Tag Archives: Port Sewall

Maloney’s Cashel Endures

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From Cashel there is an unparalleled view of St. Lucie River and Indian River as they flow toward the St. Lucie Inlet.

Alison Azar Beckmeyer who, with her husband, purchased Cashel in 2016, is proud to own the mansion and has lovingly restored it. She recounts how, at the closing, realtor Kim Spears, emotionally expressed the community’s gratefulness that Cashel was being preserved.

When news of the impending purchase got around, one of Alison’s Cleveland colleagues and Martin County history buffs inundated her with the historic background of Cashel and Martin Maloney. Later, Alison visited Moloney-built, St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Spring Lake, New Jersey.  She was surprised when the church docent did not know Martin Maloney had a winter home in Florida.

Beautiful St. Catherine’s Catholic Church stands near Spring Lake and close to the Atlantic Ocean.

Alison purchased a book about St. Catherine’s Church and, returning to her car, flipped through it. An image of a greeting card that featured, among other buildings, “Cashel in Port Sewall, Florida,” caught her eye. She went back into the church to show it to the docent.

This plaque in on the wall in St. Catherine’s Church.

This got the attention of a priest who was interested to know Alison and Tom Beckmeyer were the proud owners of the Maloney winter home. After learning its name, he pointed a religious mural high above them. One of the figures was Ireland’s “King of Cashel” featuring Martin Maloney’s face!

This 1926 Greeting shows three of buildings funded by Martin Maloney as well as his homes in Spring Lake and Port Sewall.

Alison Beckmeyer snapped this photo of the “King of Cashel” with Martin Maloney’s features.

The wrought iron fence that once surrounded Maloney’s Ballingarry now surrounds a half dozen fine homes. This photograph was taken Allison Beckmeyer when she visited Spring Lake, New Jersey.
Even though Martin Maloney’s daughter, Margaret razed Ballingarry, her parents’ huge Spring Lake mansion in 1953 because no one was willing to buy it, Alison discovered that the estate’s wrought Iron fence still encircles the former Maloney property where several fine homes now stand.

I will conclude my Cashel blogs with photos of scenes of the estate when it was used for television commercials and for Burt Reynolds’ B. L. Stryker, supplied by fellow history buff Brandon Weston but first I want to point out that Cashel continues to be used for charity.

Each year the Beckmeyers host a lavish fundraiser for “Folds of Honor” to provide scholarships from members of injured servicemen. This is a link to the 501c3 organization.

http://Folds of Honor

These scenes of large animals on the Cashel estate are fun to see. Some were taken by Brandon Weston and some are from the Internet. Brandon supplied the link to the actual commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7OfD_D5-pY

I am sure you will enjoy watching the commercial. It’s a hoot!

Burt Reynolds stands in Cashel’s entryway.

To finish off, if anyone wants to watch the B.L. Stryker King of Jazz episode that features Cashel. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MsAzsIKwMU

We will end with this tall Cashel visitor. Brandon said after the giraffe’s arrival the filming of the commercial could not be kept secret and scores of cars stopped because people wanted to know what was going on.

Martin Maloney and his Daughter Margaret :  Catholic Nobility

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Martin Maloney, a “rags to riches” Irish Catholic immigrant, supported the Roman Catholic Church so lavishly that he was named a Papal Marquis by Leo XIII and a Papal Chamberlain by Pius X. He built not only the beautiful St. Catherine’s in Spring Hill, New Jersey, near his mansion Ballingarry, he financed chapels in South Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. He built the Maloney Memorial Home for the Aged in Scranton, Pennsylvania and the elaborate Maloney Chemical Laboratory at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C.

After Martin Maloney’s died in 1929. his daughter, Margaret, and her husband, Louis Ritchie, had to deal with his estate that included mortgages on much of downtown Stuart.
This photograph, taken by Arthur Ruhnke, shows some of the property on which Martin Maloney held mortgages, including the Lyric Theatre. Taken the year after a church was moved from Camp Murphy and placed on what was then 4th Street, the “new” St. Joseph Catholic Church can be seen in the middle of this photograph.

Margaret, following in her father’s footsteps, was made a Catholic Marchioness in 1930.

Although I had photographs of Martin Maloney, I could not find a photograph of Margaret Maloney Ritchie. Since I know photographs are needed to draw interest, I kept looking. When I read that 400 people attended Margaret’s wedding at Ballingarry, the family’s palatial estate, I fired off an email to the Spring Lake Historical Society to complain that I could not find a photograph of her.

