Cynthia A. Williams - Hidden History of Fort Myers

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2017 by Cynthia A. Williams

All rights reserved

First published 2017

e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978.1.43966.296.0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017945011

print edition ISBN 978.1.46713.751.5

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is dedicated to the men and women who are the players, the performers of the endlessly entertaining and astonishing history of Fort Myers. We owe you a standing ovation.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

I always need a personal connection before I am motivated to find out about the history of a place. Seven years ago, motivation came when I met a wonderful artist who had been born in Fort Myers nearly one hundred years ago. Together, we recorded her oral history and compiled a book titled Edisonia Native Girl: The Life Story of Florence Keen Sansom, Artist Born on the Edison Estate, Fort Myers, Florida. Now, as Florence celebrates her one hundredth year as a resident of Fort Myers, the time has come to reflect on how and why the city nurtured so many talented people like her and how it really had a good start with a cast of characters who thought big. Since Ive been busy writing a different book, A Tour of the Islands of Pine Island Sound, Ive been wondering who besides Florence will be here to tell the story of Fort Myers to todays generation.

May I introduce Cynthia Williams, the perfect author for a modern reader. With her experience as a creative nonfiction and narrative history writer, she knows how to craft an expos that brings history to life. Yes, her book is factual and well researched, but wait, theres more (she writes in a section heading with familiarity). Her intimate tone allows history to unfold in such a way that it can be voraciously devoured.

She writes with wit and irony, and she demonstrates an uncanny ability to find lustrous and relevant quotes from every era. Several delightful southern-style phrases pop up in contexts, reminding the reader how Fort Myers has always been a home in the Deep South. The book could read like a knee-slapper told on a porch, except that Cynthia Williams gives voice to different outlooks. Connections are made that are not found in previous histories. She deftly assembles wider and wider circles of authentic characters with boisterous commentaries of their own, and then she ties them back into her central narrative with purpose. Its all fact.

This brilliant romp shows us how the dearly departed can still be interesting. People whose last names are known only from street signs of Fort Myers are truly strategic thinkers, doers, movers and shakers propelling the advance. They are devoid of clich. She acquaints us with people whose antics freshen the story as they express their vision, opinion and attitude about the predicaments they have gotten themselves into.

The veil of time and academia might dull portraits of historical figures, but not in this book. These personalities are premier actors in big-screen Technicolor. The book is comprehensive without being long; evocative without being manipulative; colorful without being gaudy. The account is moving, and its truth rings true.

Denge Patterson
Historian and author
Edisonia Native Girl: The Life Story of
Florence Keen Sansom, Artist Born on the Edison Estate, Fort Myers, Florida
A Tour of the Islands of Pine Island Sound, Florida:
Their Geology, Archaeology, and History
DenegeCreates.com
DenegePatterson.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For the generous gift of their time and assistance, I wish to thank, in alphabetical order:

Erin E. Croop, marketing coordinator at Base Operations Page Field, who went way above and beyond in e-mailing photos and historical documents from Page Field archives;

Hank Hendry, great-great-grandson of Captain F.A. Hendry and an attorney who is much too busy to answer my questions but who always does;

Tim Hennigan, who worked generously and without hesitation to provide the imagery needed from his apparently inexhaustible collection of old Fort Myers photos;

Amanda Irle, my acquisitions editor, whose patience, painstaking thoroughness and unfailing kindness and encouragement have been extraordinary;

Joanne Iwinski Miller, deputy clerk in the county records office and unsung heroine of historical document preservation, for generously sharing her discoveries and eagerly helping me find needed records and resources;

John Missall at the Seminole Wars Foundation, who responded to questions concerning the confusion of post commanders during the Seminole War with patient explanations and such a wealth of supporting materials that I have the resources for another book;

Denge Patterson, author and scholar of excellent mind, with zero tolerance for sloppy research, for discussions and explorations of historical probabilities and for writing the foreword for this book;

Jim Powers, research historian at the Southwest Florida Museum of History, for allowing me to badger him for photos and information;

Ken Rager, author of the delightful childrens picture book Youre a Crocagator and generous sharer of his historical Lee County photos;

John Sheppard, recipient of the Fort Myers 2016 People of the Year Luminary Award and proud descendant of the pioneering Woolslair family, for his unhesitating and tireless sharing of the memories and family stories that breathe life into the pages of history books;

Gina Taylor, owner of the highly regarded and, yes, award-winning True Tours of Fort Myers, whose standards for historical accuracy are second to none in the history-touring business and who, when asked by The History Press to recommend a local writer, pointed to me; and

Bernie Moore, my best friend and husband, who proofs everything and never fails to find the one typo in twenty pages of text, who questions my facts and grammar, points out awkward or confusing sentence construction and locates sources for the most obscure, seemingly unobtainable historical detail, thereby perfecting and enriching my history beyond measure. His help is invaluable, his support and patience unfailing.

INTRODUCTION

I once wrote a story, titled Falling in Love with Fort Myers, for Tropicalia, the Sunday magazine section of the Fort Myers News-Press; my story grew out of the firsthand accounts of early twentieth-century Fort Myers in Karl Abbotts Open for the Season. If I may quote myself, I wrote:

To a six-year-old boy from New Hampshire, the town of Fort Myers, with its clusters of little houses set in the lush green of the giant banyans and Silver King Bar and Billiard Hall with a dozen cowponies hitched to the tierack in front, seemed to possess a storybook quality. Abbott was especially taken with the merry-go-round in a vacant lot back of Frank Carsons Livery Stable. The cowboys, he said, were deserting the saloons to ride it.