 1820 - 1907 (86 years)
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| Name |
Robert Christie |
| Birth |
25 Jul 1820 |
Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
14 Feb 1907 |
Lake City, Columbia, Florida, USA |
| Burial |
Hopewell Cemetery, Columbia, Florida, USA [1] |
| Person ID |
I5221 |
tng Genealogy |
| Family |
Elizabeth Wheeler, b. 4 Aug 1841, Appling, Georgia, USA d. 11 Jul 1904, Lake City, Columbia, Florida, USA (Age 62 years) |
| Marriage |
1865 |
Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA |
| Children |
| + | 1. Benjamin Franklin Christie, b. 12 Oct 1872, Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA d. 7 Feb 1946, Lake City, Columbia, Florida, USA (Age 73 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 2. William Asbury Christie, b. 23 May 1875, Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA d. 9 Jan 1944 (Age 68 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 3. Eliza Christie, b. 8 Sep 1877, Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA d. 19 Nov 1950 (Age 73 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 4. Priscilla Christie, b. 5 Jan 1869, Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA d. 30 Apr 1942 (Age 73 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 5. Charles J Christie, b. 8 Oct 1866, Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA d. 27 Sep 1935, Jasper, Hamilton, Florida, USA (Age 68 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 6. Elizabeth Wealthy Christie, b. 4 Dec 1883, Hamilton, Florida, USA d. 7 Dec 1947, Lake City, Columbia, Florida, USA (Age 64 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
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| Family ID |
F1338 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 25 Jul 1820 - Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA |
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| Marriage - 1865 - Douglas, Coffee, Georgia, USA |
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 | Death - 14 Feb 1907 - Lake City, Columbia, Florida, USA |
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| Notes |
- Robert Christie
The descendants of Robert Christie are being recognized as the 2011 Olustee Battle Festival Descendant Family. The origin of this family is probably the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland with French, Welsh and predominant English ancestry added in later generations. Robert's great-great grandfather is first documented in Virginia around 1730, having possibly entered this country through a Maryland port. Following the pattern of most adventurous Virginians, the Christie's headed to the Carolinas. After the American Revolution, Robert's grandfather and namesake settled in Edgefield District, SC in what is now Saluda County. He beget the trail of Christie's from South Carolina through Georgia to Florida. Robert Christie was born 7/25/1830, west of Macon in Upson County, Ga., the son of Josiah A. Christie and Nancy Cureton. Both his tombstone at Hopewell Church in Columbia County, Fl and his Civil War Pension Application indicate a birth year of 1820; however, he received a legacy of $491.46 from his legal guardian one day after what would have been his 18th birthday in 1848. Robert's father had remarried less than three months after Robert was born and tragically died when Robert was only 10 years old; then, when Robert was 16, his step-mother died. He presumably married Emily Tuggle before he was 18 and already had a daughter, Mary Ann, by the time he received his inheritance.
Between 1850 and 1860, Robert and Emily followed two of his older brothers to South Georgia-Emily's parents, Emily and daughter Mary appear in the same household in the 1860 Thomas County Census. According to his pension application, in the fall of 1862, Robert enlisted in Ware County as a Private in Company F, 4th Regiment (Clinch's) of the Georgia Volunteer Cavalry under Captain James Pate Turner---his pay stubs indicate he enlisted in Company H, 3rd Battalion on 12/10/1862, at Waynesville which is between Brunswick and Waycross; as a result of reorganization in March of 1863, Co H became Co F, otherwise know as the Georgia Dragoons.Robert fought with his unit in the Battle of Olustee on Feb 20, 1864. Coincidentally, Dr. David Kendall, Jr., son of Robert's guardian, was appointed Surgeon of the 29th GA Battalion Cavalry, Co H out of Early County and tended the sick and wounded at Ocean Pond after the battle.
In 1865, Robert married Elizabeth Wheeler (b. 1841), daughter of Charles and Jane Wheeler of Appling County, Ga. About 1867, he followed the Wheeler's to an area north of Benton around Bay Creek in northern Columbia County---he likely worked for or with his father-in-law on 40 acres; the Wheeler's had 120 acres in an adjoining section. In 1880, Robert and Elizabeth were living at Suwannee Shoals east of White Springs, and by 1900, they were in Belmont in Hamilton County just across the Suwannee River from Benton. For the next 30 years, members of the extended Christie family moved back and forth between the two counties.
Benton was one of the more important small communities in the northern part of Columbia County. It was located on the banks of the Suwannee River some 21 miles north of Lake City and had a population of around 100 during the 1880's. Benton was only connected to Lake City by a twice-weekly stage coach before the Watertown Northern Railroad was built by the East Coast Lumber Company around 1889. Benton had a large general store, a cotton gin, saw mill, and a grist mill. Robert's son Benjamin (B.F.) donated land toexpand the cemetery. Near Benton and Hopewell were the East Coast Lumber Company's camp and Moore's Head Turpentine Still.
Even though Robert never owned much of any value, two successive generations adopted the opportunism and ambition of his ancestors to establish their mark in Columbia County's history. In 1925, B.F. Christie leased out 1,140 acres of timber north of Benton for the purpose of harvesting the gum or resin for turpentine, getting paid ten cents per cup--naval stores production peaked in Columbia County in the late 1920's. B.F.'s entreprenueurial spirit was instilled in his son Ralph who owned vast amounts of real estate, timber and cattle and invested in several buisness ventures in Columbia County. The Christie's have a rich heritage in agriculture and timber.
Robert and Elizabeth had three sons, who gave them 18 grandsons to carry on the Christie name, and three daughters:
Charles James Christie was born 10/08/1866, and died 9/27/1935; he married Martha Adaline Davis on 9/10/1884, and Mary Elizabeth Ogburn on 7/29/1906; he had fourteen sons and six daughters.
Priscilla "Silla" Christie was born 1/05/1869, and died 4/30/1942; she married John M. Chambers on 10/03/1888, and had five children.
Benjamin Franklin Christie was born 10/21/1872, and died 2/07/1946; he married Lutie Crews on 12/25/1898, and had three sons and nine daughters.
William Asbury "Scrap" Christie was born 5/23/1875, and died 1/09/1944; he married Ruby Bryan on 3/25/1906, and had one son and one daughter.
Eliza Christie was born 9/08/1877, and died 11/19/1950; she married Sidney Blair Freeman on 1/16/1901, and had six children.
Elizabeth "Wealthy" Christie was born 12/14/1883, and died 12/17/1947; she married John North on 4/04/1904, and had eight children.
Marriages with female Christie offspring have added the following surnames to the Christie family tree---many of them familiar to this area: Allen, Ash(e), Bailey, Blanton, Box, Bradley, Brown, Bryant, Bullard, Chambers, Denison, Erixton, Fields, Frazier, Freeman, Geibieg, Green, Huggins, Johnson, Jones, Law, Lee, Markham, McCall, McGovern, Melton, Milton, Moore, North, Phillips, Prichard, Rivers, Smith, Spradley, Thomas, Tompkins, Waldron, and many more. Every effort was made to locate as many descendants as possible for the 2011 Olustee festivities, yet some local residents may not even be aware they are descended from this family.
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| Sources |
- [S76] Cemeteries of Columbia County FL Volume Two.
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