"Today in Florida History"

for January

1836      On this date, the Seminole people were supposed to migrate to Oklahoma.  The Second Seminole War started on December 28 to forestall this activity.

1862      Union guns on Santa Rosa Island opened fire on an unnamed steamer brought into the Navy yard by Confederate forces in Pensacola.  Although the Confederates suffered no casualties, a large storehouse was hit by an exploding shell and burned to the ground. 

1862      Governor John Milton called the “Columbia Trapiers” into service today.  This unit is commanded by Captain J. R. Francis.

1862      Two Federal blockade ships, the U.S.S. Rhode Island and the U.S.S. South Carolina, were sighted in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola.

1863      The Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone’s River) continued today as Confederate forces under General Braxton E. Bragg do battle with Union forces under the command of General William S. Rosecrans.  The Florida 4^th Infantry Regiment suffered 55 casualties, killed or wounded, but captured 250 enemy weapons. 

1863      The Federal ship  U.S.S. Gem of the Sea captured the Confederate sloop Ann six miles east of Jupiter Inlet. 

1864      The U.S.S. Rosalie put into Charlotte Harbor today after a rendezvous with the U.S.S. Gem of the Sea in the Gulf of Mexico. 

1883      The City of Eustis was incorporated.

1885      The City of Lakeland was incorporated today. 

1885      Florida’s fifth Constitution, created by a Constitutional Convention that met in Tallahassee on June 9, 1885, went into effect today and remained the basic law of the Sunshine State until 1968.  The 1885 Constitution replaced the “Carpetbag” Constitution of 1868.

1895      The Tampa Tribune began daily publication today.

1914      The first scheduled commercial airplane flight was made today from St. Petersburg to Tampa.  Tony Jannus, a pioneering aviator, opened the service with his flying boat, the Benoist, which could haul one passenger and a small amount of freight.  A. C. Pheil, former mayor St. Petersburg, purchases the first passenger ticket for $500.00.  Jay Dee Smith was Jannus’ mechanic.  Two daily round trips were flown for 28 consecutive days. 

1935      Bucknell University defeated the University of Miami 26-0 in the first every Miami Orange Bowl game. 

1936          Cypress Gardens, the longest continuously operating tourist attraction, was opened today by Mr. and Mrs. Richard D. Pope, Sr.  Cypress Gardens closed in 2003 and is under consideration for purchase by the State of Florida.

1946      The University of South Carolina suffered a 26-14 loss to Wake Forest University in the first-ever Gator Bowl.

1960      Indian River Community College at Fort Pierce was established today.

1978      Anne Cawthon Booth was appointed the Judge of the First District Court of Appeal (Tallahassee) by Governor Reubin O’D. Askew today.  Ms. Booth became the first woman to serve as an appellate judge in the State of Florida. 

1830      Henry Morrison Flagler, founder of the Florida East Coast Railway and developer of the East Coast’s tourist industry, was born today in Hopewell, New York.  Flagler, whose interest in Florida stemmed from visits to St. Augustine, combined his railroad interests with hotels and steamships.  An early partner with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil, Flagler spent millions on his Florida projects, eventually constructing the longest railroad over water with his Florida Overseas Railroad, which connected the mainland with Key West.  Flagler eventually planned to span the Straights of Florida to connect his Key West terminus with the island of Cuba.

1847      Nathaniel P. Bemis took office as Florida’s Comptroller today.

1848      Julia A. Tuttle, the so-called “Mother of Miami,” was born today in Ohio.  An early (1872)  settler in the present-day Miami area, Ms. Tuttle was reported to have lured Henry Flagler and his railroad south when she sent him a branch of blooming orange blossoms during the devastating freeze of 1894-95.  (See entry for September 14).

1861      The artillery duel between Confederate and Union forces at Pensacola continued until about 4 o’clock this morning.  Casualties were minimal for both sides. 

1861      General Robert E. Lee has asked Brigadier General J. H. Trapier to increase the number of cannons and manpower on Cumberland and Amelia Islands to protect Fernandina from a Union attack.

1863      Florida units with the Confederate Army of Tennessee were still engaged in the Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone’s River) in Tennessee.  Captain Augustus O. MacDonnell of the 1^st and 3^rd Florida Consolidated narrowly escaped serious injury when his sword was shattered by a shell fragment.

