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Rivers of Truth, Shores of Myth and the Land Between: the Dawning Of Rivers of Truth, Shores of Myth and the Land Between: The Dawning of Silvia Sunshine upon Florida’s Frontier, An Annotated Diary by Dara R. Vance A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Liberal Arts Florida Studies College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida Saint Petersburg Major Professor: Dr. Michael Francis, Ph.D. Dr. Gary Mormino, Ph.D. James Schnur, M.A., M.A.L.S. Date of Approval: November 07, 2012 Keywords: Travel, Gilded-Age, Tourism, Feminism, Identity Copyright 2012, Dara R. Vance Dedication To Dr. Gary R. Mormino for immeasurable inspiration, understated persistence and infinite storytelling. “A public journal is not designed for the ventilations of private piques” Abbie M. Brooks, 1876 i Table of Contents List of Figures .................................................................................................................ii Abstract......... ................................................................................................................iv Introduction... .................................................................................................................1 Author’s Note ....................................................................................................15 Chapter One: February 29, 1872 - December 31, 1872 ..................................................16 Chapter Two: January 1, 1873 - December 25, 1873......................................................93 Chapter Three: February 1, 1874 – December 25, 1874 ...............................................150 Chapter Four: January 1, 1875-November 21, 1875.....................................................166 Chapter Five: January 2, 1876 – October 1, 1876.........................................................207 Bibliography…............................................................................................................223 ii List of Figures 1. Images of script from Brooks 1872 diary ...................................................................16 1a. Images of script from Brooks 1872 diary .................................................................16 2. Old Public Wharf, Clear Water Harbor, 1880.............................................................18 3. Florida Railroad Routes, circa 1871...........................................................................21 4. The paddle-wheeler City Point, circa 1862.................................................................27 5. The Steamer Dictator ................................................................................................32 6. Andersonville Prison in Andersonville, Ga ................................................................35 7. The Kimball House, Atlanta ......................................................................................36 8. First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta 1900 .................................................................39 9. First Methodist Church in Atlanta, Ga .......................................................................43 10. Carey W. Styles.......................................................................................................49 11. Georgia State Fair Advertisement 1872....................................................................68 12. The Horse Plague – Sketches About Town ..............................................................78 13. Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Map...............................................................................79 14. The Madden House..................................................................................................83 15. Live Oak Rail Station 1877......................................................................................85 16. Grave Monument of Edward Thomas Barnard in Tallahassee City Cemetery...........91 iii 17. Advertisement for Steamer Florence -1874..............................................................93 18. The Magnolia Hotel, St. Augustine 1887 .................................................................93 19. Cracker Cart 1882-1887...........................................................................................94 20. Curry's Point, later called Point Pleasant, seen from the top of the Bradentown water tower, looking east.............................................................................................106 21. Gen. George Patten................................................................................................108 22. 1881 Hallock Property Map of Terra Ceia .............................................................109 23. Madame Joe Atzeroth in her yard, Terra Silla Island..............................................110 24. Julia "Madam Joe" Atzeroth at her 80th Birthday...................................................114 25. Fort Taylor, Key West, circa 1880 .........................................................................123 26. Bernardo de Soto...................................................................................................173 27. Faro De Villanueva, Bay of Cienfuegos with the original square shaped design.....176 28. St. Michael’s Church, Pensacola 1894 ...................................................................189 29. De Give’s Opera House, interior............................................................................192 30. The St. Augustine Hotel circa 1880........................................................................207 31. Art Gallery: Grand United States Centennial exhibition 1876 – Fairmount Park, Philadelphia............................................................................................219 32. Metropolitan M.E. Church, Washington D.C. Lithographic by P.S. Duval 1855... .............................................................................................................220 iv Abstract Traveling independently as a published author and a lady of stature, Abbie M. Brooks exceeded the boundaries placed around women in America’s Gilded Age. From 1872 through 1876, Brooks faithfully recorded her adventures as she traveled throughout Florida, Georgia and Cuba. The four years of nearly daily entries she wrote enable the reader to witness the emergence of Brooks nom d’ plume Silvia Sunshine as an opinionated and authoritative guide. The diary entries and travel notations were compiled into the Florida guidebook Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes, published in 1880. During the course of the diary Brooks attributed her own emergence as an independent, accomplished writer to her traveling in Florida. In doing so Brooks identified the Sunshine State as a land of escape, rehabilitation and opportunity. This annotated transcription of Brooks’ diary reveals how she orchestrated travel and capitalized on friendships to witness significant moments in the development of post- bellum United States. The annotations serve to place people, events and locations in context. Abbie Brooks frequently kept company with legislators, judges, newspaper publishers, ministers, doctors and their families. She attended the 1872 Delegate Assembly in Atlanta, perused an international market in Key West, sailed to Cuba during the Ten Years War and celebrated the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. Cities visited include Atlanta, Savannah, Jacksonville, Pensacola, St. Augustine, Cedar Keys, Clearwater, Terra Ceia, Punta Rassa and Key West. By the conclusion of the four-year diary Brooks presented Florida as an ideal land poised as the destination of sunshine and dreams. 1 Introduction Abbie Brooks was an author and intrepid adventurer, with the tenacity to exceed the bounds of time and place, and the grace to receive accolades for doing so. During Victorian-era America, when ladies often leisurely idled as socialites, Abbie Brooks traveled with purpose. Upon arrival in a city large enough to have a newspaper, she sought out news reporters and tracked who was editing which publications. In order to be aware of regional and national events while traveling throughout the Southeast, she took delivery of out-of-town newspapers, and in more remote locations, decried the inopportunity to do so. Her dedication to the daily word was not concerned with mere gossip columns or social announcements. She used the newspaper to publish articles, to provide her a modest income, and as an outlet for the treasure of experiences she found in Florida. Additionally, it is probable that the editors and publishers with whom she was acquainted kept her abreast of impending events and arrivals of notable dignitaries. Thus Brooks was able to maintain a travel itinerary that often put her in the right place at the right time to witness the events, places and people who were integral to the formation of modern Florida. In 1876, using the vivid nom d' plume Silvia Sunshine, Abbie Brooks self- published a guidebook to Florida entitled Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes. This comprehensive volume reads as both travel diary and anecdotal history book. The text is based on research and travel from 1872 through 1876, as recorded in a personal diary. In her diary Brooks wrote daily of many adventures and misadventures. Her day often 2 consisted of poor lodging conditions, tenuous travel arrangements, and curious town folk. Her writing provides a first person account of the people, place, and events that were integral to the formation of modern Florida. Doctors, lawyers, senators, judges, railroad magnates, newspaper publishers, and preachers
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