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Simpson, Conrad, Perkins, Palmer, and Finlayson families papers, 1825-1978.
Amount:
8.25 cubic ft. 39 v.
Medium Included:
photographs Models (Representations).
Organization/Arrangement:
By record type.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
Ray Simpson moved to Monticello, Florida, in 1906 and established the North Florida Pecan Company. His brother, Charles A. Simpson, joined him in 1910, and Charles' son, Richard H. Simpson, joined in 1930, at which time they renamed the company Simpson Nursery. Richard H. Simpson married Dorothy Beall Conrad in 1927 and later served as mayor of Monticello and in the Florida House of Representatives from 1939 until 1954.
Richard and Dorothy Simpson purchased the Palmer House at the intersection of Palmer Mill Road and Jefferson Street in January, 1961, from the estate of Clara Nigels Palmer (1877-1958) and discovered a cache of records related to the Palmer, Perkins, and Finlayson families. The intermingling of these family records is the result of several marriages and business deals. John M. Palmer (1812-1879) built the Palmer House around 1836 for his son, Dr. John Dabney Palmer (1841-1909). Dr. John Palmer was a physician and undertaker, working and living in the Palmer House with his wife, Laura Josephine (Willie) Palmer (1844-1926), until his death. Upon the death of Laura Palmer, the house transferred to her son, Dabney Bailey Palmer (1874-1943) and daughter-in-law, Clara.
In 1835, Martin Palmer II (1787-1857), an enslaver and mill operator from South Carolina, built the first Palmer family home, later known as the Palmer-Perkins House, at 625 Palmer Mill Road. Upon his death in 1857, the house passed to his second eldest son, Thomas Palmer (1821-1895), who sold it to John H. Perkins in the 1880s, at which point the house was named the Palmer-Perkins House. John Perkins (1845-1927) was a prominent Monticello businessman, most noted as the builder of the Monticello Opera House. His daughter, Mary A. Perkins (1868-1958), married Daniel A. Finlayson (1859-1935), brother of John Finlayson (1855-1905), a large-scale enslaver and labor farm operator. Daniel Finlayson sold his father-in-law's property, the colloquially titled "Perkins block," to Richard Simpson and his brother, Stuart, in 1961.
Summary:
The bulk of the collection consists of personal papers, photographs, and business records relating to the Simpson family of Monticello, Florida. It also contains papers of the Conrad, Perkins, Palmer, and Finlayson families.
The Simpson family correspondence includes letters of Charles A. Simpson during the Spanish-American War, 1898-1899; love letters between Richard Simpson and Dorothy Conrad, 1924-1928; and letters from Richard Simpson's constituents, 1951. The business records include materials from the Simpson Nursery, 1906-1963; Conrad family of Volusia County, 1870-1949; and DeLand Development Corporation, 1921-1955.
Richard and Dorothy Simpson acquired the papers of the Perkins, Palmer, and Finlayson families, 1825-1935, when they bought the Palmer House in Monticello. These papers include deeds, land patents, and plats of public land sales in Jefferson and Leon counties, 1825-1883; store ledgers for John H. Perkins' general store and cotton trade, 1887-1920; and patents for a new type of wagon axle, 1907.
The collection also contains miscellaneous books and papers collected by the Simpson family including railroad pension application papers of Dabney Palmer; an autograph book, late 1800s; and a transcript of the parish book of the Presbyterian Church in Monticello, 1864-1879. There are ten volumes, 1875-1937, listing coffin sales by a Jefferson County undertaker. Some entries include the name, age, cause of death, if known, and cost of the coffin.
One folder contains seven deeds of sale for enslaved Black persons to enslaver and plantation farmer, William Perkins, filed in Leon County between 1842 and 1858. The records name and describe the following people: girls Amy, Murrier, and Mary (1842, Leon); Sally and her five children, Solomon, Catherine, Julia, Andrew, and Adeline (1853, Leon); girl, Mary (1850, Leon); men, Hillian and Ben (1855, Leon); boy, William, age 10, and girl, Sophia, age 11 (1850, Leon); boy, Meck, age 19 (1846, Camden Co., NC); and a woman, Jane (1858, Leon).
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Donor is a surviving relative of Richard H. Simpson.
Publication Note:
General Note:
Box 13 separated into two physical boxes for better preservation of delicate records. Scans of materials from Box 13 are located on the server at \\dosshares1\E-recs_Fldocs\Manuscripts\M91-5_Simpson Family Papers.
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
African Americans History To 1863. Florida Church records and registers Florida --Jefferson County Cotton trade Florida General stores Florida Legislators Florida Nurseries (Horticulture) Florida Presbyterian church records. Presbyterians Florida Public land sales Florida Real estate business Florida Registers of births, etc. Florida --Jefferson County Slavery Florida Spanish-American War, 1898 Florida Undertakers and undertaking Florida Women History 20th century Florida
Deeds. aat Plats. aat Land surveys. aat Burial records. aat Business records. aat Church records. aat
Florida Surveys Jefferson County (Fla.) Leon County (Fla.) Monticello (Fla.) Volusia County (Fla.)
Added Entries
Simpson, Charles A., b. 1876
Simpson, Richard H., 1905-1968
Simpson, Dorothy Conrad, d. 1990
Conrad family.
Perkins family.
Palmer family.
Finlayson family.
Perkins, J.H. (John H.)
Simpson Nursery Company (Monticello, Fla.)
First Presbyterian Church (Monticello, Fla.)
Deland Development Corporation.
for detailed listing.