"Once Upon a Lifetime: in and Near Baker County, Florida," book - v.1 (file 2/2)

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                       Once Upon A Lifetime
                in and near Baker County, Florida
                          Volume No. 1

               By La Viece (Moore-Fraser) Smallwood
                          Copyright 1993

Copies available complete with photos, family genealogy and other footnotes

             Rt. 2 Box 543 Macclenny, Florida 32063

Permission has been granted by the author for posting to this page.

Contains biographical narratives and genealogical information on the
following Baker County folks:

* Ernest Harvey, Jr. (in file 1/2)
* Elvie Anderson Byrd (in file 1/2)
* Harley Burnsed (in file 1/2)
* Myrtie (Taylor) Walker-Rowe (in file 1/2)
* Ida Mae Padgett (in file 1/2)
* Annie (Givens) Blue & son Bennie Blue (in file 1/2)
* William Clyburn and Wille Mae (Mathews) Gilbert (in file 1/2)
* A. L. Ferreira (in file 1/2)
* George Dewey Fish (in file 1/2)
* Mollie Wilson (in file 1/2)
* Mamie Mae Burnsed Rodgers
* Lawton and Essie Connor
* Ida Gainey
* Edgar Lewis
* Dr. John Holt
* Ray and Athena (Raulerson) Brown
* Lacy Richardson
* Alvin Chace
* Harold and Fay (Mathews) Milton
* Claude Scoles
* Joe Dobson

_____________________________________________________________________________

                      MAMIE MAE BURNSED RODGERS:
                            Sanderson 1979

     Mamie Mae Burnsed has lived on the main street of Sanderson most
of her life, watching people come and go as well as the years that
have changed them.

     "People used to stop and talk; now everyone's in such a hurry,"
she said from her home located on the main thoroughfare. The concrete
block building houses the town's post office and at one time the
town's barber shop. on Mamie's porch hangs beautiful lush green ferns
and an abundant array of flourishing green and variegated plants. She
has what most people describe as a "green thumb." Light green rocking
chairs sway in the gentle breeze as we look out her front window. She
can see up and down Main Street easily and keep up with those who come
and go.

     And so can Polly, her ancient green and yellow colorful parrot "I
have no idea how old Polly is," she said, "but Ma owned her before me.
She's a part of the family."

     And Polly talks just about as good as anyone. "Polly wants a
cracker, Polly wants a cracker," is something Sanderson residents can
hear repeated over and over as they walk by. Everyone knows and likes
Polly. She is part of the Sanderson scenery.

     Inside her cozy little building, turned home, she has
collectibles everywhere. Her mother's old china cabinet holds
beautiful handpainted plates.

     "When I'm gone I want these to go to my cousins," she said. Her
cousins live in seeing eye distance from her front and back door. They
are the Dobson sisters: Mattie Roberts, Eunice Burnett, Gertrude
Bevis, and Edith Keller. Down the road is cousin Ben Cobb. And there
are others who live away, but these are close by. "See, I have their
names on the back so they'll know which I want them to have," she
said, handling them with great care. "Most of these were Ma's and
Grandma's dishes."

     She has her mother Emily Katherine (Em) fraser Burnsed's feather
bed and feather pillows. The bed is adorned with a beautiful hand
embroidered bedspread. "I did this myself," she said proudly. Opening
a closet she exposes her maternal grandmother Maranda Bowyer's neat
and perfectly stitched log cabin" quilt. An old family Edison
victrolla graces the room and she opens up the cabinet. "There's ole
records like 'Turkey in the Straw' and 'Shall We Gather At The
River'," she noted.

     She gently fondled what-nots kept safely in a glass cabinet.

     "These were Ma's and Grandma's," she said reverently.

     "Sanderson used to be especially busy on Saturdays", she
continued as she sat down in her big easy chair. On the table nearby
was a well-worn Bible. "Most folks had to walk to town for their
weekly groceries or mail," she said. "Some had horse and wagons. It
was an all day affair with most families. Everyone was so glad to
visit and catch up on the news. Now they just drive up in their cars,
rush in for their groceries or mail and drive right off, always in a
rush. Use to they'd linger for awhile, maybe even sit a spell."

     Mamie was born to Baker county natives, Emily Fraser and George
Washington Burnsed on September 17, 1899. They were living in Bradford
County at the time.

     "My dad was working there at a saw mill," she said. "We were poor
but we didn't suffer. We had the things we needed."

     Living in what she termed a shackey house, heated by a fireplace
with an old wood cook stove, the family decided to move to Green Cove
Springs for a better job opportunity.

     "My dad sold our horse and wagon and rented a double wide wagon
and mule team to move our things to Green Cove," she said. "My mama
ran a boarding house and that's where I met "Shorty" (Eliud Clair
Rodgers) who was a saw mill man from South Carolina."

     Mamie and Shorty were married June 21, 1916, in Green Cove
Springs. Their little girl, Emma Lucile, was born there in 1919.

     "After about a year I noticed "Ceil" wasn't developing properly,"
said Mamie. Both she and Shorty were crushed when they found out their
infant daughter would never grow into a normal child or adult.
Eventually they moved to Baker County, joining her parents who had
returned and gone into the grocery business. The sandy road through
Sanderson, known as Highway 90, was being paved all the way to
Jacksonville and Shorty took a job helping to complete the work. At
the same time construction of the Sanderson overpass and the new brick
school house was underway. The year was 1925.

     "Ceil died with pneumonia a year later at the age of seven,"
related Mamie. "She never walked. I took the best care possible of her
and we loved her very much. She was a beautiful child, just look at
her picture," she said pointing to a photograph hanging on a nearby
wall.

     "I didn't want another child, at least for awhile," she said,
"because I wanted to keep Ceil's memory longer, but one day, a few
years later, I was out in the backyard dressing a chicken and a young
neighbor boy came to the fence and asked me if I'd heard about a baby
that had been abandoned in Olustee.

     "I hadn't heard about it, but I went and told Shorty," she said.
"Later Shorty heard that Sheriff Joe Jones had stopped at a grocery
down the street with the little baby on his way to Macclenny. Shorty
went down to find out more information and fell in love with the
little red-headed fellow. He asked the sheriff if he'd stop by our
place and 'show the baby to Mamie.'"

     "Well my Ma was there too, and she was beggin' us to take him. He
was a cute baby. Must have been mighty poor people who left him. He
had a pillow slip for a diaper, a bottle of milk and an old piece of
army blanket wrapped around him.

     "He had been left on a deserted store front; and luckily someone
heard him cryin' 'cause at that time there was no such thing as fence
laws and hogs were roaming all around. What if one had got the poor
little thing?" she said, emotion rising in her soft and gentle voice.

     Continuing, she explained that the sheriff informed them the
judge would have to rule on the case and make his decision, but he'd
let them know.

     "Shorty didn't sleep much that night for thinking about wanting
that baby," she said. "The next morning (Sunday) he got up and drove
over to Macclenny, taking a little pillow with him to lay the baby on.
The sheriff still said he'd have to wait until the next day (Monday)
when the judge could rule on it, so Shorty had to come home without
him.

     "Early Monday morning the sheriff's wife, Alma Jones, brought him
to us.

     "Oh, I'm so proud I took him," she said. "He was the best little
boy and we all loved him so."

     They called their chubby little red-headed son Sonny.

     By this time, Shorty and Mamie had taken over her parents'
general grocery store, and times were some better.

     "Back then I purchased staples such as sugar, rice, grits, etc,
in 100-pound sacks and emptied it in huge bins or cans. Nothing was
prepackaged then like it is now. We just weighed out the amount
customers wanted and put it in a bag.

     "Sugar and rice sold for five cents a pound and bacon for eight
cents. You could buy good steak for 20 cents a pound," she said. I
sold cheese 20 cents a pound. eggs 10 cents a dozen and fresh milk was
10 cents a quart. I bottled it myself.. " Buttermilk was 5 cents a
quart," she continued. "We had no refrigeration back in those days
like we have today but we used a carbide refrigerator that kept it
cool.

     "People ate mighty common food back then like dried beans, grits
and meal. Most people had their own gardens, but I sold produce like
lettuce and fruit such as bananas. It was delivered to us on trucks
from Jacksonville.

     "People coming to town to buy groceries stayed all day and
usually bought a 5 cent cold drink and a nickel pack of crackers with
maybe a slice of cheese cut from the old cheese block for lunch," she
said. "They could eat what they wanted for 15 or 20 cents."

     Shorty died in 1946 and Mamie worked the next 16 years with the
Sanderson school lunch program, raising Sonny as a widow.

     In 1972, at the age of 41, Sonny died with a heart attack.

     "Some people say Sanderson don't grow none, but it does," she
said. "There are houses all over the woods out there. The people here
are mighty good to me. They know I never leave unless I go to the
doctor and they drop in occasionally to say 'Hello' and to see how I
feel.

     "I know most it won't be long before I have to leave Sanderson
and go to the nursing home," she said wistfully as we talked. "I don't
want to go. I wouldn't really mind as much except that I dread to move
away from my little home and Sanderson where all my memories are."

UPDATE:
Mamie lived her last days in Wells Nursing Facility in Macclenny. I
visited her often and would find her sitting in her favorite easy
chair brought from her home. Her other treasured belongings were
distributed by her brother, Otis Burnsed. However, none of the
cherished dishes were left with her cousins as she wished. Instead
Otis sold off her esteemed family heirlooms to the highest bidder. She
had previously asked me to take several of the things she wanted
preserved in the family, so I purchased them from Otis during
distribution of her things. I still considered them a gift from Mamie.
The Edison victrolla is a possession of mine and some of the records
as well as her mothers china cabinet. I purchased her iron bed with
the feather mattress and have put it on indefinite loan in the Baker
County Historical Society Museum. I bought her sewing machine as well.
Her nephew, George Burnsed, confiscated the beautifully embroidered
bedspread that she so meticulous fashioned and gave it to me. Although
she was my distant cousin I felt very close to this gentle and kind
lady and treasure the many mementos she gave to me that belonged to
our common forebears during our relationship. Polly was taken by a
niece who told her that someone stolen her. According to Otis's son,
George, the treasured handpainted dishes were sold by his father to a
garage sale dealer. Family letters and correspondence kept by Mamie
for decades in a small wood chest were lost or thrown away as was many
other things she had kept. Mamie died March 10, 1986, while still a
resident of Wells Nursing Home. She was preceded in death by a brother
Bill on Nov. 21, 1957. Otis died after Mamie and all are buried in the
family plot in Manntown Cemetery south of Glen St. Mary.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                  LAWTON AND ESSIE (Williams) CONNER
                              TAYLOR 1979

     Eighty-year-old Lawton Conner Stood in the middle of his
three-acre garden, his face barely visible beneath the wide brim hat
that offered protecton from the bright noon day sun. Tender shoots of
corn he neatly planted weeks before waved in the breeze and the sharp
edge of his hoe sniped away at the unsolicited voluntary growth.

     "You Lawton Conner?" I asked as I started out across the rows of
corn, my sandals sinking down in the hot soft soil.

     "Yes ma'am I am," he said, peering from under the noticeably
patched up wide brim straw hat.

     A quick introduction and we Started for the house where Essie,
his companion of 63 years, met us with hospitable greetings.

