William married Tinnie COWART. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./

WilliamRaiford Royal ,or Rafe as he was known, was born in 1869 in Florida to Alexander and Mary Royal. He married Vina Sapp, and inheirited the 360 acres of pine land from his father. Raiford joined the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department and lived in the housing part of the jail with his wife and children, with Vina doing the cooking, not only for her own family, but also any prisoners which might be housed in the jail. On April 15, 1916, Raiford went to arrest Walter Durham, and was murdered with his own gun by the prisnor. The jail where Raiford worked and lived, had it's own hanging tower, but City Fathers chose not to use it when Walter was hung for the death of Deputy Royal, instead, building a scaffolding on the front lawn, where 2ooo people turned out to watch, including the family of the murdered deputy.
Walter Durham was the last person East of the Mississippi to be legally hung by execution. The noose which was used is on display in a museum in the Florida State Capital, Tallahassee.

William married Vina SAPP in 1895 in Hamilton County, Florida. Vina (daughter of Unknown SAPP) died in in Polk County, Florida. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./ By Jerome Tew <>

Alexander Royal was listed in the estate of Raiford Royal in 1865 as an heir of $581. Alexander Royal lived in Lee Co. GA in 1850 and had moved to Hamilton Co. FL by 1860. Alexander was born in Dooly in 1824 and he married 1852 Mary Barrow in Irvin Co. GA. A son, William Raiford Royal, was killed in 1916 as a deputy sheriff in Jasper FL and the old Jail still stands.

CSA married Mary G BARROW on 17 Jan 1852 in Irwin County, Georgia. Mary was born in 1835 in Georgia; died after 1880 in Hamilton County, Florida; was buried in Sasseryland Cemetery, Jennings, Hamilton Co., FL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]