In 1776, when the call came to arms, George Raybourne/Rabon, of Henrico, Virginia, picked up a fife and a drum. A musician, George, son of Richard "Raibone", as the name had various spelling, served his country in a different way. Still, his service is credited in the annals of history. His job was not a divertissement. The role of the musician played an important part in the march to battle.
George would recieve a land grant for his service, of 200 acres in North Carolina, but would return to Viriginia, passing away there in 1828. I will have to extrapolate on George's life and career later, but this post is not about him.
George is the ancestor of three of my four children, patriarch of a family I still feel very much a part of. George married twice and had at least two children. One of them was a son named Daniel.
Daniel Rabon would settle as a young man in Brunswick County, North Carolina, after first recieving a land grant in Bladen County, NC. He married an Elizabeth, an fathered 7 children, including a son named Jordan.
Jordan Rabon was born in Brunswick County, North Carolina, and would be the one who took our Rabon line to Florida. Found in Brunscwick, NC in 1830 and 1840, he recieved a land grant there in 1848. Selling it, he was in Jackson County, Florida by 1850, dying shortly after and leaving his wife, Polly Ann, alone with their 8 children; Daniel T., Asa, Richard, John Lexious, Sarah Jane, Harriet, Simon and Henrietta. Thankfully, several were already adults.
John Lexious "Leck" Rabon was born about 1838 in Marlboro County, South Carolina, showing movement in his father's family during that time. He married Agnes Elizabeth Burns in Jackson County, Florida in 1853, and is shown there in 1860, but in 1862, he enlisted in the Civil War in Alabama, as this family always lived close to Alabama, and many still do. In fact, their part of Florida is known as "Florabama".
Lex and Agnes had 8 children: Emeon W., Samuel B., James, George W., John William, Martha, Sarah, and Benjamin Franklin Rabon. She was widowed before 1870. Some show John Lexious as dying in 1864, but his youngest son was born in 1869. More research needs to be done there, but facts show that Agnes remarried on February 24, 1870 to a man named Thomas Redd and she would have two more sons, Henry in 1870 and George Simon in 1874.
The next person in this line is John William Rabon, born in 1856. He married Nancy O'Bryan and had 7 children: Sarah Elizabeth, John Ceborn "Leck", James Holcomb "Hawkum", Dicey, Charles, Mary Magdalene and Amy. They settled in Calhoun County, Florida.
The next generation was that of James Holcomb Rabon, called "Hawkum". He was born September 14, 1891, in Altha, Calhoun County, Florida. Nancy "Doll" O'Brian Rabon would marry second, Joseph "Joe" Williford, so Hawkum would grow up with a stepfather for part of his childhood. He married Mittie Albert Johnson on May 3, 1913. This couple is shown above.
Hawkum and Mittie would raise a family of six children in the Florida panhandle, in the sandy, flatlands near the Gulf. Their first child was a daughter they named Nancy Lee Rabon, but called "Dovie". She lived to be 17 months old.
Verna E. Cagle was born on October 23, 1915. She attended Mars Hill College in North Carolina and later married William Glendon Cagle. There were two sons:
James Malcolm Cagle (1940-1999) and William Darrell Cagle (1967-2012).
Verna passed away on March 2, 2003 in Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida She was 87.
James Willard Rabon was born on April 22, 1918 in Blountstown, Calhoun County, Florida. This is where we come in. Called' Jimmy'by everyone in North Carolina, and' Willard' by his siblings, James Willard Rabon, with his two first cousin, brother Frank and Jerome Rabon, would bring the Rabon family back to North Carolina with the CCC's, a depression era work program for young men. They built structures such as Morrow Mountain State Park and Rock Creek Park outside of Albemarle. All three met local girls, married, and raised their familes in Albemarle, North Carolina. Jimmy met Dorothy Beatrice Ragsdale. There were three sons:
James Wesley Rabon (1938-1946) died of childhood leukemia before his brothers met him.
Joe Thomas Rabon was born in 1947.
Lanny Gene Rabon (1949-1993) was my 1st husband and the father of my oldest three children.
Dorothy Ragsdale Rabon died in 1978, before I ever met her. Jimmy would remarry Rachel Odessa Russell, Dorothy's first cousin. Dorothy's mother, Eulalah Russell Ragsdale, and Rachel's father, Gilliam Russell, were siblings. Jimmy and Rachel would both pass away in 1992, within two months of each other and a year before Lanny Gene Rabon.
