Hurricane Irma Discovery

While last month's Hurricane Irma damaged some of our local historical resources, especially along the river's edge, it did bring at least one pleasant surprise in the form of an old wooden canoe! Luckily the canoe was discovered by Randy Lathrop, who rescued it from the amongst the debris and knew exactly what to do to ensure that it got preserved and studied.

Photo by Randy Lathrop

Randy's discovery has garnered national attention. Check out the story on ABC news for more details and great photos!! According to Randy's Facebook page carbon dating on the canoe indicates that it might date back as far as 1640!

He Never Heard It Questioned

In 2011 I wrote a post about our area's best known early pioneer Douglas Dummett. Known as the founder of what became the Indian River area citrus industry, Dummett was also well known in his day for more controversial things such as his independent personality and for challenging the era's racial norms. Although Dummett has been the subject of much attention, I recently came across a document that I have never seen published or written about before that is interesting on several different levels. While searching for a naturalization record for an early German immigrant to Florida, I stumbled across a petition for naturalization from none other than Douglas Dummett! Since I knew that Dummett had come as a youth to Florida with his parents, I wondered what the heck that was doing in there. Apparently my surprise was the same as that felt by Dummett himself in October of 1840 when he was confronted with the issue of his citizenship. To use his own words, "he never heard it questioned until yesterday, and did not suppose until yesterday it was in any wise necessary for him to institute any proceedings in order to become a citizen."


Page 2, LDS microfilm #964745

Page one of naturalization

























In order to rectify this unacceptable situation, Dummett submitted a petition for naturalization in St. John's County Court that gives us a great deal of background information on his life, some of which was lacking direct proof until now. In essence he provides a short biography in his own words, which is something very valuable that we have not had until now. After stating that he was born in January of 1806 at the Island of Barbados, under the rule of Great Britain, he says that he emigrated when about fourteen years of age to the United States and after landing in New York City he went to New Haven, Connecticut where he resided with his father's family until 1824 when they moved to Florida. He further stated that he always believed that his father was a naturalized citizen as he owned real estate in Connecticut, was a large land and slave holder while he lived in Florida, and that he voted at elections there and expressed other rights and privileges of a citizen. As for himself, Douglas Dummett says that he has not left the United States, except once as a teenager to visit Barbados, that he has married a native Floridian, and all his personal and real estate are in Florida.

 Apparently he was "informed his Citizenship is contested by some," one can only imagine what prompted that, and that if he is not a citizen he is filing this application to rectify the situation. Among those that swore to Dummett's application was his mother Mary D. Dummett and Edwin T. Jenckes a powerful politician known as the "fat man of Florida" due to his immense size. If you click on Mr. Jenckes' name above the link will take you to a very interesting article written about him in the January 1952 issue of the Florida Historical Quarterly.

 

Ethel Allen's Date With The Devil

Well I don't know if this October will bring any paranormal experiences like last year's ghost hunt at the historic Pritchard House in Titusville, check out my archives for the low down on that spooky night, but it has brought us new information on an infamous local crime that I chronicled in this blog on April 9, 2011. I am speaking about the brutal murder of Cocoa's Ethel Allen, whose mutilated and burned body was found on the bank of the Indian River on November 21, 1934. This murder has continued to fascinate in part due to the violence involved in the crime and partly because no one was ever arrested for it. That such a sensational crime occurred at all in sleepy Brevard County at that early of a date also adds to the shock factor. However, some 78 years later local authors Gail Sheldon and Gloria Falco set out to try and solve this very cold case and have put together their findings on the crime in a new book entitled "Ethel Allen's Date With The Devil."

In addition to using traditional investigative methods the authors used paranormal techniques like searching for EVP's in Ashleys restaurant, a place that has had a long, assocation with her story. One of these techniques actually uses dowsing rods to search for high electro magnetic fields. A question such as "Where you were killed?" can be asked of a spirit and in the hands of an experienced user the rods will point in a direction which can then be followed.

If you are interested in learning the "latest" on the Ethel Allen case be sure to check this out!

Tragedy on the Banana River



Georgiana Cemetery, Merritt Island, Brevard County, FL

In the beautiful Georgiana Cemetery on Merritt Island, sits a stone that has puzzled and fascinated Brevard County residents for years. The stone documents the deaths of Myrtle, Mary and Martha Smith three daughters of M.G. & E. Smith who all died on Wednesday June 14, 1916. The fact that all three girls died the same day has led to endless speculation on how they might have met their fate, from the obvious illness to more sinister implications. After searching the microfilm of the two local newspapers of the time and finding no mention of the girls I wrote to the Vital Statistics Department in Jacksonville to obtain copies of Martha and Myrtle's death certificates, they could not find one for Mary. There finally in black in white was the cause of death which was listed as "drowning, caused by storm."  

After finding this out I went back to the newspapers and searched again with no luck, so I put it in a drawer and was at least happy that I knew what had happened to them. A few months ago I received another inquiry about the stone from Faye Roberts in Alabama and I responded with what I knew. When she asked for more details I informed her that despite my best efforts, that was all I had been able to find out. Intrigued she contacted a friend who had access to a database of historic newspapers from throughout the country that we did not have access to. There she found the full and heartbreaking story curiously published in the pages of the New Smyrna News on Friday June 23, 1916.

The paper relates that J.J. (Joseph) Ramsey, his daughter Florence, a son of about 10 years old and three of his grandchildren, the Smith sisters, decided to go from Merritt Island across the Banana River to get to the beach where they planned on camping for a week to play in the surf and hunt turtles. Although "a heavy cyclonic gale was raging," Mr. Ramsey decided to cross to the beach anyway. The boat, an ordinary sized rowboat equipped with a sail, six people, a tent and a month's supply of provisions was overloaded even for good weather. About a mile from the eastern shore a shift of wind tore the sails down to the water capsizing the boat and throwing the occupants into the water. Although Mr. Ramsey got his daughter and the three girls to the side of the boat they were unable to hold on and they were drowned. Mr. Ramsey and his son held on to the boat and when it was driven near the shore they were seen and rescued by William Venty, one of the camping party whom the Ramseys intended to join. Miss Ramsey's body was recovered on Thursday and the little girls on Friday. It was reported that in Miss Ramsey's clinched hand was a lock of hair, proving that she had tried to catch and save at least one of her nieces.

As if the story wasn't tragic enough the author related that the three girls were the only children of M.G. (Martin Gaither) Smith of Rockledge who had lost his wife Elizabeth, their mother, giving birth to the last of the three girls. Thus Mr. Smith was "left alone in his sorrow."

It is still a mystery to me why the local papers did not report on the accident, perhaps it was just too hurtful to Mr. Smith and his father-in-law, who I am sure had a tremendous amount of guilt to live with, but I am glad that after all these years we finally know what happened to the girls. The last line of the article states "The sympathy of the entire community goes out to the bereaved family and especially to Mr. Smith," and even today almost a hundred years later I am sure you will agree with me that it is hard not to feel that way upon hearing the story.