211. The Fascinating Life of Florida Cowman and Philanthropist Captain Francis Asbury Hendry; with Sam Phares

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If you're considering agricultural or recreational land in Oklahoma or Kansas, and want someone on your side who believes that a handshake and a man's word still hold value, then Bud Barnes is just the land specialist you need. Reach out Simran Land Group by calling 580-430-8349 or visit them on the web at SimranLandGroup.com. That's Simran with 1M and 2Rs and learn how they can help you conserve and preserve land now to protect your legacy in the years ahead. [Music] I'm Tartarou, New York Manors, paid off county planners watching red buttons stack condos to the sky. I'm Tartarou, this dredging field bulldozing, burning build, it's enough to make this Florida cracker cry. Watch Florida roads all like where did Florida go? The Florida that I knew is nearly gone. Lethal yellows kill the trees, hot the minions block the breeze, and I'm having trouble understanding Brooklynese. [Music] Hey y'all, Brad Ferris here, welcome to another episode of Between the Beaches Podcast. This week I've got Sam sitting in with me and we're going to do a little bit of a follow-up to an episode we had a couple of weeks ago. We've been kind of recounting some of the old Calhunt and history and so in that prior episode we talked quite a bit about the Cal Calvary and the Cuban cattle trade. So this is going to kind of tie into that. We're going to be covering one chapter out of a book, Florida cattle frontier over 400 years of cattle raising. So this was something that spun out of a symposium that was held back in 1995 I believe it was. And this particular chapter is chapter 8. And it's put together by Sarah Nell Gran. The chapter is Captain Francis Asbury Hendry, 1833 to 1917 soldier, cattle king, statesman, historian, benefactor. So for those of you that have been listening and following along for a while you'll know that he was one of those we mentioned as one of the early settlers over in the Tampa Bay area. Long Alifier River where my family was at. In fact my third great grandfather served in his company at one point. We'll get into that as we go along. But some really great history and I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm going to kick it off. We'll probably interject a little bit of commentary here and there to clarify as we go. And I think Sam's going to cover the second half. One of Florida's most noted pioneers was Captain Francis Asbury Hendry who for over half a century was a leader in the business and civic affairs of the state as well as a large cattle owner. Francis Asbury Hendry was born on 19 November 1833 to James Edward and Lydia Carlton Hendry. The oldest of 11 children at the time of his birth his parents were settled in Thomas County, Georgia 48 miles north of Tallahassee. The area was described as a vast wilderness. James Hendry was a farmer as well as a stockman keeping cattle hogs and sheep. F.A. Hendry made his first trip to Florida when he was 12 years old. He later recalled how excited he was that his father allowed him to accompany him and the many other farmers who would take their farm products to Tallahassee to sell to the dealers there and purchase salt, coffee, flour, etc. They would return home after the week-long journey with supplies to last them many months. F.A. Hendry drove a horse and cart and his father rode along horseback. F.A. wrote in 1909, "Other farmers were long and it was a lively jolly crowd camping at night around a rousing campfire." As the plantations in their part of Georgia expanded, his father's range lands became restricted. James Hendry looked for a place with available land which he found in central Florida. Other members of their family had already settled near there. Lydia Carlton Hendry's brother, Alderman Carlton, had moved to Hillsboro, County, Florida in January of 1843. James Edward Hendry drove his cattle to South Florida in 1848 and selected a site on the Alifier River, 22 miles east of Tampa on the "outside line of civilization" end quote. The herd of cattle he had brought with him were turned out on the range and he went back to Georgia for his family. Three years later in 1851, James returned to Florida with his family. So he hauled those cattle down there and put them out and went back to Georgia for three years. Let me get back to spotting a book here. On his arrival in Florida, James was the father of four sons and five daughters. The two oldest daughters had married in Georgia so when he arrived in Florida, his family totalled 17, including mother and father. Three weeks were required for the journey of about 400 miles. F.A. Hendry wrote, "I was 17 years of age and the oldest boy of the family. I drove a fine ox team of four large Georgia raised steers hooked up to a fine old-fashioned Georgia made wagon. Tampa was the only point where supplies could be purchased and the only post office within 100 miles except at Manatee. He stated that his first task after discharging my cargo was to hook up my team of true and triad oxen and drive to Tampa for a load of supplies. What I first saw of the Hamlet of Tampa, what were called streets then, were deep beds of sand and sand spurs. There were about three stores and a post office. The courthouse was a small bungalow-looking structure with an ordinary house for a jail. There was a military post at Tampa known as Fort Brook. Two steamboats, the Ranger and the Grey Cloud owned by the U.S. government, ran up and down the Gulf Coast, touching at New Orleans, Tampa, Manatee, Fort Myers, and Key West. They were employed not for general commerce but to transport troops and commissary supplies. How about that picture of Tampa? Yeah, compared to what it is today. I