Lake County Biographies
B
W. J. BABB
The success of W. J. Babb as an orange grower shows what can be done in Florida in the citrus industry by a person who gives time and study to the problem, though without technical knowledge of the subject in the beginning; and his success should prove an incentive to others.
W. J. Babb was born December 30, 1872, near Clinton, Tennessee, son of Thomas Newton and Ellen Louise Babb. He received his early education in the schools of Tennessee, and was graduated from Alpine College.
Before coming to Umatilla in 1920 Mr. Babb engaged in farming in Tennessee, and was Superintendent of Schools in Pickett County, Tennessee, for fourteen years. Another proof of his popularity and of his ability is the fact that he was elected to the Legislature of his native state.
When Mr. Babb came to Umatilla he decided to grow oranges, and he now has 220 acres of bearing groves. He has groves in Lake County and Orange County, but his greatest acreage is in Lake. He is the largest orange grower in Umatilla, and one of the largest in the state. He knew nothing about orange growing until he came to Florida, and attributes his success to his willingness to devote his entire time to his groves, and to his willingness to adopt progressive methods.
Mr. Babb has six children: Aimee Lenora (Mrs. R. E. Paine), Cramill Isaac, and Dorothy (Mrs. D. T. Gunnels) of Tennessee, and W. O., Herbert and Howard of Umatilla.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p154
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DR. RALPH BADGER
Dr. Ralph Badger, who was one of the first settlers in the town of Eustis, was born in Decatur, Georgia, February 2, 1837, a son of Dr. Joshua B. and Caroline Slaughter Badger. His father had the distinction of being the first dentist to open a dental office in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Badger attended school in Atlanta and in Nashville, Tennessee, and learned the profession of dentistry under the tutelage of his father in Atlanta, and his uncle in Nashville, and began his own practice in Atlanta. During the War Between the States, he served in the cavalry branch of the Cobb’s (Georgia) Legion, in Captain W. M. Williams’ company, serving faithfully throughout the war as a member of General Lee’s army.
In 1861 he married Miss Helen Pettis, who died during the war, leaving him with one little girl who died six years later. Several years after the War Between the States he married Miss Fannie Lanham, to which union two girls were born: Lillie May (Mrs. E. A. Russell) and Fannie Veola (Mrs. Franklin L. Ezell).
Dr. Badger came to Florida with his little family in 1879, and after making a survey of the entire state he finally settled in Eustis where he planted an orange grove and built a beautiful home on Lake Eustis, which he named “Windy Nook.” He was the first settler in Eustis to build a home on the lake shore, and the health of his family proved there was no “malaria”on the lake shores; so that it was through his influence and example that the town of Eustis was built on the shore of the lake rather than on the hill where the first village was started, now known as Center street. Nearby his home, Dr. Badger had a wharf at which boats from Jacksonville landed people and goods, and part of his income in those days was derived from the small wharf fees collected.
Through his action in cutting up a large part of the land he had acquired at Eustis and selling it off in lots, Dr. Badger became one of the earliest subdividers of Lake County. He always took an interest in the affairs of his town and was mayor of Eustis, and a trustee of the public school for several years. He was a great sportsman and took his recreation in hunting and fishing.
After residing in Eustis for about twelve years, he sold off the balance of his property and moved to Leesburg, as he considered Leesburg a future city of wide commercial importance. Here he continued the practice of dentistry and built a pretty home, in which his daughter, Mrs. Veola Ezell, still resides.
Dr. Badger died at Leesburg, November 20, 1908, Mrs. Badger having died May 12, 1904.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p155
DAVID ELIAS BARBER
HARRY E. BARCUS
Harry E. Barcus was born October 29, 1877, in Marion County, Florida, son of David and Sally Barcus. His father came to Florida from Ohio in 1876 and was an orange grower in Marion County.
The first business that Harry E. Barcus engaged in was that of a sawmill operator, and he had sawmills in LaFayette, Taylor and Sewanee (sic) Counties, Florida. In 1914 he came to Leesburg and operated a cypress shingle mill at Tavares, and later went into the lumber brokerage business.
He now devotes most of his time to citrus and watermelon growing, and has thirty-five acres of groves in Lake County; all but five acres of which he has planted himself. He is one of the largest watermelon growers in Lake County, and has 400 acres of watermelons on leased land. Mr. Barcus is one of the earliest and most successful shippers of watermelon in the state. In addition to his groves and watermelons, he is also interested in the real estate business.
Mr. Barcus was married to Ollie McAlpin, and they have five children: Marguerite, Lenah, Harry, David and Dan
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p156
BARNHARD R. BECKER
Barnhard R. Becker was born in Philadelphia, August, 1890, son of Caspar and Emily Becker. His parents were both born in Switzerland, but deciding that America was the place for them, they came to this country and located in Philadelphia.
Mr. Becker received his education in the schools of Philadelphia, and later engaged in the poultry business there. He moved to New Jersey where he also followed the poultry business.
On coming to Florida in 1919 he located in Tavares, and bought an orange grove of about 15 acres. He has since then extended his acreage and grows Pineapple and Valencia oranges, and the Marsh Seedless grapefruit most successfully. One of the achievements he is most proud of is the house which he occupies on Albee street in Tavares, which he himself built.
He has always been interested in the civic affairs of his town and is a past member of the board of school trustees of Tavares, and also a past member of the city council. He is a member of the Masons and of the Congregational Church.
He was married in Delaware to Margaret Barton, and three children have blessed this union: Caspar, Robert, and Bernice.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p157
HENRY W. BISHOP
Identified with practically every movement of importance in the history of Eustis, Henry W. Bishop is one of the leading men in the growth and development of the town from a village to the fine city it now is.
He was born January 1, 1862, at Warsaw, Illinois, and received his schooling in Missouri. He came to Eustis in 1884 with the intention of growing oranges, and did buy a grove near Eustis. However, seeing the need of the town at that time for banking facilities, he established the Bank of Eustis in 1885, Bishop Brothers, owners. His brothers associated with him in this enterprise were W. H., also of Eustis; M. E., and N. C. In 1895 the freeze which is still known as “The Big Freeze,” and which did so much damage to this section, and to the state as a whole, caused the Bank of Eustis to close its doors. It is to the lasting credit of the Bishop Brothers that each and every depositor of their bank received his money in full. The bank was sold in 1897 and is now the progressive and flourishing First State Bank of Eustis.
Henry W. Bishop was admitted to the practice of law at Titusville, Florida, in 1898, which profession he still follows under the firm name of Bishop and Wingfield.
Mr. Bishop is a past court commissioner of Lake County, has been mayor of Eustis for two terms, and was postmaster for two years. He was deputy collector of customs at Fernandina; and supervisor of the U. S. census in 1910 for the First Congressional District. A mere recital of the positions held by Mr. Bishop in no way indicates the great amount of time and effort he has expended in the interest of the State of Florida and of his adopted city.
He is president of the Kiwanis Club, a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, elder and clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Eustis, and is past master of the local lodge of Masons. For thirty-two years he has been a member of the Republican State Committee.
He was married at Eustis in 1888 to Eva May Power, and they have three children: Mary Priscilla, assistant librarian; Clayton Power, postmaster; and Albert K., florist.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p158
Pearl Frances BLETT HIMELBURGER BRETT Submitted by Barb Holmes
STUART H. BOWMAN
Stuart H. Bowman, of Clermont, was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, June 8, 1876, the son of Capt. A. C. and Tracy J. Bowman. His father was an officer in the Confederate Army, serving under Stonewall Jackson.
