioneer cattleman from South Carolina. Their union symbolizes the merging of different worlds, setting the stage for the challenges they will face together.  

As Florida transitions from statehood to secession, the Andrews family encounters many trials, including economic hardships, societal upheavals, and the looming threat of the Civil War. 

William’s roles as a lawman, railroad agent, politician, and soldier pull him away from home, leaving Mary to manage the household and their children amidst the uncertainties of the frontier.  

The narrative delves into Mary’s resilience as she confronts economic challenges, multiple pregnancies, and illiteracy, all while coping with the absence of her husband and sons who are scattered across battlefields from Memphis to South Carolina and from Florida to Ohio. Her steadfastness highlights the often-overlooked strength of women during this tumultuous era.  

Through the lens of the Andrews family’s experiences, the book offers a vivid portrayal of early Florida’s harsh frontier life, the impact of national conflicts on local communities, and the enduring power of familial bonds in the face of adversity.  

Setting:

The setting of Palmetto Pioneers: From Harmony to Hostility is Florida during the mid-19th century, spanning the years leading up to and during the American Civil War. The story follows the Andrews family as they navigate life on the Florida frontier, a time of economic struggles, societal shifts, and increasing political tension.

Key elements of the setting include:

• Florida’s rural frontier: The novel portrays the hardships of pioneering life, including managing land, cattle, and household responsibilities in an evolving but still largely untamed environment. 

The first quarter of the book is set in the rural community of Elizabeth in Jefferson County, Florida. The final 3/4 of the book is set in Monticello, the county seat. It is a small rural city 8 miles south of the Georgia line and 26 miles east of Florida’s capital city, Tallahassee. 

The Road to the Elizabeth Baptist Church Cemetery

• Southern society before secession: The book captures the dynamics of class, gender roles, and literacy disparities in the South, particularly as seen in the marriage of William H. Andrews (a well-educated man from Washington, D.C.) and Mary Adeline Walker (the daughter of a cattleman, who was illiterate).

• The Civil War’s impact on Florida: The setting shifts to various battlefields across the South as the Andrews men become involved in the war, while Mary struggles to maintain the family home in Florida amidst uncertainty.

This historical backdrop provides a vivid portrayal of Florida’s transformation from a developing state to a battleground of shifting allegiances and hardships.

An Excerpt From the Book:

“Monticello boomed throughout the 1850s and remained so for a dozen or more years. Through the “Family Friend”, several stores advertised every item imaginable. 

At Johnson, Williams, & Co’s “Railroad Store” for staple goods, Mary and her closest friend and Uncle Joel’s widow Betsy sought a “new style of bustle, made entirely of steel and so light.” 

The stores had goods for men, and William may have shopped in them for “cutlery, saddlery … woodware, tinware, trunks” and maybe even “an umbrella.” Whether at John S. Divine’s or Budd’s store on the courthouse square (in the building that today says ‘Bank’), William, as a politician in the county, probably shopped at all Monticello stores. 

Obviously, people still had money to spend, and William remained gainfully employed with at least four known jobs during the 1850s—constable, census enumerator, sheriff, and railroad agent. His ability to read, write, and cipher was still important in providing for his family.

— Palmetto Pioneers: From Harmony to Hostility by Cindy Roe Littlejohn

https://a.co/6WVGJQp

Photo is Budd’s Store on the Courthouse Square (now Cowhaus Coffee), Florida Memory Collection

An Update on the Florida Book Series “Palmetto Pioneers”

by Filed Under: Books, Genealogy, Palmetto Pioneers

The backdrop for this trilogy is North Florida, specifically a county in the often-overlooked Forgotten Coast region. Locals also call it the Big Bend, and we’ve sometimes joked that it’s Florida’s armpit—where nothing ever happens. But that changed in the past two years when hurricanes Idalia and Debby paid us a visit.

Map of Florida Showing Jefferson County in Red

However, that’s not the entire story, as I’ve detailed in my book series. As Florida struggled to gain statehood, Jefferson County flourished and became home to the descendants of some of our nation’s founding fathers and Revolutionary War heroes. Even an exiled crowned prince, Achille Murat, found his home here with his wife, the grandniece of George Washington. Murat, the grandnephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, eventually became the County Judge.