couldn't imagine. I mean dirt road filled with sand spurs. Not terribly that long ago in the grand scheme of things. A log home was built near the Alifier River and the family soon adapted itself to the Pioneer Life which then did not offer a great change from what they had been accustomed to in South Georgia. After a year in Florida, James returned to Georgia for the remainder of his herd. He never returned. Word came that he had died of diphtheria while in Georgia. He had been buried three weeks before the family learned of his death. Oregon Hendrick Blunt, one of the daughters, said that after her father's death, their mother bravely carried on the work of the ranch with the help of her four sons. They raised their own corn and ground it by hand into grits and meal for bread. She told that the river was full of fish and the forest full of game. They had plenty of deer meat and it became so common the family seldom ate it. They fed it to the dogs. Now, there's another thing to consider. Back in the day, you didn't go to the store for dog food, did you? James Widow, Lydia Carlton, Henry, remarried in 1854 to Benjamin Moody and the primitive life in the wilderness continued. The cattle multiplied. Savannah, nearly 500 miles away, was the big beef market of that day and the sons and stepfather were often gone for months on a drive to that city. On March 20th, 1852, three and a half months after his father's death, 19-year-old Francis Asbury Hendry, wed 17-year-old Hardleene Ross Leneer, a daughter of Lewis Leneer. They moved from Alaphaya to Fort Mead where he was the first to put his father and his father in laws heard of cattle east of the peace river. Now, going back to the prior episode, I mentioned in there those of you that heard it will remember that that was basically what triggered the Third Seminole War because east of the peace river was the Indian reservation. When Han is young, wife first moved to Fort Mead, they lived within the garrison. It was occupied at that time by three companies of regular soldiers. Later, F.A. Hendry and his wife settled two miles northwest to Fort Mead on unsurveied land through which a pretty little stream ran, becoming the first settlers outside the fort. F.A. Hendry butchered beef for the soldiers in Fort Mead, and at the age of 20, he drove one herd through the wilderness to the military post at Fort Meyers, swimming the herd across the Kalloo Sahatchi River at a point where it was a mile and a half wide, compared to what it is today. Now, I'm thinking when you think about the Mississippi River and how wide it is, mile at a point and whatnot, clearly that had to been at a time when it was in a flood stage or something to be that wide. I don't know all the history on it, but that's pretty incredible to think about. Going back to the book, the next year in 1854, he made his second trip to Fort Meyers as a guide to Lieutenant Benson and party from Fort Mead. It was 100 miles to Fort Meyers across a trackless uninhabited wilderness. He was paid $1 per day in gold. Hendry took an active part in the third Seminole Indian War. The army planned to send a supply convoy escorted by a cavalry to Fort Mead and the other south fort of Forts from Fort Brook in Tampa. Officers in Fort Brook met Hendry and after learning of his familiarity with the area asked him to be the guide. He enlisted as a private in 1856 and served in Captain William B. Hooker's independent company, Florida Mounted Volunteers. At the time of his enlistment, he was described as being 23 years old, 6 foot 1 inch tall with gray eyes, dark-complexed with dark hair and a farmer and stock razor by occupation. After six months, Hendry was mustered out of that service and enlisted again as a private in Captain Lee Roy G. Leslie's independent company, Florida Mounted Volunteers. If some of these names are familiar to some of you regular listeners, you heard them in that prior episode. There weren't that many people in Florida at the time and all of these guys knew each other and worked together. He was soon promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant. It was while on duty in one of the Indian campaigns that he visited the region south of the Clusa Hatchee River. He was impressed by its fertility and its advantages for farming and stock raising. Hendry had one experience during the Seminole Indian War that he would never forget. After escorting a troop of cavalry to Fort Thompson, Hendry walked away from the Fort alone and unarmed. He encountered a lone Indian. The Indian raised his rifle to shoot but was startled by the barking of dogs that had accompanied the soldiers. The Indian turned and ran. In 1861, 28-year-old Francis Asbury, Hendry was one of the prime movers in the organization of Pope County, established by the division of Hillsboro County with the eastern half becoming Pope County. He was elected one of the new county's commissioners. At the outbreak of the Civil War, three years after the Indian War of 1856 to 58, 30-year-old Hendry enlisted in the Confederate Army. He was assigned to duty in the commissary department because of his knowledge of beef supplies and was detailed to drive cattle from Florida to Virginia or wherever the cattle were needed. In 1863, he was commissioned to captain and was authorized to recruit a cavalry company. It became known as Captain Hendry's Company A First Battalion, Florida Special Cavalry, which was attached to Colonel Charles J. Munnerlin's independent battalion. Munnerlin's battalion was composed of men who had been allowed to remain in service at home to provide for their families and round up cattle for the military. Jacob and Jasper Somerlin both served with Hendry's Company. Several members of Hendry's family, including GW Hendry and WM Hendry, also served. Fort Myers, which