SLHS Historical Highlights

From “Golden Memories: The Story of the St. Lucie Historical Society”
by Patricia Foreman (President 2002-2004)

The St. Lucie Historical Society began as a committee of the St. Lucie County Library Association, Inc. E. C. Collins, President of the St. Lucie County Library Association had appointed a group to serve as a historical committee. David Fee was the chairman, others on the committee included: Mrs. Jo Humphries, Mrs. Verne Kretschmer, Mrs. Ora S. Burney, Mr. L. W. Halbe, Mr. W. I. Fee, Mrs. Helen DeFriest, Mrs. Clare Register, Mrs. Emma Saunders, Mrs. Pearl Chew, Mr. Dewey Crawford, Miss Betty Summerlin and Mr. Collins.

The initial meeting was held at the old Community Center after the regular Library Association meeting. The meeting place was at the old USO building located where SunTrust Bank’s parking lot is today, on the east side of Indian River Drive.
Thus, on Tuesday evening, November 18, 1952 the St. Lucie Historical Society held its organizational meeting. This group resolved to organize a society, and decided that membership would be $1.00 per year. Meetings were to be held on the third Tuesday of each month. Mr. Crawford was made Vice-Chairman.

Will Fee was first to offer his dollar and is said to have autographed it as a memento of the occasion. In December, finding they had a mutual desire to preserve the rich heritage of the local community 61 charter members were listed. Another committee was appointed to evaluate and accept pieces for a future museum.

CHARTER MEMBERS-December 1952

Mr. & Mrs. Albert E. Kretschmer

Jack Leibman

Mrs. Edith Luke

David Eugene Odom

Mrs. Helen O’Hea

Olive Dame Peterson

O.C. Peterson

Broward Poppell

George Putnam

Mrs Dorothy Putnam

Mr. & Mrs. Alton A. Register

Fanny Richards

Gustaf Ringdahl

Mrs. Orra S. Rogers

Fletcher Russell

Mrs. Frances T. Sharpe

John Sloan

Mr. & Mrs. Vernon Sloan

At the December 16, 1952 meeting Mr. Escott volunteered to purchase a plaque raised from the U.S.S. Maine for donation to the Society. (When the plaque arrived in March 1953, Mr. Escott was given an honorary life membership.) During this meeting a nominating committee was established consisting of Mrs. Humfries, Mrs. Burney and Mrs. DeFriest.
The committee’s recommendations were accepted at the January 20, 1953 meeting and the first officers and board members were:

Mr. David Fee- President

Mr. Dewey Crawford- 1st Vice President

Mr. E. C. Collins- 2nd Vice President

Mrs. Alton Register- Secretary

Mr. L. W. Halbe- Treasurer

Mrs. Pearl Chew- Historian

Mrs. Kretschmer

Mrs. Burney

Mrs Humphries

Mr. Will Fee

Mrs. DeFriest

Mrs. Saunders

Miss Summerlin 

The name “St. Lucie Historical Society” was reported in our Historical Quarterly as being chosen by Mr. L.B. Halbe and Mr. Dewey Crawford. Both Halbe and Dewey were able lawyers. They thought that if we limited the organization- by calling it the “St. Lucie County Historical Society”, it would not attract as many members as an area organization would. During 1953 the “new” library building was finished and the opening dedication was in 1954 so perhaps everyone was busy with the library at that time, as there were no meetings from August 1953 to June 1955.

By June of 1955 no charter had yet been drawn and at the July meeting Ed Dennison offered to prepare the charter for the Society. Old Historical Quarterly articles report that L.B. Halbe and Mr. Dewey Crawford also worked on getting the charter.
In August two new officers were installed. Mr. Halbe as President and Mr. Rupert Smith as Treasurer. After October of that year, the meetings were changed to the first Tuesday of the month. On November 25, 1955 a charter was granted by Judge. A. O. Kanner.

At that time the purpose of the St. Lucie Historical Society was to encourage and inspire the on-going interest of residents and visitors in the rich heritage of the local community. Emphasis was placed on our County history but also includes the State of Florida’s unique beginnings.