     Our house burned completely up 11 years ago," he explained as I
sat in their modern trailer home. "Saved this rocker," he said,
"That's all."

     "We built our house out of good heart yellow pine lumber and when
it went it went fast," he said, further explaining a brick was
apparently loose in the flue of the fireplace on the cold wintery
night in February when the disaster occurred. "We'd lived in that
house about 48 years."

     Both Lawton and Essie Conner were born and reared in the Taylor
community. In the distance, we could see two cribs; and a barn built
by Lawton's father, Henry, who farmed the rich fertile soil over a
century ago with his father Willis Conner, a settler who moved in from
Charlton County, Georgia.

     Essie's parents, Jamie Rhoden and Lettie Williams, lived in the
Kyler section, down the road a bit.

     "I was about 12 years old when I first saw him (Lawton)", said
Essie. "He rode a big ole mule to our singing school. I bet it weighed
1,000 pounds. He tried to get me to go with him but I told him my
daddy said I was too young, so he left me alone."

     "She took my eye," Lawton expressed with a grin, explaining he
expected her daddy's judgement. "We weren't scared of him, but we knew
to mind him."

     Lawton was 15 at the time. "Two years later her father gave
permission to her to have fellers so I asked her again," he said.

     In six months, they were talking marriage. She was 14, he was 16.
The tradition was to ask permission of the girl's father so Lawton and
Essie did just that.

     "I said, 'Mr. Rhoden, me and your daughter has decided we want to
get married'," he recalled, relating that Essie ran into the house to
avoid the conversation.

     "I wasn't scared," spoke up Essie. "I just didn't want to hear
the lecture I knew we'd get." However her father called her back
outside and a lecture they did get, but also permission to marry.

     "That was on a Thursday," said Lawton. "On Saturday I got the
license and on Sunday we were married at her parents home. About a 100
people in the community came."

     "My mama made me the most beautiful wedding dress you've ever
seen. only cost a dollar to make," she said explaining that the
material cost 25 cents a yard.

     Lawton was the only child of Henry Conner and Etter Bennett. A
sister had died at 11 months old. The young couple moved in with his
parents.

     "After the wedding we drove the mule and wagon back to my
parent's house," said Lawton. "The next morning I got up and went to
plowing."

     "Me and my mother-in-law went to the garden to get turnips for
dinner," said Essie. "She put lots of hock bones and the turnips in a
huge iron pot (still in the family today) and cooked them in the
fireplace."

     "I told 'em he married me just to have someone to play with,"
said Essie. "We weren't nothing but kids. I could hold him down real
good. one day we were pickin' cotton near the road and got to playing.
I was holding him down and he was just a laughing. We heard someone
coming in their horse and wagon on their way to Macclenny and Lawton
said, 'Get up, they'll think we're fightin'. But we always got along
real good together. Never been separated but a very few times."

     Life on the farm wasn't easy, explained the Conners, "but I
believe people were lots happier back then," he said, adding there is
too much to think about today. "Everybody had to pick cotton and hoe
back then. We didn't have time to go to school even. We went just long
enough to learn how to read and write," he said.

     "I was just an old broke farm boy when we married," he said.

     "But his daddy went to sharing with us right away," said Essie
enthusiastically. "We helped him farm. If he sold eggs, we'd get half
the money. We weren't use to having much. Sometimes his daddy would
give him 25 cents if they went to town and he'd buy me a pack of gum."

     "Daddy paid 50 cents a day for hired hands and they had to be
good for him to pay that" said Lawton.

     Two years after marriage they moved out on their own.

     "Sometimes I'd work on the county roads. We'd shovel dirt from
sun up to sun down for a dollar, but back then a dollar would buy
something ... that much money would go a long way."

     "Like what?" I quizzed.

     "Oh Lord honey, you could get a, let me see, you could buy a 25
pound sack of flour for fifty cents," he said having to think hard as
his mind raced back in time past todays inflation. "A good blue serge
suit of clothes wouldn't cost but $15 then. Nowadays it's $200.

     Saving up $15 wasn't easy, he said, but it could be done.

     "How?" I asked.

     "Well, I'd hitch up my mule and wagon and drive through the night
to Jacksonville with sweet potatoes, chickens and eggs," he said
explaining he could buy chickens for 25 cents and sell them in
Jacksonville for 50 cents.

     "I'd be there by morning and drive around peddling all day. That
night I'd head to the big warehouse and mule lot to rest up to drive
back to Taylor.

     "There weren't no truck deliveries back then," he explained,
"just mule and wagons. I'd take care of my mule and leave him in the
mule lot to rest while I slept on the warehouse platform. Next day
we'd go home.

     "That $15 would last us three or four months," spoke up Essie.
"When we needed more, he'd go back with another load."

     Thirteen children blessed their marriage, all born at home, the
first ones delivered by midwives, the last by doctors.

     "We've got 35 grandchildren and 35 great grandchildren with more
on the way," beamed Essie.

     "Our children said they didn't want to stay in the country so
they all moved away to the city. They didn't stay too long though
'cause all but three came back and settled down right here," she said.

     A total of 275 acres was divided among the children.

     "Some of them drop by everyday," she said, beaming with parental
pride.

     "I enjoyed my home and children and I never left them one night
in my life," she continued.

     "We knew where they were at all times," added Lawton. "There
ain't no place like Baker County. I never had a mind to ramble off
anyplace."

     "The kids try to get him to go to the mountains," said Essie,
"but he says he knows how it looks and he ain't going."

     "If you ever find a big wide brim straw hat like this, get it for
me," he said, adding, "I'll pay as much as $50 for it."

     Doctors have advised him to avoid exposing his skin to the sun,
thus he depends upon and treasures the thus-far irreplaceable patched
up hat.

     With it placed squarely back on his head, he gently carded a mess
of sweet tender turnip greens freshly pulled from his garden (already
washed clean) and placed them in my car. I sped off down Conner Road
past the century-old barns and cribs, their function now seemingly
only a picturesque view of yesterday.

     But to generations of Conners, who are descendants of these noble
forebears, they are a constant reminder of a priceless legacy and
heritage.

UPDATE: Lawton Conner died June 24, 1988, and is buried in Taylor
Cemetery. In 1993, Essie was 91 years old and living with her daughter
Patsy and son-in-law Johnnie Groves in Taylor.

Their son, Fred, born on Sept. 23, 1920, died June 24, 1956. Son
Marcus Gene, born on August 19, 1938, died Feb. 14, 1985. In 1993,
children living are: Ruby Raulerson, born Oct 23, 1918; Suzie Marsh,
born Jan 10, 1922; Virgle Conner, born Dec. 27, 1924; Frank Conner,
born Nov. 28, 1926; Nettie Ruth Anderson, born March 28, 1930; Evelyn
Nipper, born June 23, 1931; Gladys Hair, born July 14, 1933; Floyd
Conner, born Feb. 14, 1935; Henry Conner, born April 28, 1937; and
Patsy Ann Groves, born Jan. 9, 1942.

NOTE: cwm
Essie died 2 Sept 1997 and is also buried in Taylor Cemetery.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                             IDA GAINEY:
                             1979 Baxter

     Ida Gainey stood at her door expressionless after learning
someone wanted to write about her life in Baker County. Regaining a
little composure, she managed a big grin and a natural, "I'm so glad
ya' came" greeting.

     "Let me get my teeth in," she said as she showed me to a seat in
her combined living-dining. area.

     ` "My, my, who would want to know anything about me?"

     Who indeed. This humble woman has probably done as much, or more,
in her day than anyone to ripen the heritage tree in Baker County. Her
devotion to those who have needed her services is unexcelled. Her
astounding life is exemplary under the conditions in which she lived,
or some might say in which she existed.

     Ida Gainey vividly remembers the painfully poor days surrounding
her youth barely surviving in a family of nine children.

     Wiping tears from her intensive brown eyes she talked about her
life.

     "I watched my mama a lot when I'se a little girl," she reminisced
from her Baxter home in northern Baker County. "She prayed a lot.
There was an ole stump she'd go to, or down by the creek, or in her
room. I 'member she was a good mama, she endured, she never left us
children until God took her."

     Mama was Laura Mizell who married Danel Raulerson, a blacksmith
and reared their family "up from Moniac," a rural Georgia Community
near the Baker County state boundary line.

     "We missed school a lot," said Mis' Ida as she is fondly known
throughout the community. "We'd go to school totin' our lunch pails
with no shoes on. We poor children starved lots of times. We'd come in
from school and might find a cold biscuit and a piece of onion, and go
straight to the cotton patch to work.

     "Lots of times we'd go to bed so cold and so hungry. Sometimes
we'd cover up with the feather mattress, take feed sacks and stuff
them with corn shucks or moss to sleep on," she said.

     "Part of the time we didn't have clothes to wear. I had one dress
I wore to school. I'd come home and change into a rag and wear my
dress back to school the next day.

     "I only went to the fifth grade, but I'm grateful 'cause I
learned to read."

     Miss Ida reached for her "little black memory book" as she tried
to remember special dates.

     "My mama died the year I got saved," she said turning the pages
of the worn little black book.

     "Here it tis! it was 1933,' she squealed excitedly.

     In 1924, at the age of 15, she had met and married Odus Gainey.
Odus loved me, but, well I guess I should be 'shamed to say this, but
I had another feller likin me too. so Odus bought my sister a pair of
shoes so she could dance with him and make me jealous. I didn't lik'
that much. The next day he was at church with another girl, so I sat
right down and wrote him a letter. In it I said, Odus, you shore did
hit my heart yesta'day, and I didn't know I loved you so.

     "I got a reply right back and he said he'd never do that no more.

     "It weren't long before I'd had a mind to marry up with him. My
daddy heard we was plan'in to run away. He told me ifin I ran away,
I'd git back faster than I went, so in about a month or two we got
married, and moved to Baxter."

     Hardships didn't improve with marriage. In fact the $1.25 Odus
made a week working as a section laborer with the Southern Railway
wasn't enough to cover their expenses. More times than not, all they
had to eat for breakfast was greens.

     Ida found herself expecting their first child. In her seventh
month of pregnancy while fishing down by the creek she slipped and
fell backward while pulling on a fish line. The baby never moved again
after that. Two weeks later she lost a baby girl.

     In 1926, her only child, Mildred, was born.

     "Peoples' always asked me why I ain't ever had more children,"
she said. "it was after I had grandchildren that I learned the reason
myself," explaining that once, when Mildred was a baby she was
hospitalized for an infection. During this time, her husband told the
doctor he felt one child was enough, and told the doctor to do
somethin'.

     "Now I have never felt that was fair, but Odus had raised his
Pa's bunch and I guess he figured he'd had enough children to raise.
Sides that, times were hard."

     These circumstances were contributing factors to a very important
part of her life.

     "I developed a genuine love and concern for people and their
children," the kindly woman said relating how she'd go stay with
expectant friends and neighbors until the doctor arrived to deliver
their baby.

     "The doctors use 'ta tell me to pay attention so I could learn to
do it by myself."

     One such family had 18 children so Mis'Ida got lots of practice.

     "Sometimes the doctor never got there and I'd have to deliver the
baby myself," she said.

     "Back in them days there weren't no telephones to fetch a doctor
with, so somebody would have to crank up the railroad motor car and go
into St. George, 12 miles away, for the doctor.

