It was February 7th, 2018 and we still have fond remembrances of Lucky Chase.
Lucky Chase
Mandarin, Florida is considered a “charming, historic suburb in southernmost Jacksonville, Florida.” It is widely known for the beautiful and very large oak trees; some in the middle of the roads. Its rich history of Harriet Beecher Stowe, orange groves and Spanish moss is only accentuated by the beautiful St. Johns River that runs along Mandarin’s banks. Because of the St. Johns River, there are a great many tributaries that run in and around Mandarin. There are a lot of ponds, creeks and lakes. One area known to so many is Lake Mandarin, a community of 312 homes including some single-family and others patio/cluster homes. Lake Mandarin homes back up to waterways.
These small lakes attract a variety of animals.- including Great Blue Herons, egrets, river otters, turtles, snakes and a variety of fish. While large birds do fly in and out, it has been unusual to find peacocks in back yards and yet in 2018 that is exactly what happened.
Lake Mandarin
While leaving the Lake Mandarin subdivision on a Wednesday morning in 2018, a very large pea fowl was crossing the road at Loretto and Gwenford. Loretto is a well-traveled road and not one for animals to share. Gwenford does back up to a St. Johns creek tributary but where the peacock was walking was away from the water and it was as if he was lost and confused. Being in my truck, I pulled over to the right side of the road and let the bird pass. The traffic was heavy and there was concern for the animal’s safety, so I got out of my truck thinking I would carefully shoo the bird toward the back of the homes but with traffic and yard fences, it would not work.
At that time, the third house on the road had its garage door wide open so when I walked toward the bird, he felt he had no where to go but in the garage. The owner of the home blocked the back door opening and I gathered up the peacock in my arms. Carefully holding him tight and making sure his long tail was extended, I took him to my truck, wrestled the door open, pointed his feathered tail toward the inside right door and slid into the driver’s seat; bird in arms.
Screenshot
Having at least 60 chickens of my own at the time, I had accommodations for the bird and immediately put him in run # 1; the largest pen I had. He would not fit in the hen house so at night, I secured him in a large box pen that I used for new mother and babies. Every day he would stay in the run with the chickens and at night I would put him in the large box for safe keeping. That first day we named him “Lucky Chase” because a friend of mine, Lois was talking about him being saved was a “luck chase” for him.
Wondering what to do with Lucky Chase, I posted on Facebook that I had found a large male peacock and suggested all to ask around to find out who may know of its owner. For over a week nothing came of the post until somewhere around February 19th, a young lady contacted me saying her mother was missing a peacock that frequented their backyard lake on a street about 2 miles from where he was found. She felt that might be the peacock.
The neighbors all came to meet him.
On Wednesday, February 21, we arranged to meet at her location. My daughter and I took Lucky Chase in the van where there was more room for the long feathered sweep. Many of the neighbours all came to see and sure enough, they all acted and reacted happy together; even Lucky Chase. He was back home.
Even the ducks came out to meet and greet.
As much as I wanted to keep him, I knew he needed to return to his lake where I’m sure he’s lived happily ever after. I know his human was happy too.
Rocco Morobito told others many years ago that he “was a believer”.
Photo given to Nan Ramey’s Class by Mr. Morobito, 2014
In 1968, The Kiss of Life photograph could be found on the front page of newspapers around the world. Even now, the photograph is celebrated on sites like Tic Tok, Instagram, Facebook, You Tube, news Channels and more. Even “Find A Grave” has a huge spread that tells the whole story. Those who work in the linesman industry say this event changed the way training was done. Certainly, it changed the families and friends of those close to the event.
Probably no one would have believed it but for the fact that Rocco Morobito captured it all on film. Morabito was a Jacksonville Journal photographer. He told the 4th grade students at Greenland Pines Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida on September 4, 1994 that when he left for work that day, it was a normal work day as he was headed to get photos of the train strike. On the way there he saw linemen working on the poles near 26th and Grunthal. Following his trip to the train area he went back by the electricians only to witnessed a linesman slumped on a pole only held only by his harness.
Randall Champion had contacted a low voltage wire which shocked him and left him unconscious and hanging at the top of the power pole. One of the lineman working near him that day, J. D. Thompson realized what happened, took action and scaled up the pole giving Champion mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and saving his life.
Morobito happened to be at the ground level capturing it all on film which would later be a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph for News Photography. It was named, “The Kiss of Life”.