1864      The Confederate Congress has approved the following Floridians as adjutants in Florida regiments and battalions:

      James B. Johnson, 5^th Infantry Regiment

      R. J. Reid, 2^nd Infantry Regiment

      W. McR. Jordan, 3^rd Infantry Battalion

      B. F. Parker, 4^th Infantry Battalion

      James O. Owens, 6^th Infantry Battalion

      George Dawson, 7^th Infantry Regiment

      F. Philips, 1^st Cavalry Regiment

      C. B. Paslay, 7^th Infantry Regiment

1865      Senators Augustus E. Maxwell and James M. Baker, along with Representative Robert B. Hilton, join other Confederate legislators as the Confederate Congress re-convenes after a one-day New Year’s Day recess.

1877      George Franklin Drew, the twelfth governor of Florida (1877-1881) was inaugurated today.  (See entry for August 6 for more information)

1898      Booker T. Washington, the noted African-American leader, addressed an audience in Jacksonville today.  His speech stressed that the development of commercial and industrial project held the key for the advancement of the American Negro.

1917      Ernest Amos took office as Florida’s Comptroller today.

1917      Sidney Johnston Catts, Florida’s Prohibition governor, took the oath of office today as the state’s twenty-second governor.  (For more information, see entry for July 31.)

1933      David Sholtz became Florida’s twenty-sixth governor today in inauguration ceremonies in Tallahassee.  (For more information about Sholtz, see the entry for October 6.)

1945      Millard Fillmore Caldwell was inaugurated as Florida’s twenty-ninth governor today in Tallahassee.  (For more information, see entry for October 23.)

1979      On this day, “Bob” [D. Robert} Graham was inaugurated as the Sunshine State’s thirty-eighth governor.  He would succeed himself as governor on January 4, 1983.  Graham was born on November 9, 1936 in Coral Gables.

   Graham graduated from the University of Florida in 1959 and received a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1962.  He served in a variety of executive positions in the Sengra Corporation (The Graham Companies), was a developer of Miami Lakes, and helped administer the family’s cattle holdings. 

   As governor, Graham supported a number of environmental measures to save the state’s Everglades, sea shores, and barrier islands.

   Governor Graham engendered a strong public support through his personal program of “workdays,” a program he still practices as Senator. 

1979      George Firestone assumed the position of Florida’s Secretary of State.  He was succeeded on August 5, 1987 by Jim Smith, who was appointed by Governor Bob Martinez.

1979      Jim Smith assumed office as Florida’s Attorney General on this date.

1823      Joseph M. Hernandez was seated as the first Territorial Representative to the United States Congress from the Territory of Florida.

1861      Delegates to the Florida Secession Convention meet in Tallahassee to take up the question of secession.  Edmund Ruffin of Virginia arrived to confer with Governor Madison Starke Perry and members of the convention.

1863      John Branch, the sixth Territorial Governor of Florida, died today in Enfield, North Carolina.  (For more information, see entry for August 11.)

1863      The Battle of Murphreesboro (Stone’s River) came to an end today.  General Braxton E. Bragg withdrew from the battle despite apparent victory during the first two days.  Florida units in the Army of Tennessee suffered a large number of casualties.  (See entry for December 31.)

1865      The U.S.S. Kanawha today captured the Confederate schooner Mary Ellen today in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

1877      William D. Bloxham assumed office as Florida’s Secretary of State.  He will hold this position until he was succeeded by F.W.A. Rankin, Jr. on October 1, 1880.

1877      George P. Raney was sworn in as the Attorney General of Florida.

1893      Henry Laurens Mitchell was inaugurated as Florida’s sixteenth governor (1893-1897)  today.  (See entry for September 3 for more information.)

1893      William N. Sheats became the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction today, while C. B. Collins was sworn in as Treasurer.

1897      W. H. Reynolds took office as Florida’s Comptroller.

1905      Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, “Florida’s Fighting Democrat,” was inaugurated as Florida’s nineteenth governor today.  (For more information about Broward, see entry for October 1.)

1905      William M. Holloway became Florida’s Superintendent of Public Instruction  today.

1924      The “Southern Jewish Weekly” was founded today in Jacksonville.

1925      The first races at St. Petersburg’s Derby Lane greyhound track were run today.  The track, operated by the Kennel Club, was the oldest greyhound track in the world.

1933      J. M. lee assumed the office of Comptroller today.

1941      J. Edward Larson was sworn in as the Treasurer of Florida today.

1961      Cecil Farris Bryant took office today as the Sunshine State’s thirty-fourth governor.  (For more information on Bryant, see entry for July 26.)

1961      Doyle E. Connor was sworn in as Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture today, and Tom Adams was installed as Secretary of State.

