Friday, October 19, 2007

Time to make some Updates

I was planning to make some updates to the bibliography and descendant charts. The stuff in the upper right hand side of the Blog.

I have some more books to add and a few more descendants.

If you have your genealogy information already online, let me know the Internet address and I will setup a link to it.

If you want to contribute to the updates or add some new feature, please let me know.

You could:

  1. Add your update as a posting to this Blog,
  2. Provide your update as a comment to this posting, or
  3. Send it to me as an email at tomsantacruz@gmail.com.
I would like to finish this round of updates by mid-December 2007.

If you have additions to the descendant charts, please don't include living people.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Governor Patrick Tonyn


Patrick Tonyn (1725-1804) was the British Governor of East Florida (1771-1783) that gave Francisco Xavier Sanchez a considerable amount of grief.

Tonyn stayed on in Florida after its return to Spanish control. He worked with the Spanish governor, Vicente Manuel de Zespedes, sharing a bit of control over British Tories who choose to stay in Spanish Florida after the American Revolution. This went well for over a year until he provided a list of English speaking Floridians who needed discipline. The more relaxed Zespedes released Tonyn as an aid to his staff.

Francisco Xavier Sanchez got on the wrong side of Tonyn by associating with Dan Gritt, the leader of the Banditti [real bandits]. Tonyn then worked at connecting him other possible crimes.

Tonyn is a bit hard to understand. Andrew Turnbull was on his "enemies list" which resulted in the releasing of hundreds of Spanish speaking Minorcans. Prior to the release his had express concerns about arming the Minorcans in defense of the colony.

If you are interested, Tonyn's correspondence with Zespedes about Francisco Xavier Sanchez can be read in Zespedes in East Florida, 1784-1790 by Helen Hornbeck Tanner. Another book that discusses Gov. Tonyn's activities in Florida is Florida in the American Revolution by J. Leitch Wright. Both these books are available in most Florida libraries.

On the lighter side his portrait does make him look a little like George Washington.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Los Floridanos Activities - Part 2


Since I posted information on the Fall Los Floridanos Activities, I received another newsletter. It includes a Wikipedia write-up of the End of the First Spanish Period in Florida, more details about the picnic, and what appears to be the same information on the November and December Activities.

Concerning the picnic:

October 20
12PM Los Floridanos Picnic - Los Floridanos Society will host a family picnic for the members and guests at Fort Matanzas State Park located 9 miles south of St. Augustine Beach on Highway A1A South. There is no admission charge to this State Park. Please bring a dish to share. It can be a main dish, side dish, or a dessert The Society will be furnishing fried chicken, drinks and the paper products.

Los Floridanos items will be available for sale. Including:
Men's & Ladies Shirts with logos ($20)
20" X 27" Coat of Arms flags for Sanchez & Solana ($12)
Medallions ($15)
Caps with Logos ($10)
6' X 5" Los Floridanos Society Flags flown on the Bridge of Lions in 2001 with certification ($25)

Although not a requirement to attend the picnic, an RSVP will be helpful to determine the number of members & guests who plan to attend the picnic. Please respond with the # of attendees to the Los Floridanos address [P.O. Box 1891, St. Augustine, FL 32085-1891] or call Dick at 904-797-4952 or e-mail Anita at aschen@earthlink.net

The picnic area is small so if you can bring a folding table and something to sit on. Restrooms are nearby. I added a link to the park in the release above.

And remember there are other first families besides Sanchez.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

More Land Records



Both brothers, Alexander B. Sanchez and George W. Sanchez, received Military Bound land from the U.S. government.

The one on the right is for George W. Sanchez. I copied the original (primary source) document. I found it at the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History, Gainesville, FL [UF Campus]; Manuscript Collection, call# 99,028, Sanchez Family Papers, folio 22. It was in a box of papers 99.9% dealing with the lawyer E.C.F. Sanchez and his brothers in St. Augustine. The document is held together with some old cellophane tape.

Posting Alexander B. Sanchez' recorded Military Bounty Land grant here would just show an illegible document. Alexander Sanchez recorded his land grant in the Alachua County, Deed Record Book E, page 124 on 14 Jan 1860. You can see it [and copy it] online at the Alachua Ancient Records website, "Deed Record E" on page "124". Alexander Sanchez created a secondary document that is recorded as a legal document.

The U.S. government begrudgingly gave these land grants to the volunteer militias in the Second Seminole War that were not paid for their service.

