Alums relish Manatee High Centennial Celebration under the stars - Local - BradentonHerald.com

Alums relish Manatee High Centennial Celebration under the stars - Local - BradentonHerald.com

Florida Pioneer Dies After 103 New Year's Days

          In his final weeks of life, Lamar Graham received a standing ovation as the oldest living graduate of Manatee High School at its Centennial Celebration, cruised the Manatee Civic Center in his wheelchair for the Ham Fest (Amateur Radio Convention) and chatted on his i-Phone in the middle of his 102nd birthday party. Even though he next had to tackle pneumonia, he made it through to see his 103rd Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

            That’s the kind of genetics he inherited as a Floridano, a member of Florida’s founding Sanchez family and a relative of the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon. He learned about his ancestry when he and his late wife Edith began their retirement trek of searching for lost relatives and consequently wrote the book Double Cousins in 1987.

               An active Manatee County volunteer with the Red Cross during hurricanes with the Manatee Amateur Radio Club, at the time of his death Graham could also claim “longest term  member” status at the Kirby Steward American Legion post and Bradenton’s First United Methodist Church , which he joined in 1927.  He completed school at both Ballard Elementary and Manatee High School when the  original buildings were new, and even began grade school here at what is now the Manatee County School Board building on Manatee Avenue.

            He caddied for department store founder Robert Beall Sr. on the old Bradenton Golf Course (site of McKechnie Field) and witnessed Armistice Day (end of WWI) as a celebration erupted near the downtown courthouse.  His first radio was a hand-built crystal one yet he ended his working life sending out transmissions for WEDU-TV, Channel 3, in Riverview.

OBITUARY:

Lamar Timmerman Graham, age 102, of Bradenton, died Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, in Pinellas Park, Florida at Suncoast Hospice Woodside.

Survivors include his daughter, the Rev. Dee Graham of Bradenton and Saint Petersburg; his grandson Asaph Graham of Seminole; his granddaughters Austin Graham and Charlotte Quandt, and his great grandchildren, Anthony Quandt Judd and Lila Shelby, all of Saint Petersburg. His nieces and nephews include nieces Joanne Graham Dick of Bradenton, Bonnie Graham Ricker of Michigan, Delia Graham Cirino of Van Nuys, CA; Tonia Graham Hemminger, Joe Graham, Marion Graham Luquette and Chuck Graham, all of Ellenton; Richard Graham of Tallahassee, Van Graham of Colorado, Thomas Graham of Saint Augustine, Peggy Jones Russell of North Carolina and Pat Jones Goodwill of Tampa.

Recognized as a member of a “Florida Pioneer Family” by the Florida Genealogical Society and as a descendent of Ponce de Leon of Spain, Graham leaves behind numerous other relatives who he and his wife discovered while researching the story of his ancestors from Spanish Florida.  The unique relationship between the Sanchez and Perez family, as well as the Sheffield’s who married into the family, inspired the title of their 1990 book, Double Cousins.

In addition to being a Floridano, a member of Florida’s first European families, Graham has been a resident of Bradenton, FL, since 1922. He was born in Fitzgerald, GA, on Dec. 8, 1909 to Thomas Sentell and Marion Amorett Sheffield Graham, and outlived all three of his brothers, Joseph, Thomas and Elmer. He spent much of his early childhood on the rice farm of his grandparents, Joseph Sealy and Andelia Sanchez Sheffield, in Wimauma, FL.

As a child he attended Ballard Elementary School on its first day, Biltmore Elementary when it was housed in the historic Davis Building (now rebuilt on its site in Manatee High School.  Later he went to Bradenton High, which, by the time he graduated in 1931, had been renamed Manatee County High School. He played on the baseball team.

In 1935 he married Edith Lucille Jones (class of 1932), who was the daughter of former Bradenton Mayor Asaph R and Edith Maria Day Jones. She predeceased him in 2009.

