THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (15th in a series)

The last issue of the Settling of Sarasota described the three weekly visits of the Steamship Mistletoe to pick up fish for the Tampa market. With the Mistletoe in regular operation, more fishermen moved here and the industry grew.

The following is J. W. Walden’s description of a trip he made in 1896 in the fishing boat Sea Turtle: “as we approached Sarasota Pass with the incoming tide we met a school of mullet. They darted to and fro in the sea green water. They bumped against the boat and leaped over the rudder.. I captured two six-pounders with my dip net while they were leaping through the air. The school was more than a mile long. It was a sight I shall never forget.”

None of these fishermen became wealthy however; they considered themselves lucky to be paid one dollar for one hundred pounds of fish.

During the Spanish-American War (1898) nearly 40,000 troops were stationed at Tampa for months awaiting transport to Cuba. The demand for fish soared, prices rose, the fishermen made enough money to buy better equipment, and the industry grew.

The war also brought prosperity to the cattlemen in the area. Thousands of cattle were driven to slaughterhouses at the edge of Tampa to supply meat for the soldiers and the booming town. “Cattle money” didn’t help Sarasota, however, because it was deposited or spent in Tampa

Fewer than a dozen families lived in the unincorporated town. Sarasota was in a depression.

On June 1, 1899, C.V.S. Wilson and his wife moved his newspaper plant from Bradenton to Sarasota after having heard a report that it was enjoying a boom. The ‘boom’ consisted of the sale of the DeSoto Hotel and 200 feet of waterfront land for $1,500 and the sale of the Sarasota House and all it’s considerable land for $500.

Soon after arriving in Sarasota, Wilson published the first issue of the Sarasota Times. There were a total of 300 people in the entire area. Wilson never missed an issue for twenty-two years, at which time it was sold.

Three partners, Highsmith, Turner and Prime bought an abandoned store that sold everything from diapers to caskets, groceries, hardware, feed and hay, plows and stoves. In one year they sold almost $100,000 worth of goods without receiving $1,000 in cash. Taken in trade were alligator hide and cow hides, furs, sweet potatoes, chickens, et al. These goods were shipped to Tampa for whatever cash remained after transportation and handling costs were taken.

Also mentioned in the last issue was Harry lee Higel’s purchase of the dock at the foot of Main Street. He was also the agent for the steamship “Mistletoe,” and bought the steamship “Vandalia” which filled in on those days that the “Mistletoe” didn’t stop at Sarasota. He became a major contributor to the growth of Sarasota.

Listed below are some of the Harry Higel’s accomplishments: He
· Installed gasoline and kerosene tanks on the pier.
· Donated the land for the First Methodists Church.
· Built the post office/telephone building
· Developed Sarasota Key which later became Siesta Key and
· Arranged with Gulf Coast Telephone Company to string wires from Bradentown to · · Sarasota using pine trees as telephone pole.

One telephone was installed in the post office and a second one in Higel’s office on the pier. The phone crackled and jangled; a person “needed ears as sharp as a village gossip and deep concentration to comprehend what was being said.”

To be continued..

Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead.

Photo credit: Sarasota County Historical Resources

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (14th in a series)

In the last installment, you read about Sarasota’s first train, the “Slow and Wobbly”. This link between Bradentown (now Bradenton) and Sarasota was Sir John Gillespie’s attempt to assure Sarasota’s survival.

After less than three years of spasmodic trips, the Slow and Wobbly was retired. Construction had stopped, the workers had gone and there was little money to spend. The engine and flat cars were left to rust. Gillespie’s problems were multiplying.

His wife Mary was a cantankerous woman who enjoyed frequent nips of scotch or bourbon or rum often resulting in, shall we say, embarrassing situations. Sir John, an ardent Episcopalian was serving as a lay reader at church services one Sunday and Mrs. Gillespie strolled in after services had begun and took a seat close to the pulpit. She opened a large red parasol and held it over her head until services ended. She then stood up, closed the parasol and said “nice going darlin” and left the building, weaving down the wooden sidewalk towards the De Soto Hotel (inset).

Some months later, in an effort to get a church in Sarasota, Gillespie invited an Episcopalian bishop to be his guest at the DeSoto Hotel. The bishop arrived accompanied by a large group of church dignitaries. While he was seated in the dining room Mrs. Gillespie entered, lurched into a waiter who spilled the entire contents of a soup tureen on the bishop’s lap. The bishop rose, said nothing, left the dining room and the DeSoto Hotel the next morning. Sarasota did not get its Episcopalian church that year.

As a result of Mary Gillespie’s shenanigans, the couple he had hired to manage the DeSoto Hotel left it in 1891 and built their own fancy hotel; the guests moved and soon the DeSoto closed.

Sir John and Mary moved to Bradentown for a short time, after which they returned to Scotland for a visit. When Gillespie returned to Sarasota a few years later he was alone.

The winter of 1894-95 was the coldest in the state’s history. Temperatures fell to 17 degrees, killing the vegetable crop and ruining the season’s citrus crop. As a result, in 1895, fishing was the only economic stimulus remaining and Sarasota was referred to as a fishing village. Fortunately the trees in the groves escaped being killed by the frost; citrus growers from farther north in Florida moved to the area and started new groves.