After attending the rural school of his community Mr. Bowman successively graduated from the Fairmont State Normal School, the University of Nashville, Peabody College, Nashville, and the University of West Virginia. After receiving the B.A. degree at the latter institution, he also completed the law course prescribed for admittance to the bar.
During the intervals between his college courses, Mr. Bowman was engaged in the work of teaching, including a period as an instructor in the Fairmont State Normal School.
He began the practice of law at Philippi, county-seat of his native county, incidentally devoting a portion of his time to real estate operations. At the age of 23 years he was elected a member of the West Virginia Legislature, serving eventually for three terms. During his initial session he was Chairman of the House Committee on Education and was active in furthering the enactment of several progressive educational measures.
In 1898 he was married to Florence Mansfield, the daughter of a prominent Democratic leader and newspaper man of the State.
In 1906 he removed to Huntington, Cabell County, W. Va., and engaged in the real estate business. His services were sought by a group of West Virginia capitalists, who became interested in several thousand acres in the vicinity of Clermont, and in 1913 Mr. Bowman accepted the position of manager of these interests and located at Clermont. Under his direction the property was mapped and subdivided, the well-known Club House at Clermont (recently converted into Lake Highlands Hotel) was erected and Clermont Heights (now a highly developed district of Clermont) was projected.
Returning to Huntington after three years, Mr. Bowman renewed his real estate activities, and became President of the Cabell County Bank, retaining this position for seven years. During this period he served as President of the West Virginia Real Estate Association, and incidentally devoted some time to political activities, culminating in his nomination for congress by the Democratic party during the last administration of Woodrow Wilson.
He was for many years a member of the State Democratic Committee, of which he served as Secretary.
He established his permanent home in Clermont in 1926, where he has been an active citizen.
He served as President of the Clermont Chamber of Commerce and is now President of the Clermont Kiwanis Club, a Director of the Clermont Citrus Exchange, and Secretary of the Lake County Democratic Committee.
He is an active member of the M. E. Church, South, and has filled various responsible positions as a layman in the Orlando District and Florida Conference of his church.
His wife has served three terms as President of the Woman’s Club of Clermont, and is now President of the Lake County Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Mr. Bowman has for several years been a member of the Board of Trustees of Peabody College of Nashville, and takes an active interest in civic affairs and educational matters.
He is engaged in the real estate business and in citrus fruit growing at Clermont.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p159-160
Submitted by Barb Holmes
HON. F. L. BOWRON
Hon. F. L. Bowron, the Mayor of Umatilla, was born in Stanton County, Kansas, on January 11yh, 18895, son of John and Sarah Austin Bowron.
When he was a young man, Mr. Bowron’s parents moved to Nova Scotia and there he received his education principally at the agricultural college at Truro. After leaving school he operated his father’s farm in Nova Scotia for about two years, and came to Lake County in 1913 where his father had purchased an orange grove between Eustis and Tavares. He lived in Umatilla until 1920 and then moved to Eustis where he was connected with the Eustis Motor Company in charge of the tractor department until 1924 when he returned to Umatilla to engage in the real estate business.
For the past two years Mr. Bowron has operated a fertilizer business and a retail radio store in which lines he has been very successful.
He was elected Mayor of Umatilla without opposition in January, 1928.
During the World War he served in the American Air Service, being attached to the British Army until August, 1918, when he became a member of the 157th American Aero Squadron as First Lieutenant.
Mr. Bowron has always take a very active part in the American Legion at Umatilla and he is Chef de Gare of the “40 & 8” in Lake County. He belongs to the Methodist Church and the Masons.
He was married at Tampa to Avieda Bryant and has two children: Sarah E. and Frances L.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p160
LOUIS BOZANQUET
Louis Bozanquet was born in Southgate, England, on the 20th day of July, 1865, the son of Percival and Louiza Charlotte Bozanquet. The Bozanquet family is of French Huguenot descent, but was early established in England.
Mr. Bozanquet’s father was a large and successful banker in England, but not being attracted by the confinement of an indoor life, Mr. Louis Bozanquet did not follow his father’s footsteps and he has spent most of his life in the great outdoors.
He received his education in the famous English School of Eaton and after leaving there studied for some years in Germany.
In 1888 he came to Fruitland Park, Florida, and joined the sturdy band of English settlers who were already there. After the freeze of 1895 most of them left the State and it was only those such as Mr. Bozanquet who loved the country and had faith in its future who remained.
Mr. Bozanquet has developed a beautiful country estate at Fruitland Park where he has an orange grove and where he devotes the greater part of his time to horticulture; he has about one thousand varieties of plants and trees on his place, which is the largest collection in Lake County and one of the largest in the State of Florida.
Mr. Bozanquet is a devout member of the Episcopal Church in Fruitland Park, of which he is Senior Warden.
He was married to Ellen Louis Hall, of Marietta, Ohio, and is the father of the following children: Frances (Mrs. D. M. Newell), Louise and Alfred P.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p160-161
Dr. Clyde Brady was born March 20, 1882, at Clay, Jackson County, Ohio, son of Thomas and Sarah Brady. He was graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1904 with honors.
During the construction of the Panama Canal he became a member, on March 24, 1906, of the Health Department of the Panama Canal Force. He was intrusted (sic)with many important positions while there and served continuously until July 30, 1915, at which time he resigned.
He came to Florida and located in Leesburg in February, 1916, and began his practice which was destined to become one of the largest in Lake County. He also served as local surgeon for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company.
During the World War he received his commission as Captain in the Medical Reserve Corps of the War Department.
Dr. Brady always gave freely of his time and effort for civic betterment and in social welfare work, and was know throughout the state for his charitable acts.
His fraternal affiliations were with the Masons, Lake County and Florida State Medical Associations, the Leesburg Kiwanis Club, of which he was the first president, the Leesburg Chamber of Commerce, and the Leesburg Building and Loan Association, of which he was a director.
Dr. Brady’s death on July 2, 1928, removed one of Leesburg’s most earnest civic workers.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p161
ALBERT "DOC BRAGDON
Albert "Doc" Bragdon was born April 24, 1885 in Florence, S.C. and died 1958 in Leesburg. He moved to Leesburg in 1908, where he worked as a young pharmacist in the Diamond Drug Store for Dr. P. W. Butler.
When Bragdon heard that the Crescent Drug Store at the corner of Main Street and Third Street was available in 1909, he jumped at the chance to buy it from Truston Drake, Sr. and B. C. Lanier. It remained a family business 50 years. His son, James Albert Bragdon joined his father in 1944 and took over the management in 1954.
On the 25th anniversary of Doc Bragdon's ownership of the store (1934) his friends surprised him with greetings and flowers. Doc, in turn, told the teachers to announce that all the children come in for a treat, and all Leesburg citizens were invited to help him celebrate. He gave favors to the grownups and ice cream cones to the children.
Doc Bragdon died in 1958 and James sold the store in 1959 to Lewie Rogers and Williams Palmer, who had been a pharmacist there several months prior to the sale.
"Doc" typified the old-fashioned pharmacist in the finest sense of the word. Always a soft-spoken, kindly man, he felt a high obligation to serve his fellow man.
Three generations in Leesburg have "grown up" in Mr. Bragdon's Crescent Drug Store, which has been a business and social landmark since soon after the turn of the century.
