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Ferguson, Atkinson, and Weathers families papers, 1826-1948, 1988.
Amount:
0.5 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
Chronological.
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Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
Niel Ferguson (1816-1871) was the youngest of eight children born in Scotland to John Ferguson (b. 1791) and his wife Margaret. Their children were Marrion, Donald, Margaret, Ethan, Annie, Catherine, Robert, and Niel. While the rest of the family remained in several locations throughout Scotland, Niel moved to the United States and eventually settled in Emathla, Marion County, Florida. In 1845, he married Nancy Brooks (1826-1914) of Newnansville, Florida and they had 11 children: Margaret, Sarah Elizabeth, John Alexander, Harriet, Marion Jane, Catherine Anne, Caledonia, Robert William, James Donald, Minnie, and Nancy. The family primarily resided in Fellowship, Ocala, Berlin, and Emathla, Florida. Youngest son James Donald married Mary Nola Sistrunk. Caledonia married Rene Ravenel Snowden in 1888. Robert William married Lulu Weathers Ferguson and they had seven children: Robert Donald, Sara Elizabeth, Sebron Weathers, John Alexander, Caledonia, William Vance, and Malcom McAskill.
Sarah Elizabeth Ferguson, granddaughter of Niel and Nancy Ferguson, married Ira L. Montholon Atkinson in 1867 and they had two children: Shadrack Dickey and Annie. Annie Atkinson married Alfred Beck in 1916. The couple moved to Fort Lauderdale for Alfred to take his position as the city's first pharmacist, and Annie became active in the community as a founder of the All Saints Episcopal Church, and a member of the city`s first garden club, the 1919 Study Club, and the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. Their house, designated a historic home by the city, is now part of Annie Beck Park.
Marion Jane, daughter of Niel and Nancy Ferguson, married Brantley A. Weathers in 1875 and they had seven children: Marion, Esther, Benjamin, Hibbet, Janet, Brantley, and Paul. Janet Weathers married Stephen Jewett and they had Marion Anne Weathers in 1919. She graduated from the Florida State College for Women with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics, and married William M. Porter shortly after graduating in 1941. They had four children: John Moring, Benjamin Stephen, Bill, and Anne. The family lived in Coral Gables, Florida and Annapolis, Maryland. Interested in her family history, Anne Porter researched her genealogy and compiled letters and other resources of her family.
Summary:
This collection consists of letters and two photographs that Anne Porter compiled from the Ferguson, Atkinson, and Weathers families. The letters document the daily lives of the families, who predominately resided in Scotland and in Marion County, Florida. The letters record local conditions as well as perspectives regarding state, national, and world events including the cattle plague and Fenian Rising of 1867 in the United Kingdom, the American Civil War, and post-Civil War Reconstruction. The letters pertaining to family events discuss topics such as illnesses, including malaria and shock treatment; interment in family and public cemeteries; the execution of estates; and travelling.
The photographs are of Annie Atkinson Beck standing in front of her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The collection also contains a letter from Anne Porter regarding her genealogical research.
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Folder listing available. 0
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A portion of these records are digitized. The scans are saved in the e-Records Cloud and on a disk in the case file.
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Civil War (U.S.) Family Florida Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) Rural life.
Photographs. aat
Marion County (Fla.) Ocala (Fla.)
for detailed listing.