I explore these fascinating beginnings in the first book of the series, but by the time the Civil War erupted in 1861, most of these early figures had either passed away or moved on.

Book 1 in the Palmetto Pioneers Series

Despite this, the county continued to prosper—until everything changed. I delve into this in the second book, From Harmony to Hostility.

Book 2 in the Series

During the boom years leading up to the Civil War, Monticello’s wealthier residents constructed many of the homes and businesses that still stand today.

The third book in the series, Yankees in the Courthouse, examines how this community weathered the storm of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Due to the high percentage of freedmen in Jefferson County, federal forces occupied the area, giving rise to the book’s title.

The setting for all three books is this county as it develops—growing and shrinking, as families come together and fall apart, and as the local economy experiences booms and busts.

Book Awards

A few months after self-publishing my first book, The Migrants, a reader suggested I enter it into the Florida Book Awards. I hadn’t heard of these awards before, but when I looked them up, I discovered my book had already missed the deadline.

However, there were other award programs, both statewide and national. Although some were out of reach because I write nonfiction and am self-published, I found a few I could enter. I was told that winning an award could help with marketing.

Last May, Palmetto Pioneers: The Migrants won a national IPPY bronze medal for nonfiction in the Southeastern region. Then, in August, the Florida Authors and Publishers Association awarded the same book a gold medal for history, a gold medal for biography, and a silver medal for cover design.

IPPY Bronze
FAPA Gold

Suppose you’re interested in Florida’s prior history. In that case, particularly the period between its territorial days and statehood, spanning the time it was under Spanish rule until it seceded from the Union—this series offers a rich, detailed portrait of life during those years. It follows a family from the time they leave South Carolina in 1829 until their oldest daughter reaches her senior years in 1871. The series captures what they encountered upon arrival, the challenges they faced while homesteading and the life of a cattleman providing for his family during the nation’s most expensive Indian War. It also tells the story of his daughter’s marriage to a stranger from Washington, DC.

The second book delves into her life and explores what it was like for women to thrive in such challenging times. It also traces her husband’s journey as he becomes a politician, lawman, and soldier in the Civil War.

The third book, still in the editing phase and set for publication by 2026, will continue their story through the Civil War and into the Reconstruction years. This series, grounded in historical fact, provides a vivid, true-to-life account of Florida’s past.

How to: From Genealogy to a Family Book

by Filed Under: Genealogy

Over seven years ago, when I retired, I stared at the boxes and files filled with over 35 years of genealogical research. It was time to digitize everything, so I did that for about three years. It took about three hours a day. 

The family trees and research are on Ancestry with a backup on my computer using Family Tree Maker software. I was an ancient customer of Ancestry, all the way back to the early 1990s. When I backed up what was online, I chose Family Tree Maker shortly after that. Their track record was already good. I trusted them.

I stayed with both because Ancestry offered an extensive sample, and the Family Tree Maker’s track record was still excellent. Plus, it would require too much work to change now. I had too much invested.

While inputting it, I couldn’t help wondering whether anyone in my family would actually read it. Except for one daughter, I feared no one else would take the time to search through the “this ancestor begat that ancestor” information. 

So what can one do to ensure one’s offspring understands their heritage?

It occurred to me that people will read narrative stories before reading basic research, so I wrote a book.

Because I needed help, I found Lynn Palermo and her Family History Writing Studio. Her online courses teach amateur genealogists how to write about one’s family in a narrative nonfiction way. 

Family History Writing Studio

I signed up for a 28-day challenge held in February several years ago. It turned out to be just what I needed. The challenge came with daily directives, such as identifying the theme and focus of what I wished to write. She immediately made me realize I needed to focus on one or two ancestors instead of entire families.

Next, it helped me organize and gather the resources I already had. In addition, it helped me understand the resources and research needed. She just completed one of these last February.

https://Family History Writing Challenge

Later, for example, she requested a short story about our chosen ancestor, and the challenge participants critiqued each other’s work. It became a daily exercise that got each of us into the habit of writing. 

