Re: Susan Matilda Tillinghast m: Hugh Archer
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In reply to:
Susan Matilda Tillinghast m: Hugh Archer
Marilyn McGuire 8/22/01
This information is primarily from family papers given to the Special Collections of the Florida State University Libraries by Theresa Yeager Palmer with additional information from several web sources cited below.
James Tillinghast Archer was the son of Hugh Archer (August 21, 1796-January 3, 1858) and Susan Matilda Tillinghast (Nov. 10, 1796-May 16, 1865). He was born May 15, 1819, in Gillisonville, St. Lukes Parish, S.C. Archer was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1840. He served as Florida's first Secretary of State 1845-48; as Attorney General for part of 1848; and as Comptroller November 27, 1854-January 23, 1855. He favored railroad expansion in Florida, and was a friend of David Levy Yulee, Florida's first U.S. Senator after statehood. The town of Archer in Alachua County, Florida, is named for him. He died June 1, 1859 and was buried in the Old City Cemetery, Tallahassee, Florida.
He married Mary S. Brown (December 21, 1820-May 27, 1894), daughter of Florida Governor Thomas Brown, on December 13, 1843, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Tallahassee, Florida. She was confirmed in the same church on January 11, 1846, and was buried in the Old City Cemetery, Tallahassee, Florida.
Their daughter, Susan Matilda Archer (December 17, 1850-August 26, 1933), served for many years as deputy clerk of the circuit court for Leon County, Florida. Apparently she never married and moved in with Dr. Henry E. Palmer after the death of his wife (her cousin) and raised his four
children, Sara Ball Palmer, George Saxon Palmer, Mary Lucile Palmer, and Martin Palmer. She was called "Mama Sudie" by the Palmer children. She was buried in the Old City Cemetery, Tallahassee, Florida.