Mr. Morobito told the Greenland Pines’ students that on the way home he stopped by St. Paul’s, went in and knelt at the alter lifting up a prayer. He said to a reporter once, “I told you long ago that I am a believer” and when asked what made him drop back by where the JEA workers were, his response was, “ I believe in divine guidance…”
Champion lived to the age of 64 and is buried at Restlawm Memorial cemetery. Rocco Morobito died April 5, 2009 at the age of 88. He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville. In 2024, J. D. Thompson, using a cane, was” honored with a City Council Proclamation commending him for his 1967 rescue of fellow lineman Randall Champion.”
I’d say it was a divine appointment.
Champion and Thompson at the Lineman Museum.(Photo-museum)
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Sources: Jacksonville Journal, Jacksonville Daily Record, You Tube, Greenland Pines Elementary, Rocco Morobito, Nannette V. Ramey,
Lee Adams, as he was known, was a botanical artist, painting birds, fruit, flora and fauna. He is known for his opportunity to paint four large murals for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. His home was in Jacksonville, Florida where he attended West Riverside Elementary and graduated from high school in Duval County. For a time he and family lived in Mandarin as indicated in the 1940 census.
Early Years
For much of his life he painted birds, flora and fauna. His work is colourful and rich with detail to the intricacy of body parts including the beak, wings, legs and more. His paintings can be found in the St Vincent’s hospital, West Riverside, elementary school auditorium, the Beaches library, and a remarkable refurbished 12’ x 30’ mural of Ribault’s Landing on the fourth floor of the downtown Jacksonville library.
Lee Adams was the youngest of three children with two elder brothers, Thomas Burton Adams, Jr. and Alexander Hamilton Adams. His elder brother was a real estate developer turned politician. He was a member of the Florida Senate from 1956-1960, Florida State Secretary from 1961-1971 and the 10th Lieutenant Governor of Florida from 1971-1975.
Adam’s father, Thomas Burton Adams and mother, Carolyn Sykes Hamilton Adams are buried in the same cemetery as he and Lee’s wife, Mimi.
Making the Past Come Alive
My grandson, Ramey and I spent a day following leads to the life of Lee Adams, as he was called. It was at Oaklawn Cemetery that we met Nicole Ruff, one of Oaklawn’s consultants. It was great discussing the life of Adams, his influence on Florida, life in Mandarin and artwork that is now world-wide. Her help in our finding his grave and realizing that his family also had a family plot.
Adam’s wife, Mimi, was known for her environmental passion and headed up the Jacksonville Air Pollution Control Board. She was the first chairperson of the board formed in 1968. The two of them were interested in environmental issues. The Avondale park in Duval County is named in their honor and there are some plaques in various parts of the city given for their work on the environment.
This entire week, time was spent visiting each place where his work can be seen and it was found highly insightful. At the Beaches library, the mural work is colorful and beachy. At West Riverside Elementary School, Data entry clerk, Jeanine Mann, a seeming authority on the history of the school, gave the tour of the auditorium where three large paintings sponsored by large corporations hung high and grandeur. One painting was themed of NASA and space, another of Florida and transportation, including airplanes, trains, with communication ties, and the third of the cowboy and cattle segment of the Sunshine State. In that auditorium is also where the music class with Mr. Warren is held. While we were viewing paintings, he could be heard literally, singing to the children’s they entered the class. He also has stories to tell of the history of the school built in 1911.
Researching this artist, the most favourite in our minds was finding that of the 12 x 30 colourful mural of “Ribault’s Landing”, celebrating Christian Huguenots landing along the St. John’s River and the first Protestant prayer “within the limits of the present-day United States”. This painting, now hangs on the South wall of the 4th floor in the downtown Jacksonville library. In May of 2021 the city of Jacksonville announced the mural would be “installed in the Florida Collection” area after having been revived from years of neglect.
The scene, painted by Lee Adams and refurbished by artist Jim Draper, represents the story of Huguenot, Jean Ribault, his crew and Timuquan Indians at the landing in Fort Caroline in 1562. It was the place where the French “knelt in prayer, beseeching God’s guidance and commending the natives to His care”. The marker on Fort George Island says, “This was the first protestant prayer in North America.”
