I see some problems in the "additional census information" list right off the bat. For example, Florida claims a 1790 census. I've never heard of this, and being a Spanish colony, there would not be one. What I recommend instead is the book GUIDE TO GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. The Census section has a year-by-year and state-by-state description of censuses, even the non-federal ones. Dean Dean DeBolt, University Librarian Special Collections and West Florida Archives University of West Florida Library 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514-5750 Tele: 850-474-2213. Fax: 850-474-3338. E-mail: ddebolt@uwf.edu ---------------------------------------------------- Reach me by ICQ. My ICQ# is 14599771 or, * Page me online through my Personal Communication Center: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/14599771 (go there and try it ----------------------------------------------------

I am interested in the following names: LUCAS BATES ROBERTS SUTTON BLIZZARD BRUNKE BARKLEY GILLIAM BRAZELL COURTER Thanks, Kathy Kjt54@aol.com

Searching for James SMART family that is listed in the 1860 Taylor Co., FL. Census. Any help would be appreciated Thanks, Rose James SMART age 38, Georgia Harriett C. SMART age 28, Georgia David SMART age 10, Georgia Arcann SMART age 5, Florida Ann G. SMART age 4, Florida William H. G. SMART age 2, Florida James J. SMART age 6/12, Florida Jane SMART age 21, Georgia

I think this may be of great help to many researchers.....it was forwarded to me by a cousin..... _________________________________________________ This is the list in full of the Colonial, Territorial and State Census that have been taken. These are independent of the every decade FEDERAL CENSUS TAKING. We do not have any of these census, only this list. We suggest you check with the nearest LDS library to see if they have copies in any form. Or check with the state genealogy society and see where their copies are. Even check with you county societies they may have or know where they can be found. These census can possibly fill any blanks between the federal census. Good luck in your searches. Florida---March 3, 1845 1790, 1825, 1837, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1945, 1955 Georgia---January 2, 1788 1738, 1840, 1750, 1753, 1756, 1810, 1817, 1824, 1829, 1831, 1838, 1845, 1852, 1859 South Carolina---May 23, 1788 1798, 1868, 1875 North Carolina---November 21, 1789 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1798 Virginia---June 25, 1788 1623, 1624, 1625, 1634, 1699, 1701, 1703, 1779, 1798 _________________________________________________

Hi All, I am researching my RYLOTT/RILOTT ancestors who were living in South Lincolnshire, England, in the early 1700's. I understand there are some RYLOTT's presently living in Florida with whom I may share a common ancestor, and I would be pleased to exchange information. The earliest ancestor I have tracked to date is a William RILOTT who raised a family in Anwick over the years 1702 to 1729 (he married twice). Regards, John in South Carolina.

Online I met a wonderful witty man with a really wild hobby -- grave dowsing! With two little metal rods or even a bent coat hanger, he can workout the dimensions of a grave, and tell if it is a man or a woman. And I thought, how wonderful to be able to do this, especially in those little cemeteries way out there in someone's north pasture where all the gravestones are knocked down. I have one of those not far from me, and we have been trying to figure out how many graves are there and whose they may be. In my family plot, in a little country church cemetery, there are a couple of "mystery" graves that have us all bamboozled, and dowsing might shed a little bit more light on them too. So I visited with Mr. Grantham and he told me all about how he does what he does, and why it works (he doesn't know!) and I wrote about it for the current issue of the Signal, the biweekly newsletter of the US Internet Genealogical Society. You can read it at http://www.usigs.org/signal/signal.htm <A HREF="http://www.usigs.org/signal/signal.htm">Click here: USIGS SIGNAL</A> I hope you take a look. And P.S. Talking about cemeteries -- In the same issue, Pam Reitsch tells how a Boy Scout in her area took over the project of cleaning up and improving an old cemetery. It is worth considering as an Eagle Award project in your area. love joan

