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Dale Hipson and his Best Chums during World War II
Be Careful Saying Something is “The First”
In my last blog I said Dr. H. H. Hipson was Martin County’s first dentist. Thank heaven I said “Martin County’s.”
After he read my blog, Boo Lowery said, “I thought Uncle Charlie was the first dentist.” I hemmed and hawed, trying to make allowances for myself. When I reread my blog I was thankful that I had said that Dr. Hipson was “Martin’s County’s first.”
Martin County had not been created when Boo’s great uncle was a dentist. Dr. Charles Roberts was said to be the first dentist in Stuart. At the time Stuart was in Palm Beach County.
I found an account of early dentists I had written for my Stuart book but did not use because of space:
Stuart’s first resident dentist was Charles E. Roberts who came to town with his in-laws the Neil P. McQuaries in 1908 and practiced dentistry here until .1917 when he moved with his family to Atlanta.[i]
[i] “Dr. C. E. Roberts Dies in Atlanta,” Stuart Daily News, October 14, 1926
Young Charles Neil Roberts married Boo’s aunt, Louise Lowery. They lived in Atlanta where Charles was a sports writer for The Atlanta Constitution for 42 years. They visited Stuart as often as possible.
Books could be compiled using the historic photographs and oral histories Harris R. “Boo” Lowery III has shared with me. The whole idea of blog-writing is a way to share with others what friends like Boo have shared with me. Even Boo’s questioning helps me along my way.
Centennial History through Dr. H. H. “Dale” Hipson
Dale Hipson used to joke that no one had lived in Martin County longer than he had. That was because he was born on May 16, 1925, a little before the county was created.
Dale’s father, H. H. “Harry” Hipson, was the first dentist to establish a practice in Martin County. He moved to Stuart in 1923 as soon as electricity was available five days a week. Originally, his office was in the Feroe building that still stands as the law office of Kibby Wagner. Later it was moved to a large wooden building that once stood on Osceola Street, caddy corner from the Lyric Theatre.
In 1941 Dr. Hipson, Sr. moved into a Streamline Art Deco building a block away on Osceola Street. Constructed by Charles Conrad, its style was inspired by the architectural designs of the 1939 World’s Fair.
After graduating from the University of Florida, Dale attended his father’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, and became a dentist too. After Dale retired in 1992, we became close friends through our mutual interests in the environment and local history. Dale was an outdoorsman and actually lived the history I wanted to learn.
Since Dale was an amateur photographer and film maker and one of his two best buddies was Earl Dyer Ricou, a professional photographer, I acquired many images to share.
Dale’s third buddy in what his friends called “The Three Musketeers,” was “Henry C. “Bud” Beckman, Jr. All three loved to explore, hunt and fish. All three were the sons of mayors of the City of Stuart so the three families provide a wealth history to share as we celebrate Martin County’s Centennial.
Expect many more blogs using material I have because of Dr. Dale Hipson.
Half-a-Century in One House
We Thurlows moved into our new house on Banyan Road on Sewall’s Point on Veteran’s Day 1974. It is hard to believe it was 50 years ago.
Dick Granfield designed our house and Paul Siefker of Indiantown’s Martinique Construction, was our contractor.
Years later, when we needed a handicap bath downstairs, Dick’s architect son, Stewart Granfield, designed a pleasing addition.
Dick Granfield placed our house near the street with a big circular driveway that came close to our front door. Visitors have easy access.
The driveway was great when our kids were little. Other neighborhood children liked to bring their scooters and Big Wheels to our house because of the driveway was not on a busy street and had a gentle slope. Later it was skateboards.
A noble black man, Charles Lynn, designed and poured our driveway. Ten years later, when Mr. Lynn put in a walkway at the side of our house, I realized he was an artist in his trade who appreciated the beauty of proper proportion and gentle curves.
Old and new friends respond to an open invitation to sit in the Thurlow driveway on Friday evenings.
So now our driveway that was so popular with the youngsters is popular with the oldsters. Friday, driveway gatherings that began during COVID 19, continue.
Tom Thurlow, in the orange shirt, is no longer with us but his friends continue to gather in his driveway on Friday evenings. Notice the small ramp that allowed his wheelchair to access the driveway.
Neighbors, like Curt Grimmer’s Sulcata Tortoise sometimes drop by on Fridays. Chuck Schad is amused.
Our most regular guest is Chuck Schad, who was Tom Thurlow’s classmate in Liverpool, New York, and who came to visit him by bus after the Thurlows moved to Stuart in 1952. He and his wife, Audrey, moved to Stuart, in 1963 where Chuck’s local banking career began with First National that is now Seacoast.
Thank you, Mr. Lynn. Thank you, Dick Granfield. Thank you, Paul Siefker.
