Burials on Eglin Air Force Base, Santa Rosa County, Florida File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Mary Ellen Wexler, mewexler@buffnet.net USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation. This file may not be removed from this server or altered in any way for placement on another server without the consent of the State and USGenWeb Project coordinators and the contributor. *********************************************************************** An in-depth inventory was produced and published in 1993 by Eglin Air Force Base in an effort to preserve the heritage of the area. Those involved in the project studied all available materials of known sites and plotted them on existing maps. They then visited and photographed them, making detailed comments on the conditions and the inscriptions on the stones. It appears interviews were conducted with some local residents as well. We are grateful for the opportunity to publish this for genealogists around the world to use in their own research. The original documents are copyrighted and permission must be obtained from Eglin, in order to use them for purposes other than their for own personal research. Also, please bear in mind that these cemeteries are on Federal property and should be treated as such. Permission must be obtained before entering any part of the reservation. If you have knowledge of any of the sites, that you might share with officials in charge of this project, please contact: Dr. Newell Wright - WRIGHTN@ntserver.eglin.af.mil The complete inventory, with the procedures and documents used, may be viewed at many area libraries. I know Valparaiso has one as I have seen it, myself. It is beautifully written and well documented. Discussion of trends in burial and marking, as well as general history comments are included. If you have a chance to read it, you really should do so. Among the references listed are land deeds and National Forest land acquisition records. It is suggested that you look at the entire survey if you have any questions. Families were encouraged to move their dead and in many cases they did so. If you do not find burials listed that you think should be, please consult the other published cemetery records for the area. Also, one should note: there were many instances of folks not marking their graves, or of using a wooden marker, which deteriorated over time. All but two Cemeteries (Brown & Burial Plot #2) have been fenced. In some cases there were only signs indicating a cemetery existed at a site, in others the sign was removed some distance from the cemetery, and in one (Bolton), the sign indicated a different name than that recorded in legal documents. I have tried to type the inscriptions as the inventory lists them, though I did not type in all upper case as they did. I arbitrarily included a note or two as well. The cemeteries in Okaloosa County were enumerated in "Okaloosa County Florida Cemeteries" by the Genealogical Society of Okaloosa County, Vol III. Those are Sites #5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 20, 23, 25, 26, and 28. Some were not found and some included the information provided by the AFB. Thanks are due to Doctor Newell Wright and his assistant Sandy Nelson of Eglin's Cultural Resources for supplying the inventory, Duke Vickery for providing the wonderful map, and the U.S. Air Force for their kindness in allowing us to share this with the descendants of those buried on the reserve. Any corrections or questions may be addressed to the author Mary Ellen Wexler, © Copyright, April 1, 1999 Copying of these files by non-commercial individuals, Genealogical & Historical Societies, and libraries is encouraged (unless otherwise noted by author). This message must appear on all copied files. Commercial copying must have written permission from author. ______________________________________________________________________________ **** Please refer to the map at the following URL for site locations: **** http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/santarosa/cemetery/eglin-cm.gif ______________________________________________________________________________ Land Cemetery, Eglin AFB, Santa Rosa County, Florida (#1 on map), T1N, R27W, Sec. 34 NW 1/4 - Cemetery recorded 1982 12 graves reported, only 4 found. 1. Nancy Ellen Jan. 24, 1857 May 1925 Mother, Wife of Joel Land May she rest in peace Foot Stone - N.E.L. 2. Joel Land Oct. 1, 1851 Dec. 13, 1918 Father, May he rest in peace Foot Stone - J.L. (image of headstone at http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/santarosa/cemetery/land1.gif) 3. Amanda Land April 13, 1888 July 23, 1892 Foot Stone - A.L. (image of headstone at http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/santarosa/cemetery/land2.gif) 4. Aluminum marker - Aug. 27, 1918 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Broxson Cemetery, Eglin AFB, Santa Rosa County, Florida (#3 on map), T1N, R26W, Sec. 21 NW1/4 - Recorded 1982 5 graves reported only one recorded: Delia Evans Nov. 25, 1892 June 24, 1914 Wife of Joe Broxson Her trials ended her rest won (image of headstone at http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/santarosa/cemetery/evans.gif) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Faulk Cemetery, Eglin AFB, Santa Rosa County, Florida (#4 on map), T1n, R26W, Sec. 1 SE 1/4 NW 1/4 NE 1/4 - Recorded 1983 Nine graves reported, 7 recorded 1. Ci Broxson Dec. 27, 1916 July 2, 1919 Wooden foot post 2. Edna Faulk May (?) April 1915 Broken concrete foot stone 3. Phillip Faulk Oct. 1, 1839 Jan. 23, 1923 Wooden foot post 4. Francis Faulk June 12, 1842 Dec. 7, 1919 5. Ellen E. Bishop Oct. 6, 1839 May 18, 1917 In Memory of Ellen E. Bishop Mother of Olive Johns She came to raise our hearts to heaven She goes to call us there Marble foot stone 7. Willie Lewis Crain 1790 - 1860 U.S. Army Indian Wars Wooden foot post ____________________________________________________________________________________ Other cemeteries reported by survey but not found: Flowers Field - No Cemetery at reported location. Suspected location is #3