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DeSoto County Historical Society News
P.O. Box 1824, Arcadia, FL 34265, www.historicdesoto.org
863-494-6607 or [email protected]
November 2012
Newsletter Sponsors Needed!
Sponsors will be recognized for a full year
for a donation of $100.00.
Sponsors can be businesses, families,
individuals, or organizations-or one, two, or more combined
November - Ronnie and Charlotte Allen,
in memory of Winnie Duncan
zzz
December - Happy 125th Birthday
to the City of Arcadia!
January -Jeanne Lloyd in memory of
Dr. H.C. Lloyd
February - Evelyn Sasser in memory of
Kit and Candacy Mahon
March - Bebe and Donn Jackson
April -Arlene and Warren Conley
in memory of Leo and Hazel Williams
May - Happy Birthday to DeSoto County!
June - Max Fitzpatrick in memory
of Lois Rachel Fitzpatrick
July - Mitzie McGavic
September - Donn and Bebe Jackson
October - Howard Melton
in memory of his wife Velma
Dues Are Due and Raised
With the expense of monthly electric
and water bills for the Research Library,
the Board thought it prudent to raise dues:
individual, $20; family, $30; sponsor, $50;
business, $100. Dues will no longer be
prorated throughout the year and are
due on January 1, 2013.
Society Greeting Cards
The Society’s specially designed greeting
cards are now available at the meeting
for a donation of $5 for six cards.
Thelma Myrbo will send the Society’s
special cards to members who are sick or
who have lost a loved one. Contact her at
494-5513 or [email protected].
Welcome New Member!
Lorel Reinstrom joined the Society in
September.
November 8: Annual Election
All members in good standing will
vote at the November meeting to elect the
following slate of officers and directors:
President, Bebe Bradbury-Jackson; Vicepresident, Vernon Keen; Secretary, Michelle
Potter; Treasurer, Mitzie McGavic; As “Past
President”, Harold McLeod; Directors,
Sandy Pease and Dennis Tyson.
November 10
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
DeSoto County
Fair Grounds
We’re looking forward to seeing you at our
annual yard sale! We have plenty of great
items at bargain prices--plus hotdogs, cold
drinks, and the best baked goods! Please
volunteer to bake a treat, help with sorting
or pricing, during the sale--or all three!
Bring your donations to the meeting or to
the Howard and Velma Melton Historical
Research Library during open hours, or
call Bebe Bradbury-Jackson at 494-6607.
“Some History of Agriculture in
DeSoto County” Exhibit at AgFest
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., November 17, Turner
Agri-Civic Center, 2250 NE Roan Street
To accompany our exhibit at AgFest, we would like to have volunteers wear
historic costumes. We would also like to
borrow your unusual farm items for display. To volunteer or loan an item, please contact
Bebe Bradbury-Jackson, 494-6607,
or online at [email protected]."
Christmas Tour of Homes
Team Arcadia is holding a tour of historic
homes decorated for the holidays on
December 8. To volunteer as a docent in
one of the homes, please call Bruce Neveau
or Dennis Tyson at 863-558-6224.
Please send all news, corrections, and
suggestions to Carol Mahler at 445-0789
or online to [email protected].
THANK YOU!
We thank the following people for their
donations to the Howard and Velma Melton
Historical Research Library: Fran
Campbell for papers pertaining to Arcadia/
DeSoto County from the Lindsey Williams
collection; Martha Larson for an old
manual typewriter; Doris “Dodo” Pooser
for her scrapbooks and booklets;
Ruth Reynolds Dunn for Historical Society
records and other memorabilia; Maryann
Roe for memorabilia from the Tribute
Dinner for Margaret Way and a Brumby
rocking chair from the porch of the Arcadia
House; and Dan Sangaree for documents
celebrating his 100th birthday.
We also thank Dave Brown for his efforts
in helping us acquire some “L and E
Literary Club” directories and programs
(once owned by Mrs. D. G. Barnett) and
some historic photographs that he found at
a flea market in Fort Myers; and Marty
Dow for his assistance in buying a new
floor display case for the Howard and
Velma Melton Historical Research Library.
