The Edison and Ford Winter Estates

The 130th Anniversary of the News-Press

In 130 years, Southwest Florida has grown from a rural, cattle intensive land that it once was. It has since grown into a mecca for tourist activity and luxury living. But 130 years ago there was one event that undeniable changed the history of Fort. Myers: the inauguration of The Fort Myers Press.

On Nov. 22, 1884, the Fort Myers Press released its first issue and has since remained a fixture in the Southwest Florida community.

In the summer of 1884, at the age of 62, an ailing publisher of the Yates County Chronicle of Penn Yan, New York, Stafford Cleveland was given two options by his doctor: head south in search of a warmer, temperate climate or die before the end of the coming winter. He heeded his doctors warning, and after careful research and recommendations, he settled on the growing town of Fort Ogden, Florida as his final destination (currently located between Punta Gorda and Arcadia).

That summer he packed his printing gear and his worldly possessions and boarded a train to Jacksonville, Florida and another train to Cedar Key. From there he boarded the two-masted schooner, the Lily White, which was destined up the Peace River to Fort Odgen.

However Lily White captain and Fort Myers native Henry Roan had different plans for Cleveland after learning of his profession. Roan sailed down the west coast of Florida, passed the Charlotte Harbor, to the Caloosahatchee where Fort Myers locals zealously awaited the arrival of Captain Roan.

Upon arrival, Cleveland was greeted by several of the rough-necked locals and immediately offered sustaining advertisements as well as approximately 300 subscribers (almost the entire population of Fort Myers) should he agree to start his paper in this modest country town. With little hesitation, he agreed and set up his first office on the corner of First and Hendry streets.

On Nov. 22, 1884, Cleveland published the first edition of the Fort Myers Press. Its covered story featured two men how reported a lackluster alligator hunting season in the Okeechobee, a successful leg amputation and the relocation of a saloon among many other local news events.

From then on the Press continued to publish weekly. One notably circumstance in Cleveland’s time as editor-in-chief was a hastily written, three-line article on a “distinguished electrician” that happened to mosey through Fort Myers during the summer of 1885. This electrician being Thomas Edison, who would later buy 13-acres of land along the Caloosahatchee to construct his winter estate.

Cleveland died on Dec. 3, 1885 at the age of 63, just over a year after the Press’ first publication. He died as a result of complications from Bright’s Disease: a chronic kidney disease also associated with diabetes.

Since his death his wife managed the paper until she sold it to an experience columnist by the name of Frank Stout on Mar. 13, 1886. In 1911 the Press became a full-fledged daily paper and from there, the paper changed hands several times until the early 1920s when the paper faced fierce competition from a new rivaling local paper, The Tropical News. The Tropical News was believed to be a more sensationalist paper where the Fort Myers Press had a reputation as more fact based source.

With the downfall of the Roaring 20s and the onset of the depression, funding were running thin, so on June 1, 1931 the Tropical News and the Fort Myers Press merged into on entity that became known henceforth as The News-Press.

In its 130 year the News Press has never missed a single issue. The closest it came to a missed publication was during a hurricane in 1944 that knocked out power to the region. To combat this, Press member burrowed a Jeep from the Buckingham airbase and used it to provided power to the pressroom.

“I don’t know what ever happened to Fort Ogden, but I can say Fort Myers benefited from their loss,” former News-Press staff writer and historian Glenn Miller said.

Who can say for sure whether or not Fort Myers triumphed through history from Fort Odgen’s lost. What is sure is that The News-Press is a staple in the community and is the longest running business in the region’s history.

The Southwest Florida Magical History Tour

Day at the Museum: A review of the Southwest Florida Museum of History

I recently visited the Southwest Florida Museum of History in Fort Myers, Florida, and I was surprised by how thorough it was at walking me through the entirety of the history of Southwest Florida in such a quaintly modest amount of space.

I was admitted under my student discount, which totaled $5.30 and included a hand-held audio tour. General admission is $9.50 plus tax.

