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Cultural Resources

Southeast Region

Cultural Resources

Southeast Region

Kingsley Plantation

Ethnohistorical Study

Kingsley Plantation

Ethnohistorical Study

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve

Jacksonville, Florida

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

Ethnohistorical Study of the 

Kingsley Plantation 

Community

January 2006

originally prepared August 2004

by Antoinette T. Jackson

with Allan F. Burns

Department of Anthropology

University of Florida

Gainesville, Florida
Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

National Park Service

100 Alabama Street, SW

Atlanta, Georgia 30303

404.562.3117

This ethnohistorical study exists in two formats. A printed 

version is available for study at the park, at the Southeast 

Regional Office of the National Park Service, and at a 

variety of other repositories around the United States. For 

more widespread access, this ethnohistorical study also 

exists as a PDF through the web site of the National Park 

Service. Please visit www.nps.gov for more information.

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

12713 Fort Caroline Road

Jacksonville, Florida 32225

http://www.nps.gov/timu

About the cover: The front cover shows the Kingsley SammisLewis Betsch descent chart.
National Park Service iii

Contents

Foreword

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Acknowledgements

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Introduction

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter One: The Kingsley Plantation Today—A Physical

(and Social) Reminder

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter Two: Zephaniah Kingsley and the Kingsley Plantation

in Global Perspective

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter Three: Kingsley Descendants, Community Associations,

and the Plantation Legacy

Kingsley Gibbs and Kingsley McNeill Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Anna’s Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Kingsley-LeBron and Kingsley-Eliebo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Kingsley-Sammis and Kingsley-Baxter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Kingsley Plantation Extended Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Remembering Anna Majigeen Ndiaye Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chapter Four: Transition, Movement, and Memory — The Kingsley

Plantation Community and Jacksonville’s Growth and Development

Transition to Industrialization in Jacksonville: A Historical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The Bartley-King-Murrell-Williams Family Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

The Bartley-King-Murrell Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Bartley-Scott Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Bartley-King-Williams Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
iv Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Chapter Five: Ethnographic Profiles of a Historic Resource

Site — The Kingsley Plantation

Talbot Islands, Kingsley Plantation, and the Christopher Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

The Christopher Family Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

The Daniels Family and the Fort George Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Conclusion

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Notes

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Appendices

Appendix 1: Kingsley Family Descent Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Appendix 2: 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1920 US Census Data Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Appendix 3: 1910 and 1930 Negro Occupations Census Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Appendix 4: Aunt Easter Family Genealogy Charts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Bibliography

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

List of Figures

1 Timeline of Kingsley Plantation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Map of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and surrounding area. NPS map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Sketch map of Kingsley Plantation, in the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. NPS map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 Kingsley family descendants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5 Kingsley Gibbs family descendants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

6 Zephaniah Kingsley family in global historical perspective. NPS map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

7 Descendants of Zephaniah Kingsley Sr.and Isabella Johnstone.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

8 1860 and 1870 US Census data from St. Johns County Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

9 Descendants of George Gibbs III and Isabella Kingsley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

10 Descendants of Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna) and Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

11 1860 US Census data from Duval County Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

12 Kingsley Sammis-Lewis Betsch descent chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

13 Descendants of Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna) and Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

14 Kingsley Plantation extended community.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

15 1870 US Census Report excerpt from Duval County Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

16 Negro Occupations in Florida in 1910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

17 Sample 1920 US Census data from Duval County Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

18 Easter Bartley's Family-Descendants of Carpenter Bonify and wife Mary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

19 1920 US Census data from Duval County Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

20 Descendants of Easter and Quash Lottery /George Bartley Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

21 Descendants of Easter and Quash Lottery /George Bartley Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

22 1880 US Census excerpts from Duval County Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

23 1920 US Census excerpts from Duval County Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
National Park Service v

Foreword

When the 19th century ended, Jacksonville, Florida, was transformed from a sparsely populated seacoast 

town into a city. That transformation was made by families that had been enslaved, families that held slaves, 

and free people whose lives created a new city on Florida’s “First Coast.” Jacksonville today is a city with a 

rich tapestry of industry, tourism, service, and a naval installation as large as any in the United States. The 

transformation of the mouth of the St. Johns River and the marshlands of the sea islands of Georgia and 

Florida to a thriving metropolis is clearly seen in this study of the Kingsley Plantation. The Kingsley Plantation is important as a place were people lived and worked in Florida, as well as a place in Florida’s history. 

As this report illustrates, the plantation alternated between Tumucua, Spanish, and later English control and 

was purchased in 1817 by an Englishman, Zephaniah Kingsley. The human landscape of the plantation on 

Fort George Island is an especially important feature of Jacksonville as it changed from a small town of less 

than a thousand people to a major industrial port. That history and the living history of contemporary conversations, narratives, and reflections is the theme of this report by Antoinette Jackson, the principal author 

of this report, and myself. Antoinette Jackson brings to this study the theoretical concepts developed in 

African Diaspora studies. She shows the interplay of enslaved and free people’s lives throughout the history 

of the plantation and well into the 20th century. Rather than thinking of the plantation as a total institution 

that controlled all of the lives of people associated with it, Jackson takes a wider look at the community of 

people, African enslaved workers, free Africans and African Americans, Non-African Americans and how 

the larger community gave meaning to the plantation itself. 

The community of the Kingsley Plantation is a stark and haunting story of the African Diaspora. Jackson 

points out that Kingsley was someone who was quite proud about his occupation as a slave trader and spoke 

quite directly about it even to anti-slavery interviewers in the 1840s. He was a person of complex paradoxes. 

While he was English, he also swore allegiance to South Carolina, Denmark, and Spain throughout his life. 

He was a slave owner who married Anta Majigeen Ndiaye, a woman from a Senegalese royal family. 

Kingsley purchased her in Cuba and brought her to Florida where both of them lived on the Kingsley Plantation. In 1837 Anta and Zephaniah Kingsley left Florida and settled in Haiti. Their descendants are multiracial and multi-national, spreading throughout the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

The Kingsley Plantation is today a National Park, a protected and celebrated place on the outskirts of the 

industrial Jacksonville north of the downtown. Huge naval ships slide out to the ocean from the nearby 

base; barges, container ships, and a few fishing boats ply the waters nearby. Kingsley plantation seems like 

an island in the midst of this world of noise, a sea filled with churning water and pollution, and industrial 

might. A few people local to the area still fish off the bridges that span the St. Johns River estuary and the 

rich, low land that was the key resource for the plantation. It is hard to imagine what the plantation was like 

when it was more central to the life and economy of Jacksonville. The lifeways of people around and in the 

plantation were a combination of working the water and the land. I have interviewed people in Gainesville, 

Florida, who grew up in the area. Their memories are of their grandparents catching shrimp, working plots 

of land, and trying to see how the impending urbanism of the 20th century could provide them with benefits that the 19th century did not have. Close to Kingsley plantation is American Beach, a thriving core of 

African American life for North Florida that independent film maker John Sayles portrayed in his quasidocumentary film, Sunshine State (2002).

The Kingsley Plantation forces us to rethink common images of plantations. The location, on the marshlands marked today by Jacksonville’s busy port activities, is strikingly different than the plantations of 

popular books and media. Rice, cotton, and indigo were the early crops raised there, crops that owed their 

harvest success to the agricultural skills of Africans who worked on the land. Later, cotton and sugar cane 

were harvested there, and by the 1920s, the Plantation and surrounding land produced Florida oranges that 
vi Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

were shipped out on the new railroad that later became known as the “Orange Blossom Special.” The plantation challenges other stereotypes as well. Zephaniah Kingsley and his Senegalese wife Anta owned slaves, 

and their descendants and the descendants of the enslaved people on the plantation intermixed within the 

evolving Jacksonville of the 20th century. 

The University of Florida anthropology department is honored to have been part of the recent story of 

Kingsley Plantation. In 1968, the distinguished archeologist, Dr. Charles Fairbanks, made archeological 

news when he excavated the slave quarters at Kingsley Plantation. Excavating outside of the “big houses” of 

plantations had simply not been done prior to Fairbanks’s work, and what he found in his excavations 

changed our view of the history of the 19th century. Fairbanks found the enslaved people supplemented 

their rations with many different kinds of animals and seafood, and even evidently had guns to hunt with. 

Fairbanks’s students, including Distinguished Curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History, Dr. 

Kathleen Deagan, learned from these excavations and then went on to excavate Fort Mose, the first African 

American fort in St. Augustine, as well as the colonial city of St. Augustine itself. In 1998, the Department of 

Anthropology again had an opportunity to learn from the lives of descendants of the Kingsley plantation 

when Dr. Anthony Paredes of the National Park Service developed a contract with the Department in order 

to video tape oral histories at the first Kingsley Heritage Day. These tapes are remarkable for the insights that 

people today have of the complex social and cultural history of Jacksonville and the Kingsley Plantation’s 

place in that history.

Antoinette Jackson and the colleagues who helped with the fieldwork for the project, Dr. Terry Weik and 

Ms. Katisha Greer, bring new light to the history of Jacksonville, the history of the plantation, and the 

African Diaspora. Antoinette and her colleagues are part of the African Diaspora themselves. Their perspectives, both as participants in this historical process and as anthropologists trained in careful scientific 

research, make this a much-needed document. Antoinette has brought enthusiasm and warmth to this ethnohistory, all the while keeping a critical and theoretically insightful point of view. Thanks to Antoinette for 

combining the study of kinship, place, and Diaspora through the lens of the Kingsley Plantation.

Allan F. Burns, PhD

Applied Anthropologist

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

University of Florida
National Park Service vii

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted under National Park Service (NPS) Contract No. Q5038000491, “Ethnohistorical Study of Kingsley Plantation Community,” Allan F. Burns (University of Florida), Principal 

Investigator.

Special tribute to: Martin Richardson, J.M. Johnson, Alfred Farrell, Winston Rice, Rebecca Baker, Viola 

Muse, Rachel Austin, Pearl Randolph, Grace Thompson, Paul Diggs, and Zora Neale Hurston—members 

of the “negro unit” of the Florida section of Federal Writers’ Project—for their dedication and perseverance 

in gathering information about African life in Florida during the 1930s. Their work, pursued under strict 

“Jim Crow” negro place code restrictions, blazed the trail for this quest for information in 2001.

Acknowledgement and thank you to the following persons for their interest in and support of this project: 

Marsha Dean Phelts for research leads and her wealth of knowledge on the history of Jacksonville’s African 

American community; Dr. Allan F. Burns, for his interest, insight, support, and encouragement; Dr. 

Anthony Paredes (Cultural Anthropologist and Chief—Ethnography and Indian Affairs, Cultural Resources 

Stewardship Division, Southeast Region, NPS) for his attention to detail, constructive feedback on submitted materials, and consistent and positive support; Barbara Goodman (NPS Superintendent of Fort 

Caroline National Memorial and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve); John Whitehurst (Cultural 

Resource Manager, NPS Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve [TIMU]) and the TIMU staff; Paul 

Ghioto (TIMU) for being an excellent St. Johns River boat pilot and informative guide; Lydia Stewart 

(LaVilla Museum Administrator) for great community contacts and use of LaVilla Museum office facilities; 

Bruce Chappell (archivist/manuscripts University of Florida—Special Collections) and Jim Cussack 

(curator, Florida History—University of Florida Special Collections) for their archival support and in-depth 

knowledge of Florida history data sources; Charles Tingley (Library Manager) and G. Leslie Wilson 

(Assistant Library Manager) at the St. Augustine Historical Society, for their knowledge, insight, and 

resource and reference leads; Eileen Brady (Librarian, Special Collections Dept., University of North 

Florida Library, Eartha M.M. White Collection) for her time, as well as her respect for and thorough 

knowledge of Eartha White’s life and history; J.N. Eaton and E. Murrell Dawson (Florida A&M Black 

Archives Research Center and Museum) for their knowledge of and access to files and data on black life in 

Florida during the pre- and post-Civil War period; Kay Tullis (Jacksonville Historical Society) for access to 

Kingsley Plantation files and information; Glenn Emery (Sr. Librarian, Florida Collection, Jacksonville 

Public Library); Durkeeville Historical Center; Florida State Archives—Archives and Records Management 

team; Lydia Wooden and Charlotte Stewart for sharing information and photos about their family and early 

Jacksonville history; Peter House and family for their support and knowledge of Arlington/Clifton community of Jacksonville; Dr. Martha Ellen Davis and her informant, Crucito Medina Kingsley Eleibo, of the 

Dominican Republic, for access to their files and research data on Zephaniah Kingsley’s Dominican 

Republic connections; my research team—Dr. Terry Weik, (Prof., University of South Carolina) for his 

archeological perspective and historical archeology findings and contributions to this report; Katisha Greer 

(University of Florida graduate student) for her historical research methodology knowledge and history of 

Jacksonville input to this report; Jodi Skipper (Florida State University archeology graduate student and 

NPS summer intern, Timucuan Preserve); Flemming Daugaard and Ermitte St. Jacques (University of 

Florida graduate students) for tape transcription work; Jennifer Hale-Gallardo, for editing support, and 

Maxine Downs (University of Florida, graduate student) for interview support and sisterhood, specifically 

for the Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole interview.

Big thanks to Yolanda N. Jackson (Nevada Graphics) for graphic design and visual layout support, as well as 

her patience and encouragement throughout the process. 
viii Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Finally, and most important, I would like to extend a very special acknowledgement to those persons who 

agreed to be interviewed and/or video taped for the Kingsley Plantation project in 1998 and 2001, and 

whose words and insight appear in this text: Marion Christopher Alston, MaVynee Betsch, Peri Frances 

Betsch, Mildred Christopher Johnson, Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, James Daniels, Dr. Kathleen Deagan, 

Harriet Gibbs Gardiner, William Tucker Gibbs, Becky Gibbs, Emily Gibbs, George W. Gibbs, Adewale KuleMele (Anthony Scott); Theresa Scott, Manuel Lebron, John Murrell, Mildred Murrell, Evette Murrell, 

Marsha Dean Phelts, Camilla Thompson, Walter Whetstone, and Ike (Isiah) Williams.
National Park Service 1

Introduction

The history of the Kingsley Plantation is an interesting and complex combination of people, 

personalities, and agendas. Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr.’s 

life and business activities, for example, underscore 

the reality of the transatlantic slave trade in Florida. 

His multi-racial and multi-national family and their 

connections, associations, and relationships with 

people and communities on local and global levels 

provide important insight into issues of race, power, 

and place.

The goal of this ethnohistorical study of the 

Kingsley Plantation community, “The Legacy of 

Slavery at the Kingsley Plantation,” is to expand the 

scope of knowledge about the lifeways and sociocultural patterns of persons primarily of African 

descent associated with the Kingsley Plantation. 

The study is especially enriched by oral history and 

interview testimony provided by Zephaniah 

Kingsley’s African, European, and Latino 

descendant family members and descendants of 

enslaved and free persons of color who worked at 

the Kingsley Plantation site. Emphasis is placed on 

analysis of the Kingsley community’s transition 

through time, from the antebellum period to the 

present—with a focus on the period immediately 

before Civil War and through the early 20th century.

Research was primarily conducted in the greater 

Jacksonville, Florida area. In addition, Amelia Island 

and St. Augustine, Florida served as key research 

sites. Archeological findings, land grants, and war 

claim information are used to show the Kingsley’s 

historical connection to northeast Florida. Probate 

records, U.S. Federal Census data (1850-1940), 

maps, photographs, and other archival materials are 

used to profile the connection between the Kingsley 

Plantation and the greater Jacksonville community 

and show the importance of the Kingsley Plantation 

community to Jacksonville’s transition to industrial 

and post-industrial development. 

The reality of race and racial policies in Florida is 

captured in this report by chronicling the lives of 

Kingsley Plantation community descendants via 

oral history narratives and U.S. census records and 

reports. The subjective and variable nature of racial 

classification practices, for example, is captured in 

the instructions given to U.S. census enumerators at 

the turn of the century. At the census of 1910, enumerators were instructed to:

. . . indicate the color or race of each person 

enumerated, distinguishing blacks and 

mulattoes in the Negro population in 

accordance with the definition following:

For census purposes the term ‘black’ includes 

all persons who are evidently full-blooded 

Negroes, while the term ‘mulatto’ includes all 

other persons having some proportion or 

perceptible trace of Negro blood. [U.S. Bureau 

of Census 1918:207]

The lives of Kingsley Plantation descendants and 

residents of Jacksonville and surrounding cities 

associated with the plantation reflect the impact of 

racial politics on community organization and 

relationships.

This study is anchored by two time periods. On one 

end is Zephaniah Kingsley’s arrival in Florida 

(around 1803) through his purchase of various plantation sites, including what is now the Kingsley 

Plantation site. On the other end is the present 

where oral history and interview testimony conveyed by descendants and local area residents help 

to frame the plantation community beyond a geographic and physical place perspective. As a result, it 

will be seen how social relationships and interactions are integral components in the shaping of 

“place” (my place/your place) and in turn how relations to “place” are influenced by or influence how 

the past is viewed, understood, and experienced.
2 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Methodology—Collecting and 

Organizing the Data

Places capture the complex emotional, 

behavioral, and moral relationships between 

people and their territory. They represent 

people, their actions, and their interactions and 

as such become malleable memorials for 

negotiating and renegotiating human 

relationships. [Kahn 1996:168]

In this report, both an ethnohistorical and an ethnographic research methodology are utilized. The 

ethnohistorical methodology incorporates anthropology’s use of theory as a framework for organizing 

data and formulating analysis and the historic 

method for collecting, verifying, and organizing relevant material. The ethnographic methodology 

involves the direct collection of data from the field 

via observation or interactive participation with the 

subject(s) under analysis.

The concept of “space” and how it is experienced 

will be used as a framework for organizing data and 

formulating analysis of the Kingsley Plantation community. Most recently, Miriam Kahn’s work on 

Tahiti (Kahn 2000) underscores the importance of 

incorporating expanded notions of space in anthropological applications. She describes place as a 

dynamic entity with many aspects, all of which must 

be analyzed and understood in order for a comprehensive representation of a chosen site or 

community (in her case, present day Tahiti) to be 

developed. Therefore, place viewed as an interactive 

experiencing of space, is part of every segment of 

community life both physical and social.

In the case of the Kingsley Plantation community 

for example, the National Park Service sponsored 

“Kingsley Plantation Annual Heritage Festival” can 

be viewed as a mediating space (a non-threatening 

social space or “safe” house) for members of the 

Kingsley family and others to share memories about 

or reconcile relationships with the plantation’s past. 

And, it is the combination of the plantation as a 

physical place in the form of tangible and interactively accessible reminders (i.e., grave sites, housing 

remains, waterways) and a socially constructed 

space that helps keep it in the minds and memory of 

those who visit. Therefore, looking at the concept of 

space from different perspectives is one way to 

derive an expanded understanding of the Kingsley 

Plantation community.

Participant observation and key informant interviews for the purpose of collecting oral history were 

the primary means of obtaining ethnographic field 

data about the Kingsley Plantation community. 

Interviews were conducted primarily with persons 

of African descent—ranging in ages from 20 to 86 

years old. Research was conducted at the Kingsley 

Plantation site and throughout the greater Jacksonville, Florida area, as well as in the communities of 

Lincolnville in St. Augustine and American Beach 

on Amelia Island.

Institutions dedicated primarily to serving patrons 

of African descent contain invaluable information 

on the history of African people, often on community specific levels. In Jacksonville, the following 

sources were consulted regarding the history of the 

local black community for this project: Bethel 

Baptist Institutional Church, Historic Mount Zion 

AME Church, LaVilla Museum, Clara White 

Mission and Eartha M.M. White Historical 

Museum and Mission, the Durkeville Historical 

Society, and private collections maintained by families in the community. In addition to community 

specific resources, archival data on the history of 

Africans in Florida was found in the following collections: the Black Archives Research Center and 

Museum at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, 

the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History at the University of Florida, the Library of Congress Memory 

Collection web site, and the Eartha M.M. White 

Collection at the University of North Florida (see 

Note 2 for a detailed listing of sources consulted).

Report Layout

This study of the Kingsley Plantation community 

raises and addresses several important questions: (a) 

How and to what degree have obstacles to free 

movement within local community spaces been dictated by slavery, racism, and the plantation 

experience in America? (b) How have Africans in 

America and their descendants strategically 

managed the transition from conditions imposed by 

the system of chattel slavery as practiced in the U.S. 

South and its legacy to life beyond? and, (c) How has 

life as experienced by Kingsley Plantation community descendants today been influenced by the 

plantation experience and memories of the past?

The report will be presented in five parts plus a 

conclusion: (1) The Kingsley Plantation Today—A 

Physical (and Social) Reminder; (2) Zephaniah 
National Park Service 3

Kingsley and the Kingsley Plantation in Global 

Perspective; (3) The Kingsley Family in Florida 

Before the Civil War and into the Present; (4) 

Transition, Movement, and Memory: The Kingsley 

Plantation Community and Jacksonville’s Growth 

and Development; and (5) Ethnographic Profiles of 

a Historic Resource Site—The Kingsley Plantation. 

The report begins with a presentation of the 

Kingsley Plantation place—the big house, the 

kitchen house, and the tabby slave quarters—

intertwined with discussions and descriptions of the 

1998 National Park Service sponsored “Kingsley 

Plantation Heritage Festival.” The festival event and 

the Kingsley Plantation site provide a platform and a 

forum from which family and community 

relationships with the plantation’s legacy can be 

explored. Chapter Two places the Kingsley 

Plantation within a historical context, using 

Zephaniah Kingsley’s life as a focal point for 

analyzing the diasporic experiences of Africans in 

Florida. An overview of Zephaniah Kingsley’s life is 

provided starting with his arrival in East Florida in 

1803 until his death in 1843. Chapter Three 

provides an overview of Zephaniah Kingsley’s 

family relationships and associations. Descendant 

charts for Kingsley-Gibbs, Kingsley-McNeill, 

Kingsley-LeBron; Kingsley-Eliebo, KingsleySammis and Kingsley-Baxter family lines are 

included. In addition, an ethnographic profile of the 

Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch family is featured. 

The primary focus of Chapter Four is transition, 

with a specific focus on the Kingsley Plantation 

community within the context of the greater 

Jacksonville, Florida, community’s transition from 

slavery to segregation to Civil Rights and from an 

agrarian based economy to an industrial/post 

industrial centered economy. An ethnographic 

profile of the Bartley-King-Murrell-Williams family 

is highlighted. In Chapter Five, the Kingsley 

Plantation site is looked at from the plantation era 

and the recreation-and-development era of its 

history using ethnographic profiles of the 

Christopher family and the Daniels family to frame 

the story. The report is concluded in Chapter Six 

with a summation of the goals of the study and an 

overview of what was accomplished. Throughout 

the report, emphasis is placed on the plantation as a 

social space and the Kingsley Plantation 

community’s connection to and interrelationship 

with the Jacksonville community as a whole.
4 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study
National Park Service 5

Chapter One: The Kingsley 

Plantation Today—A Physical 

(and Social) Reminder

The Kingsley slave settlement consisted of 

thirty-two cabins arranged in a distinctive arc. 

Trees were planted in front of each house in this 

semicircular village, and wells reportedly were 

placed between every two cabins. The 

dwellings were well constructed with tabby. 

Cabins measured approximately sixteen by 

twenty feet or less and thus, even though their 

substantial mode of construction made them 

both fire and hurricane resistant, they were very 

cramped. Two slightly larger structures were 

located at the midpoint of the curving row of 

slave houses. These two-room houses, 

measuring close to twenty-five by nineteen feet, 

were reserved for the slave drivers—black 

foremen who supervised the daily operations of 

the plantation . . . Kingsley’s own residence, a 

building two stories tall with a wide veranda, 

stood about a thousand feet from the slave 

village. It was clearly the largest building on the 

plantation . . . [John Michael Vlach 1993:187-

188]

The Kingsley Plantation site is located in the state of 

Florida east of the city of Jacksonville at the 

northern tip of Fort George Island at the Fort 

George inlet. It was originally home to the Timucua 

Indians (Milanich 1975). Control of the island alternated between the Spanish and the British before 

being purchased by Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr. in 1817 

during the second Spanish Period of control (see 

Figure 1). Kingsley owned the plantation until 1839, 

when he sold it to his nephews Ralph King and 

Kingsley Beatty Gibbs. Today, the plantation is part 

of the National Park Service’s Timucuan Ecological 

and Historic Preserve (see Figure 2). The Preserve 

was created as part of a 1988 act—Public Law 100-

249—to protect important ecological and cultural 

resources in northeast Florida (Stowell 1996).

The Kingsley Plantation community extends well 

beyond the physical boundaries of the Preserve. It 

includes greater Jacksonville and the surrounding 

areas from Fernandina (to the north) to St. 

Augustine (to the south) and all other places where 

Kingsley descendants and others associated with 

the plantation live today.

The physical space that forms the Kingsley Plantation site as it existed at the time of Kingsley’s 

ownership includes Zephaniah Kingsley’s “big” 

house, Anna Kingsley’s “kitchen” house, a barn, 

“slave” cabin remains, and approximately 720 acres 

of land and waterway access via the Fort George 

inlet (see Figure 3). These physical and geographic 

markers provide a view into the life of Zephaniah 

Kingsley, his extended family, and his enslaved 

African labor force. It is here that Kingsley’s descendants and others connected to or interested in the 

plantation gather for the Kingsley Plantation Heritage Festival—an annual event sponsored by the 

National Park Service. The festival attracts many 

first time visitors to the plantation site. Participants 

report that they attend in order to learn more about 

the plantation’s history, to remember and 

acknowledge those who lived and worked on the 

plantation, and meet other members of the Kingsley 

Plantation community.

In 1955, the State of Florida acquired the Kingsley 

Plantation and in 1967 initiated a project to restore 

the plantation to the Kingsley period (1817-43). In 

conjunction with this effort, the late Charles Fairbanks of the University of Florida received a grant 

from the Florida Park Service for excavations of the 

plantation “slave” cabins. These cabins provide a 
6 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

FIGURE 1. Timeline of Kingsley Plantation.

Land of Timucua Indians pre-European arrival 

First Spanish Period 1565-1763 

• 1580’s Spanish built a Mission on Fort George Island (San Juan del Puerto) 

• 1730’s Fort George was constructed by Oglethorpe 

British Period 1763-84 

• Fort George Island plantation grew indigo, rice, and cotton 

Second Spanish Period 1784-1821 

• 1791 Haitian Revolution begins 

• 1791 John McQueen granted Fort George island by Spanish Government...cotton & 

lumber major products; 

• 1800 Gabriel Prosser’s Rebellion (VA) 

• 1804 Haiti declared Independent (Haitian revolution ends 1803) 

• 1804 John Houstoun McInTosh purchased Fort George Island ... grew sea island 

cotton, corn rice, sugar cane, and other plantation crops 

• 1811 St. John the Baptist Parish Rebellion (New Orleans) 

• 1812 Patriot Rebellion (FL) 

• 1812-1839 Zephaniah Kingsley occupies Fort George Island (in 1817 purchases the 

island); grew cotton, sugar cane, rice, and other food crops and experimented with 

citrus 

• 1818 First Seminole War

Florida becomes a U.S. Territory 1821 

• 1822 Denmark Vesey Revolt aborted (Charleston) 

• 1831 Nat Turner Revolt aborted (VA) 

• 1839-1853 Kingsley Beatty Gibbs owns Kingsley Plantation 

Florida enters the Union 1845 

Civil War and Reconstruction 1861-1877 

• 1869 John F. Rollins purchases Kingsley Plantation 

Segregation/ ‘Jim Crow’ Period 1883-1964 

• 1869-1920s Rollins owns Kingsley Plantation; in 1880s-1890s he produced and 

marketed oranges as the last major agricultural production crop on Fort George 

Island; 

• 1895 Tourist industry begins to increase on island...Hotels/Resorts/Clubs/Golf 

Course/... 

• 1901 Jacksonville Fire 

• World War II 

• Korean Conflict 

• 1955 Kingsley Plantation acquired by the State Park Service 

Civil Rights Period 1960-1968 

• 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King leads Civil Rights protests in St. Augustine, FL 

• 1965 Malcom-X assassinated 

• 1968 Archaeologist Charles Fairbanks excavates Kingsley site 

Sources consulted: Landers (2000); Rivers (2000); Schafer (1996); Stowell (1996) 
National Park Service 7

visually arresting reminder of the institution of 

slavery practiced in northeast Florida and 

throughout the U.S. South. Fairbanks’s goal was to 

discover more about African lifeways in America 

through an examination of the material remains of 

plantations in the Old South located along the south 

Atlantic coast. Kathleen Deagan, Professor of 

Archaeology at the University of Florida and former 

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FIGURE 2. Map of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and surrounding area. NPS map
8 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

student of Charles Fairbanks, says the “...excavation of Fairbanks has really started the whole 

history of African American archaeology in the 

country” (Deagan 2001). At the Kingsley site, he 

excavated one “slave” house and part of another 

and was able to supply the State Park administration 

with details that they later used for site restoration.

FIGURE 3. Sketch map of Kingsley Plantation, in the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. NPS map
National Park Service 9

The larger of the two cabins investigated (W-1) was 

considered to be the cabin of a foreman or driver (as 

opposed to a field hand cabin) and yielded the bulk 

of the artifacts on which Fairbanks’s analysis of the 

Kingsley site have been based. Although Fairbanks’s 

sample size was extremely small, he did discover an 

abundance of foodway remains at the Kingsley site. 

He found food procurement tools such as musket 

balls (for hunting) and cylindrical lead weights 

perhaps used for fishing. The food remains most 

abundantly found around the cabin well area were 

bones of fish, cattle, pigs, raccoons, and turtles, and 

shells of clams and oysters. Fairbanks found fragments of a cast iron skillet and pot, both of which 

had three legs indicating use in the fireplace. In 

addition, he found eating and cooking utensils made 

of iron such as spoons, forks, and table knives. In 

summarizing his 1968 excavation findings, Fairbanks concluded that the material culture that he 

did uncover proved that Africans supplemented 

their diet beyond provided rations and in some 

cases enslaved Africans did have access to firearms. 

