Born on a 495-acre farm on January 1, 1830, of Isaac and Tabitha Spence. 

Two boys and one girl were born of the union; only one reached maturity. He was my grandfather Isaac Wesley Baker.

Her husband, "Fate" Baker, as he was called, had been away at war for 14 « months, but on his way home, died seven miles from his family on May 3, 1864. A gangrened leg and fever hastened his death. He is buried in a private plot near Brooksville.

She did not complain. A widow for over two years, she married a widower named Neil Monroe. A daughter was born of the union.

Mr. Monroe passed away in 1882; again she was a widow, but her mind and her hands were always busy.

She had a green thumb; she could grow anything: vegetable or flower.
She was noted for her strawberries.

She tatted and sewed; carded her own wool; made socks and stockings.

A good cook, she was one of the first to make use of the coontie fern by making fried patties to be eaten with syrup. A healthy bunch of coontie is at the foot of her grave, planted there by her son.

On July 18, 1884, for the sum of $156.97 she bought from the U. S. government 120 acres in section 22, Ft. Meade, Florida.

She lived quietly and taught Sunday school, but she never married again.

Written by: Mildred Douglas Finkbeiner
Transcribed by: Sandra Caillouet Boyes