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?

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.

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 John Thomas, is also of historical note and a number of unpublished volumes about him, his ancestors and family is to be found in the main library in Wilson, Wilson County, North Carolina.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.

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.