First Protestant Prayer Marker, Fort George Island, Jacksonville, Fl. This marker was erected by the Jacksonville Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, on March 11, 1938. The text on the marker reads as : ” Jean Ribaut and a party of Huguenots landed the morning of May1, 1562 on this island. Here they knelt in prayer, beseeching God’s guidance and commending the natives to his care. This was the first Protestant Prayer in North America.”
Incredible Surprises
According to the Florida Times Union story by John Carter, the large mural was found rolled up in the basement at Robert E. Lee High School. It was originally created in 1959 and hung at the downtown 2nd floor dining area in the Sears building on Bay Street, not too far from the Main street bridge. In 1981, the store relocated moving to Regency Square and the building was demolished making way for the Omni hotel. The art piece was rolled up and taken to Lee High school. Although it has been said the artwork was stored in a box which was even nailed shut, the rolled up artwork was nested by rats, roaches and took a toll on the beautiful oil work. It would need a full restoration.
In the newspaper article, Jim Draper, Pedestrian Gallery owner helped with the restoration promoted by City Council President Jim Overton. Through a turn of events, and special project of the school principal, Jane Condon, the painting was displayed at the LaVilla School of the Arts for a time.
According to The Daily Record, the Fort Caroline refurbished painting was “officially unveiled on the fourth floor of the library” on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 in celebration of the 450th landing.
Lee Adams and his wife were killed in a tragic automobile accident on Roosevelt Blvd in 1971. We looked on Findagrave.com for the location of his internment but we had to search further. Soon, we found that he was buried at Oaklawn Cemetery along with family members.
Regarding Adams’ work
Finding Adams’ artwork is sketchy and quite expensive in most venues. On eBay, his art is going for $450. and up. On the “Invaluable” auction site, his “Parrots” piece is estimated between $800- $1,500. On Facebook Marketplace, there are two prints going for $50. I have purchased them along with World’s Fair tickets and the official guide. The paintings now hang on my wall. Pleasure.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Sources:
Wikipedia, The Daily Record, Family Search, Jacksonville Library, Oaklawn Cemetery, Florida Times Union, Oaklawn Cemetery, Personal visits. 2-29-24
If you visit the Community First Credit Union on State Road 13 in Mandarin, Florida, south of downtown Jacksonville, you will see a full wall dedicated to the life of abolitionist and author, Harriet Beecher Stowe. There is a photograph of her home and likeness and of the trees along the road on which she once lived in Florida.
Stowe and her husband, Calvin, owned property on a once dirt road, now called Mandarin Road in Mandarin, Florida for some 17 years beginning in 1867. It was complete with orange groves, large oak trees and sweeping moss. There, she and her family wintered from 1867-1884.
When talking to long-time folks in Mandarin you hear that she was an abolitionist who helped Black families, worked with children in the schools and advanced the Freedman’s Bureau. She was well-known in the area for having written the runaway best-seller, Uncle Tom’s Cabin in two volumes in 1852.
The book was such a hit that she was invited to Washington, DC to meet with President, Abraham Lincoln in 1862 where he is known to have said, “Why, Mrs. Stowe, right glad to see you. So, you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war”. In Stowe’s book, Men of Our Times, she wrote of Lincoln, “Lincoln was a strong man, but his strength was of a peculiar kind; it was not aggressive so much as passive, and among passive things it was like the strength not so much of a stone buttress as of a wire cable. It was strength swaying to every influence, yielding on this side and on that to popular needs, yet tenaciously and inflexibly bound to carry its great end. Probably by no other kind of strength could our national ship have been drawn safely through so dreadful a channel.”
It is said that she was at first critical of the President but after meeting and talking with him, she softened and found common ground. President Abraham Lincoln is best known for “preserving the Union, ending slavery and creating the possibility of civil and social freedom” for Blacks.
“Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in 1811 and died in 1896. Her anti-slavery book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an immediate bestseller and rumour has it that she was paid by the paddle boats of the time to sit on her Mandarin home on the St. Johns River and write so folks could see her from their excursion.
Stowe and her family helped organize Church of Our Savior Episcopal in Mandarin. She was raised by Calvinist, Lyman Beecher who spent his time as a preacher. She was married to Calvin Stowe, a professor and Biblical scholar who sought to enhance the public education in the United States. He became Stowe’s literary agent when her book became a world-wide success and was very involved with the Church or Our Savior growth.
In a letter to her brother, Charles Stowe wrote of her plans mentioning her reasoning for finding a place in Florida and her involvement with the church.
