The Family of Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Severance
(Great Grandparents)
Samuel |
Caroline |
Samuel Severance
My Great Grandfather Samuel Stephen Severance was born to Paul Severance and Martha 
Langston 20 August 1865, in Timminsville, Darlington County, South Carolina. Great Grandfather Sam made the journey to Florida with his mother between 1867, (the year his father died), and 1870, (the year of his mother's death).
Photo furnished by the Severance Family...
The 1880 census of New Troy, Lafayette County shows Sam, at the age of 14, living with Parker and Elizabeth (Margaret) Langston. It is my guess that he remained living with them until he met and married Caroline Catherine Krimminger in December of 1887.
In February of 1909, at the age of forty-four, Great Grandfather Sam purchased 171 acres in the community of New Troy along with several mills, and a blacksmith shop. One of the newly purchased mills became a lumber mill that Great Grandfather Sam and Jimmy Jones (Jimmy owned the barge that dragged the river for logs) operated as partners.
Johnnie Jones remembers past years in the logging industry...
On most days, Great Grandfather Sam would operate the lumber mill, cutting the sturdy southern pine found in abundance throughout the area (and on the river bottom). This lumber was used mostly for the town of New Troy buildings and homes. Uncle Jimmy and Grandfather Laurie, in the meanwhile, navigated the river working Uncle Jimmy's barge looking for sunken logs.
Standard Lumber Company in 1912 owned a large lumber mill several miles up river from New Troy (in Alton) where pine trees from the company-owned forest, in upper Suwannee and Lafayette Counties, were forested daily. The pine logs once de-limbed, were then rolled into the river, and floated to the Standard Lumber Company saw mill. On their journey winding through the many river bends, a number of the logs would sink to rest on the bottom of the river before reaching their destination. Uncle Jimmy Jones on his barge, along with Grandfather Laurie, navigated several miles of the river each day looking for these sunken logs, retrieving them from the muddy river bottom and barging them to the saw mill. It was not unusual for them to bring up items other than logs.
Finding logs on the bottom of the river...
Uncle Jimmy's barge (as described by Johnnie) was a small flat-bottomed barge with a crane attached to the front or bow. Grandfather Laurie Severance, operating the crane, would then lower a chain with a large hook attached to its end into the river. They would then drag the hook on the river bottom snagging any stray log that happened to be lying in the hook’s path. Grandfather Laurie would then use the crane to lift the log (or whatever else the hook snagged) out of the water. Once out of the river, the logs were then barged to the mill where each log was attached to one end of land-based chain that was wrapped around a large wheel positioned on the bank. The other end of the chain was attached to the harness of a mule on shore. The mule was then made to walk along the bank, causing the wheel to turn, which in-turn, pulled the log up into the mill yard. Oh how simple and yet so effective.
Johnnie Jones continues with his story of olden days...
Together, Great Grandfather Sam, Uncle Jimmy and Grandfather Laurie ran the business until sometime between 1915 and 1916. Logs were then becoming scarce and business began to decline. Grandfather Sam becoming frustrated, sold his interest in the mill to Jimmy Jones, and returned to the homestead. Sam and his sons (who were now grown), worked their farm until Sam died in 1937.
The logging and saw mill business for Uncle Jimmy declined so much that he was unable to make a decent living at it. He eventually re-located the barge and mill business to another property that he owned in Gilchrist County where timber was much more plentiful. I haven't been able to determine the successes or failures that Uncle Jimmy might have experienced after the move. I do however know that the recovery of sunken logs was to continue for years to come.
"Recovering deadhead logs that sank 150 years ago"
"The recovery of previously cut logs from Florida’s rivers is still in practice today. "Recovering deadhead logs that sank up to 150 years ago while being floated to saw mills was banned from 1974 until last January, when the Florida Department of Environmental Protection resumed issuing permits.
The prohibition had been poorly enforced, however, and the illegal recovery of deadheads was common."
As I sit here, putting together the little information that I can remember about Great Grandmother Caroline, I wonder just how much influence she had on the type of person I became. If not influenced directly, then influenced through my mother, for I only knew Grandma (as my brothers and I called her) a short nine years.
My great grandmother, Caroline Catherine Krimminger Severance, was born to John Newton Krimminger and Rebecca Wright Krimminger 25 July 1865 in Timminsville, Darlington District, South Carolina.
