I had a wonderful time at the Seafood Festival in Everglades City yesterday. By 3 pm, Lostmans Heritage: Pioneers in the Florida Everglades had sold out.


By far, the highlights of the day were meeting with all the people who stopped by to chat with me about Florida history! Some turned out to be related to me in some way, some just wanted to know more about the Everglades and South Florida in general.
I met descendants of Hamilton’s, Weeks’, Whiddon’s, and more. One man was excited when I was able to trace his line to Leon Hamilton and show him photos of Leon and his family! I also convinced a Naples man to start putting his stories together before it is too late, and he took me up on my offer to help him do that.


The absolute BEST part of the day for me was what started me on this journey over 30 years ago – the feeling that my ancestors are proud of me for ‘bringing them home’ and adding their stories to Florida history. They were pioneers in the last untamed land in Florida.