There is a trick here. If you look closely, you will see a frequently exercised feature of the bounty land grant. The answer will be in the comments.

Los Floridanos Activities

This is from a September Newsletter email notice:

Los Floridanos Society, Inc
Florida’s First Spanish Families 1565-1763
P. O. Box 1891
St. Augustine, FL 32085-1891
WWW.Losfloridanos.org

Sanchez
Solana

NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2007

August meeting was well attended with twelve members and guests. Family histories were discussed; Wayne Solana provided a copy of his family history prepared by Eleanor Barnes in 1968. Dick Rousseau provided a copy of the City of St. Augustine’s City Court record dated December 13, 1877 that listed a CM Solana charged for disorderly conduct and fined $6.25 by Mayor Thos. F. House.

Plans were discussed for the upcoming picnic which will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at Matanzas Park. Barbara Colee volunteered to help with the table sales. Members are encouraged to bring small picnic tables and chairs. The Society will provide the meat and drinks and the members will bring other food. Anita will mail a reminder notice.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES


SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1, 2007; 9:30 AM

Society Members and guests will attend the 2007 Reenactment of the Landing of Pedro Menendez celebrating St. Augustine’s 442nd birthday at the Mission of Nombre De Dios. We will be seated in a designated area in front of the lectern.

Solemn Mass will be celebrated at the conclusion.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 20, 2007; NOON

Los Floridanos member and guest picnic at Matanzas Park


SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2007; NOON

Seventh anniversary luncheon meeting will be held at a local restaurant; details to come later. City of St. Augustine Commissioner George Gardner has promised to attend and speak on the topic of the first Spanish Period families.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8, 2007 9 AM; IHOP RESTAURANT US #1
& SR #16; ST. AUGUSTINE, FL.

Christmas breakfast for members and guests; Tom Graham, PhD will speak on the subject of Flagler’s Hotels in St. Augustine.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

Annual member dues are $ 15 for year 1/1/07-12/31/07. Dues are prorated 50% after July 1, 2007. Please complete the following form and bring it with you to the meeting or forward to the Society address above with your membership dues. Contact 904-797-4952 for further information.

Name:
Address:
City/State/Zip:
Phone/E-mail:
Ancestral Family Name: _____________________________
There are a number of activities that have already happened and more that will be happening in St. Augustine.

Because of travel distance, I can't make it to most of the meetings, but hope to make it ot the picnic in October and hope to see you there.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Tutorial on Blogging

I though all my cousins had ideas, discoveries, opinions and the like.

A blog is a cross between a website and email. You go and check on it like a website, but unlike a website you can contribute to it with things that look like emails. The messages have standard features like font choices, bold, italic, color print, linking to a website, text alignments, lists both numbered and bulleted, quoted texts, a spell checker, adding pictures and videos, and undoing most of what I just listed. If you know HTML, you can do more but that isn't necessary.

After you compose a message you post it and if you see and error you can correct it [I know that feature well.]

I help with the blog at my local genealogical society and prepared a tutorial for them:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~flpcgs/Blog-Ed/Blog-Ed.htm
The adding a link is the hardest feature for me. Adding pictures is easy and writing is good with a spell checker.

I sent out a bunch of invitations to join the blog. Your cousins might like to hear what you have to tell them. If your invitation is lost or expired, or I some how missed you, let me know I can send you a fresh one.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Introduction

Hi,

thank you so much for inviting me here. I have looked over most areas and find this very interesting. I am especially pleased to see some photographs of the siblings of my great, great, great grandmother, Margaret P. Sanchez.

My late aunt Anna had an old photo of Margaret P. Sanchez who married her great grandfather, Woodbridge Sage Olmsted. I don't know what happened to it but I will attempt to talk my cousins into sharing (assuming they have it).

On your page showing the descendants of Francisco Sanchez there is listed my great grandmother, Anna Olmsted.

I would like to offer here some additional information about the Olmsted descendants of Francisco Roman Sanchez.

Margaret P. Sanchez married Woodbridge Sage Olmsted who came from a large old Connecticut Yankee family. As your genealogy shows, they had many children. My great great grandfather, Henry Martyn Olmsted was one. He worked as a machinist and manager at the Morse Twist Drill Co. of New Bedford Mass. Henry M. Olmsted married Anna Robbins, the daughter of Eliphalet H. Robbins (a Capt. in the 3rd Mass Cavalry) and Anna Lucas Chase (dtr of a sea captain lost off Australia). Anna Robbins died after the couple's second child and Henry Martyn Olmsted never remarried.