Also, based on ceramic pieces recovered, he 

hypothesized that the period of occupation as a 

“slave” site indicated a community that existed 

during a time span perhaps at least as early as 1820 

through at least 1850 (Fairbanks 1974).

Assessing the Kingsley Legacy Today

In 1806, a ship by the name of Esther, Captained by 

Henry Wright, acquired cargo in the Port of Havana, 

Cuba and set sail for South Carolina. Listed among 

the ‘cargo,’ per the order of Zephaniah Kingsley, 

were ‘Tres Negras bozales piezas · trescientos p’ 

(Three female Negroes freshly arrived from Africa 

at a price of 300 p each). The cargo was registered to 

Spencer Man of Charleston, South Carolina, a passenger onboard the ship along with Zephaniah 

Kingsley. However, enroute to its intended destination, the ship was detained in St. Augustine, 

Florida, where the cargo was unloaded and released 

to the possession of Zephaniah Kingsley. [East 

Florida Papers]

Critical analysis of Zephaniah Kingsley’s life is 

central to the development of balanced portrayals of 

the diasporic experiences of enslaved Africans and 

their descendants and others involved in the slave 

trade business. For example, historian Daniel 

Schafer, who has done extensive research on Anna 

Kingsley, has concluded that Anna was probably 

one of the three Africans whom Zephaniah purchased and transported onboard the “Esther” from 

Havana to St. Augustine in October 1806 (Schafer 

1996, 2003). He proposes that Zephaniah took 

special interest in Anna (then age 13), claiming her 

as his “wife” soon after purchasing her. Historical 

accounts typically portray Zephaniah as a wealthy, 

well educated, high spirited, shrewd and determined businessman, politician, and gentleman and 

his relationship with Anna as a romance with strategic and lucrative business implications (Bennett 

1989; Corse 1931; Schafer 1994).

In the narratives that follow, descendants of the 

Kingsley family (see Figure 4) provide varying perspectives on Zephaniah and Anna’s life and 

critically assess their relationship to the Kingsley 

legacy today. For example, Peri Frances Betsch, an 

African-American identified, eighth generation 

descendant of Anna and Zephaniah (see Appendix1c), shared the following ideas and feelings 

regarding the circumstances of her great grandmother’s (Anna) arrival in Florida and the initial 

encounter between Anna and Zephaniah (Peri 

Frances Betsch 2001):

Sometimes it makes me laugh . . . But I don’t 

think it was like some, ‘I saw him across the 

crowded slave market, and he winked at me,’ 

that’s ludicrous. I can’t buy into that. And also 

you got to think like I would imagine, these 

people looked crazy to her, like who are you? . . . 

I imagine some redheaded white guy with a 

beard, wearing funny woolen clothing, and she 

must have been like, ‘You want me to do what?’ I 

just can’t picture it. But I really always wonder 

what was she thinking . . .

George W. Gibbs IV, a European-American identified Kingsley descendant of the Isabella KingsleyGibbs family line (see Figure5), expressed his 

thoughts about his great uncle’s business operations 

in this way (George W. Gibbs 1998):

This was pure and simple a place for Zephaniah 

Kingsley to bring slaves in his ships to Fort 

George, and they tied up here and they 

disembarked here at Fort George, and they 

began the domestication, if you will, of the 

African slaves he had brought to America or to 

Florida for the purpose of training on this site 

and selling them, moving on and selling those 

slaves. This was all about slave trading. This was 

not about—this was not a tobacco plantation 

where Zephaniah sat up here in a straw hat and 

corn cob pipe and watched his crops grow and 

harvested them every year and made money. 
10 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

FIGURE 4. Kingsley family descendants.

==================================================================

Kingsley Family 

==================================================================

1. Zephaniah Kingsley Sr. 

sp: Isabella Johnstone 

 |-2. Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. (b.1765 d.1843) 

 | sp: Anna (Anta Majigeen) Njaay (b.1793 d.1870) 

 | |-3. George Kingsley (b.1807) 

 | | sp: Anatoile Francoise VaunTravers (m.1849) 

 | |-3. Martha Kingsley Baxter (b.1809) 

 | | sp: Cran (?Oran) Baxter 

 | |-3. Mary Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1811) 

 | | sp: John S. Sammis 

 | | |-4. Egbert Kingsley-Sammis 

 | | |-4. George Kingsley-Sammis 

 | | L-4. Edmund Kingsley-Sammis 

 | | sp: ? Lizzy 

 | L-3. John Maxwell Kingsley (b.1824) 

 |-2. Mary Kingsley-Charlton (b.1764) 

 |-2. Johnstone Kingsley (b.1767) 

 |-2. George Kingsley (b.1768) 

 |-2. Catherine Kingsley-Bardon (b.1770) 

 |-2. Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1772) 

 |-2. Isabella Kingsley Gibbs (b.1774) 

 | sp: George Gibbs III

 | |-3. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs 

 | |-3. Zephaniah C. Gibbs 

 | |-3. George Couper Gibbs 2nd 

 | |-3. Sophia M. Gibbs 

 | |-3. Isabella M. Gibbs 

 | |-3. George Kingsley Gibbs 

 | L-3. Isabella J. Gibbs 

 L-2. Martha Kingsley McNeill (b.1775 d.1852) 

 sp: Daniel McNeill

 |-3. Charles James Kingsley McNeill 

 |-3. Anna Matilda Kingsley McNeill Whistler-2nd Wife (1808-1881) 

 | sp: Maj. George Washington Whistler 

 | |-4. James Abbot Kingsley-McNeill Whistler 

 | |-4. William Whistler 

 | | sp: Ida Florida Gibbs King (1st Wife) 

 | L-4. Charles Whistler 

 |-3. Isabella Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: George Fairfax 

 | L-4. Adm. Fairfax 

 |-3. Catherine Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: Dr. George Palmer 

 |-3. Mary Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: Joseph Estabrook 

 L-3. Gen. William Gibbs Kingsley McNeill 

 sp: Maria Commons 

==================================================================

sp=spouse 

source: Gibbs family memoirs (see Note 4) 
National Park Service 11

FIGURE 5. Kingsley Gibbs family descendants.

==================================================================

Kingsley Gibbs Family Line 

==================================================================

1. George Gibbs III 

sp: Isabella Kingsley Gibbs (b.1774 d.1837) 

 |-2. George Couper Gibbs 2nd (b.1822 d.1873) 

 | sp: Julia E. Williams (2nd Wife) Elizabeth Elcan-1st Wife (1829-1896) 

 | |-3. Elizabeth Elcan* Gibbs (b.1848) 

 | | sp: John T. Dismukes 

 | |-3. George William Gibbs (b.1853 d.1923) 

 | | sp: Margaret Watkins Gibbs (b.1855 d.1935) 

 | | |-4. George Couper Gibbs 2nd 

 | | | sp: Leonora Warnock 

 | | | |-5. Margaret Gibbs 

 | | | | sp: ?? Worthington 

 | | | | |-6. Patsy Gibbs Worthington 

 | | | | L-6. William Gibbs Worthington 

 | | | |-5. Harriet Gibbs Gardiner

 | | | | sp: ?? Gardiner 

 | | | | |-6. Phillip Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | |-6. Stephen Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | L-6. Couper Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | L-5. William Gibbs 

 | | | sp: UNKNOWN 

 | | | |-6. Leonora Gibbs 

 | | | |-6. William Tucker Gibbs

 | | | |-6. Becky Gibbs

 | | | |-6. Emily Gibbs 

 | | | L-6. Denny Gibbs 

 | | |-4. George William Gibbs 2nd 

 | | | sp: Kathleen M. Ingraham 

 | | | |-5. George W. Gibbs 3rd 

 | | | | sp: ?? 

 | | | | |-6. George W. Gibbs 4th

 | | | | L-6. Robert Gibbs 

 | | | L-5. Maria Gibbs 

 | | |-4. Elizabeth Lightfoot Coles Gibbs Weed 

 | | | sp: Joseph Dunning Weed (m.1911) 

 | | |-4. Margaret Watkins Gibbs Watt 

 | | | sp: Rev. Albert W.J. Watt 

 | | |-4. Tucker Carrington Gibbs (b.1889) 

 | | | sp: Clarissa Anderson Dimick 

 | | L-4. Rebecca Gibbs Moore (b.1881) 

 | | sp: Samuel Moore 

 | |-3. Isabella Barksdale Gibbs (b.1857) 

 | | sp: Charles Floyd Hopkins (b.1853 d.1948) 

 | L-3. Robert Kingsley Gibbs (b.1869 d.1905) 

 |-2. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs (b.1810 d.1859) 

 | sp: Laura Matilda Williams (b.1820 d.1893) 

 |-2. Sophia M. Gibbs 

 |-2. Isabella M. Gibbs 

 | sp: Ralph King 

 |-2. Zephaniah C. Gibbs 

 |-2. George Kingsley Gibbs 

 L-2. Isabella J. Gibbs 

==================================================================

sp=spouse 

source: Gibbs family memoirs (see Note 4) 
12 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

His business was—he was in the slave trade 

business on this site.

In addition, Becky Gibbs, another EuropeanAmerican identified Kingsley descendant in the Isabella Kingsley-Gibbs family line (see Figure 5), 

reflected upon her ancestral heritage and what it 

means to be not only a descendant of a slave owner 

in general but also to be a descendant specifically of 

one, Zephaniah Kingsley, who acknowledged 

spousal relationships and children fathered with 

African women. She articulated her feelings in the 

following passage (Becky Gibbs 1998):

. . . but I’ve also wondered about the dilemma of 

growing up in a white Southern family, having 

black ancestry; we’re people of the nineties, so 

we—I look at this as really exciting, wonderful, 

it sort of opens the doors. But when you come 

from Jacksonville, a Southern town, and you 

grew up and were born in 1911, and you grew 

up in the South, it must be a big dilemma having 

ancestors that were not only slave owners, but 

they also married their slaves and had children.

And, Johnnetta Cole, an African American identified, seventh generation descendant of Anna and 

Zephaniah (see Appendix-1c), expressed her 

feelings about her great grandmother’s life as an 

enslaved African woman, as a free woman of color 

and wealth, and as an eventual owner of enslaved 

Africans herself in this way (Johnnetta Betsch Cole 

2001):

It is obviously a profoundly moving story. It’s 

also a story, which in my view, has extraordinary 

complexity and contradictions. My great 

grandmother was not only a slave, she owned 

slaves. And, I would hope that for each of us as 

an African American, if there is any specificity 

to what is the general knowledge, that black 

people owned slaves, that we would have some 

contradictory feelings about that. Or better put, 

that one would not feel good about that. It’s 

very, very hard for me to think of slavery as a 

benign, as a decent, as a wonderful system, no 

matter how it is constructed. And, as an 

anthropologist I went through my phase of 

cultural relativism. I’m done with that. I have no 

difficulty in saying that I think there are some, 

what I would want to describe as universal— 

not universally held values, but values that I 

wish could be held universally, and one of these 

is the total opposition to slavery. And, so to feel 

that my great grandmother had acquired the 

kind of wealth and the kind of prestige that 

would allow her to own slaves, I balance that 

with, ‘she owned slaves!’ On the other hand, 

here was a woman of just extraordinary 

intelligence, ability. And, while I say that I am 

conscious that she was probably in no sense 

unique–we happened to have her story, but 

what we don’t have are, I am convinced, 

countless stories of women of no less 

intelligence, no less ability, whose stuff is 

simply lost.

The Kingsley Plantation Heritage 

Festival

Persons attending the Kingsley Plantation Heritage 

Festival each year overlay onto the physical plantation experience their own family and personal 

memories, as well as historical knowledge of the 

plantation. These festivals, especially the 1998 event 

combining festival and family reunion, have been 

and are rich grounds for interacting with people 

who have interest in and knowledge of Kingsley 

Plantation and the associated community and are 

willing to share it.

The Kingsley Plantation Heritage Festival and 

Family Reunion held in 1998 brought together 

members of the Kingsley Plantation community 

family from as far away as the Dominican Republic 

and as close as St. Augustine and Jacksonville, 

Florida. Interviews of many of the reunion participants present were conducted by and video taped 

by University of Florida graduate students, per a 

request to document the event by the National Park 

Service’s Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve office (see Note 3). The stories of the 

participants and their interactions and encounters 

with one another provide interesting insight into 

how issues of wealth, power, and privilege with 

respect to race and the legacy of slavery have been 

and are being experienced by descendants of the 

Kingsley Plantation community. For example, the 

history of the Kingsley family inheritance dispute 

was a topic of discussion for some descendants 

attending the festival. The dispute centered on a 

fight for control of Zephaniah Kingsley’s estate 

upon his death in 1843 and was initiated by a lawsuit 

filed by European descendant family members, 

most notably Zephaniah’s sister, Martha KingsleyMcNeill (May 1945). These families sued in order to 

revoke the terms of Kingsley’s will and prevent 

Zephaniah’s African descendant family members, 

primarily Anna and her children, from receiving 

their share of the estate as dictated by the terms of 

his will. The legal battle lasted several years before 

the original terms of the will were finally upheld and 
National Park Service 13

Anna Kingsley and her family were allowed to claim 

their share of the estate. However, by that time, 

administration costs and legal fees had depleted 

much of the estate.

William Tucker Gibbs, a sixth generation EuropeanAmerican identified Kingsley descendant of the Isabella Kingsley-Gibbs family line (see Figure 5) 

described his memory of the dispute in this way 

when interviewed at the festival in 1998 (William 

Tucker Gibbs 1998):

. . . And Kingsley was a strange guy who had a lot 

of money and owned a lot of land and that’s ok. 

He had a lot of power, so they didn’t mess with 

him. When he died, they certainly messed with 

Anna. I understand that she spent the last years 

of her life in court more than anywhere else—

just trying to keep her property for her children 

and keep her money. And of course, a black 

woman—whether you are free or not—your 

patron—your husband died and he’s the guy 

who’s always protected you—you can have all 

the land, all the money you want, but the 

powers that be don’t want a black woman—

think about this—she was a black woman. Not 

even a black man. They wouldn’t want a black 

man having this kind of power. Can you imagine 

how they felt about a black woman having all 

this money and all this land? Hell no [laughter]. 

So, it’s fascinating. It really is. 

Descendants Sandra LeBron and her son Manuel 

LeBron, from the Dominican Republic, when interviewed, stressed the unity of the family and a desire 

and willingness to personally forget negative aspects 

of the past and concentrate on establishing positive 

relationships in the present. Sandra and Manuel 

trace their connection to the Kingsley family 

through John Maxwell, a son of Zephaniah and 

Anna Kingsley (see Appendix-1c), who established 

his home in Haiti—today part of the Dominican 

Republic (Sandra Lebron 1998). Manuel expressed 

his feelings about the inheritance dispute in this way 

(Manuel LeBron 1998):

Yeah, because, you know, the celebration was 

going on and like, I, for myself didn’t have any, 

any, any, whatsoever, any, you know, feelings of 

regret or hate or anything like that—not at all . . . 

As I said, you know, it’s delicate issues that you 

have to laugh them off because there’s nothing 

else to do, and you know, it would be stupid to 

have any bad feelings because it’s past. You just 

laugh it off and forget it completely. 

Becky Gibbs describes her feelings about attending 

the festival and reunion and confronting the reality 

of her family’s history as follows (Becky Gibbs 

1998):

I imagine that for each one of us, the experience 

is much more than we are willing to reveal. I’m 

sure we all have questions and hesitations and 

fears, but the ones of us that came are obviously 

willing to confront whatever those hesitations 

or curiosities or whatever it was. It’s very sad to 

know that there’s certain parts of the family that 

won’t even find out what it’s about. That, to me 

is sad.

In general, however, when interviewed, Kingsley 

family descendants who attended the festival and 

reunion emphasized the significance of family connections made at the event. The Kingsley Plantation 

site and events such as the Kingsley Plantation Heritage Festival provide tangible and interactively 

accessible reminders of the past. In turn, narratives 

of Kingsley descendants help frame physical 

(material), mental, and social links between the past 

and the present. For example, Emily Gibbs, a sixth 

generation European-American identified Kingsley 

descendant of the Isabella Kingsley-Gibbs family 

line (see Figure 5) shared the following about family 

relationships and connections she made at the 1998 

festival (Emily Gibbs 1998):

We all come from a single family line and that’s 

interesting too . . . Yeah, and, he [Manuel 

Lebron] is great. I love that—I say we are 

definitely cousins . . . I really enjoyed meeting 

MaVynee [a seventh generation descendant of 

Anna and Zephaniah Kingsley]. Yeah, she is 

fabulous, and she—just watching her 

yesterday—I immediately thought of Anna. I 

thought, oh my God, this woman who you can 

see—she has something inside of her that is just 

very strong and very—and it probably was one 

of my highlights.

And, Harriet Gibbs Gardiner, a fifth generation, 

European-American identified descendant of the 

Isabella Kingsley-Gibbs family line (see Figure 5), 

described herself, her festival experience, her memories of the past, and her connection to the Kingsley 

Plantation site in this way (Harriet Gardiner 1998):

Well, my name is Harriet Gardiner, and my 

maiden name was Harriet Gibbs, and so I am a 

descendant of the Kingsleys. Old Zephaniah 

Kingsley came over, I believe, from Bristol in the 

middle of the seventeen hundreds, I believe, 

and one of his sons was Zephaniah Kingsley and 
14 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

then he had a daughter, Isabella, and a daughter, 

Martha. Of course, Zephaniah is the one who is 

so very famous and for whom this plantation is 

named. But my, I guess, great, great 

grandmother, Isabella, married George Gibbs, 

and from him do I get my name, my father and 

his family . . . We still have a number of cousins 

who are related the same way I am. I have just 

made friends with Marsha Phelps in the last 

couple of years. Now, she has written the book 

about American Beach, which I’m sure you are 

aware of, and Mrs. Betsch [MaVynee, a seventh 

generation descendant of Anna and Zephaniah 

Kingsley], who was up here, and we had never 

met each other until recently. And that’s been a 

great pleasure, and we call each other cousin, 

and that’s kind of fun. But there are others 

whom I hope to meet sometime—descendants 

of that Sammis family. I think I’ll just have to do 

a little more studying . . . We used to do this with 

all children—when we’d come out here [to the 

Kingsley Plantation], we’d look around and 

then we would go and stand there where you 

can look across to the marsh and the trees 

beyond and we would think what it must have 

been like to see a slave ship coming in or maybe 

see that long boat rowed out and use your 

imagination. This is a wonderful place for 

imagination because it’s unspoiled and not a lot 

of buildings around, and so you can go back in 

history. So, that’s something that I still like to 

do—stand out there and look at the marsh . . . 

I’m so happy that I hope this is the beginning of 

a coming together of the descendants of two 

families that have been separated for so long 

and really not because they’re willful about it, 

but just because they haven’t realized how 

much richness there is in this whole experience 

under this roof and in this locale. I’ve always 

loved Fort George Island and it’s always had a 

special meaning right here, but now it’s even 

more so.

In this chapter, Kingsley descendant narratives and 

the archeological findings of Fairbanks and later 

Karen Jo Walker (1988) help underscore links 

between the past and the present—critically profiling the reality of slavery and the plantation 

experience for both descendants of enslaved 

Africans and descendants of plantation owners. The 

Kingsley Plantation site provides an important 

physical and social place reminder of the legacy and 

complex reality of slavery in America.
National Park Service 15

Chapter Two: Zephaniah 

Kingsley and the Kingsley 

Plantation in Global Perspective

However, what proved to be most novel about 

the Atlantic trade was its scale . . . Over the 

course of four centuries it caused the greatest 

intercontinental migration in world history to 

that time, and it affected people and the history 

of their offspring on all lands bordering the 

Atlantic. [Donald R.Wright 1990:16-17]

Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr. was a wealthy planter, businessman, slave-trader, and “slave” owner. He was 

born in Bristol, England in 1765. His father was an 

English-Quaker and his mother was of Scottish 

descent. He lived a life of constant migration. In 

1793, Kingsley took an “oath of naturalization” in 

Charleston, South Carolina. In 1798, he took an 

“oath of loyalty” to Denmark while employed as a 

ship captain on the island of St. Thomas, and then, 

in 1803, he took a third “oath of loyalty,” as a 

Spanish citizen of Saint Augustine, East Florida 

(Schafer 2000). Kingsley’s life and business activities 

underscore the reality of the transatlantic slave trade 

in America.

As a slave-trader, Zephaniah owned and captained 

ships, and was actively involved in the transport and 

enslavement of Africans (see map, Figure 6). 

Between 1802 and 1808, for example, Zephaniah 

Kingsley dispersed hundreds of enslaved Africans 

throughout the Americas and specifically imported 

Africans into Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina 

for his own plantation interests. A shipping document from the year 1802 lists Kingsley as the first 

captain of a ship called, “Superior,” which arrived at 

the Port of Havana with 250 Africans. These 

Africans were taken from unspecified regions in 

Africa, then sold into slavery in the Americas under 

the direction and discretion of Zephaniah Kingsley 

(Eltis 1999). In addition, the following entry provides an example of Kingsley’s introduction of 

Africans into a province in Florida:

Certified and sworn that Zephaniah Kingsley 

introduced into the province, 64 slaves; 21 of 

them in the sloop ‘Laurel’ from the port of San 

Tomas, 5/5/1804; 10 on 6/25 of the same year in 

the schooner ‘Laurel,’ alias the ‘Juanita,’ 

proceeding from Havana; 16 in the sloop ‘El 

Jefe,’ coming from Charleston, 7/15/1806; 3 in 

the schooner ‘Esther,’ coming from Havana, on 

10/21/1806; and 10 in the schooner ‘Industria,’ 

coming from Georgia, 3/9/1808. [Spanish Land 

Grants 1941:21]

Zephaniah’s own reflection on the slave-trade 

business is captured in an interview conducted by 

Lydia Child in New York in 1842. He shared the following views with Lydia (Child 1844:155-156):

LC: Then you have been on the coast of Africa?

ZK: Yes, ma’am; I carried on the slave trade for 

several years.

LC: You announce that fact very coolly. Do you 

know that, In New England, men look upon a 

slave-trader with as much horror as they upon a 

pirate?

ZK: Yes; and I am glad of it. They will look 

upon a slaveholder just so, by and by. Slave 

trading was a very respectable business when I 

was young. The first merchants in England and 

America were engaged in it. Some people hide 

things which they think other people don’t like. 

I never conceal anything.

Although Kingsley’s actions were not unique, he 

was outspoken in espousing his views and advocating his way of life. He had a vested interest in 
16 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study ,JOHTMF

yGBNJM

ySFTJEFODFT
UIUIDFOUVSJFT

-PDBUJPOTPGTMBWFUSBEJOH
UIUIDFOUVSJFT

FIGURE 6. Zephaniah Kingsley family in global historical perspective. NPS map
National Park Service 17

maintaining slavery as a means of acquiring 

“colored” labor while at the same time, advocating 

for peaceful relations between whites and free 

“colored” populations as a means of control and 

protection against revolt. For example, in his 

“Address to the Legislative Council of Florida on 

the Subject of Its Colored Population” delivered in 

1823, Zephaniah petitioned as follows:

A certain portion or extent of country situated 

on the Seaboard of the Southern States who’s 

climate is unfavorable to the health and 

production of white people, seems destined by 

nature to be cultivated and brought into 

production and into perfective value by the 

labor of colored people; of all this portion of 

territory, extending from the capes of Virginia, 

southerly to the cape of Florida on the Atlantic 

coast, and perhaps 100 miles back upon an 

average from the sea, Florida is by far the most 

valuable . . . In short consider that our personal 

safety, as well as the permanent condition of our 

slave property is immediately connected with, 

and depends upon our good policy in making it 

the interest of our free colored population to be 

attached to good order and have a friendly 

feeling towards the white population. 

[Zephaniah Kingsley 1823]

There is an abundance of Kingsley myths and 

stories, and historians and other scholars have 

endeavored to sort through the wide variety of 

accounts of and contradictory aspects of Kingsley’s 

life. Their findings are part of the public record 

(Corse 1931; Glover 1970; May 1945; Schafer 1996; 

Stephens 1978). However, the aspect of Kingsley’s 

life that is most relevant to this study is that it is a 

focal point from which to illuminate the African 

diasporic experience of a specific community and a 

specific family. For the purposes of this study, the 

African diasporic experience is defined as all relationships and factors involved in the forced 

migration of, or the enslavement and dispersal of, 

African people during the period known as the 

transatlantic slave trade (15th-19th centuries). This 

dispersal primarily resulted in the exploitation of 

the labor, skill, and reproductive services of Africans 

on plantations in the Americas for commerce and 

profit.

The central theme of “the Zephaniah Kingsley 

story” is his acknowledged spousal relationship with 

Anta Majigeen Ndiaye, a West African woman 

described as being of royal lineage from the country 

of Senegal. Anta (or Anna Kingsley) is thought to be 

one of three bozales (newly imported persons from 

Africa) whom he purchased and transported from 

Havana, Cuba to Florida in 1806 (Schafer 1996). 

Zephaniah openly acknowledged Anna as his wife 

and established a home with her at his plantations in 

East Florida (i.e., Laurel Grove and Kingsley Plantation) and later in Haiti. He had four children with 

her—George, Mary, Martha, and John (see 

Appendix-1c, Kingsley Descent Chart), which he 

acknowledged and provided for, as the terms of his 

1843 will served to underscore. Anna Kingsley is 

also recorded as having owned enslaved Africans 

and many accounts of the Zephaniah story underscore this. In addition to Anna, Zephaniah Kingsley 

maintained relations with a number of other African 

women and acknowledged paternity for the 

children he fathered with them (Schafer 1996:138; 

Raney1883:742-743).

Around 1837, Kingsley sold most of his Florida 

property and resettled his extended family in Haiti. 

Schafer writes that:

He sold most of his Florida properties and 

purchased several plantation tracts in the free 

black Republic of Haiti, where Anna Kingsley 

and her sons George and John Maxwell, along 

with other Kingsley co-wives and children and 

fifty slaves, settled in 1837. Kingsley urged two 

daughters who remained in Florida (both were 

married to prominent white men) to emigrate to 

‘some land of liberty and equal rights, where the 

conditions of society are governed by some law 

less absurd then that of color.’ [Schafer 

2000:113]

In the 1842 interview with Lydia Maria Child in 

New York, Zephaniah Kingsley discussed the settlement of Anna and family in Haiti. The discussion 

proceeded as follows (Child 1844:156-157):

ZK: . . . I have fixed her nicely in my Haitien 

[sic] colony. I wish you would go there. She 

would give you the best in the house. You ought

to go, to see how happy the human race can be. 

It is a fine, rich valley, about thirty miles from 

Port Platte; heavily timbered with mahogany all 

round; well watered; flowers so beautiful; fruits 

in abundance, so delicious that you could not 

refrain from stopping to eat, till you could eat 

no more. My sons have laid out good roads, 

and built bridges and mills; the people are 

improving, and everything is prosperous. I am 

anxious to establish a good school there.

LC: . . . I have heard that you hold your laborers 

in a sort of qualified slavery; and some friends 
18 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

of the coloured race have apprehensions that 

you may sell them again.

ZK: My labourers in Haiti are not slaves. They 

are a kind of indentured apprentices. I give 

them land, and they bind themselves to work for 

me. I have no power to take them away from 

that island; and you know very well that I could 

not sell them there.

Zephaniah Kingsley played a significant role in the 

intercontinental transport and movement of African 

and African descendant people during the period of 

the transatlantic slave trade. His business and family 

activities, when traced over time, provides a view 

into the life of specific Africans as they moved into 

and out of Florida and between Florida, Africa, and 

the Caribbean.
National Park Service 19

Chapter Three: Kingsley 

Descendants, Community 

Associations, and the Plantation 

Legacy

This is a profile of a Florida plantation owner’s 

family and his descendants. The families of 

Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr. and Anta Majigeen Ndiaye 

(Anna Kingsley) and their descendants have had a 

significant impact on the history of northeast 

Florida. Their memories, stories, and experiences 

form connections between the past and present in 

interesting, challenging, and complex ways. A brief 

overview of the Kingsley-Gibbs and KingsleyMcNeill family lines of European descent and the 

Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis, Kingsley-Baxter, 

Kingsley-LeBron, and Kingsley-Eliebo family lines 

of African and European descent follows (see 

Appendix-1b). In addition, the chapter will conclude with an ethnographic profile of the KingsleySammis-Lewis-Betsch family—chosen because of 

their prominence within the Jacksonville community, accessibility of descendants for interviews, 

and the availability of archival data.

Kingsley Gibbs and Kingsley McNeill 

Families

Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr. had seven siblings—Mary, 

Johnstone, George, Catherine, Elizabeth, Isabella, 

and Martha (see Figure 7). His sister, Martha 

Kingsley, married Dr. Daniel McNeill and they had 

six children. Martha and Daniel’s daughter, Anna 

Matilda McNeill, married Major George Whistler 

and they had three sons: Charles, who died in 

infancy; William, a famous throat specialist; and 

James, the famed artist.

Zephaniah’s sister, Isabella Kingsley (1774-1837) 

married George Gibbs III and they had seven 

children (see Figure 7). One of their sons, Kingsley 

Beatty Gibbs owned the Kingsley Plantation from 

1839-1853. Another son, George Couper Gibbs II, 

was a planter in St. Johns County. An excerpt from 

the 1860/1870 St. Johns County Florida census 

report lists George Couper Gibbs II and his wife 

Julia and several other Gibbs family members and 

their occupations (see Figure 8).

