Frederic M. Vermilye

Historic South Dade Posted on by

By Jeff Blakley

The most significant obstacle to historians striving to tell the story of South Dade is the fact that in this area, as is still true of all of South Florida, the demographics were very fluid. People came and went with astonishing rapidity. When they left, they took their stories with them, of course. It takes a great deal of research to find and put together the surviving fragments of the lives of those who came and then left.

While reading the December 9, 1915 issue of the Homestead Enterprise, I saw this short note on page 4: “Mrs. Vermilye and sister Mrs. Day, of New York, arrived last week to spend the winter with Mrs. Vermilye’s son, F. M. Vermilye, of Silver Palm.” Having never encountered the Vermilye surname before in my study of the history of South Dade, I was naturally curious.

“Mrs. Vermilye” was Julia E. Vermilye, the wife of Dr. William Edward Vermilye, but I was unable to identify Mrs. Day. She could be either Gennet or Catherine Murdock, sisters of Julia Vermilye. They were visiting Julia’s son, Frederic Montgomery Vermilye.

Frederic was born on February 21, 1865 in New York City. Little is known about his childhood, other than he attended the Greylock School in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1880 and Williams College, also in Williamstown, in 1886. His grandfather, William Montgomery Vermilye, with his brother Washington Romeyn Vermilye and George Carpenter, founded Carpenter & Vermilye, a New York brokerage company that was well known for selling bonds for the United States to finance the Civil War.1 In 1857, Carpenter & Vermilye was located at 44 Wall Street.2 In 1859, it became just Vermilye & Co. and in 1905, it was renamed Dillon, Read & Co.

Frederic M. Vermilye was the president of a railroad contracting company in New York but spent most of his time at Sutro & Kimbley, a brokerage company at 32 Wall Street.3 He married first, Kate Jordan, a writer and dramatist, in 1897 but she divorced him in 1904.4 In 1908, he married Catherine M. Wyman in Philadelphia but they were divorced in 1911. He married, for the third time, Joanna Hamilton, on Nov. 21, 1919 in Greenwich, CT but he died less than two years later, on March 1, 1921, at the age of 56.

Frederic M. Vermilye’s connection with South Florida started when he enlisted in the Army and served “honorably and faithfully” in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.5 In April of 1913, he stayed in Miami for a “month or more … made a number of investments in local real estate …[and] expects to make other investments upon his return ninety days hence.”6 Frederic sold a parcel he purchased in Homestead in early 1913 to John C. Baile in October of that year.7 This land, 20 acres, was located 660′ north of North Canal Drive on the east side of Tennessee Rd.

Apparently, the sale to J. C. Baile wasn’t closed for some reason, so in May of 1914, Frederic sold the land to the Bay Biscayne Co., whose president was William B. Ogden.8 William Butler Ogden was a very wealthy man from Baltimore whose father, Mahlon D. Ogden, founded the firm of “Ogden, Sheldon & Co., … [which] became by far the largest and most important real estate firm in the city [Chicago], the members of the firm themselves being large owners of real estate.”9 In 1870, Mahlon had real estate worth $50,000 and a personal estate worth $150,000.10 Of his 15 children by two wives, only 5 survived his death in 1880. No doubt, those children received sizeable inheritances. Wm. B. Ogden, one of those surviving children, was named after Mahlon’s brother, William Butler Ogden. In 1908, he bought the estate of Edward J. Brown in Lemon City for $14,000, remodeled the house and named his property the Tee House Plantation.11 12 J. C. Baile was Ogden’s estate manager and allegedly a brother-in-law, though that has not been documented.13 It is likely that some of the capital for Baile’s Campo Rico farm east of U. S. 1 in Goulds came from Ogden.

Vermilye’s third wife’s sister, Mary Louise Hamilton, spent the winter with Wm. B. Ogden at the Tee House in Lemon City in 191414 and then became the first wife of Wm. B. Ogden’s son, Wm. B., Jr. Vermilye was adjudicated bankrupt in September of 1917 15 but that didn’t prevent him from being issued a license to sell real estate in 1919.16 Being able to profit from buying and selling real estate, as so many others were doing, no doubt enabled him to improve his financial condition greatly. It also helped that shortly before Frederic married Mary Louise Hamilton’s sister, Joanna, Ogden gave him a parcel of land as a wedding present because he was in financial straits, owing a great deal of money to him.17

Shortly after Frederic’s death on March 1, 1921, his real estate holdings were put on the market to settle his estate. One of those parcels was the grove in Silver Palm. Emma A. Howard, the wife of Edson C. Howard, of Fox Lake, IL, bought the property. Edson and Emma Howard were the owners of the Mineola Hotel in Fox Lake, IL, a wealthy suburb of Chicago and a destination for well-to-do tourists. The Howards first came to Miami in 191618 and lost no time in buying and selling properties,19 accumulating a considerable fortune. Edson died in 1926 at the age of 83 at the Mineola Hotel. Emma lived until 1940. Because they were hoteliers, they became friends with Webster and Gertrude Caraway, who ran the Berwick Hotel in Miami, at 1208 12th St., which is now Flagler St. In 1921, Webster offered to trade his $9,000 equity in an 8-room brick building in the Broadmoor subdivision for a grove or the “right kind of cruising boat.”20 On March 21, 1921, Caraway deeded the Broadmoor property to Emma Howard for $9,500.21

