Armistead Family History #17

                                                            Dr. Simmons Jones Baker (1775-1853)

Dr. Baker and his wife Mary Turner (Smith) Baker are my great-great-great-grandparents.  I wrote about them in my blog post Armistead Family History #14.  Their daughter, Mary Eliza E. (Baker) Armistead married William Jordan Armistead.  They are my two times great-grandparents.  Since the Bakers are so closely associated with the Armisteads in North Carolina and Florida, I decided I would use this post to give you more information about Dr. Simmons Jones Baker.

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Dr. Simmons Jones Baker (February 15, 1775-August 18, 1853).

Description:  Portrait of Dr. Simmons Jones Baker (February 15, 1775 – August 18, 1853) Original hangs in the Masonic Lodge in Halifax, North Carolina.
Source:  Digital reproduction or scan of original portrait.Under US laws mechanical reproduction of a work does not create an additional copyright to that of the original.  
Author:  This file has no author information, and may be lacking other information. Files should have a summary to inform others of the content, author, source, and date if possible. If you know or have access to such information, please add it to the file page. Notify the uploader with: {{subst:add-author-I|1=SimmonsJonesBaker.jpg}}
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simmons_Jones_Baker#/media/File:SimmonsJonesBaker.jpg

I found a very good article on NCpedia.com, written by Claiborne T. Smith about Dr. Baker.  Most of the information will be from his article.  Smith describes Baker as a "physician and legislator", but as it turns out, I think he was much more than that.  He was born in Hertford County, NC, 15 Feb 1775.  His parents were Lawrence and Anne (Jones) Baker.  After attending school in southeastern Virginia, he went to England in 1793 and attended lectures at the medical school in Edinburg.  At the time this medical school was "the most celebrated in the world". (1)

Certificate Given to Dr. Simmons J. Baker by St. Thomas Hospital.

Oversize Paper 1: Certificate in Latin, signed by Andreas Dalzel(?), 1795: Scan 1
Filename: 00042-z_OP0001_0001.jp2

https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00042/#opaper_1#1

After Dr. Baker moved back to the US, he married Poly Smith on 24 Oct 1795.  Their marriage started out in comfort due to Poly having received a plantation from her grandfather.  They built a house on the plantation and called it Greenwood.  By 1820 Baker had sold Greenwood and moved to Martin County. (2)

Dr. Simmons J. Baker in the House of Commons and Senate in North Carolina.

Historical Sketches of North Carolina from 1584 to 1851, Vol. II [database on-line].
Description Section: Madison and Martin Counties
Source Information:
http://interactive.ancestry.com/48630/SketchesNCII-000626-251?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d48630%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=SketchesNCII-000628-253

While living in Martin County, Dr. Simmons Jones Baker was selected as the representative of the county to the House of Commons and later he served in the Senate. (3)

Dr. Simmons Jones Baker as Trustee of University of North Carolina

Catalogue of the trustees, faculty, and students of the University of North Carolina, for 1834-35.
Source:  Ancestry.com. U.S., College Student Lists, 1763-1924 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Original data:  College Student Lists. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society.
The Digitized Content is licensed from the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) and may not be reproduced, transferred or commercially or otherwise exploited, in whole or in part, outside the terms and conditions of this service without the express written consent of AAS. All rights reserved.

He was appointed as a trustee of the University of North Carolina in 1812 and served there the rest of his life. (4)  Dr. Baker was always interested in education.  He served as a trustee of the Vine Hill Academy in Scotland Neck, NC, when it was chartered in 1809 and when the North Carolina Institute of Education was organized, 22 June 1831, he was unanimously elected as president.

Dr. S.J. Baker was "An active layman of the Episcopal Church."  He, along with other churchmen, organized Trinity Church, Scotland Neck, NC, in Feb of 1833.  Five years later, in 1838, he helped organize St Luke's Episcopal Church of Marianna, Florida.  He served as the first Senior Warden for the church.

If all this was not enough Baker was active in the Masons and was the Grand Master in 1832 and again in 1840 and "in that capacity laid the cornerstone of the present capitol building in Raleigh, NC 4 July 1833."

You may recall that I told of how William Jordan Armistead and his family and Simmons Jones Baker and some of his family moved to Florida in the late 1820s.  Smith put it this way. "In 1828 Baker moved to Jackson County, Florida, where he remained for several years, acquiring large tracts of land near the present town of Marianna and around St. Andrews Bay.  His plantation in Florida was Buckland.  For the next decade he lived in Florida intermittently, ..." 

