22 August 2007

John Peter Zeigler (1869-1947) and Mary Martha Swift (1876-1972)

The son of Edmund Jacob Zeigler and Martha Ann Cook, John Peter Zeigler was born on April 15, 1869, in Leon County, FL. He grew up in Leon County until his family moved to Georgia in the 1870s.
Mary Martha Swift was born to George Washington Swift and Mary Jane Montgomery on October 17, 1876, in Thomas County, GA.
John and Mary were married on November 27, 1892. They had 12 children: George Edward (1895), Paul (1896), John Peter Jr. (1899), Sheldon Swift (1902), Frank Bartow (1905), Mary Lillian, Pauline, Fred Montgomery (1912), Marjorie (1914), Grace, and Annie Ruth. John worked as a mechanic.
John passed away on February 17, 1947, in Milledgeville, GA, at the age of 77. Mary died on September 14, 1972, in Enterprise, AL, at the age of 95.

10 July 2007

Samuel Conrad Hjort (1892-1979)

Samuel Conrad Hjort was the first child and only son born to Peter Julius Hjort and Sarah Lethird Phillips. He was born on July 23, 1892, in Ocala, FL, and his mother died when he was only 5 years old. Sam grew up in Thomasville, GA, and worked with his father at a Nursery. His World War I draft registration card indicates that he spent one year as a Commander in the Georgia National Guard. In his 20s, Sam lived in Quitman, GA, and worked for Quitman Free Press Publications.
Sam married Nellie M. and they had four children: Samuel Conrad Jr. (1918), Sarah Lily (1922), Peter W. (1925), and Andrew Paul (?).
Nellie died on March 4, 1979, and her husband wasn't far behind her. Sam passed away on July 25, 1979, in Thomasville, just two days after his 87th birthday.

Peter Julius Hjort (1863-1948) and Sarah Lethird Phillips (1870-1897)

Peter Julius Hjort was born on February 5, 1863, in Nykolring Fahter, Denmark, to Conrad Christian Hjort and Christine Mathilde Koefoed. He immigrated to the United States in 1886, arriving in New York City on July 24 aboard the ship "City of Chester". According to his passenger record, Peter was a gardener by profession.
Sarah Lethird Phillips was born in Demark.
Peter and Sarah were married in October of 1891 in Ocala, FL. The couple settled in Thomasville, GA, and had two children: Samual Conrad (1892) and Christine Susan (1895).
Sarah passed away tragically on May 1, 1897, in Thomasville, just 10 days before her 27th birthday. After Sarah's death, Peter never remarried (uncommon in that day). He raised the children in Thomasville and supported his family by working as a florist. By 1910, he was working as the manager of a private estate in Thomasville. Peter passed away on July 12, 1948, in Thomasville, at the age of 85.

01 June 2007

Chipley, Florida

Chipley is a small city in Washington County, Florida. It is the county seat of Washington County. Originally called Orange, the community was renamed Chipley in 1882 after railroad tycoon and Florida state senator William Dudley Chipley. The city's motto is "Proud Heritage, Bright Future."
In 1882, the community of Orange was founded and renamed Chipley. It was the year the Pensacola & Atlantic (later L & N) Railroad was completed beyond the town site. Ironically, since Washington is still a dry county today, the first business enterprise was a wine shop that had been established on the site in 1881 by B. W. Berry, who also operated a pre-Prohibition Era whiskey distillery on land that nearly a century later would become Falling Waters State Park Recreation Center, just south of Chipley on Hwy 77. Berry's business however came to an end in 1899, when the Washington County electors voted by a narrow margin to prohibit the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages within its boundaries.
Construction of a railway siding was completed in 1882 beside what was to become known as Tank Pond, near today's Agricultural Center and City Hall. Water was pumped from the pond into an elevated tank, where the steam-driven locomotives stopped to re-supply. The locomotives also obtained supplies of wood for fuel. Title to 80 acres of land was acquired in Washington County for the town to be built. The promoters of the town named the town Chipley in honor of the railroad builder, Col. W.D. Chipley.
Chipley's railway station and post office were originally located in railway box cars. Chipley's first school was called Limestone, named for Limestone Church about half a mile from town. The school's name was changed to Chipley just after the town was established in 1886. It was located near the site of today's county jail and about the same time, the Methodist Church that now stands at the top of the hill on Jackson Street, was built around the same time.
A fire, believed to be of incendiary origin, leveled most of Chipley's business district on May 14, 1898. The great fire destroyed and gutted thirty-five buildings that were reduced to ashes while Chipley was less than 20 years old. It was the community's first "baptism of fire." A second fire leveled a portion of the business district 28 months later. The year 1898 was locally labeled "year of the big fire."
Dekle & Company, private bankers, brought Chipley its first banking services in 1899. The First National Bank was organized in 1905, and the Chipley State Bank was formed a year later.
When Chipley was reincorporated in 1901, the city authorized the issuance of $10,000 in bonds to finance the construction of a municipal water system and a school building. In 1902, the Presbyterian Church was built.
As the town developed, however, its northern and eastern sections spread into Jackson County. That created problems, particularly for law enforcement and school officials, and that led to a border adjustment in 1915 that gave Chipley more Washington County "elbow room."
Chipley was the scene in 1916 of a phenomenal religious revival, which attracted wide attention. It was directed by Evangelist George C. Cates, with the assistance of pastor of Chipley's Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. Seven hundred persons were "converted" during the Cates Union Revival, described as the most successful ever held here.
Chipley became the Washington County seat of government in 1927, then a courthouse and jail were built within a few years.