Beggs & Lane: One of Florida's Oldest Law Firms

Established in 1883, the law firm now known as Beggs & Lane was originally founded as Blount and Blount by brothers William A. Blount (1851-1920), and Alexander Clement Blount. William Blount is credited with rewriting Florida statutory law and producing the codification of the Florida Statutes of 1892. Francis B. Carter, former justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, joined the firm in 1907. Their offices in the Blount building (constructed in 1907) were a long-time staple of the downtown Pensacola landscape.

Subsequent partners of the firm included J.E.D. Yonge, E. Dixie Beggs Sr., Bert Lane, James Nixon Daniel Jr., and Miles Davis, prompting the firm's eventual progression to Beggs, Lane, Daniel, Gaines & Davis. The firm shortened its name to just Beggs & Lane in 1975.

The list of former and current clients of the firm is extensive, as the firm was and is the corporate attorney for numerous West Florida businesses. Those clients have included the American Lumber Company; Bagdad Land and Lumber Company; Birmingham, Columbus & St. Andrews Railroad Company; the Children's Home Society of Florida; Escambia County; the Escambia County School Board; the Escambia Gulf Beach Hotel; the First National Bank of Pensacola; First Methodist Episcopal Church; Duncan U. Fletcher; Florida Chautauqua; Florida Colonization and Industrial Company of Chicago; Forbes Company; German-American Lumber Company; Gulf Power Company (formerly Pensacola Electric Company); Kupfrian Park Company; Okaloosa County; City of Pensacola; Pensacola Electric Terminal Company (Streetcars); Pensacola and Hervey Hotel Company (San Carlos Hotel); Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company; South Florida Stores Corporation (Piggly-Wiggly Stores); Tampa Electric Company; Baptist Healthcare Corporation; L&N Railroad Company; Southern Bell; and the Valparaiso Development Company.

Beggs & Lane is listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Beggs and Lane has continued to provide Northwest Florida with exceptional legal services for well over a century while demonstrating the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

James Nixon Daniel Jr. practiced law at Beggs & Lane for 25 years and served as managing partner of the firm at the time of his death (1950-1975).

James Nixon Daniel Jr. (1922-1975) and Christine Susan Zeigler (1926-2007)

James Nixon Daniel Jr. was born on March 22, 1927, in Chipley, Florida, to James Nixon and Villeta McGeachy Daniel. He grew up in Chipley and served in the U.S. Air Corps from 1945 -1946 (including a tour of duty with the Army of Occupation in Japan), before studying economics at Washington and Lee University.

Christine Susan Zeigler was born on June 29, 1926, in Thomasville, Georgia, to George Edward Zeigler and Christine Hjort Zeigler. She grew up in Thomasville, graduated from Leon High School in Tallahassee, FL, in 1944, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Florida State University in 1948 before working in the Student Records department.

Christine, a friend of Nixon’s sister Emily, wrote him letters while he was homesick in Japan and the two were introduced when Nixon returned home in 1946. They were married at First Baptist Church in Tallahassee on June 4, 1949, and honeymooned in St. Augustine. The newlyweds lived in Gainesville after the wedding, where Nixon was attending the University of Florida’s Law School. He was editor-in-chief of the Law Review and, like his father, graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Upon graduation, the Daniels moved to Pensacola and Nixon began practicing at Blount, Blount & Carter Law Firm. They had 4 children between 1952-1959. During his 25-year practice at Blount, Blount & Carter (which would later be named Beggs, Lane, Daniel, Gaines & Davis), Nixon was a member of several professional legal organizations, including the Florida Bar Board of Governors and the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, and served as President of the Society of the Bar of the First Judicial Circuit. He also served as president of the Children’s Home Society, the Pensacola Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the Pensacola Young Men’s Christian Association. Both Nixon and Christine were very active at First Baptist Church, leading Sunday School classes, bible studies and missons efforts.

Nixon was a loving father, wonderful husband, and faithful friend who passed away after suffering a heart attack on May 7, 1975, at the age of 48. Christine continued to be active at First Baptist and in the Pensacola community, working as an ophthalmic technician and a realtor for Connell & Manziek for 17 years. Over the years, she was also a member of the Women's Board of Baptist Health Care Foundation, the Pensacola Symphony Guild and the Pensacola Garden Club. She enjoyed watching her children marry, have children of their own and build strong Christian families; her eight grandchildren became the twinkle in her eye. Christine, the bedrock of her family and a fighter to the very end, lost her 12-year battle with breast cancer on May 9, 2007, at the age of 80.

First Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL

When mission-minded men from Alabama set out to spread the gospel to the “heathens” of Northwest Florida in the early 19th century, Pensacola was their primary destination.
Pensacola was a long-established center of population but was known for, among other things, its “dire need for preaching.” Because seaports always have a variety of cultural lifestyles imported from around the globe and because exotic spirits of both the drinking and emotional variety were abundant invading influences, the area became a mission field for Alabama Baptists.

Two years before Pensacola's original Baptist church was organized, two significant events happened that would influence Baptists. Florida became a state, and the Southern Baptist Convention was formed. Only since 1821, when Florida became an official United States territory, had religious freedom actually been a privilege of Florida's people. Baptists slowly gained a foothold in the state. By the time Pensacola Baptists organized, a smattering of Baptist churches already existed in Florida.

In May of 1847, near the Bay and near what is now Seville Square, a small group of local citizens with Alabama preachers Alexander Travis and Joseph Mitchell founded First Baptist. Its official name was the Pensacola Baptist Church of Christ, later changing the name to The First Baptist Church of Pensacola.

In the beginning, records say again and again that the "Lord's Day service was a disappointment." Establishing a strong evangelical body in a city with Pensacola's background was not an easy task. Although from earliest days the cause of Christ had been among the stated reasons for settlement of the area, the spiritual climate into which the Baptist Church of Christ emerged was challenging.

In 1850 on the third anniversary of the church, a tradition began which still increases in fervor with the years. Mission participation was initiated. For the first time, the Pensacola Baptist Church would be on the "doing" end of missions, by establishing "an arm of this church at the Navy Yard."

The church as an organization of prestige basically reflected Pensacola's patterns of development. By the early 1880's, the population recognized and accepted the existing economic, social, and ethnic divisions of the city. Because the lines were not absolute, a general feeling of good will prevailed among the citizens. Some things one did not do, however, if one wanted successfully to infiltrate early Pensacola society. Included in those things was to join the Baptist Church. Among Protestants, the Baptists were still struggling for the acceptance and recognition needed to enhance their witness for Christ to all groups.

Pensacola was growing rapidly. Its natural beauty and bounty continued to beckon newcomers. The excitement of progress and anticipated good fortune pervaded the city. Lumber, shipping, fishing, and other major industries necessitated more doctors, lawyers, and merchants, as well as laborers. Pensacola became an exciting place in which to live and work. Some of the newcomers founded their way to The First Baptist Church, which still met in the small wooden building on Government Street near Seville Square. The congregation then included a few members who had been involved in the church since its founding and many others who had experienced the struggle of the years just after the Civil War. In addition to those "pillars," there were ambitious newcomers. Many of these factors influenced the decision to move to Palafox Hill in 1895.

With the new location, new building and new organ, a new respectability resulted in steady growth. In the late 1920's, serious redirection in financial matters helped the budget situation to withstand economic hardships that were enveloping the nation. Emphasis on social issues and Baptist principles strengthened the congregation. During the '30s, a stronger sense of fellowship began developing. A willingness from the pulpit, from young leaders and from others to be more creative and innovative added an element of excitement. The sense of well-being at having survived the Great Depression and making progress in reaching new people was overshadowed by December 7, 1941. Because the Pearl Harbor raid happened on a Sunday morning and because Pensacola is a Navy installation, Sundays took on a degree of fear and apprehension. Ministering to military personnel gave a sense of serving to those who did not actually go to war. The makeup of First Baptist Pensacola was changed forever because of military influx and influence.

As life became more sophisticated the life of the church became more challenging. During the '50s and '60s additional committees were formed to cover extended ministries like visual aids, promotion, recreation and television. Lay people were given more responsibility and responded enthusiastically. The bus ministry, begun in 1971, is an example of the expanded role of the laity. With more commitment on the part of the church came a need for an expanded ministerial staff.