Until then, fish caught in the Sarasota area were gutted and salted for transportation to other areas. Beginning in 1884, the demand for salted fish declined because fresh fish shipped in ice had become available. Ice plants were being built in Tampa but economical transportation of ice and fish did not yet exist. In 1895, channels were cut in Sarasota Bay that allowed steamers to take the inland waterway from Tampa directly to the dock at Sarasota. The bill from the U.S. Swanee Dredge was $9,998.43.

Harry Lee Higel came to Sarasota in the early 1890’s and bought the dock at the end of Main Street that was built by the defunct Scottish Colony. He became the agent for the Tampa line whose steamship, “Mistletoe”, made its maiden trip on Monday, October 7, 1895, to pick up fresh fish. The scheduled stop developed into three visits per week.

On each trip the captain blew the whistle as the ship was coming down the bay and many of the town’s residents turned out to see if new tourists were aboard.

The community now had a dependable connection with the outside world. Sarasotans could sell their vegetables and fruit in Tampa and buy goods in the “big stores” there with the proceeds.

To be continued..

Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead.

Photo credit: Sarasota County Historical Resources

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (13th in a series)

This is a story about Sarasota’s first railroad.

The first train was called the ‘Slow and Wobbly’ by the local residents. It ran from the county seat in "Bradentown" to Sarasota; the inaugural run took place on May 16, 1892, the venture lasted for 3 years.

Little if any ballast had been used when the tracks were laid and, as a result, the train always wobbled and staggered along, appearing every moment as though it would topple. And it often did! One time the engine rolled over when it reached the water tower just outside Bradentown and the tower collapsed. After that the engineer siphoned the water needed out of ponds along the right of way.

The engine was a dilapidated Civil War, wood burner with a huge firebox and a towering smokestack that poured forth soot and sparks. The ‘train’ consisted of two flat cars, one of which was covered with a canvas canopy to protect the passengers from the sun, rain and smoke. This car, which had uncovered plank seats, was dignified by the name “the day coach.”

There was no station; one had to climb a stepladder to get to the platform and the entrance to the ‘white folks’ passenger car. The other car was used for ‘colored’ people, mail and freight. The schedule of this, the first railway in all of Manatee County, was timed by the arrival of the steamer “Margaret” of the Plant Steamship Line, from Port Tampa, and the steamer “Manatee”, of the Independent line, also from Tampa. They had the mail contract filling-in the gap between the Tampa railroad terminal and Bradentown in Manatee County.

The train started on the judgment of the conductor in charge; at any rate, he ran the train to suit himself, usually starting when the mailbags were delivered to him. The black smoke from the fat pine fuel made it hard to tell that the engineer was a ‘white’ man. The Negro fireman was so black that the smut kind of left a white mark on him. These three made up the crew of the train. One trip made along with an early passenger, his wife, his sister, and her husband, is a fair example of this innovation in the mail service, carried before this time by buggy or on horseback.
The following is his description of the trip.
“When the conductor was ready, and steam was up to the desired pressure, indicated mostly by the leaky cylinder glands, he signaled the engineer to start going, a sign for a prolonged blowing of the whistle and ringing of the bell, thus notifying the public they were off once more. Lou Duckwall, the conductor, brought his dinner pail aboard and left it on the floor under the bench seat near the door opening. Pretty soon the train was weaving through the woods, rattling and squeaking its winding way, between ditches that had been excavated to raise the narrow gauge track above the ordinary level of the woods.

The track had settled in many places, making it rough riding, so much so, that the conductor’s lard can dinner pail worked its way back on the floor and fell out. He just noticed it and made a grab, but missed it, leaned out making frantic efforts to call engineer James Nichols’ attention to stop the train. Being so informed, Nichols stopped and backed slowly, all hands and passengers watching to find the lost pail. After going back for about a mile someone shouted, “there it is” pointing to the dry ditch. Our conductor hopped out and secured it, the contents still in the dinner pail and apparently all right. He climbed up the iron steps, working himself back into the car, laughingly placed the wayward pail in a more secure place, not much worried about this event. Time seemingly was no object. It appeared funny enough to us, and we all had a good laugh over the incident.

While the train was puffing and snorting along, the engineer tooting the whistle at every cow or cow’s husband he passed in the woods, the steam vapor sifted its way through the canvas, making our ride ever more uncomfortable.

Along about Oneco we stopped to take on wood where it was stacked in cords on a platform. All hands helped to put it aboard the tender, bantering in the meantime with Simmy, an old Cracker who had the job of keeping the engine in fuel. He was unloading his rickety wagon pulled by a cow and a bull.

Once more we started off, shouting “so long” to Simmy, through the piney woods, getting all shaken up on the primitive road when the smell of something burning arrested our attention. Everybody looked around to see if their clothes were afire, when the discovery was made that a spark had filtered through a hole in the canvas and got into the sister’s parasol. The breeze fanned it into a blaze. The parasol was thrown out of the car, a complete loss.

The fare for this eventful trip, two dollars each, that brought us to Sarasota where we alighted onto a platform at the front of a one room shack in the woods.” The station crew often “forgot” to transfer the fares to Gillespie, the railroad’s train manager.

ALAS!

To be continued..

Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead.

Photo Credit: Sarasota County Historical Resources

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (12th in a series)

Anna and Sue Whitcomb, who had been educated in northern schools, were the first teachers at the one room 16 x 25 foot school where they served without pay in 1886. The children sat on homemade benches and there was no school during the winter because the school had no stove.

