Martin Digital History

Browse Items (8 total)

  • Lagow came to the Fort Pierce area at 14 with her family.

    She describes their housing, activities, and social interactions in the early days. She and her two sisters gathered saw palmetto berries for selling. They were frequently scared by bears and snakes and were constantly plagued by mosquitos and sand fleas.

    She comments on several visitors and people she meets while traveling around the area. The earliest settlers of Fort Pierce, Eden, Edgartown, and Jupiter are mentioned, including the Hogg family, the Hendry family, Thomas Richards, as are several Seminole Indians, including Polly Parker and Tuscanuga.

    In 1879, she married James S. Bell. She mentioned several jobs he had, including as barefoot mailman for a short time, a boat captain, and other jobs.

  • E. P. Simpson, Editor of the Stuart Messenger in 1918, hoped to write the history of Stuart. In preparation he ran a series of articles based on interviews of early settlers. The articles detail life in early Stuart and the people who settled here.

    Simpson was a great promoter of Stuart, and at the time the series was published, was President of the Commercial Club, forerunner of the Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce. Suddenly, on September 3, 1918, E. P. Simpson is replaced by Miss Frances Bouchelle as Editor of the Stuart Messenger and appears as the Associate Editor of the Tropical Sun in West Palm Beach. Simpson submitted the final installments of the series to the Stuart Messenger but retained his interest in Stuart's pioneer history and on June 20, 1919 he published an interview with Katie Hamilton Dyer, Stuart's first school teacher, in the Tropical Sun.

    This collection includes transcriptions of the articles in the Stuart Messenger and a clipping of the Tropical Sun article.


    1. Original Remnant of Florida Seminoles, 4/4/1918 (E.P. Simpson)
    2. Stuart's Pioneers and First Settlers, 4/25/1918 (E.P. Simpson)
    3. When Stuart Started In Trade Boat Days, 5/2/1918 (after an interview with Walter Kitching)
    4. Early Settlers on the St. Lucie River, 5/9/1918 (after an interview with Benjamin Parks)
    5. Stories of Early Settlers, 5/16/18 (after an interview with Magarette Frazier)
    6. The Pioneer Settlers at Sewall's Point, 5/30/1918 (after an interview with Henry Edwin Sewall)
    7. The Oldest Resident Tourist in Stuart, 6/6/1918 (after an interview with William D. McFarland)
    8. Among Early Comers Sailing Indian River, 6/13/1918 (after an interview with Charles E. Guller)
    9. Pineapple Pioneers Who Helped Stuart, 6/20/1918 (after an interview with Robert and Marcia McPherson)
    10. Stuart's First Settlers Liked the Teachers, 6/27/1918, (after an interview with Albert Rudolph Krueger)
    11. Rio-San Lucie Was Re-Named in 1894, 7/4/1918 (after an interview with W.E. Rea)
    12. A Pioneer Cracker Early Stuart Hunter, 7/11/1918 (after an interview with A.D. Fort)
    13. Judge J.B. Adams An Early Settler, 7/18/1918 (after an interview with Judge John B. Adams)
    14. Jupiter Island and Hobe Sound History, 7/25/1918 (after an interview with E.P. Simpson)
    15. Where the Potsdam Depot First Stood, 8/8/1918 (after an interview with R.L. Beville)
    16. First Settlements on St. Lucie River, 8/22/1918 (after an interview with Thomas Jefferson DeSteuben)
    17. Capt. Rea's Wrecks at Gilbert's Bar, 9/5/1918 (after an interview with W.E. Rea)
    18. Settlement of the St. Lucie River, 9/26/1918 (after an interview with Thomas Jefferson DeSteuben)
    19. Settlement of the St. Lucie Continued, 10/3/1918 (after an interview with Thomas Jefferson DeSteuben)
    20. Settlement Stories: Why Horseshoe Bend, 10/24/1918 (after an interview with Thomas Jefferson DeSteuben)
    21. Stuart's First School Teacher Lives in West Palm Beach, 6/20/1919 (after an interview with Katie Hamilton Dyer)

  • Diary of Margaret Peck Johnson (1864-1935), made during her boat travel on the Indian River and in White City in 1894. Margaret, her husband (William T. Johnson), two children (Pearl and Sallie) take a boat from Cocoa, Florida down the Indian River to the St. Lucie Inlet, then west and north up the St. Lucie River to White City, Florida. They are accompanied by another couple, Calvin and Minnie Coutant, from Cocoa to Fort Pierce.

    The first 28 pages (14 Jan 1894-23 Feb 1894) of the diary details the fish and game caught along the river and meals cooked, activities, people met, and towns visited, including a stop in Fort Pierce where the men helped Willie's father build a store for several days. Comments on the flora, including flowers, ferns, and orchids are made throughout. The diary then details the family's lives settling in the newly established planned community of The White City (23 Feb 1894-12 March 1894). The family purchased two lots and there are several mentions of how nice Col. Myers was to them and activities in the community.