had been abandoned in 1858 at the end of the third Seminole Indian War, was reoccupied by the Union forces in January 1864 and used as a base to make raids into the interior to gather cattle and recruit men. Again, we've discussed this in that other episode and the fact that Hendry's Company and that group made a couple of different raids down there into that area. Let's see. Let me go back here. Captain Hendry's Company, primarily local pioneers, was stationed at Fort Mead. According to Colonel Munnerlin's first official report, these troops were the most efficient of all. They were so effective in driving off Union cattle wrestlers that stealing in the area almost stopped. In 1865, he participated in an unsuccessful attack on Fort Myers and served until his surrender to the Union troops at Tampa at the war's end. At the age of 32, Hendry represented Pope County in the second constitutional convention, which convened at Tallahassee on 25 October 1865 following the Civil War. The Jacksonville, Florida Union in December 1865 in reporting the election to the 28th Senateorial District of Pope Embrovard Counties referred to him as "Berry" Hendry. I'm assuming shortening the middle name. He was elected to a Board of Public Instruction for Pope County in 1869 at the age of 36. At the request of Jake Somerlin, Hendry served as one of the first trustees for Somerlin Institute, the first school to be built in Bartow. And again, referring back to what we've discussed before, this is where these cattlemen weren't getting rich making all this money. They were doing public works and trying to improve their communities for the most part. And that's a great example of it right there. One donated 40 acres and $1,120 for the erection of a building which was completed in 1868. Hendry wrote that he was one of the first persons with whom Somerlin discussed his plans for the school. After the Civil War, Captain Hendry returned to ranching that fortmead. but remembering the fertile pasture land near the Clusa Hatchie River, he made a $50,000 cattle purchase from his brother-in-law, Julius C. Rockner. Now, $50,000 were talking in money that time. - Yeah. - That was a huge sum. - Absolutely. - And purchased additional cattle from Captain D. Hughes of Bartow. Adding these cattle, with those he already possessed, he drove 12,000 head across the Clusa Hatchie River in 1870. - Wow. - And pastured them on the prairies of Fort Thompson about 10 miles east of the present day, Label, in the area he had discovered during his service in the Seminole Indian War. It was pretty astonishing numbers. - Yeah. - In the summer of 1870, Captain Henry, after disposing of his property in Fort Mead, moved his family to Fort Myers. He rebuilt one of the officer's quarters and made it his home. About the same time, Captain Henry established a ranch home at Fort Thompson, where he spent part of his time. By this time, Captain Henry and Artilene had quite a large family, four boys and three girls. The oldest James E. Henry senior was 16 and Carrie Bell. The youngest was four years old. Three more daughters were born in Fort Myers. The Henry family was one of the first families to move into the area later joined by other members of his family. Captain Henry established the first school class in Lee County in 1873 to 1874. Henry hired a teacher to take charge of the school for that year, a visiting Englishman named Robert Bell, who was paid $25 a month plus room, board, all the hunting and fishing he wanted, and use of Captain Henry's best soil pony. During the 1870s, Captain Henry continued to purchase large tracks of land in the Fort Thompson area from the state. His herds increased rapidly on the previously ungraced range lands, and he continued to purchase more cattle. In 1874, he bought between 4,000 and 5,000 head of cattle from W.H. Edison. At his Fort Thompson ranch, Captain Henry Fentstan attract of 25,000 acres and began planning guinea grass and other valuable varieties of grass in his pastures. He also introduced pure blood jerseys crossing them with the scrubs, which developed a hearty, valuable strain that was hard to excel. At one time, it was reported that he had as many as 50,000 head of cattle. - Wow. - You compare that number to some of our biggest ranch operations in the state today, and he was ahead of him. - Yeah. - Back then. Besides the excellent grazing grounds and the amount of land available for his large herd, the Fort Thompson area was close to one of the best ports on the Gulf Coast of Florida, Punarasa. Captain Henry was one of the originators of the Cuban cattle trade from Punarasa via Key West. In an article in the Fort Myers Press of 29 November, 1884, Punarasa was described as being of sufficient depth of water for vessels of adequate size. There was good holding ground for anchors and a safe harbor. The official coast chart shows 24 feet of water at the Wharf. The distance from Punarasa to Key West is 120 miles and from Key West to Havana about 90, making 210 miles in all. It is manifest that an appropriate steamship can easily make the run from Punarasa to Havana touching at Key West in 24 hours. - Wow. - All steam ships on their way to Cuba had to stop in Key West to clear customs. In the semi-tropical, which is a periodical or newspaper of some sort, of April 1877, Captain Henry reported that in 1872, there were shipped from this point, 18,000 head of cattle. The telegraph company possessed all the shipping facilities and charged 15 cents per head for shipping. The shipping now costs 10 cents and is all done upon the Wharf of Mr. Henry who now owns the cattle shipping station. So this is a good example of some vertical integration. Captain Henry constructed his own pins and log warves that extended several hundred yards into the Gulf at Punarasa. He