Nancy Smith, who manages the Spring Lake Historical Society, sent me images on her cell phone of two easily accessible photographs. More digging will be required to find others.

Four hundred guests attended the wedding of Margaret Maloney and Louis Carbery Ritchie at the grand mansion Ballingarry in Spring Lake. New. Jersey.
So for now this is the best photograph we have of Margaret Maloney Ritchie.

Since Martin Maloney was the largest mortgage holder on Stuart property when he died in 1930, Margaret and her husband Louis Carbery Ritchie, as trustees of his estate, had to decide what to do. In addition to the Martin Maloney huge interests, Louis purchased even more property between the St. Lucie River and 4th Street (now East Ocean Boulevard) that went from Florida Avenue to Georgia Avenue. From this, land was given to the Catholic Church for a new St. Joseph Church—really, a hand-me-down church from Camp Murphy, as well as for a rectory overlooking the St. Lucie River.

St Joseph Catholic Church, being moved to Stuart, 1947. The interior of the church was destroyed by fire in 1961 (Elliott Museum Collection)
This served as St. Joseph Church from 1947 until it was damaged by fire in 1961. The Pelican Hotel can be seen in the background.
This photos shows Wilma Glass and Konrad Bobinski leaving the St. Joseph Rectory in 1957, The rectory was built on riverfront land purchased by the Ritchies .

The Ritchies and Margaret’s younger sister, Helen Maloney Osborn and their families enjoyed winters and vacations at Cashel until it was sold in 1952

https://archive.tcpalm.com/yournews/martin-county/historical-vignettes-cashel-martin-maloneys-palatial-estate-ep-382068872-343035652.html

The above link connects to “Cashel, Martin Maloney’s Palatial Estate” a Vignette by Greg and Alice Luckhardt published by Treasure Coast News on September 5, 2012. It includes some of this blog’s information and much more.

February 17, 1992

The outdoor shrine built by Martin Maloney still stands on the grounds of his beautifully preserved mansion, Cashel in Port Sewall.

Cashel—Beyond the Gate

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This photograph and the two below were taken in 1992 to fulfil a request from Nancy M. Parker who was gathering information about the architect, Horace Trumbauer, who designed Cashel.

Martin Maloney’s Cashel completed in 1917 endures.  Its many owners have made modifications through the years but its original design has been maintained.

Through the years Cashel has been the scene for community events and charity fundraisers. The estate has provided the backdrop for Burt Renolds’ B. L. Stryker episodes and high- end television commercials.

In 1992, I was contacting by Nancy M. Parker of Ridgewood, N. J. who was compiling the works of architect Horace Trumbauer who designed Cashel. She requested photographs and Chuck and Joan MacGillvary, who owned the former Maloney estate at the time, gave me permission to take photographs.

This aerial photograph taken by Arthur Ruhnke, shows the Sunrise Inn as well as Cashel to the left of the hotel. Only a few other buildings existed in Port Sewall on January 6, 1949.

In 2010, an elaborate Designer Showcase sponsored by the Children’s Home Society took place at Cashel. Anxious for the significant history of the Maloneys and Cashel to be shared, I did my best to impress the organizers with its importance.

Martin Maloney was incredibly important in Spring Lake , NJ where he built a mansion dwarfing Cashel as well as a splendid Catholic Church. This appeared in the newsletter of the Spring Lake Historical Society. Unfortunately, the Designer Showcase shared practically none of Cashel’s history.


Brandon Weston has become an expert on the history of Cashel ever since he lived on the property and was bitten by the history bug. He has added Martin Maloney and Horace Trumbauer to his area of expertise and is allowing me to use some of his on-sight photos and as well as photographs he has found in his research to illustrate this and future blogs.

Courtesy Brandon Weston
Courtesy Brandon Weston
Courtesy Brandon Weston

Future blogs will feature Martin Maloney’s connection to the Sunrise Inn, Maloney’s ownership of much of Stuart, Maloney’s prominence as a Catholic and his estate’s generosity to local Catholics. Other subjects will be the architect of Cashel, Horace Trumbauer’s importance. and photographs of an elephant, giraffe and a tigers at Cashel as well and Burt Renolds at Cashel as B. L. Stryker.

