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Brock, Thomas and Driscoll family papers, ca. 1910-2022.
Amount:
9.25 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
Records organized by type into three subseries with different arrangements:
1. Genealogical Research Materials, 2 cubic feet. Alphabetical by last name (Boxes 1-3; Box 1 is unarranged).
2. Correspondence, 7 cubic feet. Mostly alphabetical by recipient first name, then chronological (Boxes 4-11).
3. Papers and Photographs, .25 cubic foot. Alphabetical by name/subject (Box 12).
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Biographical/Historical:
In 1887, Burt Byron Thomas (1865-1942) married Effa Isabel Brock (1867-1953) in Iowa. By 1920, they had had several children and lived in Clearwater, Florida. The Thomas, Driscoll, and other family lines named within this collection are descendants of the Brock family.
Dilman Karr Thomas (1888-1941), the first son of Burt and Effa, and Eva Bertha Bridge (1889-1962) were born in Iowa and married in 1908. They had seven children: Eva Dillie (b. 1909), Clifford Bridge (b. 1911), Dilman Karr Jr. (b. 1914), Ada Helen (b. 1917), Betty Jean (b. 1920), Peggy Lou (b. 1923), and Richard "Dick" David (b. 1926). The Thomas family lived in Iowa, Texas, and Canada before settling in Clearwater, Florida sometime between 1920 and 1924. Dilman and Bertha lived in Clearwater until their deaths. In 1926, Eva Dillie Thomas left Florida to attend Maryville College in Tennessee, where she met Edward A. Driscoll.
Richard James Driscoll (1867-1947) and Charlotte "Lottie" Agnes Dowling (1875-1957) lived in New York and married in 1894. Edward Ahmuty was born in New York in 1906. After his birth parents died around 1910, the Driscolls adopted him. Sometime between 1920 and 1930, the Driscolls moved to Dunedin, Florida. Richard and Lottie lived in Florida until their deaths.
Edward Ahmuty Driscoll (1906-1993) met Eva Dillie Thomas (1909-1991) while they were both students at Maryville College in 1927. Edward became a minister after graduating and Eva transferred to Harford Seminary in Connecticut in 1929. They married in Tarrytown, New York in April 1930. They lived in Massachusetts until moving to Jacksonville, Florida in 1942, during which time they had three children: Vera May (b. 1933), Carol Elsa (b. 1937), and Judith Elaine (b. 1939). Between 1945 and 1956, Eva and Edward Driscoll lived in South Carolina, Connecticut, and Georgia.
Vera May Driscoll also attended Maryville College, but transferred in her second year to another college in Tennessee. In May 1957, she married Edgar Q. Rooker and they had one daughter, Martha Elaine, born in 1965. Vera May Driscoll Rooker did much of the genealogical research in this collection; she is a descendant of these families. The donor is her daughter.
Summary:
This collection consists of genealogical research materials, correspondence, photographs, and personal papers documenting several members of the Brock, Thomas, and Driscoll families, as well as many other relatives descended from and married into the Brock line. This collection not only documents those family members who lived in Clearwater and Jacksonville, Florida, but also those who lived elsewhere in the United States.
The genealogical research materials primarily contain name files with genealogical charts and notes, but some also include related photographs, news clippings, correspondence, gravestone rubbings, and primary documents such as marriage certificates, property records, and other personal papers. The family correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection and contains letters and cards sent between family members that discuss, usually in detail, their daily activities and happenings. The personal papers and photographs, the smallest section of records in the collection, document the various interests and pursuits of certain family members.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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Subject Access Fields:
Family Florida
Letters. aat Photographs. aat
Clearwater (Fla.) Florida Description and travel Florida Genealogy