Created by Ruby Diamond Family

Ruby Diamond's grandparents came from Prussian Jewish stock. Her great-grandfather, Abraham Samuel Dzialynski, came to the United States and died in the yellow fever epidemic in Jacksonville, 1857. Her great uncles Jacob and Henry also died of the epidemic. Her great-grandmother, Rosalie Diamond Dzialynski, died in New York City in 1853 and was a native of Prussia, as was her husband, Robert S. Williams (1824-1889) born in Wreschen. Williams was a participant in the California Gold Rush in 1849. His wife, Helena Dzialynski, was born in 1836 in Posen, Prussia. They were married in New York City January 21, 1854. That year they came to Florida and settled in Hamilton County, where their daughter Rachelle was born. According to Rabbi Stanley Garfein of Tallahassee, Rachelle was the first Jewish child born in Florida. They spent the Civil War years in Savannah (GA) and experienced General William Tecumseh Sherman's occupation. After the war, they returned to Tallahassee.

Upon settling in Tallahassee, Robert S. Williams inaugurated the city's first street lighting, by placing kerosene lamps on street posts. Another Williams daughter, Henrietta, married Julius Diamond, a prominent merchant and owner of cotton plantations. Born March 10, 1853 in Germany, Diamond served as chairman of the Leon County Board of Commissioners from 1889 to 1899. He died in 1914. Julius and Henrietta Williams Diamond had two children - Sydney, who became an attorney, and Ruby.

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