HI Shelia, haven't heard from you in a looong time. How have you been ? I am not a Godwin descendet, but have gobs of stuff on them. What do you need ? Doris

Looks like there's a good article or two for the WFGS quarterly among the Godwin descendants. Anyone want to put one together for an upcoming issue? Ms. Sheila Lilia Martin ((( >^..^< )))

I will send a copy to Ginny for the page. I just wanted to know if it was alright to post scanned info on this list without anyone getting mad at me....Thanks Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: Evan R. Strohl <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 8:25 AM Subject: Re: [FLESCAMB] Paradise Bay Subdivision Over Rushing Cemetery > Joe, (and Ginny, and Sharon, and ....) > I only answered your call (probably the first one) to > offer an address--I just wanted them to be in safe hands > for our Society. Ginny subsequently offered, and that's FINE > with me---just send them to her. She'll assure they go to the > right place---somewhere for EVERYONE to appreciate them. > Thanks anyway. Meantime, when she gets OUR copies back > from the typist, I think she agreed with me last night that we could > just > send them out to you, and you could copy them (or scan them) to > Sharon, > since she wants to see them, too! It might be quite a few pages, if > I remember, and there will be all kinds of weird handwriting of > all those hearty souls who worked with me. You can have the > originals, once they are readied for the WFGS WebSite. > OK? Have fun. > Evan > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Joseph M. Garcia <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Date: Thursday, March 02, 2000 4:27 PM > Subject: Re: [FLESCAMB] Paradise Bay Subdivision Over Rushing Cemetery > > > >Hello Group. > > > >I finally bought me a new > >

Joe, (and Ginny, and Sharon, and ....) I only answered your call (probably the first one) to offer an address--I just wanted them to be in safe hands for our Society. Ginny subsequently offered, and that's FINE with me---just send them to her. She'll assure they go to the right place---somewhere for EVERYONE to appreciate them. Thanks anyway. Meantime, when she gets OUR copies back from the typist, I think she agreed with me last night that we could just send them out to you, and you could copy them (or scan them) to Sharon, since she wants to see them, too! It might be quite a few pages, if I remember, and there will be all kinds of weird handwriting of all those hearty souls who worked with me. You can have the originals, once they are readied for the WFGS WebSite. OK? Have fun. Evan -----Original Message----- From: Joseph M. Garcia <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, March 02, 2000 4:27 PM Subject: Re: [FLESCAMB] Paradise Bay Subdivision Over Rushing Cemetery >Hello Group. > >I finally bought me a new

Hello Group. I finally bought me a new computer. I also bought a scanner. So instead of mailing out those records of Union Hill Baptist Church, How about me scanning them. Let me know what ya think. Ginny and Evan, I can still send you copies. Ginny, or do you want to wait until you post them? Let me know.... Joe...playing on his new computer

I love having a puzzle to put together continuously that never ends. I also love the history that goes along with it, something that I hated in school. I think if more children got involved in genealogy, they would enjoy history more. I always loved working on the family tree when I was a child and I always wrote in births and deaths in the family Bible. I just should have gotten into it more before my grandparents died. Anyone with children and grandchildren need to get them involved so they will continue after we are long gone. It's worth sitting down and talking with the children and what better subject to talk about than our passion "genealogy". My children all thought I had lost my mind until I started telling them about what I was finding and they really started enjoying it and asking me questions. It makes them appreciate their ancestors more and want to make sure their graves are taken care of. Judy in Maryland

Doris and Board, I think that's a wonderful story, Doris, about how you got "hooked" on genealogy. I've tried to explain this MANY, MANY times to friends. If anyone needs another mental exercise in futility, try explaining WHY you got hooked onto this WONDERFUL jigsaw puzzle called "genealogy." I CAN'T DO IT!! I JUST KNOW THAT I LOVE IT!! Imagine yourself writing a little term paper on it----maybe one page. make it the "Preface" to your own Family History Book, and see how you would do it! Why is it that only ONE family member, PER FAMILY, is ever interested!! WHY, WHY? ;=) ;=) Try it! Ph-f-f-f-t-t-! Evan -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, March 01, 2000 3:31 PM Subject: Re: [FLESCAMB] Paradise Bay Subdivision Over Rushing Cemetery >Oh come on Evan, > >I have lots of stories. Just ask me ! > >Politics played a big part in the destruction of the cemetery. I went to >Channel 3, >PNJ, and another T.V. Station they were real interested at first , but when >each learned who was involved, they shyed away. > >Ben Sr. divided the land between his children. He died in 1914 and Samantha >had died abt 1913. >Back in 1925 an unscrupulous relative talked all of the remaining children >into selling him thier portion of the land, for the sum of $1.00 >I imagine they got tired of paying taxes on land that was across the Bay in a >swamp >( ain't that a hoot ?) that they were never going to use. >Ben Jr. my grandather was a Fireman at what is now McGuires, and he lived >across the street from the Firestation. >I have a copy of that quit claim deed. >The relative was a son of one of Ben's daughter's. I imagine she gave him her >portion. >The family believes that he is the one that destroyed the tombstones. The >time frame fits. Ben Kersey Sr. was his grandfather. How can anyone do that >to thier grandfather or anyone for that matter ? > >That is how I got started in genealogy ( which was't called genealogy at the >time ). I was trying to find out who Ben Sr was and got hooked ! All of you >know the feeling lol. > >Doris >