The church now reaches out to diversified elements of modern American society. People of other countries and languages have settled in Pensacola, inspiring an Internationals ministry. Aid for the homeless and to those with general economic difficulties is a regular outreach of First Baptist. Both domestic and foreign short-term mission trips are activities that augment the Southern programs of other mission partner organizations.

First Baptist Pensacola is an old, downtown church. Sometimes non-members refer to it as "that big church on the hill." While that is not the description it chooses for itself, it is, however, accurate. There have been major changes in our culture and the denomination. Through the many years since its founding, the church has, as have the city and the nation, endured and survived storms, wars, epidemics, economic hardships and other hindrances. The stability that comes from strong belief in God's written Word, power and love, undergirds it.

James Nixon Jr. and Christine Daniel joined First Baptist in the early 1950s when they first moved to Pensacola. Both were very active in the church, as he served on the Board of Deacons and both taught Sunday School. Nixon also served as Vice President of the Florida Baptist State Convention, member of the Board of Trustees of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Vice President of the Board of Directors of Baptist Hospital. Christine was active in the Women’s Missionary Union. All four of their children became christians while the family attended the church, and three of them returned after college to raise their children in the warmth of FBC's Church family.

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the county seat of Escambia County, FL. It is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Navy airbase, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola and is home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
Pensacola is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags" due to the five flags that have flown over it during its history: the flags of Spain (Castile), France, Great Britian, the Confederate States of America, and the United States. Other nicknames include "World's Whitest Beaches" (due to the white sand prevalent along beaches in the Florida panhandle), "Cradle of Naval Aviation" (the National Museum of Naval Aviation is located at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the legendary Blue Angels), "Western Gate to the Sunshine State," "America's First Settlement," "Emerald Coast," "Redneck Riviera," and "Red Snapper Capital of the World."
Pensacola has had a rich and colorful history over 450 years, being the first settlement in the continental United States (1559) and controlled by 5 nations. Although Pensacola is the oldest settlement, its location has caused great turmoil, with many buildings destroyed by wars, and by numerous major hurricanes. The location, south of the original British colonies, and as the dividing line between French Louisiana and Spanish Florida, along the Perdido River, has caused Pensacola to change ownership several times. Pensacola has been under the possession of the Spanish, French, British, United States, Confederate States, and has remained a part of the U.S. since the end of the American Civil War. Along with wars, numerous hurricanes have been a major factor in Pensacola history.
Early exploration of Pensacola Bay (called Polonza or Ochuse) spanned decades, with Ponce de León (1513), Pánfilo de Narváez (1528), and Hernando de Soto (1539) plus others charting the area. Due to prior exploration, the first settlement of Pensacola was large, landing on August 15, 1559, and led by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano with over 1,400 people on 11 ships from Vera Cruz, Mexico. However, weeks later, the colony was decimated by a hurricane on September 19, 1559, which killed hundreds, sank 5 ships, grounded a caravel, and ruined supplies. The 1,000 survivors divided to relocate/resupply the settlement, but due to famine and attacks, the effort was abandoned in 1561. About 240 people sailed to Santa Elena (near South Carolina), but another storm hit there, so they sailed to Cuba and scattered. The remaining 50 at Pensacola were taken back to Mexico, and the Viceroy's advisers concluded northwest Florida was too dangerous to settle, for 135 years.
Pensacola was permanently reestablished by the Spanish in 1696 on the mainland, near Fort Barrancas, and became the largest city in Florida, as the capital of the British colony of West Florida in 1763. Another major hurricane devastated the settlement in 1722, causing the French occupation to evacuate, and the Spanish returned.
From 1763, the British went back to the mainland area of fort San Carlos de Barrancas, building the Royal Navy Redoubt, and Pensacola became the capital of the 14th British colony, West Florida. After Spain joined the American Revolution late, in 1779, the Spanish captured East Florida and West Florida, regaining Pensacola from (1781-1819). In an 1819 Transcontinental Treaty (Adams-Onis), Spain renounced its claims to West Florida and ceded East Florida to the U.S. (US $5 million). In 1821, with Andrew Jackson as provisional governor, Pensacola became part of the United States.
James Nixon Jr. and Christine Daniel moved to Pensacola in the early 1950s, after Nixon graduated from the University of Florida's law school. All of their children were born in Pensacola, grew up and settled down to raise families in America's first settlement.