The result was a book series entitled Palmetto Pioneers, a three-book story. I chose one family member, Mary Adeline Walker, my third-great-grandmother, on my maternal side. She came to territorial Florida in 1829 and settled with her parents and grandparents near Monticello, Florida. They were yeoman farmers who primarily raised cattle.

During the 28-day challenge, I focused on my family in my home county. I had been told they were among the first settlers of this area of Florida, but there were too many family lines. I descend from the Hamricks, McSwains, Rodgers, Wheelers, Lightseys, Andrews, Wilsons, Carters, and Walkers. All arrived in Jefferson County, Florida, before the Civil War. 

I narrowed the list to the Walkers because they first arrived in 1829. They came to this county as several Walker families.

I chose Mary because she is the keystone for the distinct lines of the family from which I descended. Her daughter, an Andrews, married a Lightsey, who married a Hamrick. My mother is a Hamrick.

All I knew about Mary, though, was her marriage. It required much more research to prove her parents. Until the 1850 census, the enumerator did not ask for the names of other household members, so she is not listed by name in the 1830 and 1840 censuses. She married in 1843 and moved out. However, there is a girl her age in each of the two earlier censuses; and I could not find a girl her age living with any other Walker family. There are other secondary sources used in the proof argument in the book.

Mary’s parentage wasn’t the only research needed. It took over two more years of research, including over 120 digitized issues of Monticello’s first newspaper from 1859 to 1861. This process was slow but valuable. Information gleaned from these issues changed the story. I had to rewrite an entire chapter of the second book.

Because I was writing a narrative account, the story needed much more than its characters’ primary and secondary resources. I realized I needed a timeline, not only for local happenings but also for state and national. I developed all three timelines and used them to fill in the backstory, those events happening to the family at each point. 

For example, during the Second Seminole Indian War, Jefferson County suffered many massacres. One was in Mary’s community. History Geo showed that the massacred family lived next door, close enough for the family to hear. Local diaries and journals described the fear of children and adults. One log told about a Carter cousin killed.

While researching the family for the book, I realized that Mary and her husband may be Florida pioneers. Thus, I began the Florida Pioneer Descendent Certificate process. At first, this task seemed daunting, but the Florida State Genealogical Society had an excellent system to follow. A warning, though. If I had looked too far ahead at the amount of work to be done, I wouldn’t have started it. But I went through each part step-by-step without looking ahead, and before I realized it, I was done. 

When I turned in my initial application, it needed more. Kathy Stickney contacted me, and she became my mentor. She was on the committee that helped those who wished to complete their certificates. I accomplished it several years ago. 

A Series named Palmetto Pioneers

I entitled the first book “The Emigrants,” which begins when Mary was seven and still living in South Carolina. It covers the roads we believe they took between Colleton District and Monticello, Florida. It is also a bit of a history lesson, describing why these areas had recently opened.

Determining when they left South Carolina and arrived in Jefferson County required several resources. Later, census records showed when their children were born and where. Using these dates and places provided a good idea when they made the trip. Common sense showed they probably made the trip in the late fall or early winter. These were farmers. They would have wanted to stay for the last harvest and be in place in the new land by the time of planting. With all this information, we felt confident they left around early October 1829 and arrived by the end of the year, with plenty of time to raise their cabins and get their first crops into the ground.

To determine what route they took, I studied maps from that era. The family did not use some roads because they traveled with livestock. According to journals and diaries from that era, the road down the east coast and the Coffee trail did not have enough water for the cattle. I studied other roads, weighing their distance and ease of travel, before choosing the most likely route.

The first book ends when Mary marries and begins having children. She married a widower born and raised in the District of Columbia, when Washington, DC, was rebuilt after the British burned the Capitol and other buildings during the War of 1812. His father was a joiner in the carpentry business there. 

Another milestone of the book’s ending, though, is statehood. The book carries the reader through when her father and husband vote in Florida’s first statewide election. For this story, their day began early because they had to ride 8 miles into town for the event. Because it was spring, a busy time on any farm, I felt certain Mary’s father did not come into town the day before.

When I began the book and was well into ending it, I thought I was working on one book. It wasn’t until my 94-year-old distant cousin read it for family content. He said, “Cindy, I think this is two books.” He kept the chapters I sent him and placed them in a notebook. It required two large notebooks. That is when I knew I had written a series.