The Whitcomb girls taught for just one year as their thoughts were occupied with other matters. Both sisters were married on the same day in the first double wedding held in Sarasota. The entire community joined in the shivaee*.

Sir John Gillespie, the on-site official of the Scotch Development Company (FMIC) wanted to prove to skeptics that the 40-acre plots deeded to the colonists were fertile. He selected one of the plots on Fruitville Road on which tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, orange trees and more were planted. Gillespie knew nothing about farming and the plot he selected was the most sterile in the area. Nothing grew and the farm was a failure. That became a ‘serendipity’**.

Gillespie contracted with Jesse Tucker to supply 100 barrels of lime to be used as fertilizer at $1 per barrel. Tucker gathered his neighbors together, went to White Beach where they gathered heaps of (oyster) shells. They felled pine trees, cut them in 15-foot lengths and built two lime kilns by stacking logs and shells in alternate layers 8 feet high and setting the piles on fire. A picnic lunch was served while the piles began to burn. When the residue cooled, the ashes provided the needed lime. Gillespie paid the $100, and Tucker used it to build the Fruitville Missionary Baptist Church (June 1887). Soon after building the church, all construction was completed and work at the failed experimental farm ended; it was 1887 and paying jobs ended. The stream of money went dry. Workers left. Ships no longer stopped at Sarasota’s piers (inset).

No one would pay the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company’s price of $10 per acre for property in Sarasota.

* A noisy celebration
** An unexpected accident of good fortune

Gillespie realized that getting a railroad built from Tampa or at least from Bradenton was a must for Sarasota’s survival. He had a plan whereby the British companies would give every alternate section of land along the right-of-way to the railroad company. After the trains began running the land could be sold, and the profit used to repay the British companies. The Manatee and Sarasota Railway and Drainage Company was incorporated on April 12, 1890 for $50,000. Gillespie was made president.

Stay tuned to learn about some speculative Shenigans.

Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead.

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (11th in a series)

The photograph (inset) was taken of the Whitakers, the Brownings, and other Sarasota pioneers on a Sunday afternoon in 1886 the fan in the hand of the man in the left foreground. The head-to-toe clothing and the mosquitoes made the fan a requirement.

Beginning in the fall of 1886 Sarasota was the fastest growing community on the West Coast of Florida south of Tampa. The DeSoto Hotel was under construction streets were opened in the woods, and homes were being built.

Craftsmen were paid $2.00/day, laborers $1.25/day, in cash. The first school, a one room building 16 X 25 feet was built on the south side of Main Street and paid for by Sir John Gillespie, an official of the Florida Mortgage & Investment Co. (FMIC). The photo of Sir John was taken in 1886.

He introduced golf to Florida on May 16, 1886 by “laying out” a two-hole one-fairway course on what is now Sarasota’s Main Street. The 2007 edition of the yellow pages lists over 65 golf courses in the Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice area, and John Gillespie designed quite a few of those built between 1888 and 1918).

On February 25,1887, Gillespie’s DeSoto Hotel opened with a Grand Ball that was attended by 200 persons, many of whom arrived on horseback. Some celebrants needed a few days before attempting the ride back home. The DeSoto Hotel was located at the foot of Main Street, had 30 rooms, a large lobby, and a dining room. It was said to be the finest on the West Coast of Florida; the rent was $2.00 a night. (Later renamed The Belle Haven Inn).

The mail arrived in Sarasota from the community of Manatee three days a week. It was then transported by horse and buggy. Since there were no bridges, the driver would ford the creeks at the shallowest places. Whenever the water rose above the buggy’s floor, the mailman would stand on the seat to keep dry.

On May 14, 1887, Charles Whitaker was appointed postmaster and the post office was moved to the Whitaker store on Main Street. The Sarasotans now could get their mail without trudging through the woods to the Abbe store, more than a mile and a half away. Alex Browning, son of a pioneer family, once remarked that you knew where people were visiting by where their horses were tethered. I suspect that this may have caused a rumor or two to be started.

Many of the workers who came to Sarasota for the good wages were rough characters and said and did things frowned upon by the good people. Construction continued at a rapid pace, however, and buildings were erected on the north side of Main Street between Palm and Pineapple Avenues. One of them was built for John Iverson who had just married and wanted a “new Home in town” for his bride. After many years, C.V.S. Wilson, the founder of the Sarasota Times, used the house as a print shop. The Florida Mortgage and Investment Co. built a two-story office building on the corner of 8th and Central. Gillespie had his office there.

On September 10, 1887, Elaf Green, a carpenter who had come to Sarasota with his family to work on the DeSoto Hotel stopped at Whitaker’s store and calmly remarked that he had just killed his wife, son and two daughters. Sheriff Watson, whose office was in Bradenton, was notified and he rushed to Sarasota and placed Green under arrest. The sheriff and Green were in a buggy headed back to Bradenton when Green threw the sheriff out of the buggy, grabbed his rifle and raised it to fire when Charles Whitaker who was following on horseback shot and killed him.

SARASOTA WAS INDEED A BOOMTOWN!

Photo credit: Sarasota County Historical Society

Stay tuned, more to come..

Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead.

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (10th in a series)

The last issue of “Settling” included a short paragraph about Jack Tatum*, the town’s blacksmith, cobbler, and wagon builder. Enumeration of his versatility was space limited, and is continued here.