“My plan of going to Florida, as it lies in my mind, is not in any sense a mere worldly enterprise. I have for many years had a longing to be more immediately doing Christ’s work on earth. My heart is with that poor people whose cause in words I have tried to plead, and who now, ignorant and docile, are just in that formative stage in which whoever seizes has them.”
“Corrupt politicians are already beginning to speculate on them as possible capital for their schemes, and to fill their poor heads with all sorts of vagaries. Florida is the State into which they have, more than anywhere else, been pouring. Emigration is positively and decidedly setting that way; but as yet it is mere worldly emigration, with the hope of making money, nothing more.”
“The Episcopal Church is, however, undertaking, under direction of the future Bishop of Florida, a wide-embracing scheme of Christian activity for the whole State. In this work I desire to be associated, and my plan is to locate at some salient point on the St. John’s River, where I can form the nucleus of a Christian neighborhood, whose influence shall be felt far beyond its own limits.”
It was well-known Stowe also wanted to help her 4th son, Frederick who was troubled with drinking problems. She felt he could find worth and value working the grove of Mandarin. There, she felt he could find a place he could work and escape his worries. He managed the citrus farm for a while but after a time, he left going to San Francisco. She never saw him again.
Stowe and her family spent some 17 years in Mandarin and became well-known in the community. Even today, people are celebrating her life at the Museum and in remembering a life well lived.
See you Tomorrow,
Nan
Sources: Mr. Lincolnswhitehouse . Org, Mandarin Museum, Google Search Q and A, Emmett Looman article, Exploring Florida, Wikipedia, Personal visits to Mandarin.
You MUST visit the Great AmericanAntique Mall at 9365 Philips Highway Suite 114 to see in person the handmade items in Heather Hills space in the store. She actually has at least two separate areas in the store where you can view and select her artwork(watercolors and kitchen cloths) to find the exact gift for your loved one or treat yourself.
Photo from Great American Antique Store
Originally from Ohio, Heather has shops there and in several other shops in the United States. In Jacksonville, she has at least three areas where her work can be found plus her online Facebook page. She began her business Hill and Co. back when she began helping her young five year-old, now a young adult to watercolor. She said, “It all came back to me” and she’s been producing art work since. She needed an outlet to share all of her pieces and now it’s a thriving work of art in several shop locally and elsewhere.
You can also check her out on the Great American Antique Store Facbook page. If you go and see her, tell her I sent you.
Don’t miss out on checking our her work. It will not disappoint.
As you know, Mother’s Day is up and coming but you can use these items for many occasions.
This old photo was taken in 1956 by the Department of Transportation.
The accompanying note is : Mandarin to Goodbye Lake. Looking north towards the intersection with Loretta Road in Mandarin .”
The days of barren roads and posted mailboxes are almost a thing of the past in Mandarin except for the back-woods, if you can find any. There are some but they are fading fast as development is eating up the county of this once sleepy but thriving community called St Anthony then San Antonio then Monroe and finally some paperwork did the trick with an 1830 paper naming the area Mandarin and finally in 1841, Mandarin became an incorporated town. Many writings indicate Calvin Read as the one responsible for using the Mandarin orange as a reason for its name.
Florida Memory document of Ashpel Hartley indicating Mandarin, Fl
Here are some different things in the Mandarin area and where the names were derived.
Albert’s Field is located at the corner of Orange Picker and Brady Road ( 12073 Brady Road). According to the city of Jacksonville park information, the park opened about 1959 with the majority of the property donated by Bruno (1888-1970) and Ann(1896-1991) Albert. The Alberts were accomplished artists.
Walter Anderson Memorial Park– 2738 Orange Pickers Road. Located about a half of a mile west of San Jose Blvd., there is the park(formerly named Flynn Park) and renamed WAMP in honor of Mr. Anderson. According to Sam Burney, it was called “Colored Park” in the 1940’s and beyond. He said it was where Blacks gathered on May 20th folks to celebrate the Emancipation Declaration in Florida. This park was formerly known as Joe James Park and then Flynn Park and in 2019 renamed Walter Anderson Memorial Park. In 1995, Anderson donated four acres for “park purpose” for Black children to have a gathering place, according to the JaxParks website. Since that time, the park has expanded and is used by the community.
Walter Anderson, Photo- Ramey , 1995
Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church– Established in Mandarin in 1880, the church was mainly white and pastored by P. Y. Howard. Bethel is mentioned in the Bible as “House of God”.
