Collections.
Family
Histories. Friends
and patrons have donated more than 250 individual family histories over
the years. Most are surnames which resided in our area at
some
point, but not all. Patrons may use them as reference while
visiting the library area of the museum. For a current list of surnames
click on the highlighted link.
Newspapers.
This project is being
done mostly by Ann Spann and Donna Bishop Wright. Ann is
copying pages from films at Baker and sending them to Donna,
who is typing them. Donna types them so they may be searched for names
using the "find" feature on your internet browser. Each
newspaper has been typed en toto and has been done as carefully as
possible, but often they are difficult to read. Often pages are torn,
too. So there will be some mistakes and some missing words. More will
be done as time and energy permit.
Naval
Stores.“Naval Stores” is a broad term
which
originally applied to the resin-based parts used in building and
maintaining
wooden sailing ships. But today the term applies
to all
products which come from pine sap. These products are used to
manufacture soap,
paint, varnish, shoe polish, roofing material and much more.
Once
collected from the trees and placed in wooden barrels, it was converted
into two major products: rosin and turpentine. For
many
years rosin and turpentine were used in making common
household products such as soap, paper, paint, and varnish. Today most
rosin is
altered to be used in a wide range of products that includes surface
coatings,
adhesives, printing inks, and rubber compounds. Most of the pioneers in the area depended,
directly or indirectly on the Naval Stores industry for their living from before 1900
until almost mid century. Information on a fabulous book on the subject
by Carrol Butler may be obtained at the museum.
Go to
"Tour of the Museum"
and view the turpentine cups, tools and photographs of the industry.
There were many 'turpentine' camps in the area - there was one at the
head of Garnier's Bayou and one located near Wright, FL (once
known as Cracker's Neck) to name only a few. The camps were
built
around the turpentine "stills" where the thick, gummy sap was processed
for shipment. It was dirty, back breaking work. The pay wasn't good
enough for most to escape their debts mounting at the company
commissaries. But, it was work and people survived.
The timber industry boomed in the early years - most all the yellow
heart pine trees were cut and shipped to Europe where it was used in
fine furniture and other products.
Photograph Collections. Our Archivist is sorting
photographs. Check again soon to see a topical list of what
we have.
Native
Americans. This
collection has several aspects. Artifacts can be viewed on the museum's
virtual tour. The focus of this collection is on the Native
Americans of Northwest Florida and South Alabama/Georgia.
Included in this collection are the following:
Artifacts and exhibits.
Courtesy
of Mr. Nathan Chessher exhibits/artifacts include arrows, carvings,
ceremonial items and more.
Library Holdings Index. This index, located in
the library area
of the museum, has one of the most extensive Native American
collections in the area. Titles
include: S.E.N.A. newsletters, various
DAWES records and indexes and much more.
Microfilm. Lists of Orphans. List of children
in Indian schools. Some Creek Nation payrolls, and more.
Farm
Tools. Tools are on
display both indoors and outdoors. Everything from turpentine
cups to saws, augers, hammers - again, click on
"Take the Tour" icon to
view many of them.
Map
Collections. Though
some maps are in books or on display - or, on microfilm. The
map
cabinet in the library area contains large detailed maps of the local
area; many which are no longer in print because of their age.
Use the links below to learn more about the location of communities in
the area.
We
also have various old plat maps for use in the library. Examples and
list below.
Dolls.
This collection is new and is being catalogued. It
is a lovely collection of old dolls.
Church
Histories.
We hope to expand this collection. These histories
not only
provide insight into local religious life, culture and history, they
are also replete with individual surnames of those involved in
religious life. Click on highlighted link to view a list of what he
have so far.
Local Government.
The museum has
Sherrif's Dockets from the late 1960s and 70s. We have also begun
transcribing county commissioners minutes and notes. Click
here
to view the first entry dated 1916.
Genealogical
Collection.
Jeanette Henderson, Curator of the Museum has gathered family
histories, films, books on local and general genealogy and other
things. There are photo albums, business ledgers, maps and many more
valuable resources for area researchers. There are film
reader/printers, a copy machine, and several computers hooked up to
printers and to the internet. Copies may be made for a small fee from
either the film readers or the copy machine. The following list only
touches the surface of what is in the genealogical collection.
Library Holdings Index.
Click to view the genealogy holdings in the library area of the
museum. Carole Griffin, maintains
a list of the records that
are available for research. Browse through this list before you come to
the library. Then spend the day digging into them.
The Heritage Books
Series. A list of these more than 50 books,
published by County (Florida, Alabama and Georgia) are listed on our Library Holding Index site.
Each professionally bound volume contains a few hundred pages
replete with surname index as well as related topical subjects on each
respective county.
Marriage Record
Index.
In the Library area there are several index books containing
marriages in Florida, Alabama and Georgia counties. They date from the late 1800s to 1940s
and later. You won't see the actual certificate but you can
confirm where and when a marriage was registered. Then, you
can
write the appropriate county court house to obtain a copy.