Their first child Margaret who was known to us as aunt Maud. She married sometime around 1900 but never had children. Her husband was a vet of the Spanish American War. Their second Child was Anna Willis Olmsted. She was born around 1872 in New Bedford MA. She attended Welesly College and became a school teacher and midwife. She married John Anderson Phinney around 1898. They had 6 children:

Margaret Eunice Phinney b. 1899 Harwich MA d. March 1967 Hyannis MA.
Marion Phinney b. 1901 d. 1969.
Henry d. 1943 (actually he disappeared presumed drowned off Chatham MA)
Frank
Priscilla d. around 1990
Anna b. 1914 d. 2002.

All six had children, my grandmother Margaret had five children and twenty-nine grandchildren and altogether probably has around 100 living descendants. Too many to list here and I don't recall half of them off the top of my head.

All five of her younger siblings had some children.

Amongst the descendants of Anna Willis Olmsted
now or recently living were:

a captain of the U.S. Navy
a judge in North Carolina
a librarian at the Boston Public Library
two Navy seals
several school teachers
comptroller of a major Boston university
a Fulbright Scholar
a dentist
several artists
several merchants.

Growing up my father used to joke about how he would tan darker than my Irish mother. He would always say it was the Spanish in him. In actuality, he was not terribly dark. His New England Yankee blood had diluted the Spanish down quite a bit. It was this and nothing else, until I was well into my adult years that made up the sum total knowledge that I had about my Sanchez ancestors. Then about 15 years ago, while helping my mother clean out her house I came upon some papers that had once belonged to my grandmother which showed our descent from Francis Roman Sanchez. It seemed that my grandmother had done some genealogical research in the 1950s. About ten years ago I came upon Double Cousins and that added to my knowledge. I am so glad to see distant cousins and others have added to what we know and certainly to what I know about the Sanchez family.

When I get my new box of wires, er, computer, I will scan some pics of the family. I have Pictures of Henry Martyn Olmsted, His two daughters and other descendants. I will only be posting people who are deceased unless I get permission otherwise. I know some people do not like their pics on the net. I even have some early twentieth century pics of some of my relatives visiting Florida. Hopefully I can gain access to the photo of Margaret P. Sanchez.

By the way, my aunt Anna thought that the P. in Margaret P. Sanchez stood for Ponchetta but we never saw a document to confirm this. Is this a correct guess?

David Bartlett

Sunday, August 19, 2007

You are allowed to make POSTs too.

Please bring my monologue to an end. Those of you who received invitations can Post to the log. Just log-in (top right corner).

If you make a boo-boo, you can easily correct it. I have made spelling and grammar errors, and corrected them. There is a spell checker too. After any post you make, there is a pencil icon that only the author can see, by clicking it the author I can correct himself.

Making a Post is just as easy as writing an email.

Comments are easy also, but please make some Posts.

The Sanchez Sisters

I came across this story about Sanchez women in the Civil War. This story may be a little off the topic since these sisters are descendants of Francisco Xavier Sanchez' brother, Jose Sanchez de Ortigosa.

The story has a few errors, but Lola Sanchez is known as a Confederate spy. [http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art40197.asp]

My notes give their father's name as Mauricio del Carmen Sanchez (AKA: Maurice Sanchez) born in St. Augustine in 1799, and their mother as Maria Marquilla Oliveros. Their brother Manuel R. Sanchez served in the Confederate Army wounded, captured twice and received a Confederate pension. Many of these people are buried at St. Ambrose's Cemetery in Elkton, FL.

Does anyone have more Sanchez Stories to tell?

Friday, July 20, 2007

What became of Francis Palmer Sanchez?

I have two stories and maybe someone can share a better one.

Francis Palmer Sanchez is the second child of Francis Roman Sanchez and his wife Frances, born about 1816 in St. Augustine. Records show him marrying Minerva Brown in Marion County on October 12, 1846. And probate receipts from Francis Roman Sanchez' estate show him in Marion County.

One story has it that he was one of the founders of Ocala, but later died in Cuba.

The other story has him initially settling in Sumter County near Adamsville before the Civil War, but after the War returning to Alachua, a widower, with his 3 children and later moving down to eastern Hernando County. The children are identified as Alexander, Elizabeth and Simeon.

I think there must have been two of them.

