Semer—Russell Essay by Wayne Gales

In 1994, Wayne Gales distributed the following, a seven-page document at the annual Semer reunion at H.P. Eells Park in Bettsville, Ohio. He had researched the ancestry of Grandma Semer's family, the Russells of Key West—via the Bahamas—and shared his findings with the attendees. Subsequent to the preparation of this document, many additional documents became available through the magic of the internet. So many of Wayne's theories have been updated to correct the lineage of our Russell line. Wayne later wrote a series of books based in the Florida Keys, the characters loosely based off his ancestry research.

A brief story about the Semer Family and its Ancestors.

By: Wayne Gales, husband of Laura Jo Fuller Gales

The following is a short story about the Semer family. I married into the Semer family, by way of marriage to Laura Fuller, daughter of Florene Semer Fuller, in 1989. As an amateur historian, and very much interested in family histories, I naturally began to ask about Laura’s family history, more or less casually. My own family has proved very hard to track, with most ancestors fading into Texas and the Ozarks after only a few generations.

For Laura’s family, thanks to careful record keeping on the Blackburn/Ziegler/Fruth side of the family, there is a rich history, well documented. For the Semer side, the information was bits and pieces. I didn’t think I would find out very much, but for a very fortunate series of circumstances, which I will share with you now.

This is, by far, an incomplete story. I have only been in hot pursuit of the Semer/Russell family for about a year, and have a very long way to go. I will update this information as it is received, and make it available to everyone who cares to know. It’s been a very exciting and rewarding year, and has resulted in far more success than I ever hoped for. All the information is accurate the best we know. Along with this story is a family tree. Anyone that can find corrections, additions, or any additional information, please send it to me so we can update the tree. Dates of Birth, Death, marriages, children, occupations, and any interesting stories will be most appreciated. Perhaps when we get it all together, I will write a book.

To research family history, you need to be part sleuth, part historian, be good at guessing, and not afraid to ask questions. You never know when you will find the little clue that will open the big door. If you follow history, you can figure out why someone came from, or moved to, someplace, which will give you good clues as to where to look further.

This story actually started when Laura and I were transferred from Las Vegas to Orlando, Florida, to run the company’s office there. We run a tour and travel company, producing and selling packages to Florida, and from Florida to places such as Las Vegas, New Orleans and Hawaii. Among our products were packages to Key West, Florida. I had been told that Laura’s grandfather, Charles Allen Semer had been born in Key West, which I thought quite interesting. After all, Key West is a somewhat obscure part of the country, and not the usual starting sport for an upstanding Ohio family. Once I found that he was born in 1906, I surmised that his father was probably in the military, and Charles was an Army brat. Members of the family confirmed that William Lampson Semer, Charles’ father was indeed in the service, and, as a U.S. Army Coast Artillery Fireman, had been stationed in numerous places, from Pensacola, to Key West and points North, and many of the Semer children were born in these various places. Key West has been a strategic military outpost since the Civil War days, and, with Cuba a mere 90 miles away, was the most important Naval base during the Spanish American War. In fact, the USS Maine sailed from its base in Key West into Havana harbor in 1898, where it was blown up. The cry “Remember the Maine!” was the slogan that inspired the American armies in their victories.

I thought the mystery was solved: William Lampson Semer, a non-commissioned officer, had moved his family from place to place as he was transferred, and Key West, home of a very large military operation, just happened to be where Charles was born. Needless to say, I was most surprised to find out, when talking to James “Hob” Semer, that not only was Charles born in Key West, but so was his mother, Nettie B. Semer. Hob also said he thought that Nettie’s mother and father were both from Key West. This was a surprising development. Being born in Key West is like being born in Las Vegas: People move there, they aren’t born there, and Charles was supposed to be a three generation “Conch” (Pronounced “Konk”, it refers to the large mollusk that inhabits the Caribbean and warmer parts of the Atlantic. A food staple of the locals for centuries, that Key West natives have come to be called “Conchs” More about this latter)

I also found that Nettie B’s maiden name was Russell. Armed with this information, I took part of an afternoon during a business trip to Key West to visit the Monroe County library, where there is a back room area that contains microfilm and archives of much of the local history. Knowing that Charles was born in 1906, I assumed that Nettie B had to be around 15-18 years old at the turn of the century. I checked out the 1900 Monroe County census microfilms, and spend the rest of the afternoon going half blind, trying to interpret faded, hand written documents nearly a century old. The first thing I found was that the Russell name is not exactly rare in Key West. There were no less than 51 families with the last name Russell in Key West in 1900. Unfortunately, I did not have, at that time, Nettie’s fathers name, so I had to look at all of them!. Much to my disappointment, I did not find Nettie B Russell in the Census. Perhaps it was one of the faded pages, or maybe I just missed it.

Running late for my plane, I spent a few minutes with the curator of the historical society, and told him of my futile search. “Have you tried the babtism records?” He asked. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. He handed me a large binder, with records of babtisims in alphabetical order, dating back 150 years. I turned to the R’s with anticipation and, THERE! Nettie B. Russell, babtised in the Flemming Methodist Church on October 10, 1881. I had found Nettie.

Now armed with new-found enthusiasm, I acquired as much reading material about Key West as I could find. I learned much about what it was like to be in Key West in the turn of the century, and much more. Time for a little history lesson. Read this carefully - This is YOUR island; your ancestors settled it.

