For those who may have ancestors in the Fernandina or Nassau Co. area, there was a book published by the City of Fernandina in 1988, "The Original Section of Bosque Bella Cemetery, Fernandina Beach, Florida - A listing of Existing Grave Markers and Maps Showing their Locations". This was a project of "The General Duncan Lamont Clinch Historical Society of Amelia Island". However, years ago before this book came out when I contacted someone who was looking after the cemetery, he stated that there were a number of unmarked graves for which the records - if they ever existed - were lost. My interest in this was to find who of the original settlers in Old Fernandina were buried there. I was particularly attempting to find if my many great grandmother, Catherine Chicken Dewees Hall was there, rather than in or near the Old Pablo Cemetery. It appears that she may have died in Old Fernandina before or during the Patriots' War. Her daughter, Mary Dewees, claimed a lot in (Old) Fernandina when Florida became a territory. Old Fernandina is an interesting and historic little Spanish town. Before the Spanish regained Florida back from the British, there was an "Egmont Town" at what appears to have been the same location. Many of us probably have ancestors who owned property there. It is a shame that no archeological work was ever done there. Ed T of PGH

To: Edgar Taylor We need to get together. My great,great,great,great grandfathers were both involved in the "Patriots War" The first, Francisco Diaz Teran, a Spanish soldier from Santander in northern Spain was stationed on Talbot Island as a sentry ordered to burn his house as an alarm that an invasion force was coming from Fernandina (not know by the name Fernandina until 1821 -long after the war) My other G,G,G,G grandfather was Samuel P Russel who arrived in East Florida after the second Spanish occupation about 1785. Samuel was up to his ears in the rebellion, first as a member of the local militia and than as a full blown rebel for which he was arrested along with his company commander and close friend, Spicer Christopher. He was treated fairly by the Spanish governor and only put under arrest for six months when he could have been hung as a traitor. Another close friend, George Arons was hung. The whold story was published by the SGES in their March edition and can also be seen in my Gedcom file on Ancestry.com "Samuel P Russel". Spicer Christopher, Samuel Russel and George Arons are all mentioned in books about the war by Charles Bennett and James G Cusick both available at th public library downtown. I am a descendant of the marriage of Samuel R Russell, Jr and Mary Isabel Teran through their daughter Mary Ann Russell. Mary Ann Russell married Martin A Whittemore and they started a Whittemore clan in Nassau county that numbers in the hundreds. Their daughter, Charlotte Whittemore married my great,great grandfather Edwin Snowball who is buried in a small family cemetery on Pages Dairy Road abt two miles from Yulee. Most of my Snowball ancestors(16) and one Whittemore are buried there. My great grandmother, Mary Eveline Snowball married Joe Ellis and my grandmother, Ella Viola Ellis married Roy David Thompson about the same time they moved to Jacksonville. There are no Snowballs left in Florida. I have located my great,great, great grandmother, Mary Isabel Teran (Russell) buried in the old Bosque Bello cemetery in Fernandina and her son Antonio Diaz. (he apparently chose Diaz as his last name as did his mother out of shame for Francisco Teran's part in the rebellion). I have located what I believe is the remains of Francisco's Tabby house on Talbot Island and it sits in the south west corner of the island within view of McQueens house on Ft. George Island.( I know it is now called the Kingsley plantation but Zephaniah Kingsley bought it from Juan McQueen who acutally built the house and the plantation). Send me your email address and we will try and get together ----- Original Message ----- From: "Edgar Taylor" <ertjr1@earthlink.net> To: <flduval@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 9:41 AM Subject: [FLDUVAL] Old Fernandina - Cemetery in Fernandina > For those who may have ancestors in the Fernandina or Nassau Co. area, > there was a book published by the City of Fernandina in 1988, "The > Original Section of Bosque Bella Cemetery, Fernandina Beach, Florida - > A listing of Existing Grave Markers and Maps Showing their Locations". > This was a project of "The General Duncan Lamont Clinch Historical > Society of Amelia Island". However, years ago before this book came out > when I contacted someone who was looking after the cemetery, he stated > that there were a number of unmarked graves for which the