In Florida in the 1820's there was a settlement at Pensacola, a larger town at St. Augustine, and a small village at St. Marks. In between was a virtual jungle, occupied by wandering Indians, smugglers, runaway slaves, cattle thieves, and a few respectable cattle herders, and settlers. The old Spanish road from St. Augustine to St. Marks was overgrown and virtually impassable.
The gentle hills covered with live oaks must have captivated the new settlers. When first formed, in 1827, Madison County extended from the Aucilla River to the Gulf of Mexico. It included what is now Taylor, Lafayette, and Dixie Counties, stretching to where the Suwannee enters the Gulf. Hickstown, an area near the Indian village of John Hicks, was probably first used as a county seat, but San Pedro, located where the roads 14 and 360 join at New Oakland Church, was the first officially designated county seat.
A new military road was built from St. Augustine, constructed with great effort; small streams were to be left as fords; the rest, except the Suwannee, were to "bridged in the most suitable manner." A ferry was to be constructed at the Suwannee. The builders were paid $13,500. As soon as the road was opened, people began to use it, some complaining of the height of the stumps left in the right-of-way, others commenting on the ease with which they journeyed such wild territory. The builder, John Bellamy, was heartily glad to be rid of the job. His comment:"If I really wished an enemy injury I would advise him to engage in contracrs with the government."
Such were the conditions when our ancestors arrived, traveling in extended family groups. Silas Overstreet with his family, and Paul Poppell/Popwell with his family were in Madison County before the 1830 census was taken.
The John Lankford/Langford family must have arrived before 1831. In January of 1831 William J. Langford was married to Feraby Overstreet by her father, Silas Overstreet. He was a justice of the peace and performed a double wedding, as her sister, Rebecca Overstreet, was married to Solomon Cypro the same day. They were the first marriages performed in Madison County. The families of John and Abigail Lankford (later spelled Langford), and Silas and Rebecca Overstreet were already connected by marriage because William's sister Mary (Molsey) Langford, had married Feraby's brother, George Eason Overstreet in Tattnall County, Georgia, in 1824. This pattern of marriages was to continue as later Langford and Overstreet cousins married each other.
It is probable that the Durrance family was also acquainted with the Langfords and Overstreets because they were neighbors in Tattnall County, Georgia.
The Durrances and Poppells were linked when Winaford Mariah Poppell married Joseph Lemuel Durrance on March 4, 1845, in Madison County. Winaford had just turned 15; Joseph was 28 on March 27th. The Durrances had moved down from Georgia in the early 1840's. Winaford died October 16, 1862, after the birth of their seventh baby, Maria P. Durrance; Joseph married her widowed sister, Elizabeth Matilda (Poppell) Parker, about a year later. Elizabeth (or Eliza) and Joseph raised his seven children from his first marriage, her five children from her first marriage, and had three more daughters together. (It was sort of a preview of our modern marriages of combined families -- except the Durrances had more children than is usual now).
Winaford and Elizabeth Poppell were both daughters of Paul Poppell (or Poppell) and his wife Winifred Dyess, who were married in Liberty County, Georgia in 1815, but had moved down to Madison County before 1830. He voted in the 1831 election, but was not listed in the 1840 census, so must have died before that time. His wife Winifred lived with her widowed daughter Elizabeth Poppell Parker when the 1860 census was taken. Paul was born about 1790 in South Carolina. Winifred Dyess was the daughter of Henry Dyess and Winifred Boyett, who resided in Barnwell District of South Carolina.
William J. Langford and his family, including his aged father John Langford, had also moved to the Columbia County area by 1840, living near his father-in-law, Silas Overstreet.
LIFE IN THE TERRITORY
These early settlers built their first home with trees cut down on their own property. The log house was small and put together with wooden pegs. The hinges used on the doors were made from hickory. The floor was of dirt, for safety reasons. For lighting, a long torch cut from a dead pine tree was put between logs of the wall and stuck out straight. This torch would last about three nights. The pitch could fall on the dirt floor and never harm the house.
Our grandmothers did their cooking over the fireplace. The fireplace was in one end of the kitchen and made of clay. The chimney was built with a round of clay and a round of sticks. There were hooks from the top of the fireplace hanging about waist high so our grandmother didn't have to stoop very much while cooking.