When the men of the town ran out of liquor, Jack would fire up the boiler and steam sour mash until everyone was satisfied. He had an organ in his home that he pumped vigorously, sweating up a storm, while playing for everyone’s entertainment. Records show that he was an accomplished (?) veterinarian and also pulled teeth. He was regarded as a pillar of the community.

A well was being drilled at what is now “Five Points. (Downtown Sarasota)” Someone noticed a few shiny yellow particles in the borings, and several hundred people came from everywhere to collect the “gold.” A jokester had scattered brass filings from Tatum’s shop in the dirt. As the saying goes, “A little work, a little play, to keep us going, and so good day.”

W. A. “Old Man” Bacon, a born jokester, built a house on the newly constructed pier from which he served oysters, raw or cooked, and donated a large glass of corn beer with each serving. It was a dizzying experience. The village pranksters were continually “egging” on W. A., a willing conspirator, and decided that they wanted some of John Gillespie’s newly arrived Kentucky bourbon. Bacon thought about it for awhile, took out his pocketknife and pricked his arm twice. When the blood covered his arm, he hollered as though in pain, and ran toward Gillespie. “Mr. Gillespie, a big rattler got me and the pizen’s goin’ all through me! I’m a goner.”

Just as expected, Gillespie said, “you need some whiskey and I’ll get it for you.” He ran to the warehouse and came out with a bottle of Old Crow.

Bacon took a big swig and slumped down, whereupon his co-conspirators grabbed the bottle and finished it off. Gillespie realized that he had been flimflammed, and to show that he wasn’t offended, brought out another bottle, the contents of which soon disappeared.

John Gillespie introduced golf to Florida. On May 16, 1886, he laid out the first gold course in the country, a long fairway with a tee and a green at each end. It was located in a clearing on what is now Main Street. He practiced daily for many years.

Brought over from Scotland, the name GOLF is an acronym for Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden.

*The community of Tatum Ridge is located in Sarasota County just north of Fruitville Road and east of I-75.

*The Tatum House (inset) has since been moved to Old Miakka at the Crowley Museum and Nature Center. ca.1892 Credit: Sarasota County Historical Resources

To be continued..

Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead.

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (9th in a series)

THE DEMISE OF THE ORMISTON COLONY

The last installment of “Settling" ended with the 68 Scottish colonists experiencing a snowfall on January 9, 1886. Dead fish washed ashore and Selvin Tate, the nephew of the Archbishop of Canterbury and promoter of the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company (FMIC) disappeared. The high hopes of the colonists, who had left Scotland three months ago, were dashed.

One reason for the failure of the colony is that the families were of the upper middle class. Not one had ever been a farmer. If housing had been available as promised, the colonists might have stayed. Nearly all had left by May 1, 1886.

Weeks before the intended arrival of the Colonists, Sir John Gillespie an official of the FMIC had ordered A. C. Acton, their local manager, to erect temporary housing for the colonists. He was also ordered to have a dock ready to moor the arriving shipload of Scotsmen. Acton was a very sick man, however, and unable to get much done.

In January 1886, John Hamilton Gillespie, Sir John Gillespie’s son was sent to Sarasota to relieve Acton and he began to lay out roads and sidewalks in the “downtown” area, build the DeSoto Hotel on Main Street (inset ca.1886), and more. A number of the colonists were employed in the building program.

Had the “Colony” arrived six months later, or the construction begun six months earlier, it might have been a success. Lumber for the dock and hotel was brought by schooners to the foot of Main Street, thrown overboard and floated to shore where it was transported by mule “powered” wagons to its final location.

Construction of the dock was backbreaking work that required the workers to stand in the cold water as deep as chest high. For this they earned $2.00 for a long day. A warehouse was built at the end of the dock to house merchandise.

Immediately upon its completion the side-wheel steamer Erie began making regular stops at Tampa and Sarasota.

In 1886, Dr. Thomas Wallace, who came with the colonists had a 1½-story house built on Main Street and placed a cot in one of the rooms where patients could be treated. He also established the first drug store.

Furman and Bill Whitaker opened the first General Store, aside from the Company Store. Hamlin Whitaker opened a market where he sold meat from a freshly butchered steer (ice was not available).

The first blacksmith, cobbler, and wagon builder whose name was Jack Tatum, came to town in 1886. He could shoe the most stubborn mule, remake any part of a wagon, mend any saddle and fix any sewing machine. It was said that he had a “wheel” left over after fixing a clock and it still kept good time.

In 1888 the FMIC issued a promotional booklet touting the weather, investment and recreational opportunities. It pointed out that Massachusetts’s death rate was 1 in 254, New York’s was 1 in 473, and Florida’s was 1 in 1,457. Establishment of these numbers was not explained.

In 1894, the Inn on Main Street hosted its’ first convention, a group of Baptists. The DeSoto Hotel had 30 rooms to rent.

The DeSoto Hotel and its furnishings cost 5,000 pounds (about $15,000). Tourists returned annually to spend 2 or 3 months to shoot birds, catch fish, and sail the calm waters of Sarasota Bay. Others came to fight tuberculosis or rheumatism.

Steamers carried passengers from the dock at the Hotel’s front door to the Tampa terminus of the railroad. The Mary Disston, known as the Dirty Mary, that also hauled freight, was one of the steamers.