Henry Nathaniel Rabon was born October 26, 1920. He served in WWII. Henry married Alice Mae "Allie" O'Bryan in 1939, a possible cousin. There was one son.
Kenneth Wayne Rabon (1942-2011)
Henry was the first of the siblings who made it to adulthood to pass away on November 27, 1984.
Beulah Aileen Rabon was next, born in 1923 (shown above). We will be back to her in a minute.
Albert Lavon Rabon was born May 19, 1926. He also served in WWII. On July 29, 1945, he married Nobie Louella Clark. There were three children, all still living.
Billy G. Rabon born in 1946
Gail Dianne Rabon Varnum born in 1950
James Albert Rabon born in 1956
Lavon Rabon died on Januray 27, 1998 in Panama City, Florida.
Ethell Vernice Rabon was born September 7, 1930. She was the youngest Rabon. She married Harrison Ford Neel about 1945 and was widowed in 1967. There was a brief second marriage in the 1970's. Ethell (pronounced EE- thele) and Harry Neel had three children.
Harry Eugene Neel was born in 1949.
Shirley Faye Neel Meaux was born in 1950.
Mittie Yvonne Neel (1950-2023)
This lineage resulted in the birth of this amazing woman I wish to honor.
Beulah Aileen Rabon was born on a spring day, May 6, in 1922. She was a middle child, the middle girl, with three older siblings and two younger.
Beulah grew up in the small town of Altha, Calhoun County, in the Florida panhandle. Altha promotes itself as a "rural community with a proud agricultural heritage". Altha is not an old town, it was first settled as a town in 1902 and incorporated in 1946.
| Name | James Rabon |
|---|---|
| Birth Year | abt 1891 |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | White |
| Age in 1930 | 39 |
| Birthplace | Florida |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Relation to Head of House | Head |
| Home in 1930 | Altha, Calhoun, Florida, USA |
| Map of Home | Altha,Calhoun,Florida |
| Dwelling Number | 155 |
| Family Number | 161 |
| Home Owned or Rented | Rented |
| Radio Set | No |
| Lives on Farm | Yes |
| Age at First Marriage | 21 |
| Attended School | No |
| Able to Read and Write | Yes |
| Father's Birthplace | Georgia |
| Mother's Birthplace | Florida |
| Able to Speak English | Yes |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Industry | Farm |
| Class of Worker | Working on own account |
| Employment | Yes |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| James Rabon | 39 |
| Mittie A Rabon | 31 |
| Verna Rabon | 14 |
| Williard Rabon | 11 |
| Henry Rabon | 9 |
| Bulah Rabon | 7 |
| Lavon Rabon | 4 |
Here is the family in 1930, living in Altha, their father a farmer, five of the six children were born. Beulah was age 7. Only Ethell had not yet arrived. This record also shows that James Holcombs father was born in Georgia and his mother in Florida. Altha is 45 minutes from Georgia and about an hour from the Alabama state line.
The above photo shows a teenaged Beulah with her good friend, Ellen. They are standing in front of a rural farm house, not underpinned. They were both wearing nice, formal dresses. This could have been a prom photo.
| Name | James H Rabon |
|---|---|
| Respondent | Yes |
| Age | 48 |
| Estimated Birth Year | abt 1892 |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | White |
| Birthplace | Florida |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Relation to Head of House | Head |
| Home in 1940 | Calhoun, Florida |
| Map of Home in 1940 | Calhoun,Florida |
| Farm | Yes |
| Inferred Residence in 1935 | Rural, Calhoun, Florida |
| Residence in 1935 | Rural, Calhoun, Florida |
| Sheet Number | 7B |
| Number of Household in Order of Visitation | 125 |
| Father's Birthplace | Georgia |
| Mother's Birthplace | Georgia |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| House Owned or Rented | Rented |
| Value of Home | 4 |
| Attended School or College | No |
| Highest Grade Completed | Elementary school, 5th grade |
| Class of Worker | Working on own account |
| Weeks Worked in 1939 | 52 |
| Income | 0 |
| Income Other Sources | No |
| Native Language | English |
| Veteran | No |
| Veteran Father Dead | No |
| Military service | No |
| Social Security Number | Yes |
| Usual Occupation | Farmer |
| Usual Industry | Farmer |
| Usual Class of Worker | Working on own account |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| James H Rabon | 48 |
| Mittie Rabon | 42 |
| Beulah Rabon | 17 |
| Lavon Rabon | 13 |
| Ethel Rabon | 9 |
| Henry M Rabon | 19 |
| Allie Mae Rabon | 18 |
| William G Cagle | 30 |
| Verna Cagle | 24 |
In 1940, Beulah was 17, and her younger siblings Lavon was 13 and 9 year old Ethell had joined the family. Henry, 19, had married Allie Mae, and Verna, 24, had married Glenn Cagle. Both young couples were living with the James Holcomb Rabon family. The only one missing was Jimmy, who was living in North Carolina by this time, married to Dorothy Ragsdale, and father to little Wesley Rabon.