1966      Dr. Earl S. Weldon assumed the presidency of Seminole Junior College, which was chartered in 1965.

1967      Claude Roy Kirk, Jr. was installed as Florida’s thirty-sixth governor today.  Kirk was born on January 7, 1926, in San Bernardino, California.  He lived in a variety of locales during his youth, and graduated from high school in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was seventeen.  He enlisted in the Marine Corps and, after officer training at Quantico, Virginia, was commissioned as a second lieutenant.  He left the Marines in 1946 and entered law school.  He received his law degree in 1949.

   Kirk returned  to active duty in 1950 and served in combat in Korea.  After the war, he entered the insurance and investment business in Jacksonville, eventually heading up the Kirk Investments Company.

   A former democrat, Kirk led the “Floridians for Nixon” campaign in 1960.  In 1964, he waged an unsuccessful race for the U.S. Senate.  In 1966, he was successful in his campaign for the governorship and became the first Republican to hold this position since the end of Reconstruction.

   In 1978, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor as a Democrat.  In 1988, he failed in his bid for the U.S. Senate as the Democratic nominee.

1987      John Wayne Mixon served only three days as Florida’s thirty-ninth governor.  Mixon, the Lieutenant Governor, succeeded Bob Graham, who resigned three days before the end of his second term to take his position in the United States Senate.  Mixon was born June 16, 1922, near Brockton, Alabama.  He entered public service in 1967 when he was elected to the first of six consecutive terms of office in the Florida House of Representatives.

   Mixon served in the United States Navy during World War II.  He attended Columbia University in new York, the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1947 from the University of Florida. 

1989      Tom Gallagher took the oath of office as Florida’s Treasurer today. 

1847      The appointment and licensing of port and harbor pilots by Dade County officials authorized by state government. 

1861      Governor Madison Perry and his advisors made the decision to seize Federal properties in Florida.

1862      The Union blockader, U.S.S. Sagamore, was sighted near Santa Rosa Island.

1863      William Dunn Moseley, Florida’s first governor under statehood (1845-1849), died today.  Moseley was born at Moseley Hall, Lenoir County, North Carolina, on February 1, 1795.  He attended the University of North Carolina with such notables as James K. Polk, later president of the United States.  After college, he practiced law in Wilmington, North Carolina, and entered public service as a state senator.  He was defeated in the North Carolina gubernatorial race of 1834.  In 1835, Moseley purchased a plantation in Jefferson County, Florida, and resided there until 1851.  A member of the Territorial Legislature, Moseley defeated Richard Keith Call, the third and fifth Territorial governor of Florida, in the contest to become the first governor of the new state of Florida.  In 1851, Moseley moved to Palatka, where he was a planter and fruit grower. 

1881      William Dunnington Bloxham, the thirteenth (1881-1885) and seventeenth (1897-1901) governor of Florida, was inaugurated today.  Born in Leon County on July 9, Bloxham’s first administration was marked by the sale of the Disston Land Purchase.  He died at Tallahassee on March 15, 1911.  (For more information, see the entry for July 9.)

1901      The first issue of the “Daytona News” was published today.

1921      Rivers Buford was sworn in as Florida’s Attorney General today.

1925      Cary Augustus Hardee, the 23^rd governor of Florida, was inaugurated today.  During his administration, the convict leasing system was outlawed.  Hardee died ion November 21, 1957.  (For more information, see the entry for November 13.)

1949      Fuller Warren, the thirtieth governor of Florida, was inaugurated today.  A native of Blountstown, Warren was born on October 3, 1905, and died in Miami on September 23, 1973.  (For more information, see the entry for October 3.)

1949      Richard W. Ervin took office as Florida’s Attorney General, and Thomas D. Bailey assumed office as the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

1961      Thomas LeRoy Collins, the thirty-third governor of Florida, took the oath of office today.  Collins was born on march 10, 1909, in Tallahassee.  A graduate of Leon High School, Collins attended the Eastman School of Business at Poughkeepsie, New York, and received a law degree from Cumberland University.  He married Mary Call Darby, the great-granddaughter of two-time Territorial Governor Richard Keith Call.  Collins was elected as Leon County’s  representative to the Florida House  in 1934, 1936, and 1938.  He was elected to the Florida Senate in 1940 an re-elected in 1942.  He resigned to serve in the U.S. navy, and was re-elected in 1946 and 1950.  Collins was first elected governor to complete the two remaining years of the term of the late Governor Dan McCarty.  He was elected for a full term in 1956.

   Collins’ term was marked by the rise of the civil rights movement in Florida, and through his leadership, Florida avoided much of the violence and turmoil that marked desegregation in other Southern states.

   Following his terms as governor, Collins served as Undersecretary of Commerce in the Johnson administration.  He was unsuccessful in a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1968.  He died on March 25, 1991.