Prior to WWII, Graham served in the US Navy, where he worked as a civilian for the military and studied radio and telecommunications at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. He returned to Bradenton to take over the Bradenton Credit Bureau, founded by his father.  At the age of 35 he was drafted into WWII, where he served in the Army Air Force as a Staff Sergeant working in flight communications.

After he returned from the war, Graham sought government employment and worked as a postal clerk for the Bradenton Post Office for more than 20 years, retiring at age 65 and returning to his first love, communications. After earning his commercial radio license, he worked for Lampkin Laboratory in Bradenton, and then finished his career working for WEDU-TV, Channel 3.

Still active locally until his death, Graham (W4FKR) belonged to the Manatee Amateur Radio Club, the Manatee County Historical Society, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, First United Methodist Church of Bradenton, the local chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and the Quarter Century Wireless Association. Through his amateur radio work with the Red Cross during hurricanes and other disasters, he continued to be honored annually as a Manatee County Volunteer.  In 2011, he was honored with a lifetime membership in the Kirby Stewart American Legion Post, where he was the longest standing member.

A graveside service will be held Saturday, Jan. 14, in Manasota Memorial Park in Oneco at 11 a.m., including military honors. A reception will follow nearby for family and friends. Those who wish to give a memorial donation are encouraged to consider the local organizations that mattered most to him.

Ponce de Leon story in Saint Petersburg/Tampa Bay Times

Timeline of Florida History

I came across a well done (I may not whole agree with) timeline of Florida's history. It was prepared for OurFlorida.OurFuture. a website for the Collins Center. It is simply called Florida Historical Timeline with a url address: www.ourfloridaourfuture.org/florida-historical-timeline/

You might have wondered why an ancestor moved and to why there, timelines can suggest possible reasons why. Check it out, if you like it "bookmark" it on your computer browser, otherwise ignore it.

Remains of Old Stone Church have been Found

Archeologist have found the remains of an old stone church which predates the Castillo has been found at the site of the Nombre de Dios mission.

The St. Augustine Record reported, "Long-lost Church Found." And an AP story "Remains of St. Augustine church may predate fort" has appeared in newspapers across Florida and the South.

A more detailed report from the University of Florida, "UF researchers unearth only stone mission church in St. Augustine." This is a press release from those doing the excavating.

A Jacksonville TV-station, channel 4 also reported on the find. Archeologists Find 300-Year-Old Church. There is a video link.

These articles appeared today June 3rd so watch for more to come. Please point out any more detailed reports as comments or new postings.

Sanchez Private Sanitarium

Last summer, I met Ed Whitehead and he gave me a picture postcard of the Sanchez Private Sanitarium in Barwick, Georgia. I intended to scan it and post it then, but things got in the way.

Here it is. Barwick is on the county-line of Brooks and Thomas Counties in Georgia. Dr. Simeon Edward Sanchez, M.D., a son of Alexander B. Sanchez, Jr., was the operator of the sanitarium. Dr. Sanchez's name appears in the records to the Thomas County Medical Society and occasionally in the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper at awards ceremonies.

I understand that the building has been torn-down.

This picture is linkable, which means that if you want a copy: move your cursor over the picture, click your right mouse button, select Save the image appearing in the menu that appears, and save it to a location on your computer.

Dr. Simeon Sanchez had a brother that was also a medical doctor, Dr. Butler Hall Sanchez, M.D. who practiced in Plant City, Florida.

I have a question. What was the sanitarium? a hospital, a TB facility, or what?

Could they have found an Old Wooden Fort?

There was an interesting online posting from The St. Augustine Record from January 16. The article posted is titled, "Find could be from the 1500s." The article is by Justine Griffin.

A link to it is: staugustine.com/news/local-news/2011-01-15/find-could-be-1500s

In St. Augustine, digging gets a visit from the city archeologist. It seems that digging anywhere in St. Augustine uncovers some history. Some construction has revealed the foundations of a wooden structure located near the Castillo. The acrheologist calls the dig a big find. There are post-holes, wood stains and artifacts.