Sarasota was becoming a “boom town.”

DeSoto Hotel - Credit: Sarasota County Historical Resources.

To be continued..

Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead.

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (8th in a series)

NO “TEMPORARY TOWN HOUSE”, NO TOWN, AND NO ROADS

At the end of last month’s “Settling”, the Ormiston Colony consisting of 68 Scottish colonists, found themselves in Sarasota without the promised “rent free house” (for 6 months) in town, no hotel under construction, or pier. The colonists then proceeded to make the best of their predicament, and some of them went to live in the homes of settlers.

The Lawries and the Brereton family found shelter in the old cedar bucket plant down the bay at the foot of Cunliff Lane. Tom Weir, the manager of the company store, passed out cots and bedding to those who had none. The Lawries had brought a large tent with them, and turned it over to the Brownings who pitched it under the pines near the company store.

Soon Mrs. Browning was busy at a campfire, making Scotch scones and pancakes with plenty of tea. That night, some of the Browning children slept in the company store. While the children slept, the older members of the family gathered around the young “natives” who did their best to make a good impression on the pretty, red-cheeked Scottish girls. The Whitaker family, the Riggins, Abbes, Tuckers, and Tatoms, all homesteaders, did what they could to help the newcomers.

The only thing the company store had for sale was a barrel of crackers that was emptied by the colonists’ children soon after their arrival. Hamlin Whitaker (inset ca.1890) made sure the colonists wouldn’t go hungry, however, as he went out with his cast net and in a short time came back with a load of mullet. Then he helped clean and fry them. They were just ready to eat when Emile Whitaker came along with some bread his mother had baked for the strangers. Later, the Whitaker boys showed the Browning girls how to bake bread in a deep pan over a campfire.

New Year’s day was always a big holiday for the Scotch and the colonists gathered at the cedar bucket plant and celebrated in a grand manner. Mrs. Lawrie and Mrs. Brereton unpacked their linen tablecloths, china and silver and set the table – rough planks on trestles. Tom Burges brought a large plum pudding his sister had made for him before he left Scotland. The pudding was cut into thin slices so that each person could have a piece—to be reminded of home! The portions of plum pudding were tiny but there was plenty of other food. The settlers had brought in game and fish, and the plates were heaped high. “It’s even said that the colonists had more than one “wee nip” of Cuban rum and Sarasota’s “dynamite” before the day was over.

That New Year’s day celebration, January 1, 1886, was the last happy gathering for the colonists. From then on, they had little cause to rejoice about anything. On January 9, the winds turned from south to north, the temperature dropped, and a cold rain began to fall. It snowed. In subtropical Sarasota! Some of them wondered whether it might be windblown ash from a distant fire until the children made and threw snowballs.

Dead fish washed ashore and a stench filled the air. The colonists became very irate and John Tate, who represented the Florida Mortgage and Investment Co. (FMIC) and had traveled to Sarasota with the Ormiston Colony, left hurriedly. It would be unfair to end this episode allowing the reader to conclude that the FMIC was a sleazy organization with the single purpose of obtaining the colonists 100 pounds sterling. The promised town and the 40 acre farms had been platted and registered with the Clerk of Courts, and over the next 18 months, FMIC spent 50,000 pounds on improvements. Would it be enough?

In buggy - Mr. Hamlin Whitaker, Mrs. Nell Adams, Mrs. Charles Abbe. On ground - Mrs. Anton Kleinoscheg (Aunt Carrie), ca.1890.
Credit: Sarasota County Historical Resources A.K. Whitaker Collection

(Continued..)

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Leland Desmon
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THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (7th in a series)

THE SCOTTISH COLONY ARRIVES
In the previous installments, -it was stated that through chicanery, the Governor of Florida deeded 700,000 acres, some of which included properties' of the Sarasota's pioneer homesteaders, into the hands of land speculators. This led to the formation of the Vigilance Committee and the subsequent shotgun killing of Harrison T. Riley and Charles Abbe who were suspected of cooperating with the speculators.

Although not a party to the trickery, an organization that benefited from the "re-deeding" was the Florida Mortgage and Investment Co. (FMIC) a British concern whose president was Sir John Gillespie (inset). The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Dean of the Guild of Edinburgh were directors of FMIC. The economy of Scotland in the 1880's was very poor and an advertisement by the FMIC in an Edinburgh newspaper in August 1885 seeking colonists for the "wonderful new town of Sarasota in the richest and most. beautiful section of the entire State of Florida" drew great interest. Colonists were promised a 40 acre ,estate and a lot in town in exchange for 100 pounds sterling (equivalent to 500 U.S. dollars) before departure. Twenty three Scottish families (totaling 68 people) headed by John B. Browning sold their businesses and personal possessions, paid 100 pounds sterling and met in Glasgow for the steamship crossing. The group was called the Ormiston Colony, after the estate of Sir John Gilespie.

The colonists sailed from Glasgow on the steamship "Furnesia" on November 25, 1885 and arrived in New York on December 10th after a very stormy trip. They passed through customs, were met by Selven Tate, one of the promoters of the colonization scheme, and taken to a hotel. After three days of marveling at the sights of New York, they sailed on the steamship "State of Texas" for Fernandina, Florida, arriving on December 17.

From there, they traveled west across the state on a narrow gauge railroad known -as 'two streaks of rust"- ending-up at Cedar Key on December 18th.

