Alonzo ROYAL & Annie KILLEBREW
Lindsey Clyde ROYAL
Submitted by Descendants: Amanda Mae, Brianna Lyndsay, Justin Andrew, Kevin Matthew, Lacie Victoria, Margaret Ann ROYAL, and Robert Jason FRYE; Susan ROYAL Jones; Cheryl Lynn, Daniel Lee, Lindsay Clyde Jr., Robert Lindsay ROYAL and Jordan Matthew ROYAL-WEISER
Arriving from Brooks County, Georgia, at the onset of the Civil War, Ivey Royal was the first member of his family to settle in what is now Cassia in Lake County, Florida. Ivey, his wife Mary Ann, and son Alonzo arrived in the Blackwater Creek area of then Orange County, Florida, after a trip of several weeks in a covered wagon.
Ivey had just finished building a log cabin when he was called to serve in the Confederate Army. Enlisting in Company H of the Second Florida Calvary at Volusia County, he was required to provide his own uniform, rifle, and horse. As Ivey’s rifle was the only gun the family possessed, Mary Ann had no way of protecting her family from wild animals. Late one afternoon while milking the cow, she was surprised by a pack of wolves and began to throw pieces of firewood at the pack, causing them to retreat long enough to get Alonzo, the cow, and herself into the safety of the cabin.
Ivey became one of the first pioneers to plant citrus, which he did on a scale so large that he needed to build his own packing house to handle the fruit.
In 1887, when Lake County was created, Ivey Royal was appointed the first county commissioner from the Cassia District. He was paid $1.00 per trip to ride his horse to Tavares for commission meetings and then spend the night there.
Annie Killebrew and her family lived in Oglethorpe, Georgia. She was the wife of Alonzo Royal. Annie told the story of the burning of Atlanta in 1865 to her granddaughter, Ernestine, stating that as a little girl of six or seven years, Annie and her family could see the flames from their plantation. Ernestine still lives in the Cassia area.
Lindsey Clyde Royal, oldest son of Alonzo and Annie, was a baggage master for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. In November of 1911, one month after the birth of his son, Lindsay Clyde Jr., Lindsey Sr. was injured in a train derailment in Kissimmee, Florida.
Ivey & Mary Ann Royal, Alonzo Royal, Annie Killebrew and
Lindsey Clyde Royal were first established as Florida Pioneers in 2009