George Couper Gibbs II had four children. One of 

his children, Elizabeth Elcan Gibbs (see Figure 9), 

was interviewed in May 1939 in St. Augustine, 

Florida at the age of 90, as part of the Federal 

Writers’ Oral History Project. Mrs. Elizabeth Elcan 

Gibbs Dismukes shared several interesting stories 

about the Kingsley-Gibbs family with interviewer 

Rose Shepherd (Shepherd 1939). For example, she 

offered the following comments when asked about 

a picture of “Whistler’s Mother” (Anna Matilda 

Kingsley McNeill Whistler) that hung on the wall of 

her living room:

. . . Anna McNeill Whistler [she was the 

daughter of Zephaniah’s sister, Martha 

Kingsley McNeill] was my father’s first cousin, 

and she was a young woman when she married 

John Whistler. She used to come over to our 

home every day. I am the only person living 

today who knew her personally. This picture of 

her is nearly one hundred years old. [Shepherd 

1939]
20 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

She also described her family’s connection to elite 

planter families in South Carolina as follows:

. . . Father’s widowed sister, Aunt Sophia 

Couper [Sophia M. Gibbs, daughter of Isabella 

Kingsley Gibbs and George Gibbs III], married 

General Duncan Lamont Clinch, and as his 

fame increased she became very ‘high-hat.’ She 

had married a widower with a bushel of 

children, though. One of his daughters, 

Elizabeth, married Anderson Hayward, of Fort 

Sumter, South Carolina, and her son, D. Clinch 

Hayward, is a former governor of that State. His 

home is at Columbia, South Carolina. Clinch 

Hayward’s grandfather was known as the 

wealthiest man in the state of South Carolina. 

He had three plantations, one in Georgia, and 

two in South Carolina, and had 2,500 slaves. He 

had a book in which he kept a record of every 

negro he owned—when they were born, 

married, died, or if they were purchased from 

some other planter, the date and as much 

information as he could secure regarding their 

previous life. Clinch has the record book yet, it 

is one of his prized possessions. [Shepard 1939]

Most interesting was Elizabeth’s recounting of her 

memory of an encounter with Anna Kingsley. Her 

observation gives both a rare first hand description 

of Anna as well as a general sense of the Gibbs’ 

family relationship to Anna—albeit from the perspective of a then young girl remembered and 

shared over eighty years later:

FIGURE 7. Descendants of Zephaniah Kingsley Sr.and Isabella Johnstone.

==================================================================

Descendants of Zephaniah Kingsley Sr.and Isabella Johnstone 

==================================================================

1. Zephaniah Kingsley Sr. 

sp: Isabella Johnstone 

 |-2. Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. (b.1765 d.1843)

 | sp: Anna (Anta Majigeen) Njaay (b.1793 d.1870) 

 |-2. Mary Kingsley- Charlton (b.1764) 

 |-2. Johnstone Kingsley (b.1767)

 |-2. George Kingsley (b.1768) 

 |-2. Catherine Kingsley- Bardon (b.1770)

 |-2. Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1772) 

 |-2. Isabella Kingsley Gibbs (b.1774) 

 | sp: George Gibbs III 

 | |-3. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs 

 | |-3. Zephaniah C. Gibbs 

 | |-3. George Couper Gibbs 2nd 

 | |-3. Sophia M. Gibbs 

 | |-3. Isabella M. Gibbs 

 | |-3. George Kingsley Gibbs 

 | L-3. Isabella J. Gibbs 

 |-2. Martha Kingsley McNeill (b.1775 d.1852)

 sp: Daniel McNeill

 |-3. Charles James Kingsley McNeill 

 |-3. Anna Matilda Kingsley McNeill Whistler(1808-1881) 

 | sp: Maj. George Washington Whistler 

 | |-4. James Abbot Kingsley-McNeill Whistler 

 | |-4. William Whistler 

 | L-4. Charles Whistler 

 |-3. Isabella Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: George Fairfax 

 |-3. Catherine Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: Dr. George Palmer 

 |-3. Mary Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: Joseph Estabrook 

 L-3. Gen. William Gibbs Kingsley McNeill 

 sp: Maria Commons 

==================================================================

sp=spouse 

source: Gibbs family memoirs (see Note 4) 
National Park Service 21

. . . I remember her very distinctly. She was not 

black, and had the most beautiful features you 

ever saw. She was a most imposing and very 

handsome woman. Her smooth, light brown 

skin, her dark-eyes and wavy [sic] made her 

outstanding, and I would not keep my eyes away 

for admiration. She was quiet and moved with 

regal dignity—I have never seen anything like 

her, before or since. Her daughter was there 

also, and she was very light in color, but not as 

good-looking as her mother. I was six or seven 

years old at the time. I was Kingsley’s niece. The 

next morning my aunt, Mrs. Gibbs, sent two 

servants for us with a horse and buggy, and we 

were carried over to Newcastle. My mother was 

furious that we had spent the night at Ma’m 

Anna’s, but it could not be helped. [Shepard 

1939]

Harriet Gibbs Gardiner, one of several family 

members interviewed at the 1998 Kingsley festival 

and reunion, provided a current perspective of her 

family’s sentiments about Zephaniah and Anna in 

the following narrative (Harriet Gardiner 1998):

. . . Very frankly, at least my mother has said that 

when she was first married, people didn’t talk 

about Zephaniah Kingsley. They spoke of him 

as if he was sort of a legend. There was 

something in the shadows—in the closet, 

maybe, about Zephaniah Kingsley. That 

interested her . . . , I think my mother had a 

certain amount to do with the coming to light of 

Zephaniah’s relationship with Anna. I’d like to 

think, although I may be contradicted, I’d like to 

think that it was perhaps my mother’s 

broadmindedness that helped people realize 

this was a wonderful and interesting thing and 

that Zephaniah Kingsley did Anna the honor of 

marrying her. I mean, he, Zephaniah Kingsley, 

although he did something different, he wasn’t 

shameful. He married this beautiful young girl 

and gave her responsibility, and they had 

children together, and a great deal of the 

development of north Florida has to do with the 

careful farming that was done by Kingsley and 

by Anna after Kingsley’s death. So, that, I think 

is an interesting part of my connection. I’ve 

always been interested in Fort George Island, 

and I’m glad to say that there’s been a lot more 

said about Kingsley, in a positive, way than there 

might have been two generations ago.

FIGURE 8. 1860 and 1870 US Census data from St. Johns County Florida.

ID Abode# Family# Name Age Sex Color Occupation 

1 151 151 Gibbs, George C. 38 Male W Planter 

2 151 151 Gibbs, Julia 29 Female W 

3 151 151 Gibbs, Elizabeth 12 Female W 

4 151 151 Gibbs, Julia 9 Female W 

5 151 151 Gibbs, George 6 Male W 

6 151 151 Gibbs, Isabelle 3 Female W 

7 393 393 Gibbs, Laura M.W. 39 Female W 

8 393 393 Gibbs, Medo ? W. 15 Female W 

9 393 393 Rosa L. Burroughs 18 Female W 

10 393 393 Clara E. Burroughs 13 Female W 

11 393 393 Joseph B. Burroughs 7 Male W 

12 393 393 Rev. T. Williams 34 Male W O.L.Presb Clgyman 

1870 

13 161 179 Gibbs, M.L. 45 Female W Keeping House 

14 161 179 Burroughs, Rosa 25 Female W At home 

15 161 179 Gibbs, Mary 23 Female W At home 

16 161 179 Burroughs, Clara 20 Female W At home 

17 161 179 Burroughs, Jossio B. 17 Male W At home 

18 161 179 Burroughs, Julia L. 19 Female W At home 

19 Samis, Mary 65 Female B Laundress 

20 Samis, Mary 15 Female B At home 

21 Samis, Sally 85 Female B Keeping House 

 source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
22 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

FIGURE 9. Descendants of George Gibbs III and Isabella Kingsley.

==================================================================

Descendants of George Gibbs III and Isabella Kingsley

==================================================================

1. George Gibbs III 

sp: Isabella Kingsley Gibbs (b.1774 d.1837) 

 |-2. George Couper Gibbs II (b.1822 d.1873)

 | sp: Julia E. Williams(2nd Wife)/Elizabeth Elcan-1st Wife(1829-1896) 

 | |-3. Elizabeth Elcan* Gibbs (b.1848)

 | | sp: John T. Dismukes 

 | |-3. George William Gibbs (b.1853 d.1923)

 | | sp: Margaret Watkins Gibbs (b.1855 d.1935) 

 | | |-4. George Couper Gibbs III (Circuit Judge 22 yrs Miami, FL)

 | | | sp: Leonora Warnock 

 | | | |-5. Margaret Gibbs 

 | | | | sp: ? Worthington 

 | | | | |-6. Patsy Gibbs Worthington 

 | | | | L-6. William Gibbs Worthington 

 | | | |-5. Harriet Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | sp: ? Gardiner 

 | | | | |-6. Phillip Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | |-6. Stephen Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | L-6. Couper Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | L-5. William Gibbs 

 | | | sp: ? 

 | | | |-6. Leonora Gibbs 

 | | | |-6. William Tucker Gibbs 

 | | | |-6. Becky Gibbs 

 | | | |-6. Emily Gibbs 

 | | | L-6. Denny Gibbs 

 | | |-4. George William Gibbs II(Gibbs Gas Engine & Shipbuilding Co.) 

 | | | sp: Kathleen M. Ingraham 

 | | | |-5. George W. Gibbs 3rd 

 | | | | sp: ? 

 | | | | |-6. George W. Gibbs 4th 

 | | | | L-6. Robert Gibbs 

 | | | L-5. Maria Gibbs 

 | | |-4. Elizabeth Lightfoot Coles Gibbs Weed 

 | | | sp: Joseph Dunning Weed 

 | | |-4. Margaret Watkins Gibbs Watt 

 | | | sp: Rev. Albert W.J. Watt 

 | | |-4. Tucker Carrington Gibbs (b.1889) 

 | | | sp: Clarissa Anderson Dimick 

 | | L-4. Rebecca Gibbs Moore (b.1881) 

 | | sp: Samuel Moore ) 

 | |-3. Isabella Barksdale Gibbs (b.1857) 

 | | sp: Charles Floyd Hopkins (b.1853 d.1948) 

 | L-3. Robert Kingsley Gibbs (b.1869 d.1905) 

 |-2. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs (b.1810 d.1859) 

 | sp: Laura Matilda Williams (b.1820 d.1893) 

 |-2. Sophia M. Gibbs

 |-2. Isabella M. Gibbs 

 | sp: Ralph King 

 |-2. Zepahniah C. Gibbs 

 |-2. George Kingsley Gibbs 

 L-2. Isabella J. Gibbs 

==================================================================

sp=spouse 

source: Duval County Florida Probate Records and Gibbs family memoirs (see Note 4) 
National Park Service 23

Anna’s Family

Anna and Zephaniah Kingsley had four children, 

George, John, Mary, and Martha (see Figure 10). 

Mary Kingsley Sammis and Martha Kingsley Baxter 

each married wealthy white men from the New 

England area and settled in the Jacksonville, Florida 

area. George Kingsley and his brother John 

Maxwell established households in the Dominican 

Republic, at that time known as Haiti.

Kingsley-LeBron and Kingsley-Eliebo

Anthropologist Dr. Martha Ellen Davis and historian Dr. Daniel Schafer have conducted research 

on the Kingsley family’s Dominican Republic connections. The family migrated to the island country 

when it was under Haitian rule—1822-1844. At that 

time, Zephaniah Kingsley was pursuing business 

interests in Haiti and moved members of his family 

to live there. The information collected by Davis 

and Schafer help further expand the Kingsley 

family profile.

For example, Sandra and Manuel LeBron, Kingsley 

family members from Santo Domingo, traveled to 

Florida in 1998 to participate in the Kingsley Plantation Heritage Festival and family reunion. Sandra 

and Manuel trace their Kingsley kinship through 

John Maxwell, the son of Anna and Zephaniah 

Kingsley. When interviewed at the festival, they 

indicated that they had first become acquainted 

with Dr. Schafer and familiar with his Kingsley 

research interest during a visit to the Kingsley Plantation in the mid-1990s. Dr. Schafer has traveled to 

the Dominican Republic and other places collecting 

information on Anna Kingsley’s family.

Dr. Martha Ellen Davis first became interested in 

Kingsley family history through Kingsley 

descendant Crucito Medina Kingsley-Eleibo, whom 

she met during the late 1970s while pursuing 

research in the area folklore and folk traditions in 

the Dominican Republic. Her collaboration with 

Crucito Medina Kingsley-Eleibo resulted in the collection of primary and secondary source material 

on Zephaniah Kingsley’s family connections in the 

Dominican Republic. In an interview with Dr. Davis 

regarding her findings, she indicated that Crucito is 

a descendant of George Kingsley and his wife, Anatalia Vertraveur Kingsley (see Figure 10). George 

and Anatalia’s daughter, Anatoile Kingsley, married 

Jacobo Eleibo, and members of the Kingsley-Eleibo 

family still reside in the Puerto Plata area of the 

Dominican Republic and have lived there since the 

late 1830s (Martha Davis 2001).

Kingsley-Sammis and KingsleyBaxter

The 1860 Duval County free population census lists 

Anna Kingsley and her daughters, Mary K. Sammis 

and Martha Baxter, and their families (see Figure 

11). They were recorded by name as free persons of 

color at the time when the majority of persons of 

African descent in the U.S. population were listed in 

separate slave schedules and counted but not identified by name. In 1860, for example, Martha Baxter 

is listed in both the Duval County free population 

census and in the slave schedules. In the slave population schedules for Duval County she is listed as a 

slave owner.

The probate record of John S. Sammis, filed in 1884, 

shows Mary K. Sammis (Anna’s daughter) as his 

widow and Edmund G. Sammis, George K. Sammis, 

and Egbert C. Sammis as his children (see Note 4). 

In his book, Florida’s Black Public Officials, Canter 

Brown, Jr. lists Edmund G. Sammis as a mulatto 

farmer who was a Duval County justice of the peace 

in 1877-1885; Egbert C. Sammis as a mulatto farmer 

and member of the Florida senate in 1889; and 

George K. Sammis as a black man and 1867 Duval 

County voter registrar (1998:122).

The census is an excellent source of detailed information on US populations as captured from the 

firsthand perspective of enumerators charged with 

the task of “locating and listing everyone alive on 

the census day” (Thorndale 1987:xv). However, the 

census data recordings for Mary Sammis underscore the subjective nature of census enumerating as 

well as inconsistencies and inaccuracies in US 

census entries in general (Thorndale 1987). Mary K. 

Sammis is classified as a white female in the 1860 

Duval County census, as a mulatto female in 1870, 

and again as a white female in the 1880 census, for 

example (see Appendix-2 census data).

Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch 

Family

The Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch family relationships provide an interesting and expansive 

portrait of the breadth and depth of the Kingsley 

Plantation community that extends beyond the 

physical boundaries of the Kingsley Plantation (see 
24 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Figure 12). The Kingsley family and the history of 

the Kingsley Plantation is embedded in the fabric of 

everyday life in Jacksonville and surrounding communities in northeast Florida—from Fernandina (to 

the north) to St. Augustine (to the south). The 

Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch family’s profile is a 

specific example of the geographic and social 

breadth of the Kingsley Plantation community.

In 1884, Abraham Lincoln Lewis married Mary F. 

Kingsley Sammis (see Figure 13), daughter of 

Edward G. Sammis (Edmund), a former Duval 

County justice of the peace and the great granddaughter of Zephaniah and Anna Kingsley (Phelts 

1997:28). The Abraham Lincoln (A.L.) Lewis and 

Mary Sammis Lewis union formed one of the most 

prominent dynasties of wealth, influence, and 

power in Florida’s African American community.

One of the founders, and later, one of the presidents 

of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company (the 

Afro), A.L. Lewis became one of the richest men in 

Florida during the 1920s until his death in 1947. He 

amassed large amounts of property in Jacksonville, 

and throughout Florida, and operated many successful business ventures. The thirty-six-acre 

Lincoln Golf and Country Club, which opened in 

1929, is one example (Phelts 1997).

FIGURE 10. Descendants of Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna) and Zephaniah Kingsley Jr.

==================================================================

Descendants of Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna) and Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. 

==================================================================

1. Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. (b.1765 d.1843) 

sp: Anna (Anta Majigeen) Njaay (b.1793 d.1870) 

 |-2. George Kingsley (b.1807) 

 | sp: Anatoile Francoise VaunTravers (married in 1849) 

 | |-3. Georgianna Kingsley 

 | |-3. Estelle Kingsley 

 | |-3. George Kingsley 

 | |-3. Zephaniah Kingsley 

 | L-3. Anatole Kingsley(*) 

 | sp: Jacobo Eleibo 

 | |-4. John Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | |-4. George Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | sp: Mariana Jones 

 | | L-5. Adolfo Jones Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | sp: Martina Medina 

 | | L-6. Crucito Medina Jones Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | L-4. M? Kingsley-Eleibo 

 |-2. Martha Kingsley Baxter (b.1809) 

 | sp: Cran(?Oran) Baxter 

 | |-3. Anna Kingsley Baxter Carroll 

 | | sp: Charles B. Carroll 

 | |-3. Isabella Kingsley Baxter 

 | |-3. Julia Catherine Kingsley Baxter 

 | |-3. Osmund Edward Kingsley Baxter 

 | L-3. Emma Jane Kingsley Baxter Mocs 

 | sp: Joseph Mocs 

 |-2. Mary Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1811) 

 | sp: John S. Sammis (died 1883) 

 | |-3. Egbert Kingsley-Sammis 

 | |-3. George Kingsley-Sammis 

 | L-3. Edmund Kingsley-Sammis (Edward) 

 | sp: ? Lizzy 

 L-2. John Maxwell Kingsley (b.1824) 

================================================================== 

sp=spouse 

source: Duval County Florida Probate Records and Martha E. Davis personal files (see Note 4) 
National Park Service 25

FIGURE 11. 1860 US Census data from Duval County Florida.

ID Abode# Family# Name Age Sex Color Occupation Birth Pl 

31 381 379 Bigelow, Alexander G. 10 Male W FL 

32 381 379 Bigelow, Clanfa? 6 Female W FL 

33 390 388 Christopher, Lewis 68 Male W Planter FL 

34 390 388 Christopher, James, L. 36 Male W FL 

35 409 406 Leasy?, Joseph 35 Male W Teamster SC

36 

37 529 528 Sammis, John S. 50 Male W Farmer NY 

38 529 528 Sammis, Mary K. 45 Female W FL 

39 529 528 Sammis, Martha K. 20 Female W FL 

40 529 528 Sammis, Egbert C. 13 Male W FL 

41 529 528 Sammis, Amelia B. 11 Female W FL 

42 530 529 Phillips, Alonzo 20 Male Mu FL 

43 530 529 Meliam? 70 Male B Africa 

44 531 530 Kingsley, Toby 90 Male B Africa 

45 532 531 Williams, Mary A. 20 Female Mu FL 

46 532 531 Williams, Rebecca 35 Female Mu FL 

47 532 531 Williams, Hannah 6 Female Mu FL 

48 532 531 Williams, Holly 2 Female Mu FL 

49 533 532 Kingsley, Maria 46 Female B FL 

50 533 532 Kingsley, Sarah 14 Female Mu FL 

51 533 532 Kingsley, Dora 6 Female Mu FL 

52 533 532 Kingsley, Rosalia 3 Female B FL 

53 534 533 Kingsley, Lindo? 55 Male B FL 

54 534 533 Kingsley, Sophia 40 Female B FL 

55 534 533 Kingsley, John 5 Male B FL 

56 534 533 Kingsley, Gaden? 3 Female B FL 

57 535 534 Abdallah 60 Male B Africa 

58 535 534 Bella 60 Female B Africa 

59 682 681 Johnson, John 45 Male W Bar Pilot Norway 

60 682 681 Johnson, Ruth W. 37 Female W FL 

61 682 681 Johnson, Lula 19 Female W FL 

62 682 681 Johnson, Charles 18 Male W FL 

63 682 681 Johnson, Mary M. 10 Female W FL 

64 682 681 Johnson, Martha? 8 Female W FL 

65 682 681 Johnson, Mary? 6 Female W FL 

66 682 681 Johnson, Edwin 1/12 Male W FL 

67 696 695 Baxter, Martha B. 50 Female Mu Farmer FL 

68 696 695 Charles B. Carroll 48 Male W NY 

69 696 695 Anna B. Carroll 26 Female Mu FL 

70 696 695 Baxter, Isabella 24 Female Mu FL 

71 697 696 Mocs, Joseph 28 Male W Music Tchr Hungary 

72 697 696 Mocs, Emma 22 Female Mu FL 

73 697 696 Mocs, Osmond 18 Male Mu FL 

74 697 696 Mocs, Julia 16 Female Mu FL 

75 697 696 Catherine Bullen 35 Female W Teacher SC 

76 698 697 Kingsley, Anna M. 75 Female B Africa 

77 698 697 Kingsley, Bella 11 Female Mu St Domingo

 source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
26 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

 

 

 

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FIGURE 12. Kingsley Sammis-Lewis Betsch descent chart.
National Park Service 27

Mary F. Sammis-Lewis was also very active in the 

Jacksonville community. Amongst her many civic, 

social, and business activities, she served on the 

Deaconess Board of her church, Bethel Baptist 

Institutional Church, for over twenty years. Mrs. 

Camilla Thompson, historian and archivist at Bethel 

Baptist, shared the following about A.L. Lewis and 

his wife, Mary Sammis-Lewis (Camilla Thompson 

2001):

Yes, Mary Lewis was the wife of Mr. A.L. Lewis 

who was one of the founders and who was one 

of the presidents that perhaps was most well 

known to the current people today. And she was 

one of the Deaconesses of the church and very 

active, and so her husband, although he was a 

member of the Mount Olive AME church 

supported Bethel quite well because of the fact 

that his wife was a member. And Mrs. Mary 

Lewis traces her ancestry back to Kingsley, of 

the Kingsley Plantation. She was a Sammis, and 

the Sammis are descendants of the Kingsleys.

Mary and A.L. Lewis had one son, James Henry 

Lewis who died 1975. He had two children—James 

Leonard Lewis and Mary Frances Lewis. The 

Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch legacy today is continued through Johnnetta Betsch-Cole, MaVynee 

Betsch, and, John Thomas Betsch, the children of, 

Mary Frances Lewis and her husband, John Thomas 

Betsch, Sr. (see Figure 13). Johnnetta Betsch-Cole 

described her parents’ meeting in this way 

(Johnnetta Cole 2001):

. . . They came to Atlanta for an insurance 

meeting and working at Atlanta Life Insurance 

FIGURE 13. Descendants of Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna) and Zephaniah Kingsley Jr.

==================================================================

Descendants of Anta Majigeen Njaay (Anna) and Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. 

==================================================================

1. Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. (b.1765 d.1843) 

sp: Anna (Anta Majigeen) Njaay (b.1793 d.1870) 

 |-2. George Kingsley (b.1807) 

 | sp: Anatoile Francoise VaunTravers 

 |-2. Martha Kingsley Baxter (b.1809) 

 | sp: Cran (?Oran) Baxter 

 |-2. Mary Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1811) 

 | sp: John S. Sammis 

 | |-3. Egbert Kingsley-Sammis 

 | |-3. George Kingsley-Sammis 

 | L-3. Edmund G. Kingsley-Sammis (Edward) 

 | sp: Elizabeth (Lizzy) 

 | L-4. Mary Francis Kingsley-Sammis Lewis (1865-1923) 

 | sp: A.L. Lewis (1865-1947) 

 | L-5. James Henry Kingsley-Sammis Lewis (d. 1975) 

 | sp: Annie Reed Lewis -2nd Wife (Bertha Lewis 1st Wife) 

 | |-6. James Leonard Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | | sp: Thelma 

 | L-6. Mary Francis Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | sp: John T. Betsch 

 | |-7. Johnnetta Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | | sp: Robert Cole (1st Husb)/A. Robinson (2nd Husb) 

 | | |-8. Aaron Cole 

 | | |-8. Ethan Che Cole 

 | | L-8. David Cole 

 | |-7. MaVynee Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | L-7. John Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | sp: C. Cresswell (divorced) 

 | |-8. Peri Frances Betsch 

 | 

 L-2. John Maxwell Kingsley (b.1824) 

================================================================== 

sp=spouse 

source: Duval County Florida Probate records (see Note 4); 

1870 US Census Duval County Florida (Attachment-1c) 
28 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Company was one John Thomas Betsch. And 

apparently that’s when the sparks began to fly. 

So my mom and my dad met here in Atlanta, 

met at Atlanta Life Insurance Company. And 

just to show you how in Malcolm’s [Malcom X] 

sense ‘what goes around comes around,’ when 

the Afro went bankrupt in 1987, the remains, if I 

can use that word, the remains of the Afro were 

bought by Atlanta Life. So it always had a kind 

of soothing effect on me over what was 

obviously a very sad circumstance.

Marsha Phelts, an African American resident of the 

Jacksonville community and author of the book, An 

American Beach for African Americans (1997), knew 

members of the Lewis-Betsch family personally. She 

shared the following community perspective of the 

family (Marsha Phelts 2001):

. . . they were people that we loved to watch and 

loved to read about, to hear about . . . They were 

extremely admired and respected. They were—

the middle-class—credit Randolph with the 

middle-class in America because of what he did 

for the Pullman porters in terms of organizing 

the union and bringing their pay up—but in this 

little corner of Jacksonville, the Afro-American 

Life Insurance Company was certainly 

responsible for a big portion . . . If you had a 

middle-class status as being an executive for the 

Afro, there certainly was that to be enjoyed, and 

they mortgaged homes during a period that 

established places did not provide mortgages 

that very much. Established places did provide 

mortgages but they were harder to come by and 

so the Afro and the Lewis’ made great 

contributions, they really did. And as I look at 

A.L. Lewis and his philosophy and his way of 

doing things . . . , he just stretched his hands out 

and wherever you could be helped, wherever 

you had sense enough to be able to take 

advantage of these enterprises, then it was 

available to you because of his broad sense of 

bringing a community along. He was not rich by 

himself. It was a whole lot of people that 

benefited from his business acumen.

Kingsley Plantation Extended 

Community

The representation of the Kingsley Plantation as an 

extended community is one way to link the past and 

the present—showcasing Kingsley family associations and relationships that exist beyond physically, 

socially, politically, or legally demarcated plantation 

boundaries before and after the Civil War. Antoinette Jackson provides a detailed discussion of the 

concept of extended community in her study of the 

Snee Farm Plantation community in Mount 

Pleasant, South Carolina (2001; 2003).

In her analysis of the Snee Farm plantation community, Jackson concluded that even though 

plantations were demarcated in various ways, such 

as by name or by plantation owners, “Africans generally made no significant distinction between 

plantations as their communities and relationships 

extended across plantation lines” (2001:17). As 

such, each name and picture shown in the “Kingsley 

Plantation Extended Community” chart (see Figure 

14) represents a personal, social, or geographic connection to the Kingsley family or Kingsley 

Plantation which extends across demarcated plantation boundaries.

 This ethnohistorical study in general and this ethnographic profile of the Kingsley-Sammis-LewisBetsch family specifically provides a number of 

interesting and perhaps little known Kingsley family 

and community associations. For example, in 1886, 

African American Jacksonville community residents, Clara White—descendant of the HarrisonEnglish-Drummond-Green families of Amelia 

Island in Nassau County— and her daughter, the 

prominent Jacksonville philanthropist, Eartha Mary 

Magdalene White, lived on the Kingsley plantation 

in what was formerly known as the Anna Kingsley 

Kitchen house (Bennett 1989; Phelts 1997; Schafer 

1976). Clara did domestic work for John Rollins and 

family, owners of the plantation at that time. Eartha 

went on to become a trusted business advisor and 

friend of A.L. Lewis and the first female employee of 

the Afro-American Life Insurance Company. She is 

credited with single-handedly saving the company’s 

records at the time of the May 3, 1901, Jacksonville 

fire.

Eartha and Clara White were also members of 

Bethel Baptist Institutional Church. Camilla 

Thompson shared the following about Eartha and 

Clara White (Camilla Thompson 2001):

CT: Our [Bethel Baptist Church] connection 

with the Afro is that our past Reverend J. Milton 

Waldon, who was the fifth pastor, started with 

having a church burial fee for members. He 

wanted them to pay a small amount of money so 

they would have money for burial. And then he 

decided, no, rather than have it in the church, 

make it community wide so that African 

Americans would have insurance because the 

white companies were not insuring them. So, he 
National Park Service 29

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FIGURE 14. Kingsley Plantation extended community.
30 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

called together six other men, and the seven of 

them organized the Afro-American Life 

Insurance Company in January of 1901. And 

then it was chartered by the State of Florida in 

March of 1901 and burned in the great 

Jacksonville fire of May 1901. But, Miss Eartha 

M.M. White, our humanitarian at that time, was 

a clerk at the Afro, and she is credited with 

rushing in and grabbing up most of the records 

and saving the records so that the company was 

able to continue operation, although they were 

without their building because it had burned in 

the fire.

AJ: Was she [Eartha White] a member of this 

church?

CT: She was a member of this church, and her 

name is up on our rally list [listing of early 

contributors to the building fund of Bethel 

Baptist]—she and her mother both. I think her 

mother died in 1922, and her funeral was here. 

And Miss Eartha White died in 1974 and her 

funeral was here in this church.

Other persons connected with the Kingsley Plantation community and Sammis-Lewis-Betsch family 

line included Charlotte Scott Anderson-Lewis and 

Zora Neale Hurston. Charlotte Anderson, a prosperous and influential African American 

businesswoman in the Jacksonville community, was 

the second wife of A.L. Lewis’s father, Robert. Zora 

is listed on the 1914 Bethel Baptist Institutional 

Church membership roll along with her brother, 

John C. Hurston, and his wife Blanche. In 1939, 

Zora married Albert W. Price III, in Nassau County. 

He was the grandson of Reverend Alfred W. Price, a 

founder and third president of the Afro-American 

Life Insurance Company. The marriage lasted less 

than a year, and Price’s divorce lawyer was James 

Leonard (Sammis) Lewis (Gates 1996; Phelts 1997; 

Wall 1995).

In terms of geographic reach, the former home of 

John S. Sammis and his wife Mary Elizabeth 

Kingsley-Sammis still stands in the Clifton subdivision in the Arlington area of Jacksonville, Florida 

(Wood 1989). It is believed that Anna Kingsley, who 

died in 1870, lived out her final days in this home, 

which is known today as, “the old Sammis house.” 

The Sammis family cemetery is also located in the 

Clifton subdivision and contains the graves of John 

Sammis and Anna Kingsley and her daughters, 

Martha and Mary, to name a few. However most of 

the cedar and cypress headstones that marked many 

of the burial spots no longer remain. Jean House 

and Pat Castiglia (current owner of the old Sammis 

house), Clifton community residents interviewed 

for this study, indicated that the “Japonica Garden 

Circle,” a local Women’s club, currently maintains 

the site, located at the corner of Magnolia and Garrison streets, known as the “Clifton Cemetery” 

(Castiglia 2001; House 2001).

