Florida's Forgotten Frontierswomen: Part 1
First Lady PHILOCLEA of #Tallahassee
PHILOCLEA Alston (Fisher) HOLLISTER, granddaughter of Tallahassee,
Florida’s First Lady, PHILOCLEA (Alston)
WALKER, each a 19th century resident of Florida, descended from an
amazing American family. Their PHILOCLEA
heritage begins my Fall Blog Series: Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen.
A Legacy having roots at Sparta, Georgia:
“In 1853,” wrote Mount Vernon Ladies
Association of its origin, “Louise Bird
Cunningham was traveling the Potomac River and passed by Mount Vernon in the moonlight. Struck
by its appearance, and fearing it would soon be lost to the nation for lack of
upkeep,” Ann Pamela Cunningham, daughter of Louise, founded Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Ann then
challenged women of the South to preserve Washington’s homestead, and her southern
movement quickly spread to a national undertaking. Her organization continues
to this day.
 |
| George Washington's Mount Vernon, preserved by Mount Vernon Ladies' Association |
The Mount Vernon
Record, February 1860, explains how
the ladies organization got its 1854
start after two woman made a sizeable donation: “Mrs. Bird of SPARTA, GA and
Mrs. W. J. Eve of Augusta, GA” were
those two initial contributors. Mrs. Bird
of Sparta was Frances Pamela (Casey) Bird, wife of James Wilson BIRD. Mrs. W. J. Eve was PHILOCLEA (Casey) Eve.
A family helped
launched efforts to rescue Mount Vernon: Frances
Bird and Philoclea Eve were sisters. Ann Cunningham’s mother, Louisa
BIRD Cunningham, was a younger sister of James Wilson BIRD. The
preservation of George Washington’s homestead took root at Sparta, Georgia. PHILOCLEA Eve served as the Georgia Vice-Regent
of the Ladies Association.
Tracing American history via Lady Philoclea:
PHILOCLEAN Society
is among the oldest student organizations of New Jersey’s celebrated RUTGERS
University. Founded in 1825, the society
says the name Philoclean is Greek for, “Old Glory.” But twelve years before Rutgers established the organization,
John & Sarah CASEY, in 1813,
celebrated the birth of their third child, a daughter they named PHILOCLEA.
Both parents died
while Philoclea was a little girl, so
the daughter moved to Savannah, GA, where she lived with a brother, Dr. John A. Casey. At age of 27, Philoclea
Edgeworth Casey married William
J. EVE. The October 17, 1840 wedding is said to have taken place at SPARTA, Georgia.
A second PHILOCLEA was also born in SPARTA in 1820, to Robert &
Henrietta (Green) ALSTON. The Alston’s later moved to
Tallahassee, FL, where Philoclea Alston married, in 1842, David S. Walker. St. John’s Episcopal Church of Tallahassee
provides a pamphlet for touring its church and grounds, and this booklet
explains the “south figurative window of
the church depicts the Virgin and Child, and is a memorial to PHILOCLEA Alston Walker, wife of David
Shelby Walker, the eighth governor of Florida.”
Where did the English use of
PHILOCLEA originate?
As early as 1800, American newspapers started
promoting a literary work entitled ‘Practical
Education.’ Written by highly acclaimed English author, Maria EDGEWORTH (1767-1849), her inspirational
writings included a collection of ‘Letters
for Literary Ladies,” writings widely touted as being a plea for reforming
women’s education.
Maria Edgeworth and her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth (I), became early advocates of educating
young women at a time in history when females weren’t always privy to
schooling.
Philoclea Edgeworth (Casey) EVE, born in America during 1813, had been a daughter of immigrants
John CASEY and PHILOCLEA EDGEWORTH. Both parents relocated from Edgeworthtown,
Longford, Ireland. Immigrant Philoclea Edgeworth,
wife of John Casey, was born circa 1760, six years after the debut of a
McNamara Morgan play entitled, “PHILOCLEA,
a Tragedy.”
The father of famed
authoress Maria Edgeworth was Richard
Lovell Edgeworth, and his family roots trace to Longford, Ireland.
Authoress Maria Edgeworth and her father have
roots in Longford, Ireland. She wrote of being of lineal descent to Sir John, and wrote too of a brother, Richard Lovell Edgeworth II, who died in
America. Her brother’s will was probated in Anson County, North Carolina in 1792.
American history via Lady
Philoclea:
A family’s use of
the name PHILOCLEA assists in recreating a chapter of America’s remarkable
story. The Edgeworth family arrived from Ireland, settled in the South, and played
a vital role in taming a wilderness. The SPARTA, GA Historical Society website
includes a photo of ALSTON-Wiley House, a historic home that includes this
description: “Built prior to 1820 by
Robert West Alston. The house was expanded by Captain Richard Bolling Baxter.”
A North Carolina
native, Robert West Alston relocated
as a married man to Sparta, GA with his wife prior to 1820. Prior to Florida’s
Statehood in 1845, the Alston family moved again, this time to Tallahassee, FL.
Richard Baxter, a grandson of Frances Pamela (Casey) Bird, and a great-grandson of immigrant, Philocea
Edgeworth, eventually became owner of the Alston-Wiley home.
Robert & Henrietta Alston relocated to Tallahassee, where a
daughter, PHILOCLEA Alston,
married David Shelby Walker. A
lawyer, Walker was active in early Florida politics. He initially opposed
Florida Secession, and following the War, on December 20, 1865, Florida First Lady Philoclea Alston Walker watched as her husband was sworn in as the eighth
Florida Governor.
One of nine living
children, Philoclea Alston arrived with her parents in a rugged
wilderness having fewer than 1,700
residents. Tallahassee was then merely an isolated town in a Territory known as
Florida. Philoclea married at Tallahassee three (3) years prior to Statehood. Four years after Florida’s Statehood, Robert & Henrietta Alston’s daughter
Florida (Alston) Fisher made them proud grandparents of a baby girl, Philoclea
A. Fisher.
Hugh T. Fisher was appointed Tampa Postmaster in 1850. The population of Tampa had yet
to reach 1,000 then, but at age 1, Philoclea
Alston Fisher became one of
the earliest residents of a developing CitrusLAND.
Florida First Lady,
Philoclea
Alston Walker, died at Tallahassee May 7, 1868. A year after her grandmother’s death, Philoclea Alston (Fisher) Hollister, gave birth
to her first child in Nebraska. Never to return to Florida, the last known Philoclea
of the Edgeworth family would spend half of her life as a widow before dying
October 7, 1912 in North Bend,
Oregon.
About this Blog Series:
The role of women
in history is not easily found, but it’s a challenge gladly undertaken by this
author of CitrusLAND
books. The true-life American story can only be told through the lineal
descendants of the earliest pioneers, men and women alike. Each of twelve
chapters in my CitrusLAND:
Curse of Florida’s Paradise begins with
a dedication and brief biography of a Florida Frontierswoman. Telling the story
of Florida through its people, CitrusLAND books are described at my website: www.croninbooks.com
Available at BOOKMARKIT
ORLANDO bookstores; Winter Garden Heritage Foundation and Central Florida
Railroad Museum in Winter Garden, Florida, and Amazon.com
#RicksFFFBlog
resumes October 5, 2016
Part
2: Rebecca of Madison County’s Oakland