Caraway took the proceeds of that sale and bought the Vermilye property in Silver Palm from Emma A. Howard for $3,000.22 Very shortly after closing that sale, he sold a portion of it to George A. Dolan, who improved it by “cleaning up and tractoring (sic) his new grove.23 In November of 1924, Webster Caraway moved onto the remainder of his property, located on Tennessee Rd. between S.W. 240th St. and Silver Palm, part of Charles W. Hill’s homestead claim, to put it “into the best of condition before putting it on the market.”24

George was enumerated in Miami in 1920 as an auto mechanic who worked in a garage.25 In 1923, the Miami Herald published a piece that stated that George had been in Florida for four years, the last three of which had been in Dade County. He was the “owner of a prosperous garage at Silver Palm and also takes care of a grapefruit and orange grove near that citrus center.”26 That garage was the one which William Anderson had opened in May of 1920, near his mercantile store at the corner of Newton Rd. and Silver Palm Dr. It was initially managed by Edward F. Albury (1894-1944) but he left to pursue other ventures.27 Anderson may have hired Dolan to take Albury’s position. By 1924, the Dolans had moved back to Miami, to the Allapattah neighborhood.28 They lived there until the hurricane of 1926 struck Miami. George and most of his family were injured in that storm.29 That led them to decide to move back to Illinois for in 1930, the family was enumerated in Pana, Christian County, IL, where George worked as a “car repairer” in a garage.30

Vermilye, who had no children, left no mark on the history of South Dade. He is buried at Woodlawn in Miami. His wife Joanna had been admitted to the bar in Illinois31 but when she came here, she worked as a law clerk in Miami until she could pass her bar exam. She later moved to West Palm Beach, where she practiced law until she died in 1953. She is buried at Woodlawn in West Palm Beach.

The history of South Dade is the history of those who came and left. Those who stayed for longer than 5 years are a tiny portion of those who came here, intending to make this their “permanent home,” a phrase that is encountered very frequently in the local newspapers of the first decades of the 20th century. That rootlessness, which is not unique to this area at all, explains a great deal of why and how this area has developed over the years. Without roots or a place to go to learn about the history of this area, the people who live here make decisions that are important only to themselves, not paying much attention to the larger “community.” They could do nothing else.
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The House That McNeill Built

Historic South Dade Posted on by

by Jeff Blakley

If you turn west on NW 6th St. from Krome Avenue, you will see a two-story New England style house on the right, at 77 NW 6th St. It is an unusual house for Homestead, with its steep roof line. I’ve long been curious about it and only knew it as the McNeill house but knew nothing about who built it or its significance. It turns out that it was the home of Mary S. McNeill, the daughter of Joseph Abraham and Sarah Nixon McNeil. Mary was a church historian who wrote a history of the First United Methodist Church of Homestead in 1974.

Joseph McNeill built the house in 193822 after coming here from the Isle of Pines in Cuba in 1925.32 The family first lived at 26 NW 6th St. in a house that was demolished by the Community Bank of Homestead, which built a branch office there.33 The First United Methodist Church of Homestead, which owns the historic house, would like to find a person with the money, an interest in history and a vacant lot to move the house to. The Church is very interested in the history of Homestead and really does not want to have the house demolished.

McNeill House

The McNeill House

The house has not been designated as a historic property by the City of Homestead’s Historic Preservation Board, so that makes it easier to move the house. While moving a house, particularly a two-story house, is quite a project, it can be done. The exterior sheathing is not in good condition, but the bones of the house are in excellent condition. The lumber, which is rough sawn and full-dimensional is probably not Dade County pine, as the house was built in 1938, after most of the native timber had already been cut. The floors are pine and there is a beautiful wooden staircase leading to the second floor. The house also has a fireplace on the first floor.

If anyone is interested, please reach out to the Church office at 305-248-4770. Because the house needs to be moved, the price will be nominal.

Joseph A. McNeill

Joseph Abraham McNeill was born in Canada to Scottish parents on December 4, 1869.34 As a young man, he moved to Buffalo, NY35 36 where he worked as a carpenter.37 While there, he may have made the acquaintance of his future wife, Sarah Nixon, the daughter of William and Sophia Nixon, all of whom were born in England. Nixon also owned a farm on the Isle of Pines.38 On November 5, 1911, Joseph married Sarah Nixon at Nueva Gerona, Isle of Pines, Cuba.39 Her parents were enumerated in Buffalo, NY in the 1900 census. William was apparently well-to-do, as his occupation given on the census of that year was as a “radiator manufacturer.” Two of his daughters were bookkeepers in medical offices, his son John was a woodworker at a carriage builder and his son Frank was a wallpaper dealer. William was not enumerated in Buffalo in 1910, likely because he was on his farm in the Isle of Pines.

