Benjamin Franklin Overman Sr. was born November 22, 1797 in Pasquotank, North Carolina, the son of Quakers Charles Overman, Jr. and Mary Albertson. He met and married Eliza Lindsay Wilson on January 5, 1826 and they ran a carriage manufacturing business in Greensboro, NC. In the early 1830's, they came to Florida where Benjamin became a partner in the Forsyth & Simpson Lumber Company in Bagdad, Florida. His other partners were Joseph Forsyth, Ezkiel Ewing Simpson, John Allen Simpson, and John Pickens Simpson. To ensure success for the new company, E. E. Simpson had recruited a number of skilled workers from around the country such as Benjamin Overman who had been a millwright from North Carolina. Joseph Forsyth named their new mill "Bagdad" because it lay at the confluence of Pond Creek and Blackwater River, identical to the Middle Eastern city of Baghdad. The development of the lumber mill temporarily put the mills at Arcadia out of business until new technology allowed a revival of their industry.
In 1840, the village of Bagdad was described as a "handsome village where the people live in style and enjoy themselves accordingly! Their society is very agreeable and the young ladies can entertain their guest with excellent piano, guitar, or violin." When the Civil War broke out, Benjamin Sr. was 61 years old, but enlisted on April 5, 1861 and assigned to Company "K" of the 1st Florida Infantry. He fought at the Battle of Santa Rosa Island, was promoted to Lieutenant, and wound up in Company "G" by 1863. He was captured in the Battle of Murfreesboro and released on parole in 1865 from Fort Delaware where the famous "Immortal 600" were also imprisoned.
By the end of his life, he and Eliza had brought 8 children into the world by the names of Elizabeth W. Overman, Mary Ann Overman, Susan Alexander Overman (Mrs. Ezekiel Ewing Simpson), John Lindsay Overman, Sarah Letitia "Sallie" Overman (Mrs. Richard M. Bushnell), Benjamin Franklin Overman, Jr., Emma Lindsay Overman (Mrs. George William Denison), and Charles Henry Overman. Their mother Eliza passed away on September 15, 1885 at the age of 78-years old and was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in Pensacola, FL. Benjamin Sr. would join her on April 22, 1888.
Lt. Benjamin Franklin Overman Sr. CSA,
Company "G", 1st Florida Infantry
Eliza Lindsay Wilson Overman
Wife of Lt. Benjamin F. Overman
Benjamin F. Overman Sr. in later years
Benjamin F. and Eliza Wilson Overman
St. Michael's Cemetery, Pensacola, FL
CSA Gravestone St. Michael's Cemetery