1978      Janet Reno became Florida’s first State Attorney when Governor Reubin O’D. Askew appointed her to head up the Eleventh Judicial District (Miami) when Richard Gerstein resigned.  Ms. Reno was  the Attorney General of the United States during the administration of President Bill Clinton. 

1836      Lewis Cass requests an appropriation of $80,000 from the U.S. House of Representatives for “the expenses attending the repression of the hostilities commenced by the Seminole Indians in Florida.”

1861      The Quincy Guards, commanded by Colonel Duryea, seized the Chattahoochee Arsenal today.  The troops confiscate 500,000 rounds of musket cartridges, 300,000 rounds of rifle cartridges, and 50,000 pounds of gunpowder.

1861      The Florida Secession Convention reconvened today.  John C. McGehee, a passionate state-rights planter from Madison County, was elected permanent chairman.  McQueen Macintosh of Apalachicola introduced a resolution declaring Florida’s right to secede and urged the passage of a proclamation declaring that the state was no longer a part of the United States.

1863      Crews from the U.S.S. Sagamore seized the British blockade runner Avenger in Jupiter Inlet.  The Avenger was carrying a cargo of coffee, gin, salt, and other goods.

1865      An expedition from the U.S.S. Winnebago seized two copper kettles used for distilling turpentine, 1,280 copper pipes, and four sloop-rigged boats in the Gulf of Mexico today.

1887      An inch of snow fell at Pensacola today.

1929      Gene Sarazin won the $750 first prize at the Miami Open Golf Tournament.  His score was 294 for 72 holes.  The monetary prize was $750.

1941      Frederick Preston Cone took the oath of office today to become Florida’s 27^th governor.  (See entries for July 28 and September 28.)

1965      William Hayden Burns took the oath of office today to become Florida’s 35^th governor (1965-1967).  Burns was born on March 17, 1912 in Chicago, Illinois.  he attended Jacksonville public schools and Babson College.  During World War II, Burns served in the U.S. navy.

   In 1949, he won his first election to public office when he was elected Mayor-Commissioner of Jacksonville, a position he won in 1951, 1955, 1959, and 1963.  In 1960, he finished third in a race for the Democratic nomination for governor.  In 1964, he achieved the office.

   Although eligible for a second two-year term, he was defeated by Claude Roy Kirk, Jr., a Republican, in 1966.

   In 1971, Burns was defeated in his bid for election as Mayor of Jacksonville. 

   Burns died in Jacksonville on November 22, 1987.

1965      Earl Faircloth was installed at the Attorney General of Florida today.

1971      Reubin O’Donovan Askew, the thirty-seventh Governor of Florida, was inaugurated today for the first of his two consecutive terms as governor.  (For more information, see entry for September 11.)

1971      Thomas D. O’Malley assumed office today as Florida’s Treasurer, and Robert L. Shevin was inaugurated as Attorney General.  Richard B. Stone was inaugurated as Secretary of State.

1979      Jim Smith took the oath of office today for the position of Florida Attorney General.

1836      Casualties from the Seminole uprising continue.  Authorities report that sixteen East Florida plantations have been laid to waste.

1839      E. L. Drake of Escambia County became the first Speaker of the Florida Territorial House of Representatives today.

1855      The Internal Improvements Fund was established today.  This created the mechanism by which improvements can be funded through the sale of public lands.

1861      U.S. Senator Stephen F. Mallory of Florida recommends that the state’s Secession Convention secede.  This declaration followed a caucus of Southern senators called by Jefferson Davis and John Slidell of Mississippi.

1863      The U.S.S. Pocahontas captured the blockade runner Antona today off Cape San Blas, Florida.

1863      The U.S.S. Ariel  today captured the sloop Good Luck, a blockade runner from New Smyrna near Key Biscayne Bay.

1885      Edward Aylsworth Perry became the fourteenth governor of Florida (1885-1889) today.  (See entry for October 15 for more information.)

1895      The first Sunday edition of the Tampa Tribune was published today.

1925      John Wellborn Martin took the oath of office today as Florida’s twenty-fourth governor.  Martin was born on June 21, 1884, in Marion County.  Admitted to the bar in 1914, he began the practice of law in Jacksonville.  From 1917 until 1924, martin was the Mayor of Jacksonville.  Martin presided over the end of the Florida “Boom” and  the Florida “Bust.”   During his administration, Florida began an expansive program of highway construction, direct State appropriations to finance public schools, and the distribution of free textbooks to students in grades 1-6.  In 1928, he was defeated in his bid for a United States Senate seat.  In 1932, he lost a bid to regain the governor’s office.  In the 1940s, Martin served as a co-receiver and trustee for the Florida East Coast Railroad.

