279. The Farinas Brothers Join the Confederacy 1863

Throughout our history, so many of our Pensacola mothers have sent their sons off to war. Many never returned! They are buried in far off graves or at the bottom of the seas! And a proportionate number of those mothers sent multiple sons and daughters off to those same faraway battlefields. One such family was Joaquin (born 1809 in Spanish Canary Islands) and Josephine Farinas (from Louisiana). He came to Pensacola prior to 1840 and supported his wife and eleven children as a grocery and baker merchant. By the time the threat of civil war reached Pensacola, Joaq chose to side with the Confederacy. He took the oath of allegiance in 1860, although he was 51-years old at the time and too old for the military. However, this was not true for his two sons James and William. James was born in Pensacola on April 1, 1844 and answered the South’s call to arms by enlisting in Greenville, AL on May 1, 1862 in Company "E" of the 15th Battalion of the 56th Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Partisan Rangers). The regiment was organized in the summer of 1863 and operated in northern Mississippi under General Daniel Ruggles. There, it was brigaded under General Samuel W. Ferguson and sent to north Georgia. It served on the flank of the army during the Dalton-Atlanta campaign where the Confederates suffered tremendous casualties. The regiment moved with the army to Tennessee, and later operated against Union General W. T. Sherman. They move into the trenches of Savannah and Augusta before marching into the Carolinas to surrender at Greensboro on 26 April 1865. However, James was not with his unit at the time of surrender because he was acting as an escort for President Jefferson Davis in early April 1865. He would receive his discharge in Greenville, Alabama in 1865 at the close of the war.

On the other hand, his younger brother William (born 1848) enlisted in Selma, Alabama on 5-1-1863 in Company “B” of Lockhart’s Battalion. It was later known as the 62nd Alabama Infantry Regiment under the command of another Pensacolian Captain Bruno Yniestra. He served his duty faithfully until the end of the war. His battalion fought throughout Alabama and as far north as West Point, Georgia. They were sent to fight at the skirmish at Cheehaw then on to Mobile to support the defenses around Mobile Bay. He fought at the Battle of Spanish Fort and was finally captured at the Battle of Blakely. He and his fellow prisoners were sent to Ship Island where they were processed and sent to Vicksburg for confinement. After the South surrendered, William was paroled in May 1865.

Both boys made their own way back to Pensacola where James became a stevedore and William a bartender. James had married Mary Elizabeth in 1864 whereas William would wed Theresa De Rioboo (1858-1922) in 1876. The two boys worked a variety of jobs throughout their lives. They even dabbled with their father and brother Manuel in the liquor business until his father died of old age and Manuel of consumption (tuberculosis). William would pass away as a bartender and a stevedore while residing at 204 West Romana Street. James would retire as a street foreman with the City of Pensacola while living at 206 West Zarragossa Street.

Both would apply for their Confederate pensions that had recently been passed by the Florida legislature. James was approved for his pension effective 12-27-1907 of $100 per year. By 1915, he applied for an increase and was examined by Dr. J. A. Hargis and Dr. E. F. Bruce. They found that he suffered from a double hernia and asthma and his worth was listed as $1,200 of real estate and $200 worth of furniture. Likewise, his brother William was approved on 9-3-1908 for the same $100 per year. He was examined in 1915 for his increase and found to be suffering from a double hernia that contributed to his total disability.

When the time came, James passed away sometime after 1920 and was buried in the Saint Josephs Catholic Cemetery. His wife would join him on July 25, 1917 leaving behind their children; William Farinas (1878), Walter Farinas (1879), and Edward (1884). His brother William followed him into the pale nations on March 16, 1927 at their home at 204 West Romana Street. His body was escorted to Saint Michael's Cemetery where he joined Theresa who was waiting for him. The old couple would leave behind at least six living children; Nellie (1877), Charles (1879), Janette (1883), Pearl (1885), Ruby 1886), Josephine (1893-1895) and Adrian Vincent (1895). His daughter Ruby would grow up and marry Edward Powers Preston (1883-1951) and together they had four children. One of them was William Edward Preston who became a well-known coach and assistant principal for Pensacola High School in the 1940's.