Subject: Perfection In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools. At a Chush fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection?" The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that He seeks is in the way people react to this child." He then told the following story about his son Shaya: One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will let me play?" Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning." Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However, as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung the bat and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to first!" Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to Second." Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home!" Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."

Hi Dori, Keep it coming! Love every minute! ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 10:27 PM Subject: [FLESCAMB] Ben's Traveling tombstone > What I failed to tell everyone is, after I had Ben's tombstone fixed. I > carried it around in the trunk of my car for three weeks. > My Buick looked like one of those drop down , back end Mercurys from the > '50's. > > I can pop the trunk open as I am walking to the car. One day when I was > coming out of the grocery store, Not thinking about the tombstone, I opened > the trunk and some people were walking behind my car. > When they saw what was in the trunk, they ran. I heard them saying " there's > a haunted car in the parking lot !" > I still laugh today, just thinking about the looks on thier faces. It was an > accident, but I couldn't have planned it better. > That's another reason why I call it Ben's traveling tombstone. It has been > to places in Pensacola that Ben hasn't. > > > Doris > > >

Was Charles Rushing father to Baron D, Rushing ? Do you know of any more Rushing that are buried there ? Do you know any of the descendents that are still living ? I once got in touch with a Charles Rushing that was president of a bank here in Pensacola . He didn't know what I was talking about. I need to prove that there was more people buried in that cemetery. It is too late to do anything about it, but they ( the powers that be ) need to know that they built homes over graves ! There is a Florida Law now that say's , they would have to disclose to any new buyer that the house might be built over a cemetery. Doris

Duke , I think that Charles Rushing's property was next to Ben's and you are right, there was no Sr. or Jr. The family did that to distinguish which Benjamin Franklin Kersey we were talking about. We started out with Sr. and Jr. and it caught on. I do have a copy of the original deed. I got it from the BLM. No where on that property of Rushing's will a cemetery be listed , with the exception of what we were so graciously ( ? ) alloted back in the eighties. Thanks for the information, it is appreciated. Doris

Mona, We can do it for you. We owe you! Jinx

Charles Rushing - was his father Barron D. Rushing??

It is really a shame when cemeteries are vandalized and not taken care of. It seems we are dishonoring our ancestors.

---------------------- Forwarded by Judy Mcknight/ADMIN/TELCOMM/ACECOMM on 03/01/2000 07:46 AM --------------------------- From: "Natalie A Pate" <[email protected]> on 02/29/2000 02:56 PM GMT To: Judy Mcknight/ADMIN/TELCOMM/[email protected] cc: Subject: I found the unmarked grave!!! :-) Using original St. John's records, I found the plot plan for L. A. Jones's grave. The plot has two halves: north and south. Both halves of the plot were owned by C.W. Jones. The people in the north grave with them are C.W. Jones buried on Dec 8, 1911; L.A. Jones buried on june 26, 1910; Luther Jefferson McBride buried on August 1, 1962; and Phil Jones buried on March 27, 1962. The south half is Delilea Jones June 7, 1901 (my spelling may be off due to the writing in the book; her grave is right beside L.A. Jones); J.L. Jones buried on June 12, 1899 (1900 was written in, but crossed out and 1899 written above it); Mrs. Ella Kelly Jones buried on May 11, 1950; and John A Jones buried on Apr. 9, 1929. Then using a current book (1995 by Janet Bancroft) We can tell that , as of 1995, the following graves were marked: John Ambrose Jones Jan 2, 1854-Apr 7, 1929 Phil Jones Mar 14, 1877-May 9. 1950 Ella Kelly Jones April 15, 1859-May 9, 1950 Delilah Jones, wife of Rev. L.A. Jones Apr 25, 1831-June 6, 1901 married Oct 7, 1852 J.L. Jones April 7, 1873-June 10, 1900 You can't Xerox from this book--too old and fragile; so I hand copied the page on graph paper for you. Send me your address. I didn't go by the cemetary. Not being prejudice, but white females don't go in that area of town alone. When my bodyguard-policeman husband and I end up with the same days off I'll take pictures for you. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: Natalie A Pate <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 9:17 PM Subject: Re: cemetary look ups > > > > I am trying to find out information on Lazarus Alpheus Jones born Myrtle > Grove, Florida in 1841 and died on June 25, 1910 in Pensacola, FL and is > buried at St. John's Cemetery. He is buried with his wife Delilia Avery > Morgan in unmarked graves. Lazarus (who went by Alpheus) was a Methodist > Episcopal minister, South in the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida for nearly > half a century. I am trying to see if any other family members were buried > there since I do not have access to census records for Escambia County, FL > for 1840-1870 to try and locate him on the census. I have only been able > to trace three of his children Ada b. March 19, 1867, Myrtle Grove, Florida > , Shada Ann, and George William Jones b. August 30, 1863, Santa Rosa > County, Florida. I have also been unable to find any church records for > him. > > Thanks for your help! > > Judy McKnight in Maryland > >