Martin Maloney, a Winter Resident We Must Know

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THE NEXT SEVERAL BLOGS WILL BE RELATED TO HIS IMPACT ON MARTIN COUNTY

The Lyric Theatre, in the center of Historic Downtown Stuart, is our community’s pride and joy. Next year will mark its centennial. Kia LaFontaine, the Lyric’s CEO, asked me to serve on a committee to flesh out more of its history.

Stuart’s third Lyric Theatre, built with funds supplied by multi-millionaire Martin Maloney, opened its doors on
March 15, 1926.

Since, in my mind, the Hancock family was always responsible for building what is actually Stuart’s third Lyric Theatre, imagine my surprise to find newspaper articles referring to the 1926 theater as Maloney’s.

Martin Maloney. 1848-1929

I have discovered that Martin Maloney, who built the lovely Cashel in in Port Sewall, financed a good deal of Stuart’s boom time construction. Money from his deep pockets not only paid for the “new” Lyric, it financed the 55-acre EDG-RIVA subdivision that stretched from what is now East Ocean Boulevard to the St. Lucie River from the vicinity of the Stuart School almost to Palm Beach Road. This area would later include St. Mary’s Church, the Martin County Library, the Woman’s Club and Martin Memorial Hospital.

Maloney’s story is really one of rags to riches. He became one of our country’s early multi-millionaires when there were only a few.

Born in Ireland in 1848, Martin came to America in 1854, as a six-year- old when his family fled the Irish potato famine and settled in Scranton, PA. As a hardscrabble youth, Martin worked in coal mines and then learned to smith tin and copper, becoming a plumber and gas fitter. By 1974 his owned the Hyde Park Gas Plant and the Maloney Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Co. His fortune ballooned from his patented naphtha gas lighting system for street lamps. Practically every city that installed street lights paid a fee for his patent. Soon he invested in American Light, Standard Oil and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Even though Warner Tilton, George Browning and John Taylor are listed, the money behind the development was Martin Maloney’s.
Martin Maloney’s grand mansion Ballingarry in Spring Lake NJ was designed by renowned architect, Horace Trumbauer, who also designed Cashel. Ballingarry was demolished but Cashel still stands.

Martin Maloney and his wife Margaret had seven children but only three daughters survived infancy. Catherine, the middle daughter, died of tuberculosis in in 1900, shortly after the Maloney mansion “Ballingarry” was constructed in Spring Lake, NJ. Martin Maloney built a magnificent church in her memory.

After their young daughter, Catherine, died of tuberculosis in 1901, the Maloneys, built this beautiful Romanesque style Catholic Church. Daughter, Catherine, as well Martin and his wife Margaret Maloney are interred in the family crypt within St. Catherine’s Church.

The mansion Cashel Martin Maloney built in Port Sewall was designed by famed architect Horace Trumbauer, who also designed Ballingamy, was completed in 1917.

This ca. 1925 photograph shows Cashel with its garage apartment The original Sunrise Inn is in the center with the boathouses of Sewall’s Point in view across the St. Lucie River.
Everyone who heads to U. S. one via SE St. Lucie Boulevard has to stop when it intersects with SE Old St. Lucie Boulevard. The entrance gate to Cashel, built by Martin Maloney in 1917, is in view to the right.

We see the entrance to the mansion every time we stop where SE St. Lucie Boulevard intersects with SE Old St. Lucie Boulevard. Maloney, his daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and L. C. Ritchie and the mansion Cashel will require several future blogs.

Caesar Dean

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The name of the much admired Bahamian, Caesar Dean, came up as I researched George W. Perkins.

Years go by and gradually things begin to fit together. I discovered that pioneer, Ike Craig, was the caretaker of the Perkins estate. One of the precious few photographs of an identified black man is one of Caesar Dean near a pineapple cart with Ike Craig. It has been published many times.

Caesar Dean stands at far right. This photograph was probably taken at Ike Craig’s “Old Dominion Pinery.” It was located where Leisure Village is today. The “Ike Craig’s Pond” where Stuart News editor, Ernie Lyons, was allowed to fish as a boy can still be seen on the south side of Monterey Road .

When Chessy Rica was curator at the Elliott Museum, she put together an exhibit on pineapple culture. After all, our region was the “Pineapple Capital of the World.” Chessy used the photograph of Caesar Dean and Ike Craig and went a step further, designing a storyboard with dated newspaper articles about Caesar Dean. She follow up with a blog and published an article ”Who was Caesar Dean?” in Martin County’s Hometown News.

