My Visit to Marianna, Florida, July 2019
It has been nine months, since I last posted anything to my blog. Because it has been so long I feel very guilty and I feel compelled to give a short explanation as to why it has been so long. (If you read between the lines, it means I am trying to make excuses for myself.)
A year ago I was unfamiliar with the terms: Neurology-EMG/, SPEP+IFE Reflex, Peripheral Neuropathy, Polyneuropathy, Sensory Nerve Biopsy, Charco-Marie-Tooth Disease, Spinal Canal Stenosis, Foraminal Stenosis, Fractured Ribs, Use a Cane, No Driving, L2/3 Laminectomy, Facetectomy, Foraminotomy. Today I am familiar with all of these terms and many more. Most of the terms I had to google to understand and some I just had to grudgingly get used to doing.
To keep it simple and not take up a lot of time, I had all the above. A fall in Sep cause the fractured ribs. After healing from the fractured ribs for a couple months, I started rehab in November to address neuropathy in my feet and lower legs. Therapy has shown promising results. I had to take time off for back surgery in January but hope to get back with the therapy on my legs in a couple weeks. So there you go. Throw in a little depression and general lack of enthusiasm for doing anything (even genealogy) along the way and you have my excuse.
So, I promise to do better and I am so happy to be back at the computer and writing. This blog will be mostly personal, about my trip to Marianna in July 2019. Then I will get back into the Armistead family during the Civil War.
I wrote that introduction above a couple weeks ago and have been plugging in pictures and proof reading to get this post ready to publish.
But then this year of 2020 suddenly turned on a dime and everything drastically changed. As I write this paragraph my wife and I are self quarantined or voluntarily staying at home. We are doing our best to avoid this unbelievable threat that has popped up in our world. Anyone reading this across the world is aware we are in the early stages of a world wide pandemic from covid-19. The U.S. is struggling to try to meet the challenge but unfortunately we are not getting the leadership at the top we need. The states are trying to piece a response together individually but we need a national response immediately. We are short on test kits, PPE, etc. We can only hope that things improve in time to stem the onslaught of illnesses and death. I pray for the safety of us all, what ever country you may be in as you read this. Be safe, take care of your neighbor as you would yourself, and pray or send out your positive thoughts in what ever way you wish, regardless if you are religious or not religious. The world needs to come together as one to get through this.
And on with my trip.
MARIANNA, FLORIDA HISTORY
If you are a follower of my blog you are familiar with Marianna, Florida. If you are new to the site then you may not have heard of the small town, located in the northeast or the "panhandle" portion of Florida.
Google Earth shot of Marianna, FL.
Situated in the center of Jackson County, Marianna is the county seat and home to to about 6,102 people (2010 Census). Chipola College is located in Marianna, along with the county courthouse, of course, and historical buildings, churches, and cemeteries. Wikipedia gives the nickname of Marianna as "The City of Southern Charm".
Lafayette St. runs down the center of the town. The county courthouse is located at the corner of Lafayette and Jefferson Streets.
Jackson County has a population of 49,746 (2010 Census). The county was carved out of an existing county, Escambia, in 1822 and named for General Andrew Jackson. Jackson County borders the state of Alabama on the north and has an eastern boundary with Georgia along the line of the Chattahoochee River, Woodruff Reservoir and Lake Seminole. Also, bordering on the east is the Gadsden County line, defined by the Apalachicola River. Bordering on the west are Washington and Holmes Counties and to the south is Calhoun County with just a teen tiny sliver of Bay County as well.
Marianna is the largest city in the county, with Graceville (2,675) and Sneads (1,746) next in line and then Cottondale, Malone, Greenwood, Alford, and Campbellton all less than one thousand people. Marianna was founded by Robert Beverage in late 1827. Beverage made the decision to buy land in the area and develop it into a settlement. There are several stories about how the name of Marianna came to be, including one told on Wikipedia that appears to be incorrect. The correct version, according to Dale Cox's book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years, says the name for Marianna developed in this way. Beverage's wife was named Anna Maria (Forney) Beveridge. Cox says "the real story (about the name) was preserved in the records of the Forney family." Seems like a no-brainier then, right, Anna and Maria? According to those documents, "Beveridge created the name by combining his wife's middle name, Maria with the first name of one of his business partners wife, who was named Anna." Little surprise ending there, right? Thought it was just the combination of his own wife's name, didn't you? I did.
