Armistead Family History #16

                                                            What Ever Happened To .......?

I really love writing this Blog.  I love putting my research out there for other people to read.  History in general is just so much fun and I can write about that as well.  Then there comes the really fun part, I can write about anything I like and can make my own rules.  Like this post today.  I am taking a zig zag away from writing about my direct line of Armistead Family History and catching you up on another family of Armisteads that are not my direct ancestors.  

In Blog post #14 I gave you some information about the Armistead brothers, Marcus A., Latinus, and Fabian, who I concluded were cousins of my direct line g-g-grandfather, William Jordan Armistead. William Jordan and the three brothers moved to Florida about the same time.  After getting them all to Florida, I sorta dropped the three brothers and continued on my way with William Jordan Armistead.  I will give you a little more information about the brothers in this post.

I assure you I will be picking up the Armistead family again starting in 1850, where I left off. I will bring their story forward through the decade of the 1850s leading up to the Civil War. So please bear with me and plan to catch that post a little farther down the line.

Now, as you may recall from “Armistead Family History #14”, the brothers, Marcus and Latinus, who were probably in their mid 40s when they traveled to Florida, purchased land, ran a ferry across the Apalachicola River, founded the town of Aspalaga, and opened a thriving store there.  Younger brother Fabian was appointed postmaster of the post office in Aspalaga.  They came in the late 1820s, about the same time as William Jordan Armistead and Simmons Jones Baker, and they were all early settlers of the Florida Territory. These three Armistead brothers apparently did quite well for themselves.  Besides the activities above, I also found a reference in the State Archives of Florida Online Catalog, (that unfortunately isn't digitized online), listing a ledger, kept by the brothers, stored in the Archives with the following statement about the ledger: “This ledger documents the business activity of a mercantile business in the Middle Florida area.  Because the end pieces list the land holdings of Latinus and Marcus Armistead, it is possible that the store was theirs.”  It lists Latinus Armistead and Marcus A. Armistead business records from 1828-1830, then lists Gadsden County, Leon County and Jefferson County as locations the business records covered.  So they either had some type of physical presence established in each county or people from those counties did business with them at their location in Aspalaga.   

1840 Census Dinwiddie County, VA, listing Marcus A. Armistead.

Source Citation

Year: 1840; Census Place: Petersburg South Ward, Dinwiddie, Virginia; Roll: 557; Page: 52; Family History Library Film: 0029686

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 
Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. 

An interesting aspect here is that Marcus A. Armistead never showed up in a census record for Florida. The 1820, 1830, and 1840 census records show him in Dinwiddie County, VA. I did not find Latinus in either the 1820 or 1830 census any where and Fabian was in Dinwiddie County, VA. in the 1820, 1840 and 1850 census'. In 1830 he was listed in Gadsden County, FL, apparently during the time he was postmaster there.

1830 Census Dinwiddie County, VA, listing Marcus A. Armistead. 

Source Citation

1830; Census Place: Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Virginia; Series: M19; Roll: 196; Page: 382; Family History Library Film: 0029675

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 
Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1830 Census Gadsden County, FL, listing  F Armistead.

Source Citation

1830; Census Place: Quincy, Gadsden, Florida; Series: M19; Roll: 15; Page: 140; Family History Library Film: 0006711

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 
Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

I know there was movement back and forth from Virginia to Florida and back to Virginia. I found a delightful letter written by Marcus A. Armistead's daughter while they were living in Florida. The letter was written to a friend, Alice Vaughan, in Virginia and it was dated Jan. 21, 1830. Ann E. Armistad was about 16 years old at the time. She could have worked for the Chamber of Commerce for Florida if it had existed at the time. Take a few minutes and read the letter and you will see why I like it so much.

Aspalaga, Florida, Jan. 21, 1830

Dear Alice, 

     I would have written you before this time, but I did not know whether you were in Petersburg or whether you had gone to Alabama, until I received a letter from Harriet Shore, in which she told me you were still in town and as anxious to hear from me.

     I hope the excuse I have made above will extirpate me from the false idea of intended neglect or indifference towards you....  Although we may be so far distant from each other, yet I have not, and I hope I never can forget one that always I have loved and esteemed so much---

     ....I thought when I left Virginia for this country that I should have been very much dissatisfied but it is quite the reverse,.  I am charmed with my new situation.  I think this climate the most pleasant and agreeable one I ever was in.

     The summers are not as warm as they are with you.  We have no need of a fan during the warmest days in season; there is a sea breeze which fans you incessantly; nor are the winters as cold as you have them  We very seldom have a fire except of a morning and evening.

     Flowers are in full bloom, at this time all over the woods!  Among them are the woodbine and violet!  There are number of beautiful evergreens all around us.  The magnolia grows here in abundance.  Mamma has planted her yard full of magnolias, orange trees, lemon trees, lime trees and another species of fruit called the shaddock.

     I have visited Tallahassee since I came to this country, and was so much pleased, that I intend to return next month.  You can form no idea how fashionable the people are in Tallahassee; they are so much so as any in Petersburg!  Two of our belles, Miss Duval and Miss Gamble have gone to Washington City to spend some time I think they are superior in beauty and equal in intelligence to any young ladies in Petersburg.

     I am so much enchanted with this country, that if I had my choice, I would willingly spend the remainder of my life at this place, but I expect papa will return to Virginia sometime next summer, if not next fall.

     We expect to go down to Apalachicola Bay this winter, to feast on oysters, fish and every other good thing.  We get oranges and every other West Indies fruit in great plenty every week.

     There are steamboats always lying at the wharves of this place, the smallest that comes is much larger than the steamboat Comet that goes to Petersburg.  You may perhaps think that I speak extravagantly, but I can assure you that I do not, it's nothing but the strictest truth.  

     The society around here is as good as any in Virginia.  We have enjoyed the very best of health ever since we have been in this country.  Every one of the children are as fat as they can be. I have fattened so much I scarcely know what to do with myself. I am thinking I shall have to return to Virginia to get lean. You must answer this letter as soon as you get it. I am anxious to hear all the news of that place. I hope you will keep up the correspondence now that it has commenced: My love to your sister, Mrs. White and Dr. White, to your mamma, papa and sister when you write. Mamma sends her love to Mrs and Dr. White. She says your sister must write her. Tell Harriet shore to answer my letter, also Georgiana and Ann Mabry. Eugenia sends her love to you.