A closer look at the Rabon's in 1940 reveals a young man named John Deese, living in the home of Allen W. Prince, nearby, his brother-in-law. On October 15, 1943, twenty-one year old Beaulah Aileene Deese married 24 year old John Emory Deese. John E. Deese was born on October 15, 1919, Cottonwood, Houston County, Alabama, so the couple had married on his birthday. The son of Ira Owen and Rosie Hallon Deese, he was registered for World War II on June 20, 1945. His draft card noted that he was 5 foot 10 inches tall, 159 lbs., with black hair, gray eyes and a ruddy complexion.
The 1940's was an exciting decade for the young couple. In September of 1944, they welcomed their only son, Charles Joseph Deese. As happened in other branches of my family tree, the generation who was born or grew up during the Great Depression, and themselves probably came from a large family, were the first generation to limit their own family size. My mother was one of four, but her father was one of mine and six of her first cousins were only children. One aunt had two sons, one uncle five children and grandpa four, showing a big change in the typical family size. My Dad was the oldest of three, although his own father was number 11 of 16 children.
The Camillas. Aunt Beulah lived Camillas. She and John would set up housekeeping in the town of Warrington, near Pensacola, Florida. Shown above is a photo of the two of them standing in front of the Camillas after they had grown large.
The 1950 census shows the young family living in Pensacola on Garden Street, John working as an electrician and Beulah as a chemist. Son Charles was five years old and John's mother, Rosa, lived with them. Aunt Beulah made a career as a Chemist and Lab Assistant.
During their impressive 60 year marriage, John and Beulah were blessed to see their son grow up and earn his Doctorate of Chiropractory and set up a practice in
Louisiana, where he still practices and is the Parrish Coroner. In time, they were blessed with four grandchildren, although one grandson died as an infant, and another as a young man.
Over the years, John and Beulah hosted nieces, nephews and grandchildren at their lovely home on the Gulf, including memorable experiences for my own children.
Sadly, Beulah lost Uncle John in 2003 after a long struggle with illness. She would then move to Louisiana to be close to her children and grandchildren. She lived to see three additional blessings in the form of her three Great Grandsons, two named directly and indirectly for her husband, John.
Aunt Beulah was a shining light, bright and a connective glue that worked hard to keep her extended family, spread out over multiple states and countries, in touch. She embraced technology as it came.
The Rabon fortitude and resilience is amazing. Several of the cousins and Beulahs own son Charles are working well into their 70's, with no sign of slowing down.
A few years ago we rode down to Louisiana to visit Aunt Beulah on the occasion of her 100th birthday. She still had the lovely complexion a woman half her age would envy.
She kicked Covids behind when it came creeping in during her hundredth year. Beulah would see two more birthdays, but in the last few months she was getting tired. Her senses were failing and she was no longer enjoying life as she had.
Last week we made another trip South, to honor the life of Beulah Aileene Rabon Deese, who almost made it to the amazing age of 103. She will be incredibly missed by all who were blessed to know her. Below is her official obituary. She was buried in Pensacola beside her husband John, and two grandsons, Chuck Deese II and Chuck Deese III.
We lost Henry first in 1984 at age 64, Jimmy in 1992 at age 73, and Lavon in 1998 at 71. Then the sisters with oldest, Verna in 2003, at 87, youngest, Ethel, in 2019, at 89, and now Beulah in 2025 at the incredible age of 102. The last beat of the drum in this line of descendants of Patriot musician, George Rabon.
No comments:
Post a Comment