Hope you all do not mind me sending this! This is for Merritts, Laniers and Sloans (and Alderman) and maybe some more. Florida was a difficult state to look for people (and still is) We were under 5 different flags at one time. The reason I am including the info below is it has some of the history and to let you know that Hillsborough county was VERY big then divided down to different counties. Records could be scattered. Here the info on the counties that were Hillsborough. More than I thought from memory (5 or 6). 8 and part of 2 more. I left the part about Hooker with this for reference sake! "In 1845, it (Florida) was granted statehood. And, on Jan. 25, 1834, the U.S. Legislative Council for the Territory of Florida approved an act organizing Hillsborough as Florida's 19th county. At that time, Hillsborough County was a sprawling area that included what is now Pinellas, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee and Highlands counties, most of Glades and a third of Lee. But despite that size, Hillsborough's population only numbered 836, not counting soldiers or Native Americans, according to S.P. Sparkman, the census taker at that time." Plus the courthouse in Sumter Co. (now Lake Co) burned abt. 1900 and all records were lost. My Sloans married two Merritts. They all came thru NC, SC and GA (I betcha') Note: at one time Hillsborough Co. was very large. This probably explains why some people without the census reports, thought Daniel and Nancy moved to Hillsborough Co. There were 8 counties and part of 2 more. This info in on my site too. Liz Armstrong Braswell http://www.geocities.com/look4armstrong/ Looking at branches! Below are two sites that mention Daniel Sloan and Manatee Co., FL http://www.lamartin.com/history/hooker/william_hooker.htm "The primary market for beef in the early 1850s was Savannah, Georgia, and the drovers were "often gone for months on a drive to that city."17 Charleston, South Carolina, was also a destination market for Florida beeves. By 1854, however, cattle were being shipped to the West Indies and Key West. County Commission minutes reveal that William B. Hooker held a lease on the market place or market house in 1855 and was at that time advertising the sale of beef in the local Florida Peninsular. He advised that from Feb. 1, 1855, only cash would be accepted. The 1855 tax lists show that Hooker's herd had grown to 4,500 head, the largest in the county. John Parker, Louis Lanier, Daniel Sloan, James Alderman and Hooker's younger brother, John, were all major stock owners. Captain Hooker was the county's fourth largest taxpayer, behind sugar planters Robert Gamble and J. A. Braden and entrepreneur James McKay. McKay, who opened the cattle trade with Cuba in 1858, was a close associate of Hooker's.18 In one early reference from McKay's account book dated December 14, 1855, Hooker acknowledged receipt of $405 from McKay "being in full for twenty seven steers shipped on board sch[ooner] John Roalef.."19 (On this site is a picture of the Orange Grove Hotel and they show Sidney Lanier on the porch) The Orange Grove Hotel during the 1876 - 77 winter season. Judge and Mrs. Henry L. Crane, who operated the hotel, are standing on the left side of the second floor porch. Sidney Lanier has been identified by contemporaries as the man standing on the far right side of the second floor porch with his leg propped on the rail. But D. B. McKay in the Tampa Tribune, March 6, 1955, said Lanier is standing at the left end of the first floor veranda. The original of this photo was owned by Mrs. Samuel E. (Mary Hooker) Hope, later Mrs. Clara (Hope) Baggett and now Mr. and Mrs.L. E. Vinson of Tarpon Springs." NOTE: This is part of a letter to the editor. Go to the site for rest of letter. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~crackerbarrel/FG2.html "Fort Green, Florida Of December 1856 Ft. Green, Fla. Dec. 27th, 1856 Mr. Editor: I beg leave through your columns to congratulate my fellow sufferers on the quiet state of things now existing on the frontier though I have strong apprehensions that there is danger yet ahead. Myself and seven others, with our families, are not, I suppose considered frontiersmen, from the fact we are living eighteen miles south of the military line of posts, established for the protection of the Whites, from the action of some of the gentlemen in charge of affairs.