Ann E. Armistead

Direct your letters to me at Aspalaga, Fla., care of Mr. Marcus Armistead. (1)

I really love reading this letter. It is so descriptive and very well written. If you try reading it in your best imagined Southern Belle voice it is even better. Notice she said the family would be heading back to Virginia in the summer or fall. That is where I get my theory that Marcus Armistead traveled back and forth between his properties in Florida and Virginia and he must have been in Virginia each time the census was taken or just had his residency established in Virginia and was recorded each time in that census.

For a few years, between the late 1820s and early 1830s, the brothers seemed to have it all going for them. But in about August of 1833 everything changed. Latinus Armistead died in July or August of 1833.  His will, dated June 18, 1833, is shown below.  There is no mention of children, only his wife and a niece, the daughter of his brother Fabian Armistead.  For this reason I assume there were no children born to the couple or the children were deceased.  His wife, Harriet Frances Armistead, and Latinus' brother, Fabian Armistead, are named as the executors of the will, which was recorded 24 Aug 1833, in Gadsden County, Florida Territory. The will was probated on 11 May 1834.

Latinus Armistead Will.

Source Citation

Record of Wills, 1826-1930; Author: Gadsden County (Florida). County Judge; Probate Place: Gadsden, Florida

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Florida, Wills and Probate Records, 1810-1974 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Florida County, District and Probate Cou

For Marcus Armistead I would think losing his brother and partner was a big blow to him.  In addition to that he had already lost another brother, John Clayton Armistead in April of 1832.  He was the administrator of John's estate, which probably took up a lot of his time as there were two underaged children and a widow to take care of.  In addition John's oldest child, Adelia, had married and had a child but then she tragically died.  Her husband, William A. Johnson, filed suite against the estate on behalf of his son, John Evans Johnson, who he said should inherit Adelia's portion of the inheritance.  This case reached the Supreme Court in Virginia but I found documents also in the Supreme Court in Florida.  John Clayton had land in both states so that is apparently why the paperwork was also sent to Florida.  

Court Documents from the suit filed over John Clayton Armistead's estate. Filed in Virginia and Florida.

Florida Memory, State Library and Archives of Florida
Johnson vs. Armistead, Florida Supreme Court

https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/260669?id=11

This case apparently took until 1838 to be settled.  There are 68 pages in this file.  I copied a couple pages from the front and three pages from the back, just so you could get a feel for this case.  You can find the site above if you are interested in checking this out further. 

Robert Alexander Documents from the Settlement of his Estate.

Source Citation

Records of Estates, 1840-1893; Author: Jackson County (Florida). County Judge; Probate Place: Jackson, Florida

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Florida, Wills and Probate Records, 1810-1974 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Florida County, District and Probate Courts.

The oldest brother in the family, whom I have not really talked about before, Robert Alexander Armistead, was a doctor, and an author of a work on English grammar.  He was born in 1780 in Virginia.  He married in Virginia in 1820 and he died in Florida, in 1844.  I copied three pages from the Records of Estates, as shown above, to give you some idea of his estate.  

1860 Census Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia lists Fabian Armistead and his family.

Source Citation

Year: 1860; Census Place: Petersburg South Ward, Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia; Roll: M653_1342; Page: 341; Family History Library Film: 805342

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

The 1840 Census lists Marcus Armistead back in Virginia and he apparently died there sometime before 1850.  I did not find his death information.  Fabian also returned to Virginia sometime after the 1830 census and died there in April of 1865.  He is buried in the Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg City, VA.


FABIAN ARMISTEAD

BIRTH: 26 Dec 1794
DEATH: 15 Sep 1865 (aged 70)
BURIAL: Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Petersburg City, Virginia, USA
PLOT: Ward B-OG, Square 22, Sec 1

MEMORIAL ID: 28513882 · 

Information posted by Web Virginia, Find A Grave, 1607-2012, for Fabian Armistead.

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Web: Virginia, Find A Grave Index, 1607-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 25 January 2013.

Even as this generation of Armisteads passed on, several members of the next generation continued to live and make their contributions in Florida for years to come.  I will end my research on this family at this point.

OK, now I feel better.  It didn't seem to fit in my post #14 or #15, but I thought it was important to give a little closure to this line of Armisteads before I continued forward. 

Next time, another side note so I can tell you a little bit about Simmons Jones Baker, Sr., my great-great-great-grandfather.

References:
1) Ancestry.com. Reuben Vaughan Kidd : soldier of the Confederacy [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Original data: Pierrepont, Alice V. D.. Reuben Vaughan Kidd : soldier of the Confederacy. Petersburg, Va.: unknown, c1947., p. 58-60.https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=19740

Armistead Family History # 15

                                                                   The Territory of Florida


In my last post on this blog I wrote about the 1830s and how the United States was growing in population and also was adding states and territories.  Advancements were being made with discoveries and inventions in many areas, such as agriculture, transportation, mass communication, etc.  As these changes were going on, so were changes in the life of my Armistead family.

It seems that my great-great-grandfather, William Jordan Armistead, had not satisfied his wanderlust for finding that perfect piece of land and so in the late 1920s he left North Carolina and headed south all the way to Leon County, Florida Territory.  As I mentioned last time, he must have been drawn to Magnolia, Florida by the exciting pronouncements in the newspapers about the bountiful crops that were being produced, and that Magnolia was destined to be a busy port city, etc. He might also have been convinced by word of mouth from relatives about the wonderful opportunities there. For whatever reason, he relocated his family to the coast of Florida in about 1829.  Apparently the reality at Magnolia was different from what he expected because he was gone from there by 1832. As it turns out most of the people in the town must have felt the same way.  Most of the residents left by the end of the decade. A hurricane hit the area in 1843 destroying what remained of the town and Magnolia ceased to exist. (1)

Google Earth Pro

Where did William Jordan head to next?  They must have been living in Georgia next because the family bible of Mary Eliza E. (Baker) Armistead, notes the next child, Mary Smith Armistead, was born in Decatur County, GA in 1832.  They were in this area for about four or five years. The next child, Sarah Jordan, was born there in February of 1834, and Anthony was born in Decatur County in August of 1835.