Most of the furniture was home-made, although some of the wealthier families had "store-bought" furniture brought in by wagon from their previous homes. There were bedsteads, often with feather beds piled high on them, tables, chairs, chests and clothes-presses (the modern closet was then unknown). The new settlers loved flowers, and as soon as possible they set out crepe myrtle bushes and black walnut trees. These plants often outlasted even the settlers and in later years would identify former cabin sites.
Once a year they went to St. Augustine, Florida for their groceries and supplies in covered wagons. There were no railroads in Florida at this time and sometimes they bought necessities from peddlers on foot.
THE INDIAN WARS
One of the most prolonged struggles in U.S. history took place in florida between the Indians and the whites. The Indians had been forced to a reservation on which they could not find enough game for food. They felt they had no alternative but to try to take what they needed from the settlers. The white settlers had large stocks of cattle, hogs, etc., running at large where the Indians roamed. Not only did the Indians steal the cattle, but they set fire to the woods, burned fences, plundered corn fields, and sometimes attacked whites. Narturally, this situation had a great impact on our ancestors.
At first, most of the Indian raids were confined to the area near the reservation; however, news came to Madison in December, 1835 that Indians were prowling east of the Suwannee. About 40 men volunteered to go down the river to find a group of friends who were bringing a load of general merchandise back fronm St. Marks on a large pole boat. Thomas Livingston was elected as captain of the group. The men found their friends, but on returning they agreed to keep the same organization and remain on the ready. This company was recognized by the government as a militia unit and received pay for their services. The company remained together for three months, and most of the members also served in other groups during the war.
Mustered into Capt. Livingston's company of Mounted Volunteers in San Pedro on December 9, 1835 were second lieutenant Silas Overstreet and the following privates: Thomas Langford, another Overstreet (first name left out),and Silas Cason, Jr. (husband of Abigail Langford). Mustered into the 1st Regiment, 2nd Brigade, on July 20, 1836 at Fort Gilleland were 1st sergeant George Overstreet, and the following privates: John Langford, Wiley Langford, and William Langford.
Livingston's Mounted Company signed up at Ft. Palmetto on December 20, 1836 for a term of 6 months. When they mustered out in June they were invited to rejoin, but refused because of "want of subsistence and forafe for their horses." This list not only gives their rank, but also the color of their horses.
| Thomas Langford | 2nd Liet. | black mare |
| Silas Overstreet | ord. srg. | cream |
| John Langford | srg. | bay |
| George Overstreet | crp. | grey |
| Silas Cason | pvt. | mule |
| "Little John" Langford | pvt. | no horse |
| Wiley Langford | pvt. | no horse |
| William Langford | pvt. | no horse |
| William J. Langford | pvt. | no horse |
Mustered into M.C. Livingston's Company from February 12, 1838 until July 26, 1838 were 1st Lietenant Thomas Langford and the following privates: F.M. Durrance, Elleby Langford, John Langford, Jr., John Langford, Sr., William Langford, and S.S. Overstreet.
The John Langford, Jr. is the brother of our William J. Langford (and was the son of John Langford) and died in battle sometime between 1838 and 1840. William Langford may have been an older cousin of our William J. Langford. I suspect Thomas and Wiley Langford are the sons of the older William. Silas Overstreet, Sr., and his son Silas S. Overstreet may have both been in the war. George Overstreet was another son of the older Silas. F.M. Durrance is Francis Marion Durrance, the brother of our Joseph Lemuel Durrance. The Durrance brothers formed their own company later on from another area. Is this clear as mud?
The widows of Joseph Lemuel Durrance, George T. Durrance, and Francis Marion Durrance applied for pensions for the military service of their husbands in the Indian Wars, and were granted those pensions. Also granted pensions were widows of Henry Langford, Nicholas Langford, Thomas Langford, William J. Langford, George E. Overstreet, Samuel B. Overstreet, and Silas T. Overstreet.
The family of George Eason Overstreet (our uncle) was raided several times. During one of the attacks they fled to the hammock and hid themselves under straw and leaves to escape their capture and massacre by tomahawks. Two daughters, Caroline and Emma I., died. George's son, Dr. Silas Overstreet, told the story in his autobiography.
FLORIDA BECOMES A STATE
ON May 26, 1845 there was an exciting election, and a decision to be
made for or against statehood. If a person wanted to vote, he had to be
free, white, male, a U.S. citizen, and a resident of his former
territorial county for 6 months, and of Florida for 2 years. We don't
know how they voted, but we know who voted. In Madison County the following relatives cast their ballot:
William Langford, Sr., John Langford, Wiley Langford, Thomas Langford,
William Langford, John Poppell, S.S. Overstreet, and George E.