operated the wharves not only for his own use, but also for the convenience of other cattle shippers. In 1878, he sold those facilities to Jake Simmerland for $10,000. In the beginning, Wertman used Block and Tackle to load the cattle onto the ships, which carried 600 head at a time to Cuba. Later, the docs were built so that cranes would not have to be used to load the cattle. The cattle were a corralled and large pin and a large pin which was connected by a shoot or a boarded driveway to the vessel and bunches of a dozen head at a time were driven on board. Florida cattlemen trading with Cuba were often paid in Spanish de blooms. Local merchants accepted the gold as readily as they did dollars. Captain Henry purchased 11 acres in Key West on which he had cattle holding pins and butcher pins as well as a few buildings to house his workers. Charles Wesley Henry, a cousin to Captain Henry, relocated to Key West to handle the cattle for his cousins from 1883 until 1893. In an article published in the Fort Myers Press in November 1884, Captain Henry reported that for 30 years, Cuba has been the sole market for the large herds of beef cattle raised in the lower counties of the Florida Peninsula. Some seasons, there have been over 20,000 head shipped across the Gulf to that island, bringing in return very satisfactory prices. The highest price ever paid at Ponderasa by the Cuban dealers was $22 per head. The lowest being, $12 per head, showing that market is very unsteady and fluctuating. Now owning to a depressed condition of every line of business on the island, especially money matters, the trade with Cuba is at a standstill. There have been, however, during the past season, a few thousand head transported with very unsatisfactory results. And there is a general inclination among the cattle raisers to hold their cattle until that market assumes its normal condition. The market improved with the Spanish-American War. In December 1898, the news press reported that the cattle business is rushing and all the cattlemen are kept on the go between here in Ponderasa, getting cattle off to Cuba. In April 1876, Captain Henry described cattle breeding in Monroe County, now Lee, in an article published in The Semi-Tropical. A person who intends to follow the occupation of a stock raiser for his livelihood requires a capital of $5,000 to be able to commence with a herd of 1,000 head of cattle. As any smaller number required, the same amount of labor and attendance and yields proportionately less increase and less profits. These thousand head can be managed by one man with one horse the whole year round, except at branding and at gathering times, where usually a few stock owners join or else hired help is necessary. In Monroe County, very near 100 square miles are necessary to support 1,000 head of cattle. And on the prairies in Manatee County, close to Lake Ocachubi, I mind you, this was before Manatee County had been broken up and Ocachubi and Glades hadn't been created, but they're talking about where we're located now. - Right. - Nearly double the number, find sufficient food, the whole year round upon the same space, which is why-- - Yeah, we're always known. - The pierces ended up in that area. The time for branding are the months of April, May and June. And in fact, the cattle breeder is only in the aggregate for four months in the year occupied with his cattle and has eight months left for the cultivation of his farm. The points for the shipment of Florida cattle are the islands of Key West and Cuba. The expenses for gathering and loading the vessels are $1 per head. The freight to Key West is $2 and to Cuba $5 per head. The cattle are shipped at the same rate on steamers as on sailing vessels. The market price in both these places is $15 per head. The increase in height (brand of 5G should change the height of 5G) on a thousand-head gross is 25% per annum and from the same number of cattle yearly 100 beaves are marketable. The age of the cattle when they are sold to the butcher is four years and upwards. The owner of a herd of cattle from one to three thousand-head with a small farm can support himself with his family very comfortably. Among the cattle in Monroe County are no prevalent diseases and the animals fatten very soon. The settlers in Monroe County receive their supplies from New Orleans. Now he's going to go on here with another article that describes what range life was like and we're going to get to that in a second half but for right now let's take a break get in and we're from our sponsors and we'll be right back. Between the Beaches podcast is brought to you in part by Cow Hunters Unlimited where we strive to share the story of old Florida and our long-standing cow culture heritage. We're fortunate to be able to share that story in multiple formats including Brad's paintings of Florida's ranch lands and lush landscapes, his poetry and writing as well as our award-winning line of food products. Whether using a brush on canvas or painting a picture with words we reveal the real Florida and offer food focused on classic Florida flavors like guava, keelime, pineapple and citrus all paired together with peppers and a blend of sweet heat that'll make you feel like you've got a mouthful of Florida sunshine. 