Finally, American Beach provides another geographic point of Kingsley Plantation community 

connection. A.L. Lewis and the Pension Bureau of 

the Afro-American Life Insurance Company 

decided to develop a total beach community for 

African Americans as a counter to racial segregation 

policies enforced in the deep South state of Florida. 

Prior to 1964, such racial segregation policies 

resulted in restricted or very limited access to beach 

recreation for people labeled as “Negro.” Marsha 

Phelts explains the importance of American Beach 

to the African American community in this way 

(Marsha Phelts 2001):

My family is from Jacksonville, and so American 

Beach is an extended part of the Jacksonville 

community. It’s just 30-40 minutes to an hour 

away from Jacksonville and this is where black 

people came during my growing up and my 

youth for the beach. This was the beach. Even 

though the coast is [in] Duval County has a 

beach coast, but that was not available in the 40s 

and in the 50s—only in 1964 were blacks able to 

go to the beaches, and all of the beaches were 

open to them. I was born in 1944, so I would 

have been 20 years old if it hadn’t been an 

American Beach for me to come to. Because of 

this beach I have been coming to the beach my 

whole life.

Prior to the establishment of American Beach, 

African Americans in the Jacksonville area frequented Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville Beach), 

opened in 1884 to African Americans on Mondays 

only and Manhattan Beach located near Mayport—

today occupied in part by the Mayport Naval 

Station (Phelts 1997).

A.L. Lewis and family as well as others in the 

African community owned homes on American 

Beach, and for many years this beach resort community on the Atlantic Ocean served as the hub of 

recreation and entertainment for African American 

families and civic and social organizations 

throughout the South. Johnnetta Cole describes her 

American Beach experiences in this way (Johnnetta 

Cole 2001):
National Park Service 31

I do remember the beach very, very well, the 

trips there, everything from playing in the sand 

dunes with my sister to jumping the waves. I 

remember the extraordinary presence of black 

folk having a good time on a Sunday, the buses 

rolling up, church after church. To go there now 

obviously is to see the absence of so much that 

was a spirit of life. And to go there now is just to 

be eternally grateful to my sister [MaVynee 

Betsch] for all that she does to, with almost 

inhuman hands, to stop the encroachment on 

that beach . . . And when the big Afro picnics 

would happen once a year, I have just gorgeous 

memories of my father making his own 

barbecue sauce and barbecuing there . . . It was 

in my view what community could really be 

about, that is folk caring for each other, sharing 

what they had, going beyond lines of biological 

kinship to feel a sense of shared values, and one 

must say also, to feel a sense of shared 

oppression. Because it was clear to everybody 

that while A.L. Lewis in his wisdom and with his 

wealth had made sure that that beach was 

available, not just for his family, not just for the 

Afro, I mean people now live in Virginia, in 

North Carolina who remember coming to that 

beach. But everybody knew that we were on 

that beach and could not be on the other 

beaches.

Remembering Anna Majigeen 

Ndiaye Today

Today in 2003, environmental activist and Amelia 

Island resident MaVynee Betsch, popularly known 

as, “the beach lady,” and her niece, Peri Frances 

Betsch, continue to work to keep Anna’s memory 

alive. MaVynee, great granddaughter of Anna 

Majigeen Ndiaye and Zephaniah Kingsley, often 

pays tribute to Anna by performing skits and 

reciting poetry in her honor at the annual Kingsley 

Plantation Heritage Festival sponsored by the 

National Park Service.

Peri Francis, an eighth-generation descendant of 

Anna, is on a personal mission to find out more 

about her family’s ancestral connection to Anna 

Majigeen Ndiaye. She says that she does not find 

those storybook romance portrayals of Anna’s 

arrival as an enslaved African woman and life as 

mistress to Zephaniah Kingsley very believable. In 

an interview with Peri Frances conducted in 

October 2001 she shared the following thoughts 

about Anna and the Kingsley Plantation Heritage 

Festival (Peri Frances Betsch interview 2001):

. . . But I really always wonder what was she 

thinking, and when the whole celebration [The 

Kingsley Heritage Festival] was going on and all 

these people were talking about her . . . Is she 

pleased? I’m sure she has gotta be more pleased 

than when there were all these stories of her 

wearing peacock feathers and fanning him and 

just some exotic bird or whatever . . . I don’t 

know if it is possible to ever really know her.

Peri journeyed to Senegal West Africa in the 

summer of 1998 in search of information about 

Anna’s life before she was brought to Florida. Fluent 

in Spanish and French, she interviewed Griots (local 

family and community historians) in Senegal who 

provided her with important information about the 

history of Anna’s lineage based on her family name–

Majigeen Ndiaye. Peri plans to continue her quest 

for information about her great grandmother’s life 

in Africa as a personal tribute to her legacy.
32 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study
National Park Service 33

Chapter Four: Transition, 

Movement, and Memory — The 

Kingsley Plantation Community 

and Jacksonville’s Growth and 

Development

And so I would say that what was most 

distinctive for me, growing up in Jacksonville 

was learning quite early, experientially, that no 

amount of wealth was going to counter racism. 

Yes, I was A.L. Lewis’s great granddaughter— 

that could soften in some sense, but it was not 

going to even it. So what that meant, just to give 

examples, would be that because we had access 

to cars it meant that we weren’t on the back of 

the bus so often, but if we had to take the bus we 

would go to the back. [Johnnetta Betsch Cole 

2001]

The transition from agrarian to industrial communities and beyond, in the American South, is 

complicated by and intertwined with many factors, 

including the institution of slavery and its abolishment; the practice of institutionalized and 

socially demarcated segregation or “Jim Crow;” and 

the Civil Rights movement and integration. In the 

majority of cases in the South, the transition from 

agrarian based, plantation dominated agricultural 

community structures to industrial or post-industrial infrastructures involved the restructuring of the 

entire social order on which the community was 

built and the economy was based. Davis and the 

Gardners, in their case study of, “Old City” and 

“Old County” in “Deep South,” described this as a 

caste-class social order. They defined it as a system 

of behavior and control or as a social formation in 

which one group of people is deemed inferior to 

another (Davis and Gardner and Gardner 1941:9). 

Under this type of organization, all social structures 

in the society operate to reinforce the caste system 

and therefore sanction subordination of a particular 

group. In the South, caste was ordered around race, 

with blacks placed in the lower caste.

In the case of the Kingsley Plantation community, 

the transition from plantation life up through the 

Civil War and beyond can be traced in terms of 

active relationships of place. Life for “negroes” in 

Florida, for example, until the passage of the Civil 

Rights bill in 1964—whether Kingsley plantation 

descendants or not, whether living on Fort George 

Island or elsewhere in the greater Jacksonville community or beyond—was in many ways one giant 

plantation experience. This could be seen in the 

form of strict codes and expectations of behavior 

(“black codes”), restrictions on mobility and access 

(“Jim Crow”), and escalated violence and control 

tactics (i.e., lynching, bombings, Ku Klux Klan 

[KKK] patrols). These actions were directed 

towards the entire socially defined racialized 

grouping of people labeled as “negroes”— 

regardless of class or status or place of origin 

(Aptheker 1951; Cutler 1905; Jackson 1967; Myrdal 

1944; Patrick and Morris 1967:57, 78-81). The tensions associated with managing these geographic 

and social place barriers and restrictions were 

imbedded in Jacksonville’s transition.

Lynching statistics reported by state and race 

between 1822 and 1968 and archived by the 
34 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Tuskegee Institute ranked Florida sixth behind Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama—

with 257 documented cases of lynchings of blacks 

during that period (public murders of someone by a 

mob based on accusations of a crime carried out 

without proof or formal legal process). In “The 

Story of Lynch Hammock,” Allan Burns captures a 

community’s narrative about a lynching that took 

place in a small north Florida community in the 

1920s and its tragic effects on both black and white 

residents of the community (Burns 1995). Zora 

Neale Hurston wrote about a riot and the lynching 

of a black man, July Perry, by an angry white mob 

that took place during the time of the 1920 Presidential elections in the town of Ocoee in central 

Florida (Bordelon 1999:146-150). An abbreviated 

version of Zora’s account of the incident, known as 

the Ocoee Riot, appears as an entry in the Florida 

Guidebook, published in 1939 by the Federal 

Writers’ Project of Florida (FWP 1939).

Walter Whetstone, an African American businessman and lifetime resident of Jacksonville, born 

in 1937, offers a personal account of the reality of 

the expanded plantation experience and social and 

geographic place tensions. He described the Ku 

Klux Klan’s physical presence and social reach and 

influence throughout the Jacksonville community in 

this way (Walter Whetstone 2001):

. . . They were marching down Florida Avenue, 

and that’s the way it was. This was like in the 

‘40s [1940s] and ‘50s [1950s] . . . The Ku Klux 

Klan would march. They would come down the 

Avenue [Florida Avenue]. I never forget that. I 

had one time the opportunity to see the grand 

dragon come down the Avenue and I got up 

under the house. The houses were built way up 

off the ground, almost so that you could walk 

under them, [and I] saw those guys coming. But 

you did not get in the way of the Ku Klux Klan 

because they would . . . And they dominated the 

situation, and that’s the way it was at the time. 

And it was accepted. The police force and 

everybody else, either they were Klan men or 

they were soft toward the Klan men.

In addition, ordinances such as, Section 269, “Sale 

to White and Colored over the same counter forbidden,” issued in May 1887 at the time of the City 

of Jacksonville’s incorporation, further highlight the 

reality of racial segregation and discrimination policies and disfranchisement practices which were 

directed at blacks in the state of Florida (Odom 

1911:106). These extensive patterns of violence and 

discrimination directed towards persons identified 

as negro or colored by whites throughout Florida 

and throughout the South persisted before and after 

the Civil War, affecting industrial and post-industrial economic development.

The issues associated with transition from an 

agrarian based economy to an industrial base were 

therefore complicated and complex, as the economies of typical Southern agrarian based 

communities were structured primarily around 

securing, exploiting, or in some way, utilizing the 

labor of people classified as “colored” or “negro.” 

Communities—particularly those located in the 

states of Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, 

Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia— whose economies were shaped by the 

demands of cotton, sugar cane, rice, tobacco, truck 

farming, or turpentine production depended, 

almost exclusively, on a stable, and steady pool of 

black workers. These workers performed a variety 

of functions—in both agrarian and industrial settings. In other words, the majority of the potential 

labor pool needed for a transition to industrialization belonged to the caste that the Southern 

system of social segregation sought to keep subordinated and fixed. As such, any comprehensive 

portrait and analysis of transition from an economic 

base dependent exclusively on agriculture and slave 

labor in the American South must be characterized 

within the context of this tension.

In some Southern cities and communities, the 

variety, scope, and urgency of industrial and postindustrial growth helped to create a demand for 

labor that challenged and sometimes overrode 

caste-class social limitations that typically characterized/plagued agricultural based economies. In 

such cases, communities responded to labor 

demands fueled by growth and development 

outside the agrarian sector and offered a wider 

range of employment opportunities in an increasingly more urban or industrialized setting. For 

example, people obtained employment as laborers 

in industrial enterprises, like packing companies, 

sugar mills, sawmills, lumber mills, and cigar factories, or, as service personnel in post-industrial 

businesses like banks, insurance companies, and 

hotels. In other cases, they participated indirectly in 

agrarian to industrial community transition by 

working as domestics, cooks, messenger boys, 

porters, or janitors, for example, for businesses, 
National Park Service 35

business owners, and other professionals engaged in 

these industrial and post-industrial enterprises. 

Jacksonville, Florida’s process of transition from an 

agrarian based economy and the Kingsley Plantation Community’s role in this process provides an 

example.

Transition to Industrialization in 

Jacksonville: A Historical Overview

 Prior to the beginning of the Civil War, Jacksonville 

was largely agrarian. The Kingsley Plantation, for 

example, remained actively engaged in agricultural 

production until the 1890s. Historian Daniel Stowell 

(1996) writes that from 1804 until around 1811, 

planter John Houston McIntosh lived on Fort 

George Island and planted sea island cotton as a 

commercial enterprise with a labor force of between 

160 to 200 enslaved Africans. Zephaniah Kingsley 

then acquired the plantation in 1812, and although 

his primary business focus was slave trading as 

opposed to plantation management, he was considered an important and successful planter. 

Between 1812 and 1839, he planted sea island 

cotton and subsistence crops like sugar cane and 

rice and maintained orange groves with a labor force 

of 100-120 enslaved Africans (Stowell 1996). 

Kingsley Beatty Gibbs, Zephaniah’s nephew, owned 

the Fort George Island plantation between 1839 and 

1853 and produced cotton, corn, sugar cane, 

potatoes, peas and other subsistence crops with a 

workforce of around 54 enslaved Africans (Fretwell 

1984).

The 1860 census reported that Jacksonville had 

2,118 inhabitants, with 908 listed as slaves, and 87 as 

free blacks (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1860). In the 

state of Florida as a whole in 1860, the population of 

enslaved Africans was reported to be nearly 62,500, 

in comparison to a white population of just under 

78,000 (US Bureau of Census 1918). At that time, 

there was small scale business activity in the 

railroad, brick, and lumber industries. Historian 

Thomas Frederick Davis reported that there were 

five or six sawmills in Jacksonville and about an 

equal number in surrounding areas in the years of 

1853-54 (1911:117). In the town of Mayport, formerly known as Mayport Mill (Kingsley B. Gibbs 

owned and operated a saw mill in the area by that 

name), the main economy prior to the Civil War was 

boat and ship piloting and fishing (Floyd 1994; 

Fretwell 1984). After the war, the major industries in 

Florida were lumber (including turpentine production and paper manufacture), trade, and 

tourism. Formerly enslaved men and women played 

significant roles in the growth of these industries. 

The Freedmen’s Bureau was in large part created to 

deal with labor disputes between former enslavers 

and those newly freed. In an article published in 

1960, Richardson describes the role of the 

Freedmen’s Bureau in this way:

The Freedmen’s Bureau did a great deal for the 

Negro laborer; however it aided not only the exslave, but also the planter, for the agents were as 

vigorous in forcing the Negroes to adhere to the 

terms of their contracts as they were in 

compelling the planters to keep their part of the 

bargain. In fact, if the planter broke a contract 

he was subject only to a civil suit, whereas the 

Negro was faced with strict vagrancy laws which 

existed for the express purpose of controlling 

him as a laborer. [Richardson 1960:174]

Jerrell Shofner, for example, discusses the importance of black workers to the lumber industry in the 

following narrative:

Despite the insecurity of their position at that 

time, great transformations had been made in 

the status of black laborers as well as the overall 

economy of Florida in the twelve years since the 

Civil War. Slaves had become freedmen and 

many of them had gone to work for wages in the 

timber industry. At the same time that industry 

had grown proportionately much larger in the 

Florida economy at the expense of plantation 

cotton agriculture. [1975:191]

The 1870 Census for Duval County, Florida contains the following distribution of occupations for 

persons listed as “M” (mulatto) or “B” (black): 

domestic servant, farm laborer, seamstress, keeping 

house, laborer, barber, carpenter, brickmason, fisherman, drayman, “works on steamboat,” and 

“works in the lumber mill” (U.S. Bureau of Census 

1870). The distribution of occupations for persons 

listed as “W” (white) included: pilot (boat), farmer, 

retail grocer, retail liquor dealer, barkeeper, keeps 

houses, railroad engineer, and carpenter. In Jacksonville, the lumber, trade, and tourism industries 

were concentrated in the eastern and central portions of the city resulting in a large number of black 

communities developing in these areas (see Figure 

15). Blacks lived in these areas because of the close 

proximity to the sawmills, shipyards, and business 

and hotel districts. In fact, by 1887, eastern and 

central Jacksonville, LaVilla, Oakland, and Hans-
36 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

ontown would be predominantly black (Davis 

1911:14).

The period between 1865 and 1890s was considered 

the steamboat era for Jacksonville. During this time, 

starting around 1870, citrus became a major commercial crop for Florida. The St. Johns River 

provided an excellent transportation option for 

moving products north. The Kingsley Plantation 

remained active in agricultural production until the 

1890s when then owner, John F. Rollins, produced 

and marketed oranges (“The Fort George Orange”) 

as the island’s last major agricultural production 

crop (Stowell 1996:63). George Buker wrote about 

the citrus production in northeast Florida in this 

way:

In the 1870s citrus became a large commercial 

crop along the St. Johns, because the river 

provided a means of transportation in the days 

before the railroad. Many of the large orange 

groves had long wharfs jutting into the river to 

provide direct loading of the crop for shipment 

to the north. The smaller groves relied upon an 

old renovated steamer, the Orange Maid, which 

would steam up and down the St. Johns, 

picking up the bulk of the fruit. On board the 

‘Maid’, packers would process and pack the 

fruit for transshipment at Jacksonville to large 

steamers headed north. [1992:76-77].

Zora Neale Hurston also researched and wrote 

about Florida’s citrus industry. For example, she 

talked about meeting John C. Hamilton during her 

travels and described him in this way, “John C. 

Hamilton is a streamlined young colored man, 

FIGURE 15. 1870 US Census Report excerpt from Duval County Florida.

Adobe# Family# Name Age Sex Color Occupation BirthPl 

619 526 Middleton,Isaac 45 Male B Brickmason SC 

619 526 Middleton, Ca? 35 Female B SC 

619 526 Middleton, William 4 Male B SC 

619 526 Middleton, Elizabeth 1 Female B FL 

619 526 Middleton, Edward 18 Male B Brickmason SC 

622 529 Long, Jackson 48 Male B Fisherman FL 

622 529 Long, Harriet 50 Female B NC 

622 529 Long, James A.? 21 Male B Fisherman FL 

622 529 Long, Louisa 15 Female B FL 

622 529 Long, William 13 Male B FL 

622 529 Long, Edward 12 Male B FL 

622 529 Long, Frank 10 Male B FL 

622 529 Long, Anna M. 5 Female B FL 

622 529 Long, Adaline 2 Female B FL 

977 856 Lee, Elick 45 Male B City Policeman NC 

977 856 Lee, Emily 50 Female B GA 

977 856 Lee, Lucy 23 Female B GA 

977 856 Ba? William 18 Male B GA 

978 857 White, Lafayette 35 Male B Drayman SC 

978 857 White, Clara 33 Female B FL 

978 857 White, George W.B. 8 Male B GA 

979 858 Johnson, John 21 Male B Works on Steamboat VA 

979 858 Johnson, Precilla 26? Female B MD 

979 858 Johnson, Mary M. 4 Female B FL 

979 858 Anderson, Charles 11 Male B FL 

95 86 Cloud, Thomas 27 Male B Works in Lumber Mill SC 

95 86 Janus, John 26 Male B Works in Lumber Mill SC 

95 86 Daniels, Robert 32 Male B Works in Lumber Mill GA 

95 86 Daniels, Eli 42 Male B Works in Lumber Mill GA 

 source: U.S. Bureau of Census; see Appendix 2
National Park Service 37

known among his associates by the nickname “Seaboard” and reputed to be the “fastest orange picker 

in Florida” (Bordelon 1999:132). In describing the 

packing house, she wrote, “Women do all the 

packing. The fruit is sorted and graded into sizes by 

machinery, also sprayed mechanically with the vegetable coloring matter. All the women do is wrap 

the fruit and place it in the boxes” (Bordelon 

1999:133).

The citrus industry in north Florida (as well as parts 

of Georgia and Alabama) however, was severely 

crippled and basically destroyed when a major temperature fluctuation or cold spell labeled, “The 

Great Freeze,” hit on December 30, 1894, resulting 

in the destruction of citrus groves as well as crop 

hanging on trees (Chapin 1914). This proved to be a 

serious financial disaster for Florida, and since that 

time, the citrus industry has remained concentrated 

almost exclusively in the southern portions of the 

state.

By the late 1880s, steamboats began to give way to 

railroads as the preferred form of transportation for 

tourists and business commerce. In Jacksonville, 

several railroad lines connected the city to various 

destinations throughout the state and points north. 

William D. Chipley, Henry B. Plant, and Henry M. 

Flagler established significant railroad holdings in 

Florida (Patrick and Morris 1967:66-71). For 

example, Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railroad connected Jacksonville with Miami, expanding the 

tourist industry and increasing job availability in 

hospitality (porters, maids, and cooks) and entertainment. In addition, the speed of railway 

transportation along with other industry improvements gave rise to the emergence of fishing as a 

major commercial industry in Florida. The following description of the industry was written in the 

Florida Guide (FWP 1939:89-90):

Pensacola, Apalachicola, Cape Canaveral, 

Fernandina, New Smyrna, and the mouth of the 

St. Johns River are centers of the shrimpfishing-industry in Florida, and the waters of 

the State each year yield 20 percent of all shrimp 

caught in North America. At sunset the fishing 

craft, with nets drying at the masts, can be seen 

returning to port, trailed by thousands of 

screaming gulls feeding on shrimp heads that 

are cast overboard. Packing houses are busy 

long after dark, cleaning the catch and 

preparing it for iced shipment to all parts of the 

United States. Most of the cleaning is done by 

Negro women who receive approximately 15¢ a 

bucket for their labor, and average from 10 to 15 

buckets a day. An estimated 12,000 buckets are 

cleaned daily for shipping and canning 

purposes.

The 1910 US Census summary of negro occupations in Florida identified the major occupations of 

negro men in the state as: agriculture, general manufacture, saw and planing mills, forestry, steam 

railroad, turpentine distilleries, servants, and carpentry (U.S. Bureau of Census 1918). The major 

occupations of negro women were listed as follows: 

agriculture, laundresses, servants, and seamstresses 

(see Figure 16).

A 1920 census excerpt (see Figure 17) shows the 

range of occupations that persons in Jacksonville 

performed in support of the commercial industries 

of tourism, fishing, lumber, and turpentine 

production.

Laundry, for example, was a major business enterprise for black women in Florida after the Civil war 

and through the 1940s. These laundry enterprises 

were typically small, often solo operations, providing an integral but often overlooked service in 

support of Jacksonville’s industrial and post-industrial transition. A 1910 census summary lists 

“laundresses” (see Figure 16) as one of the primary 

occupations for negro women (U.S. Bureau of 

Census 1918). Black women in Jacksonville performed laundry services out of their homes and in 

the homes of people for whom they worked (see 

Figure 17). Census data reports for 1930 (U.S. 

Bureau of Census 1935) lists the primary occupations for negro men in the state of Florida as: 

agriculture, servants, saw and planing mill, general 

laborers, steam railroads, chauffeurs (truck and 

tractor drivers), and lumbermen. The primary occupations for women included: agriculture, servants, 

laundry operatives, waiters, and teachers (see 

Appendix-3b).

In 1930, the Clara White Mission, located on Ashley 

Street in Jacksonville, was established. It served as 

the residence of many black businesses and headquarters for black labor and political organizations 

(Bartley 2000:10-13). For example, in 1936 the WPA 

Federal Writers Program (FWP) Florida began 

hiring black writers and their offices were housed in 

the mission because segregation policy and practice, 

the norm throughout much of the South at that 
38 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

time, discouraged or prohibited blacks and whites 

from sharing the same office space (Bordelon 1999). 

Today the Eartha M.M. White Historical Museum 

and Mission remains a community resource offering 

food and providing shelter to those in need as well 

as serving as a depository of archival data on Jacksonville’s African American community.

The 1940s ushered in renewed challenges in terms 

of employment opportunities and access to 

resources for persons identified as black in Jacksonville and surrounding communities. Segregation 

policies and laws necessitated that blacks develop 

their own business enterprises, recreational facilities, educational programs, and social and political 

organizations. By 1945, for example, there were 590 

African American owned businesses in Jacksonville 

(Bartley 2000:10). They included businesses such 

as: barbershops, beer gardens, beauty parlors, billiard parlors, cafes, confectioneries, dry cleaners, 

grocers, barbecue stands, morticians, shoe makers, 

hotels, wood yards, tailor shops, garages and service 

stations (Southern Regional Council 1946:67-68). 

Persons interviewed for this study, for example, 

indicated that the following types of businesses 

were operated in Jacksonville by members of their 

family: insurance, real estate, waffle and sandwich 

shop, pool hall, fish market, laundry, wood yard, 

bank owner, and ice/wood/kerosene delivery (Cole 

2001, Phelts 2001, Whetstone 2001).

FIGURE 16. Negro Occupations in Florida in 1910.

USA FL-male FL-female

Pop Total 7,317,922 124,024 109720

Total Employed 5,192,535 107,343 50,181

Occupations 

Agriculture 47,953 18,330

Forestry 3,626 9

Animal Husbandry 769 10

Carpentry 2,191 

Deliverymen 868 

Draymen, teamsters, expressmen 1,818 

Dressmakers and seamstresses (outside of factory) 1,995

Janitors and sextons 977 17

Keepers of Boarding/Lodging 467

Laborers/porters,helpers in stores 210 

Laborers: 

 General manufacture 8,471 

 Lumberyards 240 

 Saw&planning mills 6,567 

 Steam railroad 3,606 

 Turpentine distilleries 2,726 

Laundresses (not in laundries) 14,312

Longshoremen, Stevedores 1,530 

Midwives, nurses (not trained) 711

Operatives in laundries 763

Operatives: 

 Cigar/tobacco Factories (semi-skilled) 1,488 690

Porters (not in stores) 745 

Servants 2,417 9,795

Teachers, school 195 721

Messenger, Office boy 252 

Masons (brick and stone) 485 

source: US Bureau of the Census 1918
National Park Service 39

A study commissioned by the Council of Social 

Agencies and published in 1946 contained statistical 

data on Negro community life in Jacksonville in the 

1940s in various sectors such as housing, education, 

employment, and quality of life. In the “Industry 

and Employment” sector for example, the commission reported the following:

The biggest Occupational Group in which 

Negroes were employed were: Domestic 

Service Workers (laundry, routine cleaning, 

maid, yardman, cook), Service Workers, and 

Laborers (farm and mining excluded in this 

discussion).

. . . The concentration of Negro industrial 

employment at present is found in the 

shipyards, cigar making, lumber, and fertilizing 

plants. Cutbacks in various industries, 

particularly shipbuilding, are affecting the labor 

market, but the exact extent is not known.

. . . The biggest Professional fields for Negroes 

were: Teachers, Trained Nurses, Physicians, 

College Presidents, and Lawyers. [Southern 

Regional Council 1946:61-68]

Jacksonville’s transition from an agrarian centered 

economy to an industrial and service oriented one 

increased the demand for labor from a broad 

segment of the community’s population. Africans 

and their descendents from the Kingsley Plantation 

community and throughout northeast Florida, for 

example, were instrumental in this transition—a 

FIGURE 17. Sample 1920 US Census data from Duval County Florida.

Family# Name Relation Sex Color Age Marital

Status 

Brthpl Brthpl

Father 

Brthpl 

Mother 

Occupation 

139 Morrell, Hason A. head M W 25 Married Maine Canada Ireland Carpenter-shipyard 

139 Morrell, Alma wife F W 24 Married FL Maine SC none 

139 Morrell, Hall B. son M W 3 Sgl FL Maine FL none 

139 Morrell, Willard F. son M W 6/12 Sgl FL Maine FL none 

143 Anderson, Jacob head M W 53 Married Norway Norway Norway Sea captain-steam barge 

143 Anderson, Aaiot wife F W 52 Married Norway Norway Norway none 

143 Anderson, John son M W 14 Sgl FL Norway Norway none 

143 Anderson, Oscar son M W 8 Sgl FL Norway Norway none 

145 Johnson, William head M Mu 41 Married FL FL FL Sailor-merchant marine 

145 Johnson, Kate wife F Mu 32 Married FL FL GA Cigar maker-cigar factory 

145 Johnson, Caritta daughter F Mu 12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

145 Johnson, Gerald son M Mu 10 Sgl FL FL FL none 

146 Dorsey, Douglas head M Mu 63 Married FL FL Fl Farm operator 

146 Dorsey, Millie wife F B 54 Married GA FL` FL Nurse-obstrical 

146 Dorsey, Charles son M Mu 22 Married FL FL Fl Fisherman-river 

146 Dorsey, Sadie daugh-inlaw F Mu 19 Married SC SC SC none 

146 Dorsey, Charles Jr. grgranson M Mu 4/12 Sgl FL Fl SC none 

148 Simon, Thomas head M B 49 Married SC SC SC Tapping sap-turpentine oper 

148 Simon, Vermell wife F B 47 Married SC SC SC Laundress-private family 

148 Simon, William son M B 21 Sgl GA SC SC Sap dipper-turpentine oper 

148 Simon, Lucinda daughter F B 19 Sgl FL SC SC Servant-private family 

148 Simon, Edith daughter F B 18 Sgl FL SC SC Laundress-private family 

148 Simon, Eva daughter F B 15 Sgl FL FL FL none 

148 Simon, Douglas son M B 13 Sgl FL FL FL none 

148 Simon, Harry son M B 12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

148 Simon, Annie B. daughter F B 10 Sgl FL FL FL none 

148 Simon, Victoria daughter F B 8 Sgl FL FL FL none 

148 Simon, Louise B. gdaughter F B 11/12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

158 Floyd, Israil head M B 43 Married FL FL FL Fisherman 

158 Floyd, Polly wife F B 39 Married FL SC FL Laundress-at home 

source: U.S. Bureau of Census; see Appendix 2 
40 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

transition which can be traced socially as well as 

economically. The following ethnographic profile of 

a Jacksonville family illustrates this.

The Bartley-King-Murrell-Williams 

Family Profile

And that’s the way we would mostly spend our 

Saturdays and part of Sundays, going to see our 

Aunt Easter. [John W. Murrell 2001]

This ethnographic profile underscores one family’s 

social, political, historical and economic interrelationship with the Kingsley Plantation community 

specifically and Jacksonville’s transition in general. 

It is presented in three narrative segments from the 

perspective of the Bartley-King-Murrell-Williams 

family’s relationship with Easter Bartley, a woman 

who spent the first fifty years of her life as an 

enslaved laborer of the Kingsley estate.