No one who grew up in Leesburg is likely to forget the old-timey, ornate marble soda fountain that held the goodies of bygone years-the early Coca CAlbert "Doc" Bragdon was born April 24, 1885 in Florence, S.C. and died 1958 in Leesburg. He moved to Leesburg in 1908, where he worked as a young pharmacist in the Diamond Drug Store for Dr. P. W. Butler.
When Bragdon heard that the Crescent Drug Store at the corner of Main Street and Third Street was available in 1909, he jumped at the chance to buy it from Truston Drake, Sr. and B. C. Lanier. It remained a family business 50 years. His son, James Albert Bragdon joined his father in 1944 and took over the management in 1954.
On the 25th anniversary of Doc Bragdon's ownership of the store (1934) his friends surprised him with greetings and flowers. Doc, in turn, told the teachers to announce that all the children come in for a treat, and all Leesburg citizens were invited to help him celebrate. He gave favors to the grownups and ice cream cones to the children.
Doc Bragdon died in 1958 and James sold the store in 1959 to Lewie Rogers and Williams Palmer, who had been a pharmacist there several months prior to the sale.
"Doc" typified the old-fashioned pharmacist in the finest sense of the word. Always a soft-spoken, kindly man, he felt a high obligation to serve his fellow man.
Three generations in Leesburg have "grown up" in Mr. Bragdon's Crescent Drug Store, which has been a business and social landmark since soon after tola, unloaded in barrels from a horse-driven dray and dispensed in thin, sparkling glasses with the seemingly magic fizz-water. Or the row upon row of tempting jars of cherries, chopped nuts, strawberries and other sweets that were used to top a sundae or banana split for those who could afford to indulge themselves to the extent of a dime or fifteen cents.
B. H. Brantley was born in Georgia on the 17th day of February, 1857, son of Dr. F. M. and Elizabeth I. Brantley. He received his education in the schools of Georgia, after leaving which he became connected with a wholesale drug house at Atlanta where he remained until 1884, when he came to Clermont, Florida, and he is therefore one of the oldest residents of what is known as Lake County.
Soon after his arrival at Clermont he engaged in truck farming which he continued for a number of years, but ultimately he transferred his activity to citrus growing, in which branch of agriculture he has made a very great success. Although he has sold a large part of his citrus acreage he was at one time one of the largest orange growers in Lake County.
Mr. Brantley was married at Americus, Georgia, to Carrey Bell Smith and two children were born to this union, E. T. Brantley and Celeste M. Brantley.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p161-162
S. B. BRANTLEY
S. B. Brantley was born in Meriwether County, Georgia, on the 21st day of July, 1861, son of Dr. F. M. and Margaret E. Brantley.
He attended schools in Georgia and came to Clermont, Florida, in 1885, being one of the first settlers in this part of the State. Until the past ten years, Mr. Brantley engaged in truck farming and he and his brother B. H. Brantley, have been two of the most successful truck farmers in Lake County. During the past few years, Mr. Brantley has devoted the greater part of his time and attention to citrus growing and is known as one of the leading orange growers of Lake County. At present he owns about fifty acres of bearing trees.
Mr. Brantley has taken an active interest in many directions in Clermont; he was one of the organizers and is at the present time a director in the First National Bank and he was a member of the City Council of Clermont when it was first incorporated. He has acquired a large amount of real estate and is known as one of the prosperous and stable citizens of the community.
His religious affiliation is with the Baptist Church.
He was married at Clermont to Mattie J. Jones and has one daughter, Margaret, who is a student at the Florida State College for Women.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p162
Submitted
by Barb Holmes
H. C. BROWN
H. C. Brown was born on the 24th day of October, 1876, at Ontario, Canada, son of George H. and Nancy Brown. Mr. Brown moved to the United States in 1891, settling in Chicago where he was employed as a telegraph operator for some time. From Chicago he moved to Colchester, Illinois, where he engaged in the mercantile and manufacturing business. From Colchester he moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where he remained for twenty-two years, engaging in the wholesale grocery and food manufacturing business, having active charge of the manufacturing department.
Attracted by the lure of the South and of the opportunities presenting themselves in Florida, Mr. Brown moved to Clermont in 1922, where he has since become one of the dominant factors in the life of the community.
He helped to organize the Clermont Hills and Lake Company, which owns about six thousand acres of land in the south part of Lake County, of which 250 acres are planted to grapes and 75 acres to oranges. Mr. Brown is Vice-President and one of the active heads of the company which is doing perhaps more than any other concern to develop the southern end of the county. It is their ultimate aim to develop the entire six thousand acres which the company owns, planting it all to grapes and citrus. In addition to his connection with the Clermont Hills and Lake Company, Mr. Brown is Vice-President of the Florida Diatomite Company of Clermont. Mr. Brown has taken a very active part in civic affairs of Clermont and of Lake County as a whole. He served as President of the City Council of Clermont for four years, during which time thirty-five miles of paving were built; he is at the present time Vice-President of Clermont Citrus Exchange and he has served as President of the Clermont Chamber of Commerce. He has always taken a very active interest in the Lake County Chamber of Commerce of which he served as director for a number of years and of which he is now the President.
He was married in Pennsylvania to Ada Kreamer and has one daughter, Helen.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p162-163
A. H. BRYSON
Mr. A. H. Bryson is a native son of Florida, having been born on February 9, 1900, at Winter Haven, Florida, son of R. H. and Maggie F. Bryson. His mother is from Illinois and his father from North Carolina.
Mr. Bryson attended school in Winter Haven, and immediately after leaving school went to Jacksonville where he was assistant cashier of the National Biscuit Company.
During the World War he entered the U. S. Navy and served on a submarine and several gunboats. After the war he returned to Winter Haven and set out a 60-acre orange grove, which he later sold.
He then moved to Lake County in 1922, and owned an orange grove in Clermont, which he subsequently sold.
Next he was foreman of the packing house at Clermont and then became manager of the Groveland Citrus Growers Association in 1924. He resigned in 1925 to enter the real estate business and in 1926 again entered the citrus industry, becoming manager of the Clermont Citrus Growers Association. In 1927 he went back to the Groveland Association as manager. The shipments from Groveland packing house average about 50,000 a year, and it is due to his efforts that the house now handles about 90 per cent of the fruit grown in the Groveland district.
Mr. Bryson is a member of the Methodist church, and is unmarried.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p163
H. S. BUDD
H. S. Budd was born in London, England, April 28th, 1856, son of Edward and Antoinette Budd. He received his early education at the famous old Eton School and subsequently attended Trinity College, Cambridge, after leaving which he read law at Lincoln’s Inn, London.
Having heard of the wonders of Florida and of orange growing and other opportunities there, he came to Fruitland Park in 1884, being one of the first of the English Colony of about one hundred fifty to settle in Fruitland Park between 1884 and 1886. For many years he was interested in orange growing and was the owner of a large amount of valuable property in Lake County at the time of his death.
Mr. Budd was probably best known in Lake County as a banker as he was one of the organizers of the Morrison & Stapleton Banking Company at Leesburg, which ultimately became The Leesburg & County State Bank and on the death of Mr. Stapleton it became a private bank known as Snell & Cooke, which was sold to the present Leesburg State Bank. For many years Mr. Budd was actively interested in the banking business and the present excellent condition of the Leesburg State Bank is due no doubt in a large measure to the firm foundations which were laid by its predecessors.