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Okay, dropping back in for the second half of the show here, I'm going to kick it over to Sam and let her read for a little bit and we'll continue to drop in some thoughts as we have them. But really interesting so far. Yeah, sure is. In an article published in the semi-tropical in April 1877, Captain Henry wrote about cattle raising in South Florida describing the management of large herds and half wild cattle. Cattle pins are erected at convenient points for gathering in the stock, always selecting loyal. Luke, I will. Their language back then was a little different. Yeah, it takes a little adjustment. Always selecting localities where there is plenty of water shade and grazing. Our pins are built of pine logs generally, but sometimes of palmetto and cypress and are so arranged as to have partitions for parceling into small lots and divisions. These pins are located generally from 10 to 15 miles apart so that the herdsman can pin their stock conveniently in whatever direction it may be found. The hunting parties generally consist of from six to ten active young men well mounted on tough, hardy and fleet ponies. Each party has a wagon and a team to transport the camp equipage and supplies and each cowboy is prepared with a good cow whip, tin cup, wallet and saddlebags. The teamster acts in double capacity of teamster and cook. The party generally separates from the team but one day all hands come together at night. Thus equipped the hunters start out early in the morning, the leader laying out the day's hunt, the party generally dividing into two or three sections. The leader is generally a man through thoroughly conversant with the range, the marks and brands of each owner, and has the general supervision of the hunt, keeping a strict account of supplies, the cost of the same, and also the counting and numbering of the calves marked and the beaves gathered and sold of each owner. The men are all in saddle by sunrise in the morning ready and anxious for their lapers. The cattle are heard in the distance, the calves bleeding, the cows lowing and bellowing in every direction. Orders are given to drive everything great and small and to pin or bring together at night all the cattle found in a certain scope. The cattle are generally collected on burns, explained as an area that has been burned off deliberately or by nature where new grass is growing, where there is plenty of green wire grass and are in small lots from three to 50 head, where they are found and collected in one large drove. The gathering continuing until the heat of the day when the droves are conducted to some known spot of shade, water, etc. The cattle ready to stand quiet and the order given to rest for two to three hours, the hunters dismount and strip their tired horses and man and beast find refreshment. By this time a large drove of from 500 to 1000 are collected, consisting of calves from one or two days old to the largest bulls and steers that roam the forest. When refreshed, all hands mount their horses and start the drove slowly in the direction of the ranch or pins, moving at the rate of about one mile per hour. This seems slow traveling but better time cannot be made with a heavy drove of stock cattle, sometimes extending for miles. The lively cattle running ahead and requiring to be checked and turned while the rear with large numbers of young calves require to be urged and carefully crowded on by the cattleman. From these cattle pins the first indication the teamster and cook has of the approaching herd is the heavy sound of cow whip, which is used so dexterously by the drivers. Next the cow loop, which strange to say is really musical as it comes through the wilderness. These cattlemen can holler so as to be heard for one to two miles. Next is the heavy-loathing and bleeding of the stock, which in the distance to the inexperienced is like the sound of an approaching tornado. The herd is driven into the pins, the bars or gates are secured and all hands weary, dusty, hungry and thirsty. Repair to the camp. Where the cook? That's more of that language that we use them not today. Where the cook has supper prepared consisting of venison steak killed by him during the day, rice or harmony, harmony, with the drippings of the steak, biscuits and coffee, strong enough as the boys say to ride a straddle. Serve from ten plates and cups with iron spoons and pocket knives, or occasionally table knives and forks. After supper the horses are rubbed down, watered and fed and turned loose on the luxuriant grass, which abounds in almost every locality. Their days weren't completed, the boys filled their pipes, gathered around a cheerful pine-knot fire and smoke and recount the incidents of the day, some of which are frequently very exciting and amusing. After these yarns, the blankets are spread upon the ground and all find rest. The marking and branding is the most laborious labor of any connected with the whole business and usually takes a whole day to mark, brand and regulate one of these herds. After the beef cattle are selected and separated, the calves are all marked and the herd are all turned back upon the range from whence they came, and the party proceeds to repeat the same labor in other directions. This active work continues from three to four months after which cow hunting ceases for the year. Key West and the island of Cuba afford the principal markets for the beef cattle raised in these counties. The former consumes on average 4,000 head annually and the latter an average of 10,000 head. The average price of these cattle after paying the expenses of management, shipping, etc. will not exceed $14 per head and the cattle raisers may safely rely upon an increase of 15% upon the capital invested to say nothing of the beef milk, etc. used for the home consumption and the manure which is beyond a doubt the finest fertilizer for orange trees we can possibly use. The drovers used oxen to pull the carts on the drives through swarms of horse flies so thick they killed mules and bulls. Gray wolves weighing from 60 to 90 pounds, men and herds. In December 1884, Captain Henry told about an interesting incident that occurred on one of the cattle drives to punerasa. A few miles from a few miles above Fort Myers at a point where the great