Sharing from another list...Hope someone sees something! Ceya ______________________________X-Message: #10 >From: Jeanette Martin <martinj@mail.telfair.public.lib.ga.us> >To: GEORGIA-L@rootsweb.com >From Georgia: Artificial Limbs for Confederate Soldiers of GA 1866 - 1867 >Thomas Harris, Pike County, age 38, auburn hair, gray eyes, 6 ft. 8 in. >tall, blind in one >eye, right leg amputated 5 inches above the knee. 28 Sept 1866. > >G. W. J. Ford of Marion County, 25 yrs old, light hair, gray eyes, fair >complexion, 5 ft 8 in tall, left arm amputated below the elbow. 28 Sept >1866. > >H. C. Hamilton of Whitfield County, 19 yrs old, light hair, blue eyes, >small scar right of right eye, 5 ft 10 in tall, right forearm amputated >above the lower third. 6 Oct. 1866. > >Mason C. Miller of Decatur County, age 42, brown hair, blue eyes, fair >complexion, 5 ft 8 in. tall, right leg amputated below the knee. Oct. >26, 1866. > >William R. Logan of Union County, age 33, dark hair, dark complexion, >dark eyes, 5 ft. 11 in. tall, right leg amputated above the knee. 2 Nov >1866. > >Francis M. Willis of Union County, age 22, black hair, blue eyes, fair >complexion, 5 ft. 9 in tall, left leg amputated above the knee. 20 Feb. >1867. > >E. Wofford of Pickens County, age 22, light hair, blue eyes, light >complexion, 5 ft 10 in tall, right leg ampputated above the knee. 20 >Feb 1867. > >J.W. McCubbins of Muscogee county, age 26, dark hair, dark eyes, dark >complexion, 5 ft 9 in tall, right front foot ampputated at ankle joint. >6 May 1867. > >W. W. Acree of Taliaferro County, age 39, dark hair, hazel eyes, 5 ft 10 >in tall, left leg amputated below knee. Apr 6 1867. > >C.W. Graves of Whitfield co., age 31, dark hair, gray eyes, 6 ft tall, >right leg amputated below knee and ankle. 6 May 1867. > >S.B. Cleghorn of Muscogee Co. age 27, tawdy hair, blue eyes, light >complexion, 5 ft 7 in tall, right leg ampputated 2 inches above the >knee. 6 May 1867. > >C. C. Grimes of Putnam County, age 24, dark hair, grey eyes, fair >complexion, 5 ft 9 in tall, left leg amputated 5 inches below the hip >joint. 25 May 1867. > >H. Rawls Jr of Richmond County, age 23, dark hair, gray eyes, dark >complexion, 5 ft 2 inc tall, right leg amputated below the knee. 12 Mar >1867. > >James Roach of Sumter County, age 30, brown hair, gray eyes, dark >complex., 5 ft 6 in tall, right arm amputated above the elbow. 23 Mar >1867. > >Thomas R. Morris of Columbia Co., age 24, light hair, blue eyes, 5 ft 6 >in. tall, right arm amputated above the elbow. 6 May 1867. > >Henry G. Daniel of Cherokee Co., age 28?, dark hair, blue eyes, fair >complex., 6 ft tall, left arm amputated at the elbow joint. While a >resident of Cherokee Co. he belonged to Company F, 2nd Ga Reg't and was >wounded at the Battle of Wilderness. 6 May 1864. > >Henry Keasler of Franklin Co., age 48, black hair, dark eyes, dark >complex, 5 ft 5 in tall, right arm amputated below the elbow. While a >resident of Franklin Co. he was in the Co. E, 4th Ga Reg't, and was >wounded near Atlanta on Nov 7, 1864. 12 Nov. 1866. > >R.D. Mobley of Newton Co., age 26, gray eyes, dark hair, fair complex., >5 ft 8 in tall. Left arm amputated midway between the shoulder joint >and elbow. A resident of Liberty Co, but at present a student at Emory >College. He belonged to Capt. J.M. Smith's Company I, 25th Ga Reg't. >Was wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on 16 June 1864. >Dec. 5, 1867. > >Milton A. Clark of Burke County, age 25, blue eyes, light complex., 5 ft >10 in tall, right leg amputated just below the knee. While a resident >of Burke County, he belonged to Company G, 38th Ga Reg't. He was wounded >at Spotsylvanie Courthouse on 12 May 1864. 10 Dec 1867. > >Thomas Gallaghan of Bibb County, age 34, dark hair, blue eyes, light >complex., 5 ft 1 in tall, left leg ampputated above the knee joint. A >resident of Bibb County he belonged to Company I, 9th Ga Reg't. He was >wounded at the Battle of Manassas on 30 Aug 1862. 13 Dec 1867 > >Ga Dept of Archives and History. Record Group 11-1-20. Each claim >is signed by the veteran. >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- > >George M. Nichols of Clark County, age 21, dark hair, dark eyes, dark >complex, 5 ft 5 in tall. His left arm ampputated at the shoulder >joint. A resident of Clark county, he belonged to Company G, 16th Ga >Reg't and was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg on 4 July 1863. He >wants the money value of the arm as an artificial arm would be of little >use to him. 13 April 1867 > >William J. Whitehead of Clark County, age 27, dark hair, gray eyes dark >complex, 5 ft 9 in tall. His left leg was amputated below the knee. A >resident of Clark Co., he belonged to Company C, 44th Ga Reg't. He was >wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness on 5 May 1864. 12 April >1867 > >source: Georgia State Papers, William R. Perkins Library, Duke >University ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- >Please do not email about these men. I know nothing other than what you >see here. I hope someone will be helped. Jeanette in Telfair Co.Ga