The museum begins with a prehistoric exhibit of fossilized mammals that roamed Florida long before man. This depicts a time where Florida resembled the dry grasslands of Sub-Saharan African. Fossils include the massive skeletons of the Giant Sloth, the Saber-toothed Cat and the mammoth. 

As you continue your self-guided tour, you will learn about the early settlement of the Calusa Indians and their reign over the region. On display is a large collection of primitive tools the Calusa used such as shell-hammers and hunting bows. In the same exhibit there is a mural representation of the shell mounts and agricultural development of the Calusa Indians on Pineland, Pine Island, Florida where the natives were known to have flourished.

From there you witness the seamless transition of the landing of the conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon in the early 16^th century, followed by the extinction of the Calusa as a result of the disease brought by the Spanish.

From there, the exhibits begin making leaps and bounds through history as we travel into the Seminole Wars of the early 19^th century, which led to the eventual displacement of the Seminole Indian tribe. We finally reach the development of the fort that served as a stronghold against the Seminoles. This fort would later be named after the young Florida quartermaster, Abraham Myers.

We then make another hastily jump into the fort’s involvement in the Civil War and then into Southwest Florida’s prominent cattle trade to Cuba in the 1870s. This is followed by the transformation of Fort Myers with the introduction of notable figures like Harvie Heitman and Capt. Francis Hendry.

We then witness the boom of the aquacultural industry of Florida followed by a small pocket in the back of the museum dedicated to the civil servants of SW Florida.

The far north hall of the museum is the temporary exhibit gallery. The season, the museum has the work of the Highwaymen on display. The Highwaymen were a troupe of African-American artists from the 1950s what painted realist depictions of the untapped, tropical landscape of Florida. The gallery will be on display until Jan. 3, 2015.

We are then taken into another abrupt transition to the war gallery. This is a collection of war related relics that includes a hodgepodge of World War II and Vietnam War items. These antiquities include uniforms, weaponry and various plane parts such as propellers and hull fragments. Also in this exhibit are a pair of skis and snowshoes that have little labeling to explain their relevance in this particular portion of the museum.

This completes your indoor tour of the museum. From here, you are encouraged to take a look at the outdoor “cracker” house and the refurbished private train car – both of which are definitely worth a quick once-over.

All-in-all, I would say that is a pretty insightful yet general examination of the region. I feel that this experience is a necessity for all permanent Southwest Florida residents to gain a broad understanding of the region to develop a sense of understanding and pride for the place they call home. That being said, I also feel as those there are some pertinent holes between exhibits such from the Calusa extinction to the Seminole Wars as well as Roaring ‘20s and Great Depression era Florida.

The museum is open 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday year round. Private and group tours are also available upon request.

A Tour of the Historic District of Downtown Fort Myers

Fort Myers entrepreneur Harvie Heitman’s store still stands at First and Jackson Streets. This was the first brick building in Fort Myers; it was built in 1898.

The Franklin Arms hotel was originally built in 1889 to serve a boarding house. It has since been turned into office space and apartments.

The Arcade Theater hosts many boutiques and a repertoire theater. It was built in 1915 as the third silent film theater in film.

Built in 1914, the First National Bank is one of the most iconic building in Downtown Fort Myers because of it neo-classical style. This was the one of the locations of George A. Romero’s film Day of the Dead.

Here are the dilapidated remnants of the Hall of Fifty States. The Hall of Fifty States used to be located at the end of the Downtown Pier, but in 1947, after years of weather damage the ball room was moved to its current location.

The Leon building on First and Hendry Streets bear the iconic family crest of Ponce de Leon. Built in 1905, the Leon was the original home of the First National Bank of Fort Myers.

The Patio de Leon was built as a center piece of Fort Myers in 1913. The patio used to be home to two live alligators.

The Kress building on first and broadway is one of Lucius Currian Curtright’s many original building. It served as Fort Myers’s first Five and Dime store.