As you can see (hopefully) from the map above, it was not that far from Magnolia on the coast to Decatur County in Georgia.  In this overlay you can see the configuration of the counties at about that time and then you can see the google earth map underneath. Magnolia was located close to St. Marks on the lower right side of Leon County and Quincy was located in the center at the top of Gadsden County.  The northern border of Gadsden County, Florida and the southern border of Decatur County, Georgia are on the same line.  It would have been a short distance, even back then, of 8 to 10 miles from the little town of Quincy, Florida to the Georgia-Florida Line.  Hummm, Georgia Florida Line sounds like a good name for a country duo.  Oh, right, there is a county group named "Florida Georgia Line".  I'm only about 7 or 8 years too late and this group is apparently quite good.  OK, back to my story.

Google Earth of North Gadsden County, FL and South Decatur County, GA.

My theory is, William Jordan took the family north from Magnolia to find a better plantation. Looking at today's Google Earth map (above), there are quite a few places that are under cultivation just across the line in Georgia.  W.J. may have relocated his family to that area for a few years and then decided to move into the town of Quincy.  He could have maintained the same plantation and still lived in town.  After all, it is doubtful, as a plantation owner, that he was getting up every day and going out to the field to work.  He would have had an overseer on site and he might have gone out to check on things periodically.  Many of the plantation owners of the time lived in town instead of on the plantation.

Downtown Quincy, Florida on U.S. Route 90. (2017)

Photograph by Royalbroil - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, (2017) 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57169011
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy,_Florida#/media/File:Quincy_FL_downtown_US90.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy,_Florida

Gadsden County Courthouse, Quincy, Florida.  (2017) 

Photograph by Michael Rivera - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, (2017) https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59391642
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gadsden_County_Courthouse_(South_face).jpg

According to the Family Bible, the next child, Lawrence Turner, was born the first of June, 1837 in Quincy, FL.  Sarah, Anthony, and Lawrence were all baptized on Sunday, the 18th of March, 1838, by Bishop Kemper, in Quincy, Florida.  When I read that statement in the family bible about Bishop Kemper baptizing these children, I thought it unusual that Mary Eliza had included that bit of information. As I read more about the county history and then about the church history, I realized a church had not been established in Gadsden County yet.  Bishop Jackson Kemper was a leader of the Episcopal Church. Because there was a shortage of preachers, he had to travel over a very large area, either where churches did not have a pastor or where a church had not been established but there was a congregation that needed someone to hold services. (2) I would think that having a Bishop come to town, and in this case it was the first Bishop that had visited Quincy, would be a big deal and having the honor to have your children baptized by him would have been a very special occasion.  I believe that is why she made special note in the bible.

Bishop Jackson Kemper, (Between 1855 and 1865)

US-LibraryOfCongress-BookLogo.svg This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cwpbh.01882.
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.
Author Brady-Handy Photograph Collection (Library of Congress)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Kemper

St. Paul's Episcopal Church would eventually be established in 1839 in Quincy.  I assume my ancestors were members and early organizers of the church. Please see below information from the historical marker outside St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Quincy:

"The earliest Episcopal Services were performed in Quincy in 1834 and Jackson Kemper was the first bishop to visit in 1838. St. Paul's Parish was organized and the first Vestry was elected in the same year. In 1839, the parish joined the Diocese of Florida and was incorporated by act of the Florida Territorial Legislature on February 28, 1839. The first church was erected on this site in 1839 and was consecrated on February 21, 1841, by James H. Otey, Bishop of Tennessee. The present structure is the second church building. It was erected in 1892, enlarged in 1914, remodeled in 1928, and enlarged again with a cloister and parish hall in 1951. The St. Paul's Episcopal Church is the oldest church in continuous use in the City of Quincy."  (3)

William Jordan and Mary Eliza's next child, Elizabeth Jean, was born in Quincy in March of 1839 and John Stewart was born there in December of 1840.  In addition to the fact these birth dates and location of births were noted in the family bible, the 1840 Census of Gadsden County lists William Jordan Armistead and family.  In the left margin of the page you can see the notation that all these folks were living in the “Town of Quincy, Gadsden County, Florida Territory” in 1840.

1840 United States Census, Gadsden County

https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8057/4411332_00222/1636044?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/45520959/person/6375081416/facts/citation /24200520193/edit/record

William Jordan and Mary Eliza Armistead had seven children from 1830 to 1840. They now had ten children.  A new decade, the 1840s, was now upon them. It may have been a new decade but it would prove business as usual to Mary Eliza, when it came to having babies. She had John Stewart and Robert Davidson, twins, in 1842, Emily Baker in 1844 and Robert Stewart in 1848. Boy, am I glad to finally get to the number 14 because Robert Stewart is my great-grandfather!!  Being the last of five children born in my family and seeing that my great-grandfather was the last of fourteen, it leaves me somewhat in awe of how this old world works. So many opportunities for me not to exist. Mary Eliza was getting to the age (46) where it starts getting difficult to have children. What if she had not been able to have that one more baby?  I would not have been here.  I don't have any great philosophical message for you here.  It just makes me really think and reflect and it also reminds me why I love genealogy. There are always more interesting and fascinating stories to uncover just around the corner or just on the next page.

Speaking of turning the page, let's look at decade of the 1840s. I expect the Armisteads viewed life ahead in a posibive way.  Seems to me they would have felt like they had a good life up until now. This decade of the 1840s, however, would turn out to be a difficult one for the Armistead family as deaths occurred, another move was in store, and there were rumblings in the country as the congress and the people in general were grappling with the issue of slavery.

Census records, once again, can show us the rapid growth of the United States.  Population numbers stood at 12,866,020 in 1830 but by 1840 the number was 17,069,453.  Florida's population was a modest 54,477 in 1840. (4) But remember Florida was still a territory in 1840, not a state. That changed in March of 1845 when Florida was admitted as the 27th state.  Then Texas was admitted a short time later, Dec of 1845. Texas became the 28th state in the U.S.  In the next year, 1846, Iowa was added and then Wisconsin was added in 1848. This brought the total number of states in the United States to 30. (5)

On May 7, 1840, what is known as The Great Natchez Trace Tornado hit Natchez, MS and became the second most deadly tornado in U.S. history.  This monster tornado did not stop unleashing it's terrible fury until it had killed 317 people and injured 209. (6)

The year of 1841 was significant in several ways.  First it was a year when a new president was inaugurated, which is always significant, but this inauguration turned out to be a very unusual one because the new administration only lasted 31 days.  The new president set a couple of presidential records.  Unfortunately they are records no president would wish to hold.