Overstreet; George Overstreet was the election inspector.
In Columbia County we find the names of these voters: Silas Overstreet, John R. Durrance, William H. Durrance, Joseph Durrance, Jesse H. Durrance, and George T. Durrance.
In Hamilton County we find the names of these voters: James Langford, Pharoah Poppell, and Ward Poppell.
Needless to say, statehood prevailed -- and we also have proof of residence of the aforementioned relatives.
by 1860 Joseph Lemuel Durrance had moved down to Hillsborough County. Most of the Overstreets were in Lafayette and Suwannee Counties. During the Civil War all of the family of William J. Langford except for one son, John A.(who stayed in Bradford County), moved down to Polk County.
Violence remained a part of the scene in Madison and the adjoining counties for many years. Two incidents involving the Langfords bear this out.
VIOLENCE AND THE LANGFORDS
In the 1800's men wore pistols as a matter of habit, much as they might wear watches today, and felt it was better to settle disputes in one's own way, rather than waiting for the law. One well-known example of this was the trouble between the West and Langford families.
The Langfords were the sons of Thomas A. Langford and his wife Lucinda Permelia Overstreet (daughter of George E. Overstreet). Bill Langford had sent an unflattering letter to the editor of the local paper about the mother of the West men. The West men demanded a retraction, and when none came took matters into their own hands.
On Sunday, May 17, 1885 the Langford family attended church at Hickory Grove Methodist Church (it was then located adjacent to the cemetery). Bill Langford had suspected trouble, and was armed with a pistol, and waited outside the church. The West brothers, three or four of them in two buggies, drove up from their home near West Farm. On the way they had stopped by Madison and brought a doctor with them. (Planning Ahead?).
The Wests meant to kill Bill Langford only, as he was the letter writer. They saw him outside the church and Eugene West shot him from the side, the bullet going through his shoulder and arms. Bill Langford had his gun in his back pocket and attempted to draw it, but was able only to shoot it into the dirt as he fell. At the sound of gunfire, the rest of the Langfords came pouring from the church, unarmed except for their long pocket knives, which they drew at once. Mrs. Langford (the mother), ran to Bill and cradled his head in her lap. Eugene West came over, pushed her back out of the way, and shot Bill in the chest, killing him. Young Joe Langford, jumped on Eugene West's back and stabbed him between the shoulder blades, but the knife went into the O-ring holding West's suspenders together and the blade was stopped. In the melee Babe Langford was shot and killed and at least one of the other Langford brothers was shot. The Wests got cut up pretty well, but none were killed. The Langford men were buried in the Hickory Grove cemetery, not far from the West family plot.
The West brothers were tried for murder, but were found not guilty because the letter published in the paper was considered sufficient cause. Eugene West and one of the Langfords had to be carried into the courtroom on stretchers.
It was said that as long as the West family lived in the county they never allowed a light in the house at night, for fear someone would shoot them through a window under the cover of darkness.
Both families eventually moved out of the county. The family of Thomas moved down to the Fort Myers area shortly thereafter, where they prospered at buying and shipping beef cattle to Kew West.
Thomas Langford served in the Confederate Army; in 1865, a full rank colonel, he was mustered out with honors, and partially blind from gunfire, had to be led back to his family in Madison County. He became a successful rancher and died in 1882, before the tragedy with his sons. He and Lucinda had eleven children.
John N. Langford, son of John A. and grandson of William J., was sheriff of Bradford County, Florida, and was killed in the line of duty, in 1912, making headlines in the Bradford County Telegraph.
And we talk about living in violent times today! Sometimes the "good ole days" were also the "bad ole days" for our ancestors. And no more restful than these days. They had their good and bad moments, and so do we. However, I must confess I like our times better -- the way it is now. And thanks to those who came before us!
SOURCES: "Florida Voters in Their Statewide Election", May 26, 1845, by Brian E. Michaels, 1987, published by Florida State Genealogical Society; "The History of Madison County, Florida", by Elizabeth Sims, 1986, published by Madison County Historical Society; 1830, 1840, 1850 census record of Madison County Fla; 1840, 1850 census of Columbia County, Fla.; 1860 census of New River County, Suwannee County, Polk County, Lafayette County, Fla.; Marriage records of Madison County, Florida; Indian Wars Records.