What the building was is still to be determine. Check the link above for details.

What do you think it was?

Hard and Soft Genealogy

I got an email pointing out a fault in the "Ancestry of Maria del Carmen Hill" that is linked to in the items at the top right column of the blog (#6.)

The death of John Palmer (#162) in 1661 would have made him 117 years old when he died. Yes, it is unlikely that he was that old. Maybe the year was 1616 and there was a transposition error or there was another John Palmer who died in 1661.

This above ancestry is an ahnentafel that someone had shared, and I have lost the identity of the good person who shared their work. The best way to find our errors is to have them pointed out, we are otherwise blind to our own errors otherwise.

Some of you Bloggers want to cross from soft genealogy where people collect names of people suggested as ancestors to carefully listing ancestors, their siblings, parents, birth-marriage-death dates and places, and a record of where all of the information came from. Many of us are in the genealogy area in-between soft and hard.

One problem has been online space to store this information that would be shared. The items in the upper right column are stored on the 10 megabytes that Verizon allows me the create a webpage. However, there are now other places to store the information.

• Scribd at http://www.scribd.com/ allow you to store documents for free that anyone can read (that is after they register (and they have not sold me to the junk email dealers.))
• Google Documents at http://www.google.com/ allows you to store documents for free, but to share them you need to list everyone you want to allow access to them. You will have to register here as well.
• Microsoft Windows Live at http://login.live.com/ has a similar free service as well. You will have to register here as well.
• There are likely other such resources.

The blog is not designed for sources, footnotes, and references. But it is great for "soft" genealogy.

Some of you have a great deal of research that you want to share. You are not going to make a financial profit from it. Most genealogies are self-published and breaking even becomes a lot of work too. Please, share your work with us. Use one of these above services or even another that the readers can access.

Some of you have collected family stories and tales. These are treasures that might be lost if they are not shared. I have heard two stories about diamond rings and glass panes as their canvas. I think more people would like to hear or read these tales that have been handed down. Please, share these tales with us and tell us who you heard them from. The blog, Orlando Stone Soup, is a continuing collections of tales and stories about people and places in Orlando, WV. There are no "Sanchez" in these stories, it is just a great example of what is possible. Check out: http://orlandostonesoup.blogspot.com/

If you are just a name collector of possible ancestors, you can share your speculations with us as well. Continue to share with us.

We also have historical fiction writers among us. They to are welcome please with the caveat of labeling their work as historical fiction. Consider sharing with us.

If you don't have the privileges to post to this blog, just write me at tomsantacruz@gmail.com and I will have an invitation sent to you (this blog is a free service of Google.)

These rest of you, I hope you change you mind and step-up with your opinions, insights, tales, and such. You can still comment on any of the postings. If you send SPAM, it will disappear.

Marker Unveiled to Large Gathering

There were about 50 to 60 Los Floridanos present at the unveiling of the marker which is on the route from the Visitor Center to the Town or the Castillo.

A link to some pictures of the unveiling are at: http://spotted.staugustine.com/photos/index.php?id=1971758&page=1

The reception that followed was welcomed on another hot day in St. Augustine. But it was nice with a view of the renovated Bridge of Lions and a brief presentation by Don Crichlow, City Commissioner, on the significance of the Los Floridanos ancestors and their descendants on the city. The City of St. Augustine is preparing to celebrate 450 years of continuous occupation in just few years.

Update on Marker Unveiling

If you cannot read the announcement, click HERE to view a larger image.

Los Floridanos Heritage Plaque

This email arrived today, May 17th:

The Los Floridanos Historical Society cordially invites all members to attend the dedication of the Los Floridanos Heritage Plaque. The event, sponsored by the City of St. Augustine and hosted by the Los Floridanos Society, is part of the City's historical marker program.

The dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 29, 2010, at 10:30am on the Northeast corner of Cordova and Orange Streets on the grounds of the visitor Center and City Parking Garage Complex. The plaque honors the historical heritage of the descendants of the first Spanish settlers, the Los Floridanos, who were sent to colonize "La Florida".