The book is self-published by Amazon, and it was easier to publish than I imagined. It is available on Amazon as an e-book, paperback, and hardback. Because I felt the first book was over-priced, I have split the second part in half again. Hopefully, the next two will be a cheaper read.

The book has an extensive bibliography in the back, and the e-version can be word searched for any person, place, or event.

Though my primary purpose was to write a book for my descendants, I always had in mind two more secondary goals. I love my state and my county, and it concerns me that my neighboring citizens do not understand its rich history. I meant these books to provide anyone, whether kin, a look into how this wonderful state was settled. 

FAN Club Research & Family History Writing

by Filed Under: Genealogy

I blogged earlier about location research, but another type of research can help you drill further into a person’s or family’s life. It is called researching a person’s FAN Club. I’ll use my main character Mary as a model.

Mary’s records included census records from 1830 in Jefferson County to 1870. I also found marriage records, tax records, and several land records. These helped me determine where she lived and traveled, but there are more profound clues that can help one paint a broader picture. For example, who witnessed these events and filed for a marriage license just before or after hers? Who married her?

Laura Andrews Lightsey, daughter of Mary

Census records can show us who their neighbors were. Who else lived in their community? Land records can help one tell how far away that person lived? Who witnessed their land purchases? Who purchased land on the same day? Who voted, and who voted next or immediately before in line. These people are their FAN Club (their friends, associates, and neighbors). Many of these people may be related to them, though they may not initially appear to be.

Elizabeth Shown Mills named the FAN club, which can also be called cluster research. In short, it is a network of people to whom a person connects. It was imperative to research Mary because no definitive records show who her parents are. I had to look to others around her to find the answer.

For example, her father and her husband traveled together to vote back to back in Florida’s first statewide election. Her brother Henry and her husband traveled together to Tallahassee and bought adjoining land on the same day from the US government. Almost all of her children named at least one child after her father, one of which named his son Jesse Walker Andrews, using her father’s surname, too. Several of her Walker family members named their children after her husband.

FAN research was also used to determine Mary’s mother’s maiden name. Though less robust, there is one secondary document with her maiden name listed, but the informant never knew her personally. The document is dated more than forty years after Elizabeth died.

However, using FAN club research, some people lived nearby, both in South Carolina and in Florida, who shared this maiden surname.
Numerous Wilsons attended their church in South Carolina. Also, in Jefferson County, a lady less than a quarter mile away in the northern part of the Elizabeth community shares the same surname and could be a sister. Both Mary’s mother and this woman came to Florida from the same community in South Carolina at the same time. Both their husbands are descendants of Walkers, too. This and other information make a strong case that Mary’s mother was a Wilson before she married.

This additional research can provide clues that your ancestor‘s research failed to do. Granted, it is much more work, but it can help you break through your brick wall.

Using FAN club or cluster research, one can rely upon indirect clues and a preponderance of evidence to build a case instead of relying on primary evidence, which is often unavailable.

The more I learned about Mary–who lived with or near her and interacted with her family–the more I learned about Mary herself.

To learn more, please click on the link below.

https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-11-identity-problems-fan-principle/

A Timeline Can Make Your Writing Better

by Filed Under: Genealogy, Palmetto Pioneers

Since I published the book, I’ve had numerous requests for information on how I prepared. Writing a family history book, especially one that is narrative, required research and ways to analyze the information found.

I spent over two years researching the book. I gathered my main character’s information, reviewed what I already had, and searched for her FAN Club (her friends, associates, and neighbors). Still, making a timeline was one of the most essential parts of this research. It included dates, events, places, and occupations.

In the end, I had several different timelines: one for the family (dates of births, religious dates, marriages, deaths, etc.), one for local events (Monticello & Jefferson County), one for state events (Florida), and one for national. There were two more for the Civil War and for the Second Seminole Indian War. I added nothing to a timeline without a good reference, and I immediately added the reference to my bibliography.

I used timelines to illustrate how things changed over time and to draw connections between the people and events. I also used them to check my work, especially the chronological events. Sometimes, it helped me add more dialogue since it is obvious the residents of a town would converse about important changes happening to them.

