Fort Meade, 1849-1900


Book Description

A civilian community coalesced at Fort Meade under the pressures of the Billy Bowlegs War of 1855-58. Quickly the village developed as a cattle industry center, which was important to the Confederacy until its destruction in 1864 by homegrown Union forces. In the postwar era the cattle industry revived, and the community prospered. The railroads arrived in the 1880s, bringing new settlers, and the village grew into a town. Among the new settlers were well-to-do English families who brought fox hunts, cricket matches, and lawn tennis to the frontier.




The Flemings of Fleming Island


Book Description

Irishman George Fleming arrived in Spanish East Florida in 1783. He established Hibernia on an island in the St. Johns River that is known today as Fleming Island. Hibernia became home to George's children and grandchildren, and in the course of over two hundred years, seven generations of the Fleming family have called it home. Among his descendants are Southern planters, soldiers, and statesmen most notably Francis Philip Fleming, the fifteenth governor of Florida. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Fleming family transformed Hibernia into a winter hotel that became a celebrated destination in the early days of Florida tourism and into the twentieth century. Today, Hibernia is a small residential enclave where a few remnants of the Fleming family's rich history still stand to remind us of days gone by. Author Scott Ritchie is part of the Fleming family by marriage. George Fleming is the fourth great-grandfather of Ritchie's children, who were all born in their home of Hibernia.




A Land Remembered


Book Description

A Land Remembered has become Florida's favorite novel. Now this Student Edition in two volumes makes this rich, rugged story of the American pioneer spirit more accessible to young readers. Patrick Smith tells of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family battling the hardships of the frontier. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias and Emma MacIvey arrive in the Florida wilderness with their son, Zech, to start a new life, and ends in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that his wealth has not been worth the cost to the land. Between is a sweeping story rich in Florida history with a cast of memorable characters who battle wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the Florida swamp. In this volume, meet young Zech MacIvey, who learns to ride like the wind through the Florida scrub on Ishmael, his marshtackie horse, his dogs, Nip and Tuck, at this side. His parents, Tobias and Emma, scratch a living from the land, gathering wild cows from the swamp and herding them across the state to market. Zech learns the ways of the land from the Seminoles, with whom his life becomes entwined as he grows into manhood. Next in series > > See all of the books in this series




Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History


Book Description

Katherine Scott Sturdevant shows you how to use social history -- the study of "ordinary people's everyday lives" -- to add depth, detail, and drama to your family's saga. Book jacket.




A Family Called Fort


Book Description

Elias Fort was born before 1646 and died in 1677/1678.




Hidden History of Fort Myers


Book Description

Although best known as the winter home of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, Fort Myers has one of the most engaging and extraordinary histories of any city in Florida. The spawn of a hurricane, Fort Myers began as a U.S. Army post during Florida's Seminole Wars. During the Civil War, it became a battleground between Confederates and Yankees for cattle and, after the war, a gun-slinging cowboy town. New York cartoonist Walt McDougall blew into the area on a fishing trip, and his glowing description lured down other wealthy Yankee sportsmen who helped turn this isolated frontier town into a modern tourist destination. Historian and author Cynthia Williams explores the hidden stories behind the growth of this beautiful city.




Margaret's Story


Book Description

In this powerful crescendo to Eugenia Price’s acclaimed Florida Trilogy, young and headstrong Margaret Seton vows to win the heart of grieving widower Lewis Fleming. Margaret’s Story tells of the heartwarming relationship between the bold Margaret and her beloved Lewis, and how it plays out against dangerous and tumultuous events while spanning almost half a century. Experiencing Seminole uprisings, Florida’s burgeoning statehood, the Civil War, and the challenges of Reconstruction, Margaret holds her devoted family together with love, strength, and faith. Even the tragedy of seeing their beloved plantation on the St. John’s River, Hibernia, destroyed twice, and having sons and husband pitted against each other in war cannot break Margaret’s spirit or shake her faith. Her unconditional love, unflagging conviction in God, and contagious hope impact her descendants, a young state, and indeed a nation.










Fort Mose


Book Description

In 1738, when more than 100 African fugitives had arrived, the Spanish established the fort and town of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first legally sanctioned free black community in what is now the United States. This book tells the story of Fort Mose and the people who lived there. It challenges the notion of the American black experience as simply that of slavery, offering instead a rich and balanced view of the African-American experience in the Spanish colonies from the arrival of Columbus to the American Revolution.