May Mann Jennings, Florida's Genteel Activist
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
MAY MANN JENNINGS, FLORIDA'S GENTEEL ACTIVIST By LINDA DARLENE MOORE VANCE A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1930 Copyright 19 8 by Linda Darlene Moore Vance This dissertation is dedicated to my family. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is indebted to many people for the comple- tion of this work. First, to my children, who kept the pressure on by asking everyday for six years when "Momma" would be through with school and finished with her book; second, to the staff of the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History at the University of Florida — Elizabeth Alexander, Ellen Hodges, and Steve Kerber —who were always helpful; third, to Dorothy Jennings Sandridge, who gave generously of her time and shared the Jennings family's papers, memen- toes, and photographs; fourth, to my parents who financed the undertaking when funds ran low; and finally to Dr. Samuel Proctor, friend, mentor, and chairman of my doctoral committee. TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT vii CHAPTER I "CRYSTAL GROVE" AND PAPA 1 Notes to Chapter 1 17 II "BEYOND THE ALPS LIES ITALY" 20 Notes to Chapter II 41 III SHERMAN 44 Notes to Chapter III 71 IV THE GOVERNOR ' S LADY 7 5 Notes to Chapter IV Ill V JACKSONVILLE, THE FEDERATION AND OTHER THINGS 114 Notes to Chapter V 142 VI "... AN ENTHUSIASTIC CLUBWOMAN" 145 Notes to Chapter VI 183 VII MADAM PRESIDENT AND THE OLD-GIRL NETWORK 136 Notes to Chapter VII 237 VIII A DEDICATED LIFE 240 Notes to Chapter VIII 267 IX DOCTOR MAY 271 Notes to Chapter IX 297 X " LOVER OF BEAUTY" 3 Notes to Chapter X 320 page APPENDIX I "BEYOND THE ALPS LIES ITALY" 322 APPENDIX II LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF FFWC , 1895-1920.. 325 APPENDIX III LIST OF CLUBS IN FFWC 326 APPENDIX IV ANNUAL CONVENTIONS OF FFWC, 1896-1919.. 331 APPENDIX V CAMPAIGN SONG FOR MAY MANN JENNINGS.... 333 BIBLIOGRAPHY 335 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 345 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy MAY MANN JENNINGS, FLORIDA'S GENTEEL ACTIVIST BY Linda Darlene Moore Vance August 1980 Chairman: Samuel Proctor Major Department: History May Mann Jennings, 1872-1963, was one of Florida's most distinguished twentieth-century activists. She stands alone as the state's most important and successful female citizen. Unlike other civic-minded women who were married to prominent Florida men, May Jennings' many public contri- butions were not dependent upon or overshadowed by those of her husband, William Sherman Jennings, the state's seventeenth governor. For over sixty years she provided ideas and leader- ship to the Florida women's movement and to other political and civic causes. She was unexcelled as a strategist and lobbyist and served on scores of state boards and commissions. She worked for progress in the areas of education, conserva- tion, beautif ication, political reform, and female rights. She also played an active role in making the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs politically viable, in estab- lishing the first state park, the first State Board of Forestry, and in the creation of Everglades National Park. She was directly responsible for the establishment of various Jacksonville civic organizations and in the plan- ning and implementation of many statewide beautif ication projects. Late in her career she was honored by the Florida Legislature, Stetson University, the State Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Florida. This assessment of May Jennings' life and contribu- tions to Florida has been based upon two things. First, upon her concrete accomplishments, as listed above, and second, upon the fact that she achieved many successes at a time when women were either politically disfranchised or were viewed with skepticism and ridiculed by their male counterparts. Against great odds she overcame society's roadblocks and unselfishly furthered the public good while at the same time helping to bring Florida women into the political mainstream. CHAPTER I "CRYSTAL GROVE" AND PAPA A young family from the north, Austin Mann, his wife, Rachel, and their baby daughter, May, wintered in Ocala in 1873. Impressed with the beauty of the state, with the busi- ness opportunities that seemed available, and with the bene- ficial effects the warm climate had upon his wife's health, Austin decided to make Florida the family's permanent home. By autumn of the following year he had purchased an estab- lished orange grove at Crystal River in Hernando County and had moved his family into the small cottage on the premises. They called the place "Crystal Grove," and it became the childhood home of their daughter who would grow up to become one of Florida's most notable