Unforgotten Lives

06/30/2025

Today we are unforgetting Antonia Mariana Noriega,* an enslaved woman in the household of Victoire Le Sassier, widow of Lt. Col. Jose Noriega. She was born ca. 1795 - 1799. Her race is recorded as mulata.

She was confirmed in Pensacola on May 7, 1798, by the Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, Rev. Luis Peñalver y Cardenas, where she is listed as the slave of Don Jose Noriega. Her mother was Genoveva, a negra woman enslaved in the same household. Her father is not mentioned in the record. A brother, Francisco, also appears in the records.

She appears in the Bill of Complaint for Divorce between Madame Victoire and her second husband, Don Pedro de Alba, Sr. She was listed among the property Mme. Le Sassier owned before her marriage to him in 1813, when she was married to Jose Noriega. Antonia was described as being 18 years old, and a cook.

Deed of Manumission: 30 June 1832 - Antonia purchased her freedom from Mme. Le Sassier for $500. The deed described as mulatto, aged about 33 years. (Escambia Co. [FL] Deeds, B/411)

She was mentioned in the 1833 will of Victoire Le Sassier as her former slave, indebted to Mme. Le Sassier in the amount of 175 piastres.

*Noriega is the name of the household in which Antonia was enslaved; she may have used another surname or no surname at all.

For updates and the sources used in this research, see Antonia's entry at

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

02/25/2025

Today we are unforgetting Maria Luisa Anastacia, an enslaved girl of color in the household of Don Luis Gayarre. She was born 24 February 1817, and baptized 21 April 1817 by Father James Coleman at St. Michael's Parish (Spanish Pensacola). Her mother was Rosa, a negra woman enslaved in the same household. Her father was listed as unknown in baptismal record (this usually meant the father was unwilling or unable to acknowledge the child). The sponsors were Juan Bautista Barcelo (pardo); and Maria Luisa Palas (parda).

Don Luis was one of the Spanish officers who protested the treatment of Spanish Governor Jose Callava during the Vidal affair in 1821 and was ordered deported by the American Governor Andrew Jackson. He may have gone to Cuba, but wherever he went, he likely took Maria Luisa with his household.

For the sources of this research and any updates, see Maria Luisa's entry on Unforgotten Lives.

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

10/30/2024

Today we are unforgetting Thomas Banks. Thomas was a Black male, born about 1838 in Alabama. He died in Pensacola, FL on 30 October 1898 of Bright's Disease at the age of 60. His occupation was laborer, he was widowed, and he had lived in the city for 15 years at the time of his death. He was buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.

The 1885 Pensacola City Directory has two entries for Thomas Banks: one a Laborer living at Tarragona and Government and one a barber living at Government and Tarragona. It is possible the entries constitute a confused duplicate of the same person.

The 1885 Florida State Census lists a Banks family in Pensacola headed by Thomas, a 50-year-old Black male working as a laborer, born in Alabama with both parents born in Alabama. The rest of the family was Mary, his 40-year-old wife who worked as a washerwoman; two daughters: Mary (17), Cora (15); and two sons, Henry (10) and George (8). All members of the family were born in Alabama.

Last, the 1890 Pensacola City Directory lists a Thomas Banks working as a laborer, living at Zarragossa and Government Sts.

I have not located the Banks family in any records prior to 1885. I would like to see more information to tie the Thomas Banks in the directories to the Thomas Banks in the census to the Thomas Banks in the death record. The 1885 Florida census does not give address information that would confirm the identity, but it strikes me as odd that a man with that many children would have been left to be buried in the Poor Farm - though of course there are many reasons why that could have been the case.

For updates to Thomas' entry or to view sources, see his entry at

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

09/21/2024

Today we are unforgetting the infant daughter of Creola Banks. She was a Black female, born 21 September 1937 in Pensacola, FL. She died at the age of 1 hour; the official cause of death was prematurity. Her mother was Creola Banks, who was born in Alabama. Her father was listed as unknown, though there may have been some reason other than ignorance that the father was not identified. The residence and place of death was 217 E. Maxwell St. Creola was the informant on the death certificate. The child was buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.