A reception will follow the dedication at the A1A Ale House on the Bayfront. Please let me know if you plan to attend the dedication and reception. Thanks.

The email came from Thomas T. Rogero

New Info on Alexander Bonaparte Sanchez' Descendants

Some of you may have notice an additional listing in the Bibliographies and Descendant Charts . . . section in the right-hand column. That would be item: 7. Alexander Bonaparte Sanchez, Jr.'s Descendants.

Cousin, Ed Whitehead ewhitehead@triad.rr.com has contributed this information. It brings this part of the family tree up-to-date.

Please add any comments or corrections or email directly to Ed.

Is this St. Augustine Sanchez one of our family?

Recently, there was a posting on another blog, My Florida History, that featured the Rodriguez-Avero-Sanchez House at 52 St. George Street in St. Augustine

But who is this Juan Sanchez who died in 1801? He isn't in the records that I have collected. Is he from another Sanchez family?

Please comment. Correct me if I am wrong.

Lamar Graham, 99 and Counting

Here's Lamar T. Graham, only days before his 100th birthday, celebrating Thanksgiving, 2009. Lamar is the 3rd great grandson of Francisco Xavier Sanchez, co-author of the book Double Cousins, who was born December 8, 1909 in Fitzgerald, Georgia.
Contact him at w4fkr@aol.com.

Posted by his daughter, Dee Graham.

Charles R. Usina died October 30, 2009

A message from the Los Floridanos society sent the information about Charles Usina's death this morning:

It is with deep sorrow that I report the death of Charles Usina who passed away at his home Friday morning. Charles was a very active member of Los Floridanos and a major contributor to the society. We will miss him.

Visitation will be held 5 to 8 p.m. Monday at Craig Funeral Home, with prayer services at 6 P.M. Funeral services will be held 2 P.M. Tuesday at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.

There is a news article in the St. Augustine Record from October 31, 2009 that describes highlights from his full life. It can be read at: staugustine.com/stories/103109/news_103109_019.shtml

Charles Robert Usina is a descendant of Joseph Simeon Sanchez, Francis Roman Sanchez' brother.

Los Floridanos Society Meeting - 10/10/09

Los Floridanos Society, Inc.

Florida’s First Spanish Families 1565-1763

P. O. Box 1891

St. Augustine, FL 32085

Sanchez www.losfloridanos.org Solana

Society News Updates October 2009

10/10/09 – 9:00 am - Informal membership breakfast to be held at the

IHOP Restaurant, 2600 Ponce DeLeon Blvd., St. Augustine, FL.

Please continue to support this organization by your participation at our scheduled events.

Remaining 2009 Calendar

11/14/09 – Informal breakfast – 9:00 AM - IHOP Restaurant

12/12/09 – Christmas Luncheon; Time & Location to be announced

For those of you who may not have heard, the City of St Augustine is sponsoring a historical marker program. The markers are placed at various locations around the city and inform the visitors to St Augustine of the events, persons and buildings that are a part of the city’s diverse history.

Los Floridanos Society is in the final development stages of a marker to commemorate our “Los Floridanos” ancestors. At the September membership breakfast, the marker layout by member Jeremy Cain was unveiled. A delegation has presented the layout to the city and found the cost of the marker will be $1,300. We are seeking donations to help defray the cost of the marker. To date we have collected $800 toward the cost of the marker. Thank you to the 4 members who have donated so far.

For members wishing to make a donation, kindly mail a check to the above address made out to Los Floridanos Society. Indicate on the check it is for the marker project. Thank you for your support.

Hello, Floridanos & Friends!

As Daddy (Lamar T. Graham) approaches his 100th birthday on Dec. 8, I'm starting a blog from my birthday (yesterday, Sept.8) to his. Please check it out, add memories or comments, and join us for the celebration when we reach this celebratory occasion!

