The Laker/Lutz News

World War I

Dade City was stop for troop trains heading to war

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The former Tampa Bay Hotel, now the University of Tampa — was erected as a winter retreat for the wealthy by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant.

During the Spanish-American War, however, it housed officers, including Col. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, before they departed for Cuba.

Dade City also served a role during that 1898 military conflict, which is sometimes referred to as “The Forgotten War” or that “Splendid Little War.”

President William McKinley’s call for troops to invade Cuba in 1898 prompted soldiers from Maine to California to arrive in large contingents in Florida, as shown in this photograph taken at the Port of Tampa. (Courtesy of “Photographic History of the Spanish-American War, 1898,” The Pearson Publishing Company (The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village owns a copy of this antique book.)

Regiments from across the country made their way to the point of debarkation, in Tampa.

A nearly endless parade of troop trains passed through Dade City, as the soldiers headed to war.

“They made little stops along the way like they did in Dade City,” Joe Blunt said, during a recent presentation at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City.

It was obvious to those troops arriving in Tampa that preparations for war against Spain had overwhelmed the city of 15,000 residents.

Historian Gary R. Mormino, in a story published by The Tampa Tribune, offered this perspective: “It was the equivalent of 10 Super Bowls.”

The city, “had days, not years, to prepare for an avalanche of soldiers, horses, mules, equipment and ships,” according to Mormino’s account.

As the conflict with Spain was looming in 1898, Congress authorized the construction of coastal batteries under the $50 million Harbor Fortification Defense Act.

The U.S. government previously had convened the Endicott Board in 1885 to upgrade old Civil War forts at every major harbor in the United States.

The nation was armed and ready for the Spanish-American War with rapid-fire guns, submarine nets, underwater mines, searchlights, concrete and electricity.

Col. Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt and his Rough Riders fought in the most famous land engagement of the war during the Battle of San Juan Hill. Roosevelt went on to become the nation’s 26th president.

Cavalry units were used, Blunt says, but many horses drowned when swimming to the shores.

No American Navy ships were damaged or sunk during the conflict.

Spain didn’t have any battleships, but the U.S. had four new ones, including the “Iowa.” That ship was described, by the U.S. War Department in 1898, “as nearly invulnerable as scientific naval architecture can make her.”

The Iowa was manned with 36 officers and 450 sailors.

It fired the first shot in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on July 3, 1898.

Iowa’s firepower — which had never been seen in the world before — destroyed two Spanish cruisers and ran them aground within 20 minutes.

The U.S. landed 15,000 soldiers, southeast of Santiago de Cuba, including the 10th Cavalry from Montana under John J. Pershing.

That calvary, nicknamed the Buffalo Soldiers, was an African-American unit.

Pershing expressed his respect and admiration for the Buffalo Soldiers’ bravery and courage. Pershing would later serve as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I.

During the Spanish-American War, U.S. soldiers used smokeless rifles — which unlike the black powder ones used during the Civil War did not give away their positions.

Troop trains, including the 157th Indiana Volunteers, passed through Dade City on the Old Florida Southern Railroad as the main transportation route on land to Tampa. The trains carried field-artillery carriages and ammunition wagons, as well.

“The Spanish could not easily see where the shooting was coming from,” Blunt said, during his talk. “But they could hear what sounded like someone punching a cardboard box when one of their men was hit and suddenly fell to the ground.”

The German Mauser was a popular bolt-action rifle used by American soldiers during the Spanish-American War. It later was the primary German combat rifle at the outbreak of World War I.

After the fall of the Third Reich at the end of World War II, the Soviet Union captured millions of Mauser Karabiner 98k rifles.

From the beginning of his administration, President William McKinley was concerned about the growing insurrection in Cuba. The national security was at stake, much like it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis, in 1962, under President John F. Kennedy.

For Kennedy, it was threat of a nuclear attack from missiles based in Cuba by the Soviet Union.

In 1898, it was the last remnants of a 300-year-old Spanish Empire that remained a threat to the United States.

Joe Blunt gave a talk about the Spanish-American War at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, and briefly touched on the role that Dade City played during that war. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

On Feb. 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine was sunk while on an official visit to Havana.

With headlines including “Who Destroyed the Maine? $50,000 Reward,” “Invasion!” and “Spanish Treachery,” America’s two leading newspaper publishers, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, played off the growing tensions between the two countries and drummed up public opinion to go to war with Spain.

“Remember the Maine,” was the battle cry — still widely recognized today, Blunt says.

The cause of the Maine’s destruction, leading to the deaths of 266 officers and sailors, remains a mystery.

The Spanish-American War was waged in the Spanish colonies of the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Spain couldn’t afford the conflict on three fronts.

Under a peace treaty signed in Paris on Dec. 10, 1889, Spain relinquished title to Cuba, and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States.