A picture of a woman identified as, “Easter, born on 

the Kingsley Plantation,” appears in the book 

entitled, Kingsley Plantation, by Stowell and Tilford 

(1998) and is part of the archives of the National 

Park Service at the Kingsley Plantation site on Fort 

George Island. The name “Easter,” sometimes 

spelled “Esther” or “Hester,” appears in census and 

probate records starting as early as 1843. For 

example, a probate record dated September 25, 

1843 show that an enslaved woman by the name of 

“Esther” was part of the estate of Zephaniah 

Kingsley (Duval County Probate Proceedings 1843). 

Listed as one of the children of Carpenter Bonafy 

and his wife Mary, Esther and her entire family of 

10—her parents and her siblings: Beck, Scipio, 

Louis, June, George, Tema, and Sarah—were 

assigned a value of $4,620 in the “Total Valuation of 

the Negroes” column for the Kingsley estate.

The name Esther also appears in Zephaniah 

Kingsley’s March 1844 probate documentation 

(Duval County Probate Proceedings 1843). In this 

document, her name appears amongst the members 

of “the Carpenter Bonify, wife Mary family” in the 

“Schedule . . . Done and Dated at San Jose Plantation, St. Johns River”—a listing of “slave” families 

and their assigned valuation. The December 21, 

1846 probate file of George Kingsley, son of 

Zephaniah and Anna Kingsley, shows the name 

“Easter” along with other Bonify family members in 

an inventory listing of slaves of the estate (Probate 

Proceedings Duval County 1846). Additionally, 

Easter is listed in the 1870 and 1880 US Census 

reports for Duval County as “Easter Lottery” and in 

the 1920 census report as “Hester Bartley” (see 

Appendix-2). The 1885 Florida State Census Index 

(1991) lists an Esther Bartley and George Bartley of 

Duval County (i.e., Bartley, Esther 781 DUV and 

Bartley, Geo 781 DUV).

The Bartley-King-Murrell Family

In the summer of 2001, interviews were conducted 

with several family members in the Jacksonville 

community with acknowledged kinship connections to Easter Bartley (see Figure 18). The Murrell 

family has a long history in the Jacksonville area. 

Interviews were conducted in the home of Mildred 

Murrell in the Spring Park community on the south 

side of the St. Johns River. Mildred Murrell, her 

daughter Evette Murrell, and her brother-in-law 

John Murrell shared some of their memories of 

Easter Bartley, the Kingsley Plantation, and life in 

Jacksonville.

John W. Murrell, age 86 at the time of the interview, 

was born in 1915. His parents were John Wesley 

Murrell and Minnie Dretha King Murrell (see 

Figure 19). His mother’s “grandmamma” was Easter 

Bartley. John currently lives and works in Jacksonville and has resided in the Jacksonville area (i.e., 

Arlington and St. Nicholas) most of his life. He says 

that the Murrell family name has historically been 

spelled “M-O-rrell” as opposed to “M-U-rrell.” 

However, the spelling of the family name was 

changed to avoid mail service mix-ups between his 

family and the Morrell family affiliated with the 

shipyard business.

When John was a young boy, he personally knew 

and spent time with his great grandmother, “Aunt 

Easter,” whom he believes lived to be at least 115 

years old. John used to visit with her in Arlington, 

where she lived with her daughter, Missy Adkins, 

and her son-in-law, Jim Adkins (see Figure 19). He 

shared the following memories of time spent with 

her (John W. Murrell 2001):

JM: Easter Bartley was her [his mother’s] 

grandmamma, and, uh, we call her Aunt Easter. 

She was my great grandmamma, and when I . . . , 

she was 115 years old when I was 15. And 

before then when I was around 5 and 7 and 8 

years old, I used to visit her every week.

AJ: Where was she living?
National Park Service 41

FIGURE 18. Easter Bartley's Family-Descendants of Carpenter Bonify and wife Mary.

==================================================================

Easter Bartley’s Family-Descendants of Carpenter Bonify and wife Mary 

==================================================================

1. Carpenter Bonify 

sp: Mary 

 |-2. Beck 

 |-2. Scipio 

 |-2. Louis 

 |-2. June 

 |-2. George 

 |-2. Tema 

 |-2. Sarah 

 L-2. Easter/Esther (b.1825? d.1930?)

 sp: Quash Lottery (b. 1806?) /George Bartley Jr.-2nd husb. 

 |-3. Anna M. Lottery (b.1861) 

 |-3. Ruth Lottery (b.1863) 

 |-3. Sallie Lottery (b.1867) 

 |-3. Antoinette Lottery (b.1870) 

 | sp: James Adkins 

 | |-4. Mabel 

 | L-4. Beatrice Scott (Raised By Antoinette-birth mom’s sister) 

 | sp: Albert Johnson/ Clarence Scott, Sr.-2nd husb 

 | L-5. Clarence Scott Jr. (b.1915) 

 | sp: Veronica Scott (b.1920) 

 | |-6. Theresa Scott Taylor (b.1934) 

 | |-6. Gerry Scott 

 | L-6. Adewole Kule-Mele/Anthony Scott (b.1942 d.1998) 

 |-3. Celina? Lottery (b.1869) 

 |-3. June Lottery (b.1876) 

 |-3. Adella Lottery (b.1877) 

 |-3. Arthur Lottery (b.1880) 

 L-3. Minnie D. King Murrel's mom: = ?Lottery-Bartley 

 sp: Ed King 

 |-4. Minnie D. King (b.1886 d.1985) 

 | sp: John Wesley Murrell 

 | |-5. Quincy Murrell (b.1917 d.1989) 

 | | sp: Mildred 

 | | L-6. Evette Murrell (b.1962) 

 | |-5. John W. Murrell (b.1915) 

 | |-5. Rosa Murrell (b.1909) 

 | |-5. Minnie Payne Murrell 

 | |-5. Russell Murrell (b.1905) 

 | L-5. Clark Murrell (b.1907) 

 |-4. Helen 

 | sp: Jesse Williams 

 | |-5. Isiah Williams (b. 1931) -raised by Helen (his birth mom’s sister) 

 |-4. Rosa? 

 |-4. Julia 

 |-4. Annie 

 L-4. Tom Eddie

==================================================================

sp=spouse 

source: Duval County Florida Probate records; US Census Bureau 

(1870;1880;1920); and family’s oral history (see Appendix-4) 
42 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

JM: Living on the riverfront, down there with 

her other daughter, which was Missy Adkins 

and my mother [grandmother] was sisters. And 

Missy Atkins married Jim Adkins, which was a 

one-legged man, went and lost his leg 

somewhere but [was] in a wheelchair, 

homemade wheelchair, and he sold chicken 

dinners for the white people every weekend 

they’d come in there from Saturdays, Friday 

night, Saturdays or Saturday night, he lived on 

the river down there. And that’s where they’d 

have them chicken dinners. Now Easter was 

still living, and I, we used to go out down there, 

and I’d go over there with her because she was 

very fond of children. I was the only boy child. 

And she would be sleeping in the chicken coop. 

Chickens on the roost here, and she sleeping in 

here, nice place, but it was in the chicken coop. 

I went there many days, stayed there almost 

until dark, chickens go to roost . . . , the old 

white rooster looking at me . . . Many days, I’ll 

never forget that, I’d go in there and sit with her 

while her daughter and her daughter, which 

was Mabel, fixin these dinners for these white 

people . . . And that’s the way we would mostly 

spend our Saturdays and part of Sundays going 

to see our Aunt Easter.

Family accounts (oral history) and census records 

indicate that Easter was married twice. Her first 

husband was Quash Lottery and her second 

husband, whom she is said to have married late in 

her life, was George Bartley [see Appendix-2]. John 

had limited information about Easter’s married life 

FIGURE 19. 1920 US Census data from Duval County Florida.

Family# Name Relation Sex Color Age Marital

Status

Brthpl Brthpl

Father 

Brthpl

Mother

Occupation 

19 McQueen, Percy head M B 47 Married FL FL SC Farm Operator 

19 McQueen, Gertrude wife F B 42 Married FL FL FL Laundress-at home 

19 McQueen, Eugene son M B 19 Sgl FL FL FL Laborer-rosin mill 

19 McQueen, Owen son M B 16 Sgl FL FL FL Laborer-sawmill 

19 McQueen, Freddie son M B 14 Sgl FL FL FL Call boy-boarding house 

19 McQueen, Godfrey son M B 12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

20 Adkins, James head M Mu 50 Married GA GA GA Farm Operator-chicken 

20 Adkins, Antoinette wife F B 52 Married FL FL FL none 

20 Johnson, Mabel gdaughter F Mu 9 Sgl FL FL FL none 

20 Bartley, Hester moth-inlaw F B 95 Widow FL Africa FL none 

37 Atkins, Thomas J. head M B 36 Married GA GA GA Laborer-shipyard 

37 Atkins, Gussie C. wife F B 31 Married FL FL FL Grocer-grocery 

50 Braddy, David head-1 M B 21 Married GA SC SC Minister-Holiness Church 

50 Braddy, Lucile wife F B 18 Married FL FL FL none 

51 McQueen, Percy Jr. head-2 M B 19 Married FL FL FL Dock hand - Ferry 

51 McQueen, Mabel wife F B 19 Married FL FL FL none 

51 McQueen, James son M B 3/12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

51 Pinkney, Sophie M. moth-inlaw F B 37 Widow FL SC FL Minister-Holiness Church 

48 Terry, Charlie head M B 44 Married AL AL AL Handling logs-sawmill 

48 Terry, Maggie wife F B 38 Married FL NC GA Laundress-at home 

49 Anderson, Sarah head F B 40 Widow FL SC GA Laundress-private family 

55 Murrell, John Head M B 46 Married FL FL FL Sap gather-turpentine oper 

55 Murrell, Minnie wife F B 32 Married FL Fl FL none 

55 Murrell, Russel son M B 15 Sgl FL FL FL Errand boy-Justice galley 

55 Murrell, Clark son M B 13 Sgl FL FL FL Errand boy-Electrician 

55 Murrell, Rosa M daughter F B 11 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

55 Murrell, John son M B 4 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

55 Murrell, Quincy son M B 2 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

138 Morrell, Henry head M W 50 Married Canada England England Carpenter-boat builder 

138 Morrell, Mary E. wife F W 52 Married Ireland Scotland England none 

source: U.S. Bureau of Census; see Appendix 2 
National Park Service 43

but made the following connections (John W. 

Murrell 2001):

. . . But, I never know about her other life, but 

she was too old for all that. See ‘cause all of my 

life she was too old. She had a husband, had to 

be one of them Bartleys, because her name was 

Bartley, and my mama [grandmama] name was 

Bartley before she married a King. But King and 

them Bartleys is close kin.

Easter, born around 1825, and her family (parents, 

siblings, and children) spent a significant portion of 

their lives as enslaved laborers on the Kingsley 

estate. However, when asked, John communicated 

very few remembered stories of slavery times and 

Aunt Easter. He basically confirmed that Aunt 

Easter had been enslaved and that sometime after 

freedom came she moved off the plantation and 

eventually lived with one of her daughters in 

Arlington until she died sometime after 1930. John’s 

niece, Evette Murrell, and her mother, Mildred 

Murrell (see Figure 18), were able to provide more 

information about Easter’s life based on family 

stories they remembered hearing.

Evette, a great great granddaughter of Easter Bartley, 

grew up in Jacksonville. During the late 1960s and 

early 1970s, Evette used to visit with her grandmother, Minnie Dretha King Murrell, in her home 

in Arlington—a community where the Bartley, the 

McQueen, and the Murrell families still owned 

property when interviewed in 2001. She heard 

stories about Kingsley Plantation life from listening 

to her grandmother. One of the stories that her 

grandma Minnie shared with her was that she was a 

“slave” on the Kingsley Plantation until she was 13 

years old. Evette and Mildred recall plantation 

stories that Minnie D. shared with them in the following narrative (Evette Murrell 2001):

EM: But it was when she was maybe 80-85 

[years old], and she [grandma Minnie] was 

telling me about her mother who grew up on 

the Kingsley Plantation.

AJ: Who was her mother?

EM: I don’t remember the name, I was a little 

girl back then . . . Her mother was a Bartley . . . , 

and so the Bartley lady who was her mother, 

was a slave. And then grandmother was a slave 

up until she was aged 13.

AJ: Did she say they lived on the plantation?

EM: Yeah, in those huts.

In oral history discussions, when family members 

recount “slavery time” stories, they often make little 

distinction between living and working in a plantation setting after Emancipation (post 1865) and 

living and working in plantation settings prior to 

Emancipation when labor conditions and expectations remain similar. Therefore “slavery time” in 

these narratives covers a broad period of time and 

often means the period of actual enslavement as 

well as the period in which “slave-like” conditions 

persisted according to the person telling the story. 

For example, in the following discussion, Evette and 

Mildred Murrell recall some of the plantation 

laundry stories that Minnie D. told them. The discussion spans a period of time before and after the 

Civil War and shows the speakers’ understanding of 

“slavery time” (Mildred Murrell 2001): 

AJ: So they did laundry on the riverbank?

EM: On the riverbank.

AJ: On the plantation, their job was the 

laundry?

EM: They would go down there and wash the 

clothes near the rocks and all, you know they 

would use that to help clean the clothes, and 

then they would carry it back in big things on 

their heads.

EM: . . . Well, the only thing she talked about 

was how they used to have to catch the boats up 

and down the river and go and work for the 

different . . . I guess the masters or whatever, 

and how they used to have to wash the clothes 

and carry them and all that kind of stuff, that’s 

basically all she talked about.

MM: . . . and those girls would take the boat and 

carry they laundry up the river to the others in 

those boats. And one person, like her 

grandmother, she would take the boat and go 

and deliver the clothes after they had laundered 

them.

Minnie married around the age of 16 (about 1902) 

and left the plantation. She then did sharecropping 

and moved around frequently for a time before settling with her family in the Arlington section of 

Jacksonville. Mildred Murrell explained it in this 

way (Mildred Murrell 2001):

Yeah. And some of the children were born in 

Palatka [Florida] . . . that way. So I don’t know 
44 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

where John was born, it was different people 

that they sharecropped with, and they moved 

their families along, and they got tired of this 

when they were getting too many kids so that’s 

why they went to Arlington and so they built 

their house there, raised their children there.

John Murrell’s account of life in Jacksonville before 

the ferry service and through the 1930s in the following discussion provides insight into the socioeconomic aspects of Jacksonville’s transition from 

the perspective of an African American male. For 

example, John recalled that, prior to the establishment of ferry service (early 1920s), the Bartley 

family used to run a boat service, primarily picking 

up black people who worked for white families 

along the river and taking them into downtown 

Jacksonville. He remembered the service in this way 

(John W. Murrell 2001):

Bartley’s used to run a boat from there . . . , We 

called it skip jack, skip-skip-skip-skip, he 

carried them people to Ocean Street, that’s 

where all the black people would hang out—on 

Ocean Street, foot of Ocean Street. The fish 

markets and everything was there, and that’s 

where he would carry’um and they stopped by 

all them places there, where docks was out there 

. . . , and then he’d come along . . . and blow that 

whistle, and you’d catch that boat and go to 

Ocean Street, stay all day until that evening, and 

then you’d come back, and bring you back and 

carry you all the way from, uh, Hogan. That’s 

where he, that’s where the dock would turn 

around. That was the only transportation you 

had out there because it was horse and buggy at 

that day.

After the ferry was established, transportation from 

Arlington to Jacksonville entailed the following, 

according to John’s experiences (John W. Murrell 

2001):

. . . ferryboat, used to carry you from Arlington 

to the foot of Beaver Street. And you’d catch the 

streetcar, three or four blocks from the ferry 

landing on Parker Street, and that’s the way 

you’d get to town, go down on 8th Street to 

Woolworth and H & W B Drew Company, and 

all that. And it used to be, uh, that Montgomery 

Ward had a store in there. And that’s where 

they’d go shopping. And during this time I was 

about 7 or 8, 9 years old [ca. 1924].

John, who remembers working at the Solomon 

Sausage factory on Parker and Church in Jacksonville, is a WWII United States Navy veteran and a 

retired painter who has most recently taken up carpentry. He currently spends his time assisting a 

friend on commercial carpentry jobs. In an 

interview he discussed some of the ways in which he 

and his family made money when he was a boy 

during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He told the 

following story about buying his first car (John W. 

Murrell 2001):

. . . when I’d got 12 or 13 [ca. 1927-28], I bought 

an old Model T truck from a man. I give him 6 

dollars for her, and took it and cut it down to a 

racer to make transportation, and that’s the way 

we . . . after then, we would get back and forth, 

we would go to Lone Star, Cosmo, Fulton, that’s 

where you’d go to fish, fish, off them jetties 

down there.

He then described catching gophers (tortoise), 

picking huckleberries, and cultivating and harvesting fruits. He also farmed crops such as pears, 

grapes, peas, and corn. He would then transport (in 

his Model T) his product to town and sell it, primarily to white people, in the Jacksonville area. 

John provided the following details (John W. 

Murrell 2001):

And that’s the only way you could make any 

money. Catch them gophers, sell’um to them 

white people—they’d give you .50 cents for the 

big ones, .25 cents for the small ones. And that 

was the way we’d get our money. And, uh, old 

man Percy McQueen—that was my mother’s 

cousin. He owned all that river front, clean back 

to where the road on the coast comes from the 

bridge [Mathews Bridge], he owned that, and he 

had nothing but a pear grove in there—pears, 

grapes and farm, that’s what he would do, and 

we would go and pick’em [huckleberries]and I 

would go over on Liberty and, uh, Wambolt 

and sell them to them white people out there, 

have them on my back, a water bucket full, .25 

cents a quart, and they would say: ‘Boy, bring 

me one.’ And that’s the way we made our 

money, selling them peas, corn, whatever he 

raised there, he would raise it and we would go 

sell it. I’d go sell it for him, and then on 

Saturdays my mother and all them women 

would get together and go down to Center Park 

and pick huckleberries . . . Them Hyslers, and 

the, uh, Higgenbothoms; and I would sell them 

huckleberries to them, and when they put .25 

cents a quart and I bring that money back. All 

them womens meet in my mother’s house and 

split their money, that was what they buy 

groceries with by the end of the week. And that 

was my job.

The following description of John’s encounter with 

a Klan Grand Dragon highlights how the threat of 
National Park Service 45

racial violence permeated the social fabric of 

everyday life in Jacksonville. John said that his 

family lived next door to the Klan Grand Dragon 

when he was growing up in the Arlington area of 

Jacksonville. He describes an encounter with the 

Grand Dragon in the year 1934 as follows (John W. 

Murrell 2001):

JM: And where we was living at in Arlington, we 

was living next to the Dragon.

MM: The Klan Dragon.

JM: That’s right. Klu Klux Grand Dragon, and 

he had one child, and my Daddy had a bunch of 

‘um. But, me and that boy—he was my peer. 

And we got to fighting—I fight him once. 

AJ: The Grand Dragon’s son?

JM: Yeah, we didn’t care. And he went and told 

his daddy. And on this Sunday, every Sunday 

we’d have stew beef and rice, and you know 

how you make a pot of stew beef—oh I had 

done ate a whole pot full. And when he told his 

Daddy, his Daddy come in the house, he, uh, 

knock on the door. Well we had hogs then, 

hogs, had cows, and pigs . . . I saw him coming 

to the door and I was in the back, I had just got 

through eatin’. And we had the swivel bucket 

[garbage bucket] sitting right in the back of the 

door, and I was pretty grown then—I think I 

was about 17, maybe 18, 19 years old—

somewhere along in there. Yeah about 19. And 

he told his daddy, and I saw this white man 

coming to the door . . . And he, um, my Daddy 

said ‘uhm,’ he said: ‘Where is Johnny?’ And my 

daddy said: ‘There he is back there.’ We had 

about 5 or 6 children, my mama did and I was 

the oldest. And my Daddy said, ‘Johnny, come 

here’, he said, ‘Mr. Abigail?’ I think it was 

Abigail, ‘said he want to see you.’ He told me, he 

say, ‘next time you mess with my boy I gonna 

take you out and whip your ass,’ and I said, ‘yes 

sir’ and I went back and all that food I’d ate 

come up and went right in the swivel bucket.

MM: You scared of that man?

JM: Who? ‘cause I know’d what he’ll do. And 

that same boy—his boy—was the cause of me 

going in the Navy. He’d come back and every 

time he’d come back, he’d come back to me. He 

liked me. He told me, he said, ‘John, why don’t 

you go get in the Navy?’ 

The Murrell family’s narrative provides a vivid portrait of Jacksonville’s transition from plantation life 

to the present. The relationship between the past 

and present in best captured by Evett’s summary of 

the impact on her life today of visits with her grandmother Minnie D. (Evette Murrell 2001):

I thought it was very interesting and very 

important to know, and to really know and 

understand the plight of what people went 

through. It added some importance to where we 

were, what we at the time had as children, even 

though we were not well off, but we had a lot of 

things that a lot of children didn’t have. And to 

see what she had, which I was surprised that she 

would even remember. You know it was 

shocking—remembering slavery and that she 

was a slave for her childhood. And back then 

that was considered childhood because they 

married so early, 15-16 years old, they were 

usually married by then. It was very interesting 

information, and to know that someone was 

living that experience, you heard about it in 

school, vaguely, but for someone to experience 

it and be able to talk about it and still have a 

good sense of being in America, to put it that 

way.

Bartley-Scott Family

Adewole O. Kule-Mele or Anthony Scott (now 

deceased) and his sister, Theresa Scott Taylor are 

great grandchildren (fifth generation) of Easter 

Bartley. Their stories provide a view into Easter 

Bartley’s life from a “slavery time” perspective—

showing the interrelationship between the past and 

the present with respect to descendants of the 

Kingsley Plantation Community.

Theresa said that the Scott family is connected to 

Easter Bartley through Clarence Scott, Sr., her 

paternal grandfather (see Figure 20). Clarence 

married Beatrice—a woman who was raised by 

Antoinette Adkins, the sister of her birth mother 

(personal communication 2001). Antoinette, or 

Missy Adkins, as she was sometimes called, was the 

wife of Jim Adkins, the chicken dinner man, and the 

daughter of Easter Bartley.

In a video taped interview done in 1998 at the 

Kingsley Plantation Heritage Festival, Kule-Mele, 

who was a well known and highly respected African 

drummer, teacher, and performer in the Jacksonville 

community, said that he had learned that his 

grandma Easter was “Aunt Easter” of the Kingsley 

Plantation at a lecture given by Professor Dan 

Schafer. He shared the following regarding his connection to Easter Bartley (Adewale Kule-Mele 

1998):
46 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Grandma Esther was married to Quash 

Lottery—I’m the genealogy line from Quash 

Lottery. When he died, she married Mr. Bartley, 

George Bartley, and they are—what is the 

word—maybe prolific. A lot of them have their 

family booklet here [at the 1998 Kingsley 

Heritage Festival]. I was going to work from 

that–that these people exist. She didn’t make 

children with George Bartley. No children. She 

was an elder when she married him.

Additionally, Kule-Mele said he remembered 

hearing the following stories about Easter Bartley 

from his family (Adewale Kule-Mele 1998): 

That’s why I’m here because Grandma Esther, 

as my grandmother called her, was a name 

around my house where I was raised on West 

Fifth Street, and they talked about Grandma 

Esther. She lived to be about 118 years old, and 

she came to be known at a point in time, around 

the ‘20s [1920s], as one of the two people who 

FIGURE 20. Descendants of Easter and Quash Lottery /George Bartley Jr.

==================================================================

Descendants of Easter and Quash Lottery /George Bartley Jr. 

==================================================================

1. Easter/Esther (b.1825? d.1930?) 

sp: Quash Lottery (b. 1806?) /George Bartley Jr.(2nd husb) 

 |-2. Anna M. Lottery (b.1861) 

 |-2. Ruth Lottery (b.1863) 

 |-2. Sallie Lottery (b.1867) 

 |-2. Antoinette Lottery (b.1870) 

 | sp: James Adkins 

 | |-3. Mabel 

 | L-3. Beatrice Scott (Raised By Antoinette-birth mom's sister) 

 | sp: Albert Johnson/ Clarence Scott, Sr-2nd Husb 

 | L-4. Clarence Scott Jr. (b.1915) 

 | sp: Veronica Scott (b.1920) 

 | |-5. Theresa Scott Taylor (b.1934) 

 | |-5. Gerry Scott 

 | L-5. Adewole Kule-Mele/Anthony Scott (b.1942 d.1998) 

 |-2. Celina? Lottery (b.1869) 

 |-2. June Lottery (b.1876) 

 |-2. Adella Lottery (b.1877) 

 |-2. Arthur Lottery (b.1880) 

 L-2. Minnie D. King Murrel's mom= ? Lottery-Bartley 

 sp: Ed King 

 |-3. Minnie D. King (b.1886 d.1985) 

 | sp: John Wesley Murrell 

 | |-4. Quincy Murrell (b.1917 d.1989) 

 | | sp: Mildred 

 | | L-5. Evette Murrell (b.1962) 

 | |-4. John W. Murrell (b.1915) 

 | |-4. Rosa Murrell (b.1909) 

 | |-4. Minnie Payne Murrell 

 | |-4. Russell Murrell (b.1905) 

 | L-4. Clark Murrell (b.1907) 

 |-3. Helen 

 | sp: Jesse Williams 

 | |-5. Isiah Williams (b. 1931) -raised by Helen (his birth mom’s sister) 

 |-3. Rosa? 

 |-3. Julia 

 |-3. Annie 

 L-3. Tom Eddie 

==================================================================

sp=spouse 

source: Duval County Florida Probate records; US Census Bureau 

(1870;1880;1920); and family’s oral history (see Appendix-4) 
National Park Service 47

survived slavery alive in Jacksonville, Florida at 

that time . . . They said that she could be seen 

walking these neighborhoods like a Lone Star, 

and over here on the up and down by the river. 

Arlington wasn’t always as populous as it is— 

Black people used to live over here. They 

inherited this land . . . She was said to be a 

person who was very clever and did what she 

had to do when things were problematic. For 

instance, I’m not sure who the lady was that she 

was working for, or she may have been a slave 

for this lady, but when the Union army came this 

far south, the lady went away—probably 

Sammis or Gibbs, one of the two. But she went 

away to New Orleans and left Grandma Esther 

in charge of her house and her land and her 

property and her children. There was a time 

when the Union army was coming, marching 

down the road, and my Grandma Esther took 

the children, left the house, and went down the 

road a little ways from the house beneath her 

parasol, with the children, and they sat . . . , and 

watched the army come by. For whatever 

reason, they did not bother the property. They 

were burning houses and that sort of thing. 

Whatever Grandma Esther said to them or the 

image that she gave as a slave babysitting babies; 

they didn’t bother her, them or the property. 

The Scott’s family stories about Easter show that she 

was an active and creative participant in defining 

her place and strategically positioning for a life 

beyond the plantation slavery experience. She is 

remembered as a woman who challenged racialized 

notions of place in her own way. In this way, her 

legacy serves as a link to the reality of plantation life 

and as a link to the future.

Bartley-King-Williams Family

Isiah Williams provides another perspective of 

Easter Bartley’s life, legacy, and impact today. His 

narrative frames his connection with her and her 

connection to the Jacksonville community in social 

and political perspective. Isiah Williams is a Jacksonville resident, publisher of a local paper, the 

Jacksonville Advocate, and a great grandson of 

Easter Bartley. He admits that following his family 

connections can get confusing, but the history is 

interesting. Born in September 1931, he was raised 

by his birth mother’s sister, Helen, and her husband 

Jesse Williams. Isiah’s birth mother and her sister 

Helen were grandchildren of Easter Bartley (see 

Figure 21). Isiah spent the first 4 to 5 years of his life 

in Palatka, Florida, before his family moved to 

Fernandina, then Callahan, and finally to the Gator 

Bowl area of Jacksonville. He said that his mother 

(Helen) and grandmother were very close to the 

Bartleys.

Upon being shown the picture of Aunt Easter that 

appears in Stowell and Tilford’s book (1998), Isiah 

was candid in expressing his feelings of frustration 

about Easter’s loss of much of her post Emancipation acquired property in questionable legal 

actions. He described a visit to the courthouse in 

which he learned about Easter’s extensive property 

holdings and her extensive property losses (Isiah 

Williams 2001):

We went to the courthouse to look at, tried to 

discover some background information, and to 

my surprise we came across this particular book 

[a deed book probably], and we were going 

through it, and it was pages after pages after 

pages of Easter Bartley. But the thing was very 

interesting, but I was so angry. After hearing all 

of this in my life, my mother told me a great deal 

about Easter and in the Arlington cemetery 

there is her grave there, you know and we used 

to always go out and put flowers and things. But 

to see pages after pages of land that she owned 

is unbelievable. And the thing that is interesting 

to me, you know I have never been back there? 

Never, never . . . It was a regular textbook. And 

the thing was interesting to me because my 

mother had told me that all the lands she 

owned, and that she and a white man, a white 

man did a lot of the work for her, and what 

happened, he died, and his wife said that there 

was no interest in the land from the Easter 

Bartley side. So she lost a lot of land, but to see 

pages after pages where she did own land was 

the main thing to me. 

Isiah served in the army during the Korean Conflict 

(1950-54), went to college in Florida (Edward 

Waters, Florida Memorial, and Florida A&M,) then 

moved to New York. He graduated from Brooklyn 

Law School and lived and worked in New York for 

about ten years. While there, this great grandson of 

Easter Bartley served as legal counsel for many 

members of the Black Panther Party in New York 

and was present the day Malcom X was killed (in 

February 1965). Isiah shared the following memory 

of that day (Isiah Williams 2001):

I used to go to hear Malcolm all the time. The 

day that Malcolm got killed I was getting ready 

to go to hear a fellow who had been a member 

of the Communist Party at one of the churches . 

. . So I said ‘wow, the time has almost passed,’ so 

I said well the heck with it, I’ll go along and 

listen to Malcolm. So when I got off the subway 
48 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

(came up off the subway), I looked over to the 

ballroom, and there was about 30-40 people and 

they look like they were trying to pull somebody 

out of a car, out of a police car. And I rushed 

over there, ‘cause I knew most of them, you 

know, and I said, what’s going on, what ya’ll 

doing here? And they said ‘Malcolm is shot.’ 

