Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
Does this ring a bell? Looking for descendants of this line. Please email me at wendyanddave@mindspring.com wcampbell114@hotmail.com
Descendants of Antonio "Manuel" Gomez
Generation No. 1
1. ANTONIO "MANUEL"1 GOMEZ was born Abt. 1826 in Portugal.
Notes for ANTONIO "MANUEL" GOMEZ:
Antone Gomez was one of the early Spanish settlers of Key West. In later years, he became a founder of the Cutler community.
CENSUS YR: 1860 TERRITORY: FL COUNTY: Dade DIVISION: Settlement of Key Vacas REEL NO: M653-106 PAGE NO: 237
REFERENCE: Enumerated the 24th of August 1860 by Fernando J. Moreno
25 564 543 Gomez Antonio 34 M Mariner Portugal X
26 564 543 Gomez Merced 17 F House Keeper Canary Islands
27 564 543 Gomez Manuel 5/12 M Florida
28 564 543 Montesdeoca Antonio 12 M Florida
More About ANTONIO "MANUEL" GOMEZ:
Occupation: Mariner
Children of ANTONIO "MANUEL" GOMEZ are:
2. i. MANUEL2 GOMEZ, SR., b. March 16, 1860, Old Cutler, Dade County, Fl.
ii. MERCED GOMEZ, b. Abt. 1843.
Generation No. 2
2. MANUEL2 GOMEZ, SR. (ANTONIO "MANUEL"1) was born March 16, 1860 in Old Cutler, Dade County, Fl. He married LILA DONNELLY. She was born October 19, 1865.
Notes for MANUEL GOMEZ, SR.:
Manuel's father, Antone Gomez, came to Cutler in 1857. Manuel was the first white baby born in Old Cutler or what we now call Dade County. Manuel as a boy was kidnapped by an Indian and rescued by a Seminole chief. For punishment the chief cut the tendons of the kidnapper to cripple him. The Gomez family traded with the Seminole and later moved his family to Key West.
Children of MANUEL GOMEZ and LILA DONNELLY are:
i. MANUEL3 GOMEZ, b. September 06, 1887, Key West, Monroe, Fl; d. November 20, 1978, Homestead, Fl; m. MABLE LOUISE TRUMBLE; b. January 14, 1894, Green Turtle Cay, Fl; d. February 12, 1972, Homestead, Fl.
Notes for MANUEL GOMEZ:
1.) News Article in the County Paper, Either Monroe or Dade County, Fl.
A Pioneer Family, "At 91, His Memories Haven't Faded", By Clara Jones
A man gets to be 91-years-old and the years take their toll. Good health is not what it used to be and the mind works slower. For one man the memories have remained sharply edged against the inroads of time. Manuel Gomez is such a man and although his physical needs must be taken care of in a nursing home, Homestead Manor, he needs to help to recall the days when he was an electrician and told the inventer of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, how to use the instrument.
It was 1917 and Gomez was working for a man who had established a telephone exchange in Coconut Grove and W.J. Matheson sent Gomez to install a telephone in the residence of Dr. David Fairchild. Gomez had the telephone and was giving instructions on its use to a white-bearded man who was watching from a newby(nearby) chair. "The old fellow", said Gomez, "chuckled and listened." Mrs. Fairchild entered the room and explained to Gomez that he was talking to the inventer of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, who also happened to be her father. "It was," recalled Gomez, "life's most embarrassing moment."
His trade as an electrician brought Gomez into contact with history. In World War I, when he was working in the Key West Navy yard he installed a telephone for Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric light. Edison had an office in the old post office building adjoining the Navy yard and was doing research work in connection with the war effort. "Perhaps on depth bombs," surmises Gomez.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the San Francisco World Fair in 1939 from his Key West base, he did it with the help of microphones in an automobile to which telephone wires had been strung by Gomez, who was with the Coast Guard at the time.
Back in 1910, he laid the first piece of underground telephone cable in Miami. It ran from the Seybold building to Whaler's drug store across 12th Street which is now Flagler Street and where the telephone exchange owned by Whaler and a man named Fuzzell, was located.
When Gomez strung the first telephone line to the homestead of George Merrick's father which later became the site of Coral Gables, he cut his own telephone poles out of the pine trees.
Gomez and his wife came to Homestead in 1945, when he retired after 26 years of service with the U.S. Coast Guard. They lived on NW First Avenue and Fifth Street and had seven children. A daughter, Mrs. Mabel Simmons is a telephone company employee in Homestead. Mrs. Williams' daughter and several in-laws, all work for the Bell System.