     "Sometimes he got there in time, sometimes he didn't" she said.

     "Why them women didn't have nothing for pain and most times I'd
have to wrap their babies up in an old rag, anything, sometimes it'd
be an old skirt or worn out coat.

     "Why sometimes there weren't even a sheet on the bed and I'd pull
out one of my clean white towels to lay a head on and the cinches
would jump on it like flies.

     "We used homemade octagon soap back then and any old twine we had
to tie a cord."

     "The county nurse finally suggested that she become a registered
county midwife.

     "It was in April 1944 when she first applied for a license.

     Soon she was equipped with a black bag that contained all her
midwifery supplies and an official-looking white uniform.

     "I made a pretty nurse, I really did, and people started calling
me that," she chuckled with obvious pride.

     "Mis' Ida, the times Come!!" was a familiar voice any time of the
night or day as her services were needed more and more.

     "I got paid $20 a baby, regardless how long I stayed in the
home," she explained.

     "The price was never 'upped.' It was the same when I retired 40
years later," she said with a very pleased look.

     Noting the mighty poor conditions for berthing babies back then
she noted with pride that she had never lost a baby during birth.

     There are countless experiences she holds almost sacred. She has
them recorded in her "little black book." She slowly got up from her
rocker to get the original little black bag that accompanied her each
time she was "fetched" to go on a house call.

     Reaching inside the dilapidated and fatigued bag she pulled out
her record book of births.

     "A lady came by not so long ago and wanted to know when she was
born. Seems they couldn't find a record of it at the State Board of
Health. I had it right in my book. Guess the state lost their copy,"
she said thoughtfully.

     Soon after becoming a midwife, husband Odus died.

     "He had to retire cause of diabetics, " she recalled. "He only
drew $56 a month retirement from the railroad. It weren't enough money
to buy sugar pills and he died..just up and went out yonder the shade
tree," she said pointing toward the front yard. "He sat down in a
chair, went into a coma, and was gone. He wouldn't take no shots, he
refused any help from the county nurse, so he died."

     "Changing the subject abruptly she said with a chuckle, "I
delivered a baby girl one Easter day and they named her Ida Easter."

     "Thing about some of these people they'd wait too late to git a
doctor, or git to the hospital," she said shaking her head in dismay.

     "I 'member once, after I retired, I was sittin' here a quilt'in
(pointing to a quilting frame attached to her ceiling) and a man came
driving up in a rickety old cross tie truck screaming 'Mis Ida you
gotta come, she's done had the baby.' I told him I wasn't licensed no
more and I'd git in trouble, but he kept pleadin' and pleadin'.
Finally I said, 0K, lets go and when we got there to his house I found
his wife on her back in the yard with the baby on her belly fightin'
off hogs from eatin' her baby. That's where he'd left her to git me
'cause the baby came before he could git her to the hospital. He was
full of liquor, plumb drunk, and his wife in that condition. Poor
woman.

     "Later, I went to the doctors office to talk to 'um 'bout it and
they said not to worry 'cause I saved her life."

     Midwives were forbidden to prescribe any kind of treatment she
explained.

     "I waited all day once in freezin' cold weather on a delivery,"
she said, "but nothing happened. Someone said, 'Mis' Ida you care if
en we gives her some liquor?' I told 'em I couldn't tell 'em nothing.
Then they said, 'Well how 'bout if we fix her some low bush merkel
tea? I said I can't tell you nothing to do. It got supper time and
they fixed some cornbread and peas. Finally I told 'em I was going
home and I got up to leave. it scared that poor girl 'cause I was
leav'in I heard her screaming, 'Run here nurse, run here, it's a
comin', it's a comin'. And sure 'nuf it was."

     Times were hard back then she said and remembered one time she
was invited to eat a meal after delivering a baby and being there all
day. All that was on the table was a smoke house bone and cornbread.

     Ida Gainey's not the least bit bitter. She is not even
disillusioned. In fact, she is grateful "for what the Lord has done
for me" beginning with her daughter Mildred, her six grandchildren and
six (presently) great grandchildren.

     Life centers around her family and the Baxter Church of God.

     "I'm the mother of that church," she said proudly. "I stood at
the door and fought the devil for that church.

     "Before you leave, let me show you what the Lord's give me," she
said rising from her rocker and seating herself at the upright piano.
As her fingers scaled the keys in perfect gospel tones, her voice
rising above the worldly cares outside her door, eyes closed, as if in
vision ... the words were sung with feeling and conviction, "I have
Jesus, now I have everything."

FOOTNOTE: Ida Gainey was a resident of Wells Nursing Home the last few
year's of her life and died in 1992.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                             EDGAR LEWIS:
                            Macclenny 1979

     In 1858, a tall lanky 14-year-old former slave, Walker Lewis,
wandered into Baker county (then Columbia) looking for work- He had
walked from North Carolina.

     He found a job with Mr. McClenny and became a trusted livestock
herder, traveling as far away as Virginia with his employer for the
purchase, and walking the distance back with his herd of livestock.
His reputation in tending and caring for the animals spread and it
wasn't long before he became known as the county veterinarian.

     His vast experience soon caused the Griffin family, owners of a
large nursery and vast amount of stock, to make Mr. McClenny an offer
of exchange for the services Of Walker Lewis.

     So it came to be that Edgar Latin Lewis was born on Griffin
Nursery April 13, 1900, one of 13 children born to Ida Nobles, his
mother, and one of 21 to his father, who had been married twice
before.

     "My papa was hardworking and ambitious," said Edgar. "He bought
him a few acres of land, and paid for it little by little until it was
paid off. Because he couldn't read or write he never got a receipt, or
deed, therefore he had no proof of purchase. When he couldn't prove
it, he lost it."

     That experience proved costly to the poor hardworking Walker
Lewis, but he seemed determined to have something to call his own. He
purchased two acres of land in 1897 from D.H. and Emma Rowe, complete
this time with deeds and abstracts. As he could afford it, he
purchased an acre at a time until he had 21 acres added to it.

     Meanwhile, Walker Lewis was rearing his family on Griffins
Nursery in a four-room tenant house.

     "My ma would do a family's wash for 50 cents to a dollar a
bundle. She boiled them in a wash pot hard to clean working clothes, I
mean, and scrubbed them on a scrub board using homemade lye soap. Then
they were ironed with flat irons," said Edgar.

     "Ma called it her snuff money, and that was her greatest luxury,
a five-cent can of Railroad snuff.

     "All the children on the nursery belonged to the nursery and they
could, and did, work us anyway they wanted," he continued.

     "My sister, Maynard, worked for her mistress all day for 25 cents
starting when she was 10 years old. They learned her how to cook and
she cooked for the family as well as boarders. There was no
refrigeration and ice was brought by train once a week to Macclenny
from Jacksonville. The Griffins kept the ice packed in sawdust under
the house and anything needing to be kept cool was kept there,"
explained Edgar. "My sister didn't know what a home was from morning
until night. She left there when she married at 21. She's still living
today at age 95."

     In 1910, the Lewis family moved on the acreage they Bought.
Walker Lewis, although 66 years of age, would ride his mule the two
miles to Griffins Nursery, arriving by 5 a.m. each morning to harness
20 to 25 mules and horses for field riders, milk cows, feed hogs and
other stock, single handed.

     Adult members of the family worked in the fields for a dollar a
day and 25 cents for children from "sun up till sun down," explained
Edgar.

     "When the noon bell would ring for lunch the smaller children
would be there from home with lunches. If you lived too far away for
lunch to be delivered by your family you could go to the commissary to
buy cheese and crackers, but you'd end up spending your money as fast
as you made it.

     "Most us children left home by age 15 to make some money, ridin'
the train for 50 cents into Jacksonville. Highway 90 was a dirt road
then," said Edgar. "My parents never owned a car. Pa would have never
thought about a car; he had a horse and buggy.

     "The black people really looked forward to their churches and
especially revivals when ministers would come from far off," explained
Edgar. "You could hear them hollering for miles. Even when we lived,
on the nursery we could hear them hollering all the way there.

     "When I was 15, I was saved and since then I haven't changed. I
always wanted to be a preacher man. Men, black and white, used to put
me on a barrel and give me a penny to preach. All I could holler was
'I want to be a preacherman, I want to be a preacherman', over and
over, and they'd laugh at me," said Edgar.

     "A lot of people think I am a preacher but I'm not. It's because
I always witness for Christ. My greatest joy is serving others and
helping my community. The only reason I even have a car is to take
others where they need to go."

     Walker Lewis died in 1928 at the age of 84. Although still on the
Griffin Nursery payroll, his strenuous work of yesteryear was passed
on to a younger generation. In the end, though suffering from
rheumatism and arthritis, he helped in the 'big' house doing odd jobs
and helping to care for the aged and ailing Griffin family patriarch,
Will.

     After Ida's death, Edgar had their land surveyed and divided
among the eleven heirs, some accepting deeds, some not, but Edgar has
continued to pay the taxes, improve the property, and make it
available to family members when the need arises. Today the acreage
located in south west Macclenny is known as Lewis Subdivision.

     Edgar Lewis will probably never forget those turn-of-the-century
times when he picked wild greens from the open fields for food,
gathered the leftover . dried peas and corn from the deserted fields
and storing it away in croaker sacks to be used for food in the
winter; but his heart swells with pride when he looks back on his
family and the eternal legacy he has inherited from such noble and
industrious people who helped mold Baker County into its beginning.

He is buried in Mount Herman Cemetery south of Macclenny.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                            DR. JOHN HOLT:
                            MACCLENNY 1979

     Volumes Could literally be written about the illustrious,
fruitful and Productive life of multi-talented John Holt, doctor Of
Psychology, Ordained Methodist Minister of the Gospel, educator,
author, composer, pianist, organist, missionary, artist and poet to
name a few.

     "I'll tell you why I think I do so many things," the accomplished
86-year-old spritely achiever said "I used to offer my students as
much as $20 if they ever caught me idle. To this day if I listen to
television or music, my hands are busy," he said, pointing to an array
of crocheted handiwork, most of which he designed. He also quilts and
embroiders. Handing me a stack of books he has authored, he explained
that one Of them, entitled 'Dirt Roads Of Georgia" is his
autobiography from age five.

     "I grew up in the backwoods, greatly in the backwoods," he
emphasized. "There were no cars, no roads, no nothing. My dad was a
Naval Store Prospector, and traveled around buying up rundown or
abandoned turpentine establishments, building them up and reselling
for profit. I was taken out of school a lot. My dad just took me to
school each time we moved and said to the teacher, "I don't know what
grade he belongs, just put him where you think he should be. I was
eight or nine before I got out of the first grade.

     "Of course," he continued, "Since I left home, my personal way of
life has led me to 54 different homes. I've got a list of all of
them."

     At the age of 18, Doctor Holt had passed a teachers examination
and was teaching 81 students in a one room abandoned church.

     "We had no desk. The students sat in the pews with their pads on
their laps. I made $210 for a year's work."

     His talents as an educator were recognized immediately and offers
of jobs came from far and near. He soon found himself principal of a
school with 14 teachers.

     "World War I was raging and it looked like Germany was going to
whip us," he said, "so I enlisted in the Marines and went to France. I
was promised my job would be waiting. Upon my return I found the laws
had been changed and was told in order to teach I needed a bachelor's
degree in education. I didn't know what it meant, nor had I ever heard
of credits. I knew I had to have a job and I desperately wanted to
teach, so I went to Furman College in South Carolina to apply for
enrollment.

