Palmetto Pioneers: The Emigrants

by Cindy Roe Littlejohn

America’s attorney general in 1829 said, “no man would immigrate to Florida—no, not from hell itself !” But the Walker families went anyway!

“Palmetto Pioneers,” tells the story of Mary Adeline Walker, an ordinary daughter of a South Carolina low-country cattleman. For the adventure of her lifetime, she follows her family and her heart into the wilds of territorial Florida, where she faces an Indian war and Florida’s brutal environs. In frontier Florida, the enemy is nature and man, and the ordinary must become extraordinary—or perish.

"Palmetto Pioneers" starts in 1829 when Mary is seven years old, and it moves through the Second Seminole War to statehood in 1845. This compelling story narrates Mary’s self-discovery and Florida’s struggle to become a state, where people like the Walkers faced its challenges and used their tenacity to change their own lives and their state’s future.

This suspenseful, thoroughly researched, narrative non-fiction book by Cindy Roe Littlejohn describes the stirring story of the birth of a state—how both Mary and Florida found their way.

390 pages, Hardcover

First published July 22, 2022

About the author

Cindy Roe Littlejohn is the author of the award-winning Palmetto Pioneers trilogy, a richly researched series that brings Florida’s forgotten history to life. Her books — The Emigrants (2022), From Harmony to Hostility (2024), and Yankees in the Courthouse — follow the story of Mary Adeline Walker, an ordinary woman whose family’s journey mirrors the South’s turbulent passage through settlement, war, and reconstruction.

The first two books are award-winning novels with several gold, silver, and bronze medals between them in history and biography. the third was recently published in 2025.

Cindy began researching her family’s roots in the late 1970s but set the project aside while building a career in Florida politics, where she lobbied the state legislature for decades, mostly dealing with agriculture and natural resource issues. After retiring in 2014, she returned to her passion for history and storytelling, determined to craft a narrative that was both authentic and engaging. Instead of writing a genealogical record, she turned to narrative nonfiction to capture the spirit of the people, places, and struggles that shaped early Florida.

When she isn’t writing, Cindy enjoys leading historical walking tours, speaking to book clubs and community groups, and digging through archives to uncover stories that have long been overlooked. She lives in rural Florida, where the landscape and history of the South continue to inspire her work.

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixture of non-fiction historical information and family pioneer stories about migration from South Carolina to Florida territory in 1800s. This is the way I truly enjoy history over just memorizing dates and facts. It all just makes it more real and interesting with a more human spin included alongside historical facts. I am eager to read the next one to continue to journey of the Walker family.

[Savvy Rudolph · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Great elaboration of a real historic Florida family.

✅️ Read more like a historical documentary, with an example story to explain the era.

⚠️ I listened to it as an audiobook, I recommend not doing that. Heard about a lot of photos I couldn't see.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey with William and Mary plus their families in Florida. They prospered and prepared as their state and nation moved toward the start of the Civil War. The ending seemed rushed and abrupt in this one. It just seemed the author decided I am finished and will continue the rest of the story in the next one. I was surprised when there wasn't another chapter but the appendix. I do enjoy the author's way of presenting history through the eyes of the people who lived it over just facts and dates.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Camielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reads more like a historical fiction than a biography. The author uses lots of historical information to tell the story but creates characters to help tell the story in an interesting and less dull facts only kind of way. As a native Floridan it was interesting although towards the end I felt like some of the historical information became a little tedious to read and got away from the storytelling aspect a bit.