Joseph acquired land on the Isle of Pines, now known as the Isle of Youth, likely in the town of McKinley from the Tropical Development Company of Buffalo.40 He and Adam Gaiser, another resident of Buffalo, sailed for the Isle of Pines in early January, 190541 on board the Morro Castle.42 American settlement on the island started shortly after the Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American War in 1900.43 Joseph, along with 10 others, wrote glowing testimonials about their new home for the Tropical Development Co.44 The hundreds of other Americans who moved there grew oranges, grapefruit, mangos, tobacco and pineapples and other crops. The residents on the Isle of Pines came from every state in the Union, but the majority were from Nebraska, Kansas, Pennsylvania, New York and Florida.45 According to the Buffalo Morning Express, in 1902 Americans owned half of the land on the island and were the majority of the tax-payers.46

There are conflicting reports of what J. A. McNeill did while he was living on the Isle of Pines. One account states that he was a “superintendent of construction on the Isle of Pines for the Cuban government”47 while another states that he “purchased 120 acres on the Isle of Pines at the current rate of $25 an acre…”48 He may have done both. For those interested in the complex issues that played out on the Isle of Pines between 1904 and 1925, Samuel Finesurry’s review of Michael E. Neagle’s book, American’s Forgotten Colony: Cuba’s Isle of Pines, is an excellent starting point. Whatever work J. A. McNeill engaged in during his time on the Isle of Pines, by the time the Hay-Quesada Treaty was ratified by United States on March 13, 1925, he had had enough and decided to return to the United States.

J. A. and Sarah’s only child, Mary Sophia, was born on the Isle of Pines on October 10, 1914. She and her parents arrived in Key West on March 25, 1925 on board the S. S. Governor Cobb,49 a steamship that was leased to the P & O Steamship Co., a Flagler company, during the winter season when it made daily runs to Havana.50 Why the family settled in Homestead is unknown but they likely had friends who lived here. Dan Roberts‘ brother, George D. Roberts, lived on the Isle of Pines and when he died in 1961, was buried in the American Cemetery in Nueva Gerona. Dan sold a large number of the Isle of Pines variety of grapefruit trees in his nursery. Joseph and Sarah first lived in a house at 26 NW 6th St.51 and then, in 1938, J. A. built the house at 77 NW 6th St., where he lived until he died in 1969.

Staircase

The staircase at 77 NW 6th St.

Ist Floor Rafters

The full-dimension 2″ x 10″ pine rafters on the 1st floor

After arriving here, J. A. established himself as a carpenter and his wife and daughter got involved with the Ladies Aid Society at the White Stone Methodist Church, at N.W. 1st Ave. and 4th St. The first mention of them attending a social function of the Society appeared in the Homestead Leader on September 9, 1926, shortly before the hurricane that is known as the “1926 Miami Hurricane” hit South Dade on the 18th. The center of that hurricane, contrary to popular belief, passed over Perrine, not Miami, and destroyed crops and groves all over South Dade. No doubt, the Ladies Aid Society provided aid to those affected by the storm in the Homestead area. Those attending that social function were the Mesdames Tupper, McNeill, J. W. Avery, H. H. Ewing, Geo. Fuller, M. J. Deyo, Newton G. Ball, I. S. Showalter, J. T. Cann, A. J. Ennis, Dibble and the Misses McNeill and Priscilla Cann. A meeting on December 2 added the names of Mesdames E. A. Ennis, Geo. Ranson, Fred Prussner, Ernest Carter and the Misses Mary Sifling and Viola Prussner.

J. A. McNeill designed and supervised the construction of what is now known as the Cloninger Castle, at 31500 S.W. 187th Ave. It was built in 1929 for Reuben Pearse Walker, a retired monument manufacturer from Wilkes-Barre, PA. The house was 51 feet by 44 feet, including a 10-foot wide veranda which encircled the first floor. Construction was of native rock, backed by poured concrete walls, with steel doors and windows. The house had 4 bedrooms, a dining room, breakfast room, kitchen and bathroom. The tower, 18′ in diameter and 26′ tall, included part of the living room on the 1st floor and parts of the bedrooms on the 2nd floor.52 The stonework was done by Vannie L. Harris, Sr.53 whose grandson, Jim, owner of Harris & Schroeder Builders, builds custom homes in the Homestead area. McNeill built “many of the best homes”54 in Homestead, though they have not been identified. The house, which was damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, sits roofless and windowless, likely because the owner, who is from Venezuela, has elected not to restore it because dealing with the City of Homestead and Miami-Dade County is too difficult.