In the beginning, the Florida Keys were inhabited by the Calusa Indians. A peaceful people, they were chased from island to island by warlike tribes from the mainland, until they reached Key West, the end of the chain, where they were almost completely wiped out. Originally named “The Martyrs” by the Spanish explorers, it was re-named “The Island of Bones” when the aftermath of the slaughter was found. In Spanish, Island is “Cayo” and bones “Hueso” The maps began showing the island as Cayo Hueso, which was quickly changed to Key West by the slang happy English speaking whites that started to show up. After changing hands in private ownership for many years, the Island formally became part of the United States in 1822 when Lieutenant Matthew C. Perry hoisted the American Flag on the Island.

Key West’s first major industry was somewhat self-made. The treacherous coral reefs, uncharted waters, and frequent hurricanes took tremendous toll on the shipping that traveled this part of the world, and a very healthy industry sprang up almost overnight by enterprising Bahamians that lived by salvaging the wrecks. Called Wreckers, this hardy group was not beyond helping out their industry by blowing out the lights of the local lighthouses and putting up false lights in a different location to make the shippers go off course. (There’s a saying that if you look too hard into your family’s past you will find a horse thief - no horse thieves here, but methinks a pirate or two!)

By 1825 Key West was a bustling community, with wharves, shipyards and warehouses stuffed with salvage. That year, congress passed legislation which provided that all salvage taken from wrecks in U.S. waters would have to be brought to an American port for arbitration. In 1828 a Federal court was established for this purpose in Key West, and almost overnight, wreckers from all over, including the Bahamas, moved to Key West.

Within 20 Years, a series of reliable lighthouses, and more accurate charting made the wrecking business unprofitable. The Bahamians, which made up the primary white population of Key West turned to Sponges for income. Using a bottomless bucket that the gatherer could look through; he would use a long pole with a hook to pull up the sponges. Once dried and trimmed, they were shipped off to major metropolitan cities, where they were sold.

The Bahamians that moved to Key West had roots primarily from two different directions. Back in pilgrim times, a group of people, seeking religious freedom, sailed west. Calling themselves the Elutheran Adventurers, they settled an Island in 1647, calling it Eluthera, and founding the first independent government in the western hemisphere in the process. Among the families settling Eluthera was the Russell Family. Later on, we will establish links to that family. The other group of people from the Bahamas were British subjects, loyal to the crown, who left the Southeast when the Colonies earned their freedom from English rule during the Revolutionary War. Most of these families settled on Eluthera, Long Island, Abaco Island, and Nassau, among others. The Semer family also has ties to that group.

Back to Key West. With the Civil War looming in the distance, Key West became more important as a strategic location for the Union. Much of the Union blockade squadron was stationed in Key West. After the Civil War, with sponging flourishing, the cigar industry began to grow. Using Cuban tobacco, and Cuban workers, by 1873 Cubans comprised a large portion of the Key West population. The cigar industry grew tremendously, and became the island’s most important industry. No less than 150 cigar factories existed in Key West at its peak. Other areas in Central Florida, including Tampa, recognized the tremendous profits in cigar making, an industry that required only Cuban workers, and tobacco, readily available from Cuba. They began to woo away the factories from Key West, and by the time of the Spanish American War, cigar making had all but vanished from Key West.

The Spanish American War brought Key West again into wartime boom, and a huge influx of American Military flooded the island with young, single men. It was no doubt that these were the circumstances that brought a young Ohio born Yankee named William Lampson Semer to meet Key West native Nettie Blanche Russell. It might have been at “La Brisa”, a combination public swimming pool, dance hall, and concert pavilion. Built in 1896, it was a favorite for young locals, and might have very well been a meeting place for Nettie and William. Little is know of their courtship, but it is established they were married on Christmas Eve, 1902.

William Lampson Semer was born in 1878, in, according to his military records, in Semersville, Ohio. He was rather small, 5 feet 8 1/2 inches in height, with brown eyes, and dark brown hair, with dark complexion. He served as a Fireman of the Coast Artillery Corps of the United States Army. His honorable discharge reflected only his last enlistment. Since he was not an officer, he would re-enlist every 3 or six years. He probably first enlisted around 1896-1898, which was during the Spanish American War, and was discharged on June 17, 1917 at age 39, in Columbus Ohio. 1917 was the midst of World War 1, and his discharge was approved due to his very large family of 10 children, with 9 still living. His “mustering out” pay was $54.38. His character on his discharge papers was listed as “Excellent” William’s life ended in an untimely accident only three years later in a terrible accident on October 2, 1920 in an explosion/ fire in Bettsville, Ohio.

Nettie Blanche Russell Semer, was born on February 20, 1878 in Key West, the daughter of John Russell and Sarah Thomas Russell. Nettie had three sisters, Louisa Russell Barza, Mary, and Irene, and a brother John Russell junior. As mentioned, she was babtised on October 10, 1881 at the Flemming Methodist Church. Nettie died in 1951 in Bettsville, at the age of 73.

There are a couple of family stories that can be addressed. One story says that Nettie B was part Cuban. While it is very possible that a Key West Native be part Cuban at the end of the 19th century, as that was the predominant population during that period due the cigar making, which was almost entirely run by Cubans, I don’t think Nettie had too much of a chance. Although some Cubans came to Key West as early as 1831, the large influx did not arrive until about 10 years before she was born. I know where John Russell came from, the Bahamas, and he is almost undoubtedly pure English stock, back some six generations for sure, and most likely many, many more. With Nettie being born in 1878, her mother could not have been born much after 1860. With the maiden name of Thomas, again English, the only chance for Nettie to be Cuban would have been Sarah’s mother. Not impossible, but unlikely. However, Nettie’s sister Louise or Louisa, married into the Cuban Barza family, who were in the Key West Cigar industry, so she was related to Cubans by marriage.

