Welcome to The Official Citrus County FLGenWeb Project
Citrus County Settlers
Used with permission
In the mid 1990's the Citrus County Historical Society members and volunteers transcribed the Cemeteries of Citrus County as well as the Marriage and Will Books for the Citrus County Historical Resources Office Archives and Special Collections. Through their generosity and desire to keep genealogy free for all they have consented to the inclusion of their copyrighted works on this website. This collection also includes the Hernando County Marriage Book 0, because during that time period, Citrus and Pasco Counties were a part of Hernando County, with the split occurring in 1887 resulting in Citrus, Hernando and Pasco County.
The information on the Wills, Cemeteries, Marriages and other Citrus County Documents is the copyrighted work of the Citrus County Historical Society and may not be reproduced or placed in any other web or published collection without the express written consent of the Citrus County Historical Society.
Copies of each of these publications is available at a nominal fee plus shipping and handling. Individual copies of the actual recorded document is available upon request for a nominal fee, plus postage; please remember to include the names, dates and the book and page number.
CITRUS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SUBJECT: Early Settlers
SOURCE: Mrs. Elta Whilden
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 13 December 1981
BY: Francis Yonkin
Mrs. Elta Whilden is the Grand-Daughter of George Loennecker who settled with his wife and son on Cemetery Island. George, who was a policeman in New York City, met, fell in love with and married Bradford. A son George was born who suffered from asthma. Following the advice of a doctor and some friends who had been fishing at Chassahowitzka, George Loennecker and his family moved to Chassahowitzka. There a Doctor told them to take their son closer to the Gulf to alleviate the asthma condition. They moved to Cemetery Island, built a home and began cutting Cedar logs for shipment to Cedar Key, as a livelihood. Cedar logs were cut, dragged to the water where they were built into a raft, and pushed by sail boat to Cedar Key where the railroad was. The round trip usually took 4 to 5 days. Another son Henry was born. The trip from New York City to Chassahowitzka was thus; by ship to Fernandina, then by stagecoach to Brooksville and then by ox-cart to Chassahowitzka. Mrs. Loennecker had a dream in New York City of three deer standing under a pine tree, and during the ox-cart trip saw the deer just as she had seen them in her dream.
On one of his trips to Cedar Key with logs George Loennecker met the Gerock family who had recently came from Germany. He invited them to share the other half of his island, which they did and built a home.
Henry Loennecker married a daughter of the Gerocks and became the first Postmaster of Homosassa. He eventually built a general store and reserved one room for the Post Office.