As reported in an earlier blog the Woman’s Club of Stuart changed its plans to put the statue Abundance in Haney Circle. Instead it was placed on the east lawn of the Martin County Courthouse.
After languishing in a New York City warehouse for years, Abundance arrived in Stuart on a moving truck in 1949,
Rather than offend those who protested, Abundance was placed on the east lawn of the Martin County Courthouse.
When the East Wing of the Martin County Courthouse was added in 1960, Abundance had to relinquish her spot.
On July 21, 1961, Ed Gluckler photographed Abundance neglected and lying on her back in a sand lot behind the city garage on South Flagler.
When the east wing of the courthouse was constructed in 1960 the statue abundance had to be removed.
In 1961, Abundance was placed in Memorial Park by the new Park Superintendent , Englishman Bill Ambler. The Woman’s Club once again chipped in on the cost of installation and landscaping. Although Abundance was beautiful and worth thousands of dollars, our community was not quite ready to give her the proper respect she deserved. The statue was a major focus for teenage pranks. The lesser ones — dressing her in brassieres and bathing suit tops. When Bill Ambler retired he lamented her being sprayed “every color” through the years.
Abundance stood in Memorial Park from October 18, 1961 until April 28, 1991.
Perhaps Abundance was hard to appreciate in her setting in Memorial Park where she stood for 20 years. The location, perhaps to her misfortune, was very close to the Stuart High School.
A postcard issued in the 1960 shows the beautiful flowers planted by Bill Ambler. Although he knew nothing about Florida horticulture when he was hired, the Woman’s Club of Stuart help pay for him to attend seminars and short courses on tropical landscaping.
This postcard showing Abundance was available in the 1960s.
During the revitalization of downtown Stuart, the City of Stuart voted to relocate Abundance to Haney Circle where the Woman’s Club originally planned to place her. Peter Jefferson designed the necessary concrete work with a sidewalk encircling the fountain. Its installation was celebrated in 1991
This snapshot shows the moment Abundance was unveiled in Haney Circle.Tenants in buildings come and go, but Abundance remains in Haney Circle.
Today, anyone who walks down Osceola Street in Historic Downtown Stuart will encounter our Lady Abundance.
Here I am with my two daughters, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch and Jenny Flaugh, picking up our tickets to attend the 16th Annual Holiday Home Tour for which I was “Honorary Chairman.” (Entailing zero responsibilities.) This photo was taken by club member Julia Sansevere.
The Woman’s Club of Stuart asked me to be the Honorary Chairman of their 16th Annual Holiday Home Tour that took place on December 7, 2025. This caused me to turn my attention to something I have in my files that few people have viewed. It is a scrapbook compiled by Aura Fike Jones who was responsible for acquiring the statue “Abundance” during her 1948-1950 term as President of the Woman’s Club.
Aura Fike Joes accepted the presidency of the Woman’s Club reluctantly but took on one of the most ambitious projects the club ever tackled.
Aura Jones was the widow of a Washington D. C. lawyer, Franklin Jones, who had homes in Washington D.C. as well as a lovely old home in Port Sewall. (The home was passed to her daughter and son-in-law, Dorothy and Clyde Coutant, then to her granddaughter Norie and her husband, Glenn Neff.)
It was during Aura Jones’ term as president that through of a series of unlikely coincidences the statue Abundance was acquired for the City of Stuart.
Aura Jones’ son, Larry, knew of the statue with a fountain languishing in a warehouse in New York. He also knew it could be acquired by paying its storage bill.
Maya Konolei was the artistic name of Mary Connally who sculpted Abundance.
Created by Manya Konolei in the Paris foundry that produced the Statue of Liberty, “Abundance” once held a place of honor at the Salon of Paris. After it was shown in the U.S. and received high praise, it was purchased by a collector who had grand plans for it. When the collector died, even Konolei lost track of the statue’s whereabouts.
In the late 1940s, the Woman’s Club of Stuart was at a low point and the City of Stuart was too. Everyone seemed depress and angry and people were suing each other for this and that. Aura thought acquiring the statue would be uplifting and would bring people together. A beautiful work of art would be a source of pride and bring attention to Martin County.
Although the statue was available at a bargain price, the City and County coffers were low and the Woman’s Club had very limited funds. In addition to paying the $2,000 storage bill, there was the cost of transporting and installing the statue that weighed several tons. Few thought Aura would be successful but, perhaps to humor her, the club agreed to pay the last $500 if the rest of the money could be raised.
The enthusiasm of Woman’s Club led the Martin County Commission to agree to pay for the cost of transporting the statue to Stuart. Money for the fountain trickled in from all segments of the community and the last $500 came from the club’s treasury.
Cynthia Burnette Haney was revered locally. Years earlier, Ethel Porter had dedicated a small portion of her land as “Haney Circle” in the middle of Seminole Street.
The original plan was to put the fountain in Haney Circle, a tiny park given to the City of Stuart to honor Cynthia Burnett Haney, an admired newspaperwoman, suffragist, and leader in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. This caused an uproar. People did not think a voluptuous goddess of wine was an appropriate way to honor Cynthia Haney.
The amused admiration of the truck driver is enough to explain everyone’s reaction to placing the fountain in Haney Circle..
The women changed their plans and got permission to put the fountain on the east side of the Martin County Courthouse.
This is the original location of Abundance.
A. Feit, the art dealer from New York who facilitated getting the statue, spoke to the 300 people who attended its dedication as did, Mary Hartman and Elizabeth Conrad.
At the dedication of Abundance on July 10 1949, Mary Hartman, Vice-President of the Woman’s Club, read a message from Aura Fike Jones who was at her home in Washington D.C. : “May this fountain become the symbol of the abundance of wisdom, talent and generosity which we claim in the building of our better community is my heartfelt wish.”
We have the photographs contained in the scrapbook compiled by Aura Fike Jones because Alice and Greg Luckhardt scanned them when there was an opportunity. The photographs were taken by Aura’s son-in-law, Clyde Coutant who was a commercial photographer at the time.
TWO MORE BLOGS RELATED TO THE STATUE ABUNDANCE WILL FOLLOW.
