Sánchez Family Papers
Scope and Content
The Sánchez Family Papers consist of correspondence, legal documents, a book manuscript (typed and handwritten, unpublished), newspaper clippings, a scrap/notebook, receipts and lists. Dated materials span from 1824 to 1925. The overall arrangement of the materials is in chronological order. Some materials are in Spanish and not completely translated.
Subjects that are covered in the collection include the Civil War and post-Civil War period in northern Florida and the history of Gainesville. Members of the Sánchez family who are featured in this collection are Santiago Sánchez, James R. Sánchez, Venancio Sánchez, Margaret Sánchez and E.C.F. Sánchez. In the correspondence (1850-1870) folder, there are two documents of note: a loyalty oath to the Union by Margaret Sánchez (June 3, 1865) and a statement by a former slave owned by the Sánchez family, Joseph Johnson (April 4, 1870). The collection also contains several folders of documents related to tax collection in St. Johns County and a typed list of the claims made against the U.S. Government for the Patriot War of 1812. The relation of these documents to the Sánchez family is unclear. Also included is correspondence regarding the family shipping business and its transactions with Cuba circa 1840-1860.
Dates
- Creation: 1824-1925
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1829-1870
Creator
- Sánchez family. (Family)
Access
The collection is open for research.
Biographical/Historical Note
The Sánchez family came to Florida in the late 18th century and settled in and around St. Augustine. James R. Sánchez was born in St. Augustine on August 31, 1808, and his brother Venancio was born on April 1, 1809. They were two sons of José (Joseph) Sánchez and Christina Hill. Venancio was a local merchant and had a large plantation in Flagler County. He also operated a line of merchant ships that went from St. Augustine to New York. At the time of his death in 1899, he held the position of county treasurer. James married Margaret Ashe of Charleston in 1843 and in 1851 they had a son named Edward Carrington Francis (E.C.F.) Sánchez. James and his family relocated to Gainesville during the Civil War.
E.C.F. Sánchez was a merchant in Gainesville until 1874, when he began studying to be a lawyer. He was a prominent figure in local and state-wide politics as mayor of Gainesville, city attorney, and chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Florida Constitutional Convention of 1885. He began a memoir detailing the early history of Gainesville, but it was never published. He married Hattie Carlisle in 1876, but was not survived by any of his children. He died at his home in Gainesville in 1927.
Sources: Buchholz, F. W., History of Alachua County Florida: Narrative and Biographical (St. Augustine: The Record Company, 1929); Hebel, Ianthe Bond, The Sánchez Family of St. Augustine, collected for Ruth Waldron Hill (1957); Rerick, Roland H., Memoirs of Florida Volume II (Atlanta: The Southern Historical Association, 1902).
Extent
0.4 Linear feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
A small collection of papers belonging to the Sánchez family of north-central Florida, concerning Santiago Sánchez, James R. Sánchez, Venancio Sánchez, Margaret Sánchez and E.C.F. Sánchez.
Physical Location
University of Florida Smathers Library Building
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mabel Sánchez.
Alternate Form of Material
Items in this collection have been digitized and are available via the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) as part of the Pioneer Days in Florida project, which is generously supported by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Please read the Permissions for Use statement for information on copyright, fair use, and use of UFDC digital objects.
The following newspaper clippings (collected by E.C.F. Sánchez from the Times Union) were removed and disposed of because of poor condition:
- List of Newspaper Articles by Benjamin Harrison on Florida's History: Times Union (Jacksonville)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Little Sketches for the Pastime of Those Who Wish to Get Away from the Commercial Side of Life for a Moment (undated). "In the course of the debate on the naval appropriations, the administration leaders in congress insisted on the need of preparation for war."
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Little Sketches for the Pastime of Those Who Wish to Get Away from the Commercial Side of Life for a Moment (undated). "We should not forget that about three hundred Indians remain in the Everglades of Florida for whom some provision should be made."
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Little Sketches for the Pastime of Those Who Wish to Get Away from the Commercial Side of Life for a Moment (Sept. 18, 1910). "Let us hear something now of Alexander McGillivray."
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Little Sketches for the Pastime of Those Who Wish to Get Away from the Commercial Side of Life for a Moment (Oct. 23, 1910). "Was St. Augustine surrounded by a wall as the existence of the city gates are supposed to indicate?"
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Little Sketches for the Pastime of Those Who Wish to Get Away from the Commercial Side of Life for a Moment (Oct. 30, 1910). "Why did the territory that afterward became the state of Florida linger so far behind its sisters in population?"
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Little Sketches for the Pastime of Those Who Wish to Get Away from the Commercial Side of Life for a Moment (Nov. 6, 1910). "While the Indians had no commerce on highways that might deserve comparison with those of the present day, yet there were well-know trails."
