Fernandina, Florida – A Poem
A poem about Fernandina Florida written by Rev. J. H. Martin, D. D., and printed in The Florida Mirror, 19 May 1883.
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The Nassau County Genealogist
Records from Nassau County Deed Book A – 1840-1842
Records transcribed from the Nassau County Deed Book A which covered the years of 1840 to 1842. These records were subsequently published in The Nassau County Genealogist, vol. 5, p. 61-67.
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Notes on Fernandina and Nassau County
From Our Place in Time – A Chronology of Putnam County, by Nancy Cooley Alvers and Janice Smith Mahaffey 1736-1742 – James Oglethorpe stationed Highlanders at Plaza San Carlos in present-day Fernandina (Old Town). August 9, 1807 – Don Domingo Fernandez awarded grant which included present-day Fernandina Beach. August 6, 1815 – Elizabeth Esabele Wiggins, free mulatto, resident of Fernandina, and her son, Carlos Clark, free negro, each received a grant of 300 acres on Lake George. 1816 – Fort San Carlos near Fernandina built by Spanish of wood and earthworks and armed with 8 to 10 guns. February 10, 1822 – John E. LeConte and ten men left Fernandina on a project to survey Florida’s interior. December 29, 1824 – Nassau, Florida’s tenth county, was named for the Nassau River and Nassau Sound which help to separate Nassau and Duval counties. The name of the county comes from a German state linked to William the Silent and William III of England who died in 1702, was brought from England during the English occupation. January 1, 1825 – The City of Fernandina was incorporated. February 9, 1842 – Fort Clinch was established on Amelia Island, north of Fernandina. 1855 – Florida’s first senator, David Levy Yulee, was granted a charter to build a railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key where steamships waited for transport up and down the Atlantic or across the Gulf. One link in New York-New Orleans route, the Florida Railroad would run through a small settlement, Deer...
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Lockwood-Brooks
A transcription of the 1929 Fernandina newspaper article about the Robert B. Lockwood and Francis Alphia Brooks marriage. Added to that is a brief family record. This information was subsequently published in The Nassau County Genealogist, vol. 5, p. 59.
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Sanders-Wild Marriage
From an unknown newspaper 1926 Sunday afternoon, July 4, 1926, the marriage of Miss Grace Sanders and Mr. Kelly K. Wilds was solemnized by the pastor, Rev. T. J. Herring, at the First Baptist Church. The church was decorated with white daisies and fern. A chain of daisies was gracefully draped from the choir loft and vases of them made a border around the altar which was most effective. Miss Alice Dana and brother, Mr. Joe Dana, played very sweetly upon the piano and violin and promptly at three o’clock the wedding march pealed forth and the groom and his best man, Mr. Ashley Sanders, entered from the right aisle as the bride and her maid-of-honor, Miss Ray Herring, entered from the left, and were met at the altar by the pastor, who, with the beautiful ring ceremony, pronounced them man and wife. The bride was gowned in gray georgette with hat and all accessories to match and carried a bridal bouquet of radiance roses. Miss Herring wore a becoming gown of tan crepe de chine and carried an arm bouquet of daisies. Immediately after the ceremony the bridal party were driven to the home of the groom’s mother, Mrs. Wilds, where the happy couple only remained long enough to enjoy delightful refreshments consisting of home-made cake and cream and receive congratulations. They left in their car for a honeymoon trip of a couple of weeks to points north. Mr. Wilds is one of Fernandina’s best young men, having been...
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Sky Line at Fernandina Beach Rapidly Changing
From Nassau County Leader, 1926 The sky line at Fernandina Beach is rapidly changing, and it is predicted that before the opening of the 1927 season it will have pretty much the appearance of Pablo or Daytona Beach. Among those who have recently built attractive cottages at the beach are H. P. Livingston, C. H. Klotz, and Mrs. P. R. Brady. Others who contemplate building during the present season are J. M. Adams, T. G. Ozmer and Ben Acosta. The bath house recently constructed adds materially to the casino facilities, which under the management of Webb and Weimar, is doing an unusually fine business. The new building extends to the water’s edge at high tide and is approached by a board walk from the casino. Hundreds of visitors as well as crowds of local people are enjoying a dip in the surf these days. It is perhaps the best bathing beach on the Florida East Coast, not attended with the dangers that are so common at other seaside resorts. In the shallows along the beach children can wade with perfect safety. Life-saving apparatus has been provided by the management of the pavilion and every precaution is taken to forestall accidents....
