Tag Archives: Shepard Park

Caesar Dean

March 10, 2025UncategorizedBahamian, Caesar Dean, Emily Swan Perkins, Frazier Creek, George W. Perkins, Ike Craig, Old Dominion Pinery, Pineapples, Port Sewall, Regatta, Shepard Park, St. Lucie Inlet, Stuart Florida, YachtsSandy History Lady

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 o*n 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.”

George W. Perkins, Associate of J. P. Morgan, Once Owned Today’s Shepard Park

March 4, 2025UncategorizedClyde Coutant, Coconuts, Fire, George W. Perkin, Gulf Stream, Hubert Bessey, J. P. Morgan, Pandemic, Shepard Park, St. Lucie River, Stuart Florida, William ShepardSandy History Lady

Before the Shepards owned the house in what is now Shepard Park it was owned by George W. Perkins and his wife, Dorothy. Perkins was an associate of J. P. Morgan and was a powerful insurance executive and industrialist.

This photo of Dorothy and George Perkins, from Wikipedia, was taken shortly before his death on June 18, 1920. The Internet lists him as a victim the flu pandemic.

It is so much fun to research subjects that have been on my radar for years but now I can go back and use the Internet to find photographs, newspaper articles, and fascinating details.

This early postcard shows houses along the St. Lucie River around 1910. (Today they are on Atlantic Avenue.) The house on the left, the residence of Emma and Walter Kitching, still stands as does the Judge and Mamie Hancock house in the center. The George W. Perkins house can be seen at the extreme right.

The Perkins house was built by Hubert Bessey, considered to be Stuart’s founding pioneer. After the house with four acres bordering Frazier Creek and the South Fork of the St. Lucie River was sold to Perkins, Fred Schultz, a German landscaper with a long history on Jupiter Island, supervised constructing seawalls and filling low places by bringing in muck obtained from the other side of the river in lighters. Trees of many varieties were then planted. According to newspaper articles the Perkins Estate was the most beautiful on Florida’s East Coast. Pioneer, Ike Craig was the caretaker.

Unfortunately, the best photograph of the Perkins/Shepard house was taken when it burned on March 4, 1947. (Photograph taken by Clyde Coutant , courtesy of Norie Neff.)

It was the photographs I acquired from photographer, Clyde Coutant’s daughter, Norie Neff, that made me want to create blogs about Shepard Park in the first place.

According to newspaper articles the fire fighters did their best but could not save the building. However, they removed the furniture so it was salvaged.
(Coutant photograph)
William H. Shepard was said to have planted coconuts whenever he could, both on his estate and along the railway tracks through Stuart. (Coutant photograph)

One of the earliest aerials taken by Arthur Ruhnke shows the Perkin/Shepard residence. Since it is dated August 1948, and articles found using http://newspapers.com, reveal the fire occurred on March 4, 1947, we know the house was already damaged. When the photograph is enlarged it looks like the southwest wing has no roof.

The elder Shepards had died by the time of the fire but their daughters had opened the house for the season. Mrs. Shepard’s sister and her grandson were fishing in the Gulf Stream with Capt. Walter Johns when the fire broke out.

The family offered to sell the estate to the City of Stuart for a park. Thank heaven officials took them up on the offer.

This sunset image of the moth of Frazier Creek with Shepard Park at right was downloaded from the Internet. HDR photography image processed in Photomatix Pro.

The Shepards of Shepard Park in Stuart, Florida

February 26, 2025UncategorizedAnne Young Shepard, Citizens Bank, Cleveland, Cleveland Art Museum, Frazier Creek, Lucy Doane Shepard, Ohio, Roosevelt Bridge, Shepard Park, St. Lucie River, Stuart Florida, William Henry ShepardSandy History Lady

I recently visited Shepard Park. When I looked at the steps that are the remains of the Shepard estate and the plaque that commemorates the Shepards I started composing a blog in my head.

“In Memory of William H. and Lucy Doane Shepard For their Contribution to the City of Stuart and its citizens
REST – ENJOY – BE CONCERNED”

Anne Young Shepard, the daughter-in-law of William and Lucy Shepard, stands on the steps that now lead to the plaque commemorating the family’s gift. The photograph is in the History of Martin County.

Willian H. Shepard’s portrait is in the History of Martin County.

Lucy Anne Doane Shepard’s portrait is in the *History of Martin County.*

When you read the article about William H. Shepard in the History of Martin County, you learn that he was a founder of the Citizens Bank that grew into today’s Seacoast Bank, and was behind many important institutions locally. In Cleveland, Ohio, where the Shepards made their fortune, they were largely responsible for the Cleveland Art Museum.

It seems the many transplants from Cleveland through employment at Cleveland Clinic should know of this connection.

This book with many aerial photographs was published in 1939 in conjunction with the Florida Exhibit at the World’s Fair held in New York City.

Stuart was featured in Florida Via Camera. On page 26, the Shepard Estate on Frazier Creek is featured. Notice the break-water on which a boardwalk has been built that provides today’s visitors to Shepard Park much pleasure

This photograph, taken on February 23, 2025, shows the break-water with its boardwalk. Stuart’s mooring field and the Roosevelt Bridge are in the background.

Shepard Park has been improved through the years. The boat ramp boardwalk, playground for children, restrooms and covered stage provide local citizens and visitors with much pleasure.

I have too much to share in one blog, so this blog will be continued.