Genealogy FAN Research or Cluster Research
FAN Research is researching the people that cluster around your ancestor: friends, associates and neighbors.
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Pro Cuba and City Expansion, 1895-1937
Building up to the Spanish-American war the port of Fernandina was used as a base of operation for those sympathetic to the Cuban plight. Arms, ammunition, and recruits were shipped from her port to Cuba. Once War was declared Fort Clinch was prepared for up to 10,000 soldiers and the economy of Fernandina began to grow again. But it was short lived as additional railroads built out in the early 20th Century to cities like Jacksonville and Savannah. Finally, in the late 1930s, the mills arrived in Fernandina and released the citizens of the community from their reliance on cotton and tobacco to timber and industry.
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War Between The States and Reconstruction, 1860-1895
Fort Clinch was an immediate target of acquisition for the Union during the Civil War. The Union Navy arrived on 2 March 1862 firing cannon volleys at the last two retreating railroad ships of citizens from evacuated Fernandina. As in most wars, not all citizens evacuated, and those left behind found themselves in an occupied territory once again, with limited freedom. But freedom did come to the black slaves of Fernandina which far outnumbered their white owners. And when the reconstruction period began after the War it was the "black" county of Nassau which rose to power in the government offices of Nassau County, while the white citizens still held the land and controlled the jobs. It was this inimical system that led to the strikes in the 1880s by the black workers until again the Yellow Fever broke out and all citizens were to busy nursing, to think of other troubles.
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American Proprietors, 1818-1860
In 1818, Fernandina comprised of about 40 wooden houses which sheltered a population of around 150 people. The town was incorporated the same year as Nassau county was created, 1824. It wasn’t until the Railroad arrived on the Island from Cedar Keys did the growth of Fernandina and Nassau County appear promising. Then all Hell broke loose with the start of the Civil War.
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History of Nassau County
This material was written and compiled by “Workers of the Writers’ Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Florida, Sponsored by the Florida State Planning Board, and copyrighted by the City Commission of Fernandina in 1940.” There were no subsequent copyrights on this material and the material entered the public domain in 1968, or 28 years after the publication of material. Note: This material uses phraseology and words which may be considered offensive to readers today....
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Heyday for Pirates, 1817-1818
What peace was gained by the Patriots in 1816 was dashed upon the shores of Amelia Island when “General” Gregor McGregor sailed into Fernandina and the Spanish authority hastened retreat. This occupation by English forces was ended by the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1818. Finally, in 1821, without the exchange of actual cash, America purchased the rights to Florida, and the Spanish flag was lowered while the 23 starred flag of the United States was raised at Fernandina.
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The Semblance of Spanish Authority, 1785-1816
After the English government ceded control of Florida over to the Spanish, Amelia Island citizens found themselves under control of yet another government, with their titles to land in question. All that Spain required was a change of allegiance from England to Spain. Out of this question of land title, and the Patriots refusal to change allegiance was born the Republic of Florida.
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The Levin Tomlinson Family
Levin Tomlinson was born on 11 April 1813, the son of William Tomlinson (10 Dec 1781 SC – 10 Dec 1865 Clinch Co., GA) and Nancy Register (1782-1873). Levin grew up living in Appling and Irwin counties Georgia. He married Sarah Daugherty on 26 July 1843, who at the time resided on Suwannoochee Creek below the present town of DuPont in Ware county. Sarah was born on 19 March 1825, to James Daugherty and Sarah Bassett, in Appling County, Georgia. Levin and Sarah’s first home was in Clinch County, Georgia. They had 15 children, and this is their story.
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The Anglicizing of Amelia, 1763-1785
When in 1763 Florida was ceded by Spain to England, a definite boundary at the St. Mary’s River was set for the province. Thus Fernandina again became the border town of Florida, a situation which was to have further significance thirteen years later when the American Revolution broke out.
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President’s Message for April 2022
I have been working on a post for the AIGS website featuring the family of Levin Tomlinson. The foundation for the post is an article published in The Nassau County Genealogist Vol. XX #3, pp.41-44, called “Tomlinson Family.” My plan is to expand that synopsis about the family, to extend it, and to source it properly, something that the limited size of our periodical does not allow. I have no relationship to the Tomlinson family and would appreciate any information on the family not currently published in the older article. Thanks! In my Beginning Genealogy Class on the PROCESS method of genealogy research the E stands for “Extract Important Information” and it challengers researchers to slow down and extract or transcribe important events and facts from the records found when they conduct their reasonably exhaustive research. It’s a step overlooked by new and seasoned genealogists alike because it consumes valuable research time. The Levin Tomlinson Family is such a case. The answer to unproven facts in genealogies found online, and even in our own article, could easily have been resolved with a careful analysis of the broken pieces of Levin’s gravestone. An image most all online trees have or link to. Putting those pieces of stone back together as Jim Miller and Bob Frey did in 2013, and photographing it, enables a few minor mysteries about the family to be solved and sourced. Another new post published recently concerns the early history of Fernandina, An Island Frontier from its discovery
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