The party is planned for an open house from about 5:30 - 8:30 pm at the Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bradenton, Fl. ( http://www.uuofbradenton.org/), where folks can come by after work, bring a covered dish or a snack, sit down and visit a spell, compare geneaology charts and meet shirt-tail relatives. It will be casual, making the event low stress, but giving everyone a chance to share memories and pass the time. The focus will be memories, history, progress and wisdom.

In the meantime, please check out our new Blog, comment if you remember things about Daddy, the family or just back in the day. We want to keep looking forward to 2010, which promises to be a better year all the way around!

Blessings all!

Dee

Rev Dee Graham
Daugher of the late Edith Lucille Jones & Lamar T Graham
as seen in Double Cousins

(Which, by the way, Daddy and I hope to have updated sometime this year.)

Los Floridanos Activities Resume

Los Floridanos Society, Inc.

Florida’s First Spanish Families 1565-1763
P. O. Box 1891
Solana St. Augustine, FL 32085-1891 Sanchez
www.losfloridanos.org

Society News Updates September 2009


Welcome back. Hope you had a relaxing summer.

Los Floridanos has again been invited to participate in the City of St. Augustine’s annual reenactment of the founding of St. Augustine. The activities begin at 9:30 a.m. as authentically clad soldiers prepare for the reenactment of the landing by the city’s founder, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, at the Mission of Nombre de Dios. Plan to arrive about 15 minutes early to meet up with our President, Dick Rousseau. For more information call Dick at 797-4952

There has been a change to the September get together. There will not be a luncheon instead join us for a welcome back membership breakfast at 9 am at IHOP Restaurant, 2600 Ponce DeLeon Blvd., St. Augustine, FL.
Please post the calendar as a reminder of upcoming events and join us when you can!


2009 Calendar
9/5/09 – Menendez Landing Reenactment and Mass – 9:30 am at the Mission Nombre de Dios.
9/12/09 – Welcome back Breakfast – 9:00 AM - IHOP Restaurant
10/10/09 – Informal breakfast – 9:00 AM - IHOP Restaurant
11/14/09 – Informal breakfast – 9:00 AM - IHOP Restaurant
12/12/09 – Christmas Luncheon; Location to be announced

Edith L. Graham died on July 8, 2009

Many of us have read Edith's book, Double Cousin. It is a book that anyone studying our Sanchez genealogy should be familiar with. Both she and her husband, Lamar T. Graham, collected the information, and she wrote the book.

The family wrote an informative obituary:

Edith L. Graham (Jones)

Edith L. Jones Graham, born May 19, 1915, dies July 8, 2009, at age 94. A genealogist and co-author of Double Cousins, which documented the story of "Los Floridanos" Sanchez family who pioneered Saint Augustine from before 1603, Edith Lucille Jones Graham died Wednesday, July 8, 2009, in Bradenton, FL. She was 94. After an injury forced her to retire in 1978, she and her husband Lamar Graham took advantage of their time to investigate their curiosity in genealogy and his family history to begin what turned into a discovery of a rich part of Florida 's diverse heritage. With the help of their daughter, the Rev. Dee Graham, a professional journalist, they wrote several books about the state's pioneer families. Characters they uncovered range from one of six Spaniards allowed to remain when the British took over in the 1700s to a signer of Florida's original constitution to several of Florida's first preachers and church founders to colonial clergy to pirates, Confederate soldiers and members of indigenous tribes. Surnames they covered included Sanchez, Sheffield, Graham, Thomas and Holland. The daughter of former Bradenton and Elyria, OH, Mayor Asaph R. Jones, and the niece of former Florida Sen. Lee S. Day, was born in Elyria and graduated from Bradenton High School in 1932, going on to both Virginia Intermont College and Florida State University. She married her high school classmate Lamar T. Graham, Sept. 14, 1935, and worked with him in running the Bradenton Credit Bureau until after World War II, when they both ended up working as United States Postal Clerks. Mrs. Graham was a founding member of the first Manatee chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and of the National Organization for Women. She belonged to Bradenton's First United Methodist Church and the Manatee County Historical Society. Survivors include her husband of 73 years, Lamar T. Graham of Bradenton; her daughter, the Rev. Dee Graham of Saint Petersburg, grandson Asaph Graham and wife Marlaine of Seminole; granddaughters Austin Graham and Charlotte Quandt, both of Saint Petersburg; three great-grandsons, her cousin Doris Day Leland of Bradenton, and many nieces and nephews. A graveside memorial service will be held at 10 am Tuesday, July 14, at Manasota Memorial Park in Oneco, FL. Memorial donations may be made by check to the National Ataxia Foundation, 2600 Fernbrook Lane, Suite 119, Minneapolis, MN, 55447, www.ataxia.org.