By Doug Sanders

Doug Sanders has a penchant for unearthing interesting stories about local history. His sleuthing skills have been developed through his experiences in newspaper and government work. If you have an idea for a future history column, contact Doug at .

Published September 15, 2021

Saint Leo conference focuses on WWI and its impacts

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Maybe you’re a history teacher, with a penchant for the World War I era.

This World War I-era poster was created by James Montgomery Flagg in 1918 and printed by the American Lithographic Company of New York. It shows Uncle Sam arm-in-arm with Britannia, accompanied by a lion (U.K.) and an eagle (U.S.A.). It will be included in Marco Rimanelli’s presentation at an upcoming conference at Saint Leo University. (Courtesy of Saint Leo University)

Perhaps you have a fascination for the impacts that World War I had on politics, medicine, diplomacy or, even closer to home — your family’s personal history.

Maybe you’re just curious about what life was like in the wider world, during the time of Downton Abbey.

If any of this resonates with you, an upcoming conference at Saint Leo University could be right up your alley.

The university is inviting teachers, history and political buffs, veterans and the general public to a conference that centers on the history of World War I, and subsequent peace-building efforts.

The Nov. 16 event, called the Centennial of World War I & Peace 1914 to 1919 Interdisciplinary Conference, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the university’s campus in St. Leo.

The event comes slightly more than a century after the original Armistice Day — Nov. 11, 1918 —which marked the official end of World War I.

The conference is structured around three panels, with presentations by speakers and time allotted for questions and answers, said Marco Rimanelli, full professor of political sciences and international studies at the university.

The presentations will cover:

  • Military and diplomacy
  • Medical and health care issues in the Great War
  • The impact of the League of Nations

Rimanelli’s presentation is entitled “Alliances & U.S. Military in World War I: ‘Doughboys & Trenches, ‘Over There’”

Members of American Company A, Ninth Machine Gun Battalion set up in a French railroad shop on June 7, 1918. (U.S. National Archives and Record Administration)

“We want to try to give an overview,” said Rimanelli, a driving force behind the conference.

“World War I is essential in the emergence of America as a global super power, as well as the beginning of the demise of the European order,” Rimanelli said.

Panelist Dan DuBois, an assistant professor of history, will focus on how World War I played out in East Asia, in his talk entitled “Aye, What has Become of Civilization?: East Asia & The Great War.”

“To understand the current degree of distrust between the United States and China, that really begins in 1919,” DuBois said.

Interspersed between the panels, Saint Leo faculty members will help take conference-goers back to World War I through poetry readings and musical performances from the era.

Chantelle MacPhee, the university’s chair of language studies and the arts, will read “In Flanders Fields,” a World War I poem by John McCrae, a medic from Canada.

“He wrote it in the memory of those he saw perish with him,” said MacPhee , who herself lost great-uncles in World War I.

American troops going forward to the battle line in the Forest of Argonne. France, September 26, 1918.
(U.S. National Archives and Record Administration)

“In Flanders Fields,” she said, “is the most famous in Canada and is recited every Nov. 11, which is called Remembrance Day.”

Conference attendees also will be able to glean an additional sense of what life was like during World War I through an array of posters featuring combat scenes, war memorabilia, and a glimpse of African-American life at that time.

The $12 admission to the conference deliberately was kept affordable to encourage attendance. Admission includes lunch, snacks and beverages and there is no charge for parking.

Also, Saint Leo University alumni, students, faculty and staff will be admitted free, with proper ID.

Teachers attending the conference may also be eligible to apply for continuing education credit, which Saint Leo University will help to document.

Published November 06, 2019

Clay Sink remains; others fade away

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Small communities with names such as “Mexico,” “Drexel,” “Ehren,” and  “Chipco” appeared on Pasco County maps more than 100 years ago.

They were located along the Orange Belt Railway, the first — and last — railroad to cross Central Pasco with a potential for future development.

Still moss-draped as it was when the Slaughters buried their infant daughter in 1873, the Clay Sink Cemetery is located on a hill and is the final resting place for six generations. Descendants still live in Pasco County. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

The names of those small towns now are mere footnotes in Pasco County’s history.

But, a tiny community has survived.

Surrounded by hundreds of acres of the Withlacoochee State Forest, a 2-square-mile area is still known as “Clay Sink.”

Call it a quirk of fate.

Unlike many of Florida’s rural outposts, by the 1930s, the greater Clay Sink area had a complex economy.

In addition to farming and ranching, the expansion of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad spurred a timber harvesting industry and a turpentine business.

“It was lonely living oftentimes, but we had the radio to listen to programs like the ‘Grand Ole Opry’ and ‘Fibber McGee and Molly,’” recalled Jean Brinson Ward, who was 7 years old when her father monitored the area in the 1940s from the fire tower for the U.S. Forestry Service.

