Women Pioneers in Southeast Florida

WOMEN PIONEERS IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA by Sandra Lea Layman A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Humanities ......_ .... ~,. "" . in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements· for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida August 1986 .-.1· WOMEN PIONEERS IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA by Sandra Lea Layman This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Donald w. Curl, Department of History, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Humanities and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: ~a•d~ J (Thesis Advisor) uh< I.£~~ ~IQ- I .Do& ~aOd • llJI)JL~q Chairperson, Department of \ History ii ABSTRACT Author: Sandra Lea Layman Title: Women Pioneers in Southeast Florida Institution: Florida Atlantic University Degree: Master of Arts Year: 1986 This thesis examines the roles and contributions of women who pioneered Southeast Florida in the late nineteenth century. The area researched is nineteenth century Dade County which extended from the St. Lucie River south to Indian Key. Dade County women and women's groups were instrumental in transforming the wilderness settlements into communities through the establishment of comfortable homes, public schools, churches, libraries, and community service organizations. Of particular importance, the thesis studies the change in lifestyles as women adapted to the new subtropical environment. Also examined are the three centers of pioneer population (Lake Worth, Biscayne Bay, and Fort Lauderdale) and the individual women who contributed to these settlements. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT • • ~ 0 0 • • • iii INTRODUCTION . 1 Chapter I. A DESCRIPTION OF EARLY DADE COUNTY AND ITS HISTORY • . • • • • . • • • • 4 II. PIONEER LIFE 15 III. WOMEN PIONEERS OF LAKE WORTH 50 IV. WOMEN PIONEERS OF BISCAYNE BAY 63 V. WOMEN PIONEERS OF FORT LAUDERDALE •.• 104 CONCLUSION . 117 ENDNOTES . 119 BIBLIOGRAPHY 131 iv DADE COUNTY IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY - ,., i i T H f £ vi£ RGLAD£8 I ... i -·-·-·-·-! I i 0 i i z i i' !I,. II ll 'I ___1:I• Charles Ledyard Horton, A Handbook of Florida (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), p. 20. v -'· INTRODUCTION The pioneer era of Southeast Florida came after the settlement of the American west. With inexpensive western land diminishing, Americans sought a new frontier. Southeast Florida offered new opportunities and new adventures. This thesis will examine the role of women who pioneered Dade county (which encompassed parts of six present-day counties) in the late nineteenth century. The Lake Worth and Biscayne Bay settlements were located on · natural waterways and became the earliest centers of population. These two regions will be studied from the migration of the first pe~anent settlers ending with the arrival of the East Coast Railroad. Henry M. Flagler's r~ilroad brought conveniences to th~ settled land and ended the pioneer period. The railroad also created many settlements along the east coast including Fort Lauderdale. The Fort Lauderdale settlement experienced pioneering iater and will be examined up to the turn of the twentieth century. The written history of the pioneer era in southeast Florida is that of men. Sources contain discussions on the great men of South Florida and their achievements. Indeed, the growth of South Florida could not have occurred without 1 2 these men, but the accomplishments of the women have laid buried. Historian William Fowler recognized this in 1876 when he wrote: The story of woman's work in great migrations has been told only in lines ~nd passages where it ought instead to fill volumes. Here and there incidents and anecdotes scattered through a thousand times give us glimpses of the wife, the mother, or the daughter as a heroine or as an angle of kindness and goodness, but most of·her story is a blank which never will be filled up. And yet it is precisely in her position as a pioneer and colonizer that her influence is the most potent and her life story most interesting.l Dade County women and women's groups were instrumental in transforming the wilderness settlements into communities through the establishment of comfortable homes, public sch~ols, churches, ~ibraries, and community service organizations. Combatting the natural elements of the subtropics, the women created comfortable residences. They learned to prepare food, wash clothes, maintain the homes and tend to the ill in the new environment. Women opened their homes to educate children and hold religious serv ices. As settlement increased, women organized clubs to raise funds for public schools, libraries, and churches. Women assumed roles in preserving the unique Florida environment and assisted in establishing a resort area through the operation of hotels and eating establishments. Several pioneer