Although born in England, Mr. Budd became a staunch Florida citizen and did a great deal for Lake County and the State as a whole. He was very public-spirited and helped every good cause. He was particularly active in the Leesburg Board of Trade, having served as president shortly before his death. His religious affiliations were with the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Budd and Gertrude Hubbard were married at Tarpon Springs, Fla., in September, 1894, and had two children: Hilda Alden and Mary Antoinette (Mrs. William B. Treloar).
Mr. Budd died at Leesburg, August 10th, 1919.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p164.
R. P. BURTON
R. P. Burton,
who is generally recognized as one of the best informed
men on the citrus industry in Florida, was born in LaFayette,
Alabama, December 21st, 1861, a son of Dr. John Robarts and
Abilene Rushin Burton, who were both descendants of pioneer
and patriotic stock in Virginia, Carolinas, and Georgia.
They were both natives of Georgia, she of the noted (in Georgia)
Ichabod Tribe of Cox and he of Puritan and Huguenot who settled
in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1630; St. Johns Parish, afterwards
Liberty County, Georgia, in 1752-59.
The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of Lowndes County, Georgia, to which county his mother refugeed during the Civil War while his father, chief surgeon of the 47th Alabama Regiment, was with General Longstreet inVirginia. His father practiced medicine in Alabama prior to the war and in Valdosta, Georgia, until his death in 1902. On January 8th, 1878, left home to begin his business life as a clerk in Opelika, Alabama. In 1882 he went to Philadelphia and traveled the South Atlantic States from there as a traveling salesman for a wholesale book and stationery firm.
Mr. Burton came to Leesburg, then in Sumter County, November 16th, 1885, engaging in the drug business in copartnership with Mr. N. E. Venable of Farmville, Virginia, who had settled in Leesburg five years earlier. In January, 1888, he bought an orange grove at Emeralda, selling his interest in the drug store, continuing to reside in Leesburg, and engaged in buying and selling oranges, fertilizers and packers’ supplies. In 1897 after the roots had sent up sour sprouts following the killing of the tops of the orange trees, he budded the groves he now owns and that fall moved to Valdosta, Georgia, where he was engaged in the mercantile business until November, 1898, when he went to Ft. Worth, Texas, as District Sales Agent for the Southern California Fruit Growers Exchange. In January, 1901, he was transferred to Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained until November, 1905, when he was called to Los Angeles as auction sales manager of that exchange.
In July, 1909, after a visit of a delegation of citrus fruit growers from Florida headed by Dr. F. W. Inman, had visited southern California and had gone carefully under Mr. Burton’s guidance into all the details of the California Cooperative Exchange, he came back to Florida at the urgent solicitation of members of that committee. He participated in the organization of the Florida Citrus Exchange and served it for five years as general sales manager with headquarters at Tampa, where it still is.
In November, 1913, Mr. Burton tendered his resignation to be accepted after the season’s business was over, asking for a release from his contract which did not terminate for another year. In April it was accepted. He was released and moved to his grove at Emeralda where he had a beautiful home and grounds on fifty acres of wonderfully fine grove, which he budded in 1897.
Few men in the United States have had so wide an experience in the citrus industry as has Mr. Burton. His experience of ten years’ growing, buying, shipping and selling in Florida, the rebudding of the sprouts from the old stumps after the 1895 freeze and bringing them back to fine groves; eleven years as salesman for the California Fruit Growers Exchange, beginning in one of their poorest markets and progressing to one of the largest and then to Sales Manager in the Los Angeles office, thence back to Florida to assist in the formation and bringing into being, organizing and managing the sales department of what is the most potent factor in Florida today in the marketing of her citrus crops, which is the one great asset that makes the State preeminent; and at the same time bringing to successful fruition one of the most profitable groves in the State, has given forty years’ unbroken activity in the citrus fruit game at both ends and the middle.
Mr. Burton assisted in organizing the Leesburg Citrus Growers Association and is now one of its directors and largest patrons.
Mr. Burton was married November 25th, 1886, at Waycross, Georgia, to Rosalie G. Screven, great-granddaughter of Gen. Jas. Screven, the grandson of Rev. William Screven, a Baptist Minister, who came to this country from England to escape persecution, and who founded the first Baptist Church in Charlestown, S. C., and afterward moved to and is said to have owned the land upon which the town of Georgetown is built. He (Gen. Jas. Screven) was one of the patriotic leaders in the struggle for independence, being a member of the Provincial Congress that met at Savannah July 4th, 1775, as a member from St. Johns Parish. He was first captain of the St. Johns Rangers and afterwards made Brigadier General by the Legislature. He fell mortally wounded in a skirmish with the British under Col. Provost on Spencer Hill, one and a half miles South of Midway Church, November 22nd, 1778. (Stacy’s History of Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia). They have four children, Louise Screven, Elizabeth B. (Mrs. C. C. Bennett) and Robert P., who is connected with the Florida Citrus Exchange in New York City, and Benjamin S., who is now a student in Alabama Polytechnic School, Auburn, Alabama.
There is now a monument erected by order of the U. S. Congress in old Midway Cemetery in commemoration of Gen. Jas. Screven and General Daniel Stewart, the latter a great uncle of our fellow-citizen, Mr. M. P. Stewart of Emeralda, and grandfather of President Theodore Roosevelt.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p166 and p171 (pp167-170 consist of portraits and blank page)
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DR. RALPH BADGERDr. Ralph Badger, who was one of the first settlers in the town of Eustis, was born in Decatur, Georgia, February 2, 1837, a son of Dr. Joshua B. and Caroline Slaughter Badger. His father had the distinction of being the first dentist to open a dental office in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Badger attended school in Atlanta and in Nashville, Tennessee, and learned the profession of dentistry under the tutelage of his father in Atlanta, and his uncle in Nashville, and began his own practice in Atlanta. During the War Between the States, he served in the cavalry branch of the Cobb’s (Georgia) Legion, in Captain W. M. Williams’ company, serving faithfully throughout the war as a member of General Lee’s army.
In 1861 he married Miss Helen Pettis, who died during the war, leaving him with one little girl who died six years later. Several years after the War Between the States he married Miss Fannie Lanham, to which union two girls were born: Lillie May (Mrs. E. A. Russell) and Fannie Veola (Mrs. Franklin L. Ezell).
Dr. Badger came to Florida with his little family in 1879, and after making a survey of the entire state he finally settled in Eustis where he planted an orange grove and built a beautiful home on Lake Eustis, which he named “Windy Nook.” He was the first settler in Eustis to build a home on the lake shore, and the health of his family proved there was no “malaria”on the lake shores; so that it was through his influence and example that the town of Eustis was built on the shore of the lake rather than on the hill where the first village was started, now known as Center street. Nearby his home, Dr. Badger had a wharf at which boats from Jacksonville landed people and goods, and part of his income in those days was derived from the small wharf fees collected.
Through his action in cutting up a large part of the land he had acquired at Eustis and selling it off in lots, Dr. Badger became one of the earliest subdividers of Lake County. He always took an interest in the affairs of his town and was mayor of Eustis, and a trustee of the public school for several years. He was a great sportsman and took his recreation in hunting and fishing.
After residing in Eustis for about twelve years, he sold off the balance of his property and moved to Leesburg, as he considered Leesburg a future city of wide commercial importance. Here he continued the practice of dentistry and built a pretty home, in which his daughter, Mrs. Veola Ezell, still resides.
