(Lucy Ann Snowden Ellis Jernigan--Continued from page 2)

    Benjamin W. Jernigan, Jr. was born 1778 in Wayne Co., N.C.  The Jernigans were in Nansemond Co., VA, (now Suffolk Co.) as early as 1668.  They had moved into Wayne Co., N.C. from Virginia.  Benjamin's  father, Ben, Sr., moved the family to Edgefield Co., S.C., in 1784 and is listed on the county census in 1790.  Ben, Sr. was the fifth generation of Jernigans in this country.
    Benjamin, Jr., married Vashti Vann around 1795 when both were 17 or 18 years old.  He is listed in the 1800 and 1810 census for Edgefield Co., S.C.  In 1816 Ben and Vashti were in Monroe Co., Mississippi, (now Alabama) which is just north of Conecuh Co., AL.  All eight children were with them, including Cary who was born 23 Aug 1802 in S. C.  In the later part of 1817, Ben moved his family near Fort Crawford which was within 3/4 miles of the present site of Brewton, Escambia Co., AL. and seems to be the first one to settle there.  The fort was then occupied by the 7th Georgia Regiment.  General Andrew Jackson was in the habit of visiting the home of Benjamin, probably as he was gathering troops for the "First Seminole War". 
    In 1830 Ben was in Escambia Co. (Now Santa Rosa Co.), FL. near Milton.  He was on the 1830 and 1840 census but Vashti was not with him.  She must have died in Alabama.  Ben died about 1846.
    Cary Jernigan was also in Escambia Co., FL. in 1830 but was back in Conecuh Co., AL., in 1840.  In June of 1836, he volunteered under Col. Jackson Merton, as Captain of his own Company in Florida Militia, to fight in the War with the Seminoles (1836-38).  He reported to R.K. Call in Tallahassee, thence to Suwanee-Old-Town with his Company where he reported to Major Wilson and continued with that command until mustered out of service, honorably, after four months and twenty four days in December, 1836.
    Lucy Ann married James G. Ellis about 1830 when she was 18 or 19.  They probably married in Escambia Co., FL.  They had three children: (1) Wadkins W. was born February 1831 in Mobile Co. AL.  (2) Melissa Mary was born 7 Jul 1832 in Alabama.  (3) Eliza was born in Butler Co., AL, and is probably one of the females listed on the 1840 Conecuh Co. census and then appears again as 29 in the 1860 Santa Rosa Co., FL. census with four children from 3 to 8.
    James had a lumber mill on the Blackwater River just east of Milton, FL. with two partners, Barrow and Day.  They were killed by Indians  in 1833.  Seems a "Misunderstanding" developed into what is called a "Violent Confrontation" between Grandville Parker and James Graves Ellis; the former struck the latter on the head with a "piece of scantling" and killed him instantly.  A "piece of scantling" is an archaic term for a 2 X 4 about 6 feet long.  I am somewhat indebted to old Grandville Parker whose family was listed as Mulatto on census records, but most likely they were Indian.    If he hadn't whacked Ellis over the head with the scantling, Lucy Ann would never have married Cary, from whence my ancestry evolved. 
    Lucy Ann and her son, Wadkins W. escaped harm during the "Violent Confrontation" because they resembled Indians.  According to the Ellis family tradition, they were full blooded Cherokee, but because of her genealogical background, there is some doubt.

(Continued on page 4)