Florida Historical Quarterly

COVER “Taking home a Family Pet, Live Alligator, St. Petersburg, Fla.” Photograph from the Heritage Park Collection, Pinellas County Historical Museum, Largo, Florida. The Volume LXVI, Number 4 April 1988 THE FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT 1988 by the Florida Historical Society, Tampa, Florida. Second class postage paid at Tampa and DeLeon Springs, Florida. Printed by E. O. Painter Printing Co., DeLeon Springs, Florida. (ISSN 0015-4113) THE FLORIDA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Samuel Proctor, Editor M. Sherry Johnson, Editorial Assistant EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD David R. Colburn University of Florida Herbert J. Doherty, Jr. University of Florida Michael V. Gannon University of Florida John K. Mahon University of Florida (Emeritus) Jerrell H. Shofner University of Central Florida Charlton W. Tebeau University of Miami (Emeritus) Correspondence concerning contributions, books for review, and all editorial matters should be addressed to the Editor, Florida Historical Quarterly, Box 14045, University Station, Gainesville, Florida 32604-2045. The Quarterly is interested in articles and documents pertaining to the history of Florida. Sources, style, footnote form, original- ity of material and interpretation, clarity of thought, and in- terest of readers are considered. All copy, including footnotes, should be double-spaced. Footnotes are to be numbered con- secutively in the text and assembled at the end of the article. Particular attention should be given to following the footnote style of the Quarterly. The author should submit an original and retain a carbon for security. Authors with access to IBM/ Wordstar programs are asked to submit both a hardcopy and a diskette. The Florida Historical Society and the Editor of the Florida Historical Quarterly accept no responsibility for statements made or opinions held by authors. The Quarterly reviews books dealing with all aspects of Florida history. Books to be reviewed should be sent to the Editor together with price and information on how they can be ordered. Table of Contents THE 1944 FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC SENATE PRIMARY James C. Clark 365 JOHN ELLIS, KING'S AGENT, AND WEST FLORIDA Julius Groner and Robert R. Rea 385 FLORIDA SLAVE NARRATIVES Gary R. Mormino 399 DEMOGRAPHY AND THE POLITICAL DESTINY OF FLORIDA DURING THE SECOND SPANISH PERIOD Abel Poitrineau 420 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS: FLORIDA MANUSCRIPT ACQUISITIONS AND ACCESSIONS 444 B OOK REVIEWS . 450 B OOK NOTES . 482 HISTORY NEWS . 489 DIRECTORS' MEETING . 496 INDEX TO VOLUME LXVI . 501 BOOK REVIEWS MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS: VOICE OF THE RIVER: AN AUTOBIOG- RAPHY WITH JOHN ROTHCHILD, by Marjory Stoneman Douglas reviewed by LeRoy Collins BOMBAST AND BROADSIDES: THE LIVES OF GEORGE JOHNSTONE, by Robin F. A. Fabel reviewed by J. Barton Starr YO SOLO: BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ Y LA TOMA DE PANZACOLA EN 1781; UNA CONTRIBUCIÓN ESPAÑOLA A LA INDEPENDENCIA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, by Carmen de Reparaz reviewed by Joseph John Jova FLORIDA'S VANISHING ARCHITECTURE, by Beth Dunlop reviewed by Ivan A. Rodriguez RECONSTRUCTING HISTORIC SUBSISTENCE WITH AN EXAMPLE FROM SIX- TEENTH-CENTURY SPANISH FLORIDA, by Elizabeth J. Reitz and C. Margaret Scarry reviewed by C. Wesley Cowan ARTIFACTS OF THE SPANISH COLONIES OF FLORIDA AND THE CARIBBEAN, 1500-1800. VOLUME I: CERAMICS, GLASSWARE, AND BEADS, by Kathleen Deagan reviewed by Jerald T. Milanich THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MISSION SANTA CATALINA DE GUALE: 1. SEARCH AND DISCOVERY, by David Hurst Thomas reviewed by Marvin T. Smith REPORT ON THE MOUND EXPLORATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY, by Cyrus Thomas, introduction by Bruce C. Smith reviewed by Kathleen Deagan LETTERS OF DELEGATES TO CONGRESS, 1774-1789: VOLUME 13, JUNE 1-SEP- TEMBER 30, 1779, edited by Paul H. Smith, Gerard W. Gawalt, and Ronald M. Gephart reviewed by Robert M. Calhoon IN PURSUIT OF REASON: THE LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, by Noble E. Cun- ningham, Jr. reviewed by Robert A. Rutland MAJOR BUTLER'S LEGACY: FIVE GENERATIONS OF A SLAVEHOLDING FAM- ILY, by Malcolm Bell, Jr. reviewed by Lawrence Rowland MORALITY AND UTILITY IN AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY REFORM, by Louis S. Gerteis reviewed by Donald Yacovone POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN THE SOUTH, by Earl Black and Merle Black reviewed by Richard K. Scher SOUTHERN FOLK, PLAIN AND FANCY: NATIVE WHITE SOCIAL TYPES, by John Shelton Reed reviewed by F. N. Boney No IVORY TOWER: MCCARTHYISM AND THE UNIVERSITIES, by Ellen W. Schrecker reviewed by James C. Clark THE SOUTHERN VISION OF ANDREW LYTLE, by Mark Lucas reviewed by George Hallam A WORLD UNSUSPECTED: PORTRAITS OF SOUTHERN CHILDHOOD, edited and introduced by Alex Harris reviewed by David A. Kaufelt THE 1944 FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC SENATE PRIMARY by JAMES C. CLARK ENATOR Claude Pepper’s defeat in the 1950 Democratic S primary by Representative George