women established their names in history through unique and extensive contributions. Julia Tuttle's assertiveness and business knowledge led to 3 Flagler extending his railroad to Biscayne Bay, thus creating the City of Miami. Ivy Stranahan worked for several decades in educating s~~inole children and helping the Indian adjust to the white settlers. These two women will be ex~~ined in depth. The thesis will demonstrate the various ways in which female pioneers contributed to the new Florida society.2 CHAPTER I A DESCRIPTION OF EARLY DADE COUNTl AND ITS HISTORY The Florida Legislature created Dade County from a part of Monroe County in 1836. Its 4,424 square miles extended along the east coast from Indian Key on the south, to the St. Lucie River on the north, and west to Lake Okeechobee. Named to honor Major Francis Langhorne Dade, one of the earliest victims of the Second Seminole War, the county claimed por-cions of today's.Lee, Okeechobee; Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, and.Dade Counties, making it as large as the present state of Massachusetts.3 White settlement in Dade County developed slowly. Even though Spanish records indicated the presence of Europeans as early as the latter part of the 1700s, large scale settlement did not begin until the 1870s. In 1840, the first Dade County census gave the total white popula tion as 412. Population declined during the following three decades. The census reported 147 whites in 1850, 80 in 1860, and only 72 whites in 1870. By 1880 the popula tion had risen to 257 with 86 people living in Dade County in 1890. As in other frontier areas, men outnumbered 4 5 women. For example, the 1860 census reported 54 men and only 26 women.4 People left the comforts of northern homes (most were Yankees and not resettled southerners) to settle the subtropical wilderness for various reasons. Some of the first settlers, such as John Addison of cutler, came to Florida to serve during the Seminole War and decided to stay. Others sought inexpensive or homestead land, relief from the 1873 depression, or a solitary life of living in a scarcely populated area. The climate attracted some settl~rs, including those who were ill. Northern doctors often prescribed a warmer climate for those afflicted with respiratory diseases or who were ill "without any well defined special form of disease."S Nineteenth century travel books agreed with the physicians and suggested south Florida. James Davidson's The Florida of To-Day: A Guide for Tourists and Settlers, published in 1889 stated: [In South Florida] are to be found the most marked results of these exceptional climatic agencies--an equability greater than is to be found anywhere else in either of the grand divisions of the American continent."6 Davidson further claimed that the absence of Spanish moss in subtropical Florida proved the purity of the atmosphere making it the healthiest place in the union.? Then too, near the turn of the century, people migrated to South Florida for many of the same reasons as today, often seeking the mild climate for recreation and retirement. 6 Women of the pioneer era generally arrived after their husbands. Often the husband came to Southeast Florida, explored the land, and then related accounts of "wonderful weather, delicious fruits, and the ease and freedom of a life in the wilderness."8 Nonetheless, many single and widowed women also ventured to Dade County, and several women, discussed in this thesis, even challenged the wilderness alone. The journey to Southeast Florida prior the 1890s was long and uncomfortable. To reach the Lake Worth area, settlers took the train from Jacksonville to Titusville, then proceeded by boat down the coast. Most sailboats that arrived in Dade County were small with limited comforts. Women supervised the family's welfare throughout the voyage. They performed such housekeeping duties as cooking (often fresh caught fish) on oil stoves, washing in seawater, and mending clothes. Jupiter became a transfer point since most boats traveled by the Indian River which merges with the Loxahatchee River near Jupiter. Here the traveler chose one of two routes: sail out the Jupiter Inlet on to the Atlantic Ocean, then south ten miles; or row a small boat inland, through eight miles of sawgrass. By the 1890s, better transportation existed. Steamboat lines plied the Indian River between Titusville and Jupiter. The eigt.t-mile-long Celestial Railroad brought travelers from Jupiter to Juno. From Juno (the most 7 northern settlement on Lake Worth) the traveler could use a hack line or steamboat to continue down the length of Lake Worth. For those traveling beyond Lake Worth, there were four ways to reach Biscayne Bay. Many people sailed down the coast to the bay. The more adventurous travelers walked the beach to Miami. Florida pioneer, Mary Douthit Conrad, recalled an incident of a woman walking the sixty miles.

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