The other story may have some truth. According to some family members, Nettie B. was a “Southern Belle” and married beneath her family when she wed William Semer. Although Key West is definitely in the South, there were no plantations, and not any real Southern Aristocracy. Nettie did come from a very old family, long on tradition, and rich in history. There is little doubt that her family was very displeased that she was marrying a soldier, and a Yankee soldier at that. In those days, there was probably nothing she could have done worse, (except marry a Cuban!) Whether or not her family had money is still a matter of research. There were rich Russells in Key West and Poor ones. The Wreckers, and their descendants probably had money and land; the latter spongers and late comers might have not been so well off.

Nettie and William Semer were blessed with 10 children: Hazel Semer Hartzel, born in 1905, Charles Allen “Chick” Semer, born 1906, Marietta Semer Bramel, 1910 Nettie Blanch Semer, born 1911, William Lampson Semer II, 1912, James Kennedy “Hob” Semer, 1915, Burl “Gassy” Semer, 1916, Raymond Semer, 1918, and Russell “Ruck” Semer, born 1920. Nettie Blanch Semer, born in Key West suffered a severe fall from a porch when she was eight years old, and died at age 17. After her fall she was retarded until her death.

Much can be written about children and families of Nettie B and William, and pen will be put to paper some day, but for this writing, I am going to go backwards, following John Russell and his family back as far as possible. Accompanying this little story is a printed family tree. Everyone please take time to examine the tree, and offer, at any time possible, dates.

When I looked through the census records in Key West, I found two families headed by a John Russell. Since I did not find Nettie B. I did not know which family was the right one. When I return, I will be able to pinpoint much more information about the Russell family. I did note that both John Russells listed themselves as Bahamian, which means they were not born in Key West. I now know that John had Six brothers and one sister. (See the family tree). From here up, dates have not yet been established, although the number of generations to the oldest recorded ancestor are about right.

(Note - One of John Russells brothers was Joseph Russell. Part of the future research in Key West will be to find out if this Joseph Russell had a son that he also named Joseph. There was a Joseph “Josie” Russell that was a contemporary of Nettie B.; Josie was a fisherman and bar owner, founding a bar now famous as Sloppy Joes’ in Key West. Josie’s closest friend during the 1930’s was author Ernest Hemmingway)

Update: The following paragraphs contain incorrect information regarding John Russell's parentage and our Russell line.

John Russell’s parents were David Calvin Russell and Mary Susan Roberts Russell, of Harbor Island, on the island Eluthera in the Bahamas. David Calvin is the son of Thomas Russell II and Wyannie Malone Russell, also of Harbor Island. Thomas was the son of Thomas Russell Sr, and Elizabeth Adams Russell, and Elizabeth was the daughter of Jacob Adams and Wyannie Malone. (Note - there were three Wyannie Malones - One married Thomas Russell, One married Jacob Adams, and one was our oldest current ancestor, the Widow Wyannie Malone. It was Wyannie’s daughter that married Jacob Adams, and her Granddaughter, the daughter of Ephram Malone, that married Thomas Russell. That means her Granddaughter married her Great Grandson. “Kissin Cousins”

The Widow Wyannie Malone left Charleston, South Carolina in 1785 with her four children. Wyannie was a British subject, loyal to the crown, and left, along with a large group of “Tories” that did not wish to become part of the United States. Wyannie moved to Long Island, Bahamas, where she was said to have re-married, and later died. As you can see, Wyannie Malone is a direct ancestor of Nettie B Russell Semer, and your Grandmother, as much as 10 generations past.

How did I get this information, and Is it accurate? There is only one weak link in the story, and that is whether I have the correct John Russell. I would guess that there is a 95% chance it is. As I mentioned, John Russell lists himself as a Bahamian, and there is much record of the Russells leaving the Bahamas, either Eluthera or Harbor Island and moving to the Keys. There were many other Russells that did so, but none of them have a John in them.

Note: It was the wrong John Russell.

How I got the information about the early ancestors is an interesting story in itself, a little luck, and a little research. As I mentioned earlier, there were a handful of families that pop up many times in the Florida Keys, among the Russells, Pinders, Sawyers and others. One of my travel agent accounts in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, was named Pinder, and, on a hunch, faxed her a short note about my research, and suggested that I would be ironic if her family and my wife’s family were distantly related. Cathy Pinder called me almost immediately, and told me that her husband had been born on Eluthera, that he was most certainly among the long-standing families from there, and that his best friend was named William Russell!. What was much more exciting, her husband was going to call Mr. Russell, and have him give me a call. Later that day, William Howard Russell III, Great Great Grandson of David Calvin Russell, called me and shared his family tree. He faxed the tree over to me, and confirmed that several members of David Calvin Russell’s family had emigrated from the Bahamas to the Florida Keys in the mid-1850s’, which would be about perfect.