And I said shot? I say, where is he? He said he’s 

inside so I rushed inside. But he was laying, he 

was up on stage. [Ike takes out a paper to draw 

the scene of the ballroom] Like this was the 

ballroom and this was the street, and right here 

was the hospital, I mean this was closer than 

from here to that building there. And he was 

laying on the apron of the stage. And I said ‘what 

are you all doing,’ so I say, ‘take him to the 

hospital.’ So we all picked him up and ran him 

over to the hospital . . . But he was dead, he was 

dead. 

In reality, the distance between Easter Bartley’s life 

from slavery to emancipation and Isiah’s life from 

FIGURE 21. Descendants of Easter and Quash Lottery /George Bartley Jr.

==================================================================

Descendants of Easter and Quash Lottery /George Bartley Jr. 

==================================================================

1. Easter/Esther (b.1825? d.1930?) 

sp: Quash Lottery (b.1806?) /George Bartley Jr.(2nd husb) 

 |-2. Anna M. Lottery (b.1861) 

 |-2. Ruth Lottery (b.1863) 

 |-2. Sallie Lottery (b.1867) 

 |-2. Antoinette Lottery (b.1870) 

 | sp: James Adkins 

 | |-3. Mabel 

 | L-3. Beatrice Scott (Raised By Antoinette-birth mother's sister) 

 | sp: Albert Johnson/ Clarence Scott, Sr-2nd Husb 

 | L-4. Clarence Scott Jr. (b.1915) 

 | sp: Veronica Scott (b.1920) 

 | |-5. Theresa Scott Taylor (b.1934) 

 | |-5. Gerry Scott 

 | L-5. Adewole Kule-Mele Scott (b.1942 d.1998) 

 |-2. Celina? Lottery (b.1869) 

 |-2. June Lottery (b.1876) 

 |-2. Adella Lottery (b.1877) 

 |-2. Arthur Lottery (b.1880) 

 L-2. Minnie D. King Murrel's mother = ? Lottery-Bartley 

 sp: Ed King 

 |-3. Minnie D. King (b.1886 d.1985) 

 | sp: John Wesley Murrell 

 | |-4. Quincy Murrell (b.1917 d.1989) 

 | | sp: Mildred 

 | | L-5. Evette Murrell (b.1962) 

 | |-4. John W. Murrell (b.1915) 

 | |-4. Rosa Murrell (b.1909) 

 | |-4. Minnie Payne Murrell 

 | |-4. Russell Murrell (b.1905) 

 | L-4. Clark Murrell (b.1907) 

 |-3. Helen 

 | sp: Jesse Williams

 | |-5. Isiah Williams (b. 1931) -raised by Helen (his birth mother’s sister) 

 |-3. Rosa? 

 |-3. Julia 

 |-3. Annie 

 L-3. Tom Eddie 

==================================================================

sp=spouse 

source: Duval County Florida Probate records; US Census Bureau 

(1870;1880;1920); and family’s oral history (see Appendix-4) 
National Park Service 49

segregation to Civil Rights to the present is not long 

at all. Isiah’s reaction when confronted with stories 

about Easter’s life as a slave is reflected in the following passage:

Let me tell you something that happened when 

I first came back from New York [mid-1970s]. I 

went to visit my grandmother, and she was in 

bed at that particular time, she died around [the 

age of] 94-95, and I was talking to her, and we 

had a very good conversation going on, and in 

some kind of way it came around at this point, 

she was saying that one day she was working, 

that she was out in Riverside selling berries with 

Easter Bartley, and a white gentleman came up 

and he started talking, and he talked a long time, 

and then when the man left, Easter Bartley told 

her that that was the man who had been my 

slavemaster. And I was so angry when I heard 

that, I walked out the room, I didn’t have sense 

enough to ask what was his name or anything. It 

was just a waste. [Isiah Williams 2001]

Easter Bartley is more than a property entry in the 

Kingsley family estate book and more than a surviving picture in a National Park Service document. 

This historical overview of Jacksonville’s transition 

from a plantation based, agrarian centered economy 

highlights active and ongoing relationships of place. 

The narratives about Easter Bartley, as shared by her 

descendants, connect the past and their present, 

revealing how Jacksonville’s transition is intertwined with the social reality of the Kingsley 

Plantation experience, “slavery time,” segregation, 

and issues of Civil Rights.
50 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study
National Park Service 51

Chapter Five: Ethnographic 

Profiles of a Historic Resource 

Site — The Kingsley Plantation

The inhabitants of the preserve [Timucuan 

Ecological Preserve] during the Plantation era 

lived primarily in six areas: St. Johns Bluff, Pilot 

Town/Batton Island, Fort George Island, Cedar 

Point on Black Hammock Island, Talbot Island, 

and the Greenfield Peninsula. [Stowell 1996:63]

John F. Rollins purchased the Kingsley Plantation in 

1869, moving his wife, Hannah, and children, 

including daughter Getrude Rollins, into the 

Zephaniah Kingsley plantation house. Rollins continued large-scale agriculture on the island until the 

1890s, commercially producing the “Fort George 

Orange” from orange groves on the island (Stowell 

1996). Gertrude kept notes about her life growing 

up on the island, which later were compiled into a 

set of personal memoirs. Her writings provide a folk 

level view of life on Fort George Island and include 

some interesting and revealing observations about 

the African descendant population, many formerly 

enslaved, that remained living in some of the old 

plantation “slave” quarters and working in agricultural and domestic servant capacities on the island 

at that time. For example, in “Notes Concerning the 

Old Plantation on Fort George Island,”covering the 

period 1868-1869, Gertrude wrote:

The island was entirely cleared on the west side 

except for occasional wind-breaks . . . ; There 

were large fields on the north called the Sand 

Fields and larger fields on the east called Cotton 

Fields. All these fields were under cultivation up 

to, and during the Civil War. There were ditches 

and remains of corn hills all through the woods 

on the north end of the Island and about the 

ruins of San Juan showing that other portions of 

the Island had been under cultivation in some 

remote past . . . The Quarter Houses were intact 

and many negroes still lived in them. Andrew 

Fielding who had possibly been a driver, was in 

charge of the place and lived with his wife and 

several children in the cabin on the extreme east 

of the semi-circle. Uncle Isaac Warfield with his 

wife Auntie Warfield and several children, 

Dilsey and Malinda were two of the girls, lived 

in the drivers cabin east of Palmetto Avenue and 

a man named Polite and his wife Charlotte and 

their family also lived on the east side. Uncle Jim 

probably lived on the west side in the large 

cabin next to Palmetto Ave., he afterward 

moved to the "Dingle" cabin on the extreme 

west of the semi-circle. Aunt Celie lived on the 

west side and also a woman named Belle. Many 

others remained in the cabins, most of them on 

the east side, but their names are forgotten . . . 

There were thirty-four cabins in the semi-circle 

and there was a fig tree in front of each cabin. 

There were several wells in front of the cabins; it 

was said that there was a well for each pair of 

cabins. There were small gardens back of the 

cabins. [Wilson n.d:2-6]

Talbot Islands, Kingsley Plantation, 

and the Christopher Family

The Talbot Islands are part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Along with the 

Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island, the 

Talbot Islands played a significant role in the area’s 

history during what Stowell refers to as the “Plantation Life” era (Stowell 1996). Gertrude Rollins 

Wilson wrote the following about families (see 

Figure 22) that lived on Talbot and surrounding 

islands in her notes about Kingsley Plantation covering the period 1868-1869:

On the north end of Talbot Island the Lewis 

Christopher plantation was deserted except for 

negroes, Uncle Tom Christopher and his wife 

Aunt Katie and their children, George, Hannah, 
52 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

FIGURE 22. 1880 US Census excerpts from Duval County Florida.

Name Color Sex Age Relation Occupation Brthpl Brthpl 

father 

BrthPl 

Mother 

Long, Emma B Female 25 wife Keeping house GA GA? GA? 

Long, Cornelus B Male 5 son FL FL GA 

Kingsley, Stephen B Male 62 Laborer FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Ellen B Female 25 daughter At home FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Hogarth B Female 18 daughter At home FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Henry B Male 13 son Scholar FL FL FL? 

Rollins, John F. W Male 47? US Land? NH MA MA 

Rollins, Annie B. W Female 35 wife FL FL FL 

Rollins, Paul E. W Male 20 son Clerk US ? FL NH FL 

Rollins, Oliver W Male 16 son FL NH FL 

Rollins, Gertrude W Female 16 daughter FL NH FL 

Christopher, T.S. B Male 48 Servant FL FL FL 

Christopher, Catherine Mu Female 49 wife FL FL FL 

Christopher, Albert B Male 15 son Hotel waiter FL FL FL 

Christopher, S? Mu Male 11 son FL FL FL 

Christopher, John S. Mu Male 24 Farm hand FL FL FL 

Christopher, Thomas? W. Mu Male 20 Cook FL FL FL 

Christopher, George B Male 33 ? FL FL FL 

Christopher, Fannie B Female 23 wife Servant FL FL FL 

Christopher, Emma? B Female 23 wife Servant FL FL FL 

Gresham, E.G. W Male 39 Farmer FL FL FL 

Gresham, Louise W Female 44 wife FL FL FL 

Gresham, Bath? W Female 14 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Edna W Female 17 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Jessie W Female 4 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Mand? W Female 10/12 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, J.L? W Male 60 Farmer FL FL SC 

Christopher, Lizzie Mu Female 54 wife FL Jaimaca? FL 

Chrisotopher, Anna Mu Female 23 daugher FL FL FL 

Christopher, Minnie? Mu Female 15 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, Lewis Mu Male 13 son FL FL FL 

Christopher, Georgie Mu Female 6 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, William W Male 25 Farmer FL FL FL 

Christopher, Mary Mu Female 25 wife FL FL FL 

Christopher, Josephine Mu Female 3 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, Edwin Mu Male 7 son FL FL FL 

Warfield, Isaac B Male 60 Laborer MD MD MD 

Warfield, Dianna B Female 45 wife Keeps house 

Warfield, Isaac Jr. B Male 23? son Laborer 

Warfield, Jackson B Male 21 son Laborer 

Warfield, Samuel B Male 16 son Laborer 

Warfield, Malinda B Female 13 daughter At home 

Warfield, Charles B Male 7 son At home 

Warfield, Cora B Female 5 daughter At home 

Warfield, David? B Male 2 son At home 

Warfield, Martin B Male 34 Laborer 

Warfield, Angelina B Female 24 wife Keeps house 

Broward, Jr? Mu Male 11 nephew At home 

Warfield, Emma B Female 30 cousin Keeps house 

Warfield, Florence B Female 11 cousin At home 

Warfield, Millie? B Female 6 cousin At home 

Warfield, Fred K? B Male 4 cousin At home 

Warfield, Ola B Female 2/12 cousin At home 

Long, John? B Male 98 Fishing 

Long, Joanna B Female 49 wife Keeps house 

Long, Lizzie B Female 16 daughter At home 

Long, Jesse B Male 7 son At home 

source: U.S. Bureau of Census; see Appendix 2 
National Park Service 53

called Tannie, Tom, John, Lewis, and 

Christopher, called Christopher Lewis, 

remained there and Aunt Betsey and her 

daughter, Georgia lived nearby. On the south 

end of Talbot the Houston plantation was 

extant and Mrs. Houston, always spoken of as 

“Lady Houston” or “Old Lady Houston” lived 

there . . . The Broward plantation remained at 

Cedar Point and a family of Grissoms lived 

either there or nearby and there were Grissom 

negroes who were related to the Christopher 

negroes, notably Maddie Girssom and her 

sister. [Wilson n.d:3]

Some descendants of the Christopher family who 

lived on Talbot Island worked for the Rollins family 

at the Kingsley Plantation. In her memoirs, “Fort 

George During 1869 and Afterward,” Gertrude 

Rollins Wilson made the following observations 

concerning the dispersal of some of the African 

descendant members of the Kingsley community 

(sometime just after 1883) when the Rollinses sold 

some of their property interest on the island to 

developers who then expanded the Fort George 

Hotel:

Many of the old Negroes remained at the 

“Homestead” as the plantation [Kingsley 

Plantation] was now called as house servants 

and fieldhands. Dilsey Warfield was sent north 

to be raised in the home of Mr. Edward Rollins 

[John F. Rollins’ brother, a U.S. Senator in NH 

from 1877-1883] where she remained until 

grown when she returned to Jacksonville. 

George Christopher was taken by Dr. Sibel of 

Jacksonville and remained with him until his 

death. Tannie Christopher was taken by Mrs. 

Rollins at the Homestead and remained with 

her until Tannie married. Annie her sister was 

sent to the Missis Rollins at Rollinford N.H. and 

remained with them until she married. Other 

Negroes found employment either at the new 

house or at the hotel. [Wilson n.d.:15]

The 1870 Fort George Island Voting Precinct Residents’ list, transcribed by Daniel W. Stowell 

(1996:D-58), contains the following Grissum family 

information: Annie Grissum (white female, age 31), 

Martha Grissum (white female, age 7), Ruth 

Grissum (white female, age 4), Mary Grissum (white 

female, age 1), and Ephraim Grissum (white male 

farmer, age 28). An excerpt from the 1880 Duval 

County Census (see Figure 22) lists several Christopher family and Gresham family members, 

including an E.G. Gresham (white male farmer, age 

39).

In the fall of 2001, interviews with Mildred G. 

Christopher Johnson and Altamese E. Christopher 

Dorsey (Mildred’s sister) and Inez Christopher 

Asque were conducted.

During one of the interviews, Mildred Christopher 

Johnson explained her understanding of the 

Grissum-Christopher connection. She said that 

Martha Grissum (who was white and called Mattie) 

was her maternal grandmother and that Mattie had 

lived in New Berlin with Mildred’s family until she 

died in the Christopher family home. Mildred still 

lives in that home today. In addition, Mildred said 

that according to her family’s genealogy, Mattie’s (or 

Martha’s) mother was known to be Anna. She also 

said that Abraham Ervin was her maternal grandfather (Johnson 2001). Therefore, according to 

Mildred’s understanding, E.G Grissum and his wife 

Annie (listed in the 1870 census) were her great 

grandparents.

The Christopher family’s connection to Kingsley 

Plantation extends as far back as the 1800s. Christopher family members either worked on the 

Kingsley Plantation or owned and managed neighboring plantation homesteads. Today, many 

members of the Christopher family remain concentrated in the New Berlin area of Jacksonville and are 

quite proud of their family’s legacy in north Florida.

The Christopher Family Profile

The Christophers were Kings in foreign 

countries, landowners and masters of slaves. 

They owned land in Jacksonville, Amelia Island, 

Big Talbot Island, Little Talbot Island, 

Christopher’s Creek and Fernandina, Florida. 

Some married black women and had children as 

early as the 1800’s. The Christophers are listed 

in the census as being white, black, and mulatto. 

Their races were changed to protect their 

families. In the State of Florida and throughout 

America, inter-marriages were not allowed in 

the 1700’s and the 1800’s but the Christophers 

married whom they pleased. [Alston, 1994:III]

This portrait of the Christopher family’s connection 

to Fort George Island and the Kingsley Plantation 

community is based almost exclusively on information provided by Christopher family members 

Marion Christopher Alston, Mildred Christopher 

Johnson, and Anita James who conducted research 

between 1986 and 1994 in order to produce a family 

history album. They searched libraries, historical 

societies, national archives, census data, church 
54 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

records, newspapers, and cemetery records for 

information on their family. The result was the production of a very informative document profiling 

the life of their family in north Florida—going back 

as far as the 1800s. The album entitled, “The Christopher’s and their Descendants,” was distributed to 

family members at the 1994 Christopher family 

reunion (Alston 1994). Marion Christopher Alston 

described her quest to document the history of her 

family in this way (Marion Christopher Alston 

1998):

Well, [what] I hope to achieve [is] to have the 

Christophers’ history—true history put back in 

the history books and tell it the way it really was 

because in doing my research, I have gone 

through and have found lots of errors . . . So I 

would like to make sure that we could get it 

corrected, put it into the history books because 

our great grandfather was a well-known, 

respectable man. And I would like to do that. I 

would also like for my family members to know 

their family—who they are from—who they 

came from—who we are.

The Talbot Islands played a major role in the early 

settlement of the Christopher family and in the 

development of their family’s lifestyle. Noted fishermen, seamen, and farmers, the Christophers have 

lived along the St. Johns River and made a living 

from the river beginning with the arrival of the first 

Christophers, Spicer Christopher and his wife, 

Mary Greenwood Christopher, to Talbot Island in 

the late 1700s. Mildred provided the following 

explanation of the family genealogy (Mildred Christopher Johnson 2001):

. . . My father was Joseph A. Christopher Sr. He 

was born on Little Talbot Island, his 

foreparents landed in Maine, and two of the 

brothers came to Talbot Island, and he was 

born there in 1876, his mother was a black 

woman, his father was a white man, John 

Christopher. What happened, John’s two 

former wives were white and they had died and 

my grandmother took care of his kids and they 

later married and they had 9 kids, and my 

daddy was the third of the children that she had 

for him. Her name was Caroline Crockett . . . 

And my father, the Christophers were either 

known as farmers or as fishermen. My 

grandfather [John] is listed in the archives as a 

farmer. And my father and all of his siblings 

were fishermen, and owned big fishing boats, 

they fed and fished themselves.

The 1880 US Census report lists John, Caroline, and 

Joseph Christopher (see Appendix-2). Although 

John Christopher is identified as black in the 1880 

census report, this probably means very little with 

respect to Mildred’s story since census enumerators, as previously discussed, used very broad 

guidelines in terms of determining racial 

classification.

Today, Mildred Christopher Johnson (born in 

1926), her sister Altamese, and many of their relatives retain homes in the Jacksonville community of 

New Berlin, residing on Apollo Avenue (a street that 

borders the St. Johns River), on land that has been in 

their family for generations. Family records provide 

the following account of the Christopher property:

Most of the parcels in this area were previously 

and is still known as the Carrie Christopher 

Addition, who was the third wife of John 

Christopher. Before the advent of the Broward 

Bridge [around 1986], the New Berlin 

community remained intact as a close knit 

neighborhood of Christopher descendants. 

This bond was broken and many families were 

disbursed, and settled in other parts of 

Jacksonville. It is commonly felt that the bridge 

and the consequences thereof, contributed to 

the untimely demise of at least seven of our 

most prominent and elderly Christopher 

descendants. [Alston 1994:2]

In terms of religious activities in the community of 

New Berlin, the New Bethel AME church in New 

Berlin has served as the place of worship for many 

members of the Christopher family for over 120 

years. According to Mildred, the church was started 

right after slavery ended and services were held in a 

tent. The first permanent structure that housed the 

church was torn down in 1986 because of the construction of the Dames Point Expressway system. 

The new church structure was rebuilt in 1987 in a 

different location from the original site but still 

within New Berlin (Alston 1994:1).

The Christophers contributed to the economic and 

social progress of the city of Jacksonville, especially 

with respect to the black community. During the 

period of segregation, or exclusion by whites of 

blacks from many public places and facilities 

throughout the city and throughout the state of 

Florida, Christopher-owned establishments provided a space for recreation and entertainment 

especially for black citizens of the community. 

Family records provide the following account:
National Park Service 55

The first Black fish camp and marina in North 

Florida was established in 1917, in New Berlin 

by Joseph A. Christopher. Later the fish camp 

became ‘Christophers’ Pier,’ a restaurant and 

night spot for Black residents, sponsoring 

annual Easter Monday, Labor Day and 4th of 

July boat races, ski shows, swimming contest 

and other aquatic activities. Before New Berlin 

was renamed, it was known as Yellow Bluff. 

[Alston 1994:1]

The Daniels Family and the Fort 

George Club

Even more obscure are the lives of the cooks, 

maids, chauffeurs, caddies, groundkeepers, and 

other servants who worked at the clubs. 

Undoubtedly, most of these servants were 

black, and they left little record of their 

contributions to the Recreational Development 

era of Fort George Island’s history. Only rarely 

do they receive mention in either club records 

or articles about the clubs. [Stowell 1996:101]

In Daniel Stowell’s historic resource study of the 

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, he 

speculated about the lives and history of the support 

staff—the cooks, maids, chauffeurs, groundskeepers—that worked at the recreational clubs and 

facilities on the island during what he calls the 

“Recreational and Development” era of Fort 

George Island (1996). To date, these stories have 

remained largely undocumented in public records 

and accounts of the island’s history.

In an interview and tour of Fort George Island with 

James Daniels, conducted specifically for this 

project by Marsha Phelts in December 2001, many 

interesting and rarely heard stories about Fort 

George Island and its inhabitants were revealed 

through James’s recounting of the everyday life 

experiences and memories of his family.

According to Stowell’s (1996) historical accounts, in 

1876, John Stuart purchased land on the east side of 

Fort George Island and built a two-story vacation 

house, which he named “Nelmar” for his daughters, 

Eleanor and Marian. In 1899, Eleanor married Rear 

Admiral Victor Blue (1865-1928) of the U.S. Navy. 

Victor Blue was a hero in the Spanish-American War 

and founder of the Army and Navy Club, chartered 

in 1923, on Fort George Island. Eleanor and Victor 

moved into the Nelmar house, known today as the 

Stuart-Blue house, in 1919 (see Figure 23). Following her husband’s death, Eleanor continued to 

live in the Stuart-Blue house until World War II 

(1941-1945). Then her son, Victor Blue Jr. (1914-

1971), and his family began using the house as a 

summer home after the war.

James’ mother, Mrs. Johnnie Mae Daniels, was a 

cook, first for the Fort George Club, and later for 

Mrs. Marian Terry. Quoting his mother, James 

emphasized that she would be the first to tell you 

that she was, “a cook and nobody’s maid.” Concerning his connection to the Island, James shared 

the following (James Daniels 2001):

I’ve been coming to Fort George Island since I 

was four years old. That was 1948 . . . They had 

big parties at the clubs and the island catered to 

high rank military officials. The Fort George 

Club founded by Victor Blue is what brought 

my mother to work on the island . . . When my 

mother worked for the Club, she lived in a 

bungalow just north of the Kingsley Plantation 

house, it has been torn down for quite some 

time. During the school year I stayed at our 

home in Jacksonville with my daddy to go to 

school. We came out here on the weekends and 

in the summer. Kingsley Plantation was the 

playground of my childhood. My father and I 

stayed in Mrs. Terry’s cottage while she was in 

the city and when she came to the cottage we 

stayed in the garage apartment or mother-inlaw’s apartment in back of her cottage.

James’ observations about Fort George Island, the 

Stuart-Blue house, and his family’s relations with 

the Blue family in the narrative that follows add a 

personal perspective to historical accounts of life on 

Fort George Island during the recreational era. 

James says (James Daniels 2001):

There were few houses on this island in the 

1950s, just woods and mosquitoes. Victor Blue 

and his wife had a house as big as a hotel on this 

road [Fort George Road]. At times Mrs. Terry 

stayed with them even though she had a 

bungalow on the opposite side of the island near 

the Kingsley Plantation house. The house that 

Victor Blue owned was just a few hundred yards 

south of the Ribault Club. The Admiral’s house 

was called ‘Nelmar.’ It looks a lot today as it did 

then, but there was a screened veranda. There 

were three homes behind the Blue’s house for 

the caretakers. My Uncle (Mama’s brother) 

Burcher Odoms and his wife lived in this one 

[points to one of the three]. Mr. Blue was a nasty 

person to work for. Mrs. Terry was altogether 

different and most kind. We liked her. She sent 

me cards and birthday presents right up until 

she died in the late 1960s. I remember one 

summer day Mrs. Terry let me swim in the pool. 
56 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

There were two pools over here, the pool house 

is still there, but over on that concrete pad to the 

north of the house was the other pool—that’s 

the one I swam in. But the next day after I went 

swimming, Victor Blue [Jr.] drained the water 

from the pool. He couldn’t keep Mrs. Terry 

from letting me get in the pool, but he could 

empty it and he did. He didn’t like black people. 

Period . . . Uncle Burcher and Mr. Blue had 

gotten in a dispute over money that Blue owed 

to my uncle. They went back and forth and still 

Uncle couldn’t resolve the issue—so I thought. 

My wife Thelma graduated from Florida A&M 

University in the summer of 1968 and we were 

coming home from graduation driving east on I10 [the road that is today replaced by I-10]. In 

the opposite direction going west was Uncle 

Burcher in his green pick-up truck weighted 

down with Victor Blue’s tractor. Uncle resolved 

the issue his way and took the tractor to his 

farm in Mississippi. Victor Blue didn’t owe him 

anymore.

As a young man growing up and playing on Fort 

George Island, James had many experiences and 

many memories of people and places on the island. 

For example, he remembers island local, Mr. Bean, 

and shared the following description (James Daniels 

2001):

An interesting person that I came to know was a 

man named Mr. Bean. I remember seeing a 

picture of Mr. Bean with his Model T. Ford and 

a pair of scissors in his hand as he cut the ribbon 

for the opening of the Sisters Creek Bridge. He 

was the first person to cross the bridge in 1926. 

Mr. Bean’s house is no longer here but it was 

FIGURE 23. 1920 US Census excerpts from Duval County Florida.

Family# Name Relation Sex Color Age Marital

status 

Brthpl Brthpl

Father 

Brthpl

Mother

Occupation 

158 Floyd, James son M B 14 Sgl FL FL FL Errand boy-grocery 

158 Floyd, Joseph son M B 10 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

158 Floyd, Sefora(?) daughter F B 6 Sgl FL FL FL none 

158 Floyd, Lestor son M B 2 Sgl FL FL FL none 

158 Floyd, Israil son M B 3/12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

175 Bartley, Logett(?) head M B 47 Married FL SC SC Fisherman 

175 Bartley, Nancy wife F B 37 Married FL FL FL none 

175 Bartley, Rosa daughter F B 24 Sgl FL FL FL Cook-private family 

175 Bartley, Ida daughter F B 17 Sgl FL FL FL Cook-private family 

175 Bartley, Mary daughter F B 15 Sgl FL FL FL none 

175 Bartley, Dennis son M B 13 Sgl FL FL FL none 

175 Bartley, Martin son M B 11 Sgl FL FL FL none 

175 Bartley, Lusie daughter F B 2 Sgl FL FL FL none 

198 McQueen, Peter head M B 91 Married FL FL FL none 

198 McQueen, Laura wife F B 69 Married TN TN NC? Servant-private family 

201 McQueen, John head M B 95? Sgl FL FL TN Farm Operator 

201 Bentley, Minnie housekeep F B 27? Widow FL FL FL Servant-private family 

01 Christopher, William T. head M Mu 56 Married FL FL FL Fisherman 

01 Christopher, Minerva wife F Mu 50 Married FL CT FL none 

01 Christopher, Earl son M Mu 17 Sgl FL FL FL none 

01 Christopher, William son M Mu 15 Sgl FL FL FL none 

02 Blue, Rear Adm Victor head M W 52 Married NC NC SC Naval Officer 

02 Stuart, Ellen wife F W 40 Married NJ MI OH none 

02 Stuart, John son M W 17 Sgl NY NC NJ none 

02 Blue, Victor Jr. son M W 6 Sgl Wash. NC NJ none 

02 Terry,Marion Stuart sister-inlaw F W 41 Divorced FL MI OH none 

02 Hinton, Margaret nurse F W 40 Sgl Scotland Scotland Scotland Nurse 

03 Terry, Emma head F W 70 Widow CT CT CT none 

03 Stollenwok?, Percy son-inlaw M W 60 Married AL AL AL none 

source: U.S. Bureau of Census; see Appendix 2 
National Park Service 57

just south of Palmetto Avenue before the 

Kingsley Plantation house. He had an orange 

grove and he was the inventor of the orange 

crate. Mr. Bean was very nice to me. I learned 

how to drive his tractor when I was eleven years 

old.

James shared the following memories of the 

Kingsley house grounds where he played as a youth 

in the 1950s and early 1960s (James Daniels 2001):

The Kingsley house was always locked, I never 

went in it in those days, but I played all around 

the house and peered in all of the windows. 

There was a main floor, a downstairs and an 

upstairs. I can’t find the window that I looked in 

each time now because the basement has been 

covered over. It was not a frame basement back 

then. It was brick and when I came up to the 

house I’d always run around to the north side 

bay window, the windows to the basement were 

the same size as the windows above. I’d look in 

the north basement window and I saw shackles. 

Down there they had actual shackles that were 

intact and imbedded in the brick walls. There 

were two sets of steel shackles that held the 

wrists and the legs of slaves. My daddy told me 

that this was where the slaves were taken to be 

beaten and that they were shackled to the walls. 

This was always a sadness to see the shackles. 

Through the years I’d look at the shackles right 

on through the 1960s. Then in 1974, I went to 

see the shackles, they weren’t there.

The Florida Park Board purchased the Fort George 

Clubhouse and its immediate surroundings in 1955 

and the Ribault Club in 1989. In October of 1991, 

the National Park Service took possession of the 

Kingsley Plantation complex.

This portrait of the Kingsley Plantation and Fort 

George Island as provided by the Christopher 

family, the Daniels family, and the other families 

profiled in this report, frame this historic resource 

site from a social perspective not typically expressed 

in plantation studies. In addition, these profiles help 

place the plantation within the context of the Jacksonville community today. This is an interesting and 

important contribution because it creates a bridge 

that may invite more Kingsley Plantation community connections to be made in the future.
58 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study
National Park Service 59

Conclusion

While anthropological descriptions of place 

have remained relatively monological, places 

themselves are fertilized into being through a 

confluence of voices. Places are complex 

constructions of social histories, personal and 

interpersonal experiences, and selective 

memory. [Miriam Kahn 1996:167]

This ethnohistorical study of the Kingsley Plantation Community takes up where Daniel Stowell’s 

Timucuan Ecological Historic Preserve Historic 

Resource Study (1996) concluded. It contains oral 

history interviews, ethnographic field data, maps, 

pictures, and other archival and historical data, 

which have been used to capture and preserve the 

memories, stories, and experiences of residents of 

the Jacksonville community, especially older people 

who are associated with or in some way connected 

to the Kingsley Plantation.

