by Willie Drye
49–50. Among the discussion items on their agenda was the proposed highway: Perry, Francis W., and Jaudon, James F., History of the Tamiami Trail (Miami, Florida, Tamiami Trail Commissioners and Dade County Board of Commissioners, 1928) pp. 4–16
50. . . . met in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to discuss the road’s route: Perry, Francis W., and Jaudon, James F., History of the Tamiami Trail (Miami, Florida, Tamiami Trail Commissioners and Dade County Board of Commissioners, 1928) p. 7
50. “. . . a splendid road from this city to Tampa”: Miami Herald, October 15, 1915
51. On August 4, A. J. Rose, Ashley’s court-appointed attorney: Weekly Miami Metropolis, August 4, 1916
51. Ashley left the jail handcuffed: Weekly Miami Metropolis, September 15, 1916
51. “Hands up, gentlemen,”: Miami Daily Metropolis, September 15, 1916
51. For the next two weeks, the robbers fought a running gun battle: Miami Daily Metropolis, September 19, 1916; Miami Daily Metropolis, September 21, 1916
51. . . . about forty miles north of Gainesville: Evening Independent, November 15, 1916; Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928), p. 20
51–52. On February 10, Miami engineer John W. King: Perry, Francis W., and Jaudon, James F., History of the Tamiami Trail (Miami, Florida, Tamiami Trail Commissioners and Dade County Board of Commissioners, 1928) p. 25; Larned, W. Livingston, “Lost in the Everglades,” Forest and Stream (eight-part series), February 1918 and May 1918 p. 278
53. John Ashley was back to his old tricks: Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) p. 20; Palm Beach Post, July 11, 1918
54. . . . world events were inexorably dragging the United States: Koenig, Louis W., Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan (New York, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1971) pp. 568–569: Rice, Arnold S., and Krout, John A., United States History from 1865, (New York, Harper Perennial, 20th Edition, 1991) pp. 168–172
55. Suffering from a leg injury that wouldn’t heal: Seebohm, Caroline, Boca Rococo: How Addison Mizner Invented Florida’s Gold Coast (New York, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2001) pp. 151–156; Tindall, George B., “Bubble in the Sun,” American Heritage, August 1965; Boulton, Alexander O., “The Tropical Twenties,” American Heritage, May/June 1990
Chapter Four: Leave Your Brain at Home
56. “There was an immense, all-pervading disillusionment”: Catton, Bruce, “The Restless Decade,” American Heritage, August 1965
56. “. . . into the easy-going life and beauty of the European past”: Allen, Frederick Lewis, Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s (New York, Perennial Classics/Harper Collins, 2000) p. 237
58. “I would like to acclaim an era of good feeling”: Gettysburg Times, March 4, 1921
58. “We are not doing anything to combat this propaganda”: Miami Daily Metropolis, November 23, 1921
58. In November 1921, Merrick had added several thousand acres: Tindall, George B., “Bubble in the Sun,” American Heritage, August 1965
58. . . . sold his first lots for $600 each: Evening Independent, December 2, 1974
58. . . . knowledgeable people thought Merrick’s plans were doomed: Roberts, Kenneth L., Florida (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 75–89
59. “. . . practically down to his last dollar”: Fisher, Jane, Fabulous Hoosier: A Story of American Achievement (Chicago, Harry Coleman & Company, 1953) pp. 135–137
60. Fisher installed Harding in one of the luxurious villas: Miami Daily Metropolis, January 31, 1921; Miami Daily Metropolis, February 2, 1921
60. . . . John Ashley and his felonious family had been operating three moonshine stills: Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) p. 20
61. Selling booze to Florida bootleggers was such an economic boon to the Bahamas: Buchanan, Patricia, “Miami’s Bootleg Boom,” Tequesta, vol. 30, 1979, p. 18
61. When Poucher and a deputy arrived: Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928), p. 20
62. Three days later, Ashley was behind bars again: Palm Beach Post, June 5, 1921
62. Just after dark on Wednesday, October 19, 1921, Ed and Frank Ashley: Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) pp. 24–25; Palm Beach Post, November 14, 1921
63. . . . prices for bootleg liquor in Miami were low: Roberts, Kenneth L., Florida (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 75–89; Miami Daily Metropolis, January 31, 1921; Davenport Democrat, March 21, 1922
64. Business was usually quiet in the mid-afternoons: The Lima News, January 10, 1925; Miami Daily Metropolis, May 13, 1922; Palm Beach Post, May 13, 1922; Ocala Star-Banner, November 7, 1954
65. . . . and signed an order allowing Mobley, Matthews, and Middleton to be temporarily transferred: Ocala Star-Banner, November 7, 1954; Miami Daily Metropolis, December 15, 1922
66. In February 1923, Collier bought a dredge: Collier County News of Naples, Florida, April 26, 1928
66. In Fort Myers, civic and business leaders decided that something had to be done to revive public interest: McIver, Stuart, True Tales of the Everglades (Boynton Beach, Florida, Florida Flair Books, 1989) pp. 23–24; Kay, Russell, “Tamiami Trail Blazers: A Personal Memoir,” Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 3, January 1971, p. 281
67. “The outside world had no knowledge”: Kay, Russell, “Tamiami Trail Blazers: A Personal Memoir,” Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 3, January 1971, p. 281
67. On April 11, the Miami Herald sent a reporter aloft: Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Tribune, April 13, 1923; San Antonio Express, April 12, 1923; The Eau Claire (Wisconsin) Leader, April 12, 1923; Miami Herald, April 19, 1923