I plan to meet with William next time I am in Freeport, and I have already arranged transportation to Eluthera and Harbor Island, where I hope to find the link from Thomas Russell to the original Elutheran Adventurers, English pilgrims who departed England in 1647 to escape religious persecution. (It’s interesting that I have read several books that identify the Elutheran Adventurers as Methodists, which is very interesting as John Wesley, acknowledged founder of the Methodist church was not born until 1701)

Again, I urge everyone to send me as much supportive (Or corrective) information possible. Even the smallest tidbit may be a very important key. For those of you that have read the book on the Fruth family, ancestors of Ellen Fruth Ziegler, mother of Opal Irene Blackburn Semer, I hope to eventually get this information to the point of making a complete family history for the Semer family and its ancestors.

Wayne Gales
July 10, 1994

Russell Roots—Key West Originals

 

My great grandparents met in Key West, Florida. He was an enlisted man from Ohio and she was a native of Key West. 

Born on June 16, 1882, in Van Wert County, Ohio, William Lampson Semer was the youngest of the five children born to William Semer and Emiline Keirns. He enlisted in the Army in April of 1902, and prior to that, he worked as a farm hand on a farm owned by George and Margaret Curtis a few miles north of his childhood home. He was medium height, about 5’8 ½" with dark hair and a dark complexion. With the onset of the Spanish–American War in 1898, and the proximity of the Florida Keys to Cuba, Key West experienced a significant increase in its military presence at Fort Zachary Taylor and all along its coast. William courted Nettie Russell, and they were married on Christmas Eve in 1902. They had three children before relocating to New York City, where William was assigned to Fort Schuyler in The Bronx and Fort Totten in Queens.

Nettie Blanche Russell was born February 20, 1878, in Key West, Florida. She was the daughter of John T. Russell, Jr. and Sarah Thompson, one of eight children. Her grandfather was John Thomas Russell, Sr., who relocated with his family to Key West from the Bahamas in the 1830’s. They were one of the original keys families who migrated from The Bahamas, “Conchs,” as they came to be known, named after the mollusk that became a staple of their diet. In 1885, the Florida State Census listed John and Sarah, residing on Fleming Street in Key West. In addition to Nettie, the other children in this household were Richard, born about 1864; Mary, born about 1866; Louisa, born about 1870; Rosa, born about 1872; Sarah, born about 1873; Irene, born about 1879; and Robert, born about 1882. John Russell listed his occupation as “seaman” and his son Richard was a “cigar maker.”

I located Nettie's birth record at the Key West library

Through our participation in a DNA project, I was able to collaborate with correspondents who descended from two of Nettie’s sisters, Mary and Louisa. Most of our research matches, but some is inconsistent—more mysteries to be solved. But I found our photograph swapping to be most insightful.

Wilma, projected by DNA analysis to be my dad’s third cousin, writes:

“My great grandmother was Mary Albertina Russell, born in Key West, Florida. Her father was Albert Russell whom she was supposed to be named after. I have a picture of him with my mother and her sisters. I don't know if he was born in Key West or not…

“My mother lived in KW until her death in 2006, so she told me lots about family. BUT I was told my great grandfather (have a picture) was Albert Russell from Bahamas... He married, and had my great grandmother Mary A. Russell who married a Taylor...

Mary had a sister Irene who married a Cruz, twin daughters named Ethel who married Knowles (son bobby lived Hunts Lane) Evangalina married Jaycocks, 2 sons l daughter. Mary had another sister named Sally who married a Roberts. She had about 5 sons....Eugene, Archie, Roscoe, Joseph, Kermit?? and 2 daughters, Ottalee and Katherine. I knew Eugene, Archie and Joe good as well as kids.”

After comparing Wilma’s remarks with my research and findings, I determined that her great grandmother, Mary Russell, is indeed Nettie’s sister. She correctly identifies sisters Irene, who married Sylvester Cruz, and Sallie, who married Joseph Roberts. I believe she received bad information somewhere along the line regarding the name of the father of these sisters. We know from census records that his name was John T. Russell, Jr. He died in Key West on October 4, 1922 at the age of 86.

The DNA project connected me to a Christine, another third cousin in California, who is the great granddaughter of Nettie’s sister, Louisa Russell Barza.

“My great grandmother, Louisa Barza (Barca), raised my mother, Verlie Louise, and her half sister, Rose Sawyer, after my grandmother, Rose, died during childbirth. My mother didn't really talk too much about her family.

My mother Verlie Louise's parents were divorced when she was 3 years old in 1926. Her mother, Rose, remarried, and married John Sawyer. They had my Aunt Rose, and then she got pregnant, again, against doctor's orders, and died in childbirth in I believe 1932. The child I was told was a boy who also died. My mother didn't know until she was about 14 that John Sawyer wasn't her father. She didn't remember her biological father. Someone, in a mean way, told her that John wasn't her father, and that her father lived in the Bahamas. She went home to ask her grandmother, Nettie's sister, and she finally told her the truth. She was very hurt!!! John Sawyer never legally adopted her. He remarried, and married a woman, named Mary, who had a daughter of her own. Louisa ended up raising my mother and Aunt Rose. John's wife followed him around Key West so that he wouldn't try to see his daughters. I met her when I was 6 yrs. old. My parents divorced when I was a year old, and my brother was 5. When I was 6, we moved from California to Key West for only about 6 months. My mother couldn't get a job there, so John let us live in an apartment property he owned, but his wife gave him a hard time, and we had to move. I can still see Mary follow behind him down the street as we were yelling, "Hi Grandpa", from the apartment window. She wanted to make sure he didn't stop to see us. He had told my mom that he had left her a property on Eaton St., and left Aunt Rose another property on another street that he owned (he was a carpenter), but on his deathbed, Mary had him sign everything over to her, and her daughter. My mother didn't mind that she didn't inherit that property, but she felt badly for her sister who was his only child.