My timelines brought together elements of my character’s history, the people they may have known, the places they may have frequented, and the events that might have brought them to town.

Timeline for Monticello Events

The timelines were formatted with bullets for the dates and events. Sometimes, it was for a full date and sometimes only a year was given.

I eventually did a spreadsheet for the Civil War, showing the men from the family who fought in it, their units, and the places they fought. I could add a line anytime I needed, and I could sort the date, event, or place. This was especially helpful. I added their regiments and companies and could sort them according to such. This way, I could see them as a unit for questions like who else served with them, who was wounded in a particular battle, and who didn’t return home.

Family in the Military Spreadsheet

Initially, I didn’t cite sources for the individual events within the timelines, but I realized later I should have. It would have made it easier for me to check a reference when I noticed that the order of some events was duplicated. For example, I discovered conflicting dates for events in the Indian and Civil Wars. They conflicted because people’s memories aren’t always the same. A person’s diary written on the spot is better than a person’s memoir, especially when that person’s memoir was written fifty years after the event.

When Location Becomes Their Story

by Filed Under: Books, Following Old Trails, Genealogy, Palmetto Pioneers

One of the most important parts of writing the book “Palmetto Pioneers” was research. Studying the location of my chosen ancestor became an important next step.

But let’s take a step back. I didn’t begin looking at the locations. I began reviewing what I already knew about my main character, Mary. I went back to my original research, first to my paper files, then my online files, such as her family’s Ancestry tree.

This review identified all the places she had lived or traveled. This was easy because Mary lived in Colleton District, South Carolina and traveled by wagon with her parents and extended family to Jefferson County, Florida. It appears she lived there for the rest of her life, so I only had three locations to research, but one of which was fluid.

I asked questions. Where was she married (Jefferson County, Florida marriage record)? When and where were her children born (census records which showed when and where she lived)? Where and when did she die? I also looked for land, court, and probate records.

Full Book Cover–Front, Back, & Spine

An important part of this process was making a timeline for the family. It had three columns—one for the event, one for the date, and another for the place. It helped tremendously when trying to find events or write about them in the correct order they happened.

It also showed flaws in the research. Not everyone’s memory is the same for any event, and people make mistakes when recording important dates. Timelines helped me find the discrepancies and then helped me either fix the discrepancies or explain them in the book.

These earlier steps, used to analyze Mary and those around her, brought me to the next part of my research.

Where did these events take place? And what did I know about them?

Using census records for her father and the other Walker heads of household in the family, we know she came from South Carolina, most likely Colleton District, southwest of Charleston. But what did I really know about that area? This became an important question for the next step.

I began with the courthouse in Colleton County, but before making a trip up there, I researched the courthouse itself and where I could expect to find records. Right away, I discovered that though the courthouse itself did not burn during the Civil War, its records did. Because they were on the path of Sherman, they sent their records for safekeeping to their capital, Columbia. After marching through Colleton County and leaving its courthouse untouched, Sherman made a beeline to Columbia and burned the capitol and Colleton’s records there.

However, I learned that there are land records in neighboring counties that show lands near the county lines. They reflect who owned the land across the line. Barnwell County’s records for Lightsey lands showed the Walkers were their neighbors in Colleton County. I also learned that people have donated records from their families to a local Genealogy Room, which was in the same building as Colleton’s extension service. There is also a genealogy room at the county library.

Roadtrip!

This led to my favorite pastime—travel. Add a trip to a genealogical site, and for me it is a match made in heaven. I chose one of the old routes, certainly not an interstate highway, and I drove from Monticello to Walterboro, wondering if these families may have used a trail or road nearby.

Family Search Wiki, Colonial Roads in America

Using all this information, I made several trips to Walterboro, the county seat, and to the location of the Walker lands near Carter’s Ford on the Little Salkehatchie River. This location research was invaluable to the story, especially when the family still lived in South Carolina. It was wonderful to walk where they had walked almost two hundred years before, but why did they leave? Studying their first location could help provide answers.