When William Henry Harrison was elected as the 9th president, his swearing in ceremony was held on March 4, 1841. After the swearing in, President Harrison proceeded to speak for nearly two hours, the longest inaugural speech in history (Record number one). Harrison had been a military hero, having fought in the War of 1812 and having led U.S. forces against Native Americans at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Harrison was now 68 years old in 1841 and was well aware of his opponents in the campaign saying he was too old to serve as president.  So Harrison made a statement to his opponents by making this nearly two hour speech outside in a cold rain, and oh by the way, he did not wear a hat or overcoat during the speech.  If that was not enough he had also ridden his horse to the inauguration instead of riding in a closed carriage that had been provided.  He would later catch pneumonia and die, just 31 days after he was inaugurated.  So, record's number 2 and 3 were, he was the first president to die in office, and he is the president with the shortest tenure in office.  At the time it was widely considered that Harrison died from being in the cold for too long and catching pneumonia, but analysis in the last few years showed that he didn't become sick until  three weeks later and it was determined he most likely died from Typhoid contracted from contaminated water in the White House. (7)

Portrait of William Henry Harrison (1841)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison
By Bass Otis - Christie's, LotFinder: entry 5352648, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11357154

Upon the death of William Henry Harrison, the Vice-President, John Tyler, was sworn in as the tenth president.  For the first time congress had to figure out how the constitution provided for succession upon the death of a sitting president. (8)

Restored and cropped daguerreotype of John Tyler, tenth president of the United States. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25305645

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler

In 1841 and 1842 the country's yearning to move west increased and wagon trains were organized to transport travelers to Oregon over the Oregon Trail.  From one hundred to a thousand pioneers at a time signed up for the trip west.  Over the coming years hundreds of thousands of people would use the Oregon Trail to get to the West Coast. (9)

The Oregon Trail

http://www.historyglobe.com/ot/otmap1.htm

In 1844, James K. Polk, was elected to be the eleventh president.  During his term, President Polk was instrumental in the expansion of the United States. This was accomplished by the annexation of Texas as a state, by the acquisition of the lands from Texas to California, after Mexico's defeat in the Mexican War in 1848, and also by the acquisition of the Oregon Territory in 1846. His opponents claimed he manufactured the country's entrance into a war with Mexico so he could carry out his vision of Manifest Destiny. (10) 

United States president James Knox Polk, three-quarter length portrait, three-quarters to the right, seated. Daguerrotype (1849)

Mathew B., 1823 (ca.)-1896, photographer.derivative work: Superwikifan (talk) - James_Polk.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12815602
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Polk

The Mexican War started, after fighting broke out between the armies of the United States and Mexico, on May 8, 1846.  A dispute over land along the border of Texas, located just north of the Rio Grande at Palo Alto, Texas, was the spark that started the war. The United States declared war against Mexico on May 13, 1846 and Mexico declared war on May 23. Several battles were fought and finally in September of 1847, the United States attacked Mexico City.  By winning the Battle of Mexico City the U.S. effectively ended the war and Mexico and the US signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, on Feb. 2, 1848. (11)

On Nov. 7, 1848, Major General Zachary Taylor, a hero during the War with Mexico, won the election for president and was inaugurated in 1849 as the twelfth president of the United States. (12)

Half-Plate Daguerreotype of Zachary Taylor (c1843-45)

Zachary_Taylor_half_plate_daguerreotype_c1843-45.png, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15194058
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zachary_Taylor_restored_and_cropped.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Taylor

On January 24, 1848, James W Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Colona, California.  News of the find reached New York in August and the New York Herald broke the news of a gold rush to the East Coast. Eighty thousand prospectors made their way to California in 1849. (13)

Sailing card for the clipper ship California, depicting scenes from the California gold rush.

G.F. Nesbitt & Co., printer  http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf1r29p10v/?layout=metadata
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf1r29p10v/?layout=metadata, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1317934

A woman with three men panning for gold during the California Gold Rush

By Unknown - http://www.neatorama.com/2013/11/05/Gold-Rush-Girls/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52272060

As far as I know, none of my direct Armistead ancestors hoofed it to California to make their fortune in the Gold mines.  My ancestors headed to Florida Territory to try and make their fortune farming. William Jordan Armistead and Mary Eliza Armistead were living in Gadsden County, Florida in 1841, as was indicated in the family bible.  In March of 1845 Florida Territory became a state of the United States.  In May of that year the state of Florida had its first statewide election. In the list of voters from Gadsden County, FL, was William Jordan Armistead.  He was registered in the Quincy Precinct of Gadsden County, Florida.  (He is in there but the writing is very light so you may have a hard time seeing it.)

Gadsden County Voters in First Florida Election, 1845

http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/gadsden/history/1845votr.txt 
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Betty Norem,
BNOREM@aol.com

USGENWEB NOTICE:  In keeping with our policy of providing free 
information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial 
entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These 
electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other 
presentation.  This file may not be removed from this server or altered
in any way for placement on another server without the consent of the 
State and USGenWeb Project coordinators and the contributor.

Though they had lived in Gadsden County for many years now, things were still not good enough for this place to hold on to William Jordan.  Sometime between 1845 and 1850, W.J. moved again. What would make him move?  Did he suffer crop failure or in someway get discouraged with his Gadsden County land, or did he have an opportunity to move to a new place in Jackson County that offered even more opportunity?  His father-in-law had been farming a plantation in Jackson County for many years.  Did he in some way influence him to move to Jackson County?  This unknown reason for moving may not have been a bad thing that happened to the family, but there were certainly other happenings that were bad.  In 1841 Elizabeth Jean died and in 1843 John Stewart died. In 1848 and 1849 two more children passed away, Robert Davidson and Simmons Baker Armistead. A total of four children died during the decade of the 1840s.

Once again, for reasons I do not know, the Armistead family moves.  This time to Division 4, Jackson, County Florida.  William Jordan and Mary Eliza Armistead would remain in Jackson County for the rest of their lives.  But while I can say that they have finally settled down and will not move again, there is still a lot to be told about their lives and the lives of their children.

https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/img4/ht_icons/Browse/FL/FL_Marianna_347347_1952_24000.jpg

The map above is a contour map of a section of Jackson County.  Marianna is prominent in the lower left corner.  At the very top and at the center is the little community of Greenwood where Simmons Jones Baker had his plantation.

View of Marianna. ca 1918. 

