Before Florida was admitted to statehood in 1845 and before adopting his maternal grandfather's surname of Yulee in 1846, David Levy served as a Florida Territorial delegate to the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses (US House of Representatives), from 4 March 1841 to 3 March 1845. Following the first election, his seat was contested for alienage; i.e., being a foreigner, not a citizen. The contest was resolved favourable to Levy. This became the subject of 27th Congress, 3d Session: House of Representatives: Document Number 15: Florida Contested Election [of David Levy], 14 December 1842. The document is 8 7/8" height X 5 3/4" width and 13 pages long, and contains lengthy statements from David Levy Yulee's father, Moses E. Levy. In 1842, Yulee lived in St Augustine, the original capital of East Florida.
1903 Private Mailing Card from The H. & W. B. Drew Company of Jacksonville -- The Drew Press, the same company that printed the stock certificate below -- to The Fernandina Dock & Realty Co., Fernandina, Fla. The two CDSs (circular date stamps) read JACKSONVILLE, FLA, MAR 16, 630 PM, 1903 and FERNANDINA, FLA., MAR 17, 7AM, 1903. Incorporated in 1901 by banker Fred Willis Hoyt, the Fernandina Dock and Realty Company was the successor to the Fernandina Development Company and the Florida Town Improvement Company, incorporated by Samuel Ashe Swann and Arthur T. Williams, the son of Marcellus Alphonso Williams, in 1889 and 1884, respectively, both of which firms Hoyt purchased for $94,000. In 1905, John Mann built Hoyt House, at the south-east corner of Centre and Eighth Streets, where the Hoyt family -- Fred and Kate and their three sons, Charles, Wadleigh and Willis -- lived until 1927, when Hoyt died. The Queen Anne-style home was inspired by the Rockefeller residence on Jekyll Island. This 5 1/2" width X 3 1/4" height, penny-postage postcard confirms an order Hoyt's company placed, likely for stationery.
Incorporated in 1918 in Fernandina, Florida, the Seminole Fertilizer and Oil Company was the short-lived predecessor of the still extant Nassau Fertilizer & Oil Company. This certificate for five shares of preferred stock, with a par value of $100.00 per share, was issued on 1 May 1920 to R. C. Hamer of Eastover, South Carolina. The certificate measures 10 7/8" width X 8 1/4" height and was printed by The Drew Press, Jacksonville. It is Seminole Fertilizer and Oil Company certificate number 3719. Robert Hamer died a few years later, but not before purchasing half of what was to become known and renowned as the Kensington Mansion. His family purchased the remaining half of the plantation lands in 1925. Eventually acquired by Union Camp Corporation, subsequently International Paper, Kensington Mansion is maintained by the Scarborough-Hamer Foundation.
From the last quarter of the 19th Century, a 3 1/2" height X 7" width stereoscopic photographic image -- or stereoview or stereo view -- of Centre Street. Hand-tinted colours. With POPULAR SERIES. on each vertical border, and the caption "1394 [of the series] Center [sic] Street, Fernandina, Fla." at the bottom of the right pane. This card is part of the permanent Stereoview Gallery at Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, located in Tampa, FL.
Quite scarce postal cover in fine condition mailed in Yulee, Florida on 23 May 1898 and delivered at Fort Sheridan, Illinois two days later. There is a Spanish-American War tie-in.
19th Century 5 1/4" Horsey & Co., Fernandina, apothecary, or medicine, bottle. In raised lettering, HORSEY & CO / DRUGGISTS AND CHEMISTS / FERNANDINA FLA, with a raised mortar and pestle design. On the bottom, also raised, W T & CO., the trademark in use from 1875 to 1901 of Whitall-Tatum, the bottle makers, of Milville, New Jersey. The Horseys were a prominent Fernandina family. Their large Queen Anne style house, at the corner of Seventh and Centre Streets, was built in 1902 by Durham, North Carolina architect George Watts.
Rare 19th Century Fernandina postal cover. 5 1/8" width X 2 7/8" height, addressed to Mrs Frank. M. Keance / Box 1080 / Binghamton / N.Y. Lovely blue CDS (circular date stamp) reading FERNANDINA FLA. AUG 1. The three cent postage stamp being in use from 3 March 1863 to 2 March 1883, this early envelope dates accurately to between 1 August 1863 and 1 August 1882.
Circa 1902 photographic portrait print, with multi-illustrated border, of the Reverend John B. L. Williams, pastor of the recently built Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, now the Trinity United Methodist Church, at the corner of Ash and Eighth Streets. The overall size of the print is 9 1/4" height X 7" width; of the image, 7 1/8" height X 5" width. Rev Williams was amongst the most distinguished Afro-American clergymen of his day. A biographical monograph is on the reverse of the print.
Click here to read it. The Reverend Williams died in 1944 in Jacksonville.
Jack Tanis, 614 Broome Street, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034-3837, USA Telephone: 904.261.4628 e-mail