Gomez was born in Key West. His father Manuel Gomez Sr., was born in a community named Cutler, the site of Old Cutler Road. In 1857 his grandfather, Antone Gomez was one of the early Spanish settlers of Key West. In later years, he became a founder of the Cutler community.
Homestead's Manuel Gomez has newspaper accounts of the kidnapping of his father as a boy by an Indian and his rescue by a Seminole chief with whom the Cutler Gomez family traded. For punishment the chief cut the leg tendons of the kidnapper making him a cripple for life. Later in the century when relations with the Seminoles became strained, Manuel Gomez Sr., moved his family to Key West.
"My father," says daughter Mabel Simmons, "used his bicycle for his telephone work in Key West and when he retired liked to watch Homestead's telephone crews at work."
"Hell, I installed more telephones using my bicycle than you fellows can with your truck," he'd tell them.
Also in newspaper article is a picture of Manuel Gomez and daughter Mabel during the interview. 1972.
2.) Obituary, Nov. 1978
"Manuel Gomez, 91, Electrician, Grandson of Early Dade Settler"
Manuel Gomez, 91, a retired Coast Guard electrician whose grandfather helped found the South Dade community of Cutler, died Minday at the Homestead Manor nursing home. Mr. Gomez served 26 years with the Coast Guard, retiring in 1945. He was an early expert in telephone installation, which brought him into contact with some famous persons. In 1917, working for a telephone exchange in Coconut Grove, he installed a phone for J.W. Matheson and Dr. David Fairchild, two of Dade's leading citizens. While he was explaining to a vistor how to use the instrument, Mrs. Fairchild entered and introduced Mr. Gomez to the visitor-Alexander Graham Bell. "It was one of life's most embarassing moments," he later said. While stationed with the Coast Guard at Key West, Mr. Gomez installed a telephone for Thomas Edison. And in 1939, when President Roosevelt opened the Golden Gate International Exposition at San Francisco via telephone from Key West, Mr. Gomez installed the wiring. Mr. Gomez also helped lay the first underground telephone cable in Miami-from the Seybold building to a drug store that owned the first telephone exchange. He also installed the first line for Coral Cables developer George Merrick's father, cutting telephone poles from nearby pine groves.
HIS GRANDFATHER, Manuel, an early settler of Key West, came to Cutler in 1857, kidnaped once by an Indian, he was rescued by the ????? Seminole chief, and his abducter was punished by the severing of ligaments in his leg. The chief traded with the Gomez family for a time, but the relations with the Indians became strained and the family moved back to Key West.
Mr. Gomez is survived by a son, Anthony; five daughters, Mabel Simmons, Carolyn Henderson, Lilla Sauer, Edna Fitzpatrick and Phyllis Atwood; two brothers, Will and Le; 14 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren. A rosary will be said at 7:30 tonight at the Branam Funeral Home, with a mass at 11 a.m. Friday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Homestead.
3.) Obituaries-Nov 20, 1978
Manuel Gomez, 91, longtime telephone pioneer who used his bicycle to get around and install phones, died last night in the Homestead Manor Nursing Home. Gomez, who was featured in a News Leader article last week, once installed a telephone for inventor Thomas Edison who had an office in Key West where Gomez installed phones in the Navy Yard. In 1910 he laid the first piece of underground telephone cable in Miami. It ran from the Seybold building to Whaler's Drug Store across 12th Street (now Flagler). Born in Key West, Gomez and his wife came to Homestead in 1945 when he retired after 26 years of service with the U.S. Coast Guard. He is survived by one son, Anthony of Miami; five daughters, Mrs. Mabel Simmons of Homestead, Mrs. Carolyn Henderson of St. Petersburg, Mrs. Lilla Sauer of Key Largo, Mrs. Edna Fitzpatrick of Miami and Mrs. Phyllis Atwood of Nashville, Tenn.; two brothers, Will of Key West and Leo of Ohio; 14 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren. Funeral services will be Friday in Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Monroe County, Florida - 1917-18 Civilian Draft Registration,UNITED STATES -- MILITARY RECORDS -- WORLD WAR I
Gomez, Manuel 6 Sep 1887 W Key West FL Dade FL
ii. WILL GOMEZ, d. Aft. 1978.
iii. LEO GOMEZ, d. Aft. 1978.
Followups:
|
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/fl/monroe/messages/33.html | ||
 |
Agreement of Use Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|