War of 1812 Service in Bowling's Detachment, Georgia Militia, as a private in Lieutenant P. Cone's Company of Infantry. Commencement of service March 26, 1814 according to a company pay roll. Expiration of service or this settlement, September 25, 1814. Term of service charged, 6 months. Pay per month, eight dollars. Amount of pay, 48 dollars. A muster roll of the same date at Fort Jackson near Savannah, Georgia showed him present.
1820-1821 Georgia Land Lotteries - Ward's Militia District, Land Lot 343,
Section 26, Early County went to Andrew Haven of Burke County, Georgia.
Andrew Havens living in Effingham County, Georgia, received Land Lot 1, section
14, in Monroe County.
1832 Cherokee Land Lottery: Andrew Havens of Marsh's District of Thomas County, Georgia, received Lot 217, 25th District, 2nd Section (in Murray or Gilmer County).
Andrew Heaven (sic), a private in Turner's Company of Taylor's Battalion Middle Florida Mounted Volunteers is listed on a muster-out roll dated at Tallahassee, Florida, on September 2, 1838. He is shown as having enrolled on February 14, 1838 at San Pedro, Florida for a period of 4 months. However, under "remarks", it was stated that he served only 45 days, having died on 22 May, 1838. No cause or place of death is stated.
NOTE: According to the "Today in Florida's History" e-mail from the Florida State Historical Society on 26 December 1999:
"1827 Madison County, Florida’s fourteenth county, was established today. Named for President James Madison, the county was originally carved from Jefferson County and included the present counties of Taylor, Lafayette, and Dixie. Many of the original settlers in the county were from Virginia. Original County Seat was San Pedro, about 10 miles south of the present city of Madison on the Bellamy Road. County Seat: Madison."
..............................
I have looked further but still have found no copy of a will, only an executed curator's bond for the estate and a letter of administration. The existence of these records would suggest that Andrew Haven was a resident of Leon County at the time he died on duty with the Florida Mounted Militia in 1838. Leon County was cut from Gadsden County in 1824 and was much larger when it was created than now. I believe that all or most of Madison, Jefferson, Taylor and Wakulla counties came from the original Leon County. But the carving-up had all occurred at least by 1847 when the probate action occurred.. Leon County was then essentially what it is now. But after long reflection I do not much believe that the probate of the will in this county means that Andrew Haven was residing in present-day Leon County, in any other part of Leon County, or even anywhere in the Territory of Florida when he died. He was in Thomas County, Georgia, for the 1830 census, and his widow and family were there in 1840 as well. I have found no record of him owning land in Leon County, or slaves (anywhere). I mention slaves only because they were conveyed by deed, just like land... and I found record of no such deed. My best guess is that this estate record had something to do with settlement of a claim related to Andrew Haven's death on Florida militia duty... but I do not know of any way to confirm or disprove that.
NOTE: Florida was a federal territory when Andrew Haven died, but had become a state of the Union by the time the estate was probated.
Anyway, this is what I think that the Letter of Administration says (words in brackets not certain):
.............
State of Florida)
County of Leon)
To all to whom these presents shall come greeting
Whereas Lewis F. Foster at present of Leon County and state aforesaid has
been duly appointed according to law curator of all and singular the goods
and chattels rights and credit which were of Andrew Haven now deceased and
hath been entered with bond obligatory to the Governor of the State of Florida
and his successors in office in the penalty of one hundred dollars conditioned
on the law direct with Caleb H. Blood1
and Vernon Davis as his securities. Now know ye that this curatorship
of all and singular goods and chattels rights and credit, which were of the
said Andrew Haven has been granted and is hereby committed to the said Lewis
F. Foster.
In
testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand
and
affixed my seal of office this 10th
day
of February AD 1847
(hand drawn
seal)
James E. Broome2
Inquest
Probator
Recorded February 11th 1847
J. E. Broome
Judge
...............
Everything is relative: The $100 bond was very small. I
didn't look
much and found one in the same time frame for $50,000. There were
no
records of administration... receipts and accounts and such. This
was
a one-document estate, which was not unusual though an estate of a
doctor
that I saw had almost an entire roll of microfilm's worth of
documents...
probably around 500 pages. However, Andrew Haven must have owned
or had claim to something of value in Leon County .. something
that could not be collected or disposed of without going through
probate court.
.........................................
1. This is a short biography of Caleb Blood:
CALEB H. BLOOD
The TALLAHASSEAN
20 April 1903.
Caleb was a "Downeaster," a merchant, afterwards a man of affairs. It is impossible for one to describe him unless one could put in words all angles, all contrarities, and mountain of homeliness. He was illiterate, but a shrewd trader. It was said that he kept all his accounts in his head, but they were generally correct. He lived here a long time, but finally took up the business of claim agent against the government, and removed. OSCAR A.MYERS.
Source: Jim Johnson's Florida Cracker web site: http://www.angelfire.com/fl/flacracker/BIOGRAPHS/B1b.html
Further note 29 April 2001: I believe that
Caleb Blood "removed" to the Pensacola area, as I have seen his name on documents
from around there.
Addendum 4 June 2012: "C. H. Blood Atty" also handled a claim for Georgia & South Carolina Revolutionary War service of William Kemp of Gadsden County in 1847, from "Washington City" (Washington, DC) and in the claim correspondence noted that after after October 15, 1847, he could be reached in Tallahassee, Florida. If Caleb Blood was illiterate he apparently made enough money at his chosen profession to hire a very good amanuensis, because this was all written in a very fair hand.
Still further note 17 February 2008: The
specific reference to Caleb Blood acting as a "claim agent against the
government" is in line with my thoughts that he may have collected such
a claim on behalf of Andrew Haven's estate.
2. James Emilius Broome was the third governor of Florida (1853-1857). Broome was born in Hamburg, S.C. on December 15, 1808. He came to Tallahassee in 1837 and engaged in the mercantile business until he retired in 1841. Governor Richard Keith Call appointed him to the position of Probate Judge of Leon County. He served in that position until 1848. He was elected governor in 1852 as a Democrat. He was an early States-Righter. Because the Whigs controlled the Legislature during his tenure, he was known as the "Veto Governor." After his gubernatorial stint, Broome served as a member of the Florida Senate in 1861. A large plantation owner, he was very sympathetic to the Confederate cause.
Source: Florida Historical Society e-mail list [FHStoday] TODAY IN FLORIDA HISTORY FOR NOVEMBER 21-23
James E. Broome was married five times. In
1865, he moved to New York City. Broome died in 1883 on a visit
with his son in DeLand.
Richard White
Tallahassee, Florida
This page was posted on the web on 26 May 2000,
was revised on 20 November 2000, was revised
again on 29 April 2001, 21 November 2001,
17 February 2008, and 4 June 2012.