Any opinions or better references?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Land Records

Nowadays, most of us would head for the court house to find land records. That is an important place to check, but there are other records.

Outside the original 13 colonies the untitled and unsettled land belonged to the Federal Government. The government had several ways of dispersing the land from simple sales to giving it away for a purpose. Politics aside there are places online to look for these land records.

The most popular is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), General Land Office (GLO) Records website at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/ Read the direction because there are a lot of variables.

In Florida there is another website, the Florida Land Document Search, or try http://199.73.242.56 Some of the documents that aere found are the same, but there are additional documents and presentations of the documents. It functions like the BLM website, only just for Florida.

The legal description are normally by parts of a section of a Township and Range [future topic.] These databases allow the user to find other land owners in the section or adjoining property.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Genealogy of Maria del Carmen Hill

Maria del Carmen Hill married Francisco Xavier Sanchez and her ancestry is known.

The Hills of Wilkes County, Georgia and Allied Families, volume 2 by Mary Bondurant Warren & Eve B Weeks-(1987) is the book you want to see. Volume 1, by Lodowick Johnson Hill (1972) has some serious errors, and Volume 3 is just an index.

Maria's grandfather, Rev. John Thomas, is also of historical note and a number of unpublished volumes about him, his ancestors and family is to be found in the main library in Wilson, Wilson County, North Carolina. Wilson County was part of the old Edgecombe County.

Books that feature Francisco Xavier Sanchez

Our ancestor, Francisco Xavier Sanchez, is seriously mentioned in several books.

  1. Spanish pathways in Florida, 1492-1992 by Ann L Henderson & Gary Ross Mormino (1991)
  2. Zéspedes in East Florida, 1784-1790 by Helen Hornbeck Tanner (1963)
  3. East Florida, 1783-1785; a file of documents assembled and many of them translated by Joseph Byrne Lockey (1949)
  4. Colonial plantations and economy in Florida by Jane G Landers (2000)
  5. The African American heritage of Florida by David R Colburn & Jane Landers (1995)
  6. Black society in Spanish Florida by Jane Landers (1999)
Books 4, 5 & 6 rehash the same material over and over.

These books are more to do with history than with genealogy. Check the big library in your area and see if they have these book.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

World War I Service Cards

The Florida State Archives has put World War I Service Cards online. Access is free. These are not to be confused with the World War I Draft Registration Cards that are available for viewing on the commercial Ancestry.com website.

The World War I Service Cards list military service with dates, military units, ships, service locations, birth dates and places, and even home residences. They were carefully scanned and are easily read.

If your father or grandfather served in World War I, the card will give you an idea of his service.

World War I Service Cards are found at:
http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/WWI/

ATTENTION: Check both sides of the card.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Who was Roman B. Sanchez?

Who was Roman B. Sanchez? The first Clerk of the Courts for Alachua County in the [new] State of Florida. If you check the website, Alachua County Clerks of the Circuit Court - Statehood to Present at: http://www.clerk-alachua-fl.org/clerk/clerks.html

Is this the son of John Joseph Sanchez?

Is this the Sanchez who appears in the man who appears in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census of San Francisco, California?

Inquiring minds want to know! Click the word "comment" below and let you opinion or knowledge flow.

Rafaela Sophia Sanchez

Rafaela Sophia Sanchez (1822-1887) is Francis Roman Sanchez' first daughter. She married twice, first to George F. Olmsted (1839) and then Lemuel Wilson (1842). Both the men were prominent in the community. The children from both marriages remained in the Alachua County area.

Her grandchildren may be in some of the pictures posted on the Alachua/Gilchrist County Family Photo Album at:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/
fl/county/alachua/
FamilyAlbum/index.html

Friday, June 29, 2007

Spanish Land Grants

In 1821 Spain ceded Florida to the United States government. Prior to that date the Spanish King had granted land grants to individuals in Florida. This created a problem for the United States government that wanted to sell unowned parts of Florida to encourage development and recover some of the cost of purchasing Florida. In 1822 Land Office Commissions in St. Augustine and Pensacola were established to review the validity of the land grant claims and identify the land owner.

The claims files include a wide variety of documents that were submitted to the Land Office Commissions. Some of the files are in Spanish, but the are often accompanied by translations. The claims were finally sent off to Washington, but the State of Florida has microfiche copies in the State Archives in Tallahassee, and they have put the images online.

Sad to say most of the Pensacola claims have been lost.