   He died in Jacksonville on February 22, 1958.

1953      Daniel Thomas McCarty was inaugurated as the state’s 31^st governor today.  McCarty was born in Fort Pierce on January 18, 1912.  On February 25, 1953, McCarty suffered a debilitating heart attack and died on September 28.  (See entry for September 28 for more information.)

1985      A Pensacola abortion clinic was bombed today marking a significant turn of direction in the anti-abortion movement’s opposition to legalized abortion.

1987      Robert “Bob” Martinez of Tampa became the 40^th governor of Florida today.  Martinez was born in Tampa on December 25, 1934.  He attended the University of Tampa and the University of Illinois.    A high school teacher for seven years, Martinez also served as the Executive Director of the Hillsborough [County] Classroom Teachers Association until he took over the family business, the Cafe Sevilla.  In 1979, Martinez was elected Mayor of Tampa as a Democrat, and re-elected as a Republican in 1983.

   Martinez alienated many Floridians through his anti-abortion stance, because of his reneging on a campaign promise not to raise taxes, and because of his somewhat imperious leadership style.  He also campaigned against the creation of a state lottery system, but approved the measure after it was passed by the Florida legislature. 

   He was defeated for re-election by Lawton Chiles in 1990.  Following his tenure as governor, he served briefly as the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency under President George Bush.

1821      The first organized Baptist congregation, Pigeon Creek Baptist Church, was organized today near Callahan (Northeast Florida).  The congregation consisted of both black and white parishioners.

1841      Company I, 3^rd Artillery, United States Army engaged in fighting with Seminole Indians near Ft. Lauderdale today.  One enlisted man was wounded and subsequently died from his wounds on January 22.

1848      William R. Hayward was sworn in as the Treasurer of the State of Florida.

1861      Federal soldiers guarding Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos) in St. Augustine surrender the post to a company of local volunteers.  In Tallahassee, the Secession Convention, after hearing appeals from Edmund Ruffin of Virginia, E.C. Bullock of Alabama, and L.S. Spratt of South Carolina, approves the McIntosh resolution by a vote of 62-5 for immediate secession.  A committee of 13 was appointed to prepare the official secession ordinance.

1903      Florida author Zora Neale Hurston was born today.  Some controversy exists as to the actual place of her birth.  Some authorities claim it was in Eatonville (east of Orlando), but the latest scholarship places her birth place in Alabama.  Regardless of where she was born, Hurston certainly considered Eatonville her home and centered many of her stories there.

1911      Thelma (Butterfly) McQueen was born today in Tampa.  McQueen gained enduring fame for her portrayal of “Prissy” in the 1939 epic, “Gone with the Wind.”

1913      Park Trammell, the 21^st governor of Florida (1913-1917), took the oath of office today.  Trammell, who was born on April 9, 1876 in Macon County, Alabama, attended grade school in Polk County.  During the Spanish-American War, he served in the Quartermaster Corps in Tampa.  After studies at Vanderbilt University, Trammell received a law degree from Cumberland College (also the alma mater of LeRoy Collins) in 1899.  A citrus grower and attorney in Lakeland, he served two terms as Mayor of the city.  He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1903 and to the Florida Senate in 1905.  He served as President of the Senate.  In 1908, Trammell was elected Attorney general, and in 1912, he was elected governor.  The hallmark of the Trammell administration was campaign spending reform and the equalization of property tax assessments in all counties.  In 1916, he was elected to the United States Senate and served in that capacity until his death in Washington on May 8, 1936.

1913      Thomas F. West took the oath of office as the Attorney General of Florida today, while William N. Sheats was installed as the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

1941      Spessard Lindsey Holland was sworn in as the 28^th governor (1941-1945).  He was born at Bartow on July 10, 1892 and died on November 6, 1971.  (For more information see entries for July 10 and November 6.)

1941      J. Tom Watson took the oath of office as Attorney General today.  Watson was somewhat frustrated as Attorney General since Florida was a “right to work” state and Federal war industries contracts recognized the rights of unions to organize laborers.  Despite a lawsuit and strong protests by Watson, the Federal government persisted in this policy.  As soon as World War II was over, Watson immediately and successfully sought to restore the “right to work” law. 

1969      Floyd T. Christian assumed office as the first Commissioner of Education in Florida.  The Constitution Revision of 1968 provides for this new title, which was a change from the previously Superintendent of Public Instruction.

1975      Bruce A. Smathers was installed as Florida’s Secretary of State today, and Gerald Lewis took the oath of office as the Comptroller of Florida.