Historical Information Preservation
Please allow the Society to scan your
family’s historic photographs and documents at the Howard and Velma Melton
Historical Research Library in the Ingraham
Seed house, 120 W. Whidden Street, Arcadia.
The Library is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on
Thursdays (except for the second Thursday
of the month); 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second
Saturday of the month; and by appointment:
863-445-0789.
December and January Programs
Our December 6, the first Thursday of
the month, please join us for a covered
dish luncheon and Annual Auction to
benefit the scholarship we award to a
graduating senior at DeSoto County High
School. We are grateful for donations of
NEW items. On January 10, the second
Thursday of the month, Ray Speer will tell
about his father Paul Speer, who served as
Arcadia’s mayor, councilman, and city
recorder. The old National Guard Armory
is now a recreation center named in his
honor: the Speer Center.
November Meeting Announcement
The DeSoto County Historical Society’s
regular monthly meeting will be on the
SECOND Thursday of the month,
November 8, 2012,
at the Family Service Center Annex
(old West Elementary cafeteria)
at the corner of N. Orange Avenue
and Effie Street. Lunch is $5, served at
11:30 a.m.: sloppy Joes, potato salad, and
chips--plus dessert A tip jar (to help defray
costs) will be at the sign-in table. At noon,
President Bebe Jackson will conduct a short
business meeting, and then she will
introduce Lee Stikeleather,
U. S. Army CSM (Ret.).
He will present the history of the
DeSoto National Guard’s Battery D,
712th Triple-A Gun Battalion.
Bring your family, friends, and neighbors!
Thank You for the Yummies!
We are grateful to Marty Dow for preparing
our October luncheon. We thank Arlene
Conley, Marion Glanden, Ellen Myer,
June Sowell, and Barbara Thomas for the
delicious desserts. We appreciate Arlene
and Warren Conley, June Sowell, and
Cynthia Upton for their set-up and clean-up
work. They can use your help, too, so
please offer your assistance. Thanks to
June Sowell for donating iced tea and
lemonade, fresh fruit, and pickles, and
to Bebe Jackson for making the coffee!
Our Dining Challenge!
Marty Dow is retiring from preparing
our lunch, so we need another plan. Please
volunteer to make our lunch each month or
to coordinate members willing to make
some, but not all, of the food. (For example,
four members each make 20 sandwiches).
If you can help or if you have another idea,
please contact Bebe Bradbury-Jackson at
494-6607 or [email protected].
Our E-Newsletter
If you would like to receive your newsletter
in your inbox, please send your e-mail
address to [email protected].
Published Just in Time for Your Holiday Gift-Giving:
Recollections III: A Collection of Historical Photographs,
Documents, Stories, Recipes, Sayings, and Other Memorabilia
About Arcadia and DeSoto County, Florida
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Naming the Town of Arcadia by
Spessard Stone, page 4; Brief Biography
of Spessard Stone by Carol Mahler,
page 7; George Brown: First AfricanAmerican Deputy Sheriff in Florida by
Carol Mahler, page 8; Last of the Old
Time Gunfights by Luke Wilson,
page 12; Memories of Nellie and Sleds
by John A. Reynolds, page 14; A Short
Biography of Loka Anna Lastinger
Johnson by Ed Johnson, page 16; “The
Big Rattlesnake” by Ed Johnson, page 21;
The Story of W. O. Ralls, II, and Annie
Causey by Bruce Neveau, page 22; Once
Upon . . . the Southern Hotel by Carol
Mahler, page 26; Pear Cobbler by June
Reynolds Fulton as told to Carol Mahler,
page 31; The Pooser Family Christmas
Day Eggnog Party by Carol Mahler,
Recollections III continues the DeSoto County Historical
Society’s serial history of Arcadia and DeSoto County.