In 1829 Marianna was designated county seat of Jackson County. This only happened after much political intrigue and the use of the wealth of Robert Beverage to prevail over Webbville, for the coveted designation of county seat. You can read all about the political maneuvering in Dale Cox's book mentioned above. It is an interesting read.
MY VISIT TO MARIANNA, FLORIDA
On July 17, 2019, I was driving north on Florida highway 73 heading into Marianna, Florida. I had been planning and looking forward to this trip for months. I had dropped my wife, daughter, and two grandsons off at the Panama City airport earlier that morning and I was headed out alone to do my research. I was really shocked when I was planning my trip that my wife decided she did not want to accompany me. I had barely gotten the words "you may not enjoy going with me while I spend three days doing research" out of my mouth when she said you're right, I will let you go do that on your own. Well, no I really wasn't surprised.
Jackson County courthouse. Notice how the trees are struggling to come back after the devastating hurricane that hit the county nine months before.
Any way, the closer I got the more excited I got. My plan was to go directly to the courthouse. Before I knew it, there it was on the corner of Lafayette and Jefferson Streets. I pulled in and parked in front. I headed inside and went straight to the basement where the old records were stored. It was 9:30 a.m. and I dug right in. I met Mr. Standland (hope I spelled that correctly). He was very helpful and I enjoyed visiting with him about genealogy as well. About 12:30 I took a short break and then jumped back in. About 3:15 I was really tired and decided to head to my room and check in.
You can see from the picture I took the courthouse is not an old ornate building but a twentieth century structure that is nice but not anything special in it's architecture. The trees in front of the building looked a little strange or even a little sickly to me. In fact as I looked around all the trees looked about the same. This county was hit really hard by hurricane Michael only nine months before. Michael slammed into Mexico Beach, FL on Oct 10, 2018, as a category 5 hurricane, with winds of 140 knots, (160 m/h, 260 km/h), before it continued through to Jackson County. The trees, the county, and this little town were and probably are still trying to recover from the devastating effects of the hurricane. The second floor of the courthouse was undergoing renovation and there was a large trash dump on one side of the building and other signs of ongoing work. In fact I had to keep checking the months leading up to my trip to be sure I would even be able to get into the building to do research.
View across Lafayette St from the front of the courthouse.
Another shot across Lafayette from the courthouse.
Containers for construction debris on the west side of the courthouse.
Intersection at Lafayette and Jefferson Streets.
A closer look at some of the damage to downtown. This is just across Lafayette from the courthouse.
There were signs of buildings being worked on as well as signs of the damaged buildings that were still waiting to be repaired, and then there are some, I'm sure, that will not be repaired but eventually torn down. Just as there had been in Panama City and across the Florida panhandle that the family and I had driven through a few days before, there were trees blown down or leaning and there were trees in piles still waiting to be hauled away. I had noticed blue tarps on buildings covering up damage from the hurricane as we drove through the country side and small towns. It was the same there in Marianna. If you look close you can see blue tarps in the two Google Earth screen shots below.
Google Earth shots of Marianna, FL. Notice the blue tarps. Places waiting to be repaired.
The research I did at the courthouse that day was really fun. So many records are online these days and accessible on a computer, at home, in your PJs, which is so wonderful for the genealogist. But what a thrill it is to pick up a huge minute book, tax record book, or land record book, open it and look at the original handwriting from a hundred and fifty years ago!! My method of research is certainly not the most efficient. I like opening and looking through the books page by page. I try to focus on the years that are pertinent to my research and it is great fun. Of course the downside is that you can't cover a lot that way. It is slow going because the records are in handwriting that is much different than today. It takes some deciphering to understand it. In the old days I had to write down everything I wanted to remember. (Remember those days when your hand, arms and neck were cramping!) It was really long and tiring. Now, I have a hand held copier that I have used a lot through the years that stores the copies and can be downloaded to my computer. I still use that but in the last couple years I have added taking photos with my iPhone or iPad. There are also scanning apps, etc. that you can use as well.
You can see Mary E. Armistead listed above. She has some type of case taking place against Baltzell and Co. I don't know what appt. means. Remember one of her daughters married a man named Baltzell. Interesting....