Dr. Badger died at Leesburg, November 20, 1908, Mrs. Badger having died May 12, 1904.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p155
DAVID ELIAS BARBER
David Elias Barber (1884 - 1959) was the son of Johnson Elisha and Eliza
(Butler) Barber, born in Townsend, Norfolk Co., Ontario. He married May
Winifred Thompson (1892 - ? daughter of Frederick Hamlet and Elizabeth Isabella
(Smith) Thompson) on 13 December 1911 at Townsend. Before their move to Florida
they had three children, Henry Thompson Barber (1913 - 1924 interred Umatilla
Cemetery), Hilda Isabelle Barber (1914 - before 1976) and Orland Dave Barber
(1916 - 1976). In 1919 they moved to Lake Co., FL. On the 1920 census they are
residing at Umatilla and David is a general farmer. In 1921 another dau is born
to them, Winifred Barber (1921 - 1996). On the 1930 census, May is by herself,
on a farm, with the three youngest children. She is employed as a citrus grader.
Henry T. Barber died in 1924 at Umatilla and May's husband, David, is ??. By
1934, David, Orland and Hilda are back in Canada at Vittoria, Norfolk Co.,
Ontario. I don't know what happened to May, but I would love to find out. The
youngest daughter, Winifred Barber, resided a Birmingham, AL.. Any additional
information on May Winifred Barber would be greatly appreciated.
Lorna (Smith) Mackenzie
Submitted by Lorna
HARRY E. BARCUS
Harry E. Barcus was born October 29, 1877, in Marion County, Florida, son of David and Sally Barcus. His father came to Florida from Ohio in 1876 and was an orange grower in Marion County.
The first business that Harry E. Barcus engaged in was that of a sawmill operator, and he had sawmills in LaFayette, Taylor and Sewanee (sic) Counties, Florida. In 1914 he came to Leesburg and operated a cypress shingle mill at Tavares, and later went into the lumber brokerage business.
He now devotes most of his time to citrus and watermelon growing, and has thirty-five acres of groves in Lake County; all but five acres of which he has planted himself. He is one of the largest watermelon growers in Lake County, and has 400 acres of watermelons on leased land. Mr. Barcus is one of the earliest and most successful shippers of watermelon in the state. In addition to his groves and watermelons, he is also interested in the real estate business.
Mr. Barcus was married to Ollie McAlpin, and they have five children: Marguerite, Lenah, Harry, David and Dan
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p156
BARNHARD R. BECKER
Barnhard R. Becker was born in Philadelphia, August, 1890, son of Caspar and Emily Becker. His parents were both born in Switzerland, but deciding that America was the place for them, they came to this country and located in Philadelphia.
Mr. Becker received his education in the schools of Philadelphia, and later engaged in the poultry business there. He moved to New Jersey where he also followed the poultry business.
On coming to Florida in 1919 he located in Tavares, and bought an orange grove of about 15 acres. He has since then extended his acreage and grows Pineapple and Valencia oranges, and the Marsh Seedless grapefruit most successfully. One of the achievements he is most proud of is the house which he occupies on Albee street in Tavares, which he himself built.
He has always been interested in the civic affairs of his town and is a past member of the board of school trustees of Tavares, and also a past member of the city council. He is a member of the Masons and of the Congregational Church.
He was married in Delaware to Margaret Barton, and three children have blessed this union: Caspar, Robert, and Bernice.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p157
HENRY W. BISHOP
Identified with practically every movement of importance in the history of Eustis, Henry W. Bishop is one of the leading men in the growth and development of the town from a village to the fine city it now is.
He was born January 1, 1862, at Warsaw, Illinois, and received his schooling in Missouri. He came to Eustis in 1884 with the intention of growing oranges, and did buy a grove near Eustis. However, seeing the need of the town at that time for banking facilities, he established the Bank of Eustis in 1885, Bishop Brothers, owners. His brothers associated with him in this enterprise were W. H., also of Eustis; M. E., and N. C. In 1895 the freeze which is still known as “The Big Freeze,” and which did so much damage to this section, and to the state as a whole, caused the Bank of Eustis to close its doors. It is to the lasting credit of the Bishop Brothers that each and every depositor of their bank received his money in full. The bank was sold in 1897 and is now the progressive and flourishing First State Bank of Eustis.
Henry W. Bishop was admitted to the practice of law at Titusville, Florida, in 1898, which profession he still follows under the firm name of Bishop and Wingfield.
Mr. Bishop is a past court commissioner of Lake County, has been mayor of Eustis for two terms, and was postmaster for two years. He was deputy collector of customs at Fernandina; and supervisor of the U. S. census in 1910 for the First Congressional District. A mere recital of the positions held by Mr. Bishop in no way indicates the great amount of time and effort he has expended in the interest of the State of Florida and of his adopted city.
He is president of the Kiwanis Club, a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, elder and clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Eustis, and is past master of the local lodge of Masons. For thirty-two years he has been a member of the Republican State Committee.
He was married at Eustis in 1888 to Eva May Power, and they have three children: Mary Priscilla, assistant librarian; Clayton Power, postmaster; and Albert K., florist.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p158
Pearl Frances BLETT HIMELBURGER BRETT
Pearl Frances BLETT b. 22 November 1883, Belding,
Ionia Co., MI, dau. of Amy PLANK and George Musser BLETT,
early pioneers of Cannon Twp., Kent Co., MI. 1900 she
married George GOOLTHRITE of Carson City, MI, b. 1869, d. 1908.
1910 m. Robert GOOLTHRITE b. 1875, bro. of George, divorcing
and marrying Joseph HIMELBURGER of Coopersville, MI b. 1866,
widower, with dau. Violet, m. Mr. Harman having many children,
and son Floyd, a seaman who traveled around the world. They
adopted Amy from an orphanage, m. and died young leaving several
children.
Joe owned a carnival show
and Pearl a merry-go-round. They traveled all over
the East Coast and northern states, wintering in Florida. Pearl
described the Florida roads as "two deep ruts in the sand,
difficult to operate heavy carnival wagons."
12 December 1932 they divorced.
She married again February, 1933 to Thomas BRETT of
Canada, b. 15 Oct. 1875, London, England. They owned and
operated BRETT Rides. They retired on the lake in Mascotte, Lake
Co., FL, which she had helped to develop, enjoying their many friends,
gardening and fishing. She named three streets Amy, Pearl,
and Blett.
Pearl had many neices and
nephews who helped her, one being Grace Lillian BLETT
SKAGGS BALDWIN, 1960's known artist in Mascotte - Mount Dora
area, husband Vernon BALDWIN buried as a veteran, Mascotte
Cemetery. Tom BRETT d. 26 January 1948, Pearl BLETT d. 9 April
1958. Her name and dates were never entered on the tombstone.
STUART H. BOWMAN
Stuart H. Bowman, of Clermont, was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, June 8, 1876, the son of Capt. A. C. and Tracy J. Bowman. His father was an officer in the Confederate Army, serving under Stonewall Jackson.
After attending the rural school of his community Mr. Bowman successively graduated from the Fairmont State Normal School, the University of Nashville, Peabody College, Nashville, and the University of West Virginia. After receiving the B.A. degree at the latter institution, he also completed the law course prescribed for admittance to the bar.
During the intervals between his college courses, Mr. Bowman was engaged in the work of teaching, including a period as an instructor in the Fairmont State Normal School.