RPB331 Coral Castle House

The Pearse Walker home on Redland Road

Mary S. McNeill graduated from Homestead High School on May 26, 1933. The graduates were: Burton Branch, Wilbur Free, Charles Glenn, Wm. Henn, Edward Little, James Roberts, Lester Smith, Augustus Wynn, Mary Akers, Ella Arozarena, Estelle Booth, Nellie Gooding, Flossie Gorday, Rubie Lee Groover, Amy Horne, Margaret Hendricks, Ingeborg Mattson, Mary McNeill, Evelyn Smith, Ruth Steffani, Anna Steffani, Eva Sullivan, Julia Sullivan and Rae Woodbury.

In 1955, Mary was the head bookkeeper at Brooker Lumber.55 Mary was active in the Methodist Church all of her life but I didn’t do much research on her as this article is about the house that her father built. Perhaps readers will contribute their memories of Mary for others to read.

In 1959, at the age of 90, J. A. McNeill was photographed by Maitland Davidson on a ladder painting the second floor of his house.56 Mary’s mother died in 1965 and her father in 1969, 6 days after his 100th birthday. Mary passed away in 2011 at the age of 96 and is fondly remembered by many members of the congregation of the First United Methodist Church of Homestead and doubtless by many others who no longer live in Homestead. She sold her house, built by her father, to the Church to pay for her health care in her later years. If you know someone who might be interested in buying and moving it, please have them call the Church office at 305-248-4770.
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The Story of Epmore Drive

Historic South Dade Posted on by

by Jeff Blakley

One of the more interesting road names in South Dade is that of Epmore Drive. Most people interested in the history of this area know who Krome Avenue is named for and some people know who Roberts Road and Moody Drive are named for. But not many know about other roads, like Yetter, Comfort and Epmore. In this article, I will explore the history of Epmore Drive.

The story starts on March 14, 1866, when Elliott Prouty Livermore was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Shrewsbury is in Worcester County, 30 miles west of Boston, which was an important manufacturing and industrial center at that time. His father Hiram, like most men in that era, was a farmer. His mother was Laura E. Prouty and he was named after his maternal uncle, Elliott Cutler Prouty. The Prouty and Livermore families were prominent in Worcester County and both sides of Elliott’s family traced their ancestry back to the Revolutionary War. In 1880, Elliott was attending school in Acton, Massachusetts and living with his grandparents, Jason and Laura Livermore. In 1886, he was working as a clerk in Worcester and lived with his father.34 He must have done well, as he stayed at the Waverly House in downtown Boston and enjoyed “the salt sea air” from its piazzas in July of that year.35 He married Carrie L. Goodwin on June 3, 1890 in Worcester and their son, Earl P., was born in Clinton, Massachusetts on April 23, 1891. A daughter, Myra, was born in 1894. During this time, he was working for the Bedford Lumber Co. in Bedford. By 1896, he and his family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he, Jesse and his father all worked for the Austin, Flint & Day Co., a manufacturer of “doors, sash, blinds and mouldings.”38 He moved on to the Manchester Sash & Blind Co. before hiring on as a superintendent of the Frank L. Miller Co., another sash and door manufacturer, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He stayed there until 1906, when he went to work for Osteyee Bros., a building contracting company, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He stayed there a few years and then moved back to Bridgeport, where he became president of the Livermore Lumber Co.

Livermore Lumber Co

Livermore Lumber Co.39

Elliott’s brother, Jesse Lauriston, who was born on July 26, 1877, figured prominently in his life. Known as the “Boy Cotton King,” he was a well-known stock market speculator who was a multi-millionaire by 1908, when he financed Elliotts’ purchase of the Tomlinson Lumber Co. in Bridgeport, Connecticut.43 In April of 1909, Jesse sold the property that the Livermore Lumber Co. stood on to E. F. Hutton. The factory burned to the ground in a suspicious fire on July 16 of that year, destroying $12,000 worth of inventory.44

Livermore then went back to working as a superintendent with the Frank L. Miller Lumber Co. but that company, too, was badly damaged in a fire on September 9, 1910.49 Despite Livermore’s business tribulations, he and his wife remained members of the upper-class. Carrie Livermore was a member of the Bridgeport Art League in 191151 and a patroness of the Bankers Club cotillion, held in the Bridgeport Masonic Club in March of 1913.52 He remained an employee of the Frank L. Miller Co. until 1913, when he moved to Hartford, Connecticut. There, he worked as a superintendent for Andrews & Peck, another building material supplier, until sometime in 1916.

