Laura Etta Young was born on January 22, 1875, in Pensacola, Florida, to Marie Peterson (1848-unknown) and William Young (1852-unknown).
Laura married Francisco Gomes D’sa in Fort Myers, Florida, on January 14, 1889.
MOUND KEY
The family lived on Mound Key, Florida, in 1900.
Mound Key, near Estero Bay, was developed for 2,000 years by the Calusa. Juan Ponce de Leon landed there in 1513. By 1750, the Spanish left the area after decimating the Calusa through diseases brought by the Spaniards. The Key was homesteaded in 1891 by Frank Johnson and they lived there with other families before selling the property to the Koreshans in 1905. The island is now preserved as a Mound Key Archaeological State Park.
Laura and Francisco’s children:
*Anna Bell was born January 15, 1890
*Mary Joaquina was born January 10, 1895
*Joaquin F “King” was born March 1, 1898
*Lillian Josephine was born May 7, 1899
*Salvador Sabino was born on March 3, 1903
*Amelia ‘Mellie’ Isabelle was born on October 23, 1907
*Florinda Marie was born on November 2, 1909
*Frances Lenora was born on March 3, 1912
*Edna was born on March 10, 1915
Laura lived in Boca Grande, Florida, in 1910 with her husband and children.
SECOND MARRIAGE
At some point, Laura and Francisco divorced. She then married Joseph Franklin Pacetti in Broward, Florida, on October 29, 1919.
In 1920, Pacetti, Laura, and Laura’s children lived at Imperial River Road in Bonita Springs, Florida. There is a census that lists a Laura Young, widowed, at 300 North Foster St. in Dothan, Alabama with eight roomers. As Pacetti was still alive at this time, I don’t think this is our Laura Etta. I include only because she was from Alabama and there is a possibility that she went there for a time.
Laura’s first husband, Francisco Gomes D’sa died on June 20, 1931, in Fort Myers, Florida, when he was 76 years old.
In 1935, Laura Etta Young lived at 804 Oliva St. in Key West, Florida with Pacetti.
TRAGEDY
Laura’s youngest child, Edna passed away on July 26, 1936, in Fort Myers, Florida, at the age of 21. Edna and her husband, Silas were killed when their car was struck by the Atlantic Coast Line train. Their son, Joseph, age 3, survived the crash.
KEY WEST
In 1940, Laura and Pacetti lived at 818 Ashe St in Key West, Florida.
American fishing boat boarded and torpedoed by a German Uboat in the Florida Straits in 1942
At the time of this writing, author Laura Young Gomes Pacetti lived in Key West. She sent this letter to her daughter Lillian Gomes Coleman living on Cayo Costa island in Lee County. The subject of the letter, Joaquin King Gomes, was Laura’s son and Lillie’s brother. Nellie Hamilton Gomes was King’s wife.
Lillian wrote to Laura asking about a rumor that King had died in the U-boat attack. Laura responds that the rumor was a lie and explains that actually happened. The letter is very gossipy but it also relates the story of an American fishing boat boarded and torpedoed by a German Uboat in the Florida Straits in 1942.
See transcript of the letter and read the story about the American vessel, Gertrude being torpedoed by a German Uboat.
Pacetti passed away in 1949 in Lee, Florida, at the age of 83. They had been married 30 years.
3RD MARRIAGE
Laura Etta Young married Vivian F. McKinney in Lee, Florida, in 1950 when she was 75 years old. In 1951, Laura and McKinney were divorced.
In 1954, Laura lived at 2411 Diego in Fort Myers, Florida.
4TH MARRIAGE
Laura Etta Young married Louis J Reel in Lee, Florida, possibly in 1954. This information is pulled from census records and her obituary.
DEATH
Laura Etta Young died on September 23, 1955, in Fort Myers, Florida, when she was 80 years old. She was buried in Fort Myers Cemetery, plot unknown.
Obituary: Laura Etta Young Gomes Pacetti Reel
Fort Myers NewsPress,September 24, 1955
Mrs. Laura Pacetti Reel, age 80, 3635 E. Michigan Ave., a resident of Fort Myers and Lee Co. since she was 14, died suddenly Friday afternoon at her home. She was a native of Mobile, Ala, and had lived in Pensacola prior to moving to Fort Myers. Surviving besides her husband, Louis Reel, are six daughters, Mrs. Anna Padilla and Mrs. Mary Tucker, both of Fort Myers; Mrs. Lillian Coleman, Boca Grande, Mrs. Mellie Padilla, Tampa; Mrs. Flo Posey and Mrs. Lenora Ogden, Key West; two sons, King Gomez, Everglades and Salvadore Gomez, Naples; one brother, Luther Sanders, Pensacola, 51 grandchildren, 55 great-grandchildren, 4 great-great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements will be announced later by Young-Harvey funeral Directors.
SOURCES:
1954 Fort Myers, Florida City Directory; Trail of Florida’s Indian Heritage, Inc.; Fort Myers News Press, September 24, 1955; Florida, County Marriage Records, 1823-1982; Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001; Ancestry .com; U.S. Census Records; U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
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