The Edison Theater is one of the newer structures in the Historic District. Built in 1940, it was the most modern theater of its time. Since then it has become a law office.

The antique store on the corner of Main and Hendry streets is a local favorite. It was originally the location of the James Hendry’s general store in 1911.

Harvie Heitman: The man who brought Ft. Myers to new heights

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Fort Myers. And with a population of over 68,000, it is still in the process of growing. But the Fort Myers that we know and today would not have been without the help of local entrepreneur Harvie E. Heitman.

Although Fort Myers stood for 38 years before Heitman arrived, he oversaw the development of the now Historic District. The first brick building, the first thoroughbred horses and even the first sidewalk in Fort Myers can all be attributed to his entrepreneurial expertise.

Arriving in Fort Myers at the age of 16, Harvie Heitman of Lexington, North Carolina went to work in his great uncle’s general store. As a result of poor business and the panic of 1893, his uncle had to close up shop and move to a more economically hospitable to environment. Heitman took this new found freedom as a chance to try his hand in Key West.

About a year later he returned to Fort Myers to start his own business. He bought a small piece of property on the Northwest corner of First and Jackson Street – across the street from the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center where the Re/Max building currently sits. His business distinctly tailored to the yachtsmen and fishermen that frequently docked in the Caloosahatchee River.

With the money he saved he commissioned a 16 stall stable and bought Fort Myers’ first Kentucky thoroughbred horses that he used for his taxi service down to Naples, Florida.

His growing business caught the attention of a local oil tycoon Ambrose McGregor. The quickly became good friends, and in 1897 McGregor financed the expansion of Heitman’s first building on the corner of First and Jackson. This would become the first brick building in Fort Myers. In 1900, Harvie’s younger brother Gilmer Heitman would occupy the second floor of this building, which he used to house his 50-drop switchboard for the first telephone line in Southwest Florida.

Heitman would go on to wear many hats including the manager of hundreds of acres of citrus grove, the president of the bank of Fort Myers and friend to the original snowbird Thomas Edison.

Harvie Heitman died in 1922 from stomach cancer. Following his death, his brother took control of his estate.

I had the opportunity to speak with Harvie Heitman’s great-nephew and grandson to Gilmer Heitman, Rod Heitman. Although Harvie died almost 20 years before he was even born, he recalls stories that have been passed down to him from his father and grandfather.

“I’ve always been told that he had a strong entrepreneurial mind. As a boy we used to go down to see him at cemetery often and it wasn’t until I was older that I realized just the prominence and impact that he had.”

Harvie Heitman has one of the largest and ordinate headstones in the Fort Myers Cemetery. The head itself is white marble and about six feet in height with a 10’ by 6’ white boarder around the perimeter of the plot. Shaded by age, the stone represent the magnitude of the man. However there is nothing buried there. Shortly after Heitman died, his widow Florida Heitman exhumed his body and relocated it to an unknown location. It is rumored that she moved somewhere in the Northeast U.S. to be closer to her family, but there is little record to validate his whereabouts.

“Shortly before he died there was a falling out between Gilmer and Harvie, so after he died [Gilmer] just lost track of him and [his wife].”

His brother Gilmer is buried directly behind this with nothing more than a modest block of marble with an inscription of his name. Harvie’s stone overshadows Gilmer’s as older brothers tend to do.

A discussion with Peter Bergerson on Florida midterm elections

Peter Bergerson, PhD is a political science professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. He recently spoke at the Southwest Florida Museum of History on the topic of the Florida’s gubernatorial elections from 1964 to the upcoming election.

I had the chance to sit down with Bergerson to get his ask him a few questions relating to his lecture.

In your lecture you focus on the election gubernatorial races from 1964 to present day. What is the significance of the 1964 gubernatorial race?

The significance of the changing of the constitution is what 1964 did. And it changed the election cycle so that the governor of Florida would be in an off-year or non-presidential year, and the impact of that was that it changed the rules. It changed the nature of who gonna vote and in essence we’ve seen the outcome of the elections change in political parties, and what happens is you have such a significant lower turnout from anywhere as 10, 15, 20 percent, whereas the highest turn out in an off-year election, like we’ve seen is 40 percent [of registered voters].