FAMILY:
Mother: Creola Banks Hogan Jackson
Grandmother: Nettie Lou Brown Banks
Grandfather: Rufus Banks

For the sources used in this research and any updates on this family, see her entry at

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

09/03/2024

Today we are unforgetting John Biddel. He was a Black male, born around 1884 in Georgia. He died at about the age of 47, on 3 September 1931, at 8th Avenue and Aragon Street in Pensacola, FL, which was his residence. He was single at the time of his death, and he had suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis for a year and influenza for six months – these were the causes of his death. He worked as a laborer on the waterfront, and had lived in the city for 20 years. He was buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm on 10 September 1931 by T.M. Lloyd.

He appears in 1927 Pensacola City Directory, which lists a John Biddle (c) laborer, living at 315 Salamanca St., Pensacola. There is no reference to him in another City Directory between 1911 and 1931, which would cover the twenty years he lived in the city.

John Biddle was ennumerated in the 1930 U.S. Census for Pensacola, living in the household of Will L. Jones at 516 Aragon St. He was identified as a Roomer, which label does not necessarily exclude his also being a family member. He was identified as widowed, 42 years old, and working as a laborer at odd jobs. He was born in Georgia and both parents were born in Kentucky. He was literate.

The informant on his death certificate was Annie Kinchen, who lived at 809 North D Street. I have not yet found a relationship between the two.

To see any updates or the sources used for this research, visit John's entry on

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

07/07/2024

Today we are unforgetting Robert Butterfield. He was a Black male, born about 1875 in Florida. He was single at the time of his death at about age forty on 7 July 1917. His occupation, as well as any information on his parents, was filled in with "Don't know." He died from syphilis with nephritis as a contributing factor, for which he was treated by W.L. Andress from July 5 to July 6. There is no address given on the death certificate, but the fact that the informant, A.T. Rice, was superintendent of the Poor Farm, and the fact that the death certificate was written in the Kupfrian Park precinct of Escambia County, Florida, means that he was probably at the Poor Farm at the time of his last illness. He was buried by F.R. Pou in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.

Robert's death notice appeared in the Pensacola Journal on 16 July 1917, but provides no further information than the death certificate.

There was a Butterfield family in Pensacola at the time Robert would have been alive, headed by John (sometimes called "Jack") Butterfield, but I cannot find a connection between them. I have found two mentions of a Bob Butterfield in the Pensacola newspapers, in reference to an arrest for assaulting a train employee in the Bohemia area of town in July 1902. There does not seem to have been any reporting on the disposition of his specific case.

Other than that, I have not located a Robert or Bob Butterfield in any records, even in a nationwide search, who is a man of color with any connection to Florida.

For the sources used in this research as well as any updates, see Robert's entry at

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

06/29/2024

Today we are unforgetting Florencio Innerarity,* a boy of color enslaved by John Innerarity.

He was born around 1815; his race was not recorded.

He was baptized on 29 June 1819 by Father James Coleman at St. Michael's Parish (Spanish Pensacola). At that time, he was estimated to be about 4 years old. His mother was Menti, a negra woman enslaved in the same household. His father was listed as unknown in the baptismal record (this usually meant the father was unwilling or unable to acknowledge the child).

Florencio had an older sister, Ysabel, who was baptized on the same day. She was also born of Menti and an unknown father; her baptismal record includes the detail that she was born in Tallapoosa Nation.

*Innerarity is the name of Florencio's enslaver and the only surname under which I have found Florencio documented. He may have used another surname or no surname at all.

For the sources used in this research and any updates, see Florencio's entry at

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

05/31/2024

Today we are unforgetting Ernest Crumb. Ernest Crumb [also Crum, Crumbs] was a man of color born around 1896 in Florida. He died of tuberculosis in the T.B. Ward of the Florida State Prison Farm in Raiford, Union County, Florida on 31 May 1932. He was buried in the State Farm cemetery.

Ernest Crumb first came to my attention as the man arrested for the murder of Louis Bragg (see his entry here.) He was charged first with assault with attempt to murder, and then with murder, on 16 March 1925. He had served seven years of a life sentence when he died in prison.

Ernest was no stranger to the law, having been arrested for petty crime in the past. For the murder of Louis Bragg, however, he consistently asserted that Bragg had pulled a gun on him with the intent of robbing him. In defense, he hit Bragg in the head with a brick, fracturing Bragg's skull and ultimately killing him.