The easiest records to find were the land records because they were all online. The first thing I had to do was look in the patents book, find my ancestor, and write down the information given. I used this information to look on the computer and find the record I was looking for and print a copy. There was a lady there that explained how to do everything and then helped me print the records. Each person I talked to at the courthouse was so nice and helpful. I am sorry that I am so terrible at names that I did not retain the names to list here. Maybe they would rather not have their name posted anyway. Hopefully my thank you to each person that helped me was enough to let them know they were appreciated.
There were a number of entries for Armisteads in the books.
My research time at the court house was a great success. While I did not find new, earth shattering information, I did find documentation for some of the information I already had and I also picked up a few additional bits of information that I did not have before. I also made hard copies of the land records on file. The thrill of being there, seeing the actual books with the original handwriting, plus finding some additional information made this a very fun, exciting, and very rewarding trip for me.
After leaving the court house, I headed west up Lafayette Street. My room reservation was at the Henson House, a local bed and breakfast. I had received a code to the front door so that when I arrived all I had to do was open the door, sign the register and head up to my room. My suite was called the "Home Guard Suite".
This was the name of my Suite and explains the name.
The reason I reserved this particular suite was because of the name. During the Civil War, the towns in the south formed military units to protect the local community. With all the men of fighting age leaving to join the military and go off to fight, the older and younger men were usually the ones that made up the Home Guard. Occasionally there would be a young man from the regular military there as well, like when they were home on leave, or had been wounded and were home to recuperate. Since my great-grandfather, Robert Stewart Armistead, had served in the Home Guard at the age of 16 in the Battle of Marianna, it just seemed the perfect place to stay. In addition the Henson House, though not in existence at the time, was built on the north side of Lafayette Street, at the very location where the early stage of the Battle of Marianna was fought and it is possible my great-grandfather was hiding near this very location, waiting to ambush the northern soldiers heading up Lafayette Street toward downtown Marianna. All and all a perfect place to stay for my visit to Marianna, FL.
Henson House Bed and Breakfast.
I will insert a short unsolicited advertisement here. If you plan to go to Marianna I would recommend the Henson House. Not a lot to look at from the outside, but the inside of the home is beautiful, quite, has a very relaxing atmosphere, and comfortable. The manager of the B and B, Karen, was a wonderful hostess, with wine and delicious cookies each evening, and a scrumptious hot breakfast served each morning.
Front Entrance and Vestibule.
Entrance to the left and door into the parlor on the right.
The five pictures above are all of the parlor.
I enjoyed reading the newspaper on my iPad in the evening, and sipping a glass of wine. I observed families or friends traveling together, playing cards or some other game there in the living area, or maybe parlor is the more appropriate name. During my three day stay, I met an insurance man that worked with the local businesses to help them get their insurance claims filed and get their settlements. There was a couple there, with children, that were headed out to the local lake or beach, or maybe both. There was a couple originally from Marianna, but living in Georgia now, that comes back periodically to stay and visit their old home town.
This was the dinning room where we had breakfast each morning.
My suite consisted of three rooms. A large room with a TV, a bed and a sink, a small room off the bedroom, with a couch, table and lamp to use as a reading room, and the bathroom.
Pictures of the Home Guard Suite.
The bathroom had a claw foot tub with a shower curtain fashioned around on the inside of the tub and a shower head for taking a shower. Quite small but worked just fine for my showers. A sink and a small table completed the bathroom which made it quite functional.
The photograph on the wall is a of a beautiful young woman. You can see from my picture below that it is a captivating shot. Was she a southern belle or a Scottish lass? Maybe it was just me, but I loved just standing and gazing at that young lass and allowing myself to be pulled back in time to some long lost past with this young girl. Who or what is is she dreaming of? Is there a young gentleman, a secret love perhaps, that she is holding close in her heart? Perhaps she was waiting for him to come back from the war or maybe she had not yet met that special someone and sat longing for his arrival into her life.
What are your thoughts about this young lass?
Upstairs there were two other bedrooms besides mine and then another downstairs that I did not photograph. And of course there is the stairway leading up to the second floor.
The rest of the upstairs rooms.
One added delight for me was the fact that Karen was a licensed massage therapist. I am a devoted fan of massages so my second night there also included a massage. Karen would be right at the top of my list for recommendation for a massage. It was one of the best massages I have ever had.
I am splitting this into two posts due to the length. Expect the next installment in the next couple days.
