Tag Archives: Stuart Florida

Abundant Connections

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.

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.”

Stuart’s early dentist, Dr. Charles E. Roberts, Isabel and Mattie Belle Roberts in front of their home in Stuart now owned by Boo Lowery. Photo courtesy of Isabel’s daughter Dorothy Clark
Boo Lowery said “I thought Uncle Charlie was the first dentist.”

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

There were many ads for Dr. C. E. Roberts in the Stuart Times and the Stuart News.
The McQuarie and Roberts families lived in house formerly owned by Capt. Thomas and Desimona Hogarth . It is now owned by Boo Lowery.

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.

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. 

This plaque installed 74 years ago is still near the front door of the Court House Cultural Center.
The 110-page Historical Edition of The Stuart News published November 9, 1950 contains a great deal of Martin County History including many first-hand pioneer accounts.

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.

Martin County Courthouse
Arthur Ruhnke captured this scene on Veteran’s Day 1950. The man wearing a straw hat suspenders adds a vintage quality to the photograph.

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.

Lottie Martin, the former Governor’s wife, looks up at her husband at the podium. County Commissioner Arthur Sims stands behind Mrs. Martin, R. V. Johnson, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Governor John W. Martin, Judge A. O. Kanner , Stuart Mayor Drew W. King and Senator Evans Crary are also standing.

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.

The King Era of the Pelican Hotel

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Newman Cheek was built beside the Pelican Hotel. It was convenient for eating meals in the hotel dining room.

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.

This article appeared in the South Florida Developer on December 14, 1928.

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.)

Dale and Sue Hipson’s wedding reception was held in the Pelican Hotel in 1953, Nancy King, Dale, Sue, Dr. and Mrs. Hipson and Sue’s mother, Mrs. Eric Fletcher stand in the receiving line.

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.

Harry Lyons dedicated his harbor song to Stuart, Florida because it was where his health was restored after he worked himself to exhaustion in real estate sales on Chicago’s North Shore.

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.

Harry Lyons wrote” Where music for my Stuart Song was composed in 1924. Chancellor sang for my phonograph records of my song.”

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.

This photograph of the proposed harbor site recently came to light through the generosity of Bette “Tootsie” Kindberg.

The Creation of Martin County

The photograph of local boosters, wives and political figures witnessing the signing of the bill creating Martin County on May 30, 1925, preserves an important moment.

Group witnessing Governor John W. Martin signing bill that created Martin County Florida.
Left to right seated: John E. Taylor, Mrs. W. I. Shuman, Mrs. Martin and Governor Martin, Mrs. A. W. Young, Senators T.  J. Campbell and  J. W. Watson. Standing: T. H. Getzen, Representative S. W. Getzen, W. B. Tilton, Major W. I. Shuman, Stuart Mayor Stanley Kitching, J. B. McDonald, Dr. Fons A. Hathaway and A. W. Young. Ashley Family Collection

I wondered about the ages of the men who went to Tallahassee to lobby for a new county, so I looked up their birth dates and did the arithmetic.

Portrait of John E. Taylor, Mayor of Stuart, President of the Seminole Bank, Representative in Florida Legislature.
John Taylor at the age of 33 in 1925.
Stanley Kitching longtime Chairman of the Florida Inland Navigation District.
Stanley Kitching was 51 years old in 1925.
Portrait of Jackson Beauregard McDonald, first Mayor of Stuart Florida.
Jackson McDonald was 63 years old in 1925.
Warner Belknap Tilton portrait.
Founder of AA in Martin County Florida
Warner Tilton was 29 years old in 1925.
Thomas Hart Getzen portrait.
Thompson Hart Getzen was 34 years old in 1925.

Warner Tilton, at 29 years old, was the youngest of the group. His father-in-law, R. R. Ricco who had big plans for a new county, died unexpectedly and chose Warner to represent his interests. Of the five men from the St. Lucie River region, three were related. Jackson McDonald was the step father of John Taylor and Stanley Kitching was the uncle of John Taylor’s wife.

As I contemplated the men who undertook the creation of a new county, I realized that there was only one attorney in our group, Thompson Hart Getzen. In my mind, it seems likely that having his brother in the legislature must have been a great advantage to the local leaders who wanted a new county. Then, I thought about my husband, Tom Thurlow’s little book The Early Lawyers of Martin County.

Information about Thomas Hart Getzen.
Cover of The Early Lawyers of Martin County by Thomas H. Thurlow Jr published in 2011. Former Stuart School modified to Martin County Courthouse.e

Deanna Thurlow designed and supervised the printing of The Early Lawyers of Martin County for her father-in-law. It gives me much satisfaction to have Tom’s research contribute to my blog. Florence Getzen Boushall, Thompson Hart Getzen’s daughter, provided Tom with images and information..

Deanna Thurlow shows her father-in-law the proof of his lawyer book in June 2011.