Black & white photonegative, 4 x 5 in. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/143945>, accessed 26 December 2016.

I know the Armisteads were living in Jackson County in 1850 from researching the 1850 Census.  A page from the census record is shown below with all the family members still alive and living at home in 1850. The writing is very light so I added a copy of the record Ancestry.com provides of the census page so you can see the names better.

1850 U.S. Census, Jackson County, Florida.

Source Citation

Year: 1850; Census Place: Division 4, Jackson, Florida; Roll: M432_58; Page: 321B; Image: 629 

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

http://www.Ancestry.com

I think I have fallen into a pattern (or as my grandson Connor used to say "patteren") of ending my posts at the end of a decade.  It does seem to make for a nice stopping point.  The 1850s were tumultuous years that led up to the Civil War.  Children of the Armisteads grew up and got married, moved off to their own homes, joined the military, etc.  And some would pass away.  I'll pick up the decade of the 1850s in my next installment.


References:
(1) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1840.html
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Kemper

(3) http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/1342/

(4) http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/lpa/census/1990/poptrd1.htm
(5) The United States in Order of Statehood, http://www.senclewises.com/statehood.html
(6) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1840.html
(7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison
(8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison
(9) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1840.html
(10) Merry, Robert W., A Country of Vast Designs, James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 2009, pg.129,323.
(11) Ibid., pg 434.
(12) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1840.html
(13) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1840.html

Armistead Family History #14

                                                         Moving Further South


So, here we are in January of 1820 and my great-great-grandparents, William Jordan and Mary Eliza (Baker) Armistead, are newlyweds, living in Washington County, NC.  Financially they appear to be in good shape and I believe they had confidence in their future.  After all, in 1820 they were citizens of a young, rapidly growing nation that offered many opportunities for people to be successful.

Let's take a look at the early 1820s and see what my Armistead ancestors experienced along with the other folks in the country at that time.  In 1820 President James Monroe was elected to a second term in office, which he began serving in 1821.  In July of that year the United States officially took possession of the Florida territory from Spain and then in an action that would prove significant to the Armistead family over the coming years, the Florida Territory was recognized as an official territory of the United States in March of 1822. (1)

Description:  Map of the states and territories of the United States as it was from 1822 to 1824. On March 30 1822, the two Floridas were organized as Florida Territory. On November 15 1824, Arkansas Territory shrank, the western portion becoming unorganized.
Source:  Own work 
Author:  Made by User:Golbez. 
Permission:  (Reusing this file) Own work, attribution required (Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY 2.5)  I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following licenses:  GNU head Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License. 
w:en:Creative Commons attribution share alike This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  
By Made by User:Golbez. - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=996184.  You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work to remix – to adapt the work.

This is a great map (see above) showing how the country was growing.  I'm throwing out this tease to pay attention to Florida Territory becoming US territory because Florida will prove very important to several branches of the Armistead and Baker families during this and the next few decades.

I am going to run through a portion of a pedigree chart and explain how two lines of Armisteads are related.  It is important because I think the movement of these Armisteads was coordinated or at least they had knowledge of each other and one line had an influence on the other.  Of course there is always that other option I could choose, that it was total coincidence, but that is no fun so I am going on the theory it was somehow coordinated.

Charts printed from Family Tree Maker 2014.1
Software MacKiev, copyright 2017.

This may be confusing so don't fret if you can't follow all of it.  Just know that the people I am writing about are all related.  My line going backwards goes from my great-great-grandfather, William Jordan Armistead, to my great-great-great-grandfather, Jordan, then great-great-great-great-grandfather, William, and finally 5 times great-grandfather Anthony Armistead    (I got tired of typing "great"). So now I am at the top and I will go back down a different branch. Anthony Armistead's first son was named John Armistead (1) (my 4 times great-grand uncle) and he was half-brother to my 4 times great-grandfather, William, same father but different mothers. This John Armistead (1) had a son named (you guessed it - why make it easy) John (2) and they lived in Virginia.  John Armistead (2) in turn had sons named Marcus Aurelius Armistead (Very interesting that I now have a grandson named Marcus although he was not named for this person) and Latinus Armistead.  I love this John (2) because he used new and very original names for his kids. Sure makes it easier to trace.

It is not so terribly important you follow all this. The point is that Marcus Aurelius and Latinus of Virginia were cousins to William Jordan Armistead, my great-great-grandfather.  By the late 1820s these two lines of Armisteads along with Simmons Jones Baker's family (Mary Eliza's father) started moving to Florida.

Oh, before I move on, I have to relate an interesting tidbit about John Armistead's sons names. In her book "The Armistead Family", Virginia Armistead Garber wrote, "There is a tradition in the family that ... John A(rmistead) became involved in some feud with his family or kin, (and) vowed he would never give another child a family name.  With Spartan determination, he kept his vow. Therefore the old Roman names that have descended in his line."  John's sons were Marcus Aurelius and Latinus, as mentioned above, and also Fabian, Ajax, Lycurgus, and Leander. (2)

Now that you are thoroughly confused with the pedigree chart, I am switching back to historical facts of the middle and later 1820s.  In 1824 the election for the 6th president of the U.S. turned into behind the scenes politics and high intrigue. General Andrew Jackson, his popularity heightened by his exploits in the War of 1812 at the Battle of New Orleans and his actions in the Seminole War of 1818, ran against John Quincy Adams, the son of former president John Adams, for President of the United States.  When the results were all in, the popular vote was 155,872 for Jackson and 105,321 for John Quincy Adams.  Of course we all know, from our recent elections, the popular vote doesn't really mean anything, what is important is the electoral vote.  In the electoral vote, however, Andrew Jackson also led with 99 votes to Adams 84 votes.  As you can see he was ahead in the electoral vote but because there were other people running, who also garnered electoral votes, Jackson's total was not a majority of the electoral votes.  After some back room political deals were done, John Quincy Adams was chosen by the House of Representatives to be the next president. (3)

Description:  Engraved BEP portrait of U.S. President John Quincy Adams
Date:  19 June 2014, 17:19:43
Source:  Restoration by Godot13
Author:  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. See Copyright.Note: This only applies to original works of the Federal Government and not to the work of any individual U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, county, municipality, or any other subdivision. This template also does not apply to postage stamp designs published by the United States Postal Service since 1978. (See § 313.6(C)(1) of Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices). It also does not apply to certain US coins; see The US Mint Terms of Use. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
By The Bureau of Engraving and Printing - Restoration by Godot13, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33962704

John Quincy Adams served only one term, however, as Jackson used the political deals made in the House of Representatives, what he called "back room deals", to his advantage when he ran against Adams in 1828.  He received a majority of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral college vote and became the 7th President of the United states.