He began the practice of law at Philippi, county-seat of his native county, incidentally devoting a portion of his time to real estate operations. At the age of 23 years he was elected a member of the West Virginia Legislature, serving eventually for three terms. During his initial session he was Chairman of the House Committee on Education and was active in furthering the enactment of several progressive educational measures.
In 1898 he was married to Florence Mansfield, the daughter of a prominent Democratic leader and newspaper man of the State.
In 1906 he removed to Huntington, Cabell County, W. Va., and engaged in the real estate business. His services were sought by a group of West Virginia capitalists, who became interested in several thousand acres in the vicinity of Clermont, and in 1913 Mr. Bowman accepted the position of manager of these interests and located at Clermont. Under his direction the property was mapped and subdivided, the well-known Club House at Clermont (recently converted into Lake Highlands Hotel) was erected and Clermont Heights (now a highly developed district of Clermont) was projected.
Returning to Huntington after three years, Mr. Bowman renewed his real estate activities, and became President of the Cabell County Bank, retaining this position for seven years. During this period he served as President of the West Virginia Real Estate Association, and incidentally devoted some time to political activities, culminating in his nomination for congress by the Democratic party during the last administration of Woodrow Wilson.
He was for many years a member of the State Democratic Committee, of which he served as Secretary.
He established his permanent home in Clermont in 1926, where he has been an active citizen.
He served as President of the Clermont Chamber of Commerce and is now President of the Clermont Kiwanis Club, a Director of the Clermont Citrus Exchange, and Secretary of the Lake County Democratic Committee.
He is an active member of the M. E. Church, South, and has filled various responsible positions as a layman in the Orlando District and Florida Conference of his church.
His wife has served three terms as President of the Woman’s Club of Clermont, and is now President of the Lake County Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Mr. Bowman has for several years been a member of the Board of Trustees of Peabody College of Nashville, and takes an active interest in civic affairs and educational matters.
He is engaged in the real estate business and in citrus fruit growing at Clermont.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p159-160
HON. F. L. BOWRON
Hon. F. L. Bowron, the Mayor of Umatilla, was born in Stanton County, Kansas, on January 11yh, 18895, son of John and Sarah Austin Bowron.
When he was a young man, Mr. Bowron’s parents moved to Nova Scotia and there he received his education principally at the agricultural college at Truro. After leaving school he operated his father’s farm in Nova Scotia for about two years, and came to Lake County in 1913 where his father had purchased an orange grove between Eustis and Tavares. He lived in Umatilla until 1920 and then moved to Eustis where he was connected with the Eustis Motor Company in charge of the tractor department until 1924 when he returned to Umatilla to engage in the real estate business.
For the past two years Mr. Bowron has operated a fertilizer business and a retail radio store in which lines he has been very successful.
He was elected Mayor of Umatilla without opposition in January, 1928.
During the World War he served in the American Air Service, being attached to the British Army until August, 1918, when he became a member of the 157th American Aero Squadron as First Lieutenant.
Mr. Bowron has always take a very active part in the American Legion at Umatilla and he is Chef de Gare of the “40 & 8” in Lake County. He belongs to the Methodist Church and the Masons.
He was married at Tampa to Avieda Bryant and has two children: Sarah E. and Frances L.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p160
LOUIS BOZANQUET
Louis Bozanquet was born in Southgate, England, on the 20th day of July, 1865, the son of Percival and Louiza Charlotte Bozanquet. The Bozanquet family is of French Huguenot descent, but was early established in England.
Mr. Bozanquet’s father was a large and successful banker in England, but not being attracted by the confinement of an indoor life, Mr. Louis Bozanquet did not follow his father’s footsteps and he has spent most of his life in the great outdoors.
He received his education in the famous English School of Eaton and after leaving there studied for some years in Germany.
In 1888 he came to Fruitland Park, Florida, and joined the sturdy band of English settlers who were already there. After the freeze of 1895 most of them left the State and it was only those such as Mr. Bozanquet who loved the country and had faith in its future who remained.
Mr. Bozanquet has developed a beautiful country estate at Fruitland Park where he has an orange grove and where he devotes the greater part of his time to horticulture; he has about one thousand varieties of plants and trees on his place, which is the largest collection in Lake County and one of the largest in the State of Florida.
Mr. Bozanquet is a devout member of the Episcopal Church in Fruitland Park, of which he is Senior Warden.
He was married to Ellen Louis Hall, of Marietta, Ohio, and is the father of the following children: Frances (Mrs. D. M. Newell), Louise and Alfred P.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p160-161
Dr. Clyde Brady was born March 20, 1882, at Clay, Jackson County, Ohio, son of Thomas and Sarah Brady. He was graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1904 with honors.
During the construction of the Panama Canal he became a member, on March 24, 1906, of the Health Department of the Panama Canal Force. He was intrusted (sic)with many important positions while there and served continuously until July 30, 1915, at which time he resigned.
He came to Florida and located in Leesburg in February, 1916, and began his practice which was destined to become one of the largest in Lake County. He also served as local surgeon for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company.
During the World War he received his commission as Captain in the Medical Reserve Corps of the War Department.
Dr. Brady always gave freely of his time and effort for civic betterment and in social welfare work, and was know throughout the state for his charitable acts.
His fraternal affiliations were with the Masons, Lake County and Florida State Medical Associations, the Leesburg Kiwanis Club, of which he was the first president, the Leesburg Chamber of Commerce, and the Leesburg Building and Loan Association, of which he was a director.
Dr. Brady’s death on July 2, 1928, removed one of Leesburg’s most earnest civic workers.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p161
ALBERT "DOC BRAGDON
Albert "Doc" Bragdon was born April 24, 1885 in Florence, S.C. and died 1958 in Leesburg. He moved to Leesburg in 1908, where he worked as a young pharmacist in the Diamond Drug Store for Dr. P. W. Butler.
When Bragdon heard that the Crescent Drug Store at the corner of Main Street and Third Street was available in 1909, he jumped at the chance to buy it from Truston Drake, Sr. and B. C. Lanier. It remained a family business 50 years. His son, James Albert Bragdon joined his father in 1944 and took over the management in 1954.
On the 25th anniversary of Doc Bragdon's ownership of the store (1934) his friends surprised him with greetings and flowers. Doc, in turn, told the teachers to announce that all the children come in for a treat, and all Leesburg citizens were invited to help him celebrate. He gave favors to the grownups and ice cream cones to the children.
Doc Bragdon died in 1958 and James sold the store in 1959 to Lewie Rogers and Williams Palmer, who had been a pharmacist there several months prior to the sale.
"Doc" typified the old-fashioned pharmacist in the finest sense of the word. Always a soft-spoken, kindly man, he felt a high obligation to serve his fellow man.
Three generations in Leesburg have "grown up" in Mr. Bragdon's Crescent Drug Store, which has been a business and social landmark since soon after the turn of the century.
No one who grew up in Leesburg is likely to forget the old-timey, ornate marble soda fountain that held the goodies of bygone years-the early Coca CAlbert "Doc" Bragdon was born April 24, 1885 in Florence, S.C. and died 1958 in Leesburg. He moved to Leesburg in 1908, where he worked as a young pharmacist in the Diamond Drug Store for Dr. P. W. Butler.
When Bragdon heard that the Crescent Drug Store at the corner of Main Street and Third Street was available in 1909, he jumped at the chance to buy it from Truston Drake, Sr. and B. C. Lanier. It remained a family business 50 years. His son, James Albert Bragdon joined his father in 1944 and took over the management in 1954.