Burney’s Homestead-Corner of Orange Picker and Brady Road. Samuel Rollin Burney was born in Mandarin on Feb. 27, 1931. He died in Mandarin Feb. 2, 2018 and is buried in Lofton Cemetery. He served in the Navy and bought land in Mandarin at the corner of Orange Picker Road and Brady.
Crane Home– Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views has a photograph of the C.J. Crane home of Mandarin, Florida listed in its collection at the New York Public Library.
Cousin- Philip R. AME– 3601 Orange Picker Road- The Philip R. Cousin AME church began in 1866 at the purchase of 3.25 acres. The deed was recorded on March 21, 1887. The reverend S. T. Tice was the first pastor. “Under the leadership of then presiding Bishop Phip R. Cousin, two congregations were merged”. Reverend E. E. Mosely was appointed pastor. The church was then named in honor of Bishop Cousin. The campus has expanded and in 2007 a new worship center was built.
Flynn Road-Flynn Road was named in honor of the Flynn family dating back to at least 1841 when Adeline Flynn was born to James Plummer who was born in Mandarin in 1795. Adeline was of the Plummer family. As time went along, James J. Flynn a long time Mandarin resident, opened a general store, plus seed and feed establishment in Mandarin. He also had a taxi service running in Duval and St. Johns County.His wife was a Hartley by name.
Hartley Road– The Hartley family have been in Mandarin for many years dating back to Anna Maria Hartley who was born 1795 and died on November 25 1863 in Mandarin. Private Gabriel Hartley was born in 1834 in Mandarin and died July 31, 1904. He is buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Mandarin as are five of his children. The family legacy in Mandarin continued as the documented honourable discharge of Ashpel Hartley, which was his “Christian name” on the document lists his birthplace as, Mandarin October 1895. He died in Mandarin in 1975 and is buried in Mandarin.
Walter Jones Historical Park– 11964 Mandarin Road. This park has out-buildings, houses, a Black school and a museum, all used by the community. It is situated along the St. Johns River and has trails and walkways.
Julington Creek-In 1767, Francis Levett, Sr. developed an area along the St. Johns River including many tributaries. Julington Creek comes from the St Johns River making beautiful land for building homes along the waterways. The area is called “Julington Creek” including the Julington Creek and of late an apartment complex called “The Julington”. The area, according to Ennis Davis was named by Levett for his wife, Julia.
Loretto Road has been thought to align with the name of the “Catholic Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross”. It was known to support a mission for refugees. That group was founded in 1812.
Mandarin Park– 14780 Mandarin Road- Named for the Mandarin area.
St Johns County– Mandarin was once called St. Johns County until the new districts were drawn up and it became Duval County. The name St. Johns County obviously is because of the prominance of the St. Johns River running north and south in the Mandarin , Duval and St. Johns County area.
Plummer Grant Road– Jacob James Plummer was born in Mandarin in 1795. The family history continues in the area with the Plummer family. The Harley and Flynn families are all a part of early Mandarin pioneer families.
Read House– Read came from New England. Since 1850 he was a farmer, citrus grower, postmaster and land owner. His grandson Calvin C. Built a two-story home on Mandarin Road. It was written about in Wayne Wood’s Jacksonville Architectural Heritage, published in 1989 and is a landmark for Mandarin.
Chuck Rogers Park(11950 San Jose Blvd). Chuck Rogers name in Duval County is synonymous with parks and recreation. He worked in the department for the county for over 41 years.
St. Joseph’s Mission– Named for Joseph the husband of Mary, Jesus Christ’s Mother. There was a mission located at what is often called “Catholic Corner”. White children attended the local school in 1868. After the Civil war in 1898, a schoolhouse was built for Black children. It was built by the Catholic Church in Mandarin.The one room schoolhouse was last used in 1943. In an effort to preserve history, it was moved from the Catholic property in 2016 to Mandarin and County Dock Roads where the Mandarin Museum is located.
Stowe Community Center, Stowe Road- Harriet Beecher Stowe was a famed writer publishing Uncle Tom’s Cabin and owning land in Mandarin. She spent over 17 winter seasons in Mandarin along the St. Johns River on her family property.
Stamps created in 2007 of of H.B. Stowe
Orange Picker Road was once called “Wagon Road” according to an article written by Marks Woods for the Florida Times Union after a walk and talk with Burney who knew first- hand. It obviously was legal called Orange picker because of the orange groves all along the road long before Harriet Beecher Stowe’s crew picked them.