I enjoyed Doris's story about the "lost" cemetery near Redfish Point. I did a quick land record search for the area and found that a Benjamin F. Kersey homesteaded 148 acres there (obtaining patent in 1905) and Charles A. Rushing homesteaded 155 acres there (obtaining patent in 1895). The record didn't indicate if the Kersey was Jr. or Sr. His land included the entire shore line from about where the College Parkway canals have an outlet to the Bay west of the bridge to probably about where the bridge is located, plus an "L" shaped piece cutting back into what is called Spanish Trail Estates today. Charles Rushing's place was located somewhere to the east of there. I am not sure exactly where, but I would guess about where Bay Woods is today and extending to the water line. Duke Vickrey

Oh come on Evan, I have lots of stories. Just ask me ! Politics played a big part in the destruction of the cemetery. I went to Channel 3, PNJ, and another T.V. Station they were real interested at first , but when each learned who was involved, they shyed away. Ben Sr. divided the land between his children. He died in 1914 and Samantha had died abt 1913. Back in 1925 an unscrupulous relative talked all of the remaining children into selling him thier portion of the land, for the sum of $1.00 I imagine they got tired of paying taxes on land that was across the Bay in a swamp ( ain't that a hoot ?) that they were never going to use. Ben Jr. my grandather was a Fireman at what is now McGuires, and he lived across the street from the Firestation. I have a copy of that quit claim deed. The relative was a son of one of Ben's daughter's. I imagine she gave him her portion. The family believes that he is the one that destroyed the tombstones. The time frame fits. Ben Kersey Sr. was his grandfather. How can anyone do that to thier grandfather or anyone for that matter ? That is how I got started in genealogy ( which was't called genealogy at the time ). I was trying to find out who Ben Sr was and got hooked ! All of you know the feeling lol. Doris

Will someone living in Pensacola or Gulf Breeze that's familiar with downloading e-mail attachments, please contact me? I'm looking for someone willing to download a genealogy file onto a floppy for me. I keep getting a message that my computer doesn't have enough space on the hard drive. thanks, mona

I agree! My husband is a police officer, when he worked midnights he'd catch a lot of people doing some various nasty things in the cemetary. Wouldn't it be great if we could rouse some ghosts to torment the vandals, perverts, and druggies. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2000 12:58 PM Subject: Re: [FLESCAMB] Ben's Traveling Tombstone > > > > It is really a shame when cemeteries are vandalized and not taken care of. It > seems we are dishonoring our ancestors. > >

Wow....This is errie...Elizabeth Harvell's mother was Susannah ?. She was listed as HARVELL on the 1850 Census Dale County, with no Father living with them. Children listed on the census were Elizabeth born 1835 Georgia, Nancy Ann born 1840 Georgia, and Amanda born 1842 Alabama. The Boyetts came from Duplin County NC to Pike County Alabama. Charles Boyett served in the 53er Alabama Partisan Rangers. Enlisted at Troy. He lived and raised his family in Milo in Pike County. The McNair came from Barbour County. Also following these families were the Tanton/Tauntons. I know very little on the Harvells in Florida. as far as Carolyn, Im not sure. If I knew her parents name we might connect. All these familes moved to Escambia County by 1885. The Boyetts and Tantons came in 1868. Joe [email protected] wrote: > Hey, > we could be on to somthing here. > My Ben Kersey was born in Troy, Pike County, Alabama. > I found Samantha's family on the 1860 Census in Barbour county and she is 10 > years old. Her mother was named Mary ? Harrell. she had a brother named Byrd > 3 yrs old and a sister named Ruth 2 yrs old. The father must have been dead > by that time. On the 1870 census Byrd is living with Samantha and Ben in > Barbour County > There had to be other children because on the 1900 Escambia county census. > There is a sister named Callie living with Ben and Samantha. Callie was 15 > years older than Samantha. > Does any of this sound familiar ? > It was the Boyetts that owned a store. I see Carolyn Boyette ? every now and > then. > I don't know her married name. She is in her late fifties now. > Do you know her, and where are you from ? > > Doris -- Joseph M. Garcia [email protected] Douglas Flat, California http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/g/a/r/Joseph-M-Garcia/index.html