A wood-frame building, erected in 1904 on this site, served as the Clay Sink Missionary Baptist Church until the present building was constructed of heart pine in 1956. It remains one of the few churches still located on state forestland. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

The settlement has been known by different names.

In a land transaction on May 20, 1862, Jesse Sumner sold 120 acres to Harrison H. Slaughter and Martha Ann McKinney Slaughter.

Martha had three children from a first marriage in 1859, and at least 10 children with Harrison, who had escaped a Yankee POW camp at the start of the Civil War and fled to the Everglades.

The settlement that soon developed initially was called Slaughter, after this pioneering family.

But later, it was called Clay Sink, after the local clay sinkhole.

Life wasn’t exactly easy.

Farms were worked in the intense heat of a Florida sun without the benefit of modern air conditioning or diesel tractors.

Families grew their own pork, chicken, beef, and planted gardens for vegetables.

And, they saw plenty of wildlife.

During an oral history with the Citrus County Historical Society on August 26, 2006, Frances Pritchell, a lifelong resident of Clay Sink, described what happened to her husband when he came home from a late shift at Pasco Packing in Dade City: “It was dark, and when he turned out the lights at the front gate and opened the gate, something ran into him and like to have knocked him down. He thought it was a dog. He came out around the house, but the dog was in the yard. Well, when he got along there about the chimney, it squalled out. It was a panther, and he had to go on around it to come in the house. About that time, it hollered again. A panther. And then about that time the dogs taken after it, and that was it. But, there are panthers here.”

Built as a one-room schoolhouse in 1912, this structure has served as the fellowship hall for the Clay Sink Missionary Baptist Church since school consolidation in 1943. (Courtesy of Doug Sanders)

During Prohibition, the Dade City Banner reported this news item on Sept. 22, 1925:

“Saturday a raid in the Slaughter neighborhood resulted in the capture of two stills, both small ones.”

No arrests were made in one instance, the newspaper reported. But in the other, “Bob Johnson, colored, not only lost his lard can outfit and a gallon of shine, but was also lodged in Jail.”

A year later, the Dade City Banner reported on the burial of Roy Slaughter at Clay Sink Cemetery. He was a veteran of World War I and also…”a member of Pershing’s punitive expedition into Mexico during the border troubles caused by the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).”

During World War II, a bombing range less than a mile east of Clay Sink was operated by the U.S. Army for testing Mustard Gas, an oily liquid used as a shell filling, according to Jean Brinson Ward, vice chairman of the Dade City Historic Preservation Advisory Board.

Now the home of the Florida Bass Conservation Center—the state’s major freshwater fish production hatchery—the bombing range was used to test the effects on goats and rabbits.

Details from a 1956 Pasco County map show Slaughter as a settlement in the extreme northwest corner of Pasco County. Richloam is locatedDetails from a 1956 Pasco County map show Slaughter as a settlement in the extreme northwest corner of Pasco County. Richloam is located across the county line in Hernando County. (Courtesy of Fivay.org)

“We could feel the earth shake when the bombs were dropped, and our house was in Richloam, which was about 9 (miles) or 10 miles from the range,” Ward said.

In an article published by The Tampa Tribune on Dec. 26, 2007, Pasco County Attorney Robert Sumner said people wanted to live in Clay Sink “where they were free to do what they wanted to do without being fenced in, where they could develop their own church.”

Back then, Sumner added, “the people who came to Florida came for the same reasons people originally came to the United States.”

Sumner’s own family history dates back to the 1820s, before Pasco County was created.

In October 1936, the federal government started buying forestland around Clay Sink, first from the Schroeder Land and Timber Company for $3 an acre, and then from area families such as the ancestors of 84-year-old Henry Boyett.

“They didn’t want our cattle eating the young pine trees they had planted,” Boyett recalled during an interview at the fellowship hall. “We tried to convince them there was too much turpentine in those saplings for cattle to digest.”

By 1939, the purchase of private-owned farms was completed to begin restoring the forests and wetlands under the U.S government’s Withlacoochee Resettlement Act.

To this day, Clay Sink remains a small cluster of farmsteads and homes due to the Great Depression and the loss of grazing lands.

For Boyett, though, it’s a desirable place.

He describes it as “peace and quiet, and it can never be developed.

“It’s the most fantastic thing I can tell you,” Boyette said.

In the stillness of this place, rainfall could be heard falling on the tin roof of the fellowship hall.

Doug Sanders has a penchant for unearthing interesting stories about local history. His sleuthing skills have been developed through his experiences in newspaper and government work. If you have an idea for a future history column, contact Doug at .

Published July 24, 2019

Some things truly are priceless

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Remember finding a coin or arrowhead and wondering if it’s worth anything?

