For "Names" Sake Part One

 Susan Branch Bradford Eppes  was the daughter of Dr. Edward and Martha Branch Bradford and the granddaughter of the last territorial governor John Branch. Wife of Nicholas Ware Eppes. Author of "The Negro of the Old South" and "Through Some Eventful Years." Born 1846 - Died 1942

Nicholas Ware Eppes was the grandson of  Thomas Jefferson  born November 1, 1843 to Francis and Susan Ware Couch Eppes.

Enlisted August 1861 in Company M of the 2nd Florida and appointed sergeant. Went to Virginia in January 1862. After discharge enlisted as a private in Captain  William Bloxham's  Trapier Guards which became Company Co of the 5th Florida Infantry. In 1863 accepted a 2nd lieutenant commission and transferred into the 1st Florida Cavalry Regiment.

Married Susan Branch Bradford at  Pine Hill Plantation  November 1, 1866. Nicholas managed the Bradford plantation and served 4 terms as Leon County Commissioner of Public Interest. Murdered September 3, 1904.

This is the home of John and Louise Nims. John was a wealthy businessman with substantial land holdings. Louise was a school teacher and the daughter of reconstruction era sheriff Captain W.H. Ford.

The house was built in 1926 by his Leon County educator  Frank Nims  and his wife, who was Ford's great aunt. Ford now owns the house, which is used by his wife's home finance business. In 1971, Ford became the first black man elected to the city commission since Reconstruction.

 Captain John Parkhill  was born on July 10, 1823 to Samuel and Martha Ann Bott Parkhill. He was killed at Palm Hammock, in south Florida, while leading his company in a chase against the Seminole Indians on November 28, 1857.

 First ordained black minister in Florida.  First pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. Came to Leon County as the slave of  John Parkhill  from Richmond, Va. Was a gardener, carriage driver as well as a body servant to his owner. After Page was ordained, Parkhill gave him land for the  Belair Church  and a horse and buggy were maintained at the Parkhill stables for his use. Pastor for 13 years of Bethel, the largest and strongest black church in the state. Ran unsuccessfully for the Florida Senate, 1870. Died March 14, 1883, at age 75.

 Charles B. Parkhill  was born in Leon County, Florida on June 23, 1859. Educated at Randolph Macon College and University of Virginia.  Admitted to the bar:  1882. Senator for Escambia County: 1888-90. Judge of 1st Judicial Circuit: 1904-05. He served as Florida Supreme Court Justice from May 25, 1905 until January 1912. Moved to Tampa to practice law in 1912. Tampa City Attorney: 1913 to 1916. State attorney for 13th Judicial Circuit: June 1920-May 1933.  Charles Breckenridge Parkhill  died in Tampa, Florida on May 13, 1933.

 Robert Cero Paremore  was born three months premature, in Tallahassee Florida in 1938. As a result of his delicate condition at birth, his mother nicknamed him “China Doll”, which remained with him throughout his life. His performance in football and track belied that moniker, however, as he excelled in both sports in high school and at  Florida A & M University.  A teammate of  Bob Hayes , he achieved track fame by beating Hayes in a 100 yard meet, posting a time of 9.3 seconds. He became the first player from that school to make the  NCAA football “Little All America” team  and was subsequently drafted in the third round of the 1963 NFL draft by the St. Louis Cardinals but saw limited action with the team in 1963 and 1964 as a halfback and wide receiver. In September 1965 he became the first player signed by the new Atlanta Falcons franchise would not begin operations until 1966. As a result he played in the Northern American Football League for the Florida Brahmans in 1965. Paremore was released by the Falcons during their inaugural training camp in August 1966. He then signed the Montreal Alouettes that same month when an injury to starting halfback J.W. Lockett left the team without a speedy outside threat to offset fullback Don Lisbon, Paremore enjoyed early success, leading the division in rushing until first a rib and then a knee injury placed him on injury reserve. As it was, Paremore still finished third in the East in rushing with 649 yards, behind only Lisbon and the great Dave Thelen. In February 1967 he was traded to the Calgary Stampeders for Barry Randall and Mike Gray. Paremore began the next season (1968) with Calgary as a starter but was released in October of that year.  Paremore returned to Tallahassee  during the late seventies. He taught school and coached at Godby High School for thirty-two years before he retired. He was inducted into the Florida Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2000, and passed away July 22, 2004.

 Willie "Mack Gardner" , the son of George Madison "Mack" Gardner (1845-1919) and Annie Floyd Gardner (1857-1944) formerly slaves. After the Civil War the family moved to Leon County, bought 40 acres on Meridian Road and property in the Frenchtown area  where they opened a store.  They later purchased 360 acres on Lake Jackson and rented to tenant farmers. Rent was paid in cotton and cotton sales paid for the land.

Bound by Meridian, Henderson, Grady, Sharer and Lakeshore roads in north Tallahassee, the Macon community is considered one of the oldest "intact" communities in Leon County. On Jan. 31, 1876, Henry Macon Sr., a freed slave, paid $1,600 for the 320 acres, according to Leon County records.

"Henry Macon Sr. sold land to other blacks. They were not sharecroppers. They owned their own homes," said Williams, who grew up in the community before moving to California, where she lived for more than 25 years. "We had everything we needed; we had a school, churches and we had shops."