Well, presidential years it’s in the 50s, mid 50s to 60 percent. And usually in the off-years those who vote are usually in the 30 percent range. That’s the effect.

And you have a different electorate. It doesn’t mean you can’t vote, but different people come out to vote. And who those differences effect the outcome of the election. And so one of the things is that you have Democrats who are less like to vote in off years than are Republicans, and so are other groups such as women, such as Hispanics, such as blacks and again, those who are less educated and those who have less income. That the significance of changing the constitution to having an election in a non-presidential year.    

Why are Democrats less likely to vote in an off-year election?

They are less enthusiastic. There is less money being spent. Less campaigning. The engagement/the level of commitment by the political parties is much smaller and much less. The “voter outreach” is not as great.

There are fewer Republicans that vote too, but the proportion is greater among Democrats.

And, Republicans in comparison to Democrats have a higher value placed on voting than do Democrats. In other words, there’s this issue of political socialization. Republicans place a greater intrinsic value ongoing to the polls. They see that their vote means more than Democratic voters.

Why would younger voters feel less incline to participate in off-year elections?

First of all, youth voters have the lowest of any age group than others. The primary reason is that their lives are at a different course. Voters between 18 and 30 are involved in education, starting jobs, starting a family, and their primary focuses are on those immediate issues and they’re not engaged as much in the political system as the older demographics. Those after 30 polls go up, and after 65 it goes back down again. So, each of the voting demographic groups have a different commitment, and they place a different value on candidates and issues and how it effects their lives and how it interacts with their lives and what they’re doing.

Do you see the upcoming amendment 2 as bring out more youth voters in the upcoming election?

No. I don’t think so. It may bring out more youth voters for the amendment, but will that increase the percentage of those who are likely to vote in that demographic age group: I don’t think so, no.

So, other words that in the presidential year, approximately 18 percent of the total vote of a hundred million voters, 18 percent of those were youth vote.

One of the reasons President Obama won, he got about 65 percent of the youth vote. That number of 18 percent stayed the same. But what was skewed was that the high percentage of them voted for Obama. Using that as an example, my guess is that the turnout will still be between 15 and 18 percent. A large percent of them will vote in favor of Amendment 2.

Will it increase the voter turnout: probably not. Will it increase the support for Amendment 2: probably yes.

Would you agree that the majority of the youth vote is of the liberal mindset?

In some cases, yes.

In that case, do you predict the youth vote to swing more so in favor a democratic governor like Charlie Crist?

Some will, sure. Some will, but normal it’s not going to be the disparity of a 60/40 you would see in favor of Amendment 2. You still will see, say a, 55 percent in favor of Charlie Crist versus Governor Scott.

Based on your knowledge of gubernatorial elections and what you’ve seen in previous election, 

where do you see this election going?

Well it’s a flip of a coin at this stage here in the middle of October. I would say that at a flip of a coin either can win. I think that you can make a case that either candidate can win. Incumbents tend to win more often than they lose, so I think you can make a case for Governor Scott.

I also, on the other hand, keep in mind that when Governor Scott was elected four years ago didn’t get 50 percent of the vote. And so, I think you can make a strong case based on that, that he’s not a popular governor, or at least not as popular as other have been. And Charlie Crist, even though he may have his own baggage is well known. And so the race, I think is gonna come down to the last week, and perhaps maybe even the last weekend.

In other word, my guess is that 80 percent, maybe perhaps as much as 90 percent of the voters have made up their mind, but what you have is somewhere between 10 and 12 percent who haven’t made up their mind, or may change their mind or may not vote. And that percentage will determine the outcome.

You also have at this stage the unknown of a third party candidate. Historically, third party candidates always hurt the incumbent more than the challenger.

We’ll see what happens.

Can you give me a breakdown of the demographics that turn out for an off-year election?

