Florida and....back to Texas

Well, as you know if you've been reading this thread, my mother was born in Texas and moved to Florida in the mid-1930's. The story I heard was they first went to Belle Glade and at some point ended up in Gainesville. I have to say a BIG Thank You to divine providence, fate, because that allowed me to claim heritage from two fantastic places and - best of all - to be a FLORIDA GATOR!

Here's a picture of Nana around the time she moved to Florida with my mother, Gladys and my Uncle Joe.



My Nana met my Grandaddy (Furman Lee Stokes) and they were married in 1938. He was in a grocery business - back when there were still such things as neighborhood grocery stores. He had been born and raised around Worthington Springs - which is near Lake Butler, if you know north-central Florida.

Here are a couple of picture of Nana and Granddaddy from the old days.




My mother and uncle attended Gainesville High School in the 1940's. Grandaddy was a good man who never had any children of his own. He "adopted" my mother and uncle and they changed their names from Camp to Stokes. I have found during my genealogy research that the "adoption" probably never took place, or certainly was not legal. In spite of the fact that Nana married Grandaddy, and there are court records to prove it, in 1938 - she was not divorced from her first husband until 1952. Oh - the plot thickens then, does it not? Granddaddy Stokes was a wonderful man and a loving father and grandfather until his death in 1987. I could not have asked for sweeter man to be my grandfather.

I recently made contact with one of my relatives on the Camp side over in east Texas when I was searching for what ever had happened to my biological grandfather, Jim Camp. The story told in Florida was that he abandoned his wife and children and was never heard from again. I have now heard from the "other side" that he told everyone that "Margie took the kids and moved to California". Since all parties are deceased at this time, I don't supposed I'll ever know the actual facts. But I suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two opposite stories. Here is a picture of my grandfather Jim Camp with his brothers a long time ago.


I am sorry I never got to know Jim Camp. I hope to meet his niece, and my mother's first cousin, Christine, in the near future and get to know that side of my family tree better. It turns out to be a very old limb in American history.

Well, of course, my mother met my dad right after World War II, they got married, I was born into the huge and wonderful Benton clan, and I grew up knowing that family was the most important thing, surrounded by loving uncles, aunts and cousins. I graduated from Gainesville High in 1965 and from Santa Fe CC in 1967. I married Chuck Davis in 1967 and our first child - Katherine Anne - was born at Alachua General on June 21 1970. You don't have to be very good at math to know that means she is going to be 40 soon - HOLY COW!



Son Jeffrey came along - another Alachua General baby - in 1974, and here is a picture of our little family that Christmas.


Unfortunately - we had to leave Florida because my "ex" had lost his job and we ended up - of course - in Texas in 1977. So, that was a little bit of a full-circle for my life. I spent the next 18 years in Texas and after a brief time in Nashville, another few years in Dallas. I think that I feel very much a part of both states. I was fortunate to always know my Texas heritage - Nana and Mother brought me to big family reunions around East Texas every two years from the time I was a toddler until I was about to graduate from high school. So - while I definitely will always bleed ORANGE AND BLUE - the sight of Texas bluebonnets waving in a breeze can bring me to tears. I really can't think of two greater heritages to have than to be a Florida Cracker and a Texas Pioneer. I am twice blessed.