     "There I was told I must have a high school education before
applying to enter and there I stood with an eighth grade education. My
experience didn't count, they told me.

     "Finally after crying and begging, they consented to let me take
an entrance exam, (which they never got around to giving).

     With only six weeks left of school I convinced them to let me
start then so I could start learning. I ended up with the highest
score in the freshman class, finishing college in three years."

     Ironically, 63 years later, word of his success in the
educational field reached a school he once attended in Fitzgerald,
Ga., which extended an invitation of honor for him to graduate with
their 1975 graduating seniors and receive a high school diploma. This
he did!

     Prior to 1975, he received a bachelor's degree in 1924, a
master's in 1928 and doctorate in 1953.

     From his first graduate job as superintendent of schools in
Douglasville, Ga., a position offered to him upon graduation, he
advanced to Dean of Schools at Furman, his Alma Mater. He was the
first dean of Georgia State, as well as the first at the University of
Tampa and Thomas Edison, helping to organize them, writing their
catalogs, setting up their courses, hiring their faculties. The
Georgia superintendent of schools brought other superintendents to
observe his record-keeping system.

     "The depression hit and people by the thousands were roaming the
country in search of work," he said. "I was asked to take the position
of psychologist for the State of Florida. My office was in one of the
state's many transient camps in Miami where I was personally
responsible for the mental health of 1,200 people.

     "After the depression, I felt I needed a long vacation. I'd never
crossed the Mississippi River, so I bought a travel trailer and took a
trip out west for three months. in Wyoming I stopped by the Arapaho
Indian reservation. I wanted to see what they looked like. Something
really struck me. I had a feeling I just had to go back and live with
those Indians, and I did. One of my greatest desires since age 12
(when I joined the church) was to be a missionary. I returned to
Florida, packed up my things and headed back to Wyoming and the
Arapaho reservation. I mastered their language which was difficult,
because you see, it's not a printed language. I stayed 16 years. While
there I had very little contact with other people."

     After leaving his work with the Arapahos, he traveled around
Wyoming investing his time in education and his money in
philanthropies such as building five churches with "my own hands and
money."

     "I think I've traveled in almost every civilized country on the
globe and I found the nicest people in the world right here in Baker
County, now that is true," he stressed emphatically. "They are the
friendliest and best and make the staunchest friends. I've got worlds
of them in this county and I wouldn't take a million dollars for any
one of them."

     Baker County prior to this time was no stranger to him. His
brother, A.P. Holt, settled here in the 40s, bringing him here many
times for visits. During the 50s he left the Arapahos to be with his
grieved father who had moved to Macclenny after the death of his
mother. During this time he owned Macclenny's first jewelry store and
wrote a weekly column entitled, "Let's Face The Facts" for The Baker
County Press. His editorial type writing style focused on worldwide
problems as well as state and local government affairs. County
problems, such as unkept store fronts and messy window displays
brought about a clean up campaign and praise from merchants and local
residents alike.

     Another time he was visiting in Baker County, on vacation from
the Arapahos, he was persuaded by then Baker County School
Superintendent Jimmy Burnsed to take the job of principal at Taylor
School so it could open for the school term. He obliged.

     Dr. Holt has mastered most of his feats by self mastery and
determination. At the age of 8 he asked his sister to explain the
lines and black symbols on her piano music. Today he plays complicated
pieces by such famous composers as Beethoven, Bach - 18 to 20 pages
long on the piano and organ.

     Once, when he was very young his father bought a box of books at
an auction. One was a Bible written in Spanish. Before long he had
learned to read it by comparing the English version with it word for
word. The box of books turned out to be one of his greatest treasures,
exposing him to great authors such as Shakespeare. One of the books
entitled, "Happy Hearts and Homes That Make Them," he attributes
influenced him more that any other one thing in his life.

     Quotes, such as "You judge a person's intelligence by what he
does."

     "You can't buy happiness, no need to look for it because it's a
creation of your own mind."

     "The city of happiness is in the state of mind."

     "Nobody has any right to respect you unless you respect
yourself."

     "You can't have friends without being friendly."

     Living by philosophies such as these is perhaps the reason he
never once in his life had to apply for a job. Opportunities were
always extended to him.

     His contributions were recognized when he was selected to appear
in the 7th edition of Personalities of the South, honoring American
leaders for their outstanding ability and service to the community and
state.

     Proof that Dr. John Holt has a swollen heart and not a swollen
head occurred when a "Service to Mankind Award" arrived in the mail
for him.

     Feeling unworthy and unqualified to have received such an award,
he said to the postmaster, "I don't believe this belongs to me, I
don't know of any service I've rendered to mankind." But the
postmaster assured him there was no mistake.

     Still unsure and completely astonished that he should be selected
for such an award the postmaster advised him to speak with the
president of the club that presented the award. The Baker County
Sertoma Club's president, James Smith, assured him there had been no
mistake.

     "I never knew there was even such a club in Baker County," he
said. "I treasure and appreciate that one plaque more than any other
honor I've received." And he has received countless others.

     For years Dr. Holt has transcribed books for the blind, teaching
himself the Braille so masterfully he was accepted as a Braille writer
by the Library of Congress. His services were free, a labor of love.

     "I have never said I couldn't do anything," he said. "If I
couldn't do it, I learned how."

     The hand-painted Holt Coat of Arms, which hangs proudly to the
right of his entrance door reads, "Exaltavit Humilies" meaning, "He
exalts and helps humble people."

     Quite appropriate for Dr. John Holt.

     "I'm writing a book now," he said, as we were winding up our
conversation. "You've heard of Death With Dignity? Well my book is
"Growing old With Dignity." A man can walk straight and tall if he
wants to."

     And that, Dr. John Holt, is why you are considered 10 feet tall.

UPDATE 1993- Dr. Holt lived the remainder of his life in Macclenny
until ill health forced him to live in a nursing facility in Moultrie,
Ga. He often wrote his good friend and neighbor, Wilma Morris, "Oh,
how I want to come home." He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery south of
Macclenny in his beloved Baker County. He had no children.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                   RAY AND ATHENA (Raulerson) BROWN
                        OF TAYLOR FLORIDA 1980

     "I have lived to actually see seven generations of my family,"
said Mrs. Ray (Athena Raulerson) Brown from her home in Taylor.

     "I can vividly remember being in church with my great grandma, my
grandma, my mama and myself, all sittin' on the same bench one
Saturday morning just waitin' for church to start. That's how far
ahead of time we'd get there, traveling from way up here in a horse
and wagon. Now we can't get to church on time traveling in an
automobile," she said.

     "One Saturday night recently when we were down to the church at a
singing, I was sittin' there thinking about all these things and how
church used to be there and I thought, you know, there's still four
generations that could set on that row now, but I would be sittin'
where great grandma was sittin' (of course all these others have gone
on) but I would be sittin' where great grandmother was sittin'.

     "We would have the biggest time when we were kids comin' home on
Sunday afternoon from church. We'd be spent the weekend up there and
we'd have the best time hopping in and out of the wagon as it went
along."

     Athena was born at Taylor, the daughter of Alonzo (Lon) Raulerson
and the former Katie Fish. She has lived there all of her life. Her
grandfather, William Raulerson, and his wife America Dinkins had a saw
mill operated by a steam boiler, "and it was used for everything," she
said. "After Granddaddy Raulerson died my daddy used to work over
there for Grandma. People from Sanderson used to bring their rice
there for my daddy to clean. People brought their corn to be ground.
My daddy would measure it and keep a dole for payment, because most
people didn't have money to pay cash back then."

     Athena was attending school in Sanderson, living with her uncle
Arthur Raulerson, while away from her home in Taylor. On her 16th
birthday she eloped with one of her classmates, Ray Brown, the son of
George Colquit Brown and Minnie Taylor.

     "I finished putting her through school and college," said Ray,
who had known Athena all her life. "A friend of ours, Frank Mixon,
made the arrangements for us over in Lake City, and it was 10 p.m.
before we actually were able to be married."

     "My daddy was really strict," said Athena. "He'd have had a fit
if he had known. When we got back to Baker County we set up most of
the night partying at Ray's aunt, Courtney Comb's house with some of
my cousins and friends. Ray was living with his first cousin, George
Raulerson and his wife Alma, helping them to farm. So very early in
the wee morning hours we went there and that's where we stayed until
we got a little house of our own."

     "Her daddy was working out in the field when we went back over to
get her clothes," said Ray. "Somebody had done told him we'd run away
and got married. When he'd get aggravated he'd always pull his nose.
He come up to the house and was standing on the front steps pulling
his nose. I'll never forget his words," smiled Ray, who quoted him as
saying, "Now I guess you kids have played hell."

     "Then," said Ray, "he sat down and started talking with us as if
nothing had ever happened."

     Ray farmed and worked in turpentine to support Athena and his
children, peddling produce around turpentine camps and even hoeing
peanuts all day for 50 cents.

     "We married during the hardest times imaginable," said Ray,
"during the Depression."

     "I sold one of our chickens for a dollar once," said Athena, "and
gave the dollar to Ray and he lost it. It was the only dollar we had."

     As the children started to school, Athena decided she wanted to
finish her education.

     "When the children caught the school bus every morning, she did
too," said Ray proudly.

     "And Ray kept the Younger children with him so I could,: she
said. "They went everywhere he did. Our little boy could drive the
mule and dip wagon, so he and his sister decided one day while their
daddy was dipping that they'd get in the gum barrel. There was a
little sheet of raw gum in the bottom and their little feet got stuck
in the gum barrel. Everytime they'd touch the side of the barrel it'd
get all over 'em. Their hair stuck to the walls of the barrel and
their little hands too. They were in a mess."

     "How did you get it off?" I quizzed.

     "Well, after he got them unstuck from the barrel, they started
walking in the sand and you know, that gum picked up every grain of
sand that touched it. There was a coat on their feet that night as
thick as was in that gum barrel. I did have to take a knife and scrape
off all I could and we used turpentine and kerosene to help get the
rest off."

     "When our oldest child was in the ninth grade, I graduated from
Taylor High School," she said.

     The year was 1945 when she went to work for the Baker County
School System. Her employment lasted 28 years. Meanwhile, Ray went to
work for the Forestry Service and served 20 years before retirement.

     Five of their eight children received degrees from college. The
other three attended.

     Athena attended summer school in Gainesville for several summers
to continue her education and eventually graduated from Lake City
junior College with a bachelors degree.

     In 1940, Ray bought a 67-acre farm on time from Athena's uncle.
It was property that had been in the family for several generations.
He paid $50 down and $100 a year payment until it was theirs.

     Time may have marched forward, taking with it the preceding
generations, but for Athena and Ray Brown it left behind the memories,
and for them, that's what counts the most.

FOOTNOTE '93- Ray Brown died June 23, 1986. Athena died February 11,
1992. Both are buried in North Prong Cemetery north of Sanderson.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                          LACY RICHARDSON:
                          Sanderson ca 1980

     Except for a paved road and modern automobile you could almost
imagine yourself back in the past, say about 50 years ago, when you
drive out State Road 229 about three miles south of Sanderson to visit
Lacy Richardson.