Imagine having a large document signed by Abraham Lincoln, passed down from one generation to the next, and not really knowing its value or its history with the nation’s 16th president.

For now, it has a safe and protected place in the home of 84-year-old Martha M. Fountain, a lifelong resident of Zephyrhills.

Dated December 15, 1864, Martha Fountain proudly holds ‘The President’s Thanks and Certificate of Honorable Service’ signed by Abraham Lincoln at the Executive Mansion in Washington City.
(Doug Sanders)

She lives in a community that was founded in 1909 by Capt. Howard B. Jeffries as a retirement colony for Union Civil War Veterans.

A newspaper man himself, Jeffries would not have missed the opportunity to write about Martha.

She has been the artifact’s owner since her husband’s death in 2016.

Married for 31 years to Guy Joseph Fountain Jr., Martha remembers the document hanging in her husband’s office of the Best Way Electric Company in Dade City.

“I’m not much into history,” Martha explained during a recent interview in her home, with her caregiver at her side. “I don’t know much about my husband’s family history,” she added.

Following six months of research with several military websites and The History Center at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village north of Dade City, the remarkable life of the man named on the Lincoln document begins to emerge.

It turns out Guy Fountain had a great-great uncle named Samuel Warren Fountain.

He was only 15-years-old at the outbreak of the American Civil War on April 12, 1861.

Samuel had to wait until 1864 before joining an infantry of the 8th Corps of the Army of West Virginia, which became famous for having future U.S. presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley serving in its ranks.

As part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864, Samuel Warren Fountain served under Maj. Gen. David Hunter during the Civil War. Hunter later achieved fame as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
(Robert Massey)

Samuel Fountain graduated from West Point on June 15, 1870, four months before the death of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Lexington, Virginia.

Commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 8th U.S. Cavalry, he was active for the next 20 years in military campaigns against Geronimo and Sitting Bull.

He once described a skirmish in New Mexico as “rough country where horses cannot go.”

During the Spanish-American War, Samuel Fountain served first commanding a squadron of the 8th Cavalry in Cuba.

As Adjutant General in the Philippine Islands, a captain on his staff was John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, who later served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front during World War I.

In 1904, when Fountain was a lieutenant colonel, he was put in charge of security at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

According to the Arlington National Cemetery website, a local newspaper reported this:

“Under his direction the members of the guard controlled the great mass of people…and on the last day of the Fair, when disorder and vandalism were feared, every officer and member of the guard was on duty, and so placed that when the lights were out and the World’s Fair at St. Louis had passed into history, not a disorderly act had occurred, or a dollar’s worth of property had been destroyed.”

Ironically, Geronimo was also at the fair as a living exhibit intended as a “monument to the progress of civilization.” Under guard, he made bows and arrows while Pueblo women seated beside him pounded corn and made pottery. Geronimo also sold autographs and posed for pictures.

President Abraham Lincoln’s signature remains legible after 154 years.
(Doug Sanders)

Samuel Fountain was a brigadier general a year before the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in the nation’s capital. He gave a speech about Abraham Lincoln during his appearance before the Union League Club of Philadelphia on February 9, 1921:

“Other men have reunited a divided nation, or liberated an enslaved race, or carried to conclusion a fratricidal war, or swept immoral institutions from the earth by consummate Statesmanship; but no man ever combined and carried through, chiefly by the clarity of his mind and the purity of his character, several such gigantic enterprises in half a decade.”

Samuel Fountain died on Nov. 15, 1930, five months after the birth of Guy Fountain, and six years before the death of Capt. Howard Jeffries in New York City on March 20, 1936.

Martha Fountain recalls turning down an offer to sell the Lincoln document still in her possession.

But, with no children, she is undecided about its future.

At this point, she’s not sure what she will do with it. Before doing anything, she plans to consult her lawyer, John Council.

Council has had his own brush with preserving history, having a law office in Dade City at the historic red brick jailhouse, where the last legal hanging in Pasco County was carried out on Jan. 4, 1918.

A look at history through vintage clothing

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It may not seem apparent, at first, but understanding vintage clothing styles can offer insights into an earlier time.

JoAnn (Jo) Hopper and Lana McLaurin share a passion for vintage clothing, and have devoted decades to collecting, studying, displaying and teaching about historical clothing.

The pair of dear friends met in 1979, and the Pasco County duo have dressed the mannequins and crafted the vintage clothing displays that contribute to the ongoing displays at the Henry B. Plant Museum, including the museum’s annual Victorian Christmas Stroll, now in its 36th year.

Jo Hopper and Lana McLaurin create a display of holiday carolers in the image of Thomas Edison and his family. (Madonna Wise)

The two women share a belief that when one dons Victorian attire, there is a sense of living history that evokes appreciation of the time, and the personality of the owner and surroundings—which causes one to straighten her posture, square-up shoulders, and stroll out gracefully with a countenance of demure confidence.