In February 1956 acquisition of the Lowell Hill photography negatives were discussed. It was hoped that “Bean” Backus, a long time friend of the Hill family, might intercede to try and get them for the Society. On June 12, 1956, by-laws were adopted. A board of twelve new directors were chosen. At that same meeting Mrs. Adeline Scharfschwerdt was made Program Committee Chairman. The first record of a “program” was at the August 1956 meeting. Mr. Phillip Platts and Mrs. Clarence Summerlin spoke about early settlers. Other speakers that year were: Judge Sumner, Mrs. Tyler and Mr. D. H. Saunders, Mr. Walter Hellier began to preside as President on August 8, 1957. Mrs. Barbara Ferson was the speaker at that meeting.

In these early years meetings were held at the library around a meeting table. In 1956 a number of meetings were adjourned for the lack of a quorum. Occasionally the meetings were held at members’ homes. Later meetings were held at the old Southland Cafeteria on 4th Street. Monthly dinner meetings held there with guest speakers and programs helped the Society begin to grow. Just before the Southland closed the Society meetings were moved to the Tradewinds Cafeteria in Searstown. Some of the programs at that time were taped. Meetings began to be held at the Western Steer Steakhouse in the early 80’s.

In May of 1958 Judge Angus Sumner spoke about the capture, killing and burial of four members of the infamous “Ashley Gang”. He showed the pistol and a bullet-riddled $5.00 bill taken from the body of John Ashley.

C.E. Bennett offered in 1958, the use of his “tape recording machine” to tape talks by our speakers. They were to be typed in quadruplicate, one copy going to the county library and one to go to the Florida Historical Society, which had sent us 40 back issues of their Historical Journals in 1952.

The members of the Society met in November 1958 for a covered dish Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Earl Sumners. Dr. Adrian Sample, then president, provided the turkeys for this dinner and for others which were held in November for several years. The following month, Mrs. Carrie Holmes was our speaker along with her daughter, Addie Emerson. Mrs. Holmes was 92 years old at the time.

Our January 1959 speaker was Charlton W. Tebeau, author and Professor of History at the University of Miami, and 73 members were in attendance. In later meetings that year Howard E.C. Hawkins who came from St. Augustine spoke about the F.E.C. Railway. A life time teacher in the Fort Pierce Schools and faithful member of the Society, Adelaide Scharfschwerdt spoke on early schools in the county. Adelaide also served as program chairman for several years and gave a number of programs herself. For the 1959-60 season Mrs. C. E. Bennett became President.

Francis “Fanny” Richards spoke in March of 1960 on the arrival of her grandfather Thomas E. Richards in Eden in 1879 as well as the beginnings of pineapple raising “on the ridge”. Mrs. Howard Taylor, formerly Ethel Fultz, spoke about Spruce Bluff, a place on the north fork of the St. Lucie River (Port St. Lucie), where her father had settled. Some of the graves located there are family members. Ed Merritt had placed a family monument there, and it had been recently vandalized.

The 1960-1961 season brought Mr. John D. Almond Jr. as President. Noted speakers for that year including: Dr. Thelma Peters of Dade Jr. College, Mrs. Bessie DuBois of Jupiter, Mr. William Boehmer and Mr. Charles L. Pierce. Local speakers included P.K. Platts, son of the first doctor in Fort Pierce, spoke of his father’s early days here. Thad Carlton of the Carlton cattle family spoke on the cattle business, and recollections of when drives to Orlando and Punta Rassa lasted from four days to a week. Robert Jernigan spoke on guns and showed items found at the site of the old Fort Pierce.

It would be nearly impossible to separate the histories of the St. Lucie Historical Society, the Historical Commission and the County Historical Museum. Each group shares the same purposes and people.
In May of 1961, after almost a decade of successful activity, the St. Lucie Historical Society petitioned the Board of County Commissioners to create the Historical Commission. Florida law enacted in 1953 specified that such a governmental board was necessary for the collecting, recording and arranging of artifacts and the Society was having many pioneer items offered to them. That year our President was D.H. Saunders.