My mother had corresponded with her biological father, off and on, throughout the years, but she didn't meet him until she was 45 years old, in 1969.” – Christine Duffy

It seems that every inquiry I ever had with my elders about our Semer ancestry involved a discussion on our “Cuban heritage.” The 1894 marriage of Nettie's sister Louisa Russell to a Cuban cigar maker, Adofo Barza, is likely the source of this misinformation, coupled with the fact that many of us were indeed born with dark hair, eyes, and complexion. But our specific Russell lineage is almost certainly of pure British stock.

John T. Russell, Jr. was born in 1836 in Key West to Bahamian parents, while Sarah E. Thompson was born about 1840 in the Bahamas to Bahamian parents. Florida historical records illustrate how the Russells and a half dozen or so other families relocated from the Bahamas during the 1830’s, first settling around Key Vaca, and later, at Indian Key and Upper Matecumbe Key, near the present-day town of Islamorada, Florida.

John Thomas Russell, Jr. (1836-1920)
my great-great grandfather

The Russells had first arrived in the Bahamas two generations earlier in time. During the 1780’s, following the American Revolution, thousands of U.S. families loyal to the British Crown fled to British territories—mainly to Eastern Canada and the British West Indies. Our Russell line seems to trace back to John Daniel Russell, a ship builder from Edisto Island, South Carolina—he sought refuge in The Bahamas and raised a family there before spending his final years in Amelia Island, Florida. To support this theory, a distant DNA match traces to him as our common ancestor. In 1821, Spanish Florida became a territory of the United States. Over the next two decades, many Bahamian families—Pinder, Albury, Russell and others—resettled in the Florida Keys. They were involved in wrecking (ship salvage), fishing, sponging, turtling, and farming–mainly limes.

From Florida State Genealogical Society: Florida Pioneer Biographies

John Russell was born in South Carolina at the time it was a possession of the British Crown.  During the American Revolution.  The South Carolinian Loyalist sought sanctuary in the Bahama Islands and was granted acreage on at least three islands by King George III in 1789.

John Russell was active in shipping and shipbuilding.  He and his wife Mary raised their five children on San Salvador.  He decided to experience life as a planter in Spanish East Florida, and in 1811, appeared before the Spanish Government in St. Augustine.  The Spanish Government being in need of a shallow draft schooner but low on cash struck a deal with John Russell.  A 4000-acre tract between the Matanzas and Tomoca Rivers was exchanged for Russell’s 62-ton mahogany schooner, Perseverance; 675 acres west of the Halifax River were added as head rights for John Russell, his wife, five children, and 18 slaves.

On 10 July 1812, John Russell was declared absolute proprietor of these lands.  John Russell established his plantation, “Good Retreat” along the river on his land.  During the summer of 1814, he died while visiting his daughter in Fernandina, Florida. —Submitted by Descendant:  Joyce Louise Russell BEVEL, March 31, 2023

By 1900, John and Sarah Russell were residing at 718 Southard Street and had been married 43 years. Nettie’s sister Irene, born about 1879, was also living there along with Irene’s spouse of three years, Silvester Cruz, whose father originally came from Canary Islands. John Russell worked as a “sponge clipper,” as sponging had become a huge industry in Key West. Nettie’s occupation was tobacco stripper, and Jose was listed as cigar maker. It is believed that the family still maintained property in the middle keys through this period. Decades later, Nettie told her grandson Richard Bramel that she had to take a ferry since there was no railroad or highway connecting the keys back then.

The earliest cigar factory in Key West dates back to 1831, but the industry really took off during Cuba’s Ten Year War (1868 – 1878), when Cubans fled to the United States in droves. Many Cubans resettled in Key West, bringing the art of cigar making with them. By 1876 the city’s 29 cigar factories were producing a staggering 62 million cigars annually. During the next few years, Key West boomed, and the population grew to more than 18,000 people by 1890, making it the largest and wealthiest city in Florida. The decline of the cigar making industry began with the Great Fire of 1886, which destroyed 11 factories, six wharves, and most of the downtown business district. Many of the factories were rebuilt and the industry recovered for a short while, at its height producing 100 million cigars in 1890 and again in 1911, but the inevitable process of the unionization of workers and opposition of factory owners drove many of the largest cigar makers to relocate their operations from Key West to Tampa’s cigar district, which would come to be known as Ybor City.

In those first years following their marriage in 1902, William and Nettie were busy starting a family and managing through the challenges faced by any military family. Their first three children were born in Florida, Florence (before 1905), Hazel Adel (1905), and Charles Allen “Chick” Semer (1907). Another child was born before Florence but died during infancy. William continued serving in coast artillery, and in 1908, he accepted a noncommissioned position with the Army that resulted in the family moving to the Bronx, New York. Military records document his arrival at Fort Schuyler to attend School for Firemen on January 15th before returning to Key West to gather his family. William, Nettie, and the three young children boarded a ship and arrived in the New York Harbor in April 1908—they would spend the next six years living on military bases there.

