Oak

Slave Narrative of Shack Thomas

Interviewer: Martin Richardson Person Interviewed: Shack Thomas Location: South Jacksonville, Florida Age: 102 Shack Thomas, Centenarian Beady-eyed, grey-whiskered, black little Shack Thomas sits in the sun in front of his hut on the Old Saint Augustine Road about three miles south of Jacksonville, 102 years old and full of humorous reminiscences about most of those years. To his frequent visitors he relates tales of his past, disjointedly sometimes but with a remarkable clearness and conviction. The old ex-slave does not remember the exact time of his birth, except that it was in the year 1834, “the day after the end … Read more

Biography of Nathaniel Oak

The founder of this family, Nathaniel Oak(e) must not be confounded with Thomas and Edward Oak(e)s, the founders of the Cambridge-Malden family, or with the Welsh William, who founded the Worcester county family. As Nathaniel wrote his name, it was originally Oak or Oake. His son Jonathan added a final “s” and descendants of the fourth and fifth generations are about equally divided between the spellings Oaks and Oakes. Nathaniel Oak(e) was born about 1645, and died at Westboro, February 17, 1721. The following account of his immigration is inscribed in the family Bible of one of his greatgrandchildren : … Read more

Biography of Jonathan Oak

Jonathan, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Holloway-Farrar) Oak, was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts, August 21, 1717, and died between December 2, 1784 and March 12, 1785. He was the first to adopt the spelling Oaks, in his surname. He lived for a few years each, in Westboro, Boston and Storr, and settled on the Oak Hill farm in Harvard, Massachusetts, where he built his home, which was still standing in 1896. From his title of “Captain” on the old records he was probably captain of the training band, may have served in the French and Indian war, and in fact, … Read more