A copy of this obituary appeared in The Bradenton Herald on Sunday, July 12, 2009.

FamilySearch.org has Somethings NEW!

Recently, the "pilot" FamilySearch.org added a database of Florida Death Certificates for the period 1877 to 1939. It is more than just an index, much of the information has been transcribed by volunteers into this database.

It is FamilySearch Records Search - Pilot Site, (or go to http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start .)
You can leave the "first or middle names" blank, enter a "surname" like Sanchez.
For "Life Event" select Death/Burial,
For "Year" enter 1920,
For "Place" enter Saint Augustine, Saint Johns, Florida, United States, (if you leave off Saint Augustine, you will get all of Saint Johns County, or if you leave off Saint Augustine, Saint Johns, you will get all of Florida.)

With this example I got 6 results. When I pass my cursor over the blue underlined name, I get a summary on the screen. And if I click that blue underlined name, I get a page of information from the database.

Near the top of the page of information, you will see in blue and underlined "copy to clipboard", if you click that you can then add the information to your word processor or an email by pasting or keyboarding with control key + v.

To the left of "copy to clipboard" is "about this collection", click it and you get a history of the collection, but also at the to the words "search this collection." Now clicking it will limit the searching of Familysearch to just this database.

There are other refinements to searching possibilities that you can try as well.

But some names are spelt wrong: the volunteers transcribed what they saw, they were not familiar with the people or places.

And it is free.

Los Floridanos Picnic on May 9th 2009

LOS FLORIDANOS ANNUAL PICNIC:

If you have not marked your calendar for the May 9th Annual Picnic, do so now. Put a big red circle around May 9th as a reminder.

The picnic this year will be at the St. Augustine recreational park across the street from the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The park has ample shade and parking.

Following lunch, for the young at heart, you may want to work off the calories with an aerobic workout climbing the lighthouse’s 219 steps. If that is not your thing, you might want to cross the street to the lighthouse gift shop and museum. The gift shop is open to the public but there is a charge for the tower, museum and audio tour. For more information, including ticket prices, check out the web site: www.staugustinelighthouse.com.

The Society is providing the meat. Please bring a covered dish: salad, vegetable and/or dessert. See you there!

^^^The above is from an email received on April 29 from the Society.^^^

Los Floridanos Society - April Announcements

Los Floridanos Society, Inc.

Florida’s First Spanish Families 1565-1763
P.O. Box 1891
St. Augustine, FL 32085-1891
www.losfloridanos.org

April 11, 2009 9:00 AM Breakfast Meeting

The Society will be meeting, April 11, at the IHOP Restaurant, 2600 Ponce DeLeon Blvd. St. Augustine, Fl. Please plan to attend this meeting.

Mark your calendars for the May 9th annual Society picnic The place and time will be forthcoming.

If you have not paid your annual dues for 2009 please forward a check to the above address or bring your payment to the breakfast meeting on Apr. 11. Annual dues are $15.00 for the calendar year.



Additional (by mail):

May 9, 2009 12:00 PM Annual Family Picnic
Members and guest, plan on attending the Los Floridanos Annual Picnic on Saturday May 9th. Bring a dish to share. It can be a main dish, side dish, or a dessert. The Society will be furnishing fried chicken, iced tea and papers products.
Feel free to bring your folding chairs for your comfort.
Please note that the family picnic has been moved up to the Spring. And, we are looking into holding the picnic at a different site. Watch for a mailing with more information.