Description:  Andrew Jackson (1767 – 1845)English: Portrait of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States 
Date:  18 January 2011
Source:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents, specifically http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/images/aj7.gif The White House. The Presidents of The Unites States
Author:  Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl (1785/88-1838) (1785–1838)  
Permission(Reusing this file):  This image is a work of an employee of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.  You must also include a United States public domain tag to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States.  This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

In one of those fascinating occurrences in history that happens from time to time, two of our greatest founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, two people that were instrumental in helping to create this country, lay dying.  The date was July 4, 1826, Independence Day.  They had worked together on writing and signing the Declaration of Independence, then on waging a successful war against Great Britain, and finally on helping to write and put together the U.S. Constitution.  Through the years they had been collaborators, then political opponents, and then, after the bruising election of 1800, bitter opponents. After Adams and then Jefferson left the Presidency, they refused to communicate with each other for years.  Finally, a mutual friend somehow convinced them they should at least write a letter. Adams wrote Jefferson first and then Jefferson responded. These two political opponents found they had so much in common, reestablished their once amicable relationship, and started a prolific correspondence. Over the next fourteen years they exchanged over 150 letters. They became dear friends in retirement years as they discussed and debated all the current topics.  On that day, July 4, 1826, each one of the former presidents, when they new that death was at hand, expressed satisfaction that the other one still survived.  Of course they never knew, but they both died on the same day, Independence Day, 1826, fifty years after the Declaration of Independence. (4)

While these things were happening, William Jordan Armistead and Mary E. E. (Baker) Armistead were rapidly expanding their family.  In 1822, Ann Penelope was born to the couple, 1824, William Jordan, Jr., 1826, Simmons Baker, and 1828, Jordan.  These four children are all recorded as having been born in North Carolina.  Apparently the family made the decision and moved to Florida between 1828 and 1830 because the next child, James Perry was born in 1830 and the 1830 Census shows the family living in Magnolia, Leon County, Florida.

Title:  1830 United States Fedeeral Census.

Detail:  1830 US Census; Census Place: Magnolia, Leon, Florida; Page: 130; NARA Series: M19; Roll Number: 15; Family History Film: 0006711
Author:  Ancestry.com
Publisher:  Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
Publisher Date:  2010
Publisher Location:  Provo, UT, USA
Repository Information Name:  Ancestry.com
Address:  http://www.Ancestry.com

Once again, I have an Armistead ancestor picking up and moving to new territory to find that ideal spot to farm.  The lure of fresh and fertile soil on the frontier must have been like a huge magnet to the people of this time and it must have been pulling hard on William Jordan Armistead.  He was a successful plantation owner in North Carolina and was well thought of by the people of Washington County.  The book "Historical Sketches of North Carolina from 1584 to 1851, Vol II," which I accessed from Ancestry.com on line, lists Wm. J. Armistead as Washington County's representative in the House of Commons in 1826.  But during this time many people from North Carolina were flooding into Florida territory.  So what would be the reason that would make William Jordan move his family?  Let's look at some possibilities. 

One big reason might be the one I already mentioned, fertile soil.  In the book Creating the Old South, the author, Edward E. Baptist, makes this statement: "In the early 1820s, Surveyor John Lee Williams produced a series of newspaper articles that described the area of fertile soil that stretched from the Apalachicola Valley to the Suwanee. He ventured his opinion that the small trading post at St. Marks 'will even be the principal port of this section of land'."  The author goes on to write how the fertile soil and optimum growing conditions would allow for growing cotton and then says, "In fact, the earliest pioneers were supposedly already raising prodigious quantities on the new soil, under the sun of the long growing season. A Leon County correspondent reported in 1826 that "Cotton was as high as my head on horseback." (5)

If all the flowery statements and fantastic claims about cotton and tobacco were not enough to get settlers to Florida Territory, there were additional claims as well.  Baptist goes on to write in  his book, "Even more significantly, Middle Florida's climate appeared to permit the cultivation of sugar cane. Sugar was, in the words of one Middle Florida settler, a 'higher game,' played for deeper stakes than cotton.  Planters in Virginia or the Carolinas knew tobacco and cotton and the rewards, and failures those crops could offer, but sugar promised something far greater."  Later on Baptist writes, "Would-be settlers eagerly consumed claims made by the Tallahassee Floridian that cane planted in Leon County hammocks or Jackson County's floodplains would produce 'equal if not superior to the best Mississippi [River] bottoms' in Louisiana. The article, which was copied in the national press, reported that 'We have now in our office ten stalks of sugarcane, raised on the plantation of Dr. Weedon, the produce of a single joint, weighing fifty and a half pounds'." (6)

It seems that the Armisteads and Bakers responded to all of these proclamations about how The Florida Territory was so fantastic.  Remember that Florida was not a state at this time, so these families were leaving a settled state in the United States and moving to settle in the Territory of Florida. It was a territory of the U.S. but far from having the same local and state governments, towns, etc., that existed in North Carolina.  In fact there was considerable unrest amongst the Native Americans in the area, even though the first Seminole War had just been concluded in 1818-1819.  

The first Seminole War had been fought in 1818 and General Jackson crossed through this area to remove the Native Americans inhabiting the area.  He was the first military governor in 1821.  Jackson County was named for General Jackson when it was established in 1822, Gadsden County was named for Jackson's aide-de-camp, James Gadsden in 1823, and Leon County was named for Ponce de Leon, in 1824. (7) These three counties were where the Armisteads and Bakers settled. 

An interesting aside (at least to me) is that my wife's great-great-grandfather, William Bradford Gilchrist Killingsworth, was very likely among those that fought under Jackson in Florida in the First Seminole War in 1818. Records show Killingsworth served as a Sergeant Major in Byrns' Company, 1 Volunteer Mounted Gunmen, West Tennessee, War of 1818 (Seminole Indian Wars). (8) That's all I have found so far.  I have no details on how long he served or what battles, etc. he participated in. 