(1) .................... Endnotes to the letter above: (1) The eight families were, probably, those of: Jesse Alderman, David Brannen, James D. Green, Richard Pelham, Daniel Sloan, Thomas Underhill, Maxfield Whidden, and Willoughby Whidden, all of whom voted in Manatee County elections on December 3, 1855 at Plunders Branch, a tributary of Paynes Creek." > Looks like a lot of us are stuck in Florida looking for MERRITT's. > > Sharon Davidson > [email protected] > > -----Original Message----- > From: sambwell [mailto:sambw[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 6:06 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Merritts from Leeds (Seacroft) and Upper Batley, West Yorkshire > > Joyce, I cannot help at this time but hope to in the future. Yours sounds > like a great family! I am still stuck in Florida, USA with my g-grandfather > James Robert Merritt. Best of luck. > Liz > > > Subject: Merritts from Leeds (Seacroft) and Upper Batley, West Yorkshire > > > > Hi all, > > > > I begin this, my first post to the Merritt list with the sad news that my > oldest known surviving Merritt relative, Mrs. Annie Chapman (nee Merritt) > 1903-2003, my Great Aunt, died this Easter Sunday in a nursing home in > Wakefield, W. Yorks at the age of 99 years - she had been so hoping to cross > the hundred line, but it was not to be. Nevertheless she had a brave > innings, losing her only daughter Cynthia on the way, and despite that > sadness, showed a great interest in helping me with my genealogy quests - I > still have lots of old hand-written notes she provided me with to this end. > > > > My Merritt ancestors consisted of many large families reportedly coming > from the Seacroft area of Leeds in West Yorkshire. Despite the large > families I am unable to find much trace of them, on censuses, or birth's, > marriages and deaths registers. Is it possible they simply did not fill such > records in? Or is it my search technique? > > > > The first Merritt in my line is my mother Ella, still living in Cambridge, > England. My grandfather was John Joseph Merritt, born in 1900 in Upper > Batley, W. Yorks where his father, George, Merritt was gardener at Oakwood > Hall, where the family lived in the Lodge at the entrance gate - the lodge > is still there today, not so much different from how it must have looked in > those days. My mother was also born there. John Joseph died in 1983. > > > > John Joseph had brothers George Augustus b 1910, and sisters Lucy b 1902, > and Edith Tyrrell Merritt b 1908 as well as Annie mentioned above. > > > > John Joseph's mother was Jessie Tyrrell born 9 Nov 1875 in Wandsworth, > London - I believe there are many Tyrrell family members with a strong > interest in Genealogy already so I have left that part of the line for later > search. > > > > John Joseph's father, George was believed to have been born in Seacroft > Green, Leeds in 1867 and he died in Upper Batley in between 1939 and 1942 - > there was a George Merritt buried in Birstall cemetery, in Kirklees on 4 May > 1942 which may be him. He is believed to be one of 19 children of whom I > only have names for Frank (married Sarah Ann?) , Jenny, Nellie, Alice > (married Denis Burton), Frederick (married Ethel ?), Joe (married Polly ?), > and Emily (married Edwin Thompson), but no vital dates or other information. > > > > The father of George was Charles Merritt of whom I have no other details > except that he married a lady called Isabella Lindley about whom I know > nothing other than that she bore all the 19 children to Charles, and by > family legend is reported to have recovered from the births by going out and > jumping over a five barred gate!!! Quite some lady! > > > > Despite the size of this family, I have so far found no trace of it in > Seacroft, Leeds or anywhere else. > > > > Having only first names for 8 of Isabella and Charles 19 children, I have > a lot to find, and lots of links to make - so I wondered whether there is > anyone else on this list researching this same Merritt branch who has > already begun piecing any of this together, and can help me get started? > > > > I would be delighted to hear from you if so! > > > > Joyce Pashley-Smith, > > Currently living in Brussels, Belgium > > > > > > ============================== > > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, > go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > > > ______________________________ > > >