Black male, identified as single at the time of his death on 6 April 1932. He was born 6 March 1857 in Warrington, FL (old Warrington, displaced by the Naval base). He died at 2703 E. Fisher Street, Pensacola, FL of lobar pneumonia and senility. His occupation up until his death was private gardener, which occupation he had held for six years. According to his death certificate, he had lived in the city of Pensacola for 50 years. His father was Thomas Buggs, born in Milton, Florida; and his mother was Betsie Shaw, born in Greenville, AL. The informant on the death certificate was Walter Buggs of Pensacola. The physician who treated him for a day before his death was E.H. Cobb. Jeff was buried by Morris Funeral Home in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.
The information available on Jeff Buggs is irregular and at times contradictory. I have decided that the Jeff Buggs of many of the records described below and Jefferson Buggs of others are the same man.
I believe Jeff Buggs to be the man listed in the Escambia County Marriage records as Jeff Boggs, who was married to Emma Dorsey on 9 November 1879 by J.M. Butler, Minister of the Gospel at AME Zion church.
The 1880 census enumerated Jeff Buggs and his family as living in the “Suburbs of the City.” Jeff was 27 and a laborer, born in Florida of two parents born in Florida. Emma, his wife, was 26, a housekeeper, born in Florida of two parents born in Florida. They had two daughters, May (8) and Caroline (7), both born in Florida.
Jeff and Emma Buggs appeared in the 1885 Florida State census, he 40 years old, she 39. Also in the household was Carrie (Caroline), 12; and two sons: Louis and Edward, 10 and 14. This census indicated everyone in the household was born in Alabama of two parents born in Alabama.
A 1894 entry in the Escambia County deed index showed Jeff and Emma Buggs sold a parcel of land to John C. Avery. A second 1894 deed shows Emma Bugg buying 2 acres of land from Louis and Lizzie Boley (2 acres, Sec 48, Twp 1S 30W). I have not yet ascertained how the Buggs came into possession of the land they sold. (This same parcel was sold in 1927 to Mary A. Hollingshead by “the heirs of Jeff and Emma Briggs.”)
This couple was enumerated in the 1900 census living in Brent, Pensacola, FL. Jeff, 35, headed the household, working as a day laborer. The census indicated he was born in Alabama to two parents born in Alabama. Emma was listed as being 43 years old, born in Florida of two parents born in Alabama. Jeff and Emma had been married for only 10 years; Emma had given birth to two children, both of whom were still living. The only child still in the house was Anna, born 1890 in Florida of two parents born in Alabama. (This is not the name of either of the two daughters listed in 1880, and the census record itself indicated that at least one of her parents was born in Florida, not Alabama.) They had one boarder, Susan Dasher, 45 years old and widowed.
A Jefferson Buggs was listed in the Pensacola City Directory as early as 1905, a laborer at Goulding Fertilizer Co. who lived in Goulding. He was named as Jeff in the 1909 living on the north side of Muldon St., 1 block north of Jackson St.
I have not yet located Jeff or Jefferson Buggs or any member of his family in the 1910 census.
He next appeared in the 1913 Directory, as Jefferson Buggs, listed as a teamster living at 2300 San Carlos. He was identified at the same address in 1916, working as a laborer, and again in 1919.
The 1920 Census showed Jeff Buggs living alone on 26th St. (which became Yonge St., then Leonard St.) He was widowed, 60 years old, and rented his living space. He worked as a laborer and was born in Alabama of two parents born in Alabama. (An interesting aside: The next household surveyed, around the corner on 12thAve., was that of Spencer Bibbs.)
Jefferson Buggs appeared in the 1921 Directory living on the West side of N 12th Avenue 1 block north of Fisher St. He appeared in the 1924 Directory living on the West side of N 12thAve 1 block south of Leonard St. (This is more than likely the same house, just described differently.)
I have not located Jeff or Jefferson Buggs in the 1930 census, nor any member of his family. The only other record he appeared in before his death is the 1931 Pensacola City Directory, where he was living at the same address as Walter Buggs (the informant on Jeff’s death certificate), 2815 N. 12th Ave. This was the only time, that I can find, that the two shared an address.
I have tried to determine the relationship between Walter Buggs and Jefferson Buggs and I have not yet been able to. I presume a familial relationship as Walter appeared to have detailed information on Jeff’s origins. Walton Buggs appears in the 1908 directory as a laborer boarding at 1225 12th Ave, along with an Arthur Buggs. Jeff or Jefferson Buggs does not appear in this edition. His World War I registration card indicates he was born March 5, 1890 and while he knew he was born in the U.S., he did not know where. He worked as an “extra gang laborer” for the L&N Railroad.
Walter Buggs is listed in the 1919 Directory, identified as mulatto, working as a carpenter and living at 414 E. Gonzalez. He was listed in the 1920 census in the household of Rebecca Lasker or Laster, identified as her brother-in-law. He appears to have died in 1948.
I cannot yet explain why I cannot find any records after 1900 of Emma, or of the children who would have reached adulthood while Jeff and Emma were documented as living together as husband and wife. It is possible that they moved away from the area, and/or that their surname has been misindexed as Baggs, Boggs, Beggs, or Briggs – as I found some of the records described above were.
I have not been able to find Thomas Buggs in a record in which I am able to identify him as the father of Jeff Buggs. I cannot find Betsie Shaw at all.
FAMILY:
Father: Thomas Buggs
Mother: Betsie Shaw
Wife: Emma Dorsey
Children: May, Caroline (“Carrie”), Anna, Louis, and Richard
SOURCES:
Florida Death Certificate for Jeff Buggs (No. 5771). Florida Deaths, 1877-1939. Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.
Household of Jeff Buggs. Year: 1880; Census Place: Pensacola, Escambia, Florida; Roll: 127; Page: 58D; Enumeration District: 044. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
Ancestry.com. Florida, U.S., State Census, 1867-1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Schedules of the Florida State Census of 1885; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M845, 13 Rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington D.C.
“Old Deed Index.” Escambia County, Florida Clerk of Court, online records. https://public.escambiaclerk.com/ordeeds/EscambiaIndex/index.html [Accessed 19 APR 2023].
Household of Jeff Buggs. Year: 1900; Census Place: Brents, Escambia, Florida; Roll: 168; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0013. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Draft Registration Card for Walter Buggs. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.
Household of Jefferson Buggs. Year: 1920; Census Place: Pensacola, Escambia, Florida; Roll: T625_220; Page: 22A; Enumeration District: 34. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Household of Rebecca Laster: Year: 1920; Census Place: Pensacola, Escambia, Florida; Roll: T625_220; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 35. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Ancestry.com. Florida, U.S., Death Index, 1877-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998.