Livermore first appeared in the Miami newspapers in 1917, when he was a guest of his brother Jesse on the chartered yacht Dorondo, which belonged to Henry W. Savage, a well-known New York theatrical producer.53 Jesse, along with his brother and Frank B. Shutts, established the Livermore Investment Co. Shutts was the owner of The Miami Herald and the founder of the law firm Shutts & Bowen, still in existence. In November, 1917, the Livermore Investment Co. leased 3 lots on the N.E. corner of what is now N.E. 1st St. and 1st Ave. The lease specified that the lessee would erect a building costing not less than $100,000, to be started in 90 days and completed within two years.54

In December of 1918, Livermore and his wife entertained a “large party” at the opening of the Berni Grill and Tea Room, a posh watering hole for the wealthy, located at the corner of N.E. 2nd St. and Biscayne Blvd. Gaston Drake, who founded the Drake Lumber Co. in Princeton, and his wife also entertained a large party.56 As befitting a man of his social standing, Livermore and his wife lived at 116 Kathryn Boulevard, now Brickell Bay Drive, in Point View, a wealthy enclave located between S.E. 14th St. and 15th Road on the east side of Brickell Avenue.57 He moved there after selling a “belvedere bungalow” on Bird Avenue, which is now N.E. 15th Terrace, for $5,000 to Mrs. W. S. Pratt58 of Atlanta, Ga.59 Bird Avenue was one street south of Tatum Avenue, named for the Tatum Brothers.

In 1919, Livermore purchased the west half of the homestead originally claimed by Walter H. Harper, who owned a sawmill and turpentine distillery in Wray, Georgia. Harper arrived in Miami in April of 1909, en route to Modello, where he intended to go into the turpentine business.60 After prospecting for a homestead, he claimed the NE 1/4 (160 acres) of 31-56-39 on December 4. His claim was bounded by what is now theoretical S.W. 172 Avenue on the west, Bauer Drive on the north, Tennessee Road on the east and Epmore Drive on the south. After Harper claimed his homestead, he got to work, setting out 7 acres of grapefruit, avocados and oranges and built a 6 room house.61 On July 26, 1911, Harper paid cash for his claim and patented it on December 9th of that year.

On July 26, 1910, a group of men petitioned the County Commission to declare as a public route a road that started on the west right-of-way line of the F.E.C. Railway tracks “where the south boundary line of the north half of section 33” crossed the Naranja public road and extended west 3 3/4 miles “to the rock road which leads from Homestead to Miami,” which was Redland Road.62 The route crossed the property of Matthew Q. Simmons, whose property straddled the road on the east side of S.W. 157th Avenue and then followed the half-section line (Epmore Drive) through the properties of David Chapelle “Chap” Brown and his brother Isaac H. who had claimed the quarter-sections on the east side of Tennessee on the north and south sides of the road. In response to a complaint letter to the Miami Metropolis, written by one A.P. Davis,63 who complained that Brown was getting preferential treatment from the County, Brown replied “that this road was built with funds raised of W. H. Harper, M. Q. Simmons, D. M. Roberts, Brown & Moody, myself and others” and that they had “furnished fuel for road engine and [paid] for the services of an assistant on the engine.” They had also raised $225 to pay for the road.64 Davis may well have been correct in his complaint about preferential treatment, as Chap Brown was the Brown in Brown & Moody, the mercantile company owned by George W. Moody, a prominent businessman in Perrine and Naranja.

Harper put his property up for sale in June of 1912 at a price of $6,50065 and sold the west half (80 acres) of it to Louis F. Flipse for $2,375 in July.66 Having paid just $1.25 per acre for his homestead ($200), Harper did well.

Louis F. Flipse was a native of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. His brother, Gustav, worked for his father, Cornelius, who owned a small business, C. A. Flipse & Son. After Cornelius died in 1905, Gustav took over and prospered in the business. His brother, Louis, was a teacher and an inventor, having been granted at least two patents by the State of Wisconsin.67 It is not known why Louis came to Dade County, but advertisements touting the fertile soils of the Redland District and opportunities to get rich in South Florida were placed in newspapers all over the country. After Flipse purchased his property from Hunter, his brother, Gustav, helped him with his “large grapefruit farm” for a period of time but soon went back to Milwaukee to run his business.68 The Miami Metropolis reported in 1914 that Flipse was “carrying out a number of original plans in the way of intensive farming in his Redland soil.” and that he was employing Italians because he found that “these people adapt themselves readily to conditions here and that their methods bring excellent results.”69 The 1920 census of Redland showed Vincent Critti and his wife Julia, Orazio Sincore and his wife Schanzia and Philip Beyando and his wife Leona living near Livermore. Critti owned a grocery store, V. Critti and Co., in Homestead in 191870 and Orazio Sincore was Nick Sincore’s grandfather. Leona Sincore, Philip Biondo’s wife, was Nick’s aunt.

It is not known what brought the Livermores to Homestead, but they registered at the Homestead Hotel on September 1, 1919.71 In October, the Homestead Enterprise reported that Livermore had purchased “the L. F. Flipse place, one of the finest in the vicinity,”72 so when the Miami Metropolis reported that he had set out 10,000 pepper plants,73 it is likely that he had them planted on his property by employing Flipse’s Italian laborers.