Spanish Land Grant Claims documents can be founds at:
http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/SpanishLandGrants/index.cfm

There are 14 listed with the SANCHEZ surname, but if you are searching a maternal line check the husband's surname.

As a bonus check out "Maps: Past and Present." These are examples of the old land grant maps, the early survey maps, and modern USGS maps. Plus example #1 Map is the San Felasco grant in Alachua County; Francis Roman Sanchez' ranch.

Florida Confederate Pension Application Files

If a man served honorably in the Confederate Military and lived in Florida after 1885, he could apply for a pension. The widows of these men could under some conditions apply for a continuation of the pensions. The conditions and forms changed over time.

The paperwork includes genealogical and historical information about these individuals. The paperwork is stored in Tallahassee in the State Archives. Electronic copies of these files are available online.

There are 11 of these files where either the husband's or wife's surname is SANCHEZ.

Florida Confederate Pension Application Files
can be found at:
http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/PensionFiles/Description.cfm

Gadson Humphreys Sanchez


Gadson Humphreys Sanchez (1832-1926) is one of Francis Roman Sanchez' sons. The image comes from one of George W. Sanchez' descendants.

During the Civil War he enlisted in the First Florida Infantry, Company K (Pensacola Guards) on 2/8/1862 in Waldo. He was promoted to 2nd Corporal on 12/1/1862 and 1st Corporal in early 1863. He was absent sick since 8/30/1863 at Montgomery, AL.

He is listed as a prisoner on boarded the USS Sagamore in March 1864.

He applied for a Confederate Pension (A6195). You can see and download a copy the his pension application file from the State Archives.

I have Gadson's death reported in Brunswick, GA and also in Newberry, FL. Can someone help? Put it in the comments. May be the death and the burial are being confused in the records, I don't know.

The George W. Sanchez Bible



This image here is all that I have seen from the George Washington Sanchez Bible.

The report was that it is damaged and fragile.

If you know who might have the bible, it would be interesting to know. Your comment is always welcome.

George Washington Sanchez


George Washington Sanchez (1819-1903) was Francis Roman Sanchez' fourth son [child]. He was the one who completed the probate on Francis Roman Sanchez' estate. Both sons, Alexander Boneparte and Francis Palmer Sanchez lived to far south of Newnansville to conveniently represent the estate. John Joseph Sanchez, #3 son, initiated the probate but died before completion.

I got a copy of this photograph from one of his descendants. There is a family Bible that George Washington Sanchez started, however it is reported to be in bad shape.

If you look at his descendant's chart, he had three wives and numerous children. You should note too that the Civil War claimed several of them.

He served in the Indian Wars and got a land bounty, but that is good for a later post.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Los Floridanos

Who or what are the "Los Floridanos?" Hopefully you are. This is a genealogical and historical group based in St. Augustine that seeks members descendant from the first Spanish Period (1565-1763) in Florida. They have a website that isn't kept up to date, but gives you an idea of what they do.

The Los Floridanos Society can be found online at http://www.losfloridanos.org/

I have met a several new cousins at their gatherings and also met some Internet cousins in person.

At the meeting in June they were trying to plan a gathering on a Saturday in October at may be the picnic area at the Fort Matanzas National Park just north of Matanzas Inlet.

They have monthly meetings with speakers at every other and discussion at the others.

If I hear a firm date and place, I will post it.

Colding Genealogy

We are luck there are lots of Sanchezes, but not so many Coldings.

Well according to our records Alexander Boneparte Sanchez married Louisa J. Colding on November 21, 1833. There is an online database that includes Louisa, her ancestors and her descendent nieces and nephews.

It is the Edward Breland - Ancestors & Family http://www.cwoodcock.com/cgi-bin/igmget.cgi/n=ebfamily?I19377

I know that there were several Coldings in Alachua and Marion Counties. Some settled in the now central Pasco County area near Darby. But a lot moved into southeastern Hillsborough County. A good many of them are distant cousins.

The database also covers a number of descendants from the Sanchez-Colding union. It is worth a look at.

Welcome to OUR Blog

Yes, this is OUR blog. We share a heritage so lets share what we know about it. Some of us have pictures of some of our Sanchez ancestors. Others have done historical and genealogical research. I am guessing we have some story tellers who might like to share the legends of Francisco Xavier Sanchez and his descendants.

This is the first blog that I have started. I am guessing about the setup and may be modifying it.

PLEASE, NO FAMILY FEUDS.

WARNING:
What you write can be seen by the whole world.