Crumb's death certificate indicates his mother was Emma Crumb (the informant apparently did not know her maiden name), born in Pensacola, FL. There is no other information about his family.

Emma Crumb may be the Emma Lee Beals who married Brooks Crumb [spelled "Crumbo"] on 13 July 1895 at St. John the Baptist Church (Rev. J.B. Green officiating). If so, she and Brooks are only rarely documented in the same household, despite her having 6 children with the last name of Crumb and despite their cohabiting from time to time. She worked as a laundress, whenever an occupation is given.

In the 1910 and 1920 Census of Pensacola, Ernest appears as "Ernestine." In fact, in the 1910 census, Ernestine is listed as a daughter (in 1920, Ernestine is listed as a son). Perhaps his given name was Ernestine, or perhaps Emma was hiding his true identity from the authorities - most of the male members of the family managed to get arrested for petty crime from time to time throughout their young adulthood. Ernest appears in the 1930 census as an inmate of the State Prison in Raiford, 34 years old, born in Florida.

I have been unable to trace Emma; however, one of her sons was named Charlie Bell Crumb. This leads me to wonder if there is a connection with her maiden name as "Beall" is often pronounced as "Bell."

Brooks Crumb died September 10, 1924 of senility at the age of 60. He was buried in Zion Cemetery. According to his death certificate, he had been living in Florida for 45 years before his death. His father was also named Brooks, and both parents were born in Mississippi. The informant was his son, Samuel Elijah.

Emma died in 1943.

For updates to this entry, along with the sources used in the research, see Ernest's entry at www.unforgottenlives.org

04/28/2024

Today we are unforgetting Bertha Robinson Barnes. She was a mulatto female, born about 1885 in Pensacola, FL. Her parents were Manuel (also spelled Emanuel) Robinson and Angela Borras Robinson.

Bertha first entered my research as the unnamed mother of an infant boy stillborn on 21 August 1904 in Pensacola. The child was named as the Infant of Frank Barnes and wife; the only information the death record gives on the child's mother is that she was born in Pensacola.

Bertha was enumerated in the 1900 U.S. Census for Escambia County, FL at 1901 W. Government St. in Pensacola. The head of the household was Manuel Robinson, who was identified as White in this census. He was 43 years old and had been married to his wife for 22 years. He was born in Florida, his father in Portugal, and his mother in Florida. His occupation was Shoemaker. He rented his home, and he could read and write.

His wife was Angela, also identified as White, 44 years old. She had given birth to 9 children, 6 of whom were still living. She was born in Florida, her father in Spain, and her mother in Florida. She also was literate.

The children of the household were Mary, 16 years old; Bertha herself, who was 14; Paul, 11; Arthur, 9; and Mabel, 4. All the children were identifed as White and born in Florida; those old enough were attending school and could read and write.

According to the Escambia County marriage records, Frank Barnes and Bertha Robinson were married on 9 June 1902 by B.H. Burton, Notary Public. It was not a long nor a happy marriage, by all appearances, and Bertha's appearances in records from here on out reveal a life marred by violence and heartbreak.

In May 1904, Bertha first appeared in the Pensacola newspaper for various criminal mishaps. It began with an arrest for disorderly conduct during what she described as her little sister's eighth birthday. (This would have been Mabel.) She and several others were hauled before a judge and fined. Bertha was described as "a creole woman."

August 21, 1904 is the date she delivered her stillborn son at 105 W. Romana Street, the home of Frank Barnes and his mother, Mollie Livingston.

In the 1905 Pensacola City Directory, Bertha was listed as Bertha Barnes (in the White section of the directory), but she was identified as a widow and lived in her father's home at 518 Innerarity Alley. It is possible she and Frank were already living apart at this time. It is unclear if the information for the directory was compiled before or after the following:

In January 1905, Bertha was arrested for cutting the neck of her husband in an alley on Zarragossa Street (infamously called "The Line" for its brothels and bars). Apparently the two had quarreled in an alley behind a saloon. Upon arrest, she claimed he had drawn the knife and she was acting in self-defense. She was described as "colored" in this article. She was locked up in the county jail, but there is no further report of a trial.

