Flagler County, Florida

Well, I couldn't miss the opportunity to visit Flagler County Florida.  Having recently discovered that my grandfather, Frank Kolkowsky had married a Rose White in Flagler county in April of 1922, I thought, why not just drive over there for a day and look at the newspapers?  Well, 418 miles, that's why not.  But heck, that's not much of a detour on the way home, is it?

I did make a copy of the Marriage Certificate thanks to the local Family History Center in Pensacola.


With that and a copy of an old automobile title listing him living at 529 Wallace St. in Daytona Beach sometime in the 1920s, I went back to the 1920 census.  I searched Ancestry.com for all people with the first name Frank who were born in Poland around 1857 and living in Florida.  Bingo!  Frank "Kolka", living in a boarding house in Daytona Beach in 1920. I've been looking for that entry for over twenty years.

So this morning, we stopped in Palm Coast, which has the Flagler Tribune on microfilm dating from 1917.  I would rather have looked in the Flagler County Historical Society in Bunnell about six miles away since they have the hard copy, but they are only open on Wednesdays.

Alas, I didn't learn much about my family question.  These old weekly small town newspapers, though, are fascinating.  The editors really were the first bloggers.  Each week the editor can be found commenting on national or state news items, voicing their opinions and originating local stories.  The Internet's recent discovery of Marilyn Hagerty reflects that fact.

The editor of the Flagler Tribune was R. L. Harper.


The local Ford dealer, Biddle Brothers, was offering a choice of vehicles. Note that the touring car came with a starter.


But the closest I got to learning something about the mysterious Rose White was to discover that around the time of the Kolkowsky-White wedding, one Harold White was in town visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. S. White.  Possibly in town for the wedding?  Another lead to pursue.


With that dead end, we decided to find lunch.  A trip to Bunnell turned up one restaurant but it didn't look particularly interesting.  We decided to try elsewhere and settled on this spot, JT's Seafood Shack near the Hammock Beach area.


This turned out to be an outstanding place to eat.  The Monday special, a fish and seafood wrap was delicious even before adding the Lime Habanero sauce to it.


The place seems to be a favorite with bikers.  We saw dozens leave, arrive or pass by while we ate.  It is only about ninety miles down to The Villages.  If I were a biker in the Villages, I know that I'd enjoy a trip up here for lunch.  You can tell that this area is a routine route for the bikers because the church up the road has a sign that says, "Bikers, we pray for you."

Sadly, when we left the restaurant, we hadn't gone much more than a mile when we found a half dozen police vehicles at the site of an accident.  I pray that it wasn't serious.