The cover is a a photograph of Judge A. E. Pooser’s
Christmas Morning Eggnog Party, circa 1893, at his home
in Arcadia, with some of his family and friends--all early
residents. An article inside identifies many in the picture.
Recollections III, published 2012: $8
Recollections II, published 2011: $8
Recollections I, published 2010: $7
Special holiday price: all three books for $20!
Available at the meeting or downtown Arcadia
businesses or add $2 for shipping and handling.
page 32; List of 200, Monday, 3 Week
Special Term 1887, courtesy Richard
Livingston, page 42; Brief Biography of
Richard Milton Livingston by Carol
Mahler, page 44; Fish Branch Memories
by Arlene Conley, page 50; The Durrance
Family and the Third Seminole War by
Kay Harvin, page 51; A Visit to Arcadia
in 1925 by Gary Q. Johnson, page 56; My
Sixth-Year Birthday Party by Charlotte
Patricia Hill Carter, page 58; Crackerfied
by Forest Reynolds, page 60; and Index.
Some excerpts from articles on reverse.
Naming the Town Arcadia
by Spessard Stone
!
The Reverend James Madison “Boss”
Hendry, born July 23, 1839, was a Civil War
veteran, cattleman, farmer, merchant and Baptist
preacher, who in 1883 named Arcadia, Florida.
My mother Anne Rae Hendry Stone (1912-2010),
his last surviving child, spoke often of him. . . .
Florida’s First Black Deputy
George Brown
by Carol Mahler
!
The son of Walter and Emma Brown,
George Brown was born on November 28, 1914,
in Houston County, Georgia. . . .
Reprinted from the February 6, 1988 edition
of the DeSoto County Times
The Last of the Old-Time Gunfights
by Luke Wilson
!
The hatchet has finally been buried.
Descendants of two of Desoto County’s pioneers
who staged a real-life gunfight on Arcadia’s “Main
Street” met last week to confirm that hard
feelings concerning the incident have not
survived the years. . . .
Fish Branch Memories
by Arlene Conley
!
In November, 1943, four months before
my younger brother was born, my mother, Hazel
Williams, took my older brother, Marvin, and me
on a train trip. We boarded the train in Avon
Park on our trek to Jacksonville to visit . . . .
The Durrance Family
and the Third Seminole War
by Kay Harvin
!
Francis McDonald Durrance was born on
March 18, 1809, in Tattnall County, Georgia. He
was one of the ten children of Joseph Durrance
and Cecelia Elizabeth Tippins. . . .
A Short Biograpy of Loka Anna
Lastinger Johnson
by Ed Johnson
!
Loka Anna Lastinger was born the sixth
of nine children to Joshua Berrien and Louisa
Bowden Lastinger. Her family came to Florida
from Ware County in southeastern Georgia in an
ox-drawn wagon. The family started south . . . .
The Story of W. O. Ralls II
and Annie Causey
by Bruce Neveau
!
On March 1, 1899, William Oswell Ralls
II, of Moffitt, Florida, married Susan Annie
Causey (called “Annie”) of Seville, Florida. They
were married in Volusia County, where her family
had been pioneers for many years. . . .
y 1st, , 1903
Arcadia, Fla Jul
Dear Annie,
inning to
day and was beg
to
rs
ou
y
ed
iv
ce
I re
not write. . . .
think you would
My Sixth-Year Birthday Party
by Charlotte Patricia Hill Carter
!
My sixth-year birthday party was held at
the home of my Mama’s mother, Grandmother
Charlotte Summers. She lived on the corner . . . .
Memories of Nellie and Sleds
by John A. Reynolds
What! Sleds in Florida?! Aren’t sleds for ice and
snow? We made use of horse and tractor-drawn
sleds for various purposes at our home place in
Nocatee for years. . . .
A Visit To Arcadia in 1925
by Gary Q. Johnson
When I was interviewing my father, Glenn Q.
Johnson, for my family tree records, he told me
of a trek his parents had made in 1925. . . .