2009 Calendar

4/11/09 - Informal breakfast; IHOP Restaurant
5/9/09 - Family Picnic - Location to be announced
June, July, August - Summer off
9/12/09 - Welcome back Luncheon; Location to be announced
10/10/09 - Informal breakfast; Location to be announced
11/14/09 - Informal breakfast; Location to be announced
12/12/09 - Christmas Luncheon; Location to be announced

Los Floridanos Society - March Announcements

Los Floridanos Society

Florida’s First Spanish Families 1565-1763
P.O. Box 1891
St. Augustine, FL 32085-1891
www.losfloridanos.org

The Society will be joining the Menorcan Society at the annual Menorcan Heritage Celebration on March 14th. The Celebration will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Llambias House, St. Francis Street. Come join in the fun and feast on pilau and chowder.

The Society will resume its regular second Saturday breakfast meeting on April 11th.

Mark your calendar for the Society’s annual family picnic on May 9th. The picnic location will be announced in a forthcoming newsletter.

Martha S. Sanchez' Death

Martha S. Sanchez (b. 20 Jan 1841) is Alexander Boneparte Sanchez' third child.

Some Sanchez descendants are reporting her death as 4 Dec 1927 in Waldo, FL.

Can someone identify the source of this information? Please.

Two Mary Ann Coldings

I am offering this information to correct some databases that some Sanchez descendants have.

Louisa Colding the wife of Alexander Boneparte Sanchez (Senior) had a sister Mary Ann Colding. Samuel Gibbons reports her birth and death as 09 Apr 1812 and 15 Nov 1851, respectively. Mary's were often then nicknamed Polly.

She married Kinchen Syms (no record) and they had two daughters Georgia(nna) and Nancy L.

Mary Ann (as Polly) appears on the 1850 Florida Census Sheet for Marion County 2nd District, page 130 as part of the household of Ann Colding (her mother). Also listed are her husband and daughters.

There is another Mary Ann Colding in the area (Alachua County). There is a record of her marriage to Willis Chamberlin in 1839. There were three children 2 sons and a daughter. Mr. Chamberlin leaves. However this Mary Ann (also Polly) appears in the 1860 and 1870 Censuses in Alachua County. THIS MARY ANN COLDING IS NOT LOUISA COLDING'S SISTER. If the Chamberlins are in your database you might consider removing them.. She is likely a cousin of Louisa, but there are no familial known connections.

This information was clearly provide to me by Shelley Chamberlin.

1935 & 1945 Florida State Censuses are Now Online

Ancestry.com has all three available Florida State censuses (1885, 1935 and 1945) online. There were other Florida State censuses, but these are the only ones that are intact. The 1885 census even has several counties missing.

There is a search index and images of the originals can be viewed, just like with a Federal census sheet.

I found them in with the other Florida databases by clicking the SEARCH tab.
And under Browse Records near the center of the page, clicking View All Ancestry Titles.
And then going to the bottom of the page in the Refine your search . . ., entering Florida as the Database and then SEARCH. The censuses are listed in the top 10.

These censuses offer no special information, other than the basic name, age, relationship, . . . . I think that the indices for 1935 and 1945 are poor.

About a month ago, I posted this link, Should the 1885, 1935 & 1945 Florida Cenuses be Online? on another blog. It announced that FamilySearch.org was asking for volunteers to index the 1935 & 1945 censuses. They still need help. Their final product would be a free online database.

I first saw the Ancestry.com announcement while reading Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

You Can Now Find Townships and Ranges on Google Earth

If you are trying to locate land in a "Public Land" state using townships and ranges, you are now have an assistant in Google Earth.

Public Land states are the states that were not part of the original 13 colonies or Texas or Hawaii. The non-Public Land states uses metes and bounds instead of townships and ranges.