They agree with William Shakespeare’s assessment that “apparel oft proclaims the man” and Mark Twain’s observation that “clothes make the man.”

Jo and Lana spent a recent afternoon positioning their elegant vintage garments and accessories in a museum display.

As they worked, it became evident that apparel indeed reveals clues about the people who wore them, and the culture of their time.

From fabric, cut and adornment, the two women garner information about the original owner’s status, work, age, and even beliefs, etiquette and self-assurance.

They concentrate on antique clothing from the late Victorian and Edwardian periods through World War I.

Lana explained that although British Queen Victoria lived from 1837 to 1901, she and Jo are most interested in the later years of the queen’s life.

The Edwardian period covers the reign of King Edward VII, from 1901 to 1910.

In Victorian times, rules governed dress and the slightest nuances spoke volumes about social standing. For women, reception gowns, not intended for street wear, but grand enough for greeting guest in one’s own home, differed slightly from the visiting dress which would be worn, never without hat and gloves, when making calls on ladies “at home” during socially prescribed hours. In addition, wardrobes included dinner dresses, evening gowns, operetta toilettes and, the grandest of all, ball gowns.

Jo’s foray into the field of antique clothing, which she now describes as a fun obsession, began with an interest in the Civil War and antebellum times.

Clothing styles reveal history
The hoop skirt for instance, Jo said, was in vogue in the 1860s, but as the country moved toward the 20th century, skirt styling transformed from the lavish hoops to the bustle and eventually to a silhouette.

Lana McLaurin models a green walking suit from the Victorian era.
(Courtesy of Lana McLaurin)

The style changes reflect changing economic times, she said. Less fabric was needed for the fitted style and, thus it was more affordable in the late 1800s.

Jo’s first vintage collector piece was a brown taffeta servant’s dress — one of the pieces included in the current Victorian Stroll display.

Lana’s zeal for collecting vintage clothing began with her interest in antiques.

She purchased a passementrie-bedecked cape from an antique dealer in Winter Park, and one piece led to another.

A seamstress herself, she said part of the fascination stems from the way the garments are constructed. She finds many of the pieces as interesting on the interior as they are on the exterior.

European Royalty, particularly British monarchs, were highly influential in the world of fashion during the 1800s, both in Europe and in the United States.

The Victorian age, which refers to the reign of Queen Victoria, was swayed by the queen’s personal style, behavior and modesty.

Queen Victoria wore black for 40 years after her husband’s death, and subsequently her subjects and admirers frequently wore black, as well.

However, Lana noted that black also was used as we use it today, and that our ‘little black dress’ had its equivalent in Victorian times.

Queen Victoria set norms, even in the United States.

The most widely circulated magazine in the United States after the Civil War, Godey’s Magazine, included regular articles about Queen Victoria, and incorporated fashion illustrations and a monthly pattern.

An effect like Princess Diana
Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Princess Alexandra, wife of Edward VII, also influenced fashion. She created a whirlwind quite similar to that of Princess Diana.

Princess Alexandra was a beautiful, tall, 18-year-old when she was married at Windsor Castle in 1863. She had a long neck that was said to bare an unsightly scar from a childhood surgery. Alexandra wore high lace collars and multiple layers of pearls in a collier de chein “collar” necklace. The masses revered and copied Alexandra’s elegant style.

It was also an era of modesty, Jo said. Gloves of net or leather were worn in public by women and men.

“Flesh on flesh” was frowned upon, Lana said.

Gloves also protected the precious fabrics from perspiration stains from dancing.

Fabrics often were wools, brocades, damasks, silks, rayon and velvets. Diaphanous, sheer, overlay fabrics were abundant.

All manner of maids and butlers possessed keen knowledge of the care of the fabrics — which involved brushing and cleaning combinations.

Heavier cotton fabrics were used for the servant and worker clothing. Meanwhile, affluent people wore soft white cottons during warmer seasons.

Jo and Lana also have observed that a piece of clothing was often altered or changed several times to reflect changing styles.

Utilitarian components such as the balayeuse, a removable ruffle on the underside of a trained skirt or petticoat to protect the fabric, could be replaced if the hem was soiled from brushing the floor.

Some dresses were intended to flatter, with ingenuous, embedded corset-boning and corsets that accentuated figures. Garments also were handmade or made-to-order for the client.

Heather Brown, curator of education at the Plant Museum, described the Victorian Christmas Stroll and the unique theme for each room of the museum.

In one collection, Jo and Lana depicted the illusion of Thomas Edison with his wife and two children as holiday carolers. (Edison and family lodged at the hotel in 1900.) The tailor’s form (Edison image) depicts a long, sleek, black coat of weighted silk in perfect condition. At his side is a petite female partner in a vibrant red, light wool military style jacket over a slim black silk skirt. Lana pointed out the golf-themed gold buttons on the jacket that reveal the Mrs. Edison character had just returned from a round of golf.