women. Many people, places, and events shaped May Mann's character and personality. First and foremost was her father who was very much like May in his political ambition and his ability to work with people. May's parents shared a loving relationship. Little is known about Rachel Mann, but more is available on Austin, who became a successful businessman and prominent Florida politician. He was a dynamic and carefree individual. Energetic and imaginative, with an inventive mind, his entrepreneurial talents develop- ed early. He was small of stature, feisty and restless by nature, a spellbinding talker, and a natty dresser who had an eye for the ladies. He was a born promoter, what some 2 might call a "wheeler dealer." Mann was also a visionary who was often as impractical as he was ahead of his time. A free-thinking nonconformist, he was usually ready to try out new ideas and spent much of his life in economic and political pursuits which brought him both notoriety and financial rewards. By nearly every yardstick, he was already a success, when at the age of twenty-six, he moved his family to Florida. Born in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1847, he attended local schools and for three years attended Capitol University at Columbus. 3 He then studied law with his cousin, G.L. Converse, a future congressman, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1869. Mann was ambitious and interested in things other than the law, and moved east where he believed there were more business opportunities. While at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, he met and married Rachel Elizabeth Kline, the second of five children of Frederick C. Kline and Z4arietta Staples Kline, longtime residents of the area. Rachel had thick, dark hair, attractive features, and was much admired for her piano playing and her clear soprano voice. She was a Methodist and sang in the local church's choir. Unfortu- nately, she suffered from poor health and was to die while still in her twenties. She and Austin were married on 4 April 24, 1871. On April 25, 1872, one year and a day after the marriage, May Elizabeth Austin Mann was born in Centerville, Bayonne Province, New Jersey, where the family 5 was then residing. Austin by that time had developed a new type of silver heel plate which proved valuable in the manufacture of shoes and which brought him a large, steady income. 6 After Austin made the decision to locate his family in Florida, he returned north, settled his business affairs, and with $90,000 received from selling the heel plate patent, he purchased "Crystal Grove." Posterity has not recorded what Rachel, a refined young lady from the urban Northeast, thought of Crystal River and its environs. She was probably appalled by the area's primitiveness and iso- lation and disappointed with the house at the grove. Years later, in an interview, May remembered that the dwelling was a small, crudely-built cottage sitting "on pine pillars about eight to ten feet from the ground." 7 That first encounter with the living conditions at "Crystal Grove" must have been disheartening since the family had been accus- tomed to more elegant accommodations. In those days houses in that part of Florida had only one major purpose, to pro- vide a high, dry place to eat and sleep. Austin soon built a more appropriate and spacious home for his family. In the 1870s Crystal River was scarcely more than a Q hamlet with a population of less than 100 people. Cut off from both major highway and railroad routes there was only one practical way in or out of the place. One had to travel aboard one of the steamers which stopped periodically to discharge freight and to take on firewood as it plied be- tween Cedar Key and Tampa Bay. Contemporary descriptions of the area were not very flattering. Daniel G. Brinton, who wrote a guidebook in 1869, described the Hernando County coastal lowland as "rich" even though it was "the most 9 unhealthy part of the penisula." J.M. Hawks, the author of another tourguide published in 1871 for "those who migrate with the swallows and robins," described Crystal River as a "flourishing village" whose inhabitants made their living by farming, fishing, tending citrus groves, and working in the cedar sawmills. The people were described as "peace- able and quiet, frugal and hospitable" but not much interest- ed in politics or in the outside world. There were no public schools, few churches, and the nearest newspapers were published at Ocala and Tampa, both a day's journey away. Why Austin Mann chose this remote spot to locate is not known. While Florida's tropical beauty and the promise of better health for his wife contributed to his decision, it is also obvious that he was afflicted with what one historian has called "orange fever," which was sweeping Florida in the 1870s.