Theoretically, this analysis of diasporic experience 

has been based on ideas advanced by scholars such 

as Jacqueline Nassy Brown (1998), Elliot Skinner 

(1993), and Paul Gilroy (1987,1993) who have 

aggressively challenged the notion of universality 

based on a common diasporic memory, and have 

proposed other ways of looking at the diasporic 

experiences of Africans. Gilroy writes, for example:

The history of the black Atlantic since then, 

continually crisscrossed by the movements of 

black people—not only as commodities but 

engaged in various struggles towards 

emancipation, autonomy, and citizenship—

provides a means to reexamine the problems of 

nationality, location, identity, and historical 

memory. [1993:16]

Gilroy uses the metaphor of ships as the joining or 

connecting medium of many diasporic experiences 

to convey his ideas. He is an advocate for discussions that allow the diversity of diasporic 

experience to be represented. In this way, the experiences of a captive African on a slave ship, an 

African American Pullman porter, a recreational 

traveler with black skin, or Zephaniah Kingsley’s 

extended African family, for example, can be 

explored and analyzed from a political or socio-cultural perspective (as opposed to exclusively 

biologically connecting factors).

Methodologically, ethnography has served as a 

useful tool for capturing the dynamic nature of the 

ongoing dialogue between the past and the present. 

The ethnographic vignettes presented represent the 

arrival of Africans in America, not only as cargo, 

chattel, and “slave” entries in ship dockets and plantation diaries and ledgers, but also as individuals, 

families, and communities. Profiles of four families 

associated with the Kingsley Plantation community—the Kingsley-Sammis-Lewis-Betsch, the 

Bartley-King-Murrell-Williams, the Christophers, 

and the Daniels families form the core of this report. 

Documenting the lives and experiences of these 

families expands the scope of knowledge about the 

lifeways and experiences of people associated with 

the Kingsley Plantation.

In this study, the Kingsley Plantation has been 

viewed as a community, as a dynamic array of social 

relationships and experiences between people that 

extends well beyond the geographic, physical, and 

institutional boundaries that typically frame discussions of plantation life. The community profiled 

includes greater Jacksonville and the surrounding 

areas from Fernandina (to the north) to St. 

Augustine (to the south) and all other places where 

Kingsley descendants and others associated with 

the plantation live today. This study organizes these 

Kingsley connections, associations, and relationships into profiles, building a collage of intertwined 

events, interrelationships, and dependencies to 

form a new portrait of the Kingsley Plantation—an 

extended community portrait. This portrayal and 

analysis of the Kingsley Plantation as an extended 

community reveals a dynamic set of previously 

unobserved relationships between people—shaped 
60 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

by varying relations of place and varying connections to the past in the present. The result is the 

production of this very intricate and interestingly 

detailed study of race, place, and power—framed 

within the context of the Kingsley Plantation Community in Jacksonville, Florida before and after the 

Civil War.

Challenging Notions of Place — Next 

Steps 

There is no single authoritative narrative of plantation experience. There are countless stories about 

families, communities, and the places they inhabit 

yet to be told. This study is one story and another 

step.
National Park Service 61

Notes

1. The WPA Federal Writers Program (FWP) Florida began hiring black writers in 1936. They included: Martin 

Richardson, J.M. Johnson, Alfred Farrell, Winston Rice, Rebecca Baker, Viola Muse, Rachel Austin, Pearl 

Randolph, Grace Thompson, Paul Diggs (hired in 1938), and Zora Neale Hurston (hired in 1938). In spite of her 

talent and skill as a Professional Writer and support and recommendations from FWP National Director, Henry 

Alsberg, Zora was hired as a field writer as opposed to editor. Florida's FWP director, Carita Doggett Corse, 

adhering to strict Jim Crow 'place' codes ignored Alsberg's suggestions. She did 'allow' Zora certain privileges as a 

field writer that were not extended to others of her status. However, she did not officially promote her to the 

position of editor although Zora's skills were often utilized in that capacity and the title of 'Negro' editor was often 

used when referring to Zora's position. *For a detailed discussion of the FWP Florida unit, see Pamela Bordelon's 

book, "Go Gator and Muddy Water: Writings by Zora Neale Hurston from the Federal Writer's Project". 

[Bordelon 1999]

2. Archive facilities:

■ The Eartha M.M. White Historical Museum located in the Clara White Mission in Jacksonville, Florida.

■ The Durkeeville Historical Society, Inc. (1260 W. 7th St., Jacksonville, Florida)

■ Historic Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church - Jacksonville, Florida

■ Bethel Baptist Institutional Church - Jacksonville, Florida

■ Jacksonville Historical Society (Library-Jacksonville University Campus, Jacksonville, Florida)

■ Eartha M.M. White Collection, Special Collections (Thomas G. Carpenter Library, University of North Florida), 

Jacksonville, Florida

3. The following people participated in video taped interviews - conducted by University of Florida Graduate Students 

(Antonio de la Peña, Rachel Sandals, Edward Shaw, and Greg De Vries) for at the Kingsley Heritage Festival and 

Family Reunion on Fort George, Island, 10-11 October 1998: Adewale Kule-mele (of Jacksonville, FL), George 

Gibbs (of St. Augustine, FL), Harriet Gibbs Gardinar (of Jacksonville, FL), William Tucker Gibbs (of Miami FL), 

Emily Gibbs (of Miami,FL), Becky Gibbs (Miami, FL), Denny Gibbs (Miami, FL), Sandra Lebron and Manuel 

Lebron (Dominican Republic), Marion Christopher Alston (Jacksonville, FL), Elizabeth Kingsley Hull (McLean, 

VA), Steve McQueen Smith (Columbia, SC), and MaVynee Lewis Betsch (Amelia Island, FL). Their videotaped 

stories are on file at the National Park Service Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserves headquarters in 

Jacksonville, FL.

4. The Kingsley Family Genealogy Sources:

The Kingsley-Gibbs family memoirs compiled by Margaret Gibbs Watts entitled, "The Gibbs Family of Long Ago 

and Near at Hand 1337-1967", on file at the St. Augustine Historical Society in St. Augustine, Florida, is a valuable 

source of information on Kingsley family genealogy.

Probate Records on file at the Duval County Courthouse, Jacksonville, Florida:

Martha B. Baxter, Probate Record No. 143 (May 14, 1870)

Zephaniah Kingsley, Probate No. 1203 (September 25, 1843)

Anna M. Kingsley, Probate Record No. 1210 (June 18, 1870)

George Kingsley, Probate Record No. 1205 (December 21, 1846)

Stephen Kingsley, Probate 1252 (June 19, 1897)

John S. Sammis, Probate No. 1970 (February 26, 1884)

Mary K. Sammis, Probate No. 2029 (April 25, 1895)
62 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study
National Park Service 63

Appendices

Appendix 1: Kingsley Family Descent Charts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Appendix 2: 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1920 US Census Data Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Appendix 3: 1910 and 1930 Negro Occupations Census Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Appendix 4: Aunt Easter Family Genealogy Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
64 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study
National Park Service 65

 

APPENDIX-1 

Kingsley Family Descent Charts 

Appendix-1b (part 1 of 2) 

==================================================================

Descendants of Zephaniah Kingsley Sr. and Isabella Johnstone 

================================================================== 

1. Zephaniah Kingsley Sr. 

sp: Isabella Johnstone 

 |-2. Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. (b.1765 d.1843) 

 | sp: Anna (Anta Majigeen) Njaay (b.1793 d.1870) 

 | |-3. George Kingsley (b.1807) 

 | | sp: Anatoile Francoise VaunTravers (m.1849) 

 | | |-4. Georgianna Kingsley 

 | | |-4. Estelle Kingsley 

 | | |-4. George Kingsley 

 | | |-4. Zephaniah Kingsley 

 | | L-4. Anatole Kingsley(*) 

 | | sp: Jacobo Eleibo 

 | | |-5. John Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | |-5. George Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | | sp: Mariana Jones 

 | | | L-6. Adolfo Jones Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | | sp: Martina Medina 

 | | | L-7. Crucito Medina Jones Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | L-5. M? Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | |-3. Martha Kingsley Baxter (b.1809) 

 | | sp: Cran(?)Oran Baxter 

 | | |-4. Anna Kingsley Baxter Carroll 

 | | | sp: Charles B. Carroll 

 | | |-4. Isabella Kingsley Baxter 

 | | |-4. Julia Catherine Kingsley Baxter 

 | | |-4. Osmund Edward Kingsley Baxter 

 | | L-4. Emma Jane Kingsley Baxter Mocs 

 | | sp: Joseph Mocs 

 | |-3. Mary Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1811) 

 | | sp: John S. Sammis 

 | | |-4. Egbert Kingsley-Sammis 

 | | |-4. George Kingsley-Sammis 

 | | L-4. Edmund Kingsley-Sammis 

 | | sp: ? Lizzy 

 | | L-5. Mary Francis Kingsley-Sammis Lewis (1st Wife) 

 | | sp: A.L. Lewis 

 | | L-6. James Henry Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | | sp: Annie Reed Lewis -2nd Wife/Bertha Lewis 1st Wife) 

 | | |-7. James Leonard Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | | | sp: Thelma 

 | | L-7. Mary Francis Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | | sp: John T. Betsch 
66 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

 | | |-8. Johnnetta Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | | | sp: Robert Cole (1st Husb)/A. Robinson-2nd Husb 

 | | | |-9. Aaron Cole 

 | | | |-9. Ethan Che Cole 

 | | | L-9. David Cole 

 | | |-8. MaVynee Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | | L-8. John Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | | sp: C. Cresswell (1st Wife)/Div. 

 | | L-9. Peri Frances Betsch 

 | L-3. John Maxwell Kingsley (b.1824) 

 |-2. Mary Kingsley-Charlton (b.1764) 

 |-2. Johnstone Kingsley (b.1767) 

 |-2. George Kingsley (b.1768) 

 |-2. Catherine Kingsley-Bardon (b.1770) 

 |-2. Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1772) 

 |-2. Isabella Kingsley Gibbs (b.1774) 

 | sp: George Gibbs III 

 | |-3. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs 

 | |-3. Zephaniah C. Gibbs 

 | |-3. George Couper Gibbs II 

 | |-3. Sophia M. Gibbs 

 | |-3. Isabella M. Gibbs 

 | |-3. George Kingsley Gibbs 

 | L-3. Isabella J. Gibbs 

 L-2. Martha Kingsley McNeill (b.1775 d.1852) 

 sp: Daniel McNeill 

 |-3. Charles James Kingsley McNeill 

 |-3. Anna Matilda Kingsley McNeill Whistler-2nd Wife (b.1808 d.1881) 

 | sp: Maj. George Washington Whistler 

 | |-4. James Abbot Kingsley-McNeill Whistler 

 | |-4. William Whistler 

 | | sp: Ida Florida Gibbs King (1st Wife) 

 | L-4. Charles Whistler 

 |-3. Isabella Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: George Fairfax 

 | L-4. Adm. Fairfax 

 |-3. Catherine Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: Dr. George Palmer 

 |-3. Mary Kingsley McNeill 

 | sp: Joseph Estabrook 

 L-3. Gen. William Gibbs Kingsley McNeill 

 sp: Maria Commons 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Source: Duval County Florida Probate Records and Gibbs family memoirs (see Note 4) 

Appendix-1b (Part 2 of 2)
National Park Service 67

Appendix-1c 

========================================================================

Descendants of Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. and Anna Kingsley 

========================================================================

1. Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. (b.1765 d.1843) 

sp: Anna (Anta Majigeen) Njaay (b.1793 d.1870) 

 |-2. George Kingsley (b.1807) 

 | sp: Anatoile Francoise VaunTravers (m.1849) 

 | |-3. Georgianna Kingsley 

 | |-3. Estelle Kingsley 

 | |-3. George Kingsley 

 | |-3. Zephaniah Kingsley 

 | L-3. Anatole Kingsley(*) 

 | sp: Jacobo Eleibo 

 | |-4. John Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | |-4. George Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | sp: Mariana Jones 

 | | L-5. Adolfo Jones Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | | sp: Martina Medina 

 | | L-6. Crucito Medina Jones Kingsley-Eleibo 

 | L-4. M? Kingsley-Eleibo 

 |-2. Martha Kingsley Baxter (b.1809) 

 | sp: Cran(?Oran) Baxter 

 | |-3. Anna Kingsley Baxter Carroll 

 | | sp: Charles B. Carroll 

 | |-3. Isabella Kingsley Baxter 

 | |-3. Julia Catherine Kingsley Baxter 

 | |-3. Osmund Edward Kingsley Baxter 

 | L-3. Emma Jane Kingsley Baxter Mocs 

 | sp: Joseph Mocs 

 |-2. Mary Elizabeth Kingsley (b.1811) 

 | sp: John S. Sammis 

 | |-3. Egbert Kingsley-Sammis 

 | |-3. George Kingsley-Sammis 

 | L-3. Edmund Kingsley-Sammis 

 | sp: ? Lizzy 

 | L-4. Mary Francis Kingsley-Sammis Lewis (1st Wife) 

 | sp: A.L. Lewis 

 | L-5. James Henry Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | sp: Annie Reed Lewis (2nd Wife/Bertha Lewis 1st Wife) 

 | |-6. James Leonard Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | | sp: Thelma 

 | L-6. Mary Francis Kingsley-Sammis Lewis 

 | sp: John T. Betsch 

 | |-7. Johnnetta Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | | sp: Robert Cole (1st Husb)/A. Robinson-(2nd Husb) 

 | | |-8. Aaron Cole 

 | | |-8. Ethan Che Cole 

 | | L-8. David Cole 

 | |-7. MaVynee Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | L-7. John Kingsley-Sammis Lewis Betsch 

 | sp: C. Cresswell 1st Wife 

 | |-8. Peri Frances Betsch 

 | sp: UNKNOWN 

 L-2. John Maxwell Kingsley (b.1824) 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Source: Duval County Florida Probate Records; Martha E. Davis Personal files (see Note 4);Oral history 

accounts;
68 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Appendix-1d (Part 1 of 2) 

======================================================================= 

Descendants of George Gibbs III and Isabella Kingsley 

======================================================================= 

1. George Gibbs III 

sp: Isabella Kingsley Gibbs (b.1774 d.1837) 

 |-2. George Couper Gibbs II (b.1822 d.1873) 

 | sp: Julia E. Williams (2nd Wife)/Elizabeth Elcan-1st Wife (b.1829 d.1896) 

 | |-3. Elizabeth Elcan* Gibbs (b.1848) 

 | | sp: John T. Dismukes 

 | |-3. George William Gibbs (b.1853 d.1923) 

 | | sp: Margaret Watkins Gibbs (b.1855 d.1935) 

 | | |-4. George Couper Gibbs II 

 | | | sp: Leonora Warnock 

 | | | |-5. Margaret Gibbs 

 | | | | sp: ?? Worthington 

 | | | | |-6. Patsy Gibbs Worthington 

 | | | | L-6. William Gibbs Worthington 

 | | | |-5. Harriet Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | sp: ?? Gardiner 

 | | | | |-6. Phillip Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | |-6. Stephen Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | | L-6. Couper Gibbs Gardiner 

 | | | L-5. William Gibbs 

 | | | sp: UNKNOWN 

 | | | |-6. Leonora Gibbs 

 | | | |-6. William Tucker Gibbs 

 | | | |-6. Becky Gibbs 

 | | | |-6. Emily Gibbs 

 | | | L-6. Denny Gibbs 

 | | |-4. George William Gibbs 2nd 

 | | | sp: Kathleen M. Ingraham 

 | | | |-5. George W. Gibbs 3rd 

 | | | | sp: ?? 

 | | | | |-6. George W. Gibbs 4th 

 | | | | L-6. Robert Gibbs 

 | | | L-5. Maria Gibbs 

 | | |-4. Elizabeth Lightfoot Coles Gibbs Weed 

 | | | sp: Joseph Dunning Weed (m.1911) 

 | | | |-5. Ned Gibbs Weed 

 | | | | sp: Frances Palmer 

 | | | | |-6. Margaret Palmer Weed 

 | | | | L-6. Cynthia Palmer Weed 

 | | | |-5. Margaret Gibbs Weed 

 | | | | sp: William Gioseffi 

 | | | |-5. Julia Foster Gibbs Weed 

 | | | | sp: Lt. Commander Lorenzo Wilson Baldwin 

 | | | | |-6. Elizabeth Gibbs Baldwin 

 | | | | |-6. Martha Rose Baldwin 

 | | | | |-6. Julia Ann Baldwin 

 | | | | L-6. James Gillespy Baldwin 

 | | | L-5. Lt. Joseph Dunning Weed Jr. 

 | | | sp: Anne Topping 

 | | | |-6. Joseph Dunning Weed 

 | | | |-6. Donald Topping Weed 

 | | | L-6. Edwin Gardner Weed 
National Park Service 69

 | | |-4. Margaret Watkins Gibbs Watt 

 | | | sp: Rev. Albert W.J. Watt 

 | | |-4. Tucker Carrington Gibbs (b.1889) 

 | | | sp: Clarissa Anderson Dimick 

 | | L-4. Rebecca Gibbs Moore (b.1881) 

 | | sp: Samuel Moore (m.1903) 

 | | |-5. Samuel Gibbs Moore Jr. 

 | | | sp: Chandonette Norris 

 | | | |-6. Samuel Moore 

 | | | L-6. George Moore 

 | | |-5. Kingsley Gibbs Moore 

 | | | sp: Eleanor Baldwin 

 | | | |-6. Joan Moore 

 | | | L-6. Kingsley B. Moore Jr. 

 | | |-5. Henry C. Gibbs Moore 

 | | | sp: Charlotte Terhune 

 | | | |-6. Henry Moore 

 | | | |-6. Richard Moore 

 | | | L-6. Edith Moore 

 | | L-5. Edward C. Gibbs Moore 

 | | sp: Helene Woolson 

 | | |-6. Edward C. Moore Jr. 

 | | |-6. Christopher Moore 

 | | L-6. Margaret Moore 

 | |-3. Isabella Barksdale Gibbs (b.1857) 

 | | sp: Charles Floyd Hopkins (b.1853 d.1948) 

 | L-3. Robert Kingsley Gibbs (b.1869 d.1905) 

 |-2. Kingsley Beatty Gibbs (b.1810 d.1859) 

 | sp: Laura Matilda Williams (b.1820 d.1893) 

 | |-3. George Vernon Gibbs (b.1842 d.1858) 

 | L-3. Mary Williams Gibbs (b.1844) 

 | sp: William Arthur Smethurst (b.1834 d.1892) 

 |-2. Sophia M. Gibbs 

 |-2. Isabella M. Gibbs 

 | sp: Ralph King 

 |-2. Zephaniah C. Gibbs 

 |-2. George Kingsley Gibbs 

 L-2. Isabella J. Gibbs 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Source: Duval County Florida Probate Records and Gibbs family memoirs (see Note 4) 

Appendix-1d (Part 2 of 2)
70 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Adobe# Fam Name Age Sex Colo Occupation BirthPl 

381 379 Bigelow, Alexander G. 10 Male W FL 

381 379 Bigelow, Clanfa? 6 Female W FL 

390 388 Christopher, Lewis 68 Male W Planter FL 

390 388 Christopher, James, L. 36 Male W FL 

409 406 Leasy?, Joseph 35 Male W Teamster SC 

529 528 Sammis, John S. 50 Male W Farmer NY 

529 528 Sammis, Mary K. 45 Female W FL 

529 528 Sammis, Martha K. 20 Female W FL 

529 528 Sammis, Egbert C. 13 Male W FL 

529 528 Sammis, Amelia B. 11 Female W FL 

530 529 Phillips, Alonzo 20 Male Mu FL 

530 529 Meliam? 70 Male B Africa 

531 530 Kingsley, Toby 90 Male B Africa 

532 531 Williams, Mary A. 20 Female Mu FL 

532 531 Williams, Rebecca 35 Female Mu FL 

532 531 Williams, Hannah 6 Female Mu FL 

532 531 Williams, Holly 2 Female Mu FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Maria 46 Female B FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Sarah 14 Female Mu FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Dora 6 Female Mu FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Rosalia 3 Female B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, Lindo? 55 Male B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, Sophia 40 Female B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, John 5 Male B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, Gaden? 3 Female B FL 

535 534 Abdallah 60 Male B Africa 

535 534 Bella 60 Female B Africa 

682 681 Johnson, John 45 Male W Bar Pilot Norway 

682 681 Johnson, Ruth W. 37 Female W FL 

Adobe# Fam Name Age Sex Colo Occupation BirthPl 

140 153 McQueen, Emma 23 Female B Servant FL 

140 153 McQueen, William H. 13 Male B FL 

140 153 McQueen, Leon? 12 Male B FL 

140 153 McQueen, Lizzie 7 Female B FL 

140 153 Ida Gualding? 1 Female B FL 

142 155 Williams, Mary 45 Female B Nurse FL 

142 155 Williams, James 50 Male B Laborer FL 

142 155 Williams, Henry 23 Male B FL 

142 155 Williams, B? 20 Male B FL 

142 155 Williams, Eleas? 16 Male B FL 

142 155 Williams, Emma 14 Female B FL 

142 155 Williams, Thomas 11 Male B FL 

142 155 Williams, Joseph 8 Male B FL 

142 155 Williams, James 5 Male B FL 

148 161 Doggett, Maria 60 Female W MA 

148 161 Doggett, John L. 39 Male W Laborer MA 

148 161 Doggett, FA 24 Male W Atty at Law FL 

148 161 Doggett, H. 30 Male W Atty at Law FL 

148 161 Doggett, Maria 19 Female W FL 

371 369 Bigelow, Eugene 22 Male W Farmer FL 

378 376 Christopher, William G. 46 Male W Planter FL 

378 376 Christopher, Lizzie W. 23 Female W AL 

378 376 Christopher, E? 2 Female W FL 

378 376 Infant not named 1/12 Female W FL 

381 379 Bigelow, Robert 63 Male W Farmer CT 

381 379 Bigelow, Elizabeth A. 50 Female W FL 

381 379 Bigelow, Minerva 24 Female W FL 

381 379 Bigelow, Annette 17 Female W FL 

381 379 Bigelow, Luuis B. 14 Male W FL 

Appendix 2

1860, 1870, 1880, and 1920 US Census Data Tables 

(Excerpts from US Census data records transcribed by Antoinette T. Jackson, Univ. of Florida)

1860 US Census Duval County Florida (Part 1 of 2)
National Park Service 71

Adobe# Fam Name Age Sex Colo Occupation BirthPl

381 379 Bigelow, Alexander G. 10 Male W FL 

381 379 Bigelow, Clanfa? 6 Female W FL 

390 388 Christopher, Lewis 68 Male W Planter FL 

390 388 Christopher, James, L. 36 Male W FL 

409 406 Leasy?, Joseph 35 Male W Teamster SC 

529 528 Sammis, John S. 50 Male W Farmer NY 

529 528 Sammis, Mary K. 45 Female W FL 

529 528 Sammis, Martha K. 20 Female W FL 

529 528 Sammis, Egbert C. 13 Male W FL 

529 528 Sammis, Amelia B. 11 Female W FL 

530 529 Phillips, Alonzo 20 Male Mu FL 

530 529 Meliam? 70 Male B Africa 

531 530 Kingsley, Toby 90 Male B Africa 

532 531 Williams, Mary A. 20 Female Mu FL 

532 531 Williams, Rebecca 35 Female Mu FL 

532 531 Williams, Hannah 6 Female Mu FL 

532 531 Williams, Holly 2 Female Mu FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Maria 46 Female B FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Sarah 14 Female Mu FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Dora 6 Female Mu FL 

533 532 Kingsley, Rosalia 3 Female B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, Lindo? 55 Male B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, Sophia 40 Female B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, John 5 Male B FL 

534 533 Kingsley, Gaden? 3 Female B FL 

535 534 Abdallah 60 Male B Africa 

535 534 Bella 60 Female B Africa 

682 681 Johnson, John 45 Male W Bar Pilot Norway 

682 681 Johnson, Ruth W. 37 Female W FL 

1860 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 2 of 2)

1860 US Census Data-Duval County Florida (transcribed by: A.T. Jackson) 

Key: Fam=family #; Colo=color; B=black; W=white; Mu=mulatto; BirthPl=birthplace
72 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Adobe# Fam Name Age Sex Colo Occupation BirthPl 

619 526 Middleton,Isaac 45 Male B Brickmason SC 

619 526 Middleton, Ca? 35 Female B SC 

619 526 Middleton, William 4 Male B SC 

619 526 Middleton, Elizabeth 1 Female B FL 

619 526 Middleton, Edward 18 Male B Brickmason SC 

622 529 Long, Jackson 48 Male B Fisherman FL 

622 529 Long, Harriet 50 Female B NC 

622 529 Long, James A.? 21 Male B Fisherman FL 

622 529 Long, Louisa 15 Female B FL 

622 529 Long, William 13 Male B FL 

622 529 Long, Edward 12 Male B FL 

622 529 Long, Frank 10 Male B FL 

622 529 Long, Anna M. 5 Female B FL 

622 529 Long, Adaline 2 Female B FL 

977 856 Lee, Elick 45 Male B City Policeman NC 

977 856 Lee, Emily 50 Female B GA 

977 856 Lee, Lucy 23 Female B GA 

977 856 Ba? William 18 Male B GA 

978 857 White, Lafayette 35 Male B Drayman SC 

978 857 White, Clara 33 Female B FL 

978 857 White, George W.B. 8 Male B GA 

979 858 Johnson, John 21 Male B Works on Steamboat VA 

979 858 Johnson, Precilla 26? Female B MD 

979 858 Johnson, Mary M. 4 Female B FL 

979 858 Anderson, Charles 11 Male B FL 

95 86 Cloud, Thomas 27 Male B Works in Lumber Mill SC 

95 86 Janus, John 26 Male B Works in Lumber Mill SC 

95 86 Daniels, Robert 32 Male B Works in Lumber Mill GA 

95 86 Daniels, Eli 42 Male B Works in Lumber Mill GA 

1870 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 1 of 2)
National Park Service 73

1870 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 2 of 2)

Adobe# Fam Name Age Sex Colo Occupation BirthPl

95 86 M?, William 39 Male B Works in Lumber Mill FL 

95 86 Abraham, Richard 31 Male B Works in Lumber Mill AL 

95 86 Roberts, Jermiah 47 Male B Works in Lumber Mill GA 

190 Bartley, Henry 25 Male B Laborer 

190 Bartley, Barbary? 20 Female B 

194 Bartley, Frank 25 Male B Laborer SC 

194 Bartley, Lucy 23 Female B SC 

194 Bartley, Barbary 3 Female B FL 

194 Bartley, Wyatt 1 Male B FL 

326 273 Gibbs, Alexander 100 Male B Laborer Africa 

326 273 Gibbs, Affie? 48 Female B 

326 273 Gibbs, Sarah 17 Female B Domestic Servant 

326 273 Jackson, Patty 60 Female B FL 

378 319 Sammis, John 65 Male W Carpenter NY 

378 319 Sammis, Mary K. 59 Female Mu FL 

378 319 Sammis, Edward G. 33 Male Mu Retail Grocer FL 

378 319 Sammis, Elizabeth 26 Female W England

378 319 Sammis, Mary M. 8/12 Female W England

378 319 Koppell, Edward C. 9 Male Mu FL 

378 319 Jackson, George 25 Male B Domestic Servant FL 

378 319 Kingsley, Diana 23 Female B Domestic Servant FL 

378 319 Sammis, George D. 15 Male B Domestic Servant 

383 324 Napolian, Sippio 37 Male B Laborer FL 

383 324 Napolian, Addie? 35 Female B FL 

383 324 Napolian, Lewis 17 Male B Laborer FL 

383 324 Napolian, Alonzo 12 Male B FL 

383 324 Napolian, Paul 11 Male B FL 

383 324 Napolian, Rachel 2 Female B FL 

386 326 Lottery, Quash 64 Male B Laborer FL 

1870 US Census Data-Duval County Florida (transcribed by: A.T. Jackson) 

Key: Fam=family #; Colo=color; B=black; W=white; Mu=mulatto; BirthPl=birthplace

*The family name “Napolian” above appears as “Napoleon” in the 1880 census

*
74 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Name Colo Sex Age Relation Occupation BirthPl BirthPl-Fa BirthPlMo

Barnapart?, Napoleon B Male 80 Laborer Africa Africa Africa 

Barnapart?, Phillis B Female 50 wife At home LA LA LA 

Payne, Annette B Female 50 Keeping house FL Africa Africa 

Payne, Medina? B Female 7 daughter At home FL FL FL 

Payne, Gertie B Female 3 gdaughter At home FL FL FL 

Lottery, Easter B Female 49 Keeping house FL FL FL 

Lottery, Ruth B Female 13 daughter At home FL FL FL 

Lottery, Celina? B Female 11 daughter At home FL FL FL 

Lottery, Annette B Female 10 daughter At home FL FL FL 

Lottery, June B Male 4 son At home FL FL FL 

Lottery, Adella B Female 3 daughter At home FL FL FL 

Lottery, Arthur B Male 8/12 granson At home FL FL FL 

McQueen, Peter B Male 30 Laborer FL FL FL 

Christopher, Ann E. B Female 30 Keeping House FL FL GA 

Christopher, Isabel B Female 13 daughter At home FL FL GA 

Higgenbottom, E. W Female 45 Keeping House FL FL FL 

Higgenbottom, William W Male 21 At Home FL FL FL 

Bartley, George Sr. B Male 70 Laborer VA VA VA 

Bartley, Julia B Female 49 wife Keeping house SC SC SC 

Bartley, George Jr. B Male 36 Laborer SC SC VA 

Bartley, Derinda B Female 50 wife Keeping House SC SC VA 

Bartley, Henry B Male 39 Laborer SC SC VA 

Bartley, Barbary B Male 30 Keeping House FL VA VA 

Bartley, Mary B Female 8 At home FL SC FL? 

Bartley, Carrie B Female 7 At home FL SC FL? 

Bartley, Alfred B Male 6 At home FL SC FL? 

Bartley, Henry B Male 4 At home FL SC FL? 

Bartley, Joshua B Male 1 At home FL SC FL? 

