Florida History Books

Lostmans Heritage: Pioneers in the Florida Everglades

by Karen Yvonne Hamilton

Silver medal winner in the Annual 2021 Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s BookAwards.
The men and women who settled in the Florida Everglades before the Civil War thrived in an environment that was dangerous and wild and ever changing. While others came and went, the pioneers faced every challenge nature and man threw at them and carried on. They may have migrated from island to island now and again, but the Everglades were their home. And they did what they had to do to survive. 

Lostmans Heritage follows the author’s journey as she searches for her ancestors from the slave country of Savannah to the wilds of the Florida Everglades. Her story begins with her ancestor, Richard Hamilton, an extraordinary and dangerous man, a man who, against all odds, untangled himself from the bonds of slavery and began a family and a life in the Ten Thousand Islands. Hamilton follows Richard and other island residents to the ending of an era when the National Park Service evicted them all. Along the way she uncovers secrets and stories, polygamy, bootlegging, fist fights, murders, gangsters, killers, and tales of tomahawks and missing school teachers.

Shark Point (historical fiction)

by Ernest E. Hamilton and Karen Yvonne Hamilton

Based on the true story of William “Buddy” Hamilton, who disappeared near Shark Point in February 1932 while on a hunting trip. The author reimagines the story of the father he never met in this fictional tale of what might have happened.

Deep in the Florida Everglades during the great economic depression of 1932, Florinda Harrison fretted with the dreadful decision she had to make. Life without Buddy was unendurable. It had now been ten months since he went on the fateful hunting trip from which he hadn’t returned. She knew she and her three small children desperately needed help if they were to survive in this harsh environment. One small hope remained; there were rumors of a ‘white-man’ living with Indians near Lake Okeechobee. Deputy Sheriff, Jim Harrison, her father-in-law, had gone to investigate. She must hold out for awhile longer – could she?

Scenes in a Surveyor’s Life

by William L. Perry (edited by Karen Yvonne Hamilton)

Yesterday Press is dedicated to reprinting titles that are in the public domain and offering them to the public in order to share history and preserve the stories and records of the past.

From William L. Perry, 1859:
“The following pages contain a record of the dangerous and exciting, as well as amusing scenes encountered by a party of surveyors in South and East Florida, whilst engaged in the labor of laying out the public domain. When the heavens open and the rains descend, the settler enters his log-cabin, unpretending as it is, and he is secure from the beating storm. Under similar circumstances, the surveyor has no alternative but to lay his troubled head on a soft lightwood knot, his body on the wet ground, and let it rain, thanking his stars it isn’t a hailstorm instead of a rain.
Such are some of the advantages of the frontier settler over the public land surveyor, briefly stated. I will not tax the time or patience of the reader in adducing others, but proceed at once to the object in view, which is simply to give an unvarnished historical account of a tramp of the writer and others in a survey of Government land in South Florida, and some of the many adventures connected with it.
The kind reader, who patiently follows me through, will find recorded many hardships, and dangerous, exciting, as well as amusing scenes, which transpired while we were engaged in that work, and which I trust, may prove of interest to while away an hour of leisure.”

Camping and Cruising in Florida

by Dr. James A Henshall (Author), Karen Yvonne Hamilton (Editor)

Dr. Henshall chronicles his adventures on the Blue Wing to South Florida in 1878 and more tales of adventure on the Rambler in 1881 from Jacksonville to Key West and many points in between, including the Treasure Coast, Jupiter, and Lake Worth. Fascinating first hand account of Florida in its pioneering heyday!

This is NOT A FASCIMILE COPY! It is carefully transcribed and edited from the original. Yesterday Press is dedicated to reprinting titles that are in the public domain and offering them to the public in order to share history and preserve the stories and records of the past.

From the original 1884 book, “In the following pages of personal adventure I have endeavored to give a faithful account of two winters spent in Southern Florida, as viewed from the standpoint of an angler, a sportsman, a yachtsman, a naturalist, and a physician.” Dr. Henshall chronicles his adventures on the Blue Wing to South Florida in 1878 and more tales of adventure on the Rambler in 1881 from Jacksonville to Key West and many points in between. “As I had never been farther south in Florida than Palatka and St. Augustine, I recalled to my mind all that had been related to me by friends who had visited South-east Florida, and studied the maps and read up every thing I could procure in relation to Indian River and the south-east coast, but the information I obtained from these various sources was so meager that I determined to write up our experiences on my return, for the benefit and guidance of future tourists to Southern Florida. Having been accustomed to “camping out” and sailing from boyhood, my plans were soon formed. I decided to proceed at once by rail and steamboat to Titusville, at the head of Indian River, there to obtain a suitable boat, and sail down the east coast to Bay Biscayne and the Florida Keys, and returning over the same route to sail down the St. Johns River to Jacksonville, if time would permit.”

The Barrett Files – a Civil War Pension Case: The Original Transcribed Documents 1866-1921

transcribed by Karen Yvonne Hamilton

In 1866 Stephen Barrett filed for an arrearage of pay from his service with the Union Colored Troops during the Civil War. Ten years later he was dead, and his widow, Sarah, filed for a widow’s pension. In a short time, Special Examiners discovered that the widow was not in fact ever married to Barrett. To complicate matters, another player arrived on the scene filing for a pension in the name of the dead soldier. This imposter, Richard Hamilton, was a notorious character from the Florida Everglades who had once been a slave in North Florida. Hamilton created a drama that would later provide a score of legal documents that aided descendants of both families in learning important facts about their family history as well as providing them with the opportunity to ‘hear’ their ancestors speak through the depositions taken. These documents are transcribed from copies of the original documents housed at the National Archives. The amazing thing about these documents is that, when laid out in chronological order like this, they tell a story, peopled with some fascinating characters. There is a beginning and an ending and many conflicts and plot twists throughout. The reader also comes away with a sense of the time period and the people who lived in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Life and Adventures in South Florida 1906

by Andrew P Canova

Originally published by Tribune Printing Co., Tampa, Florida, 1906. Canova writes of his personal experiences and observations as a private soldier during the Indian war (1855-8) in the extreme southern portion of Florida. He writes of his time in the Everglades and the Florida Keys with clarity and oftentimes amusement.

This reprint contains readable facsimile copies of the original manuscript. Table of contents generated by Yesterday Press.

Home Life in Florida 1889

by Helen Harcourt (Helen Garnie Warner)

Originally published by LOUISVILLE, KY. JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY. 1889

Prepare to be transported back to the pioneer days of Florida. This 1889 author presents the varieties of homesteading in Florida with candor, humor, and practical advice for the aspiring Florida pioneer. Learn how to farm, fish, build homesteads and furniture to put in the homestead. Learn how to deal with pests, mosquitos, alligators, and all of the other flora and fauna unique to the state.

The author states, “Those who know Florida as she is, are those who love her best, and are most willing to tell the truth about her, without fear or favor.” In that she succeeds perfectly. This book is full of fascinating detailed information about life in Florida in the late 19th century.

Knowles, Lariz, Garcia FAMILY HISTORY

by Karen Yvonne Hamilton

This book includes information on the author’s ancestors from the Bahamas (the Knowles) and ancestors from Key West (Lariz, Garcia, Bello, Rodriguez). Family research is always an ongoing process, so this book will no doubt change in the coming years. But for now, this is a start. Enjoy the photos, stories, and information about the Key West Conchs.