Livermore integrated himself into the community rapidly, becoming one of the shareholders of the new Citizens Bank, which was founded in April of 1920. Other shareholders included Alexander C. Graw, the owner of the Homestead Enterprise; Samuel A. King, a future mayor of Homestead and the father of Neva King Cooper; Edward C. Romfh, a Miami banker and Ira B. Jeffrey, the president of the Miami Lumber Co., which had a sawmill on West Mowry St.74 In 1921, Livermore was elected as a director of the Royal Palm Truckers Association,75 which had a packing house on lot 20 of Alsobrook’s Addition to Homestead. It was located on the west side of the railroad tracks at S.W. 2nd Street.
Royal Palm Truckers Association

The Royal Palm Truckers Association Packing House
Courtesy of the Florida Historical Society

In mid-August of 1921, Livermore was issued a building permit for $10,000 ($146,000 in 2021 dollars) worth of improvements76 to his property and was elected president of the Naranja Citrus Growers Association.77 In 1922, he attended the Shriners Convention in Key West with Charles T. Fuchs, J. D. Redd and his wife, A. R. Livingston and his wife, Sam McKinstry and F. H. Lindeman.

Livermore House

The Livermore House at Epmore Grove
Courtesy of the Florida Historical Society

The first mention of the name ‘Epmore’ appeared in the Homestead Enterprise on June 21, 1923, when it was reported that Carrie Livermore entertained the “Stars” (members of the Order of the Eastern Star) at Epmore Grove on July 3.78 The name is obviously a neologism combining the first letter of her husband’s first and middle names and the last four letters of his surname.

Carrie Livermore joined the Homestead Women’s Club in 192379 and her husband was elected a director of the Florida Avocado Association.80 Early in 1924, they visited Elliott’s brother Jesse and his wife in Miami Beach, where they had rented “a palatial residence at the Beach for several months.”81 In addition to the positions Livermore already held, he joined the Silver Palm Citrus Growers Association in 1924.82

HE June 20 1924 p 3 E P photo

Elliott P. Livermore83

In 1925, Livermore sold his grove to A. R. Livingston, the Kleagle of the Homestead chapter of the Ku Klux Klan84 for $100,000 ($1.5 million in 2021 dollars).85 He then purchased Waltonhurst, at the corner of Redland Road and Biscayne Drive, from the widow of Lindley H. Livingston, who was A.R.’s brother.

After he sold his grove, Livermore, who was 59, retired from farming and he and his wife devoted their time in Homestead to social activities and his duties on various boards. They attended social events at the Coral Gables Golf and Country Club, the Homestead Golf and Country Club, events sponsored by the Homestead, Redland and Princeton Women’s Clubs, the Redland Pioneer Guild and the American Legion. Their lives revolved around an active social schedule that included teas, dinner and bridge-playing parties.

In early May of 1930, they sold Waltonhurst to Edward Buckhour of Tarrytown, NY for $16,500 ($246,000 in 2021 dollars) and returned to South Acton, Massachusetts. There the Livermores lived quietly until he died on February 26, 1941. His wife lived until November 5, 1951.

The story of Elliot P. Livermore is one that is common in the history of this area. He came to Miami in 1916 with few assets, became very wealthy and went back home in 1930 not as wealthy due to the Depression but still well-off. He was here for only 14 years and left no one who knew much about him. His children never lived here – they stayed in New England. His brother, Jesse L. Livermore, who probably financed many of Elliott’s business ventures, went bankrupt at least four times and ultimately committed suicide in New York City on November 28, 1940. Jesse’s biography makes for fascinating reading. The only lasting mark that Elliott P. Livermore left on South Dade is Epmore Drive and virtually no one knows why the road is so-named.
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William C. Norwood

Historic South Dade Posted on by

By Jeff Blakley

William C. Norwood, an early merchant in Detroit, is only briefly mentioned in the histories of this area, which repeat the familiar tales about Wm. Anderson’s general store in Silver Palm, which was not the only store in South Dade. George S. Fletcher and Atka Harper both had stores in Silver Palm before Anderson and J. U. Free had one in Homestead before the Homestead Mercantile Co. was established. William H. Cauley had two stores – one in Goulds and another in Princeton. Charles R. Graham had a store in Black Point and Joseph M. Cormack and William C. Norwood had stores in Detroit. General stores existed wherever there was money to be made. Norwood, a smart businessman, took advantage of that opportunity with the help of his uncle, Thomas A. Feaster.

William Chaudoin Norwood was born in LaGrange, Brevard County, Florida on January 5, 1881 to William Shackleford Norwood and Mary Emma Feaster. William S. Norwood had been born in Perry, Houston County, Georgia in 1846 and his wife was from Feasterville, in Union County, South Carolina. She was a sister of Thomas Andrew Feaster (1858 – 1944) and a cousin of Jerome T. Feaster, the husband of Addie Lee King, who was a daughter of William A. King, who lived in Homestead.

In 1900, William S. and Emma F. Norwood were enumerated in Titusville, Brevard County, Florida. They were pioneers in that area, having arrived before 1871, when their first daughter, Lena, was born.65 Their son William was the seventh of fifteen children.
W S and Emma Feaster Norwood family

Courtesy of Nicole Norwood Woxberg

In the back row, left to right: Lena, Carrie, Henry, Burnham and Florence. Julia Christine and Annie Louise are on either side of their parents. William S. is holding Jeanette and Mary Emma is holding Marguerite. Front row, left to right: Russell, Call, William C. and Norris.