    The White City settlement was established in 1893 by Louis Albert Francois Pio (14 December 1841 – 27 June 1894). Pio was one of the founders of the Danish Social Democratic Party in Denmark. He fled to America because of persecution, and he and several other Danes attempted to establish a socialist Utopian colony in Kansas, but it failed. He then had many jobs in America, including as a journalist and editor, and also managing the Florida Exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. At the fair, he met railroad tycoon Henry Flagler, who convinced him to promote a new town along the rail lines. Pio wrote pamphlets, articles, and placed ads about the community, targeted toward the Danish. The settlement was named "The White City" (although the U.S. post office refused to recognize the article "The" as part of the name in 1894) for two reasons: One, in commemoration of the World's Fair (the main street was also "Midway Road" for the same reason), and two, because the company would not sell land to Black people or employ them in any way. ("Florida's White City," The Sun, New York, 6 May 1894, p. 15) Pio died in June 1894, soon after the community is established. [The "Mr. Peer" mentioned in the diary may refer to Pio.] Soon after, Col. Myers absconded with the community's funds. Settlers were left destitute, and then faced a "Great Freeze" in winter 1894-1895, which killed most of the crops. It took several years for residents to recover.

    It is unknown if the Thompson family experienced any of this hardship. However, they were back in Alabama for the 1900 Federal census. It is unknown if this is an excerpt from a much longer diary. There is a note on the last page that it was given to Margaret's daughter Sallie B. Johnson in Jan 1902.

    Diary was donated in 1871 to HSMC by Mary E. Cates in memory of her grandmother Margaret Johnson (the diary author) and the two little girls mentioned in the diary (Sallie was Cates' mother), and by the generosity of her first cousin, Wilburn McAlister (Pearl's son), who had the original diary for many years.
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  • Details Priest's experiences in Florida from about 1868, when he and his family moved to Titusville. The family lived in several places in Volusia County, including Cook's Ferry near Lake Haney and near Ormond, with his father usually earning a living by lumbering. Encounters with bears, boars, alligators, and swarms of bees are detailed. Also discusses the regular abuse of Seminoles he had seen, and details the experiences of Coekeechee, son of Osceola.

    Includes the story of Augustus Oswald Lang (1835–1873), who married Priest's oldest sister, Susan (1856-1918). He first opened the Lake Worth inlet to the sea, and later was murdered by friends who wanted his land.

    p. 2 Foreword by Marty Baum
    p. 3 Autobiography of Joseph Lark Priest : A Florida Pioneer
    p. 38 Descendants of Dugal Priest
    p. 40 Index of names
    p. 41 Index of topics
    p. 50 Photocopies of photographs of the Priest family
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  • Copy of handwritten notes of Josephine Kitching Taylor (1895-1987) on Stuart history and the activities of her father, Walter Kitching; her own experiences; and genealogical information about the Kitching family, the Michael family, the Taylor family, and the Ashley family.

    These notes may have been chiefly written in the 1970s, with later additions made in the 1980s.

    Index of topics. (SKT refers to Sarah Josephine Kitching Taylor)