The Florida State Genealogical Society featured a speaker last month during their Poolside Chat series. Diana Elder suggested in her presentation entitled, “Locality, Locality, Locality: Putting Your Ancestors in Their Place,” that one should create a “locality guide.” I wish I had listened to this about six years ago. It would have saved me later headaches.

I should have created a “Colleton County Locality Guide,” with a section for “Background Information,” showing “Quick Facts” such as laws that changed the economic environment for the family and their dates, purchases of property, natural disasters in their area, when South Carolina became a colony, and so forth. One event I found was the building of a nearby railroad, which might have changed the family’s mind about moving since the railroad provided better opportunities to reach new markets.

In the Locality Guide, “General Collections” shows where to find information as well as “Online Research Guides” and “Maps and their Dates”. Here, one records maps that show the changes in state and county lines. Within Colleton County, they divided the county into parishes. The family lived in the St. Bartholomew Parish, but did they always? The guide is used to collect all the information found about a location.

The Walker Migration Route

Another important research project was trying to find how they got to Jefferson County, Florida, from Colleton District, South Carolina. I knew the names of several trails between the two areas, and I began my research quest by studying those trails.

Later, though, I discovered that the best place to begin this research was Family Search Wiki. Simply enter the words “migration” and the location to find the different trails and roads in an area. It gives you a list of trails and roads plus maps and other resources.

Usually, I began by googling the name of a town, river, road, trail, or anything else on which I needed more information. It usually sent me to other sources, such as maps, gazetteers, trails, and so forth.

Several gazetteers became important. You can find them using Family Search Wiki. Search for “gazetteer”(singular) and then enter the location you wish to find. We can find the digitized ones this way, but I found some that were not digitized in the bibliographies of other historical works. Always check their sources. It will surprise you what you uncover.

Maps became very important to the story. They showed me how they got to Florida.

I began with trails, because they built most of the older roads on old Indian or military trails. I found some on old maps, especially the earliest maps. William Dollarhide has done much work in identifying old trails throughout the nation. His books were very important to my work. I also used diaries and journals to learn what they saw on the trails and roads when they migrated south. In the book, what the Walkers saw on their journey south was in those diaries and journals.

Something I did not use is the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) on the United States Geographical Survey (USGS) website. I discovered it well after I had finished my research. Here you can search for the names of trails, and also towns, post offices, lakes, and rivers nearby.

Once I had sufficient information about the trails and roads available, I analyzed them for the families’ most likely route. Because they drove a foundation herd of cattle with them, I cut two of the more popular routes from the list—not enough water.

Why Florida?

The next step was to study her final home. Why did the family choose Florida? What else was out there? Newspapers seemed to be a good place to start, and there were Charleston papers that they may have read. Mary’s father and uncles were educated men. I discovered a wealth of information about moving to Florida, some of it from the South Carolina papers in their era.

I also had records already in my files. Federal censuses showed us when they made the move. Some children were born in South Carolina, and others in Florida. Land records showed us when the land was available for the family to buy. The Walkers came here before the land was available in the area they settled. They probably squatted on that land and made improvements that gave them the first dibs.

An early probate record for her grandfather told a story about how hard it was to live with local diseases such as malaria. Court records showed when they made their trips eight miles away to the county seat. All of this was important because vital records mostly did not exist. There were no death records or birth records in territorial Florida. There were only church records and Bible records, but few.

I mentioned a boundary issue earlier while they were in South Carolina. Though the boundary did not change, some in Colleton County were lucky to live near the boundary of another county, whose records did not burn. Atlas of Historical County Boundaries is a website by The Newberry Library which shows how a county’s boundary changed. It also shows state boundaries, too.

When the Walker family moved to Florida, it appears another group of Walkers moved just north of the state line in Georgia—an area less than ten miles away. We know from DNA they are kin to each other and from census records; they lived in Colleton District, too. We could never determine if they made the trip down together, though.

https://historygeo.com/

Later, Historygeo.com showed me who first bought the lands next to them once they bought land and settled in Jefferson County. History Geo even showed me how far away two massacred families lived during the Second Seminole Indian War. Using the sound of a gunshot, I determined which of them the family could hear from their home. I decided all of this using locality research.

Finally, I spent a lot of time studying the history of Jefferson County. It provided clues why they came when they did. For example, our state government only recently formed Jefferson County. It was less than two years old. Its land was just becoming available for sale from the state.