At Cedar Key, Tate told them that they would have to wait several weeks for lumber needed to build portable houses in Sarasota. This was very disquieting, as they had been told that accommodations were awaiting them in Sarasota. Christmas came and went with no lumber.
The colonists chartered the small (less than 100 feet long) side-wheel steamer, "Gov. Stafford" for the trip to Sarasota. The -women and children spent the night in the overcrowded cabin. The men slept on top of the luggage in the engine room.

The next morning Mrs. Lawrie opened a 100-pound chest of tea that she had brought along, asked the captain for boiling water, and made tea for everyone. It helped to cheer the colonists. On December 28th, The "Gov. Stafford" crept to anchorage, 100 yards from shore. It was the first steamer ever to arrive in Sarasota and there was no dock for it to tie up to. After being ferried to shore in small rowboats, they looked for the model town that was shown on the maps given them in Scotland. There was only the company store and an abandoned fish oil plant at the waterfront.

The colonists gathered at the company store and demanded the truth from A. C. Acton, the local representative of the FMIC, who told them that they had come earlier than expected.

The native Whitakers and others who had heard the steamboat's whistle arrived and rafted the colonists' trunks and boxes to shore. When the luggage was unloaded, the "Gov. Stafford" lifted anchor, blew the whistle, and disappeared behind the keys.

Mrs. Lawrie opened her tea chest again, Mr. Acton brought boiling water from the company store, and there was tea for all.

(To be continued)..

(C) Copyright, 2007 - Leland Desmon.

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THE SETTLING OF Sarasota (6th in a series)

Murder stains the history of Sarasota

Charles Abbe (inset), his wife, Charlotte, and teenage daughters, Carrie and Nellie landed in the town of Manatee (now Bradenton) in November 1877. The family had lived in a suburb of Chicago where Charles had been a salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine Company.

Charles had visited Florida during 1875 and 1876 and bought 359 acres along the bay in what is now Sarasota for less than $1.00 per acre. In the spring of 1877, he bought additional acreage from the state and more land in January 1878.

Charlotte and Charles built a house at what is now the intersection of Arlington Street and Osprey Avenue, a few miles south of the Whitaker's home. He advertised in northern newspapers inviting tourists to winter at his "hotel". He farmed a portion Of the property, opened a store, and in July 1878 applied for a U.S. Post Office to be located at his house. It was granted in August, named Sarasota, and served forty families.

In 1879 Nellie Abbe married Furman Whitaker, the son of Mary Jane and William Whitaker. Charles became active in local politics and was appointed Commissioner in 1882.

Under the Homestead Act of 1862, practically all of the land in this federal public domain was opened for colonization. The Swamp Land Act of 1650 made it possible for Florida pioneers in clever deals with Federal Agents to have 22 million acres classified as swamp land, more than half the state.

On June 12, 1883, under the influence of 'business interests', Florida Governor William D. Bloxham signed a deed giving title of 246,052 acres of land to the Florida Land & Improvement Co. headed by Hamilton Disston, a saw manufacturer of Philadelphia. One week later (June 19, 1883) he gave title to 271,796 more acres of Manatee County land to the Florida Southern Railroad and 48,971 acres to the Florida Mortgage and Investment Co., Ltd, a British concern. A total of 697, 846 acres were finally given away, much of it previously deeded to the pioneer homesteaders.

In April 1884, a meeting was held at Jason Alford's home; 17 pioneers attended, and formed the Sara Sota Vigilance Committee. It was said that they organized to prevent their community from being unjustly gobbled up by the land grabbers.

On June 1884, Harrison T. Riley was riding his pony on the trail from Bee Ridge to Abbe's Post Office, when he was hit by three shotgun blasts. Three men came out of the palmetto. One shot him again, and one cut his throat.

A coroner's jury was empanelled, visited the scene and returned the verdict: "killed by parties unknown". Nearly all of the jury members were Vigilantes.

One reason given later for Riley's death was that he was living with Widow Mary Suringer, (without benefit of clergy), and that he intended to steal her property. Riley's murder was also a "test" meant to discover whether the authorities (the sheriff lived forty miles away) would do anything about it.

(To Be Continued)..

(C) Copyright, 2007 - Leland Desmon.
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THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (5th in a series)

After the Civil War was over and the shock of Abraham Lincoln's Assassination (April 14, 1865) passed, the Whitaker's fortunes improved, the cattle herds increased and Mary Jane and William Whitaker sent to Ohio to obtain Miss Harper, a tutor for their children.

In February 1867, John (inset) and Eliza Webb left their home in Utica, N.Y. to build a new life in Florida. Eliza had asthma, and her doctor suggested that the warm climate would be beneficial health-wise.

The Webb's had heard about the Sarasota area from a Federal soldier who had been in the area during the Civil War, and who spoke of the warm weather, beautiful vegetation and abundance of fish and game. He said nothing about mosquitoes, alligators, or snakes.

They set sail from New York City with their five children, Jack, Will, Ann, Lizzie, and Ginny, plus Mrs. Webb's sister Emily Graves, and her father Deacon Graves Sixteen days later they arrived in Key West, and were very glad to set foot on land.