By 1900, Thomas A. Feaster, William’s uncle, was in the retail meat market business, being the manager of the City Market in West Palm Beach.86 His cousin, Jerome T. Feaster, was in business with K. B. Raulerson in West Palm Beach. Raulerson, who founded the East Coast Cattle Company in 1896, supplied nearly all the beef consumed on the East Coast from New Smyrna down to Key West.87 William C. Norwood and his uncle, Thomas A. Feaster, were qualified electors in District No. 3 in St. Lucie County in 1904.88 In 1905, T. A. Feaster became the sole owner of the City Market.89

William C. Norwood, Feaster’s nephew, held “an important position” with his uncle when he married Martha Caroline Cox on September 10, 1905 in West Palm Beach.90 She was born on September 10, 1887 in Orlando,91 the daughter of Peter C. Cox. Their first daughter, Carolyn, was born on August 22, 1906 in West Palm Beach.92 Their second daughter, Martha, was born in late January, 1913 in Detroit.93

In May of 1906, Feaster purchased the Miami Meat Market from A. B. Doane94 and in 1907, he decided to concentrate on his business in Miami and sold the City Market in West Palm Beach to the Faber Bros.95 The Faber Bros. were Albert and William E. Faber, brothers of George B. Faber, who was the husband of Bertha King, another daughter of William A. King of Homestead.

Because Feaster was kin to William A. King (his cousin Jerome T. was married to King’s daughter), he was well-aware of the business opportunities in the Redland District. From the time Feaster purchased the Miami Meat Market, he placed an advertisement in every edition of the Miami Metropolis until mid-July 1912, when he apparently decided to devote his time to farming.

Virgil M. Grennell, an early pioneer in South Dade, had come from Philadelphia and purchased the homestead claim of John W. Jones on Avocado Drive at Richard Road in late 1906. He soon became friends with Feaster and visited him in Miami in 1907. 96 In 1909 Feaster, his cousin Jerome T. and Grennell purchased 280 acres of land in the Redland District from Gus Mayo and Berry Sullivan97 and started advertising the sale of Redland property, along with his advertisements for his business in Miami. Their property was just west of that belonging to Grennell.

T A Feaster Redland Ad

He also sold “six acres and a house to Mrs. P. C. Cox of Palm Beach,” his nephew William’s mother-in-law.98 The 1910 census of Homestead shows that Leonard S. Mowry and Isaac L. Smith were her close neighbors, so her property was likely just west of Krome near Mowry St. Norwood was also enumerated in the 1910 census of Homestead, with his close neighbors being William D. Horne and Dr. Edward L. Brooks so he, too, lived in what is now downtown Homestead.

On March 25, 1910, the Miami Metropolis reported that Norwood was a “new arrival” in Homestead and would erect “a dwelling immediately.”99 After he got settled in, William no doubt started to look for a homestead claim. On July 27, 1911, he filed a claim for 160 acres on both sides of Redland Road from S.W. 352 St. south to S.W. 360 St.

Norwood Homestead

William got to work, building a house on his property while living with his in-laws. The Coxes did not stay in Homestead very long because shortly after William filed his claim, his wife went to Miami to visit her mother.100 In September, William moved into his new house and his wife went to Miami again to visit her parents.101 Norwood and his family didn’t live for very long in the house on his claim, either – he moved into Detroit in early August of 1912.102

Norwood paid cash for his claim on August 22, 1912,103 likely because he was more interested in business than in fulfilling the requirements for the claim. His cousin, Thomas A. Feaster, had left his business in Miami and was settling into the life of a farmer in Homestead. In May of 1912, he and his partner Virgil Grennell sold the 160 acres that they had purchased from Gus Mayo in 1909 to Henry L. Cook and W. A. Glass for $4,400, a hefty profit. He probably invested some of those profits in his nephew’s new store in Detroit.104

Shortly after Detroit was established in 1910, two stores were established to serve the new arrivals. Joseph M. Cormack, opened his store soon after purchasing two business lots in Detroit in November of 1910.105 Otis A. Hardin,106who opened the other store, was a civil engineer107 who worked for the Tatum Bros.108 in their efforts to settle new arrivals on their land. Otis’ brother, William H., was the foreman of the dredge which excavated the Florida City Canal, starting in the spring of 1911.109 Hardin only owned the store for a couple of months, selling it to J. B. VanHorn and M. L. Williams, of Missouri, in February.110 In November, Edward F. Brooker, a brother of Henry, and Lee Lehman purchased the store from J. B. Van Horn. Van Horn, not liking store-keeping, went to work for the Miami Engineering Construction Co.111 Brooker & Lehman didn’t stay long, either, selling out to William C. Norwood in August of 1912.112

Norwood s Store Ad SFB Sept 6 1912 p 2

South Florida Banner, September 6, 1912, p. 2

Norwood’s first store was located on the west side of the railroad tracks on the south side of Palm Avenue in the building that housed the Post Office. Edward Stiling, who was the first postmaster of Detroit, erected the building and served as postmaster from December 13, 1910 to June 9, 1911. Marion L. Williams, who, with J. B. Van Horn, had purchased the store in which the post office was located in February of 1911, served from June 10, 1911 to April 7, 1914.