In August 1905, Bertha, "a creole girl," appeared before the recorder "on a number of charges, this being her third appearance in court inside of ten days. The recorder proceeded to read her a lecture of a very stiff nature, finally winding up by saying she was one of the very worst cases in town and gave her 30 days on the rock pile."

The next time Bertha appeared in the newspaper was in February 1907, in the legal section, where notice of Frank's filing a Bill of Divorce was announced.

Frank remarried in March of 1909, and in May of that year, Bertha was again in the paper, this time for partaking in a fight in which she received a serious head wound. The fight took place in a private home at 2 in the morning "in which bottles and knives were yielded." Bertha was seriously injured - receiving a fracture to her skull from being struck with the edge of a metal clock - and hospitalized. Her assailant, Ollie Bennet, was charged with assault with intent to murder.

In November of 1909, Bertha made a brief appearance in the news, having been sentenced to 30 days for drunkenness.

In the 1910 U.S. Census, the Robinsons were living at 518 Innerarity Alley. Oddly, Angela was enumerated as the head and Manuel was identified as her brother-in-law. His occupation was still shoemaker. Both were identified as widowed. (I have not found enough information to decide whether this is a mistake in the census information or my misconstruing a relationship.) Angela had lost one more child since the 1900 census, as she said only 5 were still living. Mary was 26 years old, called "Mamie," as she would be in her 1931 death record, and was working as a bookkeeper. Bertha was 24 and had no occupation. Arthur was 19 and worked as a barber. Mabel was 14. The family was identified as Mulatto in this census.

The 1910 Pensacola City Directed showed Bertha Barnes working as a domestic and living in her father's home at 518 Innerarity Alley. Her brother Arthur and sister Mamie were also still living in the family home.

The 1911 Pensacola City Directory listed Bertha as Bertha Robinson, living at 518 Innerarity Alley, and working as a seamstress. Also still in the household was Emanuel (and presumably Angela, though she was not listed separately), Mamie, and Arthur. Mabel was still too young to be listed on her own. They are all asterisked as "colored."

In March 1911, Bertha was arrested along with six others in a raid on a "skin game." (The best I can find, a "skin game" is some sort of con or swindle, but I cannot find any details.)

Bertha managed to not make the papers again until 1913, when she did so in spectacular style. On April 28, 1913, she was stabbed to death by Annie Adams (in later news articles, called "Anger" Adams). It happened at 8 in the evening in the restaurant of Carrie Dauphin on West Government Street near DeVilliers. Bertha was taken to the police station where she was operated upon, but she died on the operating table half an hour later. Annie Adams reported that Bertha had threatened to "cut her because she was dancing in the restaurant with Arthur Pete..." Adams claimed Pete gave her the knife to defend herself if Bertha carried out her threat, though Pete later denied this version of events. Bertha was called a "mulatto negress" in the article, and it was noted that she was better known as Bertha Robinson.

Later articles clarified that the stabbing had happened almost immediately upon the women exchanging words in the restaurant, and that Adams had been given the knife earlier in the day. Adams was charged with murder and Arthur Pete was held as an accessory. Adams later pled guilty and was sentenced to 3 years in the state penitentiary.

Bertha's death notice in The Pensacola Journal on May 4, 1913, gave her name as Bertha Robinson and stated she was 28 years old. She died from a stab wound to the heart. A priest from St. Joseph's gave her last rites. While I have not located an official death record for her, she appears in the St. Joseph's funeral records, which indicates she was buried in St. Michael's cemetery under the name Bertha Barnes.

For sources and future updates, see her entry at

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]

04/20/2024

Today we are unforgetting Albert Aam. He was a white male, born about 1863 in Sweden. His mother and father were both born in Sweden as well. He died of typhoid fever on 20 April 1898 in Pensacola, at the age of 35. At the time of his death, he was single, and his occupation was given as carpenter. His death record indicated he had been in the area only a year. The physician who attended his death was Warren Anderson. He was buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm by F.R. Pou.

In the 1898 Pensacola City Directory, he was listed as the proprietor of the Scandinavian Sailors Home boarding house at 718 Palafox St.

I have found no other record in which I can identify him. Given the usual occupation of Scandinavians in Pensacola at the time, he spent time as a sailor and may not appear in many local records before his death.

For the sources of this research and any updates, see his entry at

Unforgotten Lives lifts up the names and lives of some of the people I have come across in research for other projects; […]