I do not have a Robles connection, but definitely am interested in the STEPHENS line. Please correspond. There are several Stephens lines out of NW Florida. I am descended from Clark Hamilton Stephens, b 7 Nov 1849 in Coffee Co, Ala and wife Margaret c. Helms, his father was William Stephens, b. 1819 in S. Carolina,md wife Matilda Letia, and his father was William Stephens, born 1794,wife Rebecca Broxton, had his father was Hubbard Stephens and wife Margaret. IF any of this sounds of interest, please respond to me directly @<newhamb@aolcom> (Bobbie Newham)

August 2, 1978 Tampa Tribune Funeral services for Fannie W. Branan, 81, of 311 W. Hilda St., will be conducted Thursday at 11a.m. from the Garden Chapel, Duval Funeral Homes, 3800 Nebraska Ave., with the Rev. Joseph P. C. Johnson of the First Advent Christian Church to officiate. Interment will follow at Cycadia Cemetery in Tarpon Springs. Survivors include: one daughter: Miss Frances Branan; two sons: Thomas D. and Cloys K. Branan; 3 sisters: Mrs. Allie Barrett, Mrs. Stella Johnson and Mrs. Lillian Schneider; four brothers: Earley, Clyde, Alex and Velie McFarland. Also 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be: Thomas D. Branan, Jr., C. Robert, Jerry W., C. Kenny, and Charles L. Branan and Timothy J. Tuvell. Mrs. Branan was a member of the First Advent Christian Church and was active in many areas of Christian work. The family will receive friends at the Garden Chapel this evening from 7:30 until 9 p.m.

Grace, My Stephens line also married into the Whitehurst and Robles line. I haven't done any research on it at all, because it was not a direct connection to me. But, when I came across this info last week I decided to chase down the aunts and uncles and cousins. I found a number of other news clippings with Joseph F. Robles in them as well. I have his 93rd, 100th and 101st birthday, a photo of him standing a Woodlawn Cem. in Tampa on Southern Memorial Day in front of the Confederate monument there (4-27-1947), and a 5 generation photo with the Lester family from Kalamazoo, MI. Unfortunately, my Grandmother pasted several of these into a scrapbook and I will need to take it apart a bit to scan them. Would you be willing to share what you have? I would like to tie these ends together. Mark Thomas

Does anyone have access to Lee County records? I am seeking a birth certificate from 1910 0r 1913 and a marriage certiciate from 1920-1930. I am not currently a member of the Florida list, so please email me back directly. I have exact dates for either birth certicicates but no additional info on the marriage certificate other than the persons involved. I am researching the surname JETER. Cheryl -- Cheryl Solt-Jones a038057t@bc.seflin.org PA: Solt, Arner, Remaley, Shaffer, Goranflo NC: Lockamy, Anderson, Price, Shivers, Downs, Evans, Carroll MD: Plantholt, Buechner OH: Hoffmann, Lamb