I found this birth record for Hazel Adele Semer (Hartsel) at the Key West library

William and Nettie—Exploring Semer & Russell Origins

The origin of the Semer family in America had remained a mystery for many generations. I always thought that my grandmother, Marietta Semer, had been a lifelong resident of Bettsville, Ohio. I knew she came from a large family, and that her father died tragically at a young age, leaving a widow and ten young children. As a boy, I remember a framed portrait of a young man in military attire proudly hanging in the home of my grandparents. I was told it was my grandmother’s father, William Lampson Semer. He had served in the United States Army during the first part of the twentieth century. I also remembered reading a clipping about his tragic death after a fire at the Kennedy Refractories plant in Bettsville in 1920.

William Lampson Semer (1882–1920)

My grandmother passed away in 1993, just one year after losing her husband of almost 65 years, Vernon Bramel. It was almost two decades later when I became curious about the Semer story, the family’s country of origin and how they had made their way to Ohio. Sadly, there were few clues to be found. Marietta’s siblings, Hazel Semer Hartsel of Bettsville, and others who I don’t recall meeting but remember being referred to only by nicknames like Sonny, Gassy, Hob, Buck, Ruck and Chick, also were all gone. I hoped my father and his four living siblings might be able to provide me with some insight.

But first, I turned to electronic records for clues, the United States Census and others, and quickly found many surprises. I learned that my grandmother was not born in Ohio after all, but New York. Additionally, several of her siblings were born in New York, and the others in either Florida or Ohio. As it turns out, she was born into a military family in 1910. Her birthplace was the military barracks in the Bronx, New York, at what was at that time known as Fort Schuyler.

The Semer family moved there in 1908 from Key West, Florida, where William Lampson Semer, an enlisted man from Van Wert County, Ohio, had been assigned to Coast Artillery since 1902. Shortly after his enlistment and deployment to Key West, William met Nettie Blanche Russell. She was a descendant of one of the original Key West families who arrived there from the Bahamas in the 1830’s, the daughter of John Thomas Russell, Jr. and the granddaughter of John Thomas Russell, Sr.

William and Nettie married on Christmas Eve in 1902, and before the Army assigned William to New York in 1908, they had become parents to three children, Florence, Hazel, and Charles (Chick). After their arrival at Fort Schuyler, Nettie gave birth to Joseph (Buck) in 1908, Marietta in 1910, Nettie in 1911, and William, Jr. (Sonny) in 1912. Aside from the 1910 Federal Census, there is no record of the first daughter, Florence, nor is there any family recollection of her; it is presumed that she died at a young age. Perhaps she was the namesake for Chick’s daughter, Florene Semer, who was born in 1932.

W.L. Semer family, Ft. Totten, NY ca.1914

The Semers then returned to Florida after William’s reenlistment, this time to Pensacola. James (Hob) was born there in 1915. William retired from military service in 1917 and moved his rather large family to Ohio, settling near the town of Bettsville. Three more sons were born in Bettsville, Burl (Gassy) in 1917, Ray in 1918, and Russell (Ruck) in 1920.

My father, Vernon Bramel, Jr., was born in 1935, the fifth son of Vernon and Marietta. He shared with me some of his memories of Grandma Semer, the former Nettie Blanche Russell of Key West, Florida. In her later years, Nettie suffered from migraine headaches and other health issues. Dad remembers spending time with her at her home in Bettsville during his school years, after her sons were grown and moved away. He suggested that I contact his oldest brother, Richard Bramel, who was for all practical purposes raised by Grandma Semer and was thus very close to his Semer uncles. Richard had lived with the Semers until he enlisted in the Army in 1946 after his 18th birthday, and then again after he returned from his tour of duty in 1948 to complete high school.

In the meantime, my dad’s younger sister, Sally Darlene Bramel Kear of Lantana, Florida, hinted to me that someone from her Uncle Chick’s side of the family, she thought perhaps one of his sons, had done some extensive research on the family’s roots back to Key West. I was anxious to get my hands on that document.

In November of 2011, I was fortunate enough to spend a week’s vacation at a resort in Orlando with my dad, as well as his brother Richard and Richard’s wife, Madonna. Richard was always known to me as “Uncle Tuffy.” My family was always close to Tuffy and Madonna’s family, as we were neighbors in Bettsville for many years during my childhood, so it was great to catch up with them. They had retired to the Fort Myers, Florida area several years ago, but they have remained in close contact with my parents over the years. Tuffy and Madonna left Bettsville in the 1970’s, relocating first to Upper Sandusky, and then to Bryan, Ohio, before retiring to Florida. Our family moved to Kentucky in 1979, a job transfer for my dad.

Tuffy and Madonna provided me with a cache of valuable information and insight, and they were able to fill in much of the Semer family tree. The last surviving offspring of William and Nettie, Russell “Ruck” Semer, had died in 2005. Tuffy remembered that Grandma Semer was an excellent cook, and that many of the skills she taught him came in useful when he later served in the Army as a cook in Korea during the late 1940’s.  

He recalled her talking about living in Key West. There was no highway or railroad connecting the keys in those days, and she remembered taking a ferry boat back and forth between the islands. She also passed along her understanding that her Russell ancestors had once been slave owners, possibly providing a clue as to which Russell clan she descended from, and there were dozens of them in Key West, then and now.