On September 3, 1963 while C.E Bennett was the Society President, the Historical Commission was created. It consisted of the following members: W. F.”Fannie” Richards- Chairman, Roger Poitras- Secretary, Mrs. Marjorie Silver (later Alder), Mrs. George Cox, N. William Jorgensen, Walter R. Hellier and D.H.”Banty” Saunders.

The Commission now consists of one member appointed by each of the County Commissioners, plus one member from each historical group in the county and several at-large members, for a total of 15 members. The structure of the Historical Commission is scheduled to be changed in 2004-2005. The Commission is not funded by the County, but achieves funding through community support and by selling advertising in its publication, “History Alive”. The Historical Commission had control of the Museum until late 1986, when direct County control was transferred to the Recreation and Parks Department.

During the early years various businesses offered space for the storage or display of the many items given to the Society by local families. Temporary space was provided in the Fort Pierce Utility Building. In nine months a Spanish treasure’s display exhibited there drew 11,500 visitors.

By 1968 under President J. D. Almond Jr., many of the artifacts were housed in space provided by William G. Tye at #133 in the Arcade Building on 4th Street. In these early years even more items were stored in the Refrigeration Terminal owned by Dorothy Binney Palmer…and more space was needed.

The current St. Lucie County Historical Museum building, at 414 Seaway Drive, had been built by the U.S. government as a Motor Pool for the Amphibious Base which was located in Fort Pierce during World War II. When no longer needed for that purpose, it was turned over to the county. The county used it as the Mosquito Control Center. After a new Mosquito Control Center was built, our present building became available.

The efforts of Mr. Bob Gladwin, then Commodore of the Sea Scout Ship Edwin S. Binney, and Mrs. Addie Emerson, both of whom were members of the Historical Society as well as the Historical Commission led to a five year lease being signed in June of 1968.

The move from the Arcade Building to Seaway Drive was accomplished with lots of help, a great deal of this help came from Sea Scouts. The “cleaning” of the building was a back breaking labor of love on the part of many volunteers.
Mrs. Vivian Davis, a local school teacher and artist, was persuaded to paint murals to serve as background for the various exhibition areas depicting the life of the early community. As interior restorations have taken place through the years, most of these murals have disappeared.

Mrs. Addie Emerson was the first Museum Director. Her salary was $100 per month. She was followed by Iva Jean Sherman (Maddox) from 1980-82. Iva Jean recalls that at that time there were no screen doors, and the main doors were propped open to ease the heat. Visitors at that time included all the little creatures that lived in the area. Part of the daily activities included chasing them out before closing. In the mid-70’s Bob Gladwin installed a photographic dark room and a decade later a costume room and photo lab were created.

Ed McCarron became the Museum Director after Mrs. Sherman left to continue her studies, he stayed 2 years. In June of 1985 the much appreciated air conditioning was installed. That same summer the Treasure Room was created and the Register/Gardner house was moved to the property.

The next director was Scott Loehr from 1985-88. In 1987 the small gift shop area blossomed into the “Pineapple Patch”, under the guidance of Mrs. Marion Ames. Mr. Ed Swanson became Superintendent of Museums just in time to oversee the massive building program of 1989. In June and July of 1990, while David Helms accomplished preliminary construction, Bob Drumm designed interior renovations. A renovation of the main museum and the creation of the train room and the vehicle sheds were completed in 1991.

Our bicentennial project in 1976 was the publication of the Pictorial History of St. Lucie County which was largely funded by Sun Bank. It was illustrated with photographs from negatives of the Hill Photographic Concern.

Several fund raising events were held to support the Cobb House Project. These included Bake sales, plant sales, Christmas card sales, rummage sales and an antique clothes fashion show held in September 1983 at the Pelican Yacht Club.
The Peter P. Cobb House was moved on December 20, 1983, from its original site on Indian River Drive to its new location next to the Historical Museum. The cost to move the house was $6,400 and the contract to move it was signed with Grover Fletcher of Roseland in November. (Sadly it burned to the ground on November 16, 1984).