cattle trail crosses the Calusa Hatchee, a regular swimming pin has been established. Where thousands of cattle are annually crossed in route to punerasa, the place where nearly all Florida cattle are placed on board vessels and conveyed to Cuba. On one occasion, while a large herd were being crossed, a monster black bear was startled from his hiding place and entered the water in full view of the cattlemen, then engaged in driving the cattle into the river. Brune, being rather a good natured chap, seldom hurries himself, seems to take the world easy and with all is a happy go lucky sort of fellow, ready always to make the best of whatever crosses the trials and may befall him. the water and swam leisurely across the dark and deep stream. At that point, being about 100 yards wide. Just at this time, an alligator, who's breathed between the eyes and length of his head, showed him to be the chief of all the. sorry. and tribe, moved out of the overhanging vines on the opposite shore and glided slowly through the deep waters, evidently intending to intercept Brune and lay in the month supply of fat bear meat. The Cowboys already. always ready to see fun, especially if there is anything like a fight either by man or beast, ceased their labors for the time being and grouped themselves on the very brink of the river, ready to hoo-roof for the winter, alligator or bear, whichever it might be, but not to bet their money on either. About midway in the stream, the two champions came in close contact. Brune did not change his course or seem at all alarmed, but kept the even tenor of his way. His sorean majesty appeared to make a little halt, rather made a curious sheer to one side, allowing his intended victim to pass, then suddenly made a desperate lurch, raising his head, raising his huge head and shoulders above the water, and appeared to seize the bear by the head. A terrible splashing and churning and stirring of mud and water ensued, the like of which had seldom taken place on the Calusa Hatchee. Both gator and bear disappeared, the water seemed too smooth over them and the Cowboys shouted, "Goodbye, bear, or sympathies go with you." Very soon, however, there appeared to be signs of life below, while toughs of hair, evidently bear hair, floated to the surface, and the boys whooped and swore that the gator had swallowed the bear alive, guts, feathers and all. However, the bear soon came to the surface and moved on as quietly and as serenely as if it had only been taking his usual bear bath, crawled up on the opposite bank, gave himself a gentle shake and disappeared in the jungle. While just below his discomforted discomfort, gatorship popped up to the surface and made his way downstream in search of a smaller and more easily captured game. The boys yelled and asked his majesty how he liked bear meat. That was pretty interesting because it was just a year or two ago that there was a video that went viral of a bear crossing a river here in Florida and he went by like four different gators, I think, on his way across the river. Right. And he made it all the way across. So I don't know what the deal is with bears and gators, but the bear seems to come out on top every time. Which is surprising. As the decade of the 1880s matured, Hendry found that the cattle business did not require his full attention. He was able to devote a good portion of his time to civic affairs. On 1 June 1881, Governor Bloxham announced that he had just completed a deal for selling four million acres of Florida land with Hamilton Distan, a Philadelphia as the buyer. Plans were announced to drain the Everglades. The first dredge built in Cedar Key under the supervision of Captain J Fred Meng, Emmy and GE, Meng, Meng, Must've been something like that. Appeared on the Calusa Hatchee on 21st September 1881. The dredge was anchored in the river and the captain stayed with Captain Hendry and explained how the drainage project would be handled. The first project was to carry out the Okachoby drainage contract and to open a waterway from Lake Okachoby to the Gulf by digging a three mile canal to Lake Hickpatji. For the next seven years, Captain Meng was engaged in dredging canals leading from Lake Okachoby. The principal one was the canal from the head of the Calusa Hatchee to the lake. Captain Hendry became one of the directors of the drainage company and kept in close contact with the work being done. Over the next several years, he made written reports to different governors giving a full and complete report of the work and the condition of the area. Fort Myers benefited from the cattle business. The infim village of Fort Myers had one great asset. It was the only accessible trading center for a rapidly growing region and it was as a cow town that Fort Myers grew slowly but surely. I couldn't imagine Fort Myers as a cow town either. Better than much as Tampa being sandy roads. The importance of the cattle industry can best be shown by the fact that during one year in the 1870s, Captain Hendry shipped 12,896 head from Punarasa to Key West. The price is paid, average $15 per head for all of the cattle he received $200,000. In the 1870s, many of those cattlemen came to Fort Myers to buy their supplies and so did the cow hunters who worked for them. This meant good business for Fort Myers merchants and they began to prosper. It also meant good business for blacksmiths and cobblers and drugists and doctors and everyone else who took care of the cattleman's needs. Captain Hendry took an active role in the development of Fort Myers area. He was chairman of the meeting held in the school house at Second and Lee streets which resulted in the incorporation of Fort Myers on the 12th of August 1885. He was elected to serve on the First Town Council. At that time, what is now Lee County