“I Will Not Fight Against the United States”
Murder, Mystery, and Marriage
My Great-Great-Grandparents
John Newton and Rebecca Wright Krimminger
This certificate marks my descent from early settlers who entered the Territory of Florida before statehood. But for me, it’s more than a credential—it’s a threshold. Behind it lie stories of hardship, resilience, and quiet triumph. This is where the journey begins.
Long before Suwannee County became my home, my ancestors entered Florida through Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton Counties and settled in surrounding lands. These lands were wild, uncertain, and full of promise. This map traces their first steps into a place that would shape generations.
1830-1850 North Central Florida
The First to Arrive, the Last to Belong
Joel Walker, my paternal fourth great-grandfather, was among the earliest to enter Florida—purchasing land in 1835. Yet my story begins not with him, but with John and Rebecca Krimminger, my maternal second great-grandparents. Why? Because the Krimminger line is where my Florida story takes root. Through their daughter Caroline, her marriage to Sam Severance, and the generations that follow—including my grandparents and parents—my own life unfolds. The Walkers, though first to arrive, became part of my ancestral story later, woven in through marriage, not origin. In this way, the Walkers close the circle the Krimminger’s began.
From land deeds and migration routes, we now turn to the stories. These are not just records—they are lived experiences. Tales of murder, mystery, and marriage. Of families who endured, adapted, and sometimes collided with history. In Lafayette County, my ancestors didn’t just settle—they left echoes. And it’s those echoes I now follow.
Murder, Mystery, and Marriage
Stories of
My Lafayette County, Florida Family
My Lafayette County, Florida Connection
I am excited beyond belief to be writing the fascinating stories of my Lafayette County family. Why? Because I now live nearby (Suwannee County) and take short daily rides to the homesteads my ancestors settled and raised their families. I can walk the fields they walked—and even plowed. Some fields now bear straight-backed rows of pine, standing like sentinels as far as the eye can see. Others cradle new crops, their furrows tracing the same lines once carved by hands long gone. I can visit their eternal resting place each day and ask how they are doing. I do not get answers to my questions, but I do get the feeling that they are resting well and are pleased to see the interest I have in their lives and daily adventures. There is a feeling of togetherness that I cannot explain, nor would I wish to.
My genealogy research began about a year after I exercised my early, unplanned retirement. I had given no serious thought to my future and found myself a little terrified. A phone call from a person who gave his name as “Sam Jones”—which right away set off warning bells, like a man named Smith might—turned out to be the answer to my silent prayers. I will forever be thankful to Sam, and one of these days I will visit him at his resting place and offer him my sincere thanks.
The first words out of his mouth were, “Do you know the name of your grandmother?” For reasons I can’t explain, instead of hanging up, I answered, “No.” The only name I ever knew of ANY grandparent was Granny—Mom’s grandmother. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? I had never given thought to the name of a grandparent and, regretfully, never asked.
Sam and his wife Debbie eventually shared with me about fifteen years of their research into the Jones family and my link to my grandmother, Ethel Lavinia Jones, and my grandfather, William Lawrence “Laurie” Severance. Imagine my excitement—my first and only known names of a grandparent. (You will read their story later.}
Sam then gave me the names of three first cousins he was certain would like to meet me and pass on many of the wonderful stories they knew about my Jones and Severance family. I remember the excitement I felt that day—and quite honestly, I continue to feel that same excitement today as I find the answers to new questions.
Finding the names of my grandparents was a turning point—one that opened the door to stories I never knew existed. With each new name came a new question, and with each question, a deeper understanding of the people who shaped me.
For more than thirty years now, off and on, I have spent hundreds of hours researching the lives and journeys of my ancestors. It has been an exciting adventure and continues to be so. The stories you read that follow are the results of that research and the wonderful stories and events passed on to me by the Jones family.
Finding the names of my grandparents was a turning point—one that opened the door to stories I never knew existed. With each new name came a new question, and with each question, a deeper understanding of the people who shaped me.
Murder, Mystery, and Marriage
“A Legacy Shaped by Conflict: The Life and Death of John Newton Krimminger”