    PDF page:
    002-004 - Joseph and Sarah Kitching genealogy
    005 - Walter Kitching
    007 - 1883 came to Florida
    008 - purchased and homesteaded land
    010 - ran a "floating store"
    017 - performed marriages
    021 - met his wife Emma Michael
    023 - SKT born
    024 - William and Willis Bessey early settler of Stuart area, but there was an earlier settler in the Palm City area named Mullihan, whose son was named Leroy S. Mullihan
    026 - Michael family- mother Emma's older brothers John and Stephen lived in Wabasso and Orchid. Stephen's son Alfred B. ran Walter's boats
    029 - Memories of SKT's childhood
    041 - Mother Emma Michael
    043 - SKT describes attending Guilford College in N.C.
    044 - Mother Emma Michael
    045 - Broster Kitching background detailed
    046 - Mangoes, cocoanuts, pineapples in Stuart area
    048 - Kitching home built, first home with running water, bathroom, and a windmill
    051 - Walter Kitching's family in England
    053 - Kitching home described. Eliza and Tom Gardner [Gorden in 1910 census] staffed.
    059 - Describes pioneer life including eating mostly canned goods
    061 - Railroad came in 1894, details Walter Kitching selling the boat, Alfred B. Michael captained under new owner
    062 - Walter Kitching opened store about 1896, then large store in 1897
    063 - "Soap Bubble Club" detailed (this was a Larkin Soap Company promotion, with Avon or Tupperware style sales)
    064 - Seminole shoppers
    070 - Billy Bowlegs III (1862-1965)
    071 - Lumber for house hauled from north of Stuart, called "Wa-Wa" (Wild Goose) at that time, name later changed to Gosling
    072 - Hobe Sound settlers, including Snyder the catsup man [this must refer to the Snider house on Jupiter Island. Snider Catsup was a popular product]
    073 - SKT took music lessons with Mamie Hancock
    075 - SKT schooling. Went to Stuart School, but Professor James R. Pomeroy was so rough with the students it made her nervous so she went to WPB for one year (1908), then returned to attend Stuart High School in 1909. Attended Guilford College for 3 years, starting in 1910
    077 - SKT came home from college for xmas, met John Edwin Taylor. Married on shared birthday March 10th, 1914.
    080 - SKT describes dress, trousseau, flowers
    082 - SKT and husband snuck out from wedding to honeymoon at Gilbert's Bar.
    085 - Description of their first house, later second story added.
    089 - SKT's children and their spouses outlined
    090 - Emma Elizabeth Taylor and her children's histories. Emma married in SKT's wedding dress
    091 - Record of Emma's daughters' marriages and children. Notes that they wore SKT's wedding dress
    092 - John Edwin Taylor III's family
    096 - F.E.C. plan to cross river at Sewall's Point and Walter Kitching's efforts to convince them to come to Stuart instead
    101 - Story of name change from Potsdam to Stuart 1895
    104 - Picnics
    108 - Walter Kitching's second store built, later bought by SKT's husband. Sold in 1922 to Raulerson General Merchandise
    111 - The first small railroad station, across from now Stuart Feed Store, was moved to Salerno. [Notes that new railroad station built in 1916 or 1918, but it was 1913]
    112 - Walter Kitching owned an orange grove in PSL
    115 - Details husband John E. Taylor's involvement with the establishment of new county. He was elected first state rep in 13 Oct 1925 and built El Bit-Lor in 1925.
    116 - SKT's family moved to Little Rock during depression 1931-1937 where husband became a bank examiner. Returned to Stuart and opened real estate and insurance business 4 Nov 1937.
    118 - Historical information on Celestial Railroad
    121 - Danforth Hotel, Grover Cleveland
    132 - Seminole Bank, Bank of Stuart
    135 - Sylvanus Kitching family
    136 - Our Pets
    143 - List of great-grandchildren
    147 - Methodist Church involvement
    154 - Emma and Dick Ashley histories
    159 - P.E.O. sisterhood history and involvement
    165 - Garden Club
    168 - Other organizations, including Lively Arts Society, HSMC, Animal Rescue League, Woman's Aglow Fellowship, Stuart Woman's Club
    170 - Hobbies and collections of SKT
    171 - Clippings, programs, mailings
    189 - Vacations
    193 - Note from SKT written in 1982
    195 - Notes on her children and grandchildren
    197 - First United Methodist Church programs and copies of clippings
    206 - Photo of Women's Club

  • Nils Wilhelm "Bill" Jorgensen (1896-1977) was the first child born to the Danish community that settled White City (named for a section of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair exhibition), a settlement south of Fort Pierce. He was frequently interviewed and gave presentations on White City history. Page 11 is missing.

    This short history details the settling of White City by a group of Danes from Nebraska and presents several humorous stories of resident escapades. It includes stories of interactions with Indians; descriptions of wood cutting and home building; details of social interactions and "tall tales" told at the country store; gator hunting techniques; clearing hyacinths from canals; agricultural activities, including pineapple crops failing due to lack of potash, and planting the first citrus grove in the area.
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  • Indian River : Florida's treasure coast by Walter R. Hellier. Hurricane House Publishers, Coconut Grove, Florida, 1965

    Walter R. Hellier (1889-1973) moved to Jensen Beach with his family in 1903. After a varied career, including working as a engineer to help build the Amphibious Training Center in Ft. Pierce. He served as director of the Florida Historical Society and as member and officer of many Florida historical and arts committees and was a columnist for the Ft. Pierce News-Tribune, writing the "Palmetto Rambler."

    This book chronicles the history of the Indian River and Treasure Coast region. The last half of the book includes memoirs of the author's interests and experiences growing up in the area.

    Names of photographers are not identified; however, the author notes in the text that many were taken by the Florida Photographic Concern.
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  • A collection of letters written by Lucie Richards who lived at Eden (near Jensen Beach, Florida), expressing the perceptions of a teenage girl from an urban area (Newark, NJ) living in a then-remote section of Florida. Letters are concentrated in the first few years. Lucie was the daughter of Thomas E. Richards, who in about 1879 homesteaded a large tract of land (near what is now Jensen Beach), establishing a pineapple plantation and called it Eden. His daughter, Lucie, arrived in January 1880 when their home, "Eden Grove House," was being constructed. This house took guests and the settlement grew around them. In November 1887, she married Joseph Howard LeTourneau and after her mother's death in 1905, they bought out the other inheritors of Eden Grove House, which stayed in the Richards' family for decades.
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