Hannah Isabelle/Elizabeth “Belle” Buzbee was born to Lawrence Buzbee and Caroline Cordelia Perry. She was born on 15 Mar 1895 in Hillsborough County, Florida, Hannah Elizabeth “Belle” Buzbee was raised in the Ruskin area of Hillsborough County.
Marriage and Family
Hannah Isabelle/Elizabeth “Belle” Buzbee, married Allie Lee Hatfield in Hillsborough County, Florida. Hannah Isabelle/Elizabeth “Belle” Buzbee had the following children: Louise Marie Hatfield, Thelma L. Hatfield, Hilda Belle Hatfield, Sybil Loretta Hatfield, James L. Hatfield, Alvin L. Hatfield, Lois V. Hatfield and Ella M. Hatfield.
By the 1930 Census, Hannah Isabelle/Elizabeth “Belle” Hatfield is living as a widow with 8 children in the Ruskin area. Hannah Isabelle/Elizabeth “Belle” Buzbee Hatfield married Francis C. Salmon in 1954. A curious fact in the 1940 Hillsborough County, Florida census is that Francis C. Salmon is living as a boarder in Hannah Buzbee’s household. As I was researching Hannah Elizabeth’s family, I was wondering what happened to her kids after the 1930 census. They are all living with her in 1930 Hillsborough County but in 1935 State Census, there is only her daughter Louise and son, James and her granddaughter, Barbara MacKerty. In 1940, James is still with her and her granddaughter, Barbara plus a boarder, Francis C. Salmon (who she later married) but her children are not with her. They were not of an age to be on their own. This is what I found, Ella May is living with her grandmother, Caroline Cordelia Buzbee in 1935 and 1940. Sybil, Hilda, Lois and Alva are all living in Alachua County, Florida in 1940 as inmates of the Florida Farm Colony. The following is an excerpt about the Florida Farm Colony.
The Florida Farm Colony began in 1915 with the establishment of a legislative commission to study the needs of persons who were “feeble-minded” and epileptic. This resulted in November 1921 with the opening of the Florida Farm Colony for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic in Gainesville, Florida on a 3000-acre tract. This was the first state-funded program for residents with developmental challenges. It began with three buildings and 240 residents. During the New Deal in the 1930s, the PWA built several more buildings. In 1957, it became the state-run Sunland Training Center, soon followed by other Sunland hospitals across the state.
Why were these four children sent there?
Death
Hannah Isabelle/Elizabeth “Belle” Buzbee Hatfield Salmon died in 1996 in Hillsborough County, Florida. Her husband, Allie Lee Hatfield, died cir. 1952. They must have separated because Hannah is listed as a widow in 1930. Francis C. Salmon, her second husband, died 02 Oct 1958, 4 short years after they were married. Francis C. Salmon is buried at Fellowship Cemetery in the James Corbett Buzbee family plot. Francis C. Salmon was born 18 Mar 1896.