Smathers has become one of the most controversial elections in Florida politics. The race between Pepper, a New Deal liberal, and Smathers, a tra- ditional southern conservative, attracted national attention. But Pepper’s popularity actually began to decline in 1944, when he narrowly avoided a runoff election against a field of little-known candidates. The 1944 election indicated some of Pepper’s political weaknesses that Smathers would exploit six years later. Claude Pepper followed an unusual route to the United States Senate. He was born in Alabama in 1900, was graduated from the University of Alabama in 1921, and Harvard Univer- sity Law School in 1924. After teaching one year at the Univer- sity of Arkansas Law School, he moved to Perry, Florida, during the 1925 land boom to be an attorney for a land development company. In 1928 Pepper was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from Taylor County, one of the state’s smallest and most politically conservative counties, but was defeated two years later when he sought re-election. In November 1930 Pep- per moved to Tallahassee to resume his practice of law.1 In 1934 Pepper and three others challenged incumbent United States Senator Park Trammell who had been serving since 1916. Pepper portrayed himself as a supporter of Presi- dent Roosevelt’s economic program, and in the first primary received 79,396 votes to Trammell’s 81,321. The three other candidates received a total of 53,000 votes, forcing a runoff election. In the runoff primary Trammell tallied 103,028 votes to 98,978 for Pepper. Pepper ran well in north Florida and in James C. Clark is a doctoral student at the University of Florida. 1. Alexander R. Stoesen, “The Senatorial Career of Claude D. Pepper” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, 1965), 1-39. Stoesen’s dissertation is the most complete examination of Pepper’s early life and Senate career. [365] 366 F LORIDA H ISTORICAL Q UARTERLY populous Dade County, but he could not offset the huge Tram- mell majority in Hillsborough County.2 There were indications of major vote fraud in West Tampa and Ybor City in favor of Trammell, and there were calls throughout the state for an investigation of the results. Pepper did not press for an inquiry, however, and his acceptance of the defeat without bitterness enhanced his popularity with the voters. Typical of the reaction was an editorial in the Fort Myers newspaper: “His personal fortunes may be improved by the sportsmanship with which he is accepting defeat on the face of the returns.“3 Pepper may have been reluctant to call for a recount since there was evidence that some of his votes had been cast by individuals who had not paid their poll taxes. An investigation might have revealed the extent of such voting and helped Trammell. Trammell died suddenly in Washington on May 8, 1936, giv- ing Pepper another opportunity to run for the Senate. Scott M. Loftin of Jacksonville, whom the governor had appointed to an interim term, chose not to be a candidate for the remaining four years of Trammell’s term, but former Governor Doyle Carlton of Tampa and Orlando Judge Charles O. Andrews announced their candidacies. There was speculation that others might be entering the race also. Then on June 17, 1936, Florida’s other senator, Duncan Fletcher, died of a heart attack in Washington just one month and nine days after his colleague.4 Pepper im- mediately changed his plans and withdrew as a candidate for Trammell’s seat, and he became the only candidate to succeed Fletcher. Once elected, Pepper became one of the strongest supporters of Roosevelt and the New Deal. Pepper’s two-year interim term ended in 1938, and he announced that he was running for re-election. One opponent, Congressman James Mark Wilcox of West Palm Beach, portrayed Pepper as a rubber stamp for Roosevelt’s policies which, he claimed, were bad for Florida and the nation. Another opponent, former Governor David Sholtz, had lost most of his popu- 2. R. H. Gray, comp., Tabulation of Official Vote, Florida Primary Elections, June 5, 1934 and June 26, 1934 (Tallahassee, 1934), 8. For a discussion of the 1934 election see Stephen Kerber, “Park Trammell of Florida: A Political Biography” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida, 1979), 325-55. 3. Fort Myers Tropical News and Press, June 30, 1934. 4. Wayne Flynt, Duncan Upshaw Fletcher: Dixie’s Reluctant Progressive (Tallahas- see, 1971), 188. T HE 1944 D EMOCRATIC S ENATE P RIMARY 367 Claude Pepper c.1940s. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Alexander R. Stoesen, Guil- ford College, Greensboro, NC. 368 F LORIDA H ISTORICAL Q UARTERLY larity after his term ended in 1937, and was not considered a significant factor. Neither were three other minor candidates. With support from the Roosevelt administration, Pepper won the first primary with 58.4 percent of the vote, thus avoiding a runoff.5 Pepper had already achieved a national reputation as a liberal Democrat. He was a member of a small group of southern New Deal supporters that included Alabama Senators Lister Hill and William Bankhead, Texas Senator Maury Maverick, and Texas Congressman Lyndon Johnson.

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