The Haddocks of Wiregrass

Rufus Goldwire Haddock

Rufus Goldwire Haddock

Rufus Goldwire Haddock was born in Nassau County, Florida near the little town of Kings Ferry on December 16, 1853. His father was Zachariah "Zach" HADDOCK (1824-1910)and his mother was Theresa D. COLSON (1832-1892).

He was a farmer, like his father, Zach, before him and “planted corn and sweet potatoes and sugar cane on his farm near Kings Ferry.

Rufus owned 500 acres of “piney woods,” from which he harvested lumber and resin. He augmented the family income by delivering the mail by horse and buggy.

He had originally owned a much larger parcel of land; however, it was too far from town so he traded it for a homestead closer to King’s Ferry so his children could attend school. Now his children only had to walk three miles through the woods and cross a stream on a slippery log, all the while keeping a wary eye out for snakes and alligators, to a one-room school house. Nevertheless, they completed the equivalent of the eighth grade.

One of their teachers was a one-armed man—a hard disciplinarian.

Daughter Eva May Haddock remembered that he would sneak up behind any boys who were misbehaving and administer “justice” with his one good arm! For some reason, this teacher was not well liked and the parents quickly found a replacement.

Sometimes when there was no teacher available, one of the older children taught the other children—Eva was usually the “substitute” chosen to teach.

Rufus also had a large vegetable garden and grew every kind of vegetable you might want," Eva related to her grandchildren during bean shelling sessions on her front porch. She also told her grandchildren about her brothers and sisters: Mary Jane Haddock Campbell, Zona Haddock Walker, Zack Haddock, Bill Haddock, Jennie Haddock Rowe, Paul Goldwire Haddock, Harley Haddock, and David Miller Haddock.

The Haddock children helped their father and mother raise cattle, sheep and hogs, plus grow the vegetables they needed. Money was not that much of a necessity, Eva's niece Wilma Walker remembered. "Farmers could almost survive on the fruits of the land. Poverty was unknown. A good livelihood was a way of life. Wealth was measured, more or less, by tangible holdings, not dollars in the bank. If they were poor, they were not aware of it. It was a good time to go barefoot, she remembered. There were horses to ride, trees to climb and wild grape vines were used as trapeze wires. Fruits, especially the scuppernong grape, were for the picking, watermelon galore, fresh vegetables, milk and sweet butter. There was no need for summer camp. We had it there. Farmers worked hard, but it was a good, wholesome life, rewarding in many ways, an era and life style now erased by progress and covered by the sands of time."

Rufus was a boy during the Civil War and due to the chaotic conditions of the time and the remoteness of the little town, he “had about a year of school,” according to his grandson, Woodrow Connors.

“He owned a nice farm, had cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens and other farm stock typical to that area.”

He eked out a living with his farm and part-time jobs. For a while he was a mail carrier. His other “part-time” job was unpaid, but symbolized his stature in his community. He served as an unofficial “Justice of the Peace” for the community.

“The black people would come to him with their complaints about how white “folk” would defraud or treat them,” Woodrow remembered. “He would try to see that justice prevailed.”

Rufus was a deacon in the Ephesus Baptist Church which he attended for over 40 years. He read the Bible to his family, nightly. “Everyone trusted him, loved him,” Woodrow remembered.

“He never cursed, but if he cleared his throat, look out.”

Rufus Goldwire Haddock with his sisters, Nora Conner of St. Augustine and Marjorie Vanzant. This picture was probably taken in 1928 when the family held a major reunion on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Most evenings before going to bed, the Rufus Haddock family went to the parlor for Bible reading, prayer, and hymn singing—accompanied by a pump organ.

On Sundays, when a preacher was available, the family dressed in their best clothes, climbed into the wagon and went to church—Ephesus Baptist Church, founded in 1845, the oldest Baptist Church in Florida.

Everyone carried baskets of food that contained delicious fried chicken, baked ham, cakes and pies that they shared on tables under the large oak trees. They called it “dinner on the grounds.”

His wife, Mary Jane Vanzant Haddock had died on February 17, 1906, her daughter Eva’s fifteenth birthday. So, as his family grew up and left home, Rufus stayed mostly at his his old home place, which he had sold to his oldest son, Zach.

Periodically, he would travel around North Florida to visit his children and grand children. Rufus visited all of his children this way, including his sons Bill (William Martin Haddock) and Harley (Harley Houston Haddock) in Plant City, Florida.

When he was in Jacksonville he would stay with his daughter, Eva and her family and with his son, Miller.

Grandpa Rufus would “come to town (Jacksonville), stop off at Kress 5 & 10, and buy candy for us kids before he came out to the house...he baby sat, hoed out your garden and when he left two or three weeks later, we all hated to see him leave,” Woodrow said.

Carrying his suitcase, “Grandpa Rufus” would walk from the streetcar line about three miles away. The grand children were all overjoyed to see him.

“Grandpa really knew how to please his grandchildren; he always brought candy for us and played games with us,” Lucy remembered. After visiting with us for about two weeks, he would go back to the old home place in Kings Ferry.

Once, Rufus arrived at his daughter Eva's home unannounced--when everyone in the Connors family had smallpox. Typically, he stayed to “help take care of us. As a result, he also contracted smallpox and lost the sight in his left eye. He was a sweet, wonderful man, and everyone loved him,” Lucy recalled.

Next Page