Funeral Home Records. There are several Funeral
Homes in the library area. They can be most helpful in
finding your loved ones. Once you have the death and location
you can contact the State's Bureau of Vital Records to obtain a copy.
The GSOC has published a
book of records from the McLaughlin
Funeral Home, 1927- 1984 and the Museum has some records
from Moore's ledgers. A book and CDs are available listing Whitehurst FH (now
Whitehurst--Powell) records. See the "Items for sale"
page.
You may wish to look
through the records of the Evans
Funeral Home in Florala, AL as many of out ancestors from
the area were enterred by them. They, too are for sale at the museum.
Click on the museum store icon to see a detailed
description and cost to purchase or click
here for details.
Census Records.
Browse
on-line in our library area: we have some LDS CDs or log onto
Ancestry.com or Heritage Quest. Both are paid subscriptions and have
census records for every state in the US from 1790 through
1930, along with birth, marriage, and death records and published
family histories.
Cemetery Project:
Efforts are being made to have historical cemeteries in our
area marked on the State Historical Register. The Genealogy
Society of Okaloosa County has published 3 books of cemetery surveys in
Okaloosa County and various people have surveyed Walton County
cemeteries. We are trying to locate and survey all the cemeteries not
yet surveyed. We need your help! If you know of a cemetery that has not
been surveyed or has been abandoned, please write and tell us about it.
Helpful Hints when
visiting a graveyard, please take care. Do not
clean stones with anything except water, unless you have checked with a
professional. Stones will deteriorate when exposed to the wrong
chemicals. Gentle brushing to remove lichens is permitted. More tips
for reading and photographing stones:
Take a small spray
bottle filled with plain water when you visit a cemetery and mist the
stone to bring out the lettering.
Trace lettering with your fingers.
Stand at an
angle to the stone; shadows that are formed on the letters bring them
out.
A sheet of cardboard wrapped in foil will bounce
sunlight onto a stone.
Use a flashlight.
Be sure not to stand facing the sun. If possible try to visit east facing
cemeteries in the evening and west facing ones in the morning.
On dark stones a bit of sand sprinkled
into the letters often helps. Be sure to brush it out when finished.
Do not use talcum powder, baking soda,
or other chemical products.
Take a rubbing: use butchers paper and
dark chalk. Be gentle.
You
may wish
to look at this
e-mail
explaining some of the symbols on tombstones.
Also
The
Association for Gravestone Studies
is an authority on gravestones.
Sites of old cemeteries.
The following is from Nathan Chesser (Cracker100@cfi.net). If you know
anything about them, please let me know also.
There is a
Newell
Cemetery near the Alabama Line North of Stewart Cem. There
are Two
in Blackman,
One is at the Intersection of Morman Temple Road and Tommy Steele Road on a farm
there, the other a little south of that one on the Beck Property. There
is a little Sign near Travlers
Rest Church and Cemetery that says there is another Cemetery in the woods
there, I don't know if that is correct or not.
The
Scipio
Cemetery is mentioned in the Steele book as being near
the
Stewart Cem.
I have been trying to locate it. That is where Elizabeth [Danley]
Dannelly Steele [my ancestor] is
said to be. She is the Wife of Peter H. Steele and the Ancestor of all
the S. Ala. and N. Fla. Steeles. Then there is one on
the so called Indian Mound, [just a hill] on the Florida line Near the
New Ebenezer Church, and a Black Cemetery that was plowed over by tree
planting at
Nathan Road and Creston Barrow Road.
Julia Cadenhead provided info on one in a
pasture in Gaskin. just
north of Laurel Hill near (perhaps even on) the Alabama line.
Listings
of known cemeteries: Some of them are online,
while others are in published sources. The Museum has Volumes II
& III of the GSOC books — Vol I is out of print.
Genealogy
Tidbits.
This section contains varied and miscellaneous turn of the
20th
century news items regarding local citizens at the time. Perhaps your Grandfather Jack is
noted for visiting the city or running for office...
Browse books on history of areas
in which your family lived. It will help you understand why they lived
in a certain area, or
why they moved elsewhere. Histories will give you time lines of major
happenings which may have impacted locals. They tell you the major
industries, when the railroads and highways were built, and a number of
other things that may give you a clue to find that elusive ancestor.
Perhaps you lost track
of Great Grandfather John and can't find him anywhere.
After reading a history of the area where you lost him, you find the
railroad was being extended to the south for a hundred miles or so. You
know he was working for the railroad, so now you have a good idea of where to
look for him next.
In earlier days people did not
use Funeral Homes or regular cemeteries to bury their
dead. Often they were simply "laid out" in the parlor, then buried on
the family farm.
Film may be ordered from the LDS. Check with staff members. Rental of these films are $5.50 and
a list of ones available may be seen at the library catalogue of LDS:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp
Special
offer from Allen Co. Library -- largest genealogy repository
in eastern US. Send copies of your work for a bound copy.
Quadrangle
Map Collection.
The collection is too extensive to load onto our website.
Come in to the museum to see and use this collection.
Click
on the topic for a sampling of the contents.