The second display depicts a nanny and two children on a breathtaking staircase that hints at the magnificent architecture of the hotel. Jo explained they had previously created a wedding scene in 2015 and a christening display in the same area in 2016—a sequential progression of the family’s development. The nanny is clothed in the brown, taffeta dress, her “going out’ dress. A governess or nanny would have worn two uniforms during the day in the Victorian era.

Throughout the remainder of the museum, the exquisite vintage clothing displays of the duo enhance the stunning museum.

For readers who would like to learn more about Victorian attire and behavior, Jo and Lana suggest the book, “Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century” by C. Willett Cunnington.

What: 36th annual Christmas Victorian Stroll
Where: Henry B. Plant Museum, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
When: Dec. 1 to Dec. 23, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., with live music from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Cost: $15 for adults; $13 for seniors; and $9 for youths, ages 4 to 18.
Details: The Henry B. Plant Museum, which is part of the former Tampa Bay Hotel, is dressed up in holiday style. The University of Tampa occupies the rest of the structure, which was built in 1891 by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. The building is a National Historic Landmark.

By Madonna Jervis-Wise

Published December 6, 2017

She knows local history, and is preserving it

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If you want to learn a thing or two about local history — particularly as it pertains to Wesley Chapel, Dade City and Zephyrhills — a telephone call to Madonna Jervis Wise will put you on the right track.

Madonna Jervis Wise has written several books, including four which help preserve the history of Zephyrhills, Dade City and Wesley Chapel. (B.C. Manion)

Wise has written books about all three communities.

“I’ve always been interested in history,” she said. “We’re sitting in my dining room, and these are some of my family heirlooms that came on a covered wagon from Pennsylvania,” the retired educator said, during an interview in the Zephyrhills home she shares with her husband, Ernie.

Her interest in the history of people, places and things began early.

As a little girl, she would go with her father, who was a farmer in Indiana, as he went out to plow fields.

As he worked, he would have her wait in the home where he was plowing.

“One of those people that I remember, when I was about 6 or 7, was Mrs. Hefley. And, I remember her showing me the crochet work and the tatting work. She would begin to tell me about the family and the experiences they had. I just always made those connections.”

She also recalls spending an enormous amount of time with her grandparents.

“My grandfather was a blacksmith during World War I,” said Wise, who began her career in education as a history teacher.

Dade City women organized the Alpha Sorosis Club, which met regularly for intellectual pursuits. The club was founded in 1909, and continued through 1968. (File)

She’s always been a writer, for as long as she can remember and, wherever she’s worked, people have turned to her to do newsletters and other writing chores.

Her foray into authoring local history books began while she was working as the principal at West Zephyrhills Elementary School and she began compiling information about the community of Zephyrhills.

“I just started researching it,” she said. “I would get more and more stuff. I was like, ‘This has to be preserved.’ That’s kind of how it happened.”

To capture that history, she self-published a book called “Zephyrhills – An Anthology of its History Through Education.”

The book was a family affair. Her husband and daughter, Mamie, edited the volume.

Downtown Dade City, during the 1940s, was a thriving hub of activity.

Around the same time, she published a book called “Juanita in Blue,” a four-year project showcasing her mother’s recipes.

“My mother was an extraordinary cook. She ran this little restaurant in Indiana. It was called The Rainbow Café.

“After she passed away, I had all these boxes of recipe cards,” Wise said.

So, she created cookbooks for each of her three kids: Jervis, an attorney in St. Petersburg; Mamie, an attorney in Tampa; and Rachel, who is studying to become an attorney, in Gulfport.

The three community history books that Wise has written are part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series.

The publisher, which has now merged with History Press, invited Wise to do a local history book about Zephyrhills. After that, the publisher invited her to do books on Dade City and Wesley Chapel.

Before accepting the offer to do the Dade City book, Wise said she cleared the idea with various groups from the Dade City community because she didn’t want to be presumptuous or intrusive.

Any concerns along those lines were alleviated by Dade City folks who not only encouraged her to pursue the local history book, but helped her in tracking down the documents and photographs that she needed to tell the community’s story.

“It really came together,” Wise said.

Pasco Packing was the home of the largest citrus processing company in the world, when citrus was in its heyday in Florida.

Next, she tackled the task of compiling Wesley Chapel’s history.

Figuring out how to approach that took some thought, she said, because unlike Zephyrhills and Dade City — which are municipalities with city records — Wesley Chapel is unincorporated.

So, she turned to genealogy skills to help track down the families who have shaped the community’s history.

Initially, she thought the book would focus primarily on ranching, and would include some ranching artifacts.