     A two-rutted lane, flanked on either side with tall stately cedar
trees, leads you up to the log and weatherboarded 19th century home
place. A freshly swept dirt yard, free from even one blade of grass,
with neatly arranged flower beds scattered about, is a picture book
setting that adds to the nostalgic scene from days past.

     The old outdoor privy (toilet) to the right of the back yard
leans dejectedly to one side, and the century old barn stands stately
nearby.

     Clad in overalls and denim shirt, Lacy Richardson sits in one of
the comfortable rocking chairs that adorn his front porch in the cool
breeze beneath the towering shade trees. To the right and left of him,
within a block or two, are the modern homes of five of his eight
offspring who keep the home fires burning by traditionally doing
things today they were raised up traditionally doing in the past.

     "For instance," said his daughter Rachel Lauramore, who with her
husband Marvin and daughter live a stones throw away. "We grow and
raise most of our food, grind our own corn into meal and grits, and we
are building a smokehouse to preserve meat 'like Daddy and mama used
to."

     "Lord, it was good eatin' too," chimed in her father.

     Lacy Richardson was born nearby. He's not absolutely sure if it
was over on the 'ole Pierce Place' or not, but he knows his great
granddaddy, Elisha Greene, settled the land in 1830 where he found
pure water on high ground along the South Prong of the St Mary's River
in what was then Columbia County (Became Baker in 1861). It was here
he lived until he died. He raised a family of thirteen children with
his second wife, Elizabeth Driggers. (He and wife number one,
Elizabeth's cousin, Elizabeth Wilkinson, had six children).

     The eleventh child born to them, Andred Jackson Greene,was Lacy's
grandfather. Andred's marriage to Mary Jones produced fifteen
offspring, the sixth child, born 1891, Sadie Lovania, was Lacy's
mother.

     Sadie married Ellis Stephens Richardson January 23, 1907. Their
first child, Lacy, was born in December of that same year.

     "I was raised on Griffin's Nursery where my father was employed,"
said Lacy. "There wasn't too much to do as I grew up back then. You
couldn't call yourself datin' 'cause they wern't no money or cars to
do nothing. You'd just meet up with the girls and talk a little.
Usually at church."

     After graduating from the eighth grade at seventeen years of age,
he took a test to become a teacher and passed. Instead though, he went
to work for the state as a rodman, helping a road surveyor. He
returned to Baker County in 1928 and became employed again by the
nursery and met Emma McDonald.

     "The way that come around, we was both working at the nursery,"
he said. "I asked her daddy for permission to marry her and he said he
wouldn't give her away, so I told him I'd take her anyway. He didn't
say nothing and I didn't say anymore."

     Three weeks later, with his dad Ellis's car, and ten dollars in
his pocket, he headed out toward the McDonald home.

     "When I got there for Emma, her dad got in the car and went to
Macclenny with us to get married," he said. The year was 1930.

     "My parents had a big ole house and we moved in with them."

     "The bottom fell out that year! The Depression had begun. I
worked six days a week at the nursery and was asked to give one of
those days in free labor back to the nursery. The worse thing was
going to buy groceries on a $2.50 paycheck," he said shaking his head
as if in disbelief.

     "I done it for awhile, until it looked like we were going to
starve, then I moved into a little house on my daddy's place to help
him with the farming while he stayed on at the nursery. Our first two
children, Wilford and Joyce, were born there."

     In 1934 Lacy helped his dad build a new home. In return for his
time and labor Ellis Richardson gave his son his present home and
about 30 acres of land. The original log home was later insulated by
adding weather boards. In 1951 the home was wired for electricity and
in 1965 indoor plumbing was added. Six additional children were born
to the couple.

     Eventually Lacy was able to do some turpentine work on his land
along with farming. Later he spent thirteen years as a guard at the
State Prison in Raiford.

     "I had the death watch and guarded more than one before their
electrocution," he said.

     "Do you believe in capitol punishment?" I asked.

     "They got to do something with 'em," came his reply.

     "I sat in the electric chair once, but I was sure it wasn't
connected up when I did it," he said.

     "Prisoners are running the prisons now, " he continued. "If they
don't get what they want, they riot!"

     Though times have changed, and Lacy Richardson is most certainly
aware of it, he isn't letting it affect him much, one way or the
other.

     "People 'round here use to have feuds," he said. "They'd meet up
at Sanderson and kill each other once in a while. There's been less
killing in the past twenty years than ever before.

     "Use to be moonshine stills were all over the county," he
continued. "I was going to make me some in a wash pot one night in the
smoke house and a car drove up just as I got the fire good and
started. I put the fire out and went to see who it was. It was Sheriff
Shannon Green. His car had broke down and he needed a flashlight. I
never did try to make no more. You could buy a five gallon jug for
$4.00."

     More than 100 years ago Elisha Greene was fighting wild Indians
in a primeval wilderness and his wife, Elizabeth, was making her
family's clothing on a loom. While their great grandson has no desire
to go back to those days, he's content not to go forward either.

     "I'm satisfied with things just the way they are," he said,
rising from his chair, extending his tall frame to just beneath the
rafters of his porch.

     "See the logs?," he said, pointing proudly to one exposed beneath
the timbers. This house is still the way it was when it was built and
I like it just that way! The way it was!"

UPDATE: Lacy Richardson and his wife died seven days apart in 1987.
Emma McDonald passed away on 7 Dec and Lacy on Dec. 19th. They are
buried with many other of their family members in near-by Green's
Creek Cemetery (now called Swift Creek) south of Sanderson. The old
homeplace is lovingly cared for and preserved just as they left it by
daughter Rachel and son-in-law Marvin Lauramore.

     The following is a family update written by Rachel February 19,
1993.

     Very few things have changed at the home where Lacy and Emma
(McDonald) Richardson lived and raised eight children. But that is how
Mama and Daddy wanted it to be. They said my brothers and sisters
would want to come back home and look around from time to time. And
they do. I don't know how old the house is but my guess would be
around 100 years old. Mama and Daddy lived in it for around 53 or 54
years.

     The outdoor toilet fell a few years ago. And the big oak tree
that stands in the front yard has been breaking off. It only has a few
more branches left on it now. Daddy said his Aunt Annie (Richardson)
Wester planted all of those big oak trees in front of the house. So
they have to be about 85 years old.

     I still live on the old place with my husband Marvin and daughter
Emma. We built a house next door to Mama and Daddy. My youngest sister
Redith lives here too, in a mobile home next door to us.

     All of my Mama's family have died, but daddy still has a brother,
Andrew Richardson and a sister Elsie Clark living.

Rachel Richardson Lauramore

Family genealogy:

Lacy Richardson married Emma (McDonald) Richardson July 18, 1930
They had nine children, eight are still living in 1993.
Wilford Lacy Richardson born Jan. 8, 1932
Joyce Grace (Richardson) Griffis born May 6, 1933
Vernon Albert Richardson born Nov. 20, 1935
Harry Richardson born April 15, 1938
Infant son born and died 1940
Franklin Benny Richardson born Jan. 5, 1942
Carl Wesley Richardson born Aug. 24, 1944
Rachel (Richardson) Lauramore born Mar. 23, 1946
Redith (Richardson) Harrington born Jan. 10, 1948
They have 15 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren
LACY RICHARDSON: born Dec. 31, 1907, died Dec. 19, 1987
Buried Mt. Zion (Swift Creek) Cemetery in Union County Fl.
His father:
ELLIS STEPHEN RICHARDSON: born Dec. 30, 1885, died Apr. 28, 1962
Buried South Prong Cemetery, Sanderson, Fl.
His mother.
SADIE (GREEN) RICHARDSON: born May 12, 1891, died Mar 28, 1977
Buried in south Prong Cemetery, Sanderson
ELLIS AND SADIE'S CHILDREN ARE:
Lecy (Richardson) (Rhoden) Kirkland: born June 23, 1909,died Feb.9,
1991: Buried Manntown Cemetery South of Glen St. Mary
Elsie (Richardson) Clark. born June 21, 1913
Andrew E. Richardson, born Dec. 19, 1915
ELLIS STEPHEN RICHARDSON's family
Father GEORGE A. RICHARDSON born Aug. 8, 1856, died Nov. 29, 1924
Buried South Prong Cemetery
Mother MALINDA (COOK) RICHARDSON born Dec. 1, 1861, died Sept.18,1927
Buried South Prong Cemetery
Their children are:
George W. Richardson, born July 27, 1903, died July 7, 1958
Buried South Prong Cemetery
William (Bill) Richardson
Annie (Richardson) Wester born 1882, died 1952 Buried South Prong
Cemetery
Allie Richardson (Coleman) (McDonald) born Oct 9, 1889, died Jan 25,
1974, buried South Prong Cemetery
Alice (Richardson) Roberts
Bivy Green
SADIE L. (GREENE) RICHARDSON'S FAMILY
Father. Andrew J. Greene, born Mar. 2, 1961, died Nov. 15, 1928
Buried South Prong Cemetery
Mother.. Mary L. (Jones) Greene, born Oct. 17, 1866, died Nov. 16,
1939 Buried South Prong Caemetery
her paternal grandfather:
Elisha Greene, born S.C. Oct. 2, 1790, died Nov. 17, 1875
Buried South Prong Cemetery
Elisha's wife was (1) Elizabeth Wilkinson, (2) Elizabeth Ann Driggers
Greene: born June 30, 1825, died Jan. 6, 1906.
Children of Elisha and Eliz. Ann were:
Rhomie Green born 1885, Pearla (Davis) 1887, twin girls 1888, Robert
1889, Sadie Lavania (Richardson) 1891, Mallie 1893, Nettie (Alford)
1894, Effie (Stafford) 1896, Esco 1898, William M. 1900, Paul 1902,
Maude (Stafford) 1905, Rowean 1908, Gressie (Wiggins) 1910, all born
Baker County.
FAMILY OF
EMMA LAURA (McDonald) RICHARDSON born Olustee Sept. 18, 1912, died
Dec. 7, 1987 Buried Mt. Zion Swift Creek Cemetery, Union Co. Fl.
Emma's father was
*William Colbert McDonald, born Nov. 11, 1880, died Nov. 6, 1961
Buried Mt Zion (Swift Creek) Cemetery, Union CO., Fl.
Emma's Mother was
Emma Laura (Coleman) McDonald, born Mar. 20, 1887, died Feb. 22, 1927,
Buried Mt Zion Cemetery, Union Co., Fl.
Emma's grandfather was:
Isaiah G. Coleman, born Sept 25, 1854, died Jan. 28, 1918, buried Mt
Zion Cemetery in Union Co.
Emma's grandmother was:
Margret M. Coleman, born June 16, 1855, died Oct. 16, 1936, buried Mt.
Zion Cemetery swift Creek Cemetery, Union CO., Fl.
Emma Laura (McDonald) Richardson brothers and Sisters were:
Philip McDonald, born Dec 5, 1903, died Oct 21, 1967, buried Mt. Zion
Cemetery Union Co. Ff.
Isaiah W. McDonald, born Aug. 23, 1907, died Nov. 2, 975, buried
Memorial Cemetery, Lake City, Fl.
Charles Lawton McDonald, born July 7, 1910, died Nov. 21, 1979, buried
Memorial Cemetery, Lake City, Fl.
Marvin Leonard McDonald, born April 21, 1916, died, Sept. 27, 1974,
buried Bethlehem Cemetery, Lake City, Fl.
Vernon Foster McDonald, born Sept 5, 1918, died Nov. 30, 1986, buried
Mt Zion Cemetery, Union Co. Fl.
Idell McDonald born Feb. 3, 1909, died Aug. 10, 1916, buried Elzey
Chapel Cemetery, Union CO. Worthington Springs, Fl.
Allie May (McDonald) Godwin, born Mar 26, 1913, died Sept. 24, 1945,
buried South Prong Cemetery, Sanderson
Effie M. (McDonald) Byrd, born Sept. 28, 1914, died May 16, 1977,
buried Woodlawn Cemetery, south of Macclenny.