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Notes From The November 15, 1879, Florida Mirror
Capt. C. W. Yulee and Miss Florida Yulee arrived on Tuesday last. Mr. James W. Thompson, of the Kearsarge House, North Conway, N.H., has leased the Spencer House at St. Mary’s, Ga. Eugene Sweeney, Esq., of Mobile, Ala., was in town this week, in the interest of the proposed steamship line between Mobile and Cedar Key. Mr. Sylvester, of Ellaville, visited our city during the week to inaugurate the shipping business of Messrs. Drew & Bucki through this port. Captain Bell is erecting a frame dwelling on Fourth street, between Centre and Ash. We learn that it will be a very convenient and tastefully built cottage. The City Council met on October 22, 1879. Present were T. Kydd, chairman, and councilmen Winch, Middleton, Brown and Angel. A visitor to Callahan claimed to be the legitimate son of Fredrick VI of Denmark. He said that upon his father’s death, the throne was usurped by a German and the persecution which followed drove him into exile at the age of 18. The visitor was a very old man....
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Obituary Notice – Colonel Mark Wm. Downie
from The Florida Mirror, November 15, 1879 Colonel Mark Wm. Downie died at the Mansion House, in this city, on Wednesday evening at 8 o’clock, aged 43 years and 8 months, a brave humble Christian. He was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, and in early youth became a citizen of Minnesota; was a whole-souled American of rare energy and character, quick wit and comprehension, he did nothing by halves. “Sweet as summer” to his numerous friends North and South. No man will be more widely and deeply mourned than Mark Downie. The November 29th edition of The Florida Times indicates that Col. Downie was born on 15 March 1836 at Chatham in New Brunswick province. He served during the Civil War with the Stillwater Guards, a regiment of the First Minnesota. He attended the sick in Cedar Key during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1871 as well as supplying monies on behalf of the citizens of that city....
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Obituary Notice – Captain Gamaliel Fisher
from The Florida Mirror, November 15, 1879 This community is deprived of a worthy and highly respected citizen by the sudden death of Capt. Gamaliel Fisher, who was lost at sea, October 29th, on a voyage from New Bedford, Mass., to the Cape Verde Islands. The vessel which he commanded, having had favorable weather, was four days out from New Bedford, when suddenly the most violent cyclone of the season struck the ship, disabled the mate who was steering at the time, and swept into the sea fifteen persons of the crew and passengers who are believed to have been instantly drowned. The survivors, five in number, after clinging to the rigging for several days, were rescued, half alive, by an Austrian ship and brought into New York. From his early youth, and for nearly thirty years, Captain Fisher had been a seaman, having made many long and perilous voyages in safety. For the last twelve years he was an esteemed resident of this city; the probity of his character and the cordiality of his manners gained him the respect and confidence of all who knew him. Captain Fisher was for many years known as a decided and strenuous advocate of temperance; he was the enemy of all profanity and vulgarity; and as a citizen and friend, he was one who could be counted upon to uphold every good and righteous cause. As we write these few words of tribute to the memory of an esteemed friend and neighbor, the...
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Braddock & Christopher Families
Contributed by William Braddock John Braddock was born on 23 May 1731 in South Carolina. On 16 July 1769, he married Lucia Ann Cook, the daughter of James Cook. They were the parents of five known children: John David (1776-1841) married Martha Christopher; William (1777-1855) married Charlotte Christopher; Lucia (b. 1778) married William Berrie; Mary Ann (b. 1780) married John Edwards; and Hester (b. 1785) married John B. Christopher. John Braddock served as a soldier in Georgia during the Revolutionary War and received a grant of land in Glynn County, Georgia, for his service. He was commissioned a captain in the Glynn County Militia in 1793. He died on 16 June 1797 in Glynn County. John David Braddock was born in 1776 and died on 19 October 1841. On 9 May 1804, he married Martha Christopher, the daughter of Spicer Christopher, in Nassau County. Martha was born in 1786 and died on 6 December 1861. John David and Martha Braddock were the parents of six known children: John (1805-1863) married Sarah Higginbotham; Spicer C. (b. 23 Apr 1807) married Anna Sever Sapp (b. 2 Dec 1822); Charlotee (b. 1812) never married; Alexander (b. 1814) married Elizabeth; William M. (b. 1819) married Jane Christopher; and, Susannah (b. 1822) never married. John David Braddock was baptized as a Catholic before his marriage as all Protestant citizens of Spanish Florida did in order to remain in the territory. He managed a plantation for his father-in-law until he obtained his own 640 acres at...
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