Long, Frank B Male 39 Carpenter FL FL GA 

Name Colo Sex Age Relation Occupation BirthPl BirthPl-Fa BirthPlMo

Polite, John B Male 35 Minister GA GA GA 

Polite, Charlotte B Female 30 wife Keeping House SC SC SC 

Polite, John B Male 19 son Laborer FL GA SC 

Bartley, Frank B Male 34 Farmer SC VA SC 

Bartley, Lucy B Female 28 wife Keeping House SC SC SC 

Bartley, Barbary B Female 13 daughter At home FL SC SC 

Bartley, Wyatt B Male 11 son At home FL SC SC 

Bartley, Dennis B Male 9 son At home FL SC SC 

Bartley, Rosa B Female 3 daughter At home FL SC SC 

Barley, George W. W M 51 Store Keeper MA MA MA 

Bartley, Margaret R. W Female 49 wife House Keeper SC VA SC 

McNeal, Charles W Male 35 Farming SC SC SC 

McNeal, E.F. W Female 28 wife Keeping House FL GA FL 

McNeal, Charles W Male 28 son Laborer FL SC FL 

McNeal, Pearl W Female 19 daughter At Home FL SC FL 

Sammis, John S. W Male 73 Farmer NY NY NY 

Sammis, Mary K. W F 65 wife Keeping House FL Scotland Africa 

Coppele, Edmund Mu Male 19 servant At Home FL FL Germany 

Gaston, George B Male 30 laborer Laborer SC SC SC 

Kingsley, Diana B Female 29 servant Servant FL FL FL 

Fishburn, Elsie B Female 11 orphan Boarding SC SC SC 

Fishburn, Sarah A. B Female 9 orphan Boarding SC SC FL 

Fishburn, Sam B Male 6 orphan Boarding SC SC FL 

Napper?,Sam B Male 40 laborer Laborer GA GA GA 

Napoleon, Alonzo B Male 20 laborer Laborer FL FL FL 

Napoleon, Scipio B Male 53 Laborer GA Africa FL 

Napoleon, Edith B Female 40 wife Keeping House GA FL FL 

Napoleon, Alonzo B Male 21 son At home GA GA GA 

Napoleon, Rachel B Female 12 daughter At home GA GA GA 

1880 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 1 of 3)

*
National Park Service 75

1880 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 2 of 3)

Name Colo Sex Age Relation Occupation BirthPl BirthPl-Fa BirthPlMo

Long, Emma B Female 25 wife Keeping house GA GA? GA? 

Long, Cornelus B Male 5 son FL FL GA 

Kingsley, Stephen B Male 62 Laborer FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Ellen B Female 25 daughter At home FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Hogarth B Female 18 daughter At home FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Henry B Male 13 son Scholar FL FL FL? 

Rollins, John F. W Male 47? US Land? NH MA MA 

Rollins, Annie B. W Female 35 wife FL FL FL 

Rollins, Paul E. W Male 20 son Clerk US ? FL NH FL 

Rollins, Oliver W Male 16 son FL NH FL 

Rollins, Gertrude W Female 16 daughter FL NH FL 

Christopher, T.S. B Male 48 Servant FL FL FL 

Christopher, Catherine Mu Female 49 wife FL FL FL 

Christopher, Albert B Male 15 son Hotel waiter FL FL FL 

Christopher, S? Mu Male 11 son FL FL FL 

Christopher, John S. Mu Male 24 Farm hand FL FL FL 

Christopher, Thomas? Mu Male 20 Cook FL FL FL 

Christopher, George B Male 33 ? FL FL FL 

Christopher, Fannie B Female 23 wife Servant FL FL FL 

Christopher, Emma? B Female 23 wife Servant FL FL FL 

Gresham, E.G. W Male 39 Farmer FL FL FL 

Gresham, Louise W Female 44 wife FL FL FL 

Gresham, Bath? W Female 14 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Edna W Female 17 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Jessie W Female 4 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Mand? W Female 10/12 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, J.L? W Male 60 Farmer FL FL SC 

Christopher, Lizzie Mu Female 54 wife FL Jaimaca? FL 

Name Colo Sex Age Relation Occupation BirthPl BirthPl-Fa BirthPlMo

Chrisotopher, Anna Mu Female 23 daugher FL FL FL 

Christopher, Minnie? Mu Female 15 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, Lewis Mu Male 13 son FL FL FL 

Christopher, Georgie Mu Female 6 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, William W Male 25 Farmer FL FL FL 

Christopher, Mary Mu Female 25 wife FL FL FL 

Christopher, Josephine Mu Female 3 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, Edwin Mu Male 7 son FL FL FL 

Warfield, Isaac B Male 60 Laborer MD MD MD 

Warfield, Dianna B Female 45 wife Keeps house 

Warfield, Isaac Jr. B Male 23? son Laborer 

Warfield, Jackson B Male 21 son Laborer 

Warfield, Samuel B Male 16 son Laborer 

Warfield, Malinda B Female 13 daughter At home 

Warfield, Charles B Male 7 son At home 

Warfield, Cora B Female 5 daughter At home 

Warfield, David? B Male 2 son At home 

Warfield, Martin B Male 34 Laborer 

Warfield, Angelina B Female 24 wife Keeps house 

Broward, Jr? Mu Male 11 nephew At home 

Warfield, Emma B Female 30 cousin Keeps house 

Warfield, Florence B Female 11 cousin At home 

Warfield, Millie? B Female 6 cousin At home 

Warfield, Fred K? B Male 4 cousin At home 

Warfield, Ola B Female 2/12 cousin At home 

Long, John? B Male 98 Fishing 

Long, Joanna B Female 49 wife Keeps house 

Long, Lizzie B Female 16 daughter At home 

Long, Jesse B Male 7 son At home 

Name Colo Sex Age Relation Occupation BirthPl BirthPl-Fa BirthPlMo

Long, Emma B Female 25 wife Keeping house GA GA? GA? 

Long, Cornelus B Male 5 son FL FL GA 

Kingsley, Stephen B Male 62 Laborer FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Ellen B Female 25 daughter At home FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Hogarth B Female 18 daughter At home FL FL FL? 

Kingsley, Henry B Male 13 son Scholar FL FL FL? 

Rollins, John F. W Male 47? US Land? NH MA MA 

Rollins, Annie B. W Female 35 wife FL FL FL 

Rollins, Paul E. W Male 20 son Clerk US ? FL NH FL 

Rollins, Oliver W Male 16 son FL NH FL 

Rollins, Gertrude W Female 16 daughter FL NH FL 

Christopher, T.S. B Male 48 Servant FL FL FL 

Christopher, Catherine Mu Female 49 wife FL FL FL 

Christopher, Albert B Male 15 son Hotel waiter FL FL FL 

Christopher, S? Mu Male 11 son FL FL FL 

Christopher, John S. Mu Male 24 Farm hand FL FL FL 

Christopher, Thomas? Mu Male 20 Cook FL FL FL 

Christopher, George B Male 33 ? FL FL FL 

Christopher, Fannie B Female 23 wife Servant FL FL FL 

Christopher, Emma? B Female 23 wife Servant FL FL FL 

Gresham, E.G. W Male 39 Farmer FL FL FL 

Gresham, Louise W Female 44 wife FL FL FL 

Gresham, Bath? W Female 14 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Edna W Female 17 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Jessie W Female 4 daughter FL FL FL 

Gresham, Mand? W Female 10/12 daughter FL FL FL 

Christopher, J.L? W Male 60 Farmer FL FL SC 

Christopher, Lizzie Mu Female 54 wife FL Jaimaca? FL 
76 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

1880 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 3 of 3)

Name Colo Sex Age Relation Occupation BirthPl BirthPl-Fa 

Long, Rora B Female 3 daughter At home 

Harrison, Sarah Mu Female 45 Farming 

Grisham, William Mu Male 19 son Laborer 

Grisham, Madeline Mu Female 17 daughter At home 

Grisham, Eliza Mu Female 12 daughter At home 

Grisham, John Mu Male 10 son At home 

Grisham, Harry Mu Male 8 son At home 

Grisham, Christina Mu Female 6 daughter At home 

Grisham, Edwin Mu Male 3 son At home 

Hansontown-Duval Cty 

Sammis, Albert Mu Male 34 Constable FL MA FL 

Sammis, Kate B Female 25? wife Keeping House SC SC SC 

Sammis, Albert B Male 8 son SC FL SC 

Sammis, Anna B Female 14 daughter At school SC FL SC 

Sammis, Kate B Female 11 daughter At school SC FL SC 

Crocket, John B Male 66 father Laborer 

Crocket, Sarah B Female 50 mother 

Christopher, John B Male 28 Laborer 

Christopher, Caroline B Female 21 wife Keeping house 

Christopher, Rosa B Female 5 daughter 

Christopher, George B Male 3 son 

Christopher, Joseph B Male 2 son 

Key:Fam=family; Colo=color; B=black; W=white; Mu=mulatto; BirthPl=birthplace; BirthPl-Fa=birthplace father; 

BirthPl-Mo=birthplace mother; *the family name “Napoleon” appears as “Napolian” in the 1870 census 

1870 US Census Data-Duval County Florida (transcribed by: A.T. Jackson) 

BirthPl-Mo

1920 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 1 of 3)

Fam Name Relation S Colo Age MaritalS Birthpl BirthplF

F

BirthplMo Occupation 

9 McQueen, Percy head M B 47 Married FL FL SC Farm Operator 

9 McQueen, Gertrude wife F B 42 Married FL FL FL Laundress-at home 

9 McQueen, Eugene son M B 19 Sgl FL FL FL Laborer-rosin mill 

9 McQueen, Owen son M B 16 Sgl FL FL FL Laborer-sawmill 

9 McQueen, Freddie son M B 14 Sgl FL FL FL Call boy-boarding house 

9 McQueen, Godfrey son M B 12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

20 Adkins, James head M Mu 50 Married GA GA GA Farm Operator-chicken 

20 Adkins, Antoinette wife F B 52 Married FL FL FL none 

20 Johnson, Mabel gdaughter F Mu 9 Sgl FL FL FL none 

20 Bartley, Hester moth-inlaw F B 95 Widow FL Africa FL none 

37 Atkins, Thomas J. head M B 36 Married GA GA GA Laborer-shipyard 

37 Atkins, Gussie C. wife F B 31 Married FL FL FL Grocer-grocery 

50 Braddy, David head-1 M B 21 Married GA SC SC Minister-Holiness Church 

50 Braddy, Lucile wife F B 18 Married FL FL FL none 

51 McQueen, Percy Jr. head-2 M B 19 Married FL FL FL Dock hand - Ferry 

51 McQueen, Mabel wife F B 19 Married FL FL FL none 

51 McQueen, James son M B 3/12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

51 Pinkney, Sophie M. moth-inlaw F B 37 Widow FL SC FL Minister-Holiness Church 

48 Terry, Charlie head M B 44 Married AL AL AL Handling logs-sawmill 

48 Terry, Maggie wife F B 38 Married FL NC GA Laundress-at home 

49 Anderson, Sarah head F B 40 Widow FL SC GA Laundress-private family 

55 Murrell, John Head M B 46 Married FL FL FL Sap gather-turpentine oper 

55 Murrell, Minnie wife F B 32 Married FL Fl FL none 

55 Murrell, Russel son M B 15 Sgl FL FL FL Errand boy-Justice galley 

55 Murrell, Clark son M B 13 Sgl FL FL FL Errand boy-Electrician 

55 Murrell, Rosa M daughter F B 11 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

55 Murrell, John son M B 4 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

55 Murrell, Quincy son M B 2 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

38 Morrell, Henry head M W 50 Married Cana England England Carpenter-boat builder 

38 Morrell, Mary E. wife F W 52 Married Irelan Scotland England none 
National Park Service 77

Fam

#

Name Relation S Colo Age Marital 

S

Birthp

ll

BirthplFa

F

BirthplMo Occupation 

58 Floyd, James son M B 14 Sgl FL FL FL Errand boy-grocery 

58 Floyd, Joseph son M B 10 Sgl FL FL Fl none 

58 Floyd, Sefora(?) daughter F B 6 Sgl FL FL FL none 

58 Floyd, Lestor son M B 2 Sgl FL FL FL none 

58 Floyd, Israil son M B 3/12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

75 Bartley, Logett(?) head M B 47 Married FL SC SC Fisherman 

75 Bartley, Nancy wife F B 37 Married FL FL FL none 

75 Bartley, Rosa daughter F B 24 Sgl FL FL FL Cook-private family 

75 Bartley, Ida daughter F B 17 Sgl FL FL FL Cook-private family 

75 Bartley, Mary daughter F B 15 Sgl FL FL FL none 

75 Bartley, Dennis son M B 13 Sgl FL FL FL none 

75 Bartley, Martin son M B 11 Sgl FL FL FL none 

75 Bartley, Lusie daughter F B 2 Sgl FL FL FL none 

98 McQueen, Peter head M B 91 Married FL FL FL none 

98 McQueen, Laura wife F B 69 Married TN TN NC? Servant-private family 

201 McQueen, John head M B 95? Sgl FL FL TN Farm Operator 

201 Bentley, Minnie housekeep F B 27? Widow FL FL FL Servant-private family 

01 Christopher, William T. head M Mu 56 Married FL FL FL Fisherman 

01 Christopher, Minerva wife F Mu 50 Married FL CT FL none 

01 Christopher, Earl son M Mu 17 Sgl FL FL FL none 

01 Christopher, William son M Mu 15 Sgl FL FL FL none 

02 Blue, Rear Adm Victor head M W 52 Married NC NC SC Naval Officer 

02 Stuart, Ellen wife F W 40 Married NJ MI OH none 

02 Stuart, John son M W 17 Sgl NY NC NJ none 

02 Blue, Victor Jr. son M W 6 Sgl Wash NC NJ none 

02 Terry,Marion Stuart sister- F W 41 Divorce FL MI OH none 

02 Hinton, Margaret nurse F W 40 Sgl Scotl Scotland Scotland Nurse 

03 Terry, Emma head F W 70 Widow CT CT CT none 

03 Stollenwok?, Percy son-inlaw M W 60 Married AL AL AL none 

1920 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 2 of 3)

Fam

#

Name Relation S Colo Age Marital

S

Birthp

l

BirthplFa BirthplMo Occupation 

39 Morrell, Hason A. head M W 25 Married Maine Canada Ireland Carpenter-shipyard 

39 Morrell, Alma wife F W 24 Married FL Maine SC none 

39 Morrell, Hall B. son M W 3 Sgl FL Maine FL none 

39 Morrell, Willard F. son M W 6/12 Sgl FL Maine FL none 

43 Anderson, Jacob head M W 53 Married Norw Norway Norway Sea captain-steam barge 

43 Anderson, Aaiot wife F W 52 Married Norw Norway Norway none 

43 Anderson, John son M W 14 Sgl FL Norway Norway none 

43 Anderson, Oscar son M W 8 Sgl FL Norway Norway none 

45 Johnson, William head M Mu 41 Married FL FL FL Sailor-merchant marine 

45 Johnson, Kate wife F Mu 32 Married FL FL GA Cigar maker-cigar factory 

45 Johnson, Caritta daughter F Mu 12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

45 Johnson, Gerald son M Mu 10 Sgl FL FL FL none 

46 Dorsey, Douglas head M Mu 63 Married FL FL Fl Farm operator 

46 Dorsey, Millie wife F B 54 Married GA FL FL Nurse-obstrical 

46 Dorsey, Charles son M Mu 22 Married FL FL Fl Fisherman-river 

46 Dorsey, Sadie daugh- F Mu 19 Married SC SC SC none 

46 Dorsey, Charles Jr. grgranson M Mu 4/12 Sgl FL Fl SC none 

48 Simon, Thomas head M B 49 Married SC SC SC Tapping sap-turpentine oper 

48 Simon, Vermell wife F B 47 Married SC SC SC Laundress-private family 

48 Simon, William son M B 21 Sgl GA SC SC Sap dipper-turpentine oper 

48 Simon, Lucinda daughter F B 19 Sgl FL SC SC Servant-private family 

48 Simon, Edith daughter F B 18 Sgl FL SC SC Laundress-private family 

48 Simon, Eva daughter F B 15 Sgl FL FL FL none 

48 Simon, Douglas son M B 13 Sgl FL FL FL none 

48 Simon, Harry son M B 12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

48 Simon, Annie B. daughter F B 10 Sgl FL FL FL none 

48 Simon, Victoria daughter F B 8 Sgl FL FL FL none 

48 Simon, Louise B. gdaughter F B 11/1 Sgl FL FL FL none 

58 Floyd, Israil head M B 43 Married FL FL FL Fisherman 

58 Floyd, Polly wife F B 39 Married FL SC FL Laundress-at home 
78 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

1920 US Census Excerpt Duval County Florida (Part 3 of 3)

Fam

#

Name Relation S Colo Age Marital 

St t

Birthp

l

BirthplFa

F

BirthplMo Occupation 

03 Stollenwok?, Ellen Terry daughter F W 50 Married CT CT CT none 

03 Weber, Julian servant M W 39 Sgl Germ German Germany Man servant 

7 Christopher, Joseph head M Mu 41 Married FL FL FL Fishing 

7 Christopher, Cornelia E. wife F Mu 35 Married FL FL FL none 

7 Christopher, Geroge W. son M Mu 12 Sgl FL FL FL none 

7 Christopher, Joseph A. son M Mu 11 Sgl FL FL FL none 

7 Christopher, Stelario S. son M Mu 9 Sgl FL FL FL none 

7 Christopher, Nathaniel son M Mu 7 Sgl FL FL FL none 

7 Christopher, Marie daughter F Mu 5 Sgl FL FL FL none 

7 Christopher, son M Mu 3 Sgl FL FL FL none 

32 Williams, John head M Mu 60 Widow FL FL FL Fireman? 

32 Williams, George son M Mu 16 Sgl FL FL FL Fisherman 

32 Williams, Georgie daughter F Mu 16 Married FL FL FL none 

32 Williams, Carrie daughter F Mu 14 Sgl FL FL FL none 

32 Williams, Mary L. daughter F Mu 6 Sgl FL FL FL none 

35 Christopher, Roy head M Mu 30 Married FL FL FL Cook on boat 

35 Christopher, Reba T. wife F Mu 24 Married FL FL FL none 

35 Christopher, Reba B. daughter F Mu 7 Sgl FL FL FL none 

35 Christopher, Lula P. ? daughter F Mu 5 Sgl FL FL FL none 

35 Christopher, Amy J. daughter F Mu 11/1 Sgl FL FL FL none 

40 Davis, David head M Mu 31 Married FL FL SC Fisherman 

40 Davis, Nami, J. ? wife F Mu 23 Married FL FL FL none 

40 Davis, Hazel O. daughter F Mu 4 Sgl FL FL FL none 

40 Davis, David A. son M Mu 3 Sgl FL FL FL none 

40 Davis, Walter G. son M Mu 1 Sgl FL FL FL none 

40 Christopher, William father- M Mu 64 Married FL FL FL Fisherman 

40 Christopher, Mary M. mother- F Mu 64 Married FL FL FL none 

40 Richards, John H. boarder M Mu 30 Sgl FL SC FL Fishing 

42 Bartley, Frank Head M Mu 30 Married FL FL FL Fisherman 

42 Bartley, Ruth wife F Mu 31 Married FL FL FL none 

Key:Fam=family; Colo=color; B=black; W=white; Mu=mulatto; BirthPl=birthplace; BirthPl-Fa=birthplace father; 

BirthPl-Mo=birthplace mother 

 1870 US Census Data-Duval County Florida (transcribed by: A.T. Jackson) 

1860-1870 US Census Excerpt St. Johns County Florida

Abode# Fam Name Age Sex Colo Occupation BirthPl CensusYrLoc 

151 151 Gibbs, George C. 38 Male W Planter SC 1860-

151 151 Gibbs, Julia 29 Female W GA 1860-

151 151 Gibbs, Elizabeth 12 Female W LA 1860-

151 151 Gibbs, Julia 9 Female W GA 1860-

151 151 Gibbs, George 6 Male W GA 1860-

151 151 Gibbs, Isabelle 3 Female W FL 1860-

393 393 Gibbs, Laura M.W. 39 Female W SC 1860-

393 393 Gibbs, Medo ? W. 15 Female W FL 1860-

393 393 Rosa L. Burroughs 18 Female W GA 1860-

393 393 Clara E. Burroughs 13 Female W GA 1860-

393 393 Joseph B. Burroughs 7 Male W GA 1860-

393 393 Rev. T. Williams 34 Male W O.L.Presb Clgyman GA 1860-

161 179 Gibbs, M.L. 45 Female W Keeping House SC 1870-

161 179 Burroughs, Rosa 25 Female W At home GA 1870-

161 179 Gibbs, Mary 23 Female W At home FL 1870-

161 179 Burroughs, Clara 20 Female W At home GA 1870-

161 179 Burroughs, Jossio B. 17 Male W At home GA 1870-

161 179 Burroughs, Julia L. 19 Female W At home GA 1870-

Samis, Mary 65 Female B Laundress FL 1870-

Samis, Mary 15 Female B At home FL 1870-

Samis, Sally 85 Female B Keeping House Africa 1870-

Gibbs, Pricetta 80 Female B Keeping House SC 1870-

Gibbs, Jacob 70 Male B Laborer SC 1870-

Lawrence, Mary 47 Female B Laundress SC 1870-

Lawrence, Joe 10 Male B At home FL 1870-

Lawrence, Andrew 8 Male B At home FL 1870-

Lawrence, Tibby? 11 Male B At home FL 1870-

Key: Fam=family #; Colo=color;B=black;W=white;Mu=mulatto; 
National Park Service 79

Negro Occupations in 1910 

USA FL-male FL-female

Pop Total 7,317,922 124,024 109720 

Total Employed 5,192,535 107,343 50,181 

Occupations 

 Agriculture 2,893,375 47,953 18,330 

 Forestry 3,626 9 

 Animal Husbandry 769 10 

 Carpentry 2,191

 Deliverymen 868

 Draymen, teamsters, express men 1,818

 Dressmakers and seamstresses (outside of factory) 1,995 

 Janitors and sextons 977 17 

 Keepers of Boarding/Lodging 467 

 Laborers/porters, helpers in stores 210

Laborers: 

 -General manufacture 8,471

 -Lumberyards 240

 -Saw & planing mills 6,567

 -Steam railroad 3,606

 -Turpentine distilleries 2,726

 Laundresses (not in laundries) 14,312 

 Longshoremen, Stevedores 1,530

 Midwives, nurses (not trained) 711 

 Operatives in laundries 763 

Operatives: 

 -Cigar/tobacco Factories (semi-skilled) 1,488 690 

 Porters (not in stores) 745

 Servants 2,417 9,795 

 Teachers, school 195 721 

 Messenger, Office boy 252

Masons (brick and stone) 485

 Table 17: Negro Males 10 years of Age and Over, Occupations (p. 517) 

 Table 18: Negro Females 10 years of Age and Over, Occupations (p. 521) 

Appendix 3

Negro Occupations Census Charts 1910 and 1930

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census (1918)

Appendix-3a
80 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Appendix-3b

 

Negro Occupations Florida (1930) 

 

 USA FL-male FL-female 

Negro Pop Total 172,729 173,208 

Total Employed 

 

All Occupations 141,051 77,040 

 Agriculture 43,729 12,440 

 -Farmers/owner/tenants 9,837 1,247 

 -Farm laborers 33,752 11,193 

 Carpentry 1,723 

 Chauffers (and truck and tractor drivers) 4,109 

 Clergymen 1,453 

 Dealers, retail 1,382 276 

 Delivery men 1,163 

 Draymen 626 

 Fishermen and oystermen 929 

 Janitors and sextons 1,672 

 Laborers/Porters/Store helpers 2,538 

 Building construction, laborers, helpers 2,054 

 Laborers/Domestic and Personal 1,750 

Laborers 

 -General 8,688 

 -Public service 1,451 

 -Road and street 2,402 

 -Saw and planing mill 9,214 

 -Steam railroads 5,732 

 Laundry operatives 2,140 

 Longshoreman 1,882 

 Lumberman 4,078 

 Porters (not in stores) 2,204 

 Servants 31,325 6,344 

 Teachers 1,829 501 

 Waiters 539 1,613 

 

 

 Table 23: " Negro Males and Females 10 Years Old and Over Gainfully Occupied by 

States:1930" (p. 304). 

 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census (1935)
National Park Service 81

=================================================================

1.Carpenter Bonify 

sp: Mary 

 |-2. Beck 

 |-2. Scipio 

 |-2. Louis 

 |-2. June 

 |-2. George 

 |-2. Tema 

 |-2. Sarah 

 +-2. Easter/Esther (b.1825? d.1930?)

 sp: Quash Lottery (b. 1806?) /George Bartley Jr.-2nd husb. 

 |-3. Anna M. Lottery (b.1861) 

 |-3. Ruth Lottery (b.1863) 

 |-3. Sallie Lottery (b.1867) 

 |-3. Antoinette Lottery (b.1870) 

 | sp: James Adkins 

 | |-4. Mabel 

 | +-4. Beatrice Scott (Raised By Antoinette-birth mom’s sister) 

 | sp: Albert Johnson/ Clarence Scott, Sr-2nd husb 

 | +-5. Clarence Scott Jr. (b.1915) 

 | sp: Veronica Scott (b.1920) 

 | |-6. Theresa Scott Taylor (b.1934) 

 | |-6. Gerry Scott 

 | +-6. Adewole Kule-Mele Scott (b.1942 d.1998) 

 |-3. Celina? Lottery (b.1869) 

 |-3. June Lottery (b.1876) 

 |-3. Adella Lottery (b.1877) 

 |-3. Arthur Lottery (b.1880) 

 +-3. Minnie D. King Murrel's mom: = ?Lottery-Bartley 

 sp: Ed King 

 |-4. Minnie D. King (b.1886 d.1985) 

 | sp: John Wesley Murrell 

 | |-5. Quincy Murrell (b.1917 d.1989) 

 | | sp: Mildred 

 | | +-6. Evette Murrell (b.1962) 

 | |-5. John W. Murrell (b.1915) 

 | |-5. Rosa Murrell (b.1909) 

 | |-5. Minnie Payne Murrell 

 | |-5. Russell Murrell (b.1905) 

 | +-5. Clark Murrell (b.1907) 

 |-4. Helen 

 | sp: Jesse Williams 

 | |-5. Isiah Williams (b. 1931) -raised by Helen (his birth mom’s sister) 

 |-4. Rosa? 

 |-4. Julia 

 |-4. Annie 

 +-4. Tom Eddie 

====================================================================

Appendix 4

Aunt Easter Family Genealogy Charts

Appendix 4: Chart 1–Descendants of Carpenter Bonify and wife Mary

Key: sp=spouse

Sources: Duval County Florida Probate Records; U.S. Census Data (1870; 1880; 1920; and family’s oral history
82 Kingsley Plantation Community Ethnohistorical Study

Appendix 4: Chart 2–Descendants of Easter and Quash Lottery/George Bartley, Jr.

Key: sp=spouse

Sources: Duval County Florida Probate Records; U.S. Census Data (1870; 1880; 1920; and family’s oral history

=================================================================

1.Carpenter Bonify 

sp: Mary 

 |-2. Beck 

 |-2. Scipio 

 |-2. Louis 

 |-2. June 

 |-2. George 

 |-2. Tema 

 |-2. Sarah 

 L-2. Easter/Esther (b.1825? d.1930?)

 sp: Quash Lottery (b. 1806?) /George Bartley Jr.-2nd husb. 

 |-3. Anna M. Lottery (b.1861) 

 |-3. Ruth Lottery (b.1863) 

 |-3. Sallie Lottery (b.1867) 

 |-3. Antoinette Lottery (b.1870) 

 | sp: James Adkins 

 | |-4. Mabel 

 | L-4. Beatrice Scott (Raised By Antoinette-birth mom’s sister) 

 | sp: Albert Johnson/ Clarence Scott, Sr-2nd husb 

 | L-5. Clarence Scott Jr. (b.1915) 

 | sp: Veronica Scott (b.1920) 

 | |-6. Theresa Scott Taylor (b.1934) 

 | |-6. Gerry Scott 

 | +-6. Adewole Kule-Mele Scott (b.1942 d.1998) 

 |-3. Celina? Lottery (b.1869) 

 |-3. June Lottery (b.1876) 

 |-3. Adella Lottery (b.1877) 

 |-3. Arthur Lottery (b.1880) 

 L-3. Minnie D. King Murrel's mom: = ?Lottery-Bartley 

 sp: Ed King 

 |-4. Minnie D. King (b.1886 d.1985) 

 | sp: John Wesley Murrell 

 | |-5. Quincy Murrell (b.1917 d.1989) 

 | | sp: Mildred 

 | | L-6. Evette Murrell (b.1962) 

 | |-5. John W. Murrell (b.1915) 

 | |-5. Rosa Murrell (b.1909) 

 | |-5. Minnie Payne Murrell 

 | |-5. Russell Murrell (b.1905) 

 | L-5. Clark Murrell (b.1907) 

 |-4. Helen 

 | sp: Jesse Williams 

 | |-5. Isiah Williams (b. 1931) -raised by Helen (his birth mom’s sister) 

 |-4. Rosa? 

 |-4. Julia 

 |-4. Annie 

 L-4. Tom Eddie 

====================================================================
National Park Service 83

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As the nation’s principal conservation agency, 

the Department of the Interior has responsibility 

for most of our nationally owned public lands 

and natural resources. This includes fostering 

sound use of our land and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and biological diversity; 

preserving the environmental and cultural values 

of our national parks and historical places; and 

providing for the enjoyment of life through 

outdoor recreation. The department assesses our 

energy and mineral resources and works to 

ensure that their development is in the best 

interests of all our people by encouraging stewardship and citizen participation in their care. 

The department also has a major responsibility 

for American Indian reservation communities 

and for people who live in island territories 

under U.S. administration. 

NPS D-34 January 2006

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

Kingsley Plantation Ethnohistorical Study

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Kingsley Plantation

Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve

11676 Palmetto Avenue

Jacksonville, Florida 32226

www.nps.gov/timu

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