Along with their father, James Laurence George Baker, and Simmons Jones Baker, Jr., owned large plantations in Jackson County, Florida.  The town of Greenwood is said to have been named after the old home in NC.  Greenwood, Florida is located a few miles north of Marianna.  Baker and his two son's plantations were located around this area. (5)

Large Plantations-Jackson County, 1850

The Red Hills of Florida, 1528-1865, by Clifton Paisley, copyright 1989, The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. pg 121.

Dr. Baker had large land holdings in Florida as well as large land holdings in North Carolina.  It is apparent that he made a lot of trips back and forth between Florida and North Carolina, but the interesting part is the census records only recorded him as living in North Carolina.  He never showed up in the Florida census but obviously was very involved in the state.  His two sons, James Lawrence George Baker and Simmons Jones Baker, Jr. had plantations in Florida as well.  S.J. Jr., shows up in Florida census records starting in 1840 and did every 10 years until his death.  For James L.G. Baker, he didn't show up in Florida census' until 1850 and after.  You can see in the map above from Clifton Paisley's book "The Red Hills of Florida, 1528-1865" where the Baker's plantations were located. (6) I am sure that the boys were in charge of overseeing their fathers plantation.

Dr Baker's first wife, Mary (Polly) Turner (Smith) Baker, died in 1812, his second wife, Ann C. (Seawell) Baker, died in 1843. In the 1850 North Carolina census Dr. Simmons J. Baker was listed as being 75 years old and living alone.  He died in 1853, age 78.

Dr. S.J. Baker Sr.'s obituary in the "Raleigh Register" dated 7 Sep 1853, is shown below.

Dr. Simmons Jones Baker, notice of his death. 07 Sep 1853, Wed

Source Information Title:  Newspapers.com - The Raleigh Register - 07 Sep 1853, Wed
Publisher:  The Raleigh Register
Publisher Date:  07 Sep 1853, Wed
Publisher Location:  Raleigh, North Carolina
Repository Information Name:  www.newspapers.com

Dr. Baker procured large amounts of property in his lifetime, including slaves, and as you would expect his will was long, 13 pages long.  I have included it below.  It is a fascinating read and I encourage you to read it.  It gives insight into the life of a large plantation owner of his time.  Not included below is the list that was filed with his will naming 119 slaves.

Dr. Simmons Jones Baker Will, 1853.

Source Citation:  Halifax County, North Carolina, wills and estate papers; Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History; Probate Place: Halifax, North Carolina
Source Information:  Ancestry.com. North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
Original data: North Carolina County, District and Probate Courts.

Dr. Baker left behind four children, two sons and two daughters, James L.G. Baker, Simmons Jones Baker, Jr., Mary Elizabeth E. (Baker) Armistead, and Laura Lucinda (Baker) Saunders.  Four children and two wives preceded him in death.  It looks like his children were well provided for with land and slaves either loaned or given during his lifetime and in his will.

Widowed Laura Saunders was living in North Carolina and the other three were living in Florida around the Marianna area.  I will have more to say about these three in Florida as I continue with the Armistead history. 

Dr. Simmons Jones Baker is a very interesting ancestor.  He and my other Baker ancestors would be a great topic for future posts.  For now you can go to:

           http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/b/Baker,Simmons_J.html .     or
           https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/baker-simmons-jones 

The first url will take you to UNC University Libraries, The Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collection Library.  You will find a good amount of information to research on Dr. Baker at that site.  The second will take you to NCpedia, another good site for research on Dr. Baker and North Carolina.

In my next post I will get back to the Armistead history starting in 1850.


References:
1)Smith, Claiborne T., Jr., Article reprinted from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 Vols., edited by William S. Powell, Copyright 1979-1996, University of North Carolina Press.  https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/baker-simmons-jones 
2)Smith, Claiborne T., Jr., Article reprinted from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 Vols., edited by William S. Powell, Copyright 1979-1996, University of North Carolina Press.  https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/baker-simmons-jones 
3) Historical Sketches of North Carolina from 1584 to 1851, Vol. II [database on-line], pg. 253.  
Description Section: Madison and Martin Counties
Source Information: http://interactive.ancestry.com/48630/SketchesNCII-000626-251?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d48630%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=SketchesNCII-000628-253
4) Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., College Student Lists, 1763-1924 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  Original data: College Student Lists. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society. The Digitized Content is licensed from the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) and may not be reproduced, transferred or commercially or otherwise exploited, in whole or in part, outside the terms and conditions of this service without the express written consent of AAS. All rights reserved.
5)Smith, Claiborne T., Jr., Article reprinted from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 Vols., edited by William S. Powell, Copyright 1979-1996, University of North Carolina Press.  https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/baker-simmons-jones 
6) Paisley, Clifton, "The Red Hills of Florida, 1528-1865", The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, 1989, pg 121.

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

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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