While in Key West, they learned of a location near Sarasota Bay that seemed to be a good home site, described to them by a Cuban fisherman who was familiar with the area. He told them that it was near an Indian burial mound, had fresh water springs and was high enough to be safe from flooding. The area is now called Spanish Point.

The entire Webb family group traveled from Key West to Manatee where they bought a sloop and investigated the area south of Manatee. They met Bill Whitaker who was familiar with all parts of the area; he recognized the description of Spanish Point, and helped the Webbs find it. They claimed their land under the Homestead Act of 1862 (September 10).
The Webbs built a log house 50 feet long, large enough to house the entire family.

The roof was made of thatched Palmetto. Lumber was being milled in Manatee and the family purchased some of these boards to construct an interior room. The women and children slept inside the room and the men in the outer area.

They cleared land and planted sugar cane, peas, corn, squash, and sweet potatoes. The deer and wild turkeys invaded the growing crops. Keeping these animals from destroying the crops kept the family in venison and turkey meat.

As the sugar cane crop ripened, John Webb opened a manufacturing plant to refine sugar and produce syrup.

He also built the first 'winter resort' that had individual guest cottages. It was
advertised in northern newspapers as Webb's Winter Resort on Little Sarasota Bay, a
special Paradise. Tourists began to arrive by the dozens.

A small community grew up in Webb's neighborhood and in 1884 he applied for a post office. The community was named Osprey in accord with his wishes.

Guidebooks were being published which told of the 'idyllic' destination. In addition to a place to vacation, people who were seeking opportunity in farming and agriculture came as did those interested in hunting and fishing.

The Webbs made many contributions to the community known as Sarasota and are one of the most influential families of the early pioneer homestead era. For forty years, the family farmed more than 10 acres. They shipped vegetables, citrus, and sugar to markets in Key West and Cedar Key.

On site at Spanish Point is a pioneer cemetery where members of the Webb family are buried.

(To Be Continued)..

(C) Copyright, 2007 - Leland Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on any other webpage, website, or publication. Please LINK TO US instead.

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (4th in a series)

On September 10, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act of 1862 that opened 270 million acres (10% of the area of the USA) to settlers' claims. To claim a 160 acre of land, 1/4 of a square mile), a homesteader had to be the head of a household, 21 years of age, live on the land, build a home, and farm it for 5 years. The total filing fee was $18.

How Bill Whitaker got title to his homestead is unknown. His grant states that it was made under the provisions of the Act of 1847. According to the Library of Congress, there is no Act of 1847 that would apply.

There was an "Armed Occupation Act of 1841 " (August 4) which awarded 160 acres of land in certain areas of east Florida to men able to bear arms against the Indians. This Act was short lived, however, due to the opposition of planters and land speculators who "foresaw an uncontrollable land boom" but really didn't want common folks to become independent. It was as a result of this Act that Bill Whitaker at age 18 came to the area and fought in the Seminole Indian War.

In January 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves. Hannah and Jeffrey, two of Whitaker's slaves had lived happily on the Whitaker Plantation until they were liberated and taken to Key West by Union soldiers. After the war ended, Jeffrey chose to return to the Whitaker's but Hannah stayed in Key West.

As the Civil War continued, raids on the Whitaker homestead by Union soldiers, some of whom were deserters, became more frequent. All the livestock disappeared and edible crops were destroyed; Whitaker moved his family to Manatee.

While living in Manatee, Whitaker worked hard to support the Confederacy. He operated a gristmill deep in the Myakka Lake area that provided grits and corn meal for local families. Supplies of durable goods normally obtained from the north became unavailable because of the Union blockade of the southern ports.

Bill ran the blockade in his wagon pulled by a team of mules, to buy shoes, materials, etc. in Gainesville. When shoes jumped in cost from $2 to $12 a pair, and calico to $5 per yard, the runs stopped because no one could afford to purchase them.

The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General U.S. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, and the Whitaker family returned to their homestead in what was to be Sarasota.

(To be continued)..

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THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (3rd in a series)

Although Billie Bowlegs and his party agreed to go to the Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, one of his braves, Tiger Tall, refused to leave his homeland. He drank a glass of water to which he added ground glass, spread a blanket on the beach, laid down on It, and died.

While Mrs, Whitaker and her daughters, Nancy and Louise, were encamped at Fort Branch, the Seminole Indians burned their log house at Yellow Bluffs. Bill Whitaker, a captain in the company of volunteers, had gone to seek help in fighting the Indians. When the family returned to Sarasota, they built a wood frame house at what is now the southeast corner of 12 th Street and the Tamiami Trail (Route 41). It was completed in July 1857.

Bill then set about to round up the cattle that had been allowed to roam free, The herd had grown considerably and he was able to sell many of them.

One day in 1857, William was riding the cattle range and heard a noise from a clump of palmetto, It was a Negro men, who was frightened, hungry, and Ill, and had been abused by his master. William lifted the runaway slave onto his horse, behind the saddle, and took him home, Mary Jane cared for him until he was well. The slave's name was Jeffrey Bolding and had been on the run for a month. William contacted Jeffrey's master in North Carolina and purchased him for $1,000. Florida was a pro-slavery state and Jeff was the first slave in what is now Sarasota County.

Later that year, Mary Jane and William bought three more slaves, Harriet, John, and Hannah, at an auction in Manatee. Folklore has it that the Union Bank foreclosed on the Gamble Mansion mortgages and the auction of Gamble's slaves was ordered to satisfy those debts, Jeff and Hannah fell in love and were married by a Negro minister in a ceremony attended by many Negroes from nearby plantations.