Hi Everyone At sometime during a family genealogy search we all are going to face the problem of a Fraudulent Lineage. This is a something that is running rampant in this age of mass information. We have opened a new page on our web site that addresses this problem. There are over One Hundred family "genealogies" listed that have been corrupted by one person. We must become aware of what is out there and what to look for. This section of our web site will grow with updates and is open to all. The URL for our website is; http://www.linkline.com/personal/xymox/ On the first page of the site look for the link FRAUDULENT LINEAGES. Happy Hunting Harold Oliver Director

Is anyone researching the ROBLES family? If so, I have an undated article from the Tampa Tribune recognizing his 101st birthday. It appears to be in February, near Valentine's Day, judging from the other items on the back of the article. My STEPHENS connection married into the ROBLES family, hence the article in my possession. I'd be glad to scan and send the article to anyone interested. Please email me privately, since we can't send attachments over the Rootsweb. Mark Thomas

Looking for information on families of my maternal grandparents: Clarence E. JONES,b. SC; m. 1st Unk; m. 2nd possibly abt 1910-1913 to M. Lillian RUSSELL, b. SC, d. date unknown. Clarence E. JONES died abt 1938. Note on old photo refers either to Clarence or his father's birthdate as 12 Aug 1869. "M." is perhaps Mae or Mary in M. Lillian RUSSELL's name. Children born to Clarence E. JONES and his first wife probably include: Clarence E. JONES Jr. Edwin JONES Others A daughter, my mother, born to Clarence E. JONES and M. Lillian RUSSELL: Lillian Russell JONES, b 1913 in Lake City, Florence Co., SC. m. 1939 or 1940 A. D. JAQUES. m. 2nd WADFORD. d. 1991, CA By 1935, and possibly before, Clarence E. and M. Lillian JONES and at least some of their children (Clarence E. JONES Jr., Edwin JONES, and Lillian Russell JONES) lived in Tampa, Hillsborough Co., Florida. JONES and RUSSELL relatives may still live around Sumter, SC. Thanks for your interest, help, and any information or leads you can share, Mary. Mary Jacques in Montana <mjacques@mcn.net> Researching genealogy in VA & SC-GA-FL: JAQUES/JACQUES-GUERRY;REEVES-GOODBREAD CRUM-HUTTO-FORT-EDWARDS-BERRY MOCK-WELLS-EUNNEIS-BOYKIN-TANNER JONES-RUSSELL

Just to let you know...I'm unsubscribing, but then subscribing under my new email address. Cindy

In a message dated 11/28/98 7:27:19 PM Eastern Standard Time, LIZGERLITS@aol.com writes: << I would like very much to have a copy of David Avant's book. Where can I get a copy? >> I don't have that particular book, but my mom worked as a secretary for David Avant back in the early '70's and helped him write a book called "Florida Pioneers and their Alabama, Georgia, Carolina, Maryland and Virginia Ancestors". I have a copy of this and would be willing to do limited lookups as able. Please respond to me directly and not to the list. Paul M. Hendricks

I'm sorry to have to say this, Sue... but what you gave us to find the Library's THOR telnet link is only part of a URL... with important stuff left off of both ends. One has to go in somewhat of a loop to find THOR using what you gave us. Plus... I had to cut and paste the partial URL into my web browser's "location window" to start the loop, because of the "http://" being left out. Had you included the "http://" part of the URL in your e-mail, all I would have had to do to go to the location would have been to point and click on it in the body of your e-mail message. The full and correct URL is: http://scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us/thpl/erc/thor/thor.htm But one thing for sure is that I half-remembered "..... y Garcia" backwards. The correct name of the company I was thinking of was "Garcia y Vega". Now the only thing we need to know is what "brands" of cigars the company produced, i.e. whether or not one was Hav-a-Tampa. I guess I had a pretty fair recollection of the name of a company that manufactured a product that I never used and haven't seen for probably 40 years... <G> RW > The Tampa Hillsborough County Libry Homepage url is > > scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us > > You can telnet to Thor, the database from there. > > Sue Wooten

