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.

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.

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.

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..