This will be updates over time.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Sources: Brett Nolan, Florida Newsline, Mandarin Museum and Historical Society, Florida Times Union, Find a Grave, Personal visit to the locations.
This information including Ramey photos may be used with credit to Ramey Collection. Other photos may be 3rd party for which may be secured by copyrighted owner.
If you believe you are a copyright owner or can help with information regarding this article, including to clarify rights or information issues, please contact me. We are willing to remove any item from public view if there is any concern regarding ownership.
Category: Mandarin | Comments Off on Who’s Who in Mandarin, Florida
Harriet Beecher Stowe is said to have found her new life in Florida in 1883 when she visited Mandarin along the St. Johns looking for a possible place to invest in helping her alcoholic son. Frederick William Stowe was the fourth of seven children. According to the Harriet Beecher Stowe House writing, he was twelve when his mother published the famed Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
First Edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Stowe
That article writer noted that Frederick had the “Burden of Fame”. There are many a parent who in today’s environment would send their child to a rehab center. Apparently, Frederick had that experience but it did not take. Stowe sent Frederick to Florida to manage a citrus farm very prominent in the Mandarin area at that time. It was believed that he could begin a new and get “healed” of this disease of alcoholism.
Harriet Beecher Stowe bought thirty acres along the St. Johns River of the Fairbanks Grant in Mandarin, Florida. They wintered in their cottage there from 1883-1884. The original intent was to give her son something to do while he fought his battles with alcoholism but upon her coming, she fell in love with the flora and fauna and purchased land. It is not known how Frederick did regarding his problems however, Stowe and her husband worked with local Black children with education.
There is a marker at the Mandarin Community Club in the vicinity of the 30 acre grant. It reads the following:
In 1867, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe and her husband Calvin bought thirty acres of the Fairbanks Grant in Mandarin which served as their winter home until the winter of 1883-1884. The move to Florida was due to plans for philanthropy among the Negroes and a desire to benefit her son’s health. While in Florida, Mrs. Stowe, author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, wrote sketches called “Palmetto Leaves”. The Stowes were active in local charitable and religious activities.”
Stowe became a force in the area. It was a new life for not only her and her husband, but their son, and other children. They all gained new neighbors who benefited by her philanthropy as she wintered for some 17 years in Mandarin along the St. Johns River.
This information including Ramey photos may be used with credit to Ramey Collection. Photos may be 3rd party for which may be secured by copyrighted owner.
If you believe you are a copyright owner or can help with information regarding this article, including to clarify rights or information issues, please contact me. We are willing to remove any item from public view if there is any concern regarding ownership.
Samuel Fairbank is listed on the 1830 Florida Census Mandarin , Florida. Samuel Fairbank was also the first postmaster of the Mandarin post office as confirmed by Mary Graff, author of the 1968 book, Mandarin on the St. JohnsRiver. According to the Mandarin Museum Facebook page, Miss Graff wrote the National Archives in Washington, DC. Forrest R. Holdcamper returned a letter November 6, 1947 with the information of all of the postmasters for Mandarin.
Mary Graff Letter, Collection of the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society
Mandarin on the St. Johns River, as Ms. Graff called it was “established by the British in the 1760’s”, noted by Wikipedia. In 1830, Calvin Reed, named the area Mandarin because of the citrus industry in the area. It is interesting to note that in 1821 Florida was a Territory and divided by the Suwanee River into two separate counties; East and West Florida. St. Johns County, also known as East Florida and Escambia County, also known as West Florida.
Duval County was created in 1822 from St. Johns County and named for William Pope DuVal, the territorial Governor from 1822-1834. The area of DuVal at the time was from the Suwannee River stretching all of the way east to the Atlantic Ocean bounded by the St. Johns River. More divisions were made to accommodate Nassau county, in 1824 and Clay county in 1858. Jacksonville consolidated on October 1, 1968. “Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach maintain their own municipal governments.”(North Shepherd Moss, Genealogy Trails, Duval County History).
There is a George R. Fairbanks of New York who settled in St. Augustine in 1842, twelve years after Samuel Fairbank was postmaster of Mandarin’s postoffice. George became an attorney, historian, author and politician but it does not appear he was related to Samuel Fairbank.