*William Colbert McDonald had one brother that the family is aware.
His name is Charles Lawton McDonald who died about 1918 and is buried
in the Olustee Cemetery, Olustee Fl.

Note on William Colbert McDonald from granddaughter Rachel Richardson
Lauramore.
"I don't know much about my granddaddy William Colbert McDonald except
that he was a good man. He didn't talk about himself very much. He did
tell his family that he and his brother Charles Lawton McDonald were
adopted when they were small boys by a man and a woman named Lasaine
(could be spelled wrong). But they let Lawton and William keep their
family name McDonald. I don't know where they were from, but my
granddaddy talked about making snow balls when he was a boy and lived
in North Carolina.
Uncle Lawton was older than William about two years, and he joined the
army when he was old enough. William couldn't stand to see him go off
and leave him but he wasn't quite old enough to go off to the army. So
he told the (them military) he was 19 years old, and they let him
join. Both brothers served during the Spanish American War.

ISAIAH AND MARGRET COLEMAN's CHILDREN:
Gid C. Coleman born 1894, died 1932 buried Mt. Zion Swift Creek in
Union Co., Fl.
Ovey Coleman, born July 30, 1885, died Oct. 2, 1924, buried Mt Zion
Cemetery Union Co., Fl.
Russell Isaiah Coleman, born Aug. 14, 1892, March 17, 1947, buried Mt.
Zion Cemetery, Union Co., Fl.
Oni Coleman Denmark and Effie Coleman are known daughters

_____________________________________________________________________________

                          ALVIN CANOVA CHACE
                           SANDERSON ca 1980

     When Alvin Chase moved to Baker County in 1970 he took up roots
of a pioneer heritage that began even earlier than Baker County.

     He is the great grandson Of Elisha Greene who arrived with his
large family in the territory now known as Baker County with the first
wagon train of settlers in 1830. Elisha settled along the banks of the
South Prong Of the St. Marys River where he found pure water and lived
in a home fashioned of palmettos until he could cut enough timber for
a home.

     One Of Elisha's daughters, Diana, met and married George Paul
Canova, originally from neighboring St. Johns County. He had become a
very successful businessman in Sanderson. George and Diana's daughter,
Adelene, became the mother of Alvin.

     Although Adelene Canova lived with her dentist husband, William
Henry Chase in Jacksonville where their son Alvin was born, many trips
were made by the family to Baker County to visit relatives. Young
Alvin, and his brother Henry, spent hunting seasons with their first
cousins Fred and Harold Mann of Sanderson.

     We traveled out to Sanderson by train," said Alvin, "because the
road from Jacksonville to Sanderson was unpaved. Alvin said he vividly
remembered the cold winter mornings when all would gather around the
fireplace or wood burning stove, "freezing on one side and burning up
on the other," he said.

     My grandmother Diana would tell electrifying stories of her
childhood in Baker County like when her father Elisha Greene would
fight off the Indians," he said.

     Indians killed Elisha's foster son Daniel and another time they
burned down the family home and scattered the livestock. Elisha buried
(what is thought to be) the first persons buried in present day South
Prong Cemetery located along the banks of what is still known today as
Greene's Creek. (Elisha donated the land and the cemetery for decades
was known as Greenes Creek Cemetery). Earlier in the day Elisha had
befriended the Tippins family when they stopped at his farm to freshen
up before continuing on their journey to Mrs. Tippin's father's home
near Ocean Pond in Northwest Baker County. Military reports stated
that Elisha had warned them of Indian 'sightings', but the family was
in a hurry to get to Mrs. Tippins parent's home before dark. A short
time later someone found the entire family scalped by the Indians. One
small baby escaped death although she too had been scalped. (She lived
to be in her 90s). Elisha and his neighbors fashioned a coffin from
the slain family's wagon, covered their bodies with quilts and buried
them beneath a shade tree. (Today the mark of the wagon's axle left in
the tree is visible and a monument identifying the family has been
erected near-by).

NOTE: cwm
The baby that survived was Cornelia Ann Tippen [Tippins] b. 12/27/1835
Tattnall Co., GA, d. 3/24/1924.; dau. John Underwood Tippen/Nancy
Mizell. She was the 2nd wife of William L. Mobley, b. 1801-9 & d.
1889, both are bur. Keystone Cem. Hillsborough Co., FL

     As a young man, Alvin Chase served a mission for the Church of
Jesus Christ (Mormon) in South Carolina, a church and religion his
grandfather, George Paul Canova, gave his life in 1898 when ambushed
in Sanderson. (A professional play was written and performed in
Jacksonville portraying the incident. Alvin Chace later became the
first Stake President for the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day
Saints (Mormon) in Florida.

     Alvin married Alzada Beasley while studying for a law career that
was interrupted when he was drafted into World War II. He went to
Europe where he said he saw very little combat. He took advantage of
many great concerts and operas. He even studied French.

     When he returned from Europe he gave up studying law and instead
made his career Real Estate.

     Alvin and Alzada are the parents of five children. They wanted a
home in the country, "not just any home" said Alzada, "but an old
country home" where their children could enjoy the amenities of
country living.

     They said their dream came true when they were able to purchase
the old Griffin nursery home built in 1895 and later owned by the late
C.C. Fraser. The surrounding 21 acres are occupied by the homes of
Alzada's parents, Acel and Mary Llanos Beasley originally from Duval
and Columbia County and several of their children and grandchildren.

     The family combines efforts to grow a spring and fall garden and
raise chickens, cows and hogs.

     "Sometimes I'll look out my window and see a hog hanging from a
rafter," laughed Alzada. "Our son in law Billy (Billy Kerce originally
from Olustee) is very resourceful and he loves to bar-becue a hog and
invite our friends and neighbors over".

     Six year old grandson Al Kerce made a carton of fresh butter 'all
by himself' for his great grandmother Beasley, said a proud Alzada.

     "Al loves doing for others just like his daddy," she said adding
that her grandson has learned "just when to pick the produce and many
other things as he works side by side with his daddy."

     Now retired, Alvin spends many happy hours talking with friends
and neighbors sharing his faith. He enjoys his grandchildren and is
the editor and publisher of a family newsletter, The Chace
Meanderings, that he distributes to each family member's home monthly.

     The Chases' say they are grateful for the opportunity their
children and grandchildren have to live on the farm where the century
old homeplace is the perfect setting for reflecting on their pioneer
heritage. Yet at the same time they can keep up with today's current
pace. Interstate 10 runs parallel to their home, so it's just a hop
and a skip to modern society.

     According to the Chases', "It's a blessing for us, and we
couldn't be more pleased or happier that our dream came true right
here in Baker,County."

UPDATE '93:
Alzada Chace lives with daughter Deborah and son-in-law Billy on the
same property as the old homestead, and has sold the lovely dream home
where they spent many happy family hours. Alvin Chace died December
23, 1991 at the Glen St. Mary home of his daughter Juana and
son-in-law Ron Vonk after being lovingly care for by his family during
his illness. He is buried in Ebenezer Cemetery in Columbia County,
Florida. Prior to his death, on September 23, 1990, friends honored
the jovial Alvin, who was in failing health, with an open house
honoring his lifelong dedication to his church, family, friends and
neighbors. More than 650 persons attended to pay homage to this godly
man whose life was characterized by an extraordinary zeal for the
Savior and enthusiasm for teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to all
who would hear.

Preceding him in death was his son James( 1990), and daughter Gina
Chace Rhoden (1991). Surviving children are Deborah Kerce, Juana Vonk
and son David. All reside in Baker County.

His musical talented daughter, Deborah Kerce wrote and recorded an
official homecoming song for Baker County in 1990 titled, "Home To Me"
which she dedicated to her parents.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                        HAROLD AND FAY MILTON
                   OF 'MILTONDALE' 1980 update 1993

     Probably more than any other two people in Baker County, Harold
and Fay Milton have influenced our society. Their steadfast generosity
in sharing their God given talents and wisdom has been an example for
all humanity and touched the lives of countless people. Their gift to
others is a legacy and heritage that will be felt eternally.

     Side by side and hand in hand this couple has helped to mold and
build a community through serving their fellowman and painstakingly
develop the lives of countless youngsters.

     They reside in their modest home called Miltondale, surrounded by
God's loveliest gifts of nature on the outside and a Spirit Of His
peace and harmony on the inside. Placed in inconspicuous places
throughout their abode are plaques and framed certificates of
recognition and appreciation for their untiring unselfish and devoted
service to their country, state and community. How fortunate we are
they came our way!

     Harold Milton began teaching school when pay was low and the
hours were long. One had to love children and teaching to overcome the
obstacles. Cars were almost unheard of. Most teachers walked to school
on dusty unpaved country roads, despite the rain or cold. They had to
bring in wood to use in wood-burning heaters to keep their classrooms
warm, and in the summer, they tolerated the heat, fought mosquitoes
and other insects that would come in through windows and doors of the
non-insulated, clap-board makeshift rural school houses.

     Harold began his teaching career in Olustee, situated in the
western part of Baker County. He was a bright and dedicated
17-year-old with a ninth grade degree. He joined a staff of two and
the three educators used the old Rose primers and Wheelers Readers to
teach the 60 plus students grades 1-8. School ran for seven months of
the year to accommodate the farmers planting and harvesting season
because most students were needed on their parent's farm to help work.
Many children arrived at school, rain or shine, in the back of an old
horse drawn wagon sitting on the side benches and floor boards. Others
walked, toting their meager lunch of grits, sweet potatoes, bacon and
biscuits in small tin pails.

     Harold boarded during the week in Olustee. on Fridays he traveled
by train and went home to his parents for the weekend. They lived
north of Macclenny on the land where he was born in 1905.

     Within a year, Harold was made principal of the Olustee school.
He stayed on the job for three years before moving to a small
schoolhouse in nearby Possum Trot. Progress was being made in Baker
County and Harold could now ride the bus home on weekends on newly
paved Highway 90. During the time school was not in session, Harold
studied to obtain a graduate degree. When he obtained it, he moved to
Yellow Water and White House before returning to Macclenny. In 1929,
at the age of 24, he was elected superintendent of schools for Baker
County.

     Two years later along came a pretty, refined young lady from
Hawthorne seeking employment as a first grade teacher. Her name was
Fay Matthews.

     "I came to Macclenny to apply for a teaching position and married
the school superintendent," laughed Fay as she told about the event
that happened in 1931. "Harold was the youngest school superintendent
ever elected in the state of Florida, and was the first person I ever
voted for. I was twenty-one."

     Harold Milton, a native of Baker County, courted his first-grade
teacher who taught at Glen St Mary Elementary School and won her hand
three years later.