RICHARDS and BLACK of ENGLAND, IRELAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND ALABAMA, TEXAS, I descend from Robert Richards, b. ca 1776 in Antrim, Ireland; married to Ellen(or?) Black?. Came to the U.S. about 1790; found him and Ellen on a land platt map in Pendleton District, South Carolina and later...abt. 1824-26 in Alabama. Robert was a land surveyor of early land in Alabama. It was always said that he had ties to London, England; but, we do not know what. It was said that he came to America as a stowaway looking for his father, _________Richards and his two half or step brothers. We think his mother may have already died in England or Ireland. We have heard rumors like there was an old Tavern the Richards' owned; they might have been in shipbuilding; slave trading, etc. These are all rumors that will have to be proven or disproven. Our line of Richards have--the typical looking ones--have jet black hair, fair skin, blue eyes, medium build, and the typical-lookers are very handsome or pretty, depending on their sex. The rest of us have fair skin--if we take after our Richards--and varying colors of reddish brown almost black hair and are somewhat attractive--maybe not raving beauties!!! ha, ha If there seems to be any connection to your lines, please make me aware. Our Robert's half-brother, William Richards, was in Coosa County, Alabama and some of William's children stayed in the household with Robert and Ellen in Barbour County, Alabama after William married for the second time. We think Robert's father may have been named James Richards; but, this is not proven. We do not know the name of his other half-brother. It may be the James Richards from Virginia. Ceya Minder Reminder@snowhill.com

Marian McCormick,  Principal Chief, The tribe is run by the Principal Chief, and the Tribal Council The Tribe will be hosting the Seminar Dec. 5th, at Tama Tribal Town. Everyone is encouraged to attend. I am sure there will be manyquestions answered for everyone. Thank you, Peggy Venable mwind@rose.net Tama Tribal Town is hosting a full day of Seminars on Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.(EST) for anyone interested in Indians. The registration fee is $20. The phone numbers are 912-762-3165 or 912-762-3355. The town is located at 106 Tall Pine Drive near Whigham, GA