According to genealogy Trails, which seems to have taken information from the early microfiche and documents, the first census in the Mandarin area was taken in 1830’s. Based on the information gathered, the two race population was 1,336 which included all of St. Johns County. By 1860, Genealogy Trails indicated the Federal Census has all of St. Johns County with 1,953 people.
Samuel Fairbank is listed in this survey as living in St. Johns which in his case became “Duval”. Under the leadership of Governor John Branch, Florida became a state on March 3, 1845 with William D. Moseley elected as the first Governor and David Levy Yulee, U.S. Senator.
Fairbanks Road in Mandarin is said to have been a dirt road stretching all fo the way to the King’s Road that ran East and West parallel to the coast of Florida.
In the Mandarin area, there is a Fairbanks Road, Fairbanks Forest Dr., Fairbanks Grant Road W, Fairbanks Grant Road N.
See you tomorrow.
Nan
Sources: Genealogy Trails, 1830 Florida Census, History of Duval County, Mandarin Museum and Historical society, Mary Graff, Wikipedia.
This information including Ramey photos may be used with credit to Ramey Collection. Photos may be 3rd party for which may be secured by copyrighted owner.
If you believe you are a copyright owner or can help with information regarding this article, including to clarify rights or information issues, please contact me. We are willing to remove any item from public view if there is any concern regarding ownership.
The written work of Harriet Beecher Stowe, affectionally called “Hattie” by those who knew her well, is known as being quite controversial at the time it was written at a time of rampant slavery. Stowe often stood alone in her thoughts. As one writer has said, even her thoughts were “complex’. At a time that even women were expected to stay quite and stay in their own lane. Stowe widened the road and wrote a blockbuster book impacting the world of readers.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, also called “Life Among the Lowly” , was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. It became a “runaway best-seller” selling 300,000 copies in the first year in America and millions abroad. According to Google Search, “Stowe became a leading voice in the anti-slavery movement”.
When Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in Washington, D.C. in 1852, it is reported he said, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this Great War”.
In 1874, Stowe met with Governor Marcellus L. Stearns at the capital in Tallahassee with a huge crowd and great fanfare. Stowe had already published Palmetto Leaves in 1872 and this had added to the excitement around Mandarin,Fl where she lived in her “cottage”( see photo), along the St. Johns River. People would pay shipmasters to ride in boats to see her sit on her porch along the Mandarin shoreline. Stowe spent some 17 years wintering in Mandarin, Florida.
The last of her home was demolished in the 1960’s and there are no remnants from it save possibly the ones in the back roads of Mandarin. It is said that the Black members of Mandarin loved her so that when her house was demolished, they saved the ginger bread trim from her house and used it on their own.
I continue to search among the small homes on the backroads of Mandarin dating to the 1850-1960’s to see if I can find any of those important artifacts. I’ll let you know if I do.
See you tomorrow
Nan
Sources: Florida Historical Society, Florida Memory, Person visit to the Mandarin area.
This information including Ramey photos may be used with credit to Ramey Collection. Photos may be 3rd party for which may be secured by copyrighted owner.
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Today at the Mandarin post office, a group with the annual Miss Aggie Day event celebrated the life of Susan Ford, one of the Mandarin Historical Society members and lover of all things Mandarin.
Karen Roumillat, Susan Ford, Sandy Arpen
Agnes Jones was the postmistress in Mandarin for many years (1928-1963). She was known to give of herself to many in Mandarin, those with need and those who simply needed a kind word. An award was set up which is given every year in May. Susan Ford was honoured.
Susan has recently published, with the cooperation of the Historical Society a book called “Images of America: Mandarin which is a photolog of many facets of Mandarin, Florida.
Once, Mandarin was a sleepy, country area made up of hard working people living the wooded, life. Today, it is growing in leaps and bounds such that many in the community are saying “enough!”.
Susan Ford has loved Mandarin for many years and said that putting this book together was simply a “labor of love”.
Karen Roumillat, Susan Ford, Sandy Arpen
I was able to catch up with Susan for the first time in many years. Pleasure.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Sources: Mandarin Newsline, Sandy Arpen, Mandarin Historical Society Facebook. Personal visit to the Mandarin Post Office.
This information including Ramey photos may be used with credit to Ramey Collection. Photos may be 3rd party for which may be secured by copyrighted owner.
If you believe you are a copyright owner or can help with information regarding this article, including to clarify rights or information issues, please contact me. We are willing to remove any item from public view if there is any concern regarding ownership.
