Horse Thieves

My wife's ancestor John W. Longacre survived the Florida Indian Wars and the Civil War but after moving to Texas was on the wrong side of an encounter with some Texas horse thieves.

John Longacre enlisted on Sept. 8, 1836 in Claysville, AL and served 18 months in the Florida Indian Wars.

He later served in Company G of the 7th Alabama Infantry during the Civil War, enlisting at age 46 on April 1, 1861. He moved to Texas before the war ended where he met and married Lieu Hamby Caraway in Erath County.

I met several relatives who were researching John Longacre and we knew he died in 1872 but didn't know anything about his death. One day while searching some online reference books I found the following entry about him.

"Alabama Records, Vol. 162, Jackson County" complied by Pauline Jones Gandrud pg. 75

Sep 20 1872 - John Longacre, formerly of Jackson County died recently in Texas from a pistol shot received while attempting to arrest two horse thieves. Mr. L. was a soldier of the Florida War and was well known in Jackson.

John Longacre died three months before his last child and my wife's ancestor, Benjamin Franklin Longacre was born.

Lou Caraway Longacre remarried two years after John's death having six small children and no husband. Her second husband was George Colett McDermott and she had four more children with him. They are both buried in the Aycock Cemetery in rural Erath County Texas.

A man called Tub

Crawford "Tub" Lundy was the brother of my great grandmother Ida Lundy Wilson. He got his name, not just from his large stature but from his part time profession.

Tub ran a general store in Parrish, Florida and was the Post Master. He also ran a Moonshine Still on a semi-regular basis. As far as I can tell his moonshine production was never hindered by local law enforcement. They tried but never were able to stop his enterprise. Tub Lundy died in 1949.

In 1984 his grandson, Crawford Wayne Lundy put

his grandpa's still on the front porch of his house in Parrish, Florida as a "talk piece." Since the still was in good working condition he would occasionally fire it up to show how it worked.

No doubt the descendants of those revenuers who chased Tub came calling and decided having a working still was illegal. They confiscated it and fined Wayne $150.

It took two years to resolve the legal case but in the end they returned the Still under the provisions it would be donated to the Palmetto Historical Park Museum and would no longer be "demonstrated" by the Lundys.

150th Anniversary

This October 10th is the 150th anniversary of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The land for the lighthouse was donated to the US Government by my ancestor, Joseph Fulford in 1805. The first lighthouse stood for about 50 years and was then replaced with the present structure in 1859.

The National Park Service sent me an invitation to attend the celebration. They wanted to have some family members there.In addition to Joseph Fulford who donated the land there were several family members who worked as Lighthouse Keepers during the early years.The first keeper one was the son of Joseph Fulford, James Fulford. James's son William Fulford followed in his fathers footsteps. Between the two of them they served as keeper for over 40 years.

We are thinking about making the trip. It should be a fun experience.

Order of the Deep

My Dad liked to save cards. He had all kind of
membership cards, ID badges and things he saved in an old cigar box.

They were from Officer's clubs on many military bases, his Flying Cadet ID, and before the age of PC, his "Jap Hunting License."

While looking through them I realized there was one that had a picture that went along with it.

It was his Ancient Order of the Deep ID card.

He got it when he crossed the Equator during WWII aboard a Tank Landing Ship, USS LST 128.

Along with the ID card was a photo of him having

his head shaved. A tradition that went along with

membership in the Ancient Order of the Deep.

You could marry one

When my mother was younger she wasn't known for her money management skills. They haven't changed much over the years.

When she finished college she moved to Memphis and worked at Baptist Hospital for a while and then moved back to Florida and worked for a hospital in Panama City.

While in Panama City she lived with several other girls, including a friend from Cortez, Florida, Nadine Green. Nadine was also the first cousin of my father, but at the time my parents hadn't met.

Anyway, moma told me her plan was to work at the hospital and save enough money to buy a new car. After a while, her boss, knowing her plans and seeing how she wasn't making any progress told her, "Red, you could marry one a lot quicker."

About that time, my dad was visiting in Panama City and Nadine introduced them. I'm not sure it was the deciding factor but he did have a new car.

Biff Burger

My uncle Al always had an unconventional way to make a living. When he was younger he played the trombone in swing bands. My brother said he heard that Al played with the Paul Whiteman band for a while.

Later in life he had a candy vending machine business. It must have been successful because he always drove a nice car and had plenty of toys. Of course he didn't have children so maybe he had more to spend on them.

When he was in his fifties he bought a Biff Burger franchise in Tallahassee, Florida. Most won't know what Biff Burger is but at one time, at least in Tallahassee they were giving McDonald's a run for their money with their "Roto Broiled Burger." Most places fried the burger so this was truly new and improved. The chain had been started in Clearwater, Florida in the late fifties and Al opened it in Tallahassee about 1964.

I can remember when Biff Burger and McDonald's had a price war over what they charged for a hamburger. They both charged 15 cents and one decided to raise the price. There were several price changes up and down before they called a truce.

Al bought the business and my Dad worked with him for a while. I'm pretty sure Ben and maybe Cathy worked there after school.

I was too young to legally work behind the counter but I had the best job. My Dad would dress me up in a white shirt and tie and I was Biff. I just had to stand around or wave to people who drove by on Pensacola Street. I'm not sure if my solicitations did any good but I had fun and I was usually paid in ice cream. At the time I thought it was a pretty good salary.

It is what it is

Some stories just have to be told without comment. This is one of them.

My great great grandfather on my Dad's side was named Linson Williams. He was born about 1827 and died about 1856. I never knew anything about him until a few years ago when I came across Ann Wilson who lives in Florida.

Linson and his family moved from Lowndes County Georgia to Taylor County Florida around 1855. His father had owned a lot of land in Georgia so when they moved to Florida they put it up for sale. A few years later the property was sold and he traveled to Valdosta, Georgia to finalize the transaction.

On his way back to Taylor County he was killed and the money stolen. The story Ann told was that his head was severed from his body and it and the money was never found.

A Georgia sheriff found a black man near Savannah, Georgia who had cash on him and it was assumed that he had killed Linson. He was immediately hung, without benefit of a trial.

For some reason the rope used to hang this man was given to the family back in Taylor County. Linson's daughter Mary kept it as a family memento. It was passed down in the family for almost 100 years. It was lost when one of the great grandchildren's house burned down in the 1950s.

Another descendant of Linson Williams is Lawrence E. "Bummy" Williams, the current sheriff of Taylor County Florida. I wonder if he knows this family story. Maybe he can get someone to open a cold case investigation.