Well they are going to be mostly white, mostly female. The turnout will be determined in the I-4 corridor, and that I-4 corridor is from Orlando to Tampa, and the Dade and Broward counties. Those will be the key because that is where the largest bulk of Republican and Democratic voters are.

Another key factor will be the voter turnout out in the panhandle area where you have people of have a high democratic voter registration but high republican voting.

Each election is different but because of the dynamics of this election and the closeness of it, it’s going to be very hard at this stage who is gonna to win

Men are overwhelmingly, the majority will vote for Governor Scott. Women are gonna vote more so for Charlie Crist

What is going to determine the outcome of the election is the swing voters or the undecided voters. And how united are the two parties. If one party is more united than the other in close parties like this one the elections are won in small margins of 2-3 percent, so each the candidates has kind of micro-targeted these different groups in order to peel off some of their votes: whether it’s Hispanics or blacks, environmentalist or teachers.

What stands out about this election that differs of previous gubernatorial elections?

I think one of the things that stands out among lots of thing is the amount of money is far and away. The amount is significant. This is the most costly campaign in Florida history, one of the most costly in U.S. history followed perhaps only by New York, Illinois or California. This is partially because Florida is a large state. It has multiple media markets. That’s one of the things I think stands out.

People always talk about the negative nature of the campaign. I don’t think it’s to the point of being offensive to me. One of advantages of political campaigns, as long as they’re honest, and I have – maybe there are – not seen blatant lies.

One of the things about negative campaigning is that it brings out things that are legitimate issues about the character of the candidates of the other party. There are three things that you want to do in a campaign on the media side: one, define yourself; two, define your opponent – obviously negatively; and three, define and own the issues. If they are successful at those three, they’re gonna win.

From a media perspective, that’s what they’re spending millions of dollars on.

Is there any benefit to take the moral high ground when speaking about you opponent?

For the incumbent there is. The incumbent stands more to lose from negative ads. But often times the negative ads from the incumbent side tend to be by “Well, I don’t know those people.” They’re pacs or 501(c)(4) (third party groups not associated legally or formally with the campaign for office) to groups. So, they (the incumbent) disassociate themselves.

Negative ads, if they’re run and sponsored by the candidate, and they’re totally uncivil, then yeah, they hurt.

Food for thought

Peter Bergerson

On Thursday, Oct. 9, Peter Bergerson PhD. will be speaking at the Southwest Florida Museum of History on the history of the race for Florida state governor from 1964 to 2014. Bergerson has been a professor of political science and public affairs at Florida Gulf Coast University since 2002.

Bersgerson is presented on behalf of the Southwest Florida Historical Society as a guest speaker for their monthly meetings. Each month the historical society presents a special guest speaker to host a lecture at the Southwest Florida Museum of History. Meetings take place every second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m.

Museum Renovations

The Southwest Florida Museum of History is reopened this week. The museum was closed from Sept. 21 until the 26. It resumed normal operations as of last Saturday, Sept. 27.

According to a museum representative the museum was closed in order to perform routine maintenance, manage inventory and document and catalog items.

The museum is open every Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. It offers private tours, special exhibits and live lectures.

Currently on temporary exhibit at the museum is “Sons of the Sun: The Highwaymen," which features the paintings of African-American artists of the mid-1950s. This exhibit will be on display until Jan. 3, 2015.

Know your Historians: Glenn Miller 

I recently sat down for an interview with the local journalist and historian Glenn Miller. Miller is the current second vice president and long-time member of the Southwest Florida Historical Society. Before donning the role of vice president, Miller was a staff writer for the News-Press for 25 years. A lot has changed in Southwest Florida over the last three decades and he was there to see it all happen.

While writing for the News-Press, Miller interviewed the likes of Stan Musial, hall of fame baseball player; Al Oerter, four-time Olympic gold medalist in discus; Mickey Mantle; Bobby Orr; Roger Clemens.

