The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.
Pryor Lee Craigmiles was born in North Carolina on October 30, 1827 and married Mary N. Grant in Roane, Tennessee on April 27, 1858. In the 1860s, Mary suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) and her poor health forced the couple and their infant son Edgar to move to Thomas County, Georgia. Pryor operated a labor farm in Thomas County and enlisted in the Confederate Army, leaving his infirm wife and infant son to manage the household. Mary died during his absence and Edgar went to live with her parents, John and Dolly (Winston) Grant, in Tennessee.
On February 12, 1867, Pryor married the widow Mary Francina Ponder and brought her and her daughter, Mary E. Ponder, to his labor farm in Thomas County. By 1868, Craigmiles' property extended into Leon County and he rented out the Florida farm to Thomas Hart, a Freedman. After the war, Pryor employed freedmen to work his farm and lived there until his death in July 1907.
Summary:
This collection includes the papers of the Craigmiles family of Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. The papers contain a variety of materials documenting the family history. The records include a Georgia land grant; a list of items plundered from the P.L. Craigmiles household by Union soldiers in 1864; indentures; an 1862 receipt for items purchased by John Henderson Craigmiles as Assistant Confederate Commissary Agent; and an 1899 letter from P.L. Craigmiles that gives a history of the Craigmiles family. A recent typescript genealogy of the Craigmiles is also in the collection.
Of interest is a letter from P.L. Craigmiles dated May 10, 1868, describing the condition of Freedmen living on his Leon County labor farm. Craigmiles lists the names and ages of the following free Black persons: Thomas and Catharine Hart and their children, William, Jack, Wash, Robbert, and Mary; Thomas' sister, Betsy, and her son Barto; William Hart's wife Georgia Ann; Old Aunt Philis Hart and a younger Philis Hart and her daughter Hannah; Milly Hart and son, Landy[?]; Daniel and Peacience[sic] Nash and their children Lewis, Chaney[?], and Peter; Tom and Mary Johnson and their children, Laura and Jim; Thomas Early; William McGriff; and Miami Miller.
Other records include a Georgia land grant; a list of items plundered from the P. L. Craigmiles household by Union soldiers in 1864; indentures; an 1862 receipt for items purchased by John Henderson Craigmiles as Assistant Confederate Commissary Agent; and an 1899 letter from P. L. Craigmiles that gives a history of the Craigmiles family. A recent typescript genealogy of the Craigmiles is also in the collection.
Finding Aids:
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Photocopies.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Originals in possession of donor.
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Donor is a grandson of P. L. Craigmiles.
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
African Americans History 1863-1877. Florida Family Florida
Leon County (Fla.) United States History Civil War, 1861-1865
for detailed listing.