Grandma was a very stern but loving person. I remember well, the many times that she disciplined my brother and me for fighting. She certainly made a lasting impression on me (and my backside). Two things that I especially remember are the peach tree switch that she would use to make me behave, and the foul smelling soap that she made in a black cast iron pot sitting in the side yard. The soap was a dirty brown and was used to wash everything around the farm that might need washing (which included me). Grandma was a firm believer that if you spared the rod, you spoiled the child. I rather believe that she passed that little thought on to Mom.
Caroline, in 1887, at the age of 22, married Samuel Stephen Severance of New Troy, Suwannee County. Sam was also born in Timminsville, Darlington District, South Carolina the same year as Caroline. It is quite possible that Caroline’s parents, John and Rebecca, were acquainted with Sam’s parents, Paul and Martha Severance, while living in Timminsville. Also, they may have relocated to Florida together, or planned to eventually meet there.
After their marriage, Caroline and Sam were able to purchase 160 acres of prime farmland on the outskirts of New Troy, Florida for the sum of three hundred dollars. Then that same year, for the sum of one thousand dollars, they purchased another 171 acres, which included a blacksmith shop along with associated tools, and several gristmills. All the acreage was situated within the town of New Troy, and located on the banks of the Suwannee River. The blacksmith shop according to local historians became the sawmill that Sam and James T. Jones would later own and operate.
In 1917, after the closing of the sawmill, Sam returned to the farm where he and Caroline would live the remainder of their days on earth raising their seven sons and working the family farm. Sam passed away at home in 1937 at the age of seventy-two. Eight years later, Caroline, his wife of fifty years, at the age of 80, passed away. They rest side-by-side in Maypop Cemetery, along with other members of their family.
Grandma Caroline and Grandpa Sam first raised seven boys to manhood, and then raised my mother and her siblings to adulthood after the death of their parents. Grandma must have been a very patient and loving mother to all of them. I know for certain that Mom loved her with all of her heart.
Name: Samuel Stephen Severance
Birth: 20 Aug 1865 Timminsville, Darlington Co., SC
Death: 14 Oct 1937 New Troy, FL
Burial: Maypop Cemetery, Lafayette Co. FL
Father: Paul S. Severance (~1814-1867)
Mother: Martha Langston (~1824-1870)
Marriage: 8 Dec 1887 Live Oak FL
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Spouse: Caroline Catherine Krimminger
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Birth: 25 Jul 1865 Timminsville, Darlington Co., SC
Death: 25 Dec 1945 New Troy, FL
Burial: Maypop Cemetery, Lafayette County, Florida
Father: John Newton Krimminger (1819-1871)
Mother: Rebecca U. Wright (1830-1889)
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Children
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1 M: David Franklin Severance
Birth: 29 Jan 1889 New Troy, FL
Death: 18 Apr 1982 Jacksonville FL
Spouse: Sallie Adams
Spouse: Mozell Reed
Marriage: 1 Jan 1923 Jacksonville FL
Spouse: Alice Reed
Marriage: aft 1953 Jacksonville, FL
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2 M: William Laurie Severance
Birth: 20 Feb 1891 New Troy, Lafayette County, Florida
Death: 16 Jan 1919 Lafayette County, Florida
Spouse: Ethel Lavinia Jones
Marriage: 11 Feb 1912 Mayo, Lafayette County, Florida
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3 M: Byrd Sylvester Severance
Birth: 28 Nov 1894 New Troy, FL
Death: 19 Jun 1966 Lake City, FL
Spouse: Annie Laurie Humpheys
Marriage: 13 Jan 1917 Lafayette Co. FL
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4 M: Newitt Oscar Severance
Birth: 17 Sep 1895 New Troy FL
Death: 24 Apr 1939 Duval Co. FL
Spouse: Nina Lee Humpheys
Marriage: Location Unknown
Spouse: Ruth Eighmey Root
Marriage: 6 Feb 1927 Brunswick, GA
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5 M: Claude Wiley Severance
Birth: 2 Dec 1897 New Troy, FL
Death: 19 Jul 1970 New Troy, FL
Spouse: Clara Buchanan
Marriage: 10 Dec 1925 Branford, FL
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6 M: Rush Littleton Severance Sr.
Birth: 28 Aug 1899 New Troy, FL
Death: 14 Apr 1987 Perry, FL
Spouse: Fannie Hartley
Marriage: [Date Unknown] [Location Unknown]
Spouse: Mae Viola Brown
Marriage: [Date Unknown] [Location Unknown]
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7 M: Lou Thara "Doc" Severance
Birth: 31 Aug 1903 New Troy, FL
Death: 1 Oct 1972 New Troy, FL
Spouse: Effie Maude Croft
Marriage: Location Unknown