records - if > they ever existed - were lost. > " > My interest in this was to find who of the original settlers in Old > Fernandina were buried there. I was particularly attempting to find if > my many great grandmother, Catherine Chicken Dewees Hall was there, > rather than in or near the Old Pablo Cemetery. It appears that she may > have died in Old Fernandina before or during the Patriots' War. Her > daughter, Mary Dewees, claimed a lot in (Old) Fernandina when Florida > became a territory. > > Old Fernandina is an interesting and historic little Spanish town. > Before the Spanish regained Florida back from the British, there was an > "Egmont Town" at what appears to have been the same location. Many of > us probably have ancestors who owned property there. It is a shame that > no archeological work was ever done there. > > Ed T of PGH > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > FLDUVAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Thanks for your very interesting message. I appreciate your posting it. I can not say I recognize the names you mention, except Spicer Christopher. The Christophers connect with the Houstons, among others, of whom I know quite abit.. I can relate to your story about your ancestor who took part in the rebellion. Catherine Dewees' sons, Philip and William, were also on that side of the fiasco. Both apparently were pardoned, but William soon after died of some cause, possibly from wounds he received in the fighting. He had married the widow, Mary Dell Maxey. They had one daughter who married a McTeer who also was involved with the fighting. Another - to me- interesting story. The US gunboat that helped the "Patriots" take Fernandina was commanded by Winslow Foster, who later married a daughter of Philip Dewees, Mary. He was a son of Silas Foster, who was the mayor of Norfolk VA in the 1790s. As a young man Winslow was the caption of a ship that was wrecked in a storm off the English coast. Foster went on to be a "celebrated" captain of a US cutter ship. He was stationed in Mobile and in New Orleans. But I have not been able to find anything about their family. On the other side were two men who were the overseers for John Forbes who had bought the north part of the Dewees Grant from Catherine. They sided with the Spanish. So the southern part of the Dewees Grant suffered from the Spanish while the northern did not. My great grandfather tried to get something from the US government for the losses. My great great grandfather took the sergeant of a Spanish company to court to regain slaves which had been taken from the Dewees Grant at that time. It is my impression that alot of the families during that time left Florida and went over the St. Mary's River to stay in St. Mary, GA. Mary Dewees probably met and married Winslow Foster there, since the US gunboats were stationed in St. Marys. Sorry, but I am not subscribed to Ancestry.com so can not access your story. Nor do I live in Jacksonville, so can not go there to see what Charlie Bennett has to say. Thanks again. Ed T of PGH -------- On Jun 12, 2007, at 1:32 PM, <terrellthomp@bellsouth.net> wrote: > To: Edgar Taylor > > We need to get together. My great,great,great,great grandfathers were > both > involved in the "Patriots War" The first, Francisco Diaz Teran, a > Spanish > soldier from Santander in northern Spain was stationed on Talbot > Island as a > sentry ordered to burn his house as an alarm that an invasion force was > coming from Fernandina (not know by the name Fernandina until 1821 > -long > after the war) My other G,G,G,G grandfather was Samuel P Russel who > arrived > in East Florida after the second Spanish occupation about 1785. Samuel > was > up to his ears in the rebellion, first as a member of the local > militia and > than as a full blown rebel for which he was arrested along with his > company > commander and close friend, Spicer Christopher. He was treated fairly > by > the Spanish governor and only put under arrest for six months when he > could > have been hung as a traitor. Another close friend, George Arons was > hung. > The whold story was published by the SGES in their March edition and > can > also be seen in my Gedcom file on Ancestry.com "Samuel P Russel". > Spicer > Christopher, Samuel Russel and George Arons are all mentioned in books > about > the war by Charles Bennett and James G Cusick both available at th > public > library downtown. > > I am a descendant of the marriage of Samuel R Russell, Jr and Mary > Isabel > Teran through their daughter Mary Ann Russell. Mary Ann Russell married > Martin A Whittemore and they started a Whittemore clan in Nassau > county that > numbers in the hundreds. Their daughter, Charlotte Whittemore married > my > great,great grandfather Edwin Snowball who is buried in a small family > cemetery on Pages Dairy Road abt two miles from Yulee. Most of my > Snowball > ancestors(16) and one Whittemore are buried there. My great > grandmother, > Mary Eveline Snowball married Joe Ellis and my grandmother, Ella Viola > Ellis > married Roy David Thompson about the same time they moved to > Jacksonville. > There are no Snowballs left in Florida. > > I have located my great,great, great grandmother, Mary Isabel Teran > (Russell) buried in the old Bosque Bello cemetery in Fernandina and > her son > Antonio Diaz. (he apparently chose Diaz as his last name as did his > mother > out of shame for Francisco Teran's part in the rebellion). I have > located > what I believe is the remains of Francisco's Tabby house on Talbot > Island > and it sits in the south west corner of the island within view of > McQueens > house on Ft. George Island.( I know it is now called the Kingsley > plantation > but Zephaniah Kingsley bought it from Juan McQueen who acutally built > the > house and the plantation). > > Send me your email address and we will try and get together > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Edgar Taylor" <ertjr1@earthlink.net> > To: <flduval@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 9:41 AM > Subject: [FLDUVAL] Old Fernandina - Cemetery in Fernandina > > >> For those who may have ancestors in the Fernandina or Nassau Co. area, >> there was a book published by the City of Fernandina in 1988, "The >> Original Section of Bosque Bella Cemetery, Fernandina Beach, Florida - >> A listing of Existing Grave Markers and Maps Showing their Locations". >> This was a project of "The General Duncan Lamont Clinch Historical >> Society of Amelia Island". However, years ago before this book came >> out >> when I contacted someone who was looking after the cemetery, he stated >> that there were a number of unmarked graves for which the records - if >> they ever existed - were lost. >> " >> My interest in this was to find who of the original settlers in Old >> Fernandina were buried there. I was particularly attempting to find if >> my many great grandmother, Catherine Chicken Dewees Hall was there, >> rather than in or near the Old Pablo Cemetery. It appears that she may >> have died in Old Fernandina before or during the Patriots' War. Her >> daughter, Mary Dewees, claimed a lot in (Old) Fernandina when Florida >> became a territory. >> >> Old Fernandina is an interesting and historic little Spanish town. >> Before the Spanish regained Florida back from the British, there was >> an >> "Egmont Town" at what appears to have been the same location. Many of >> us probably have ancestors who owned property there. It is a shame >> that >> no archeological work was ever done there. >> >> Ed T of PGH >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> FLDUVAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > FLDUVAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

I asked one time (i don't remember who i asked) about why more archaeological work hadn't been done on the Old Fernandina site and was told it was simply due to a shortage of money. Julie ----- Original Message ----- From: Edgar Taylor To: flduval@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 9:41 AM Subject: [FLDUVAL] Old Fernandina - Cemetery in Fernandina For those who may have ancestors in the Fernandina or Nassau Co. area, there was a book published by the City of Fernandina in 1988, "The Original Section of Bosque Bella Cemetery, Fernandina Beach, Florida - A listing of Existing Grave Markers and Maps Showing their Locations". This was a project of "The General Duncan Lamont Clinch Historical Society of Amelia Island". However, years ago before this book came out when I contacted someone who was looking after the cemetery, he stated that there were a number of unmarked graves for which the records - if they ever existed - were lost. My interest in this was to find who of the original settlers in Old Fernandina were buried there. I was particularly attempting to find if my many great grandmother, Catherine Chicken Dewees Hall was there, rather than in or near the Old Pablo Cemetery. It appears that she may have died in Old Fernandina before or during the Patriots' War. Her daughter, Mary Dewees, claimed a lot in (Old) Fernandina when Florida became a territory. Old Fernandina is an interesting and historic little Spanish town. Before the Spanish regained Florida back from the British, there was an "Egmont Town" at what appears to have been the same location. Many of us probably have ancestors who owned property there. It is a shame that no archeological work was ever done there. Ed T of PGH