I believe the Virginia Armistead brothers, Marcus Aurelius, and Latinus, made the trek to Florida in the 1820s.  It is hard to find a date for the exact year they arrived but in Dec of 1827 the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida approved Latinus and Marcus A. Armistead to have the right to establish a "ferry across the Apalachicola River, at or near the place where the said Armisteads have recently laid out a town called Aspalaga;..."  In the book "History of Jackson County", the author states that at the time of the above act, the town of Aspalaga was about a year old, and also found that a Post Office was established there in 1828 and Fabian Armistead, brother of Latinus and Marcus, was appointed as postmaster. (9)  The full text of the Legislative Council Act was published on the front page in the January 25, 1828 edition of the "Pensacola Gazette and West Florida Advertiser".   On a later page L. & M.A. Armistead  placed an advertisement for an "Improved Perpendicular grist Mill" stating they were "authorized Agents of Anthony Bencini, of North Carolina, to do all things necessary for the purpose of selling and conveying the right and privilege of Constructing, Building and using within the Territory of Florida his improved Perpendicular Grist Mill, for Grinding Meal, for which he has obtained a Patent."  The cost was $20. (10)

Title:  Pensacola Gazette and West Florida Advertiser.
Place of  Publication:  Pensacola [Fla.]
Publisher:   W. Hasell Hunt
Creation Date:  January 25, 1828  
Publication Date:  1824-1828
Frequency:  Weekly
Regular Language:  English

In the book "Creating an Old South" the author talks about occupations of settlers moving to Florida and makes this statement: ... “Others hunted deer and trapped otters, trading skins and pelts for cash or credit at stores like that of the Armistead brothers at Aspalaga in Jackson County.”  Also, there is this quote, "In the fall of 1829, Latinus and Marcus Armistead, Virginians who operated a merchant house at Aspalaga on the lower Chattahoochee River, sold sugar boilers to planters Richard Holmes, Peter W. Gautier Sr., T. Watson, and Sextus Camp.” (11)  I found another quote in "Jackson County Florida - A History" that I found interesting.  "A British traveler in 1829 described Aspalaga as a store which 'exists because of the Indian trade' with a village about two miles away.  According to him the village was headed by Wauhpachuna (meaning cow-driver) whose people owned both cattle and slaves.  They got along well with the storekeepers, each of whom 'speak the Indian tongue.'  Social relations were so good that the Indians played their ball games near the store."(12)

The Armistead brothers, Marcus and Latinus, were very active in Florida in the late 1820s and early 1830s as you can see from what I have already mentioned, but in addition they also purchased around 20 plots of land in Jackson, Gadsden, and Leon Counties and made purchases in other counties as well.  I assume they were into land speculation functioning as purchasing agents for settlers that planned to move to Florida. (13)

Now if we look at William Jordan Armistead and his family moving to Florida in about 1828 or 1829, it seems to me that that all these Armistead families knew each other and made the move south with the knowledge of all concerned.  It would be a really big coincidence if they didn't know anything about the other Armisteads and they moved there about the same time and into the same areas.  William Jordan Armistead first lived in Magnolia, Leon County, a town that had just been founded in 1827.

                                                                                            

Description:  Drawing of Magnolia.ate 1842
Source:  Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.
Author/Date:  Unknown
The original uploader was Noles 1984 at English Wikipedia
Permission(Reusing this file) Digital Image Information This is a one of a kind unique digital image from The Florida Memory Project, Florida Department of State. It holds the archives' number of: rc 05085. This image is needed to enhance and improve this article and no other representation exists.·Author: Author unspecified. Date unspecified.Use: The use of photographs and other materials in the custody of the State Archives of Florida is governed by state law and, in some cases, by the terms of the donation agreement under which the Archives acquired the images. In accordance with the provisions of Section 257.35(6), Florida Statutes, "Any use or reproduction of material deposited with the Florida Photographic Collection shall be allowed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1)(b) and subsection (4), provided that appropriate credit for its use is given." Please contact the Archives if you have any questions regarding the credit and use of any material.Florida Department of State State Library and Archives of Florida 500 S. Bronough St.Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250(850) 245-6700
By The original uploader was Noles1984 at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34509054

Description:  Map of Magnolia, Florida
Date:  25 August 2006 (original upload date)
Source:  Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.
Author/ Date:  Unknown
The original uploader was Noles1984 at English Wikipedia
Permission (Reusing this file) Digital Image Information This is a one of a kind unique digital image from The Florida Memory Project, Florida Department of State. It holds the archives' number of: rc04168. This image is needed to enhance and improve this article and no other representation exists.·Use: The use of photographs and other materials in the custody of the State Archives of Florida is governed by state law and, in some cases, by the terms of the donation agreement under which the Archives acquired the images. In accordance with the provisions of Section 257.35(6), Florida Statutes, "Any use or reproduction of material deposited with the Florida Photographic Collection shall be allowed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1)(b) and subsection (4), provided that appropriate credit for its use is given." Please contact the Archives if you have any questions regarding the credit and use of any material.Florida Department of StateState Library and Archives of Florida500 S. Bronough St.Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250.

The original uploader was Noles1984 at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34509153

Quoting again from "Jackson County, Florida - A History", Jerrell H Shofner found that "The Armisteads, who came from North Carolina to Apalachicola before settling in Jackson County in 1827, were involved in planting as well as a mercantile business.  W.J. Armistead was the most significant planter among them." (14)

Now, referring to William Jordan Armistead's father-in-law, and Mary Elizabeth (Baker) Armistead's father, Simmons Jones Baker, I have this quote "Dr. Simmons J.Baker, already in his senior years when he left North Carolina for Florida in the 1820s, brought with him his sons, James L. G. Baker and Simmons Baker, Jr., both of whom became planters in the Greenwood area and men of public affairs in the county and state."  Also, "St. Luke's (Episcopal Church) was consequently organized in March, 1838, by about a dozen families.  Dr. Simmons J. Baker, Sr., was the first senior warden, serving in that position until his death in the early 1850s." (15)