I love my 50 year-old house.
Martin County’s Centennial Year is Coming Soon
On November 9, 1950, The Stuart News put out a 110-page Historical Edition. It had a cover piece showing the plaque at the right of the courthouse entrance that was to be unveiled on Veteran’s Day, two days later.
When our family purchased the negatives of local photographer Arthur Ruhnke, the ones immediately appreciated were of the 1950 Veteran’s Day celebration. The Martin County Council for the Arts had just moved into the 1937 addition to the old courthouse.
My favorite shows Dale and Mike Clark sitting on a car trunk in the foreground. Dale Clark had been my husband’s Stuart High School teacher and “Mike,” whose real name was Ella, was a co-founder of the Environmental Studies Center on Indian River Drive in Jensen Beach. Dale Clark was Principal of Jensen Beach Elementary School on Savanna Road when our kids attended.
When the 1937 addition to the old Martin County Courthouse became the Court House Cultural Center, Mark Taylor who taught photography at FIT, colorized a black and white print of the crowd in front of the flag draped building. Before the days of PhotoShop it was very special. The framed photograph may still be on the wall of the Court House Cultural Center.
The plaque installed in honor of Governor John W. Martin, for whom our county is named still can be seen on the front of the Court House Cultural Center.
Back to the Beginning
My first blog was about compiling A Pictorial History of Palm City with my daughter Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch. The books have arrived from Southeastern Printing, now located in Hialeah. It is time to get them in the hands of those who want them.
We are having a launch party on the patio of the Palm City Social, a trendy new restaurant in the location of the former Palm City Grill in Martin Downs Village Center on November 21 from 4:00 -7;00 pm. Everyone who wants to buy a book is invited.
The beautiful coffee-table style book with its watercolor of palms by acclaimed artist Jerry Rose on its cover should in every Palm City home after Christmas.
Jerry Rose painted the scene soon after he and his wife bought waterfront property from Val Martin, Martin County’s first real book merchant. The painting was a “thank you” to Val.
In 1972, Val Martin sold his bookstore in Stuart located across from Memorial Park and founded Florida Classics Library. He began publishing many valuable out of print books, beginning with Jonathan Dickinson’s Journal. When he died in 2021, at the age of 89, his niece, Julie Alexander took over Florida Classic Library located at 11300 SE Dixie Highway in Hobe Sound.
https://floridaclassicslibrary.com
The painting that graces the dust jacket of A Pictorial History of Palm City was on the wall in Florida Classic Library. Realizing it would make a beautiful cover for our Palm City book, I asked and received permission to use it from both, Julie, the owner, and Jerry, the artist.
Russell Holloway
To know the King sisters who grew up in the Pelican Hotel is to know about Russell Holloway.
Recently, I talked to Nancy Crawford, oldest of Bill and Nina King’s five daughters who told me “Russell raised us.”
I asked how she felt about Russell Holloway living in East Stuart during the years of segregation. Nancy said that was “just the way it was.”
A picture of Russell Holloway surfaced among images collected by Alice and Greg Luckhardt. It showed Russell with Fabian Forte and his wife Katie Regan. It was taken in 1969 during the filming of the movie about the “Notorious Ashley Gang.” Scenes were taken in the Pelican Hotel and some of the cast and crew of the movie stayed there.
When I reread a 1987 newspaper article about Russell Holloway by Sallie Hughes of the Miami Herald, his life story amazed me. The article was published when Russell was 67, after his Pelican Hotel days. Hughes photographed Russell cooking chicken in an East Stuart convenience store but at that time of his life he was also preparing huge dinners for the Macedonia Baptist Church in Gifford where he was pastor.
From the Hughes article we learn that Russell was born in Albany, Georgia and moved to Stuart with two of his sisters in 1939. His brother-in-law, George Mitchell, head chef at the Pelican Hotel, taught him to cook and hired him to work at the hotel. Before Russell perfected his cooking crafts he was drafted into the U.S. Army. In Massachusetts, he was preparing to go overseas when he met Gen. George Patton in a chow line. Patton, who knew a good deal about the quality of camp fare asked, “Who’s the cook?” Russell replied, “I’m the cook.”
Sgt. Russell Halloway went with Patton to victories in Morocco and Tunisia, through the siege of Sicily and into Nazi Germany.
When Sallie Hughes asked if he fought? Russell said, “Everybody fought. I have the scars to prove it.” Of course, he also cooked. Provisions were good. A Patton favorite was lamb stew that Patton insisted all the men have when he did.
The fighting cook returned to Stuart and became the Pelican’s top chef.
I know my friend Kay King Norris still uses some of Russell Holloway’s “cooking tricks.”
