1999 Heart and History

Padget Family

The name Paget is spelled many different ways. It is of French origin and the original spelling was probably "Paget", which in old French means "little page".

The Pagets came to America from England during the early days of colonization.

The oldest Paget in the area was Elijah Paget, who settled just across the line of the western border of Holmes County in eastern Walton County. Many of his descendants settled in Holmes County. Elijah Paget came to Florida in the 1820s.

He was originally from South Carolina. Like many of the pioneers, the Padgets came through Georgia and stayed there for a while. Then they spent a while in Alabama and some eventually came on to Florida.

There were two Pagets listed in A Study of British Genus by Havelock Ellis. They were Baron W Paget (1505 - 1563) and Sir J Paget (1914 - 1899).

W Paget was a politician. J Paget's father was a ship owner (maybe that is how some got to America).

Sir James Paget, Baronet, was a noted surgeon, born in Yarmouth, England on Jan 11, 1824. He died Dec 30, 1899. In 1863, he became surgeon to the Prince of Wales and in 1877, he was made surgeon to Queen Victoria. In recognition of his many valuable discoveries in surgery, he was created a baronet in 1871 and was granted degrees by a number of important institutions. We have not been able to trace connections to the British Pagets but the name "James" has been a popular one in the Padget family.

One Elijah Padget took part in the Revolutionary War in 1781 in South Carolina. Again, we have not been able to trace a connection to him. He was the right age to have been the father of our ancestor, Elijah, who was born just after the war in 1791 in South Carolina.

It is my belief that our ancestors were connected with the Protestant Huguenot movement in France. I am forming my beliefs because so many Padgets have founded churches in Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. Again, I have no proof of that.

Elijah Padget married Suzannah Eubanks. There were eight children from this marriage:

John, born in 1817
Mariah, born 1819
Ambrose, born 1821
George, born 1824
Elizabeth, born 1826
William, born 1828
Mary, born 1830
Peter, born 1832

Suzannah Eubanks Padgett died sometime between 1832 and 1835. She is buried in Alabama. Elijah married Charlotte "Lottie" Johnson sometimes between 1832 and 1837. She was an Indian. They were the parents of seven children:

Rhoda, born 1836
Doughier, born 1839
Henry, born 1841
Dosey, born 1842
Isham, born 1844
Dorcas, born 1846
Suzannah, born 1850
James, born 1856

Elijah fathered 16 children in all. Many of his descendants were living in the Holmes County area in 1999.

Excerpts used with permission of publisher, Sue Cronkite, from Heart and History of Holmes County, by Anna Paget Wells. This 347-page book is full of info, stories, and pictures. It can be ordered from the Holmes County Advertiser, 112 E Virginia Avenue, Bonifay, FL 32425; phone 850-547-2270.