Historical books for a county can be important. Being from the county, I am a local and I knew which books to use. However, the National Genealogical Society has a series of books entitled “NGS Research in the States.” There is one for Florida, and it tells you where to go to find information on any county in the state. I also visited Family Search Wiki to look at their state timelines. It provided me a beginning for my in-house state events timeline.

In Jefferson County, the WPA did a research project in the 1930s, and they generated a book. We call it the Green Book. It includes first-hand stories from the children of these early settlers. A University of Florida professor wrote another county history book in 1976. Contracted by the Jefferson County Historical Association, it is an excellent source. Add to these the various diaries and journals kept, and they provided plentiful information about what Monticello and Jefferson County looked like when the Walkers arrived.

Jefferson County Courthouse, replaced in early 1900s

Locality research was vital to the book and an understanding of who these people were and what happened to them. It helped me determine who they were in South Carolina, how they got to Florida, and what impact they had on their new community once they arrived. Location research provided a wealth of information. I could not have written “Palmetto Pioneers” without it.

What Did it Take to be a Florida Pioneer

by Filed Under: Books, Genealogy

What was Florida like when the first white settlers got here? We can only imagine the hazards—the native population, alligators, mosquitoes, and poisonous arachnids. Add to this a list of climate changes—hurricanes, droughts, tornadoes, lightning strikes, and the economics of settling a new land—its unknown character.

One man, not from Florida, said in 1829, “no man would immigrate to Florida–no not from hell itself!” Obviously, he was wrong; because these first settlers came, and now, almost two hundred years later, they are still coming.

In my family, came seven-year-old Mary Adeline Walker with her parents; and later her grandparents followed. She is my third great-grandmother, and she came to Jefferson County, Florida, in 1829. We have important records and resources about her, but no diaries or journals from her or her immediate family. There are diaries and journals from other people, though, who lived in this area during territorial Florida.

Using Mary as my primary character, I wrote a book entitled “Palmetto Pioneers: The Emigrants.” It is one of a three-part series. The final book ends in Monticello during reconstruction, after the Civil War. The first book begins when Mary’s family migrates from South Carolina. They brought with them on the journey a foundation herd of cattle.

They primarily dealt with cattle, but like most good farmers, they varied their livestock and crops to diversify their risks. Mary is one of eleven children, primarily boys, a real plus for the family’s operations, which were in Jefferson County.

The book, written in a genre called narrative nonfiction, may be classified in a sub-genre called family history writing. It uses elements of creative writing to present a factual, true story. It uses literary techniques usually reserved for writing fiction, such as dialog, scene-setting, and narrative arcs. But I rooted it in facts. No part of the story is made up or fabricated unless the author signals otherwise.

A clear example of this type of genre is the book, “1776”, by David McCullough. McCullough extensively researched this subject using both American and British archives to create a powerful drama with extraordinary narrative vitality.

For “Palmetto Pioneers,” the territorial Florida time period was extensively researched, and a bibliography follows at the end of the book. I divided it into time periods such as “Life in South Carolina,” “The Migration,”, “Life in Territorial Florida,” and “The Indian Wars.” I limited their life in South Carolina to reflecting on why they left and what they needed to bring, but it doesn’t tell the reader. Instead, it shows these events.

In the first book are scenes that reflect the realities of living in Florida. The reader sees what Florida was like through Mary’s eyes. The reader can also see her and her husband’s place in Florida history.

There is no family tree in this book, but it references an online Ancestry tree that is public and accessible to anyone without a membership. Many of Mary’s brothers and sisters, as well as her own children, left Monticello and settled in many other parts of Florida, such as DeSoto, Citrus, Putnam, Marion, Bradford, Madison, Suwannee, Levy, Indian River, Brevard, Dade, Duval, Okeechobee, and many more counties. Two families went to Texas, and their descendants still live there.

One can find the first book of the series on Amazon, and there are soft-cover copies at two businesses in Monticello, Florida—Oh Happy Days Gifts and Vintage Antiques. On Amazon, the books are almost $25 for hardcover and softcover but only $9.99 for the e-book.