     Fay was taking room and board with the Baptist minister and his
wife and settling into the daily routine of life in Baker County. She
happily peddled her bicycle to work each morning and greeted her
students with a cheerful smile and song. The minister's wife was
impressed with her boarder and decided to play cupid. She asked Harold
if he wouldn't like to meet Fay formally. But Fay said she wasn't
impressed with her suitor at first.

     "He phoned me to say he needed to see me because there was
something wrong with my register. I was so frightened. Then he came
over, and you know what, he didn't even ask me about my register."

     The gathering place and most popular eating place in Macclenny at
the time was "The Spot." It was located on Main Street Macclenny next
door to where the present City Hall stands. The little white building
with its cozy calico curtains was the perfect "spot" for Mr. Harold to
take his date. Inside the homey atmosphere the two found conversation
easy and thus began a friendship that developed into a three year
courtship and love.

     Harold Milton knew almost immediately he wanted to spend the rest
of his life with this charming gentle woman, but he had to respect a
duty he felt necessary and that was the care he was rendering his
mother and seven siblings. He patiently waited until he felt his
mother was not burdened in anyway with his leaving and then he turned
to marriage, and Miss Fay.

     The couple's 1934 wedding took place in Fay's hometown. Fay was
Presbyterian and Harold belonged to the Church of Christ, but they
were married by a Baptist preacher in a Methodist Church in Hawthorne.
This unique couple has transcended boundaries that would perplex most
of us.

     "It was a big change in my life," mused Fay. "Life and lifestyles
were different in Hawthorne where I grew up near Gainesville. The
people there had better opportunities for education and fine arts.
Macclenny had no paved streets, cows roamed all over town, there was
very little opportunity for higher education and no ballet or piano.
Many people were void of electricity and phones. I learned quickly to
love the people. Baker County has been so good to us."

     The young couple lived in a downtown Macclenny apartment and
attended the Baptist church where she played the piano. Their first
child, Billy, was born in 1936.

     In 1941, Mr. Milton took his beautiful refined bride to look at
some land he had found for sale north of Macclenny. The beautiful
wooded area was once a large plantation where Union troops camped
before marching westward to participate in the Battle of Olustee.

     When Fay saw it, she thought the world had come to an end.

     "It was out in the middle of nowhere, near the farm where Harold
was born. The only way into the land was an old pig trail. And the
price tag was high. The 120 acre plot was selling for $6 an acre.

     "I thought we'd never get it paid for," she said. "But Harold had
loved this land long before he owned it. As a young boy he roamed the
woods and went fishing in the creek. It was so wooded then that he
would have to climb a cypress tree to get his bearings so he could go
home," she mused. The property is rich in history and has yielded a
mass collection of Civil War relics and Indian artifacts such as
pieces of flint arrowheads, Confederate buttons with brass hooks,
Indian pottery, bullets, a moustache comb and a tintype. And now ...
well, oh how she loves it too!

     The Miltons had a pig named Porky. They put Porky on the land to
get used to it, and Porky would greet them as they came out to clear
land and prepared to build. They added a horse named Madam, which from
time to time they would ride into town. Eventually they added two more
horses and on the days it rained Harold and his two oldest children
would ride them to school because the roads were so muddy.

     The couple drew the house plans, and in 1943 constructed their
home with timber from their land, even building their first furniture.

     "My father had been a carpenter, so I learned the trade," said
Harold, as he pointed proudly to their dining room. "That's our
original table and china hutch." Throughout the home, most of the
furniture represents his handicraft or pieces that once belonged to
their parents.

     "We still use the same bedroom furniture Harold made when we
married," said Fay. The baby crib is now used for grandchildren. The
bright and cheerful Music room windows frame the outdoor splendor as
Fay's piano, the one her mother gave her for her 11 th birthday,
commands the largest space.

     "Our home had no indoor plumbing electricity, or running water
for the first 10 years," said Harold, pointing to some beautiful
Aladdin lamps now converted to electricity. "As the children were born
we'd knock out a wall and build an additional room."

     During the 1950s the house was modernized.

     The children, Flo Ann a former Gator Bowl Queen; Billy, an
educator at Raines High School who has won the most spirited teacher
award and most valuable teacher three times; and Alice Fay, who
recently built Better Homes and Garden's House of the Year on a 25
acre site next door to them, grew up in Miltondale. They loved
swimming in the cool clear creek that flows at the foot of the
slopping glade. The outdoor privy was always shown off with pride each
time the family had visitors. Their mother often washed the family's
clothes, pioneer style, in the creek on a big rock and then hang them
to dry in front of the two fireplaces. And when each of them went off
to college their educations were financed by harvesting the pine trees
they had planted in their youth. In the beginning though, everyone
didn't share the Milton's adventure. One such person was their maid.

     "When we first moved here, our maid said she wouldn't stay out
here with us home, much less not at home, so I quit teaching school
and started teaching piano," said Fay. "Many of my piano students are
married with families of their own, and I now teach their children."

     For 23 years Fay Milton taught the first grade. Her students
fondly penned the name "Miss Fay" to her and it still sticks today.

     She retired in 1956 and devoted her talent and skill to teaching
more than 500 Baker County piano students. And over the years many
gifts of love and appreciation accumulated from her students and their
parents. As those students marry or have a house warming, she wraps
the gifts up with tender loving care and returns them to her former
students as tokens of her love and appreciation. The present Macclenny
band director, Denny Wells, was one surprised recipient when, at his
housewarming, he received a beautiful cake dish with matching smaller
dishes, given to his favorite music teacher many years ago.

     "I can just see Denny now, coming up the walk with a box almost
as big as he was.

     "People don't know what fun is," said Miss Fay. "Harold and I
spent our time doing what we loved best, serving the community and
enjoying our family. That was our recreation.

     "When Harold was school principal, he organized the first high
school band in Baker County. I was PTA President so we raised money
for their uniforms."

     Both have helped organize most of Macclenny's clubs and
organizations, serving as president more than once, whenever they were
needed. In 1971 and 1986, Miss Fay was honored as Woman of the Year by
the Macclenny Woman's Club, and Retired Teacher of the Year in 1985.

     In 1965, Harold retired from the Baker County School system after
holding almost every position. He organized the county's first
football team and first high school band. He was the first president
of the Lions Club, which spearheaded the drive to get band uniforms.
He served as a trustee at Lake City Community College, where the
vocational building was named in his honor.

     Harold and Fay are dedicated members of the Church of Christ in
Macclenny, and find great joy serving there and anywhere else they are
still called to do a job.

     In their cozy homespun kitchen is an old-fashioned fireplace,
"the kind our Grandmas used to cook in," explained Fay. "Harold always
had the fire ready to start on winter mornings. When the grandchildren
are here, they love to roast wieners and marshmallows over the fire.-
(The house has a fireplace in the living area also.)

     Fay organized the Friendly Fellowship Club for senior citizens,
(this was the forerunner for the present day Council on Aging and this
effort won state wide recognition from the National Federation of
Women Clubs). She organized the junior Woman's Club, and the first
county choir. She helps with all community projects when called upon,
and Miltondale has been used for group Easter Egg hunts, boy, and girl
scouts, school functions, camp outs, club and church socials.

     Elected president of the Woman's Club twice, she was asked to
help supply books for the county library as a project. Quickly she
formed a unique idea for a celebrity book shelf She mailed letters to
as many famous named people requesting they donate an autographed book
to the county library. The first letter went to her brother, former
Congressman D.R. (Billy) Matthews who sent a book on America's
historic homes.

     "The response was overwhelming," she said, opening a book
compiled of letters from celebrities who responded and sent books such
as Governor Reubin Askew, former Georgia Governor Lester Mattox,
former governors Claude Kirk and Leroy Collins, (eight governors in
all) and Representative Charles Bennett, Spessard Holland, and State
Cabinet members. Needless to say, the 52-book collection is a
treasured addition to the library.

     Miss Fay noticed that several retired teachers were residents of
the local nursing home so she suggested to some of her Woman's Club
friends that perhaps they could form a singing group and go entertain
all residents in the nursing home. "Down Memory Lane" was born, and
today has evolved into "The Charmers" a group of women aged 50-85 who
perform everything from the Charleston to "Moonlight and Roses." They
still entertain at the two local nursing homes, and in addition appear
professionally making money for their club. In 1992 the group won
first place in the statewide FFWC talent and music division.

     Both Fay and Harold are active in the Retired Teachers
Association and are recognized for their creativeness in state and
national projects. Through the efforts of Fay, a Retired Teacher's Day
was proclaimed by Florida's governor in 1981 after a four year
lobbying effort. She convinced the governor that "there would be no
doctors, lawyers, administrators or even governors had it not been for
teachers." She wrote the official song that has been adopted for the
group. The special day is observed annually on the third Sunday in
November. In Baker County, both Harold and Fay serve on Historical
preservations projects and the Community improvements Association
(receiving national recognition).

     Towering millennial oaks spread their majestic branches
graciously down the terraced pastoral terrain toward Dick White Creek
that borders Miltondale. (Dick White Creek was so named for a former
slave who lived there until his death). Beneath the shaded woodland
sky amid an abundance of wildflowers, Fay and Harold hold their annual
Milton and Matthews family reunions, and have seen their two beautiful
daughters marry beneath the outdoor splendor.

     Today the retired couple enjoys the fruits of their labors ....
children, grandchildren and friends who stop by to reminisce. Ofttimes
with Fay at the piano, she and Harold sing many of their old favorite
songs that remind them of days gone by. The simple lovely strains
filter through the quiet and peaceful setting and drift away with the
breeze. Sometimes Harold builds a cozy fire in their comfortable
living room and sits near-by in his favorite easy chair listening to
the soothing crackle while reading his Bible.

     "The house that your children grow up in is the house you always
remember," said Harold.

     "And it takes a heap of living to make a house a home," commented
Fay.

     If you are ever so fortunate to visit Miltondale, you will find
that a special traditional spirit prevails and awaits the arrival of
family and friends. The table will be adorned with great Grandma's
ancestral heirloom china, a miniature punch bowl, used by Fay as a
child, will serve the younger children and traditional butter cookies
and lime sherbet will be served after a luscious dinner. The fire will
crackle, and cast a peaceful glow. Sweet music will fill the air as
Fay's talented fingers play with precision renditions of your favorite
golden oldies. Voices will sing in unison, hearts will beat in
rapture, and you can be sure you will forever remember your memorable
visit with the Miltons at Miltondale.

Footnote:
Billy is a bachelor who lives at Miltondale now that his parents have
retired and grown less active. He is chairman of the social studies
department at Raines High School.
Flo Ann is married to Lex Holloway and lives in Palatka where she
teaches school.
Alice Fay is married to Richard Sinclair and lives next to her parents
in Miltondale. She is an assistant principal at West Side Elementary
School in Glen St Mary.
On February 6, 1993 the couple was paid homage by the citizens of
Baker County, and others who came from far and wide, with a reception
titled "Down Memory Lane" honoring them for their many years of
devoted services to others. Miss Fay was invited to play a few of the
couple's favorite tunes for her friends who had gathered. As her hands
gracefully strolled up and down the piano keys, her 87 year old
wheel-bound husband, now in failing health sang along, joining her in
support as he has done throughout their life. The lovelight that
glowed brightly in their eyes more than six decades ago still radiates
in their eyes. Only their steps have been slowed a little, but the
desire to be a positive force in the lives of family, friends and
community is still a constant desire for them. No, the likes of this
couple will never, absolutely never, come our way again. Mere words,
no matter how eloquently written, can never capture a clear, vivid
description of this phenomenal couple no matter how many words are
penned, or by whom.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                            CLAUDE SCOLES:
                          Glen St. Mary 1979

     Memories of France and World War 1.