The decade of the 1830s opened with my great-great-grandparents living in the Territory of Florida, a part of the United States, but not as yet a state.  The U.S. was steadily expanding in numbers, having grown in population by 33% compared to the previous Census, and also having grown in territory. Pioneers opened up the Oregon Trail to the Rocky Mountains (1830) and then crossed the Continental Divide (1832).  The first passenger railroad in the U.S., the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (1830), began operation and Pennsylvania's Main Line canal was linked between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and began operation using a system of ten inclined planes (1834). Inventions and patents came quickly. Cyrus H. McCormick invented the reaper (1831), Henry Blair patented the corn planter (1835), Samuel Colt patented the first revolver (1836), Thomas Davenport patented the electronic printing press (1837), Samuel Morse developed the Morse Code system of communication (1838), the steam shovel was patented by William Otis (1839), Thaddeus Fairbanks invented the platform scales (1839), and Charles Goodyear invented rubber vulcanization (1839). (16) 

Description:  Martin Van Buren Salted paper print from glass negative 48.3 × 39.7 cm (19 × 15.6 in)Provenance from W.H. Lowdermilk & Co., Rare Books, 1418 F Street, Washington, DC
Date:  Between circa 1855 and circa 1858
Source:  Metropolitan Museum of Art
Author:  Mathew Brady (1822–1896)  
This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.   You must also include a United States public domain tag to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States.  By Mathew Brady - Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11770429

President Jackson earned a second term as president starting in 1833, and then Martin Van Buren followed Jackson in 1837.  In 1835 the people of Texas entered into a war against Mexico to win their independence. It is really difficult for me to only write a few words about Texas Independence, the Alamo, and San Jacinto.  So many people with huge personalities and interesting stories were involved.  Names like Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, William Barret Travis, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, James Fannin, Juan Seguin, and the list goes on and on.  If you look down a list of all the prominent names of that time in Texas history you will recognize them as the same as many of our present day cities, counties, and schools.  Texas' declaration of Independence was declared on March 2, 1836 but things looked really bad for this declaration to succeed on March 6th when the badly out-numbered  men defending the Alamo were overwhelmed and "put to the sword" by the Mexican General Santa Anna and his soldiers. Texas military leaders used the slaughter at the Alamo to motivate it's forces a few weeks later when Texan forces led by General Sam Houston surprised and defeated Santa Anna's much larger army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21st.  Santa Anna was captured and Texas' independence was secured. Of course there is so much more to the story and many books have been written about this time.  I like Three Roads to the Alamo, by William C Davis, the story of Crockett, Bowie, and Travis and the paths they took that all ended up at the Alamo.  Also, Sam Houston, by James L. Haley and Eighteen Minutes, The Battle of San Jacinto and the Texas Independence Campaign, by Stephen L. Moore.(17)

During the 1830s, and before, many people agitated for something to be done about the "Indian Problem". Eventually politicians passed legislation that resulted in the The Indian Removal Act which was implemented over a six year period.  The consequence of the law was it required the removal of native tribes on the east coast to be forced to relocate farther west. Known as the "Trail of Tears" the movement of these tribes to Oklahoma Territory resulted in the deaths of thousands of Native Americans.  (18)

Description:  Map of the route of the Trails of Tears — depicting the route taken to relocate Native Americans from the Southeastern United States between 1836 and 1839.· The forced march of Cherokee removal from the Southeastern United States for forced relocation to the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma).
Date:  4 September 2007

By User:Nikater - Own work by Nikater, submitted to the public domain. Background map courtesy of Demis, www.demis.nl and Wilcomb E. Washburn (Hrsg.) Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 4: History of Indian-White Relations. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 1988. ISBN 0-16004-583-5, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2681249

During the decade of the 30s, two more states were admitted to the United States, Arkansas in 1836 and Michigan the following year of 1837. A financial Panic occurred in 1837 that was precipitated by the failure of the big New York City banks (sounds familiar, right?) and in consequence unemployment reached record levels. (19)

But at least I want to end the 1830s on a happy note, for during the decade, German American immigrants introduced to America the tradition of decorating Christmas trees for the Christmas Holidays. You can see below the first published image of a Christmas tree. (20)

Description:  First published image of a Christmas tree, frontispiece to Hermann Bokum's 1836 "The Stranger's Gift".
Author:  Unattributed
Licensing:  This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.   Public domain works must be out of copyright in both the United States and in the source country of the work in order to be hosted on the Commons. If the work is not a U.S. work, the file must have an additional copyright tag indicating the copyright status in the source country.

By unattributed - https://karleeaturner.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/godeys-christmas-1848-issue/ https://archive.org/stream/strangersgiftchr00boku#page/n7/mode/2up, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54463422

Now I have my direct ancestors locating in Florida.  The Armisteads have migrated over a 200 year period from England to Virginia to North Carolina and now on to Florida.  Amazing to me how ready these families were to pack up everything and move hundreds of miles to a totally new territory.  I'll discuss the Armisteads time in Florida from the late 1820s up until about 1870 when it was time once again for one of my direct ancestors, my great-grandfather, to pack up and move to.......

Well, you didn't think I was gonna tell ya the answer now did ya?  It would spoil my next post.  See you in a couple months.

References:
1)   http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1820.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1820's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
2)   Garber, Virginia Armistead, The Armistead Family, 1635-1910, Whittet & Shepperson, Richmond, VA., 1910, pg 274.
3)  http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1830.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1830's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
4)   http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1830.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1830's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
5)  Baptist, Edward E., Creating an Old South:  Middle Florida’s Plantation Frontier before the Civil War, Uncpress.unc.edu, http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/197
6)  Ibid.
7)   http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1820.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1820's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
8)  Indian Wars Service Record Index, The National Archives, NARA Publication number:  M629. Index to compiled service records of volunteer soldiers who served during the Indian wars and disturbances from 1815 to 1858.
Accessed from: https://www.fold3.com/title_898/indian_wars_service_record_index#overview

9)   Stanley, Randall J., History of Jackson County, Jackson County Historical Society, p.19.

10)  Pensacola Gazette and West Florida Advertiser, Publisher: W. Hasell Hunt, Jan. 25, 1828, Pensacola, FL.

11)  Baptist, Edward E., Creating an Old South:  Middle Florida’s Plantation Frontier before the Civil War, Uncpress.unc.edu, http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/197
12)  Ibid.
13)   Ancestry.com. U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907,  (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.
14)  Shofner, Jerrell H., Jackson County, Florida - A History, Marianna, FL, 1985, p. 29.
15)  Ibid., p. 63, 179.
16) http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1830.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1830's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
17)   http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1830.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1830's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
18)   http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1830.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1830's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
19)   http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1830.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1830's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.
20)   http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1830.html "America's Best History - U.S. History Timeline: The1830's". Americasbesthistory.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016.