was a part of Monroe County with Key West as the county seat 140 miles away. Transportation between Fort Myers and Key West was by Schooner, causing a considerable hardship on any of the citizens who had business with the county court. Property owners along the could loose a hatchy were heavily taxed but could not do anything about it. They felt they were getting very little return on their tax money. Key West, with its population 10 times that of the entire Clusa Hatchee region, had little interest in the welfare of the remote area. Sounds like today. Some things never changed right? In 1886, the Fort Myers schoolhouse burned to the ground. Delegates left immediately for Key West to obtain assistance in rebuilding. They were advised that since Fort Myers had been so careless it didn't deserve consideration. There was no money to build another school and there would not be for another year. The people of the Clusa Hatchee called another meeting. This time they held a mass meeting under the ancient oaks on the grounds of the burn schoolhouse. Captain Henry and other town leaders were present. A petition to the legislature was prepared requesting the formation of a new county. Captain Henry was selected to deliver the petition to Tallahassee. The Fort Myers press on 14th April 1887 reported that Captain Henry was the unanimous choice of the mass meeting held on the 5th of March 1887, and is without a doubt the best man we could have sent because he is so well known as a gentleman of prominence in the history of the state, in particularly of this section of our country, and also known as a man of the strictest integrity and purpose, championing no cause but what has right and justice on the face of it. A letter from Captain Henry printed in the Fort Myers Press of May 1887 read in part, "A bill to form the new county of Lee is now before the legislature of the state. The name it assumes that of Lee has been chosen to honor Robert E. Lee, who, whom for his sterling worth an illustrious character, not only the south, but the north delights to honor him and has no political significance." Writing in 1908, Captain Henry Raminist, well do I remember when the time came to organize a new county by the people of the mainland of Monroe County, and the mass meeting held under the shade of the trees on the present school lot in Fort Myers. Proud indeed, MI, that when a name was discussed that I, even I, made a motion to name it in honor of the beloved Robert E. Lee. Well, do I remember the enthusiasm in adopting that motion? On 12th of May 1887, the Fort Myers Press reported that the following dispatch was received Monday evening. Tallahassee, May 9, 1887, Captain F. A. Henry, your county bill has just passed the House of Representatives. You now live in the county of Lee, signed by J. W. W. Widen. Captain Henry was selected to serve on the first Lee County Board of Commissioners. A position he held several times throughout his political career. He completed his last term of service shortly before death. Captain Henry divided his time between his Fort Myers home and his ranch at Fort Thompson. The 1885 Florida Agricultural Census lists F. A. Henry as the owner of 10 horses, 1 mule, 6 working oxen, 14 milk cows, 15,000 other cows, 100 calves dropped the previous year, 600 cattle sold living, 100 pounds of butter made on the farm, 20 swine, 50 barnyard poultry, and 600 eggs produced in 1884. At the age of 52 in 1887, Captain Henry sold his Fort Myers home to his sons, Lewis Henry to his son, Lewis Henry for $7,000 and moved to his Fort Thompson home. All of his children had now married except the youngest 16-year-old Lucretia Pearl. He became more involved with improving his breed of cattle and improved grasses which he had begun years before. His home was a stopping place for those traveling on the river. Around 1891, Captain Henry turned the active administration of his stock interests over to his sons. He moved to the area that is now Lebel where he established a large citrus grove. He retained a small stock farm to be used in raising the experiment and experimenting with different breeds of cattle. His home was situated on a high bluff overlooking the Calusa Hatchee River. The greater part of his time after moving to Lebel was devoted to riding about the country he knew so well and his many experiences. Captain Henry platted the city of Lebel, naming it for two of his daughters, Laura and Bell. That same year he donated land and built a Methodist church at Lebel. The town was incorporated in 1911. For many years, Henry had been involved with the Seminal Indians. Indians coming to Fort Myers to trade were always welcome to camp at Captain Henry's home on the banks of the Calusa Hatchee. During one visit in 1878, Henry invited Billy Cornipatchee, a 10-year-old Indian boy to remain in a 10-school with Henry's children. Billy, the first Seminal to learn to read and write English, resided in the Henry household for several years. When Billy returned to his tribe, someone had to kill him for learning the white man's ways, but the elders of the tribe intervened stating, "Some day we may need him in his education." Captain Henry for many years worked with the state officials and the legislature, of which he was a member, toward establishing certain lands in the Everglades where the Indians would have a permanent home. In 1890, Captain Henry wrote LB Womble, Commissioner of Lands and Agriculture, on behalf of the Women's National Indian Association of Philadelphia, to acquire certain tracks of land to establish schools, Indian stores sell what they need at cost by their products, encourage industry, and all things which may tend to elevate the race. Captain Henry wrote again in 1891 to Mr. Womble that he had accompanied Miss Amelia Quentin, the president, and