Very few obituaries of black people were published in Florida newspapers but Caesar Dean was so outstanding, his was published in the Stuart News. Ernest F. Lyons, Editor of the Stuart News who comprehensive historical editions, knew the importance of Caesar Dean and probably wrote this obituary.
Caesar Dean’s chiseled features makes it possible to recognize him standing at left on this rare postcard.

I came across a detailed article about Caesar Dean saving the Perkinses on their yacht “Emily Swan” published in the Stuart Times on March 12, 1915. It augments Chessy Ricca’s research.

George W. Perkins was aboard his motor yacht, “Emily Swan” with his daughter, Dorothy, and her friends.  The young man who was piloting the yacht said they should be able to go outside the St. Lucie Inlet even though seas were rough.

Going outside was ill advised. A wave broke the cabin’s windows and flooded the boat which began to broach. As the boat was beginning to capsize, Caesar Dean who was the boat as a deckhand, sprang to action and gripped the wheel. With his great strength and knowledge of the sea, he brought the yacht safely around and back into calm waters.

This photograph of George Perkins’ daughter, who was saved by Caesar Dean, appeared in the Boston Globe on September 18, 1916.

It is amazing what can be found on http://newspapers,com. Although this trivia may not be of great interest, I want to take this opportunity to record it. The yacht Caesar Dean saved was named the “Emily Swan.” The father of the George W. Perkins connected to Stuart and his wife, Sarah, named their only daughter, “Emily Swan” after a much admired friend. Two years after Sarah died in childbirth, George Sr. married Emily Swan. That made two Emily Swam Perkins, one the stepmother of the other.

This photograph of Emily Swan, the sister of George W. Perkins, Jr., who owned the estate on Frazier Creek, can be found on the Internet.

Emily Swan Perkins was a composer of hymn tunes and founder of what is now The Hymn Society of the United States. She was born in Chicago in 1866 and died in Riverdale, N. Y. in 1941. https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/e/emily-swan-perkins

You can find videos of Emily Swan Perkins Pienary Addresses on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-kIJXNmcgU. Who would believe such things can be found when researching the name of a boat?

When the 1933 Hurricane destroyed Caesar Dean’s home in Stuart, members of the still grateful Perkins family paid to have ta new house built. An article telling of this was on Chessy Ricca’s storyboard. It was an article published in the Stuart Daily News on September 7, 1933. Ceasar Dean’s house was located at 545 Pinewood Street. Pinewood Street, later to be 7th Street, is today’s Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard.

George Perkins would not have been able to participate in the Port Sewall Regatta held on March 11, 1917, if the Emily Swan had capsized in the St. Lucie Inlet.( Note number 10.)
Although this postcard was taken after the Shepards purchased the former Perkins Estate it shows the boathouse that once housed the Emily Swan. The Shepards’ boat the Gadabout is at right.
This is a scene is from Robinson Crusoe filmed locally in 1916 by Henry Savage in which Caesar Dean played “Friday.”

Abundant Connections

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Today, I was working in my yard. It is something that I love to do. Our property on Sewall’s Point, very close to the bridges to Hutchinson Island, happens to have once been divided by the county line between first, Dade and Brevard, then Palm Beach and St. Lucie County.

I placed the little statue at the corner of our property where the section lines crosses.

For years I have had a sign on a palm tree at the corner of our property declaring this.

The little concrete statue once belonged to Michelle Coutant.

Eleven years ago, I stopped at a yard sale on Indian Street near Old St. Lucie Boulevard. Norie Neff, the daughter of Dorothy and Clyde Coutant was selling the property that had been her family’s for many years.

I can see this statue from my window over the kitchen sink.

It was Norie’s grandmother, Aura Fike Jones, who secured the statue “Abundance” that now stands in Haney Circle.

This image was in a Stuart Woman’s Club scrapbook that belongs to Norie Neff. Perhaps it was a photo Aura Fike Jones’s son , Larry, who knew about the statue sent to her suggesting it would “add a bit of glamor to Stuart.”
The statue “Abundance” did not find its way to Haney Circle where it was originally to be placed in 1950 until Stuart was revitalized in 1991.

A small concrete statue, similar to Abundance, was in the yard sale. It had belonged to Norie’s late sister, Michelle. I bought the statue because of my many connections to the Coutant family in my “world of regional history,” as well of its symbolic connection to the beautiful statue that stands in downtown Stuart.  I placed the statue near the former county line and it has remained there.

Abundant connections bring me much pleasure.