I delved into more electronic records, Federal and Florida State Census documents in particular, to learn more about the Russells. Along the way, I corresponded and collaborated with a few individuals who had become experts in Key West genealogy by dedicating untold hours researching the subject. One of those was the self-proclaimed “Conch Genie,” Ms. Margaret McClintock of Mississippi, a descendant of the Albury family who grew up in Key West. Through these efforts, I learned that Nettie’s father was John Thomas Russell, Jr., and that her grandfather was John Thomas Russell, Sr. The senior Russell and his family relocated to Key West from the Bahamas in the 1830’s. They were one of the original Bahamian Key West families, “Conchs,” as they came to be known, named after the mollusk that became a staple of their diet.

A year after my visit with Uncle Tuffy, I was visiting with my parents at their home in Danville, Kentucky. While researching and scanning some old family photographs and documents for my research, my father presented me with a most interesting find. It was a seven-page document entitled, A Brief Story about the Semer Family and its Ancestors. The story was written in 1994 by a Wayne Gales, who was the husband of Laura Jo Fuller Gales. Laura is the daughter of Florene Semer Fuller and the granddaughter of Charles “Chick” Semer. It seems the author was a genealogy enthusiast who struck an interest in his wife’s Russell ancestry, which ultimately evolved into a passion for all things “Key West.” THIS was the document Aunt Sally had mentioned!

Before the end of my visit with my parents, I convinced my dad to participate in a DNA project. I assured my dad that there was nothing to worry about, unless of course he had been involved in any unsolved crimes, and he assured me that he did not know of any. He reluctantly filled the vile with saliva, and off it went to the laboratory for analysis. I returned to my home in Baltimore with Mr. Gales’ story and many more questions.

After studying the document for about a month, I found that it had very little to say about William Lampson Semer’s ancestry, other than he came from a place called Semerville, Ohio. I had also seen “Semerville” listed on some of William’s military records that I had stumbled upon, and just for the record, there is no town in Ohio named Semerville. I suspected it was an informal term perhaps referring to a family farm or possibly even a cluster of farms.

I also discovered some discrepancies between Gales’ research and my own findings regarding which Bahamian Russell family John Russell descended from. The document referred to an attached Family Tree, and invited any corrections or additional information, but my dad’s copy had no attachment. I felt the need to reach out to Mr. Gales. But it had been nearly two decades since he had penned this story, and I had doubts as to whether or not I would find him. But in short order, I was able to find an email address for Wayne Gales and reached out to him.

Wayne responded that he had passed copies of the story to attendees of the annual Semer Family Reunion in Bettsville back in 1994. Wayne and Laura divorced many years ago, both having since remarried, but they had a daughter and a son together. He said that after spending time researching in Key West, he decided to move there, and it was his home for seven years. He lived on a houseboat for a time and worked as a marketing director for the Ocean Key House, while boating, fishing, diving, and playing bass guitar in some local bands. Wayne explained that his son Matt “really feels his Conch roots.” Wayne recently published two fictional books loosely based on some of his experiences in Key West, with his son and many old friends serving as the inspiration behind some of the primary characters.

Meanwhile, I received a report about my father’s DNA analysis. It stated that his genealogical makeup is about 90% British Isles. I had already made an assumption that the Russells originated in England. Some of the Russells who settled in the Bahamas were part of a mass migration of British Loyalists, “Tories” as they were known, who fled the United States, mainly coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, in the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution. Most of the Tories went to eastern Canada or back to England. But about 9,000 of them went to the British West Indies, mainly the Bahamas, some receiving land grants there as a show of appreciation from the British Crown. Many took slaves with them, but most of the slaves were quickly freed, and slavery in the Bahamas was abolished altogether in 1834. This explains why many family surnames are shared by both black and white Bahamian descendants, including the Russell name.

A number of “matches” to my dad’s DNA connected me to a few distant cousins, descendants of Nettie’s sisters. We’ve exchanged some old Russell photographs and theories along the way, and confirmed what modern science had already told us. But none of these initial matches confirmed anything about the Semer side. The Semers did not simply show up in Ohio. Unless they were part of a native tribe, Ottawa, Wyandot, or maybe Seneca, they had to have come from somewhere else. But where?

There were a couple clues that led to Pennsylvania. William Lampson Semer reported to the census taker in 1910 that his father had been born in Pennsylvania. Now, I’ve found many, many mistakes on census records, so I was not too shocked when my search for Semers in Pennsylvania came up empty. But I knew from other research projects that a great number of early Ohio settlers did come from southeast Pennsylvania. Most of these pioneers were of German heritage, the “Pennsylvania Dutch,” more commonly. The Pennsylvania Dutch were a proud and industrious people, stubborn in their ways, slow to adapt to mainstream culture and reluctantly converting to the use of the English language, but not until late in the nineteenth century, and only then in their own unique dialect. After World War II, use of Pennsylvania German dialect faded except among the more insular and traditionbound Anabaptists, such as the Old Order Mennonites and Old Order Amish. However, a number of German cultural practices continue to this day, and German Americans remain the largest ancestry group in Pennsylvania.

If the Semers did indeed migrate to Ohio mid-century from Pennsylvania, then there is a good chance they still spoke German or Pennsylvania Dutch. This increases the likelihood that the Semer surname evolved from something else and was likely “created” by a hurried tax collector or census taker. After expanding my search to include Pennsylvania Church and Town Records, I found the clue that I had been hoping to find. Baptism records, handwritten in German, from Allegheny Union Church in Alleghenyville, Berks County, Pennsylvania have memorialized the baptism of three boys, William born in 1843, Henry born in 1845, and John born in 1847. Their parents are listed as John Ziemer and his wife Cazia. This family also appears on the 1850 Federal Census for Cumru Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, but it also includes newborn daughter Catherine Ziemer and mother-in-law Catherine Matz, age 69. John H. Ziemer, age 29, listed his occupation as “Innkeeper,” and his wife, Keziah, was age 31. 1850 was the first year the census included the names of all persons in each household; until then, only the head of household’s name was listed. This was indeed a lucky break!