to other ladies of the Women's National Indian Association on an extended tour among the Indian camps in the Everglades and Big Cypress swamp. They had selected a location for the Seminole Mission, asking that the state give the land to aid in their work. He had lands adjoining the location which he had donated. In 1891, the Florida legislature guaranteed 5,000 acres to the Indians. The governor, as trustee for the Indians lands, appointed Henry, along with Colonel J. E. Ingram, to help further the cause, an organization known as Friends of the Florida Seminoles was established in January 1899, with Captain Henry as a member of the Executive Committee. As a member of the legislature, he secured the passage of a bill for the appropriation of $1,000 for the establishment of industrial schools for Indians. Governor blocked some appointed Henry as one of the three trustees for this fund. Henry served a state representative from Lee County for the legislative sessions of 1893, 1895, 1897, 1899, 1901, and 1903. In 1903, Florida governor William S. Jennings appointed him to a four-year term as a member of the Florida Agricultural Institute. Captain Henry's two brothers, George Washington Henry and William Marion Henry, also served in the Florida legislature. It was unique for three brothers to have served in the legislature. Captain Francis Asbury Henry died on 12 February 1917 at the age of 84 at the Fort Myers home of his daughter, Mrs. J. F. Mang. Following a period of ill health for some months, he died of chronic, and something of fridest. When in word reached Billy Cornipacci that his old friend was ill, he and his brother Billy Feele walked 60 miles from the Everglades to pay a last farewell. F.A. Henry was buried in the Frierson-Hindry Cemetery in Fort Myers. A Mason and a devout Methodist, Captain Henry was a member of the Methodist church in Fort Myers where he and his wife had deeded the land and donated the church bell as a gift. At the time of his funeral, the circuit court recessed from noon until 4 p.m. in respect to the funeral services of Captain Henry. Henry's wife of 65 years, Ardeline Ross Linear Henry, died six months later on 6 September 1917 at the age of 82 and was laid to rest beside her husband. The Fort Myers Press on 14 February 1917 reported a distinct loss. In the death of Captain Francis Asbury Henry, Fort Myers and Lee County suffer a distinct loss of the presence of a man who although passed the age when he could render much in the way of active service was nevertheless ready and willing at all times to lend his support, advice and encouragement and any matter that was for the advancement of his chosen land. Captain Henry spent many years of his life in the most faithful endeavor for the upbuilding of Lee County and to him is due much of the credit for the present stage of advancement. Captain Henry was posthumously honored at the state of Florida on 11th of May 1923 when Henry County was created with LeBel as its county seat. Some pretty amazing history. Not just regionally but statewide when you think about what people like Captain Henry and some of these other pioneers. Well they were so forward thinking. And not that people back then weren't, I just feel like they really saw the bigger picture and they were all about making things better for everybody. Right. And I mean, they backed it up with action and money or whatever to make it happen. Like anything but selfish. Right. And I mean, things today move a lot slower, like you can't just get things done the way you could back then, but they were really trailblazers. Yeah. And of course, you know, huge impact in Lee and Henry County. And there's a lot of other people that work up from that same cloth that we've talked about in other episodes and whatnot. But just a really good example. And this is the kind of thing that people that are moving here have no idea, no earthy idea of that. Do you think there's even a resident left in Lee County that knows it was named for Robert Lee? I mean, I don't know. Good question. Sure there is, but that's, you know, the goal of the podcast is to get this sort of history out there to where more people hear about it. And we don't lose sight of what, what created what we have today. That's right. Because without them, we sure wouldn't have it. That's for sure. That's for sure. So anyhow, we want to delay much longer here. We appreciate all of you listening to the podcast. Appreciate you sharing it with your friends and family. You know, just when I think we're kind of hitting a plateau or stalling out, I get new word from other people that they've recently found the podcast and how much they appreciate it. So we're still growing. If you'll be sure to share it with people that you come across that they can learn more about our state, we're very grateful for that. And we will be back with more stories and more history in the coming weeks ahead. Thanks for listening, y'all. [Music] Now I've shot quail and I've killed halls and run my half-tracked ball and my dogs. I even got some deer horns hanging on my walls. I reckon I've hunted and killed a bunch, but it really doesn't matter much. Just building and clearing. It's going to kill them all. Bluefish they'll have to wait. I can't go digs and please forbid because condos clocked the beaches from common folks like me. But I hope the care of Daniel Sand to hurricane with the big Westland and blow all them suckers in the sea. Now watch Florida grow, it's more like where did Florida go. Little yellows kill the trees, condominiums block the breeze. I'm having trouble understanding Brooklynese. [Music] I really shouldn't put them down for trying to build a wall of all town when they get finished. It's going to be good for me. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]