But then, she went into some genealogy sites and plugged in some key names, which led to interviews with families.

One interview led to another, and the story of Wesley Chapel emerged.

A desire “to preserve the stories” motivates her to do the research, conduct the interviews, gather the photographs, track other documents and compile the local history books, she said.

Wise said she enjoyed digging into the history of residents who settled in Pasco County, adding they remind her of the people in Patrick Smith’s book, “The Land Remembered.”

“It’s a young history, relatively speaking,” Wise said. It’s an area where “rugged people cleared the land and settled and persevered. I’ve always been drawn to those stories.

“I become really enamored with the people,” Wise added. “That was a hard life. The mosquito-ridden frontier of Florida — no air conditioning.

“It was something else,” she said.

Published September 20, 2017

Vietnam veteran receives overdue honor

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One Vietnam veteran has finally received his long-deserved welcome.

The Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Land O’ Lakes Satellite Club recognized George Voorhes on June 23 as its first recipient of the Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemorative Lapel Pin.

Voorhes, 82, retired from the army in 1974, following 20 years of service.

He served in the Korean War and had three tours of duty in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star.

On June 23, the Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Land O’ Lakes Satellite Club presented George Voorhes as its first recipient of the Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemorative Lapel Pin. Voorhes, now 82, retired from the army in 1974, after 20 years of service. (Kevin Weiss)

A Missouri native, who now lives in Land O’ Lakes, Voorhes joined the military when he was 17.

Eventually, he rose to the rank of Sergeant First Class E7.

Along the way, he worked as a banker, chef and nightclub manager.

During his last 10 years of service, he was a general’s aide.

Despite the decades that have passed, details of war remain vivid in Voorhes’ mind.

Most notably is the passing of his brother-in-law, who succumbed to Agent Orange.

“I miss him,” Voorhes said, holding back tears.

“He was only a brother-in-law, but he was more like a brother to me,” he said.

The first U.S. combat troops were sent to Vietnam in 1965.

More than 9 million Americans served during the Vietnam War, representing 10 percent of their generation.

They marked the oldest and best-educated force that America ever sent into harm’s way.

The last remaining troops were withdrawn in 1973.

George Voorhes served in the Korean War and had three tours of duty in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star. He entered the service at 17 years old, and rose to the rank of Sergeant First Class E7. He also worked as a banker, chef and nightclub manager.
Over the last 10 years of his service, he worked as a general’s aide. (Courtesy of Sandy Graves)

Though 97 percent would be honorably discharged, 58,307 service members died in the war, and more than 1,600 are still considered missing in action.

Upon their return to America, Vietnam troops often were greeted with silence — or worse — for having served in the controversial war.

Unlike soldiers returning from World War I and World War II, there were no ticker tape parades or triumphant marches for veterans returning from Vietnam.

Despite painful memories and personal losses, though, Voorhes remains proud of his service.

“It’s an honor to serve my country,” he said, “and I’d do it again, if I had to.”

The Rotary Club’s commemorative ceremony and breakfast was held at the Copperstone Executive Suites in Land O’ Lakes.

Voorhes received the Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemorative Lapel Pin from Chief George McDonald, of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. McDonald is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel.

Throughout the hour-long event, Voorhes was lavished with applause, warm greetings and countless thank-you’s from dozens of Rotarians and their guests.

Voorhes also received a dedication message and certificate form the staff of U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis.

The congressman, who represents Florida’s 12th District and is vice chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, even had an American flag flown over the United States Capitol to honor Voorhes’ service.

Michael J. Cimmina, of U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis’ office, presented Voorhes with an American flag, which was flown over the United States Capitol in honor of his service. (Kevin Weiss)

In a letter to Voorhes, Bilirakis wrote, “There are no words that can adequately express the gratitude, admiration and respect that your military service during the Korean and Vietnam Wars has earned.”

The congressman also noted that members of the Armed Forces “who served bravely” during the Vietnam War “were caught in the crossfire of public debate regarding our nation’s involvement and did not receive the warm welcome that you all deserved.”

The Vietnam War Commemoration is a government-led initiative, engaging 10,000 event partners, ranging from the Boy Scouts of America to the NFL.

In 2012, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation creating the Vietnam War Commemoration. Obama called on communities across the country to come together and hold events between then and Veteran’s Day 2025 to recognize the 7 million living Vietnam veterans.

To date, the commemoration has reached more than 1.4 million Vietnam veterans and their family members.

Voorhes was chosen as the Rotary Club’s first recipient after his wife of 57 years, Jean Voorhes, reached out to the service organization, inquiring about the program.

The satellite Rotary Club had just recently become an official commemoration partner, through the United States Department of Defense.

That application process took about a year, said Sandy Graves, a member of the satellite club who helped coordinate the ceremony for Voorhes.