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Some inside History About Osceola, a Distinguished Floridian (Dec. 4, 1910)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Paper No. 1-The Character of Coacoochee (Dec. 18, 1910)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Paper No. 2-The Character of Coacoochee (Dec. 25, 1910)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: The Green Corn Dance (Jan. 1, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Indian Races of Florida (Jan. 15, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Maize (Jan. 22, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Some Florida Names (March 12, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: The Battle of Okeechobee (March 19, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Cities that Disappear (March 26, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Florida's Lost Bird (April 2, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: "What does St. Augustine owe to Ponce de León who passed carelessly by the site... During the half century that followed the discovery of America there were few Spaniards more famous than Pedro Menéndez de Avilés." (April 9, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Early Missionaries in Florida (April 16, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: Lost and Found in Florida (April 23, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: IV. Moundbuilders and Mayas (May 21, 1911)
- Close to the Human Side of Man: V. The Coming of the Nahua (May 28, 1911)
- Old Pictures of the New Florida: XVI. Three Descriptions of Old Jacksonville (Jan. 30, 1916)
- Our Historical Parallels: IV. President Wilson in Mexico (Dec. 27, 1916)?
- Florida in Fact and Fable: Cabeza de Vaca and his Journey (April 23, 1925)
- Florida in Fact and Fable: (Our First Florida Highway, Introductory Notes) (June 15, 1925)
- Some Stories of Old Florida: The Seminoles at War (Sept.??, 1925)
- Some Old Stories of Florida: (Battles and Massacres) (no date)
- Building a State in Florida XVII (no date)
- Old Pictures of the New Florida: XII. Bartram in East Florida (no date)
The following clippings also were disposed of because of poor condition:
- New Light on Vanishing Race-Florida Seminoles (Tampa Weekly Tribune, October 26 (?), 1908)
- Governors of the State of Florida (Tampa Morning Tribune, August 30, 1908)
- A Graphic Description of the Seminole Indians, Anne McQueen in Youth's Companion (Sunday Times Union, October 3, 1909)
- The Battle of Gainesville (Gainesville Sun, July 12, 1909)
- Confederate Women in History by Sister Esther Carlotta (St. Augustine Evening Record, October 10, 1910)
- Trial of Major Henry Wirz by William Jewell (Sunday Times Union, Jacksonville, May 21, 1911)
- Florida Indians of the Everglades (Times Union, May 28, 1911)
- Seminoles of Florida, Personal Investigations by an Indian Missionary from Okalahoma by D.B. Sweak (Tampa Morning Tribune, November 10, 1912)
- Scraps of Florida History (Ocala Banner, January 3, 1913)
- 28th Annual Session of the Florida State Teachers Association (Ocala Banner, January 3, 1913)
- Important Data about Seminoles, Senator Fletcher gets Valuable Facts (Tampa Weekly Tribune, June 1, 1913)
- The Seminole Indians by Mrs. J.B. Floyd (Sunday Times Union, November 28, 1915)
- Sister Mary Thomasine under arrest at St. Augustine, freed by habeas corpus writ granted (Sunday Times Union, Jacksonville, May 21, 1916)
- Automobile Routes in Florida Officially Mapped; cut this map out for future use (Sunday Times Union, August 27, 1917)
- Law of Torts and its Relation to Women Topic of Able Address by Mrs. John W. Meek (Sunday Times Union, March 18, 1917)
- Florida Supreme Court since 1845 by Judge J.B. Whitfield of the Supreme Court (Times Union, August 24, 1922)
- The Settlement and Early History of St. Augustine (Times Union, May 25, 1923)
- Florida History and the New South as Influenced and Produced by the Old South (Times Union, May 28, 1923)
- The Huguenot Colonization at Fort Caroline, St. Johns Bluff, Florida, 1562-65 (Sunday Times Union, June 3, 1923)
- Judge Bullock's Charge (Daily Gainesville Sun, July [?] 20, 1923)
- Some Political Reminiscences by Robert W. Davis (Sunday Times Union, March 13, 1927)
- Organic Law in Florida is Briefly Discussed by Judge J.B. Whitfield (Sunday Times Union, July 3, 1927)
- Florida's Older Counties, Authority for their Formation by Justice James B. Whitfield (Sunday Times Union, July 10, 1927)
- The Primary Law of Florida by Alex St. Clair Abrams (Times Union, date unknown)
- The Religious Issue by Alex. St. Clair Abrams (Times Union, date unknown)
- Florida in History, Some Authentic and Important Information Prepared for the Ocala Banner Readers by Governor Gilchrist's Private Secretary (Ocala Banner, date unknown)
Bibliography
Processing Notes
Several newspaper clippings (collected by E.C.F. Sánchez from the Florida Times Union) were removed and disposed of because of extremely poor condition. A complete list of the removed news clippings is included as part of this guide.
Genre / Form
- Title
- A Guide to the Sánchez Family Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid created by Bronwyn McCarthy
- Date
- April 2009
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared Using Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is written in English.
- Sponsor
- Digitization funded with the generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Repository Details
Part of the Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Repository
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117005
Gainesville Florida 32611-7005 United States of America
352-273-2755
special@uflib.ufl.edu