Seeking Lost Relatives

DESCENDANT OF LEVY COUNTY PIONEER ENOCH DANIELS SEEKS HELP

The 1830 Federal Census for the Territory of Florida shows father and son, Enoch Daniels Senior and Junior, living in the present day area of Levy County known as Rocky Hammock. At that time this area was part of Alachua County since Levy County was not formed until 1845.

The Daniels, father and son, served as scouts and guides to the US Troops who came into the area looking for Indians during the Second Seminole Indian War (1835 - 1842). The family`s block home is noted as a fort on early maps of the area.

Enoch Sr. died about 1838 and Enoch Jr. continued to live in Levy County and was elected to serve as a County Commissioner in 1845 and again in 1854. He fought in the Third Seminole War (1855), heading up his own company of men.

When the Indian hostilities ended, Enoch Jr. remained in the Charlotte Harbor area where he became a cattleman.

When the Civil War started in 1861, Daniels was one of the refugees who took up residence on Useppa Island.He wanted to play a part in the war so he recruited a band of loyal Floridians to serve in the Union army. Daniel proposed to use the refugee volunteers he recruited to halt the movement of Florida beef to Confederate troops fighting in Georgia and Alabama. He called his group the Florida Rangers.

A descendant of Enoch Daniels, Odessa Thrasher of Williston, is seeking your help. Mrs. Thrasher is looking for any pictures that might exist of Enoch or any other member of the Daniels family. The 1850 Federal Census of Levy County shows Enoch, age 50 and wife, Delilah, age 39. Their seven children are listed as: Rebecca, age 18; James, a laborer age 16; Nancy, age 14; Mary H., age 9; Martha, age 7; Minerva, age 3; and Charles B.H., age 8 months.

If you have any information, please contact Mrs. Odessa Thrasher by mail at 16151 NW 130th Street, Williston, FL 32696 or by telephone at (352) 528-4620.