About

Karen Yvonne Hamilton grew up hearing stories from her father and uncles about their lives growing up on Lostmans River. As a child, she spent almost every summer in the Florida Keys, especially Key West, where her parents would show her places in the Keys where they, their parents, and grandparents lived, worked, and played. Those summers instilled in her a great passion for the history of Florida and an intense desire to learn more about her family history and South Florida.

The first book that she read about Florida history was Man in the Everglades by Charlton Tebeau. In that book she found her ancestors and was hooked. She began researching in 1985 and, over the years, amassed volumes of records on the Hamilton family. Peter Matthiessen’s book, Killing Mr. Watson, where she found the Hamilton family fictionalized, spurred her on to tell the real story of her family.

• Karen Yvonne Hamilton is the author of Lostmans Heritage: Pioneers in the Florida Everglades, which was a silver medal winner in the Florida Authors and Publishers Presidential Awards in 2021 and 2nd place winner in the History category in the Bookfest Awards in 2023. In 2017 she was a finalist in the New Letters Award in Creative Nonfiction.
• Karen holds a BA in English, an M.Ed in Education, and has studied with some of the top universities in the MFA in Creative Writing programs.
• She has published essays with Heritage Press, Florida Living, and The Florida Genealogist. She was a weekly columnist for the St. Pauls Review and former assistant editor of The Florida Genealogist.
• Karen works as an editor, helping other writers fine-hone their books for publication and as a consultant, helping families gather their stories through interviews and genealogical research. She is available for presentations in person and via Webinar.
• You can find her books and more information about her work at https://www.yesterdaypress.com/

You can contact Karen at kyvonnehamilton@gmail.com, and at Yesterday Press.

Some of Karen’s work:

Home Life in Florida 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.

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 book (1889):

“It is not well to venture into unknown regions blindfold, as it were. That sound old admonition to “Look before you leap” is full of good common sense, and yet it is passed by unheeded more frequently than one can well realize.

We doubt if, in all the globe, there is any one spot concerning which more has been written, pro and con, than of our beloved Florida; much that is true, much more that is untrue.

We love Florida; of our fair State it may well be said that “to know her is to love her,” but we hold that her truest interests are best served by a plain statement of facts, not fancies; of realities, not theories; “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Not only throughout the United States, but in Europe, thousands of home seekers are eagerly turning their eyes toward Florida, and questioning as to what manner of life, what measure of comfort and success await those who elect to cast in their lot with hers. Those who come to Florida “to stay,” seek health, wealth, and a happy home, and these they will find if they are sought for in a reasonable, sensible spirit. We trust that when our readers lay down the pages of this book they will have gained a correct idea of Florida home life.”

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

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.

Camping and Cruising in Florida

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.”

Shark Point

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?

36 Days: a Memoir

When asked how we met, he would always answer, “She was my babysitter.” He found this amusing; I was actually the babysitter for his stepchildren, not him! We fell into each other from the start, although it would take a dozen years before we actually connected at the deepest level. I haven’t written the middle part yet, our years together as he struggled with depression and alcoholism. Those are hard years to write about because I suppose I just want to remember the main thing – he was the love of my life.

And one day, his sister calls me, “Alex is dying.” You can know, really know, that this is coming, but somehow hearing the words knocks the soul out of you anyway. “Where is he?” I ask. It turns out he is in a nursing home less than two miles from me.

There is no thought process. I just go to him. And I stay with him all the way to the end, for 36 days.

What’s Your Story?

This anthology brings together the work of a group of special people who had the courage to not only write down their memories, but to share them with the world.

We are pleased to bring you this collection of stories telling about special people, trials and triumphs, firsts and favorites, and overcoming adversities.

 

Lifetales: A Workbook for Writing Your Lifestories

The Lifetales Workbook is divided into easy to understand sections that will have you completing your memoirs in no time! Blank pages are included for you to take notes as you read. Sample chapters include: How to get Started, Finding your stories, Dealing with Painful Issues, Publishing your memoir, Memory Sparkers, and much more!

The Lifetales Workbook brings in over 20 years of experience of lecturing and teaching memoir workshops. The workbook includes tips on getting started, writing prompts to keep you writing, and tips and resources on book layout, publishing, and marketing your completed stories. Be a part of PRESERVING HISTORY…ONE LIFESTORY AT A TIME!

Safe Counsel: A Complete Guide to Health Care and Home Remedies in the Late 1800′s 

Published by Heritage Books

This enlightening artifact was originally published by Prof. B.G. Jefferis, MD, PhD, and J.L. Nichols, AM, in 1897 as a home medical reference for common people. The intent of the authors was to promote general physical and mental health by dispelling the myths and mysteries of both the human body and the medical sciences. To that end, this text covers a wide scope of health-related topics, including home remedies, the care of the sick, bathing and personal hygiene, puberty and reproduction, women’s health issues and increasing longevity. Two appendices comprise a glossary of medical terms and a section pairing antiquated disease names with their new, “modern” definitions. Quaint period illustrations accompany much of the text. Like its companion volume, Safe Counsel: A Complete Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Childcare in the Late 19th Century (also published by Heritage Books, Inc.), this book is notable not so much as a reference work but as a reflection of the attitudes of our ancestors and of the times in which they lived. Some readers are sure to chuckle at some of the more peculiar scientific facts or advise offered by the authors, such as cautioning nurses to never wear dark clothing (“studies” had shown that dark cloth was more likely to absorb the “subtle effluvia that emanates from sick persons”) or demanding sexual temperance (never just before or after meals and never under the influence of alcohol, to avoid “idiotic” offspring). However, it is the ageless wisdom of simple diet and abundant exercise that is most often suggested by the authors as a formula for well-being. Includes illustrations and an appendix.

Safe Counsel: A Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Childcare in the Late 1800′s 

Published by Heritage Books

According to the original authors “KNOWLEDGE IS SAFETY”, and their medical “knowledge” from before the days of disposable diapers will be of great interest to historians, researchers of women’s issues and the general reader in light of modern medical, social and scientific advancements. These pages reflect attitudes towards women, common family planning practices, and scientific “truths” of the times, giving the reader a deeper understanding of day to day life and beliefs during the late 1800s. This volume covers procreation disorders such as impotence and sterility, health during pregnancy, pregnancy advice including dress and diet, confinement during delivery, newborns and their care, home lessons in nursing sick children, and treatment for the diseases of infants and children including home remedies. Many of these home treatments, advising a simple diet and exercise, make the reader smile at their ageless wisdom. Some advice will make the reader grin – “Pregnant mothers should avoid thinking of ugly people… Also avoid ungraceful position and awkward attitude, but cultivate grace and beauty in herself. Avoid difficulty with neighbors or other trouble.” Charming period illustrations augment the text. Appendices include a “Dictionary of Medical Terms” and “Old Disease Names and Their Modern Definitions.” Includes illustrations and an appendix.

Safe Counsel: Advice on Love & Marriage from the Late 19th Century

Future publication: Prof. B. G. Jefferis, M.D., PhD and J. L. Nichols originally published this text in 1897, in a book called Safe Counsel: Search Lights on Health. According to the original authors, “KNOWLEDGE IS SAFETY”, and their medical knowledge from the late 19th century will be of great interest to historians, researchers of women’s issues, and the general reader in light of modern medical, social and scientific advancements. The text will give the reader a deeper understanding of day-to-day life and beliefs during the late 1800s. This volume covers such topics as: history of marriage, how to choose a spouse, how to propose, how to conduct oneself on the honeymoon, causes of family problems, how to handle jealousy, and how to write a love letter. Charming period illustrations augment the text.