Al,
Thanks for sharing this piece on Payne's Prairie. In the late 1940's my
hubbies grandparents bought a 1920's log cabin on a lake in Hawthorne, FL.
Next trip we'll have to go over to visit Payne's - it's been some years
since we last visited there (big - before genealogy.) So I need a different
set of eyes.
Happy Family Hunting,
kemis massey
sobbygenealogy(a)knology.net
Researching:
for hubbie: MASSEY, BROOKS, FOUNTAIN, SMITH
for me: SONGER, CAMP, EVANS, ROSAMOND
for preservation: CLAPP Cemetery, Community, Factory, and Families -
Muscogee County
for GAGen Web Project: any info (county, family, history, industry) on
Chattahoochee, Clayton and Muscogee Counties, GA
[mailto:camp-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Al Camp
Hi "Listers"!
On a February trip to Florida we "discovered" Paynes Prairie Preserve (State
Park) just south of Gainesville, and learned about the history of the area
which had been part of "The Camp Ranch." This was a huge cattle operation,
from the early 1900's to 1970 when the state bought a 17,346-acre tract from
Camp Ranch, Inc. for the preserve. William N. "Bill" Camp and wife, Texie,
came to this area due to the 1890's phosphate mining boom, and established
the Albion Mining & Manufacturing Company. Bill was described as a
"Virginia timber-baron" (Roanoke area?), and by 1907 he was the largest
landholder in Florida, with nearly 150,000 acres to his name, which included
Paynes Prairie. The marshy savanna had been a cattle grazing area since the
days of the Spanish and the Seminoles. After Bill's death in November 1911,
his son Jack continued to run the Paynes Prairie cattle operation, and later
the operation was run by a Henry Camp, and then a Manke Camp.
I thought this was a fascinating story, and hope somebody on the List can
link these Camps to the Virginia descendents of Thomas Camp I. Surely ole
Bill fell off a branch of this tree somewhere!??
Al Camp
Fayetteville, GA