On the 25th anniversary of Doc Bragdon's ownership of the store (1934) his friends surprised him with greetings and flowers. Doc, in turn, told the teachers to announce that all the children come in for a treat, and all Leesburg citizens were invited to help him celebrate. He gave favors to the grownups and ice cream cones to the children.
Doc Bragdon died in 1958 and James sold the store in 1959 to Lewie Rogers and Williams Palmer, who had been a pharmacist there several months prior to the sale.
"Doc" typified the old-fashioned pharmacist in the finest sense of the word. Always a soft-spoken, kindly man, he felt a high obligation to serve his fellow man.
Three generations in Leesburg have "grown up" in Mr. Bragdon's Crescent Drug Store, which has been a business and social landmark since soon after tola, unloaded in barrels from a horse-driven dray and dispensed in thin, sparkling glasses with the seemingly magic fizz-water. Or the row upon row of tempting jars of cherries, chopped nuts, strawberries and other sweets that were used to top a sundae or banana split for those who could afford to indulge themselves to the extent of a dime or fifteen cents.
B. H. Brantley was born in Georgia on the 17th day of February, 1857, son of Dr. F. M. and Elizabeth I. Brantley. He received his education in the schools of Georgia, after leaving which he became connected with a wholesale drug house at Atlanta where he remained until 1884, when he came to Clermont, Florida, and he is therefore one of the oldest residents of what is known as Lake County.
Soon after his arrival at Clermont he engaged in truck farming which he continued for a number of years, but ultimately he transferred his activity to citrus growing, in which branch of agriculture he has made a very great success. Although he has sold a large part of his citrus acreage he was at one time one of the largest orange growers in Lake County.
Mr. Brantley was married at Americus, Georgia, to Carrey Bell Smith and two children were born to this union, E. T. Brantley and Celeste M. Brantley.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p161-162
S. B. BRANTLEY
S. B. Brantley was born in Meriwether County, Georgia, on the 21st day of July, 1861, son of Dr. F. M. and Margaret E. Brantley.
He attended schools in Georgia and came to Clermont, Florida, in 1885, being one of the first settlers in this part of the State. Until the past ten years, Mr. Brantley engaged in truck farming and he and his brother B. H. Brantley, have been two of the most successful truck farmers in Lake County. During the past few years, Mr. Brantley has devoted the greater part of his time and attention to citrus growing and is known as one of the leading orange growers of Lake County. At present he owns about fifty acres of bearing trees.
Mr. Brantley has taken an active interest in many directions in Clermont; he was one of the organizers and is at the present time a director in the First National Bank and he was a member of the City Council of Clermont when it was first incorporated. He has acquired a large amount of real estate and is known as one of the prosperous and stable citizens of the community.
His religious affiliation is with the Baptist Church.
He was married at Clermont to Mattie J. Jones and has one daughter, Margaret, who is a student at the Florida State College for Women.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p162
H. C. BROWN
H. C. Brown was born on the 24th day of October, 1876, at Ontario, Canada, son of George H. and Nancy Brown. Mr. Brown moved to the United States in 1891, settling in Chicago where he was employed as a telegraph operator for some time. From Chicago he moved to Colchester, Illinois, where he engaged in the mercantile and manufacturing business. From Colchester he moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where he remained for twenty-two years, engaging in the wholesale grocery and food manufacturing business, having active charge of the manufacturing department.
Attracted by the lure of the South and of the opportunities presenting themselves in Florida, Mr. Brown moved to Clermont in 1922, where he has since become one of the dominant factors in the life of the community.
He helped to organize the Clermont Hills and Lake Company, which owns about six thousand acres of land in the south part of Lake County, of which 250 acres are planted to grapes and 75 acres to oranges. Mr. Brown is Vice-President and one of the active heads of the company which is doing perhaps more than any other concern to develop the southern end of the county. It is their ultimate aim to develop the entire six thousand acres which the company owns, planting it all to grapes and citrus. In addition to his connection with the Clermont Hills and Lake Company, Mr. Brown is Vice-President of the Florida Diatomite Company of Clermont. Mr. Brown has taken a very active part in civic affairs of Clermont and of Lake County as a whole. He served as President of the City Council of Clermont for four years, during which time thirty-five miles of paving were built; he is at the present time Vice-President of Clermont Citrus Exchange and he has served as President of the Clermont Chamber of Commerce. He has always taken a very active interest in the Lake County Chamber of Commerce of which he served as director for a number of years and of which he is now the President.
He was married in Pennsylvania to Ada Kreamer and has one daughter, Helen.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p162-163
A. H. BRYSON
Mr. A. H. Bryson is a native son of Florida, having been born on February 9, 1900, at Winter Haven, Florida, son of R. H. and Maggie F. Bryson. His mother is from Illinois and his father from North Carolina.
Mr. Bryson attended school in Winter Haven, and immediately after leaving school went to Jacksonville where he was assistant cashier of the National Biscuit Company.
During the World War he entered the U. S. Navy and served on a submarine and several gunboats. After the war he returned to Winter Haven and set out a 60-acre orange grove, which he later sold.
He then moved to Lake County in 1922, and owned an orange grove in Clermont, which he subsequently sold.
Next he was foreman of the packing house at Clermont and then became manager of the Groveland Citrus Growers Association in 1924. He resigned in 1925 to enter the real estate business and in 1926 again entered the citrus industry, becoming manager of the Clermont Citrus Growers Association. In 1927 he went back to the Groveland Association as manager. The shipments from Groveland packing house average about 50,000 a year, and it is due to his efforts that the house now handles about 90 per cent of the fruit grown in the Groveland district.
Mr. Bryson is a member of the Methodist church, and is unmarried.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p163
H. S. BUDD
H. S. Budd was born in London, England, April 28th, 1856, son of Edward and Antoinette Budd. He received his early education at the famous old Eton School and subsequently attended Trinity College, Cambridge, after leaving which he read law at Lincoln’s Inn, London.
Having heard of the wonders of Florida and of orange growing and other opportunities there, he came to Fruitland Park in 1884, being one of the first of the English Colony of about one hundred fifty to settle in Fruitland Park between 1884 and 1886. For many years he was interested in orange growing and was the owner of a large amount of valuable property in Lake County at the time of his death.
Mr. Budd was probably best known in Lake County as a banker as he was one of the organizers of the Morrison & Stapleton Banking Company at Leesburg, which ultimately became The Leesburg & County State Bank and on the death of Mr. Stapleton it became a private bank known as Snell & Cooke, which was sold to the present Leesburg State Bank. For many years Mr. Budd was actively interested in the banking business and the present excellent condition of the Leesburg State Bank is due no doubt in a large measure to the firm foundations which were laid by its predecessors.
Although born in England, Mr. Budd became a staunch Florida citizen and did a great deal for Lake County and the State as a whole. He was very public-spirited and helped every good cause. He was particularly active in the Leesburg Board of Trade, having served as president shortly before his death. His religious affiliations were with the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Budd and Gertrude Hubbard were married at Tarpon Springs, Fla., in September, 1894, and had two children: Hilda Alden and Mary Antoinette (Mrs. William B. Treloar).
Mr. Budd died at Leesburg, August 10th, 1919.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p164.
One of the youngest
and most successful citrus grove developers in this section
of the state is Eugene J. Burrell.
He was born in Centerville,
Iowa, in 1898, son of Walter C. Burrell. His father
was in the publishing business in Chicago, but spent his winters
in Orlando, Florida.