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --part0_912348018_boundary Content-ID: <0_912348018@inet_out.mail.aol.com.1> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Mary Alice, Thanks for this very informative article. Hope you don't mind me forwarding it to the list. Someone (Cheryl Sanchez ?) was looking for a Martinez. Liz --part0_912348018_boundary Content-ID: <0_912348018@inet_out.mail.juno.com.2> Content-type: message/rfc822 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-disposition: inline Return-Path: <gearyma@juno.com> Received: from rly-ya04.mx.aol.com (rly-ya04.mail.aol.com [172.18.144.196]) by air-ya03.mx.aol.com (v51.29) with SMTP; Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:34:56 -0500 Received: from x15.boston.juno.com (x15.boston.juno.com [205.231.100.28]) by rly-ya04.mx.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.5/AOL-4.0.0) with ESMTP id AAA01798 for <LIZGERLITS@aol.com>; Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:34:55 -0500 (EST) Received: (from gearyma@juno.com) by x15.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id DU7UZKH2; Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:34:43 EST To: LIZGERLITS@aol.com Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:33:57 -0500 Subject: Fw: Cigar History in Tampa Message-ID: <19981129.003400.-73687.2.gearyma@juno.com> X-Mailer: Juno 2.0.11 X-Juno-Att: 0 From: gearyma@juno.com (Mary A Geary) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Found this in the library files from the Tribune and thought you would like to read it. Very interesting. Mary Alice ************************************************************************* BC-CIGARS, SE:,1816 KE: CIGARS DT: 09/25/94 Sunday September 25, 1994 DT: Sunday September 25, 1994 NO: HD: Chance meeting brought cigar boom to Tampa With prosperity came labor disputes and immigrant clashes that made early Tampa a raucous place. BY: JOE HENDERSON SO: Tribune Staff Writer Let your mind wander to a time of tempest and tumult. When the August sun would broil and sweat would soak your shirt to the skin, and only the blades of a fan circling slowly overhead could stir the stifling air. Music from any of several social clubs drifted onto the dusty streets and through the open windows of the many shops where workers from the cigar factories of this growing Southern town went to spend their wages. The sound mixed with the aromatic lure of paella, freshly baked Cuban bread, Italian sauce thick with oregano, and strong, dark coffee. And, of course, from the fine cigars they had rolled by hand. They had it pretty good back then, even though passion and violence were old companions. Men made fortunes, the world was ruled by mobs and bosses, the law danced on the end of a rope and your choice of friends could keep you alive or make you dead. It was Ybor City, a hundred years ago. Less a city than a kaleidoscope of festive colors where Cubans, Italians and Spaniards first tamed the land, then built an industry based upon cigars and fought for its control. They survived strikes, disasters and themselves, which may have been their greatest accomplishment. Ybor City was nothing but cypress, pine and oak trees, rocks and weeds, until 1885. The first car, bought by a cigar baron, did not even appear on its streets until 1900. But by the early 20th century, there were an estimated 250 factories there, staffed by immigrant workers who enjoyed prosperity such as they had never known _ even though that prosperity might have been considered relatively modest. With the money came greed, and with greed came power. Rogues might call it a lively time that foreshadowed some of the outrageous behavior by Tampa politicians and leaders a century later. Less adventuresome souls might call it dangerous. Or worse. Tampa might have remained in isolated subtropical stagnancy for dozens more years had it not been for Gavino Gutierrez and happenstance. Gutierrez was an importer of some repute from New York City, specializing in guava paste and jelly. Supply was difficult, so when an associate told Gutierrez that the area around Tampa Bay was home to acres of mature guava trees, he was intrigued. The place might be a good place for a factory. Gutierrez liked to travel to Key West, which was the capital of the cigar industry in those days, and promised to stop in Tampa on his next trip south. Which he did. There was no guava grove waiting, but the trip nonetheless was rife with serendipity, for Gutierrez enjoyed himself and believed he had discovered a treasure hidden along the Gulf coast. Upon arrival in Key West, he talked glowingly about Tampa and its possibilities to friends and associates among the cigar moguls. Among those who listened that day: Vicente Martinez Ybor. The labor situation was not good in Key West _ strikes, sabotage and disarray were the norm. Ybor was of a mind-set to move his manufacturing plant, as were several other cigar moguls. Places such as Galveston, Mobile and Pensacola had given enticing offers, but the idea of going to Tampa was intriguing. Upon learning of their interest after a July meeting with the Board of Trade in Tampa, the Tribune gushed: ``The benefits that would inure to Tampa from the establishment of such an industry cannot be too deeply impressed upon our citizens.'' By late September, Ybor had secured 40 acres northeast of Tampa proper to build a manufacturing plant. He quickly was joined by the firm of Sanchez & Haya. It was hardly the paradise that Gutierrez had pitched to him. Mosquitoes and insects were everywhere, frogs croaked all night, and the gnats were so thick that workers had to wear goggles or risk eye infections. It did not matter. Tampa's cigar boom was under way. On April 26, 1886, the initial Havana cigars rolled off the line of the Sanchez & Haya plant, the first of two factories that opened that year. The development had the desired effect. A new hotel went up in Ybor City, along with more than 200 homes. Restaurants and shops opened. Jobs were plentiful, wages were good. Maybe it really was the Eden everyone was led to believe. But this wasn't heaven. It was Tampa. Money means power and power was the issue on Jan. 17, 1887. The Knights of Labor, the first union to represent cigar workers here, told their members to walk off the job. Old story: the union