Baptism record for William, Henry, and John Ziemer (Semer)

With this new information, I cross-referenced some records of interest I had held onto, including the 1860 Federal Census for Van Wert County, Ohio. Living there at that time, in Jackson Township, was a Catharine Seymore family. Her children were William, age 16, Henry, age 15, John, age 13, and Catharine, age 11. These documents provided what I needed to make a definitive link between the Ziemer family of 1850 Berks County, Pennsylvania and the Semer/Seymore family of 1860 Van Wert County, Ohio. The 1860 Census also enumerates six more children born to John H. and Keziah Ziemer, including twin girls and a one year old. But John H. Semer is not listed in 1860, and I assumed he died around that time at about the age of 40 from causes unknown. On the 1870 Census, the name is recorded as Semore, and in 1880, it is Seamer. Regardless, I now knew where the Semer family came from, and with this discovery, I now had a steady flow of new information to explore.

A Conversation with Richard and Madonna

Tuffy and Madonna in 2011 Orlando, Florida

I spent some time visiting with my Aunt and Uncle in North Fort Myers, Florida back in 2016. They let me record the conversation, and I later clipped it into a video. Uncle Tuffy was born in Bettsville in 1928, the first-born to Vernon and Marietta Bramel. He grew up alongside some of his Semer uncles, so I asked a lot of questions about them since they had all passed away and I never knew any of them.

Richard Eugene Bramel (Tuffy) with Granda Semer (Nettie Russell) circa 1946

Uncle Tuffy joined the Army and went to Korea for a couple years where he cooked meals for the officers. When he got home, he completed his high school coursework and married Madonna Henderson in 1949. They raised four kids in Bettsville, similar ages to me and my five siblings, and they were practically next door neighbors to us for many years. They later moved around for career purposes, to Meadville, Pennsylvania and then to Upper Sandusky and Bryan in Northwest Ohio. They retired to Florida.

Tuffy and Madonna in Bettsville 1950s

Uncle Tuffy's health began to fail not long after my visit, and he and Madonna both went to an assisted living facility in Punta Gorda, Florida. Tuffy died in 2018 and Madonna in 2020. They were very close to my parents, and I treasure my memories with them as well.

Here is the interview:

William Lampson Semer—Fort Zachary Taylor

William Lampson Semer, my great grandfather, grew up near the northwest corner of Van Wert County in Western Ohio. In 1902, he enlisted in the Army and was assigned to Coast Artillery Corps. He was based at four different coastal fortifications in Florida and New York during his 15 year military career.

William Lampson Semer (1882-1920)

In the decades following the British invasion of Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812, the United States took measures to address coastal defense deficiencies that were exploited by the British. A total of 42 forts were built to protect susceptible shorelines and harbors.

One of these forts was Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West, Florida. William Semer was stationed at Fort Taylor from 1902 until 1908, two consecutive three-year assignments. I recently toured the fort and walked around the grounds where my great grandfather walked more than a century ago, now a part of the Florida State Park system.

On the day I visited the fort, I arrived just in time to take the guided tours offered at noon daily, time very well spent.

Construction of Fort Taylor began in 1845. The fort was constructed 1,200 feet offshore of Key West, but subsequent landfill project have since connected it with the mainland. The fort and its sister fort, Fort Jefferson 70 miles west in Dry Tortugas, were strategically important for defense of the waters around Key West, the Straits of Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico. It took 21 year to complete construction because of a lack of construction materials.  Hurricanes and diseases also delayed finishing the fort, but by 1860, it was ready for troops and cannons.

Fort Taylor was originally three stories high

Fort Taylor was occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War. The artillery unit was quartered at the Key West barracks. The fort served as a base of operations for the Union Navy's East Coast Blockade Squadron.  The squadron prevented supply ships from reaching Confederate ports.

Fort Taylor served as a coastal artillery fort during the Spanish-American War, World I, and World War II.  It was also used during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. In the years preceding William Semer's arrival, the fort had undergone modernization, including the installation of larger guns and the removal the top two of the three stories to make it less vulnerable to artillery fire.

Drills were conducted on the parade grounds

Each room, or "casemate," housed one cannon

It took a crew of 6 to 8 men to fire one cannon

Some of the artillery that was used in the cannons

While stationed at Fort Zachary Taylor, William L. Semer met a local girl, Nettie Blanche Russell, a worker in one of the big cigar factories there. They were married on December 24, 1903. The couple stayed in Key West until 1908, and three children were born to them there; Florence in 1904, Hazel in 1905, and Charles in 1906.

Baptism record for Hazel Semer in the Key West Library

The Semers relocated to New York City in 1908. For the next six years, William Semer was stationed at Fort Schuyler in Bronx and Fort Totten in Queens, sister forts on the banks of the East River. I'm not sure how they felt about moving from Key West to New York, but I can't imagine they were happy about it. More on this later...

For more about the Semer family of Ohio, check out my article, "Whatever happened to John H. Semer?"

While in Key West, I hopped on the three-hour ferry to check out Fort Jefferson. Click here to follow along on my trip to Dry Tortugas National Park in my backpacking blog.