After attending school
in New York City, Eugene Burrell entered the manufacturing
business in Chicago, but felt the urge of Florida, and came
to this State in 1922 with the intention of developing citrus groves.
He first went to Orlando and investigated this section carefully,
finally selecting Eustis, and here he and his brothers have the
largest privately owned grove in this part of the state, located
about three miles east of the city limits of Eustis.
This development
is known as “The Burrell Groves,” a tract of 240 acres.
It is operated by a company, consisting of Mr. Burrell and his
brothers, and together they look after the property. Mr.
Burrell is president and general manager of the company. They
have planted 140 acres of the 240 acres, all of which are in bearing.
This development is certainly a credit to Eustis, and to Mr. Burrell,
and shows what can be done in this date of golden opportunity by
a young man of business ability, who is willing to work.
Mr. Burrell is a
member of the Chamber of Commerce, is a Mason, and a member
of the Rotary Club.
He was married in
New Jersey to Alice Louise White, and they have two daughters:
Helen Louise and Mary Elizabeth.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p165.
R. P. BURTON
R. P. Burton,
who is generally recognized as one of the best informed
men on the citrus industry in Florida, was born in LaFayette,
Alabama, December 21st, 1861, a son of Dr. John Robarts and
Abilene Rushin Burton, who were both descendants of pioneer
and patriotic stock in Virginia, Carolinas, and Georgia.
They were both natives of Georgia, she of the noted (in Georgia)
Ichabod Tribe of Cox and he of Puritan and Huguenot who settled
in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1630; St. Johns Parish, afterwards
Liberty County, Georgia, in 1752-59.The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of Lowndes County, Georgia, to which county his mother refugeed during the Civil War while his father, chief surgeon of the 47th Alabama Regiment, was with General Longstreet inVirginia. His father practiced medicine in Alabama prior to the war and in Valdosta, Georgia, until his death in 1902. On January 8th, 1878, left home to begin his business life as a clerk in Opelika, Alabama. In 1882 he went to Philadelphia and traveled the South Atlantic States from there as a traveling salesman for a wholesale book and stationery firm.
Mr. Burton came to Leesburg, then in Sumter County, November 16th, 1885, engaging in the drug business in copartnership with Mr. N. E. Venable of Farmville, Virginia, who had settled in Leesburg five years earlier. In January, 1888, he bought an orange grove at Emeralda, selling his interest in the drug store, continuing to reside in Leesburg, and engaged in buying and selling oranges, fertilizers and packers’ supplies. In 1897 after the roots had sent up sour sprouts following the killing of the tops of the orange trees, he budded the groves he now owns and that fall moved to Valdosta, Georgia, where he was engaged in the mercantile business until November, 1898, when he went to Ft. Worth, Texas, as District Sales Agent for the Southern California Fruit Growers Exchange. In January, 1901, he was transferred to Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained until November, 1905, when he was called to Los Angeles as auction sales manager of that exchange.
In July, 1909, after a visit of a delegation of citrus fruit growers from Florida headed by Dr. F. W. Inman, had visited southern California and had gone carefully under Mr. Burton’s guidance into all the details of the California Cooperative Exchange, he came back to Florida at the urgent solicitation of members of that committee. He participated in the organization of the Florida Citrus Exchange and served it for five years as general sales manager with headquarters at Tampa, where it still is.
In November, 1913, Mr. Burton tendered his resignation to be accepted after the season’s business was over, asking for a release from his contract which did not terminate for another year. In April it was accepted. He was released and moved to his grove at Emeralda where he had a beautiful home and grounds on fifty acres of wonderfully fine grove, which he budded in 1897.
Few men in the United States have had so wide an experience in the citrus industry as has Mr. Burton. His experience of ten years’ growing, buying, shipping and selling in Florida, the rebudding of the sprouts from the old stumps after the 1895 freeze and bringing them back to fine groves; eleven years as salesman for the California Fruit Growers Exchange, beginning in one of their poorest markets and progressing to one of the largest and then to Sales Manager in the Los Angeles office, thence back to Florida to assist in the formation and bringing into being, organizing and managing the sales department of what is the most potent factor in Florida today in the marketing of her citrus crops, which is the one great asset that makes the State preeminent; and at the same time bringing to successful fruition one of the most profitable groves in the State, has given forty years’ unbroken activity in the citrus fruit game at both ends and the middle.
Mr. Burton assisted in organizing the Leesburg Citrus Growers Association and is now one of its directors and largest patrons.
Mr. Burton was married November 25th, 1886, at Waycross, Georgia, to Rosalie G. Screven, great-granddaughter of Gen. Jas. Screven, the grandson of Rev. William Screven, a Baptist Minister, who came to this country from England to escape persecution, and who founded the first Baptist Church in Charlestown, S. C., and afterward moved to and is said to have owned the land upon which the town of Georgetown is built. He (Gen. Jas. Screven) was one of the patriotic leaders in the struggle for independence, being a member of the Provincial Congress that met at Savannah July 4th, 1775, as a member from St. Johns Parish. He was first captain of the St. Johns Rangers and afterwards made Brigadier General by the Legislature. He fell mortally wounded in a skirmish with the British under Col. Provost on Spencer Hill, one and a half miles South of Midway Church, November 22nd, 1778. (Stacy’s History of Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia). They have four children, Louise Screven, Elizabeth B. (Mrs. C. C. Bennett) and Robert P., who is connected with the Florida Citrus Exchange in New York City, and Benjamin S., who is now a student in Alabama Polytechnic School, Auburn, Alabama.
There is now a monument erected by order of the U. S. Congress in old Midway Cemetery in commemoration of Gen. Jas. Screven and General Daniel Stewart, the latter a great uncle of our fellow-citizen, Mr. M. P. Stewart of Emeralda, and grandfather of President Theodore Roosevelt.
from: History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p166 and p171 (pp167-170 consist of portraits and blank page)
Peter Walton Butler was born April 1857 in Madison, Morgan County, Georgia and died 22 May 1918 in Leesburg. He married first, Louise Winston Powell Goodwin, 17 Jun 1891 in Lake County. She was born 25 Aug 1863 in Virginia, near the Peaks of Otter, and died midnight between July 27 and 28, 1915 at Leesburg. She was buried Lone Oak Cemetery, Leesburg. Peter married second, Ida W. Lees, daughter of John W. Lees and Christine Roy. She was born 19 Sep 1863, Bloomfield Twsp, Essex Co, New Jersey and died 11 Oct 1932 in Leesburg. In 1886 C. M. Knott, Clerk of the Sumter County Court, built the first telephone line between Leesburg and Sumterville; but it was not until Dr. P. W. Butler sold his interests in the Diamond Drug Store that Leesburg had its own telephone exchange, which he owned and operated until he sold it to Otto Wettstein, Jr., shortly before his death in 1918. [p. 30]
Dr. P. W. Butler's Diamond Drug Store was located in the southeast corner of Mote Block - had wooden sidewalks. This drug store later became "Rexall". The telephone exchange was located on Orange Street (now Market), between 6th & 7th Streets. It was sold by Peter’s sister, Daisy W. Butler to the US Government in March 1934 where a Post Office was built. P. W. Butler was a State Senator from Leesburg in 1901, 1903.
Sources: Lake County Estate Records; Case #227-CP
Kennedy’s County History, 1929
Other
Compiled by Glorianne Fahs, April 2012
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