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Rhea Bond Miller (1924-2012) was born in Sarasota, Florida as one of seven children to William and Bertha Bond. She earned her Ph.D. in English from Florida State University in 1976, then in 1983 moved her family to Lloyd in Jefferson County, Florida, where several generations of her family had lived. She took on the task of preserving the remnants of the rural Florida village and successfully added a historic district and several buildings to the National Register of Historic Places. Miller died in 2012 at her historic Lloyd home.
Lloyd is a small unincorporated community in western Jefferson County, Florida, between Tallahassee and Monticello. Settlement of the area began in in the early 1800s with members of the Scott, Bailey, Taylor, Wirick, Ulmer, Gadsden, Hollingsworth, Edwards, and Christopher families forming a community called Bailey's Mill. William Hollingsworth became the first postmaster of Bailey's Mill in 1831. In the 1840s, New Yorkers Walter Franklin Lloyd and his wife Sarah Leonard purchased land near Bailey's Mill, an area that later became known as Lloyd. In the 1850s, the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad Company expanded through North Florida and built the Lloyd Railroad Depot in 1858.
Summary:
This collection primarily consists of historical sketches and reminiscences of life in Lloyd, Florida by various residents, as collected and maintained by Rhea Bond Miller. These histories document the early history of Lloyd, its communities, and its culture. The collection also contains personal records such as deeds for lands in and around Lloyd, a tax receipt for lands sold, letters discussing various aspects of small-town settlement, a dentistry operating license for Dr. W H. Bond in the City of Tallahassee, and a store ledger that possibly belonged to Hugh M. Taylor, a seed grower.
Some of the numerous individuals mentioned within or involved in creating these records include Annie Franklin Bond (1882-1963), her grandmother Carolina Ann Richardson Johnson (1815-1878), mother Lena Johnson Bond (1847-1936), brother William Henry Bond (1880-1964), and uncle Thomas H. Lloyd; Theo Frances Rowe Delp (1906-1986); Posey Taylor (1874-1963); Louise Holland Edwards (1885-1973) and Henry Edwards; Elise Laffitte (1896-1997) and her father R. B. Laffitte; and John Wesley Freeman (1832-1915).
Notable in this collection are reminiscences in Folder 17 regarding the Lloyd families' relationships with and actions of Black servants, tenants, and the "Negroes" who lived nearby. Servants and tenants mentioned include Selina Perry (daughter of March Perry), "Aunt Becky" (previously enslaved in Virginia), Polly Boatman, Ann Moss, "Aunt Cindy" and her sister "Sis George" (both part American Indian), Emma Hutson, George Baker, "Aunt Sarah" Brown, "Aunt Maria" and her daughter "Aunt Carrie," Bessie, Rosa Burney, Oscar Hall, Jim Cooper and his great aunt "Aunt Ellen." There is also mention of "Log Town," the Black settlement just outside of Lloyd. Residents of Log Town and Lloyd included Jackson and Della Walker, and Verdel Hamilton.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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Associated Materials:
For related records, see Collection M84-43, Bond Family Photographs, 1884-1905 (8 photographs).
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
African Americans Florida. African Americans History 1877-1964. Florida Land settlement Florida Rural life.
Reminiscences. aat
Jefferson County (Fla.) Leon County (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.)
for detailed listing.