Amelia Whalton was the daughter of Felicia Buchani and Captain John Walton. She grew up in Key West with three younger brothers, Joseph Charles, John and William. Her father was a mariner, Captain of the Lightship "The Florida" at Carysfort Reef. On June 26, 1837, Amelia's mother, and perhaps the children, were visiting her father at Carysfort on his ship when he went in to shore at Key Largo to get fresh vegetables from the garden he maintained there. He was attacked by Indians, his body mutilated and scalped. Amelia was 17 when her father died but she soon married and started her own family. She married John Parvost Baldwin, a young merchant who had emigrated from the Bahamas into the port of Key West, Florida, on June 11, 1838. In 1841, 73 leading citizens of Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas, signed a document recommending Amelia's husband for an appointment as Her Majesty's Consul at Key West. Although Jefferson Browne in "Key West, the Old and New" says that John Baldwin was one of those enrolled in the first Episcopal congregation on Christmas day 1832, it is unlikely that he was in Key West that early. He was Collector of Customs from 1853 to 1861. During that time, he served two separate terms as mayor. John Baldwin was mayor of Key West during the turbulence leading up to the Civil War. During that period, Jefferson Browne referred to John Baldwin as one of the cultured and wealthy citizens who were nearly all pro-Southern. As mayor, John was called to chair the meeting held in Key West on December 12, 1860 to nominate delegates to the State convention to determine whether Florida should secede from the Union. By that time, Amelia and John had seven children, six still living: Anne King, Stephen Mallory, Robert, Angela Elizabeth, Beltzhoover, and John. John was one of the leading citizens and his family had prospered but when Key West fell into Union hands and it became clear that Southern sympathizers should be silenced, John left and enlisted to serve with the Confederacy. He enlisted in the Home Guard in 1861 and served in the 4th Regiment, Florida Infantry, in both Company F and S. Holding the rank of Captain, he was assigned one of the five Commissary Districts of Florida, the Third District headquartered at Sanderson in East Florida. He was subsequently promoted to Major and continued on duty as Commissary of the Third District. When Union forces drew too near, he moved his headquarters to Lake City, where he continued to serve until he died of Typhoid Fever on September 22, 1864. The Civil War put an end to the lifestyle the Baldwin family had enjoyed. Before the war, they owned real estate valued at $2000. When John died, Amelia gave up their home, took her children and moved in with her mother on Whitehead Street, where she would live for all but the last few years of her life. Amelia's mother, Felicia Whalton, was one of three women of Spanish descent mentioned by Jefferson Browne, who said "During yellow fever epidemics which were then of frequent occurrences, these good women would give all of their time to nursing the sick, and ministering to the afflicted. They would leave home and family and devote themselves to the stricken stranger, never leaving his bedside until he recovered or went to his last home. They soothed the fevered brows of hundreds, and saved many stricken ones by their careful attentions." Amelia's mother owned her home on Whitehead, valued at $1000 in 1870. Amelia had no source of income at that point and had to work as a seamstress to help support the family. Her son Stephen was working as an accountant. Her daughter Annie had married, was pregnant, but was living back at home. Angela, Beltzhoover and John were also living at their grandmother's. The family had one live-in servant. By 1880, Amelia's mother Felicia was 85, still head of the household which included Amelia and all of Amelia's children, except Stephen. Amelia's daughter Annie Fontane had been widowed and she and her daughter, Felicia Whalton's great granddaughter, were living with Felicia Whalton. A Whalton nephew of Felicia's was living there. Amelia's son Beltzhoover was living there but wasn't working as he suffered with chronic rheumatism. Her son John was living there and was working as a clerk in a store. Amelia's son Stephen had gone off to war with his father, but had returned and six or seven years later, had married Kate Boyle. Stephen, Kate and their children were living with Kate's widowed mother, Alice Boyle. Kate's father had been Customs Inspector during the time Stephen's father was Customs Collector. Amelia's mother died within the next five years, probably leaving the house to Amelia. However, in 1900, Amelia was renting at 409 Whitehead and by 1903 when she applied for a Widow's pension as a result of her husband's Civil War service, Amelia certified that she did not have real or personal property over the $800 limit. Amelia's pension application was approved April 4, 1904, for $96 a year, starting February 1904. When she died in 1908, Amelia, her daughter Angela, and her sons Beltzhoover and John P. were living together at 319 Fleming Street. Amelia was survived by her daughters Annie Fontane and Angela Baldwin, who was a school teacher, by her son John P. Baldwin who was an engineer with Sunny South Engine Co No 3 Division Street, and by her son Beltzhoover who was a fireman. Angela, who had always lived with her mother, went to live at 527 Division Street with her sister Annie, who was living with her daughter Eugenia and son-in-law Sam Wolf. ©2010 by Claudia Naugle