On November 2, 1983, Addie Holmes Emerson died peacefully in her sleep. Born a cattleman’s daughter in Ft. Drum, 82 years ago, she shared the memories of those early days with us: the welcoming ranch house, visiting Indians with Polly Parker, and cow camps with hard working cowboys on the open range.
The Holmes family moved to Ft. Pierce when Addie was seven years old because her parents desired a good education for their children. She attended the old wooden school on North 2nd Street near Cobb’s Store. When the new modern yellow brick school on Delaware Avenue opened in 1915, Addie was there. Her Family operated Holmes Casino and Pool where most of Fort Pierce youths learned to swim. And Addie was there.

She grew up, married Lindsey Emerson, raised her children Tom and Paige, worked with her church and community in Fort Pierce, and stored memories. But in 1968 when she became Director of the St. Lucie County Historical Museum, she helped put all those memories back into life. And for thousands of adults and children, visitors and residents, she was Mrs. St. Lucie History because she lived that history, remembered that history and told all of us “how it was”. And we knew it would never be that way again.

The Gardner House was moved to the Historical Museum property on July 18th 1985. Membership rises to 397 by December of 1985. A rummage sale in June raises $1,700 for restoration of the Gardner House.

A Cracker Party and auction at the Gardner House was held on November 8th. A fun and profitable event, resulting in $2574.91 for the Historical Society’s use. Robert U. Gladwin gave the Museum 200 glass plates from the Hill collection which he had kept for many years. He had been alerted to them by Mrs. Dorothy Gortner, when her cousin Catheryn had come to clean up the studio.

Robert U. “Bob” Gladwin passed away on November 20th, 1988. His years of service with the Sea Scouts, the St. Lucie Historical Society, The Historical Commission and the St. Lucie County Historical Museum touched many lives. Bob’s diligence, dreams and hard work have helped produce a place where our past can be preserved and revered, so that all of us can go on to a brighter, more informed future.

Fort Pierce lost one of its finest in November 1991, when Maurice “Buddy” Gardner was taken by death. “Buddy” was a life member of the Historical Society, and he and his family donated the Gardner House to the Museum. He came to Fort Pierce in 1923. This is where he met and married his childhood sweetheart, Bertha Boese. She was the love of his life. They were married for 57 years before his death. They owned the Gardner House for 50 years, living in it for 47 years. He worked for Dr. Mandaville, who was an optician for 16 years. In 1949 he made a career change and went to work for the city of Fort Pierce in the Utilities Collections Department, where he stayed for 20 years. “Buddy” will be missed a lot, but every time any of us look at the Gardner House, we can think about “Buddy” and his family and all the many happy hours they spent there.
 

Charles “Buck” White, past president of the St. Lucie Historical Society, died on April 13, 1992 of pancreatic cancer. After retiring from the Federal Government in Washington D.C., Buck moved to Fort Pierce around 1980, and was active in many political and social organizations. During his two year term as president, Buck organized and had printed the first Membership Directory for this Society, took an active role with the St. Lucie County Historical Commission in moving the Cobb House to the Museum, and tried to meet and greet, or speak to each member at our dinner meetings.

In the spring of 1994, Alyce Cleveland Edgell our Society President, and her husband Robert Charles Edgell were lost in a double tragedy. Alyce had been an active participant in the Society, as well as the editor of the Historical Quarterly. Both these dedicated people poured their hearts into the preservation and promotion of our local history.

The long awaited 192-page, 300,000-word, over 300 photos, Backus print covered “A Portrait of St. Lucie County, Florida” by Lucille Reiley Rights is completed. Publication is made possible with the help of Riverside Bank. Retail price is set at $30.00.

The St. Lucie Historical Society Board as well as the Museum lost a productive friend in January of 1995. Jack Meany, in his commitment to the Museum also involved his wife Carolyn. He was a superb modeler and assisted in the efforts to recreate the town of Fort Pierce in scale for the Museum. Jack was thoughtful and considerate with much concern for the welfare of the museum.

On September 2, 2003 the Society was informed that a final distribution of $263,333.33 from the Ruth Hallstrom Trust would be transferred to our AG Edwards account by way of SunTrust stock. The Society will be forever grateful to our special benefactor.