“The club’s worked very hard to become a commemorative partner with the government and do these ceremonies for Vietnam vets that kind of didn’t get that when they came home,” Graves said.

Moving forward, the Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Land O’ Lakes Satellite Club plans to organize two Vietnam Commemoration ceremonies each year.

Graves said the satellite club will likely host a dinner ceremony sometime this fall, to honor multiple Rotarians that served in Vietnam.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” Graves said of the Vietnam commemoration program. “My father served in the military, I have many friends that served in the military and every night I would just implore everyone to, when you do lay down to go to sleep, think about how come you’re able to do that, and be very thankful for those that made (freedom) possible for us.”

Vietnam War (1954-1975)
U.S. Troop Statistics:
8,744,000 – Total number of U.S. Troops that served worldwide during Vietnam
3,403,000 served in Southeast Asia
2,594,000 served in South Vietnam

The total of American servicemen listed as POW/MIA at the end of the war was 2,646.

Death Toll
58,307- Total U.S. Deaths (Average age of 23.1 years old)
1.3 million – Total military deaths for all countries involved
1 million – Total civilian deaths
–Figures compiled by the U.S. Department of Defense

Published July 5, 2017

 

A time-honored tradition to remember those who served

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The four men came to Lutz Cemetery on a Saturday morning, with a cool breeze stirring the trees, and the sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky.

They got to work quickly, each grabbing a supply of American flags and staking out a segment of the cemetery.

Bill Garrison, commander of American Legion Post 108, marches through Lutz Cemetery, surveying gravestones of military veterans to decorate with an American flag in honor of Veterans Day. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Bill Garrison, commander of American Legion Post 108, marches through Lutz Cemetery, surveying gravestones of military veterans to decorate with an American flag in honor of Veterans Day. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The men — Bill Garrison, Ray Mason, Richard Fernandez and Jim Evans — worked their way through the rows of gravestones, looking for those marking the final resting place of men and women who served to protect American freedom.

While Garrison, Mason and Fernandez surveyed areas closer to U.S. 41, Evans checked out the rear section of the cemetery. Each time they found a veteran’s gravestone, they solemnly planted a flag at the edge of the gravestone.

Marking the grave with a flag is an act of remembrance, and of respect. It’s something members of American Legion Post 108 do at Lutz Cemetery every Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day.

The flags remain until a day after Veterans Day, when the men come back to recover them.

The flags honor veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. There’s even a grave of a Civil War soldier and another of a Spanish-American War soldier a soldier, Mason said.

The ritual of remembering men and women who served has been going on for close to 30 years, said Mason, the post’s adjutant.

Each time, they post about 200 flags. “We used to do more cemeteries, but membership dwindled,” said Garrison, the post commander.

As World War II veterans die, the post’s membership has declined. Now, the post — which draws its members from Lutz and Land O’ Lakes — has 97 members, Garrison said.

There are around 200 veterans buried in Lutz Cemetery, he said.

“There’s a lot of sacrifice here,” said Garrison, who served in the U.S. Air Force as a code breaker.

Fernandez, a past commander and the current financial officer for the post who served in the U.S. Coast Guard, said he takes part in the flag postings to honor those who have courageously served this country.

“Unfortunately they don’t get the honor and respect that they deserve,” Fernandez said.

Respect for veterans has improved, however, said Mason, who served in the U.S. Navy.

“Every once in awhile I wear my hat out, and I can’t believe the number of people who come up and say, ‘Thank you for your service,’” he said.

That’s a far different response than the one he received when he first finished military service.

“When I got out in ’65, everybody was against the war, all of that anti-Vietnam stuff,” said Mason, who did not serve in Vietnam.

He was surprised by the negative reception.

“I was taken back,” Mason said.

Evans, who served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam and during the first Gulf War, said posting the flags at the cemetery provides a sense of satisfaction.

“It gives you a nice feeling to have them remembered,” he said.

The men do the best they can to ensure they honor each veteran buried there. They look at the gravestones for any indication of military service.

“Sometimes it is just a little notation on there,” Evans said.

To make sure he didn’t miss any, Garrison kicks leaves off of graves, and scrapes off dirt. The other men made close inspections, too.

“I hate to miss one,” Evans said. “It really hurts me if I miss a veteran. We always make an extra sweep, and we always find some that we missed.”

Evans estimates he’s posted flags at the cemetery about 20 times. Sometimes, the work is easier than others. During the recent posting, conditions were pleasant.

But the heat can be brutal during the Memorial Day and Fourth of July postings, or sometimes it’s pouring rain.

“There have been times after a heavy rain where you almost sink,” Garrison said. “We slop through the mess.”

On the upside, though, “there’s no problem with putting them (the flags) in,” he added.

After they post the flags and complete their sweep, the men conclude by playing “Taps,” — a final tribute for those who served.

Published November 12, 2014

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