Google Earth is a free product by Google (there is a commercial version, but you don't need it.) If you don't have Google Earth on your computer just Google, Google Earth for information on how to get it.

Google Earth allows clever people to write KMLs that are programs that run on Google Earth. [For this application, just consider them computer programs.] These KMLs can add items to your Google Earth like lightening strikes, cloud cover, tropical storm paths and more. The realtors at Earth Point have setup a KML to show the township and range maps some even include the sections. Look over the Earth Point webpage it will provide the longitude and latitude coordinate of the township and range.

You will still have to work with halves and quarters inside the section [these are the aliquots], but that part is easy.

Remember you can find these legal descriptions on deeds, in deed books, on some tax bills or receipts, in the county tax appraisers records or the BLM database. There is a Florida database and where you are searching may have a database. If you will, please share as a comment ideas where to find these legal descriptions.

The volunteer surviving soldiers from the Second Seminole Indian War received Bounty Land. George Washington Sanchez sold his bounty land certificate, but his brother Alexander Boneparte Sanchez setted on his land outside of Archer, FL. When the land was claimed the legal description with township, range and section is connected.

Miss Samantha

Introducing Samantha Lee who is the great great grandaughter of Jude Gadson Sanchez, who is the great great grandson of Francisco Xavier Sanchez.

Los Floridanos Picnic

I got an email today reminding me that the Los Floridanos Picnic will be happening on November 8 starting at noon at the Fort Matanzas National Park outside of St. Augustine.

This is a chance to meet some of your Sanchez cousins that you have never met.

The event is like what happened last year. Check this link.

Ancestors may be mentioned in Other's correspondence

In today's (Aug. 17, 2008) Heritage Hunting by Sharon Tate Moody (weekly feature in the Tampa Tribune) the article is Letters From Others May Mention Ancestors. She is pointing out that mention and stories of an ancestor can be in the letters of a relative, friend, official, or fellow soldier. She provides some tips at where to look.

I would like to ask for you to share information about caches of correspondences that mention our Sanchez kinfolk.

I will start with some collections that I have found:

• The Joseph S. Sanchez collection [boxes] in the St. Augustine Historical Society - Research Library. There is correspondence from form numerous relatives (brother, sister, nephews, and others). One example is a letter from his nephew, George W. Sanchez, who writes his uncle about the death and burial of John M. Sanchez, Joseph's brother.
• The Sanchez Family Papers in the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History at the University of Florida in Gainesville has a lot of correspondence that Edward Carrington Francis Sanchez collected. His brothers were involved in businesses in Cuba.
• The book, Zéspedes in East Florida, 1784-1790 by Helen Hornbeck Tanner, is a collection of translated letters that include mention Francisco Xavier Sanchez and include one of his. Many of the large libraries in Florida have copies of this book.
• The probate files for Francis Roman Sanchez have a few letters. You will have to go to the Alachua County courthouse to see them. His probate file is large. Probate files are very informative. John M. Sanchez' probate file is at the court house too. It is unfortunate that in Florida, these old files are considered sensitive-data by the Florida Supreme Court.

If there are enough collections of correspondence reported, they can be added to something like the bibliography.

We have contributors and readers from cousins in different parts of the family tree. It would be good to hear from you. Anyone can add comments, just click "comments" on the next line.

Site to check out

I received 59 hits by searching for Sanchez on this Florida Heritage Collection site and 3 look interesting to me. The document called, "Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes," has F. R. Sanchez basically declaring war on the Seminoles after the Indian kill 3 people that happen to be have surnames I'm related to like Dell and O'Steen. One document is about Fort Diego and another about the purchase of Florida may be of interest. One claim I saw several years ago said West Sheffield had in his possession a deed of Florida and if this is true it probably came from the Sanchez line because the Sanchez family was much more prominent i that period of time. The deed is supposed to be in Starke. Warren Sanchez has several letters in the site's collection, as well. Some of you may recognize Sanchez's I'm not familiar with if you do a site search.
http://susdl.fcla.edu/fh/