In addition to his vital role at the historical society, he continues to write for the News-Press as well as Naples Daily News, Florida Weekly, Associated Press and his own blog Glen Miller Writes.

You can find Miller rifling through old documents of once prominent Florida figures and the faded ink of old newspaper articles every Saturday and Wednesday down at the little yellow house next to the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers.

Abraham Myers: The man who never came

Many notable characters have come through Fort Myers, Florida since it was founded in 1850; however, the eponym of the fort is not one of them.

In the 78 years of Col. Abraham Myers' life, he had never set foot in the in the city that was named after him.

Abraham Charles Myers was born in on May 14, 1811 in Georgetown, South Carolina to a well-to-do Jewish-American family. His father, also Abraham Myers, was a successful attorney and mayor of Georgetown. Myers was also a direct descendant of Moses Cohen, the first rabbi of Charleston, South Carolina.

Glenn Miller of the Southwest Florida Historical Society spoke on this matter.

“It surprises many, including myself, that at a time of such great prejudice of the Jews, Abraham was able to climb through the ranks and was oppressed in the military,” Miller said.

In July 1828 at the age of 17, Myers was enrolled in West Point Military Academy – the same year Confederate President Jefferson Davis graduated and Gen. Robert E Lee the following year.

In Myers’ personal memoirs he recalled taking engineering, tactics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, history, ethics and law.

After being retained his freshman year for “deficiency in his studies,” Myers finally graduated 32^nd in his class of 46 in 1833. Upon graduating, he was promoted to the rank of brevet second Lieutenant and station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He remained there until 1836 where he was then transferred to Florida where he fought in the Battle of Oloklikaha under Gen. Edmund Gaines during the Second Seminole War.

In 1838, Myers was relocated to West where he was commissioned to a surveying team.

Myers returned to Florida in 1839 and made captain of the quartermaster department of Florida where he remained until the outbreak of the Mexican-American War. As a result of “gallant and meritorious conduct,” during the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Myers was promoted to brevet major and later to colonel. In 1848 he was named interim chief quartermaster of the Army of Mexico in Texas. While in Texas, he met Marion Twiggs, daughter of Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs. They later married when Myers was again transferred back to Florida.

It was for this reason that Twiggs commissioned the construction of a new fort south of the Caloosahatchee River and for it to be named Fort Myers after his new son-in-law.

“To honor me, [he] named a fort in Florida Fort Myers,” Myers wrote in his memoirs. “That was real nice of him.”

For the following decade, Myers remained colonel in the quartermasters department for the southern states. When the south seceded from the union on the advent of Civil War in 1861, he surrendered his assets to Confederacy and became the first quartermaster general of the Confederate Army. However this position was short lived.

Throughout Myers’ run as quartermaster general he was under severe criticism; he often blamed for the lack of supplies and persecuted for his Jewish lineage. He rebutted by writing:

“We never had enough money. My office was efficient but was not able to overcome the carelessness and deficiency of my remote subordinates.”

In 1863 at the age of 52, Myers was personally relinquished by President Davis for his failure to sufficiently supply the Confederate Army, though Myers felt this was a conspiracy to remove him from his rank.

“In 1863 Jefferson Davis dismissed me,” Myers wrote. “He said I was not qualified but me and my friends know the real reason. He was angry that Mrs. Myers remarked that Mrs. Davis looked like a squaw. She did have a dark complexion.”

After retiring from a lifelong career in the military, Myers and his wife traveled through various countries in Europe until 1877 when he permanently settled down in Washington, D.C. He died in 1889 at the age of 78. He is currently buried in Saint Paul's Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia.

In all this time he never made it down to the fort that bears his name; however it is rumored that he may have traveled down the Caloosahatchee River during a surveying mission through South Florida.

Myers lives on through his great grandson Dr. Samuel Myers of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

About the Author

My name is Paul McDade and I am an amateur historian in the Southwest Florida area. I lived in the area for 15 years and in that time have learned little about SWFL's past, so ideally this blog will be a learning experience for both you and I.