Norwood in his store

William Norwood in his store. Note the postal boxes on the left.
Courtesy of the Florida Pioneer Museum

This photograph was taken before the summer of 1913, when he moved into his new store in the front of his warehouse.113

Shortly after purchasing the store from Brooker & Lehman, Norwood bought a “business lot of Edward Stiling” located “on the corner of Avenue A and Palme (sic) avenue.”114 According to the Miami Metropolis, he put up a warehouse across the street from his store.115 116At the time he built the warehouse, he planned to build a store in front of it117 and he did so in July of 1913.118 Building a house and purchasing his homestead, followed by a move into Detroit, where he purchased a business and then erected a warehouse was a significant financial commitment and one that he was no doubt assisted in by his uncle, Thomas A. Feaster.
Florida City Post Office

Courtesy of the Florida Pioneer Museum

This photograph was taken sometime before February 22, 1924, when the building caught fire.119 120

Norwood needed the warehouse to hold the grain, hay, fertilizer and dry goods he sold to an ever-increasing population, just like J. U. Free in Homestead. He became a stockholder in the Detroit Ice, Light & Power Co.,121 added a soda fountain to his store and sold Seybold’s ice cream.122

Norwood s Store SFB January 24 1913 p 4

South Florida Banner, January 24, 1913, p. 4

He helped organize the Detroit Growers Association123 and partnered as a commission merchant with Jesse H. Simmons, who owned a packing house on the Terminal Basin.124 125 His uncle, one of the biggest shippers, hauled over 11,000 crates of tomatoes to the packing houses, harvested from 18 acres of “rich marl prairie” more than 10 miles southwest of Detroit.126 Norwood had packers “working night and day to keep up with the crates of tomatoes that are pouring in daily.”127

Packing Tomatoes in Florida City

Packing Tomatoes in the Chase & Co. Packing House in Florida City
Courtesy of the Florida Historical Society

A. B. Saunders, who had the contract to deepen the Detroit canal, engaged Norwood in 1913 to bring 500 cords of wood, with 20 cords delivered each week, to fuel the dredges doing the excavation work.128

During the summer of 1914, Norwood and his family, who were living in the Tatum Building in Detroit, moved back to his homestead.129 In 1915, he established the Florida City Dairy on 100 acres of land between his homestead and what is now Krome Avenue.130 The dairy was located on the land now occupied by the Gateway Estates mobile home park.131

In March of 1918, Norwood was elected to the Town Council of the Town of Florida City.132 In August, Norwood was reported to be ill but to have recovered under the care of Dr. Robert R. Teller.133 It is likely that Dr. Teller was Norwood’s physician because he came from the same town in Arkansas that Joseph L. Ishmael, who had been employed by Norwood,134 came from. Dr. Teller, unlike Dr. John B. Tower in Homestead, had a controversial past. He had been sued several times in Arkansas City, Kansas for non-medical matters and after he settled in Goulds, he was criticized as being a ‘quack’ by the Dade County Medical Society.135 He had his defenders, of course, who refused to believe what the medical profession had to say.136

William C. Norwood died on May 10, 1919, of “dilatation of the heart.”137 Whether his doctor, Robert Teller, was a quack or not would likely not have made any difference, as heart disease seemed to have affected men in the Norwood family. His brother, Burnham Andrew, died of heart failure at the age of 39, the same age William was when he died. Their father, William S. Norwood, died at the age of 63 and none of his sons lived to that age.

william-c-norwood

Florida City had two mercantile businesses from 1910 – 1922: William Norwood and Joseph Cormack. There was also a furniture store, the Model Furniture Co. (1914-1916), and the Palm Avenue Pharmacy (1914-1918). Neither of the mercantile businesses survived their founders: Norwood died in 1919 and Cormack in 1923. The Model Furniture Co. moved to Miami and the Palm Avenue Pharmacy was purchased by Dr. John B. Tower and liquidated.138 As the roads between Florida City and Homestead improved and more automobiles were purchased by residents, the owners of these businesses could not survive the competition from well-established businesses in Homestead.

Norwood had two daughters, both of whom moved to Miami. Cormack had three sons, none of whom lived here. The Caves, Brookers, Sullivans, Burtons and Hornes of Homestead all left several generations of descendants in the area to carry on their names. Because neither Norwood’s nor Cormack’s businesses survived them and because their children did not live here to continue their parents’ legacies, the histories of the Homestead area do not mention them. Such is history – a tale told by the winners.
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