As St. Mark’s gears up for its 500-year celebration, one family tells us its almost 200-year story of being here in St Mark’s. The Kennedy family came to the area in 1835, and there’s been at least one member here every year since.
The family came to the St Mark’s area to become lighthouse keepers. The family loves the community here in St Mark’s and is happy to be a part of its 500-year history. Watch the video above to learn more about this family and why they’ve stayed for so long
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Over 190 years
Thats how long the Kennedy family has been in St Mark’s. Their family traces back to 1835 at this lighthouse in St Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge.
“Home is home,” Margaret Roberts-Bishop, a member of the Kennedy family.
Margaret Roberts-Bishop and her siblings were born and raised here after almost two centuries of their family being in st marks. Margaret said that theyve stayed in st marks because its special how everyone here is family
“Didn’t matter, you know, of course, and name, back when I was growing up, there was more people there than there were. There is now in st mark’s, and it didn’t matter; people took care of each other,” said Roberts-Bishop.
That community was built over the almost 500 years, St Marks has been here, including the 190 years that the Kennedy family was here.
The Kennedy family first came to st marks in 1835 and were the first keepers of the lighthouse during the Seminole War. Then in 1860, Margarets great-great-grandparents also became lighthouse keepers during the Civil War.
Margaret said that on top of being lighthouse keepers, her family even started the Baptist church in St Mark’s back in 1909.
“My grandmother was catholic, and my granddaddy had a problem with the priest, from what I was told,” explained Roberts-Bishop. “And so they decided to start the site works. And that was quite a while ago.”
That involvement didnt just end there; the family still helps the St Mark’s community in recent years. One of Margarets brothers, Everett, was very involved with the city before his passing.
“Talking about my brother, he was so dedicated here. When he retired from the City of Tallahassee, he moved down to St, Mark’s here, him and his wife and the kids, and he volunteered his work and done a lot of upgrading,” said Glen Roberts, a member of the Kennedy family
The local park was even dedicated to him after his passing for all his service there.
This family is just one of the reasons St Mark’s is gearing up to celebrate 500 years in 2028.
Margaret and Glen hope to see their family continue in this area for many generations to come.
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