On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States; pressure from the northern states to abolish slavery was increasing.

On January 10, 1861, Florida seceded from the Union; South Carolina and Mississippi had previously done so. On February 8, 1861, seven southern states set up the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as President. The Civil War began when the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumpter In Charleston, South Carolina on April 12 and captured It on April 14th By May, 11 states had seceded, and William had gone off to join the Confederate Army.

The Union Navy blockaded the coastal ports cutting supplies to a trickle. Shoes and clothing had to be repaired, patched, and mended. Salt was obtained by boiling bay water and scraping the residue from the sides of the kettle, Coffee was made from roasted corn.

Several times, Union gunboats came into Sarasota Bay and sailors came ashore for food, water and oranges. Upon sighting these arrivals, the chickens were scattered and the cows driven into the woods.

In one instance a Union soldier threatened to burn the Whitaker's home, Mary Jane handed him matches and dared him to burn down the home of a defenseless woman. That "saved the day".

In another instance, a soldier stole Furman's rifle; he was seven or eight at the time. Mary Jane told him to go to the soldier's encampment, find the officer in charge, and demand the return of his rifle, which was necessary to help keep the family in food. Furman did so, the officer found the gun, and returned it to the boy, with apologies.

(To Be Continued)..

(C) Copyright, 2007 - Leland Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on any other webpage, website, or publication. Please LINK TO US instead.

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (2nd in a series)

One day while she was on the south bank of the Manatee River, a band of Seminole Indians stepped from the bushes across from Mary Jane Whitaker and the leader motioned for her to bring her boat across to them. The Indians were friendly at the time, so she paddled across. The leader was Chief Billy Bowlegs. He had one of his braves return her to the south side, used the boat to bring his band across the river, and returned the boat to her.

In 1855 a group of Army engineers and surveyors invaded the home area of Billy Bowlegs, cutting down banana trees and destroying property. In retaliation Bowlegs and his warriors conducted sporadic raids on the settlements and the settlers moved to a camp at Branch Fort on the Manatee River for protection.

While living at Branch Fort, Mary Jane's first son, Furman Chairs, was born. He was the first native born Manatee County resident. William, a Captain in a company of volunteers, was away fighting Indians in what has been call the third Seminole Indian War.

The area that is now Sarasota was part of Hillsboro County until 1855 at the time Manatee County was formed. It included the area from south of Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Okeechobee.

Although Billy Bowlegs signed the 1832 Treaty, that required the Indians to move to Oklahoma, he refused to leave Florida. The surrender of Oceola and the loss of other Seminole chiefs left Bowlegs and his band of 200 warriors as the most prominent fighters remaining. In May Of 1858, the U.S. paid Billy Bowlegs $7,500 for himself, $500 each for the remaining braves, and $100 for each woman and child in his party in return for which, they all departed for the Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. It was reported that Bill B. got drunk and stayed a happy warrior for a long time.

(To be continued)..

(C) Copyright, 2007 - Leland Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on any other webpage, website, or publication. Please LINK TO US instead.

THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (The start of a series)

Before the encroachment of the paleface, the area now known as Florida, was a vast wilderness inhabited by as many as 45 tribes of Indians. The origin of the term 'Indian' is credited to Columbus. When he landed on Hispanola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in 1492, he believed he had discovered a new route to India and hence he called the inhabitants Indians.

In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon, after having sailed with Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage, left from Puerto Rico and reached the east coast of Florida (St. Augustine), on April 2 (Palm Sunday). He named the land "Pascua de Florida" (Feast of Flowers), and claimed it for Spain.
In 1521, while searching for Bimini, where he hoped to find gold and the Fountain of Youth, he arrived on the West Coast of Florida.

In 1819, Spain ceded Florida to the USA. As a result of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842, and after having spent four years fighting in the Seminole Indian Wars, 21 year old Will H. Whitaker, said to be the first white settler, arrived in the Sarasota area, and homesteaded 145 acres on Yellow Bluffs, (now Whitaker Bayou). He planted a large orange grove, caught mullet that he cleaned, salted, and sold to Cuban traders for one cent each. In 1847, Will purchased his first stock of cattle and named the brand #47.

On June 10, 1851, he married Mary Jane Wyatt, youngest child of Colonel William Wyatt and wife, Mary. It was said of Mary Jane that she could ride horseback like a man, herd cattle, and shoot the head off a wild turkey at 100 yards.

On April 19, 1852, Nancy Catherine Stuart Whitaker, the first of ten children, was born. Will and Mary's first home was destroyed by Seminole Indians, and in 1857 they built another home at what is now the intersection of 12th Street and U.S. 41 in Sarasota. Except for frequent raids, swarms of mosquitoes, bears, wolves, wildcats, 180-pound panthers, alligators, razorback hogs, and poisonous snakes, life was peaceful.

(To be continued)...

(C) Copyright, 2007 - Leland Desmon.

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Settling of Sarasota Florida, an Introduction..

The following series of articles was written to satisfy inquiries about Sarasota Florida’s rich history. The Settling of Sarasota is a walk through history, from the time of the Scottish Colonist (The Ormiston Colony) in the 1800's up to present day. It will introduce you to many of Sarasota's early pioneers.

Continued..

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