     Shortly before noon on Sunday, June 28th, 1914, crowds gathered
in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia. They came
to see Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie. Suddenly a man jumped on the
running board of the royal touring car and fired a pistol. Two shots
struck Ferdinand and one hit Sophie, who was trying to shield him.
They both died almost immediately. The assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a
young Bosnian student who had lived in Serbia.

     Austria-Hungary suspected that its small neighbor, Serbia, had
approved the plot to kill Ferdinand. As a result, it declared war on
Serbia on July 28, 1914. By October 30, the Central
Powers-Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman Empire-were at war
with the Allies, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Russia and Serbia.
Other countries later joined in the fighting.

     A single act...the shooting of Ferdinand, marked the outbreak of
World War 1, but there were several basic causes.

     The United States tried to remain neutral in the early years of
World War 1. The British angered Americans by searching neutral ships.
But Britain, as a nation at war, had the right to search under
international law. Americans turned against the Central Powers when
they learned of German submarines sinking unarmed passenger ships, and
German atrocities against civilians. The entry of the United States
into the war boosted Allied morale, and fresh American troops
reinforced the battered Allied armies. Americans had decided that by
joining the Allies they would help "make the world safe for
democracy." American doughboys, as the soldiers were called, marched
aboard troopships singing George.M. Cohan's "Over There."

     One such red blooded American doughboy was 19 year old Claude
Scoles, who enlisted along with many of the friends he was born and
raised with in Mt. Vernon, Ohio and who marched aboard one of the
thirteen convoy troop ships with 50,000 other American doughboys
heading for France in 1917.

     "It was real rough, everyone was sick," remembered Claude from
his retirement home in Glen St. Mary. "I'd never been so far from
shore that I couldn't throw a stone and hit it. We came down between
England and Scotland expecting trouble in the channel because that's
where the German submarines congregated. If a piece of paper fell
someone would shoot at it we were so scared."

     Much of the war involved hand to hand combat in trenches between
the largest armies ever seen up to that time. New and improved weapons
gave each side more efficient machines to kill the enemy.

     Claude Scoles, trained for combat in America received new
training in France to use the French weapons, and usually traveled in
boxcars by train to and from locations.

     "French girls, hired as brakemen, had to keep their doors locked
on the trains at all times," he said, "guarding against love starved
soldiers.

     "We slept in trenches to keep from being shot You couldn't dig an
inch without hitting water, so that meant we stayed wet and muddy all
the time. it rained constantly.

     "We wore hob nailed shoes, and wore wool clothes with wrap
leggins (like an ace bandage only it's wool). Their argument was we
wouldn't catch colds if we wore Wool summer and winter, and all the
time," he said shaking his head at their unfounded reasoning.

     "I got a bunch of coodys (body lice) once and I looked like a
zebra all spotted over with iodine they put on me to kill 'em, but I
didn't get rid of them until we got to where we could change our
clothes.

     "There was a terrible flu epidemic in France and people were
dying everywhere. I came down with something, never did know what, and
lost 45 pounds. I refused to go to the hospital so many were dying. I
just took CC pills, all it was... was a laxative, and I finally got
over it. Everyone thought I was doomed to die.

     "We got to go on R & R (rest and recreation) occasionally," he
said. "France was the most filthy country in the world, you couldn't
bathe for flies. Worse place I ever seen. Toilet facilities were very
primitive. The French used chamber pots and usually dumped it out
their windows. If you were walkin' along the streets you'd best walk
out in the middle of the street or up close to the building or it
would hit you for sure. Flies were everywhere. Gads! It was
terrible!!," he shivered remembering the situation. "Everyone got
French dysentery from poor water."

     Even so the Americans found time for jokes and fun on their $30.
a month salary plus $3. extra for overseas duty.

     "Once I went into a French Tavern and this beautiful French girl
kept smiling at me and at the same time uttering some of the most foul
words imaginable, smiling all the time. Americans sitting at a nearby
table laughing hysterically revealed that had 'taught her some
friendly American greeting words,' he said. "That poor French girl
thought she was saying nice words to me."

     His outfit, E Battery, 134th Field Auxiliary, 37th Division,
which is known as Buckeye (being from the state of Ohio) were given a
commendation from Edward Burr, Brigadier General of the USA for
outstanding conduct. His outfit was one of the first combats to be
shipped home, landing on American soil in New Port News, Va.

     The peaceful little Ohio town he left wasn't quite the same.
Perhaps because he lost some of his friends serving with him on French
soil, perhaps because his parents had migrated to Florida, but
regardless, a few years later found Claude Scoles leaving Mt. Vernon,
Ohio once more, only this time for Baker County, Florida.

     "My dad, Clement Laird Vanlandingharn Scoles, had bought a house
here from Mr. Getsy, also a native from Ohio. I stopped by to visit on
my way to Miami, and stayed. I've never regretted it" he said with a
broad smile.

     "In 1928, he met and married a native Baker Countian, Lillian Mae
Prevatt, daughter of William Kell Prevatt and Mary Lou Combs.

     "Both of us were old enough to know better," he quipped,
explaining he was 30 and she was 26.

     "I had a brand new car and a good job at the Glen St. Mary
nursery," chimed in his wife, explaining she was head propagator of
the green houses.

     "Yea, but you were waitin' on ole number one," he said with a
twinkle in his eye.

     "I got her job at the nursery too," he said. "People asked me
what happened to her and I told 'em I fired her," he laughed, but
admitted he wanted her home raising their family which incidentally
are their three children they're so proud of, Robert, JoAnn and
Wendell. Their oldest child, Joyce Jean, born on March 4, 1928, died
at the age of five years.

     Slowly and carefully he picked up a letter addressed to Cpl.
Claude Scoles and said, "This letter's from an 84 year old friend of
mine in Ohio who served with me in our outfit He writes that at our
last reunion only twenty eight were known to be left from the original
208 in our outfit.

     "It's been over 60 years since those days in France and my
memories are growing dim," he said as he wistfully folded a handmade
cigarette, leaned back in the comfort of his easy chair, and cast his
eyes on an array of memorabilia he'd kept as souvenirs. But it was
certain, this man would never forget, "Over There".

UPDATE '93: Claude Scoles died October 24, 1980 and is buried in
Taylor Cemetery at Taylor, Florida.
His wife Lillian Mae, now 92, lives alone in their little home place
in Glen St Mary. Her story appears in another volume.

_____________________________________________________________________________

                   SPECIAL RECOGNITION: Joe Dobson

     On March 19, 1987 The Baker County Sertoma Club presented its
Service to Mankind Award to Joseph Dobson and I was asked by the
family to write a characterization for the event.

     It was the easiest portrait I've ever painted in narrative form
because of the high esteem I've felt for this kind and gentle man all
my life. In his honor, I include it in this publication for the likes
of this individual will not pass our way again.

     It is not what he has, nor even what he does, which directly
expresses the worth of a man, but what he is .... and this award
tonight, to Joe Dobson is not because of what he has done, nor for his
material worth, but for what he is. He is a man who exhibits the love
of Christ in his heart and life, who thinks the best not the worst, of
others, who refrains from trying to impress others with his own
importance, who does not envy the fortunes of others and who, through
the truth he daily lives, determines his character.

     This extraordinary man's life began before daylight on a cold
winter morning, January 26, 1914, inside the large rambling home of
his parents, George and Daisy (Fraser) Dobson, in Sanderson, Fla. He
was the sixth of nine children born to this devoted couple.

     From an early age he learned from his parents to develop
sincerity and truth, honest dealings and clean thinking and he was
endowed with the courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble
and worthy.

     As a very young boy, Joe began his enterprising career by selling
five cent scoops of ice cream every Saturday in Sanderson. The sweet
treat was delivered once a week by train from Jacksonville packed in
dry ice and left on the train depot platform.

     After graduation from Sanderson High School, he obtained a
teaching certificate and taught in various schools in Baker County.
For a short time, he ran a gas station in Sanderson, and later gave
that business to his parents when he became employed with the Seaboard
Railroad, riding trains as a Brakeman from Jacksonville to
Chattahoochee.

     In 1941, he became interested in Baker County politics and
entered the race for the office of Clerk of Circuit Court, only to
lose that race by one vote. He refused a voting recount, but returned
in 1944 to defeat his same opponent. He successfully held the office
for eight terms, having opposition only four of those. In all, he
served a total of 32 years of faithful, devoted and honorable service
to the people of Baker County as their Clerk of Court. Many of our
county's historical documents were handwritten by Joe Dobson.

     Throughout this man's exceptional life he has lifted many burdens
for people through his quiet deeds and service to mankind. His daily
visits to our county hospital and nursing home and the homes of ill
and needy friends and relatives have not gone unnoticed. Those people
whose hearts were lifted by his assistance and support in turn chose
him to serve in the honorary position of pallbearer for their loved
ones perhaps more than any other one man in the county's history.

     Joe Dobson's infectious smile and genuine wave of his hand has
endeared him to the young and old not only throughout Baker County but
other places as well. He will strike up a conversation with anyone
anywhere, asking who they are, where they are going and most of the
time, why. Through his genuine love of people he has always expressed
a candid interest in others, exhibiting his deep conviction that all
mankind is a family.

     His life was greatly enhanced by his marriage on August 7, 1946
to his present companion, Homie Blitch Dobson, (a native of Olustee),
who shares the same character and attributes as those of her husband.
They have three children, Patricia Bumgarner of Valdosta, Georgia;
(daughter of Ursel Parks and Homie Blitch) JoAnn Griffis and Joey
Dobson of Macclenny.

     His annual vegetable garden is much larger than the couple find
necessary for their needs because they find so much joy in sharing
their bounty with others.

     Joe Dobson's success is not measured in achievement, though he
has achieved success in life .... but by his character, the quality by
which a man is measured before the throne of God ... for this man's
demonstrations of humble actions and God-like attributes, have
exhibited well the love of Christ in his heart, and charity as well
for the countless lives he has touched.

UPDATE:
Joe Dobson's beloved companion died November 16, 1989. She was born in
Olustee Florida November 17, 1910, to Homer Blitch and Anna Dorman.
Just prior to Homie's death Joe suffered from Alzheimers Disease. He
died on February 14, 1993. Both are buried in Manntown Cemetery south
of Glen St. Mary.

JoAnn married James Alan Griffis on August 10, 1968. Their son Corey
Joseph was born on April 29, 1972, and Casey Cameron June 18, 1974,
Daughter Katie Leigh was born March 16, 1984. Their births were in
Duval County, Florida. All were reared in Baker County.

Joey married Kathy Lyons: Their daughter Tracy Jo was born on Feb 4,
1972, and twins Shelly Denise and Jonathan Kelly were born Nov 24,
1974. Daughter Ashley Brooke was born July 4, 1981. His second
marriage was to Linda Pounds.