More on Bill King and the Pelican Hotel
Imagine my delight when I recently came across this portrait in my own collection of scans of negatives from Earl Dyer Ricou. Although there was no identification, I felt sure it must be Bill King so I sent it to John Norris his grandson and asked if it was his grandfather. The family confirmed it was .
What better way to share the accomplishments of Bill King than through an Ernest Lyons Column? The column was written after local attorney Jim Littman converted the Pelican Hotel to an office building.
The Pelican Hotel placed ads in Annual Fishing Guides distributed by the Martin County Chamber of Commerce. This is page four of the 1950 edition.
Local residents could buy memberships to the Pelican Hotel swimming pool. My friend Kay King Norris has always sworn that the guy doing a swan dive off the diving board in this photograph was my husband Tom Thurlow Jr. My Tom was not a show off so I’ve always wondered if it could really be true.
Anyone can leaf through Fishing Guides on Martin Digital History https://www.martindigitalhistory.org/collections/show/6
The King Era of the Pelican Hotel
Boom times did not last. Drew W. King Sr. came to the rescue of the Pelican Hotel in 1928. I was delighted to find the exact date on newspapers.com.
I knew that King Sr. owned and operated the King Hotel in Tullahoma, Tennessee and wondered if he came to Stuart because of a connection with affluent families from the Nashville area who had been guests in the Pelican Hotel. Members of Maxwell House Coffee Cheek family and H. G. Hill family, with 500 grocery stores in Tennessee, were big Pelican Hotel boosters. Newman Cheek built a house adjacent to the hotel that still stands.
After managing the Pelican Hotel for a decade Drew King, Sr. purchased it in 1939 and, with the help of his son Bill, continued to manage it. However, Drew Sr. died in December 1944 at the young age of 61. Two of his three sons were in the US Army. Drew, Jr. was serving in the invasion forces in the Philippines. Grover arrived for the funeral from Camp Beale, California. His daughter, Libba, was married to George Parks Jr. and another daughter, Lillie, was married to Bernard Coker.
Bill and Nina King’s five daughters; Nancy, Kay, Lillie May, Elsie Ann and finally, Quintina, grew up in Stuart and were, and continue to be, very popular. (The Kings’ use of the prefix quin meaning “five” or “fivefold” always makes me smile.)
Running the Pelican Hotel was a family affair. When Sue Fletcher, the girls’ cousin came to visit and help out, she was soon married to the town’s young second generation dentist , Dr. H. H. “Dale” Hipson .
There are so many angles to the Kings’ era at the Pelican Hotel, it will take several blogs to cover them.
I reread the article “Looking down from the Third Floor,” by Christina Martinez, written when she was a South Fork High School Student in 1991. The article about the King girls living in the Pelican Hotel, is in Florida Cracker Sampler produced by South Fork High School teachers Paul Catano and Ron Ashley with a grant from the Florida Endowment for the Humanities. (Now Florida Humanities.)
The Florida Cracker Sampler has been scanned in Martin Digital History and is available to all.
https://www.martindigitalhistory.org/items/show/3468
I think this link will take you right to the PDF of the Florida Cracker Sampler. You can leaf through the whole book. The article about the King sisters is on pages 70-72. The students who wrote the articles and did the interviews are more than “grown up” now.
“Just One Place for a Harbor”
The local dream for a huge deep water port within the St. Lucie Inlet has been the subject of previous blogs. Harry Lyons, the father of beloved longtime Stuart News editor, Ernie Lyons, has also been the subject of a blog; as has the Florida Photographic Concern. This blog ties all three together is a surprising way.
Fifteen years ago, Juanita Brown Fisher and her husband Jack bought a box of old sheet music at Palm City Auction. “Just One Place for a Harbor” published in 1924 was in the box. The words were written by Harry Lyons and the music was composed by Harry’s brother-in-law Chancellor L. Jenks.
When I saw it, I could not believe my eyes. Juanita has a lovely voice and sang in her church choir. I twisted her arm and had her sing the song acapella for a September 9, 2009 Stuart Heritage program. Juanita has never completely forgiven me but she made herself my friend forever. I have had scanned copies of the sheet music in my computer ever since the program.
Those who know music say this song is “a challenge.”
Ernie Lyons’ sister, Isabel Williams, allowed me to make copies of her family photographs. Among them were photographs of Chancellor Jenks at the piano where he composed the harbor song. Harry Lyons wrote on the photograph saying so.
The Jenks home was in the affluent community of Kenilworth near Chicago where Harry Lyons’ success in real estate sales inspired his grand plans for Martin County.
Harry Lyons mentioned phonograph records. His daughter, Isabel, and newspaper articles told of Florida Photographic Concern movies showing what new Martin County had to offer. Although no phonograph records or moving pictures films have survived., Florida Photographic Concern prints continue to be discovered and shared.