wanted more money and the company didn't want to pay. The theme often would be repeated in cigar labor/management relations. And there was another theme: bloodshed. Not all workers chose to be represented by the Knights of Labor. That was the battle line. Ideology was the fuel and violence was the result. The battle field was a pool hall in Ybor City. Inside were union workers and those loyal to the company. There was passion. There was alcohol. There were guns. Shots were fired and five men fell. One died. They buried Manuel F. Martinez and the strike went on. When Tampa and Ybor City flung wide their doors for cigars, however, a few things were understood. Foremost among the unwritten laws was the virtual autonomy with which the cigar industry could act. Tampa had to accept that. Better yet, cooperate. Or, if it was too uncomfortable, look the other way. So no one thought it unusual three weeks after the strike began when Santos Benitez, a union foreman, was told by city officials to leave town. Seventy-five striking workers went with him. The work stoppage was over. For now. Cigar manufacturers were coming to Ybor City, employing nearly 3,000 workers with an annual payroll of almost $2 million. By 1893, more than 88 million cigars were produced at Ybor City factories. It was more than that, however. Cigar money meant growth. Banks opened, land was developed, businesses were established, jobs were created. So it was, perhaps, inevitable when Tampa evolved into a simmering cultural stew, dominated in numbers by Cubans, but with Spaniards and Italians in the sometimes-uneasy mix. Clubs were opened, catering to every facet of life in Ybor City. Centro Espanol was the first, then Centro Asturiano, Circulo Cubano, the Cuban Club, the Italian Club. They were lively places, these ethnic enclaves, where zealous men debated ideas and planned deeds. Little motivation was needed for either. These were proud men, whose honor was their manhood. If challenged, it was an affront to the individual that could not be ignored. So when the bosses installed scales in 1899 to weigh precisely the tobacco being used in cigars, the workers didn't see it as a cost-control device designed to reduce waste. Of course, it probably wasn't. The bosses probably believed the workers were skimming some of the precious tobacco for personal use or, worse, to roll contraband cigars that would sell cheaply on an underground market. But no matter. The workers struck and this time they won. The scales were removed. The harmony did not last long, however. Less than two years later came one of the most dramatic showdowns between workers and the bosses. A new union, named La Resistencia, demanded that Cuesta Rey & Co. close a factory it had in Jacksonville that employed non-union workers. The company refused and on Aug. 5, 1901, workers at several plants in Ybor City walked out in protest. Matters hadn't been settled by late fall so the bosses, with Tampa city officials in full cooperation, cooked up a plan. They had the police and a gang of vigilantes round up 16 leaders of La Resistencia in the middle of the night and put them on a trolley bound for Ballast Point. There they were loaded onto a freighter, the Marie Cooper, which set sail for Honduras. The union leaders were put out on a beach and left to fend for themselves. Among the deportees was the treasurer for La Resistencia Society, whose signature was required on any union checks. Without him, the union's funds were essentially frozen, which brought the society to its knees. Subsequent investigations by local and federal authorities uncovered nothing. There was no outcry from the local media over this, perhaps because D.B. McKay, publisher of The Tampa Times, was one of the conspirators. Either way, the strike was over. Who knows what would have become of Tampa had Gavino Gutierrez gone straight to Key West. Given its location, shipping inlets and weather, Tampa almost certainly would have expanded to its current size and importance with or without cigars. But Tampa, as opposed to its genteel neighbor St. Petersburg, has always been a bit of a brawler, a hustler. It built an image by bending the rules, if necessary. It was situation ethics before its time, and in a sense the rogues, roustabouts and swashbucklers who gave true life to Tampa never left. Take late June, 1910 for instance. Another strike. More complaints about wages; management cut them in order to reduce costs and increase profits. Workers walked out. There were meetings, threats, arguments and stalemates. The governor came to town to intervene and sided with the bosses. Just business as usual. Until J.F. Easterling, a bookkeeper for the Bustillo Brothers & Diaz manufacturers, was murdered as he was leaving work. A pair of Italian men were arrested on suspicion of the crime and were taken to court _ oak limb court. Rather than wait for the sheriff to haul the suspects to the county jail, a mob grabbed the men and dragged them toward a nearby oak grove off Howard Avenue near West Tampa where they were hanged. A grand jury later said it had no positive identifications of anyone in the mob and refused to indict anyone. By early the next year, the union strike fund ran dry and the walkout ended. But Tampa had a heritage that would last a lifetime. AI: Sources: ``River of the Golden Ibis'' by Gloria Jahoda; ``Tampa'' by Karl H. Grismer. IT: (4) At its height, the cigar industry had about 250 factories in Tampa, West Tampa and Ybor City. At right are some examples of cigar labels. FILED: CIGAR FACTORIES IT: A mob lynched two men after they were charged with killing a cigar factory bookkeeper in 1910. The men were hanged from an oak tree on Howard Avenue. Tampa's earlier years were marked by frequent acts of vigilante violence. FILED: HANGINGS EH: TAMPA HISTORY CIGAR INDUSTRY TPH SANCHEZ HAYA YBOR CITY DEVELOPMENT FIRST LA RESISTENCIA SOCIETY LABOR STRIKE VIOLENCE UNUSUAL DISCIPLINE TRIBUNE CENTENNIAL TAMPA-03-20-95 1305EDT ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ________________________________________________________________ Why pay more to use the Internet? Get fast, reliable, affordable Web access from Juno, the world's second largest online service. Download your free software <a href="http://www.juno.com/getit.a.html">here</a>. --part0_912348018_boundary--