Source: The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol.III p.173-4 1923
Author: The History
of Florida: Past & Present
CREEL, ROBERT W. In the fine little
City of Bonifay, judicial center of Holmes County, is to be found in the
person of Mr. CREEL an able and popular official, he being the incumbent of
the position of clerk of the
Circuit Court for this county, in which office
he initiated on the 1st of January, 1921, his second term of four years, he
having first been elected in 1916 and his reelection in 1920 having shown
the high estimate placed upon his
administration. In politics he is a
stalwart advocate of the principles of the democratic party, and he has been
active in its local councils and campaign service.
Mr. CREEL was born
in Dale County, Alabama, on the 30th of September, 1882, and is a son of
WILLIAM J. and SARAH (KIRTLAND) CREEL, the former of whom died in 1888 and
the latter is still living, both having been born and reared in Alabama, to
which state the former's father removed from North Carolina. WILLIAM T.
KIRTLAND, maternal grandfather of ROBERT W. CREEL, was a native of
Alabama, and was of staunch Holland Dutch ancestry.
WILLIAM J. CREEL gave
valiant service as a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, in
which he was a member of an Alabama regiment, and after the war he
continued his residence in Alabama, until the early '80s, when he came
with his family to Holmes County, Florida, where he purchased and
established his home on a farm about five miles distant from Bonifay, the
county seat. There his death occurred in 1888, and his widow now resides
at Bonifay.
ROBERT W. CREEL was a child at the time of the family
removal to Holmes County, and was but five years old at the time of his
father's death.
He continued his studies in the public schools until he
had profited by the advantages of the high school at Bonifay, and thereafter
he completed a thorough course in the Draughton Business College at
Montgomery, Alabama, in which he was graduated in 1905. Upon his return
to Bonifay here he assumed the position of bookkeeper in the general store
of T. W. GRIFFITH, with whom he was thus associated in 1906-07. For the
ensuing eight months he held the position of storekeeper in the Florida
State Hospital, and then returned to Bonifay, where he was employed, in
1908-09, in general store of S. E. ARMSTRONG. During a portion of the later
year and that of 1910 he was
identified with logging operations in Holmes
and Jackson counties, and in 1912 he was bookkeeper in the general store
of the D. HUGHES Mercantile Company of Bonifay. In 1912 he resumed his
association with the logging industry in the same two counties, and in
1914-15 he was bookkeeper and commissary for the Newhome Naval Stores
Company at Portland, Walton County. He then returned to Bonifay, and
here in 1916 he was elected to the important office of which he has since
continued the efficient and valued incumbent, that of clerk of
the
Circuit Court. His second term in this position will expire in
January, 1925.
Mr. CREEL is affiliated with the local Blue Lodge and
Chapter of the Masonic fraternity, in which he is also a member of the
Consistory of Pensacola, and is a noble of the Mystic Shrine, besides which
he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife
hold membership in the Missionary Baptist Church in their home city, and
both are popular factors in the representative social activities of the
community. In the World war period Mr. CREEL was instant in loyal support
of local patriotic service, he having served as a member of the Examining
Board of Holmes County in connection with the recruiting of soldiers, and
having been active also in furtherance of the drives in support of the
Government war loans, Red Cross work, etc.
In August, 1919, was
recorded the marriage of Mr. CREEL and Miss CASSIE PAUL, daughter of Hon.
DANIEL J. and MATHILDA (FAIRCLOTH) PAUL, well known residents of Holmes
County and both natives of Florida. Mr. PAUL served four years as
sheriff of Holmes County, and in 1904-05 he represented the county in the
State Legislature. He is one of the substantial exponents of farm industry
in this county. Mr. and Mrs. CREEL have two daughters, ROBBIE MARJORIE
and ANNIE ELIZABETH.