68. main group was still several days behind them: Miami Herald, April 22, 1923
68. In Fort Myers, people were furious: Fort Myers Press, April 18, April 19, April 23–28, April 30, May 1–2, 1923
69. The Miami Herald said that the Trailblazers: Miami Herald, April 19, 1923
69. . . . had attracted cameramen from Warner-Pathé News and Fox Movietone News: Fort Myers Press, April 24, 1923
69. Back on the Gulf Coast, the fracas about whether to create a county: Tampa Times, reprinted in the Fort Myers Press, April 23, 1923
69. On April 21, a state House of Representatives subcommittee: Fort Myers Press, April 25, 1923
69. Legislator S. Watt Lawler Jr. telegraphed Collier opponents: Fort Myers Press, April 26, 1923
69. On Friday, April 27, the Press was practically foaming: Fort Myers Press, April 27, 1923
70. The fight dragged on into May, when two giants of American industry: Albion, Michele Wehrwein, The Florida Life of Thomas Edison (Gainesville, Florida, University Press of Florida, 2008) p. 111
70. “I do not blame the people of Fort Myers and the rest of Lee County”: Fort Myers Press, July 7, 1923
71. Menninger went to West Palm Beach: Stuart News, January 9, 1964; Winslow, Walker, The Menninger Story (Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1956) pp. 160–161; The Stuart News, February 21, 1995; Thurlow, Sandy, Stuart on the St. Lucie: A Pictorial History (Stuart, Florida, Southeastern Printing Company, 2001) p. 30; Author’s interview with Virginia Menninger, Jensen Beach, Florida, November 27, 2013
72. On September 27, 1923, Ashley and another convict: Miami Herald, September 29, 1923
72. . . . the state’s prison system was engulfed in scandal: The Evening Independent, June 4, 1923
72. “Automobiles were stolen, burglaries committed”: Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Luc
ie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) p. 34
73. Beginning in November 1922 and continuing into the winter months of 1923–24: Moberly Monitor Index, November 21, 1922; Fort Wayne News Sentinel, November 25, 1922; Waukesha Daily Freeman, January 1, 1923
73. often were regarded as “addicts to the potent loco-weed.”: Roberts, Kenneth L., Florida (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 52–54
73. Still, construction statistics for four Florida cities in early 1923: Sessa, Frank, “Miami on the Eve of the Boom 1923,” Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida, no. 11, 1951, pp. 24–25
74. In late January and early February 1923, sophisticated and skilled jewel thieves: Miami Daily Metropolis, February 2, 1923; Miami Daily Metropolis, February 3, 1923
75. But on April 23, a jury decided that Phelps was not guilty: Miami Daily Metropolis, April 24, 1923
75. The Chicago Daily News reported that booze purchases: Chicago Daily News, reprinted in the Cumberland Evening Times, July 10, 1923
75. “Any Prohibition enforcement agent that didn’t have lead”: Sessa, Frank, “Miami on the Eve of the Boom, 1923,” Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida, no. 11, 1951, pp. 13–14
75. Crime or no crime, President Harding: Miami Daily Metropolis, March 15, 1923
76. Edwin Menninger—who moved from West Palm Beach to Stuart in August 1923: Stuart News, January 1, 1964
77. At the base of picturesque Chimney Rock: Sessa, Frank, “Miami on the Eve of the Boom, 1923,” Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida, no. 11, 1951, pp. 20–21
77. Palm Beach County Sheriff Robert Baker and his deputies: Palm Beach Post, January 10, 1924
78. But John Ashley, in the interview with Hix Stuart: Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) pp. 52–53
78. Newspapers reported that the gunfire started: Nevada State Journal of Reno, January 10, 1924; The Lima (Ohio) News, January 10, 1924; Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent, January 10, 1924; Lincoln (Nebraska) Star, January 10, 1924; The Daily Star of Oneonta, New York, January 10, 1924; Lincoln (Nebraska) State Journal, January 11, 1924
79. “This place of mine is the most beautiful”: Nevada State Journal of Reno, February 22, 1924
79. “. . . boiling and raging like lava”: Hamilton (Ohio) Evening Journal, February 23, 1924
80. “Brisbane’s enthusiasm for real estate knew no bounds”: Carlson, Oliver, Brisbane: A Candid Biography (New York, Stackpole Sons, 1937) p. 180, p. 273
80. In March, for example, readers of The New Republic: Sisto Benedicte, “Miami’s Land Gambling Fever,” Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida, vol. 59, 1999, p. 56
80. A visitor in March 1924 sent a postcard to friends: Postcard, postmarked March 4, 1924, describing concert at Royal Palm Park, Miami; from the collection of Rob Jones, New Port Richey, Florida, photocopied November 14, 2013
81. “Even swampland several miles west of Miami: George, Paul, “Brokers, Binders and Builders,” Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 1, July 1986, p. 30
81. “The people who have made real fortunes”: Shelby, Gertrude Mathews, “Florida Frenzy,” Harper’s Monthly Magazine, January 1926, p. 180
81. By other accounts, he was in San Francisco: Ocala (Florida) Star-Banner, November 7, 1954
81. On the afternoon of Friday, September 12: Miami Daily News, September 13, 1924; Miami Daily News, September 16, 1924
82. Ashley and Mobley had made many trips to West End: Stuart, Hix C., The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades (Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) pp. 47–50
82. On October 14, a tropical storm formed in the western Caribbean: Monthly Weather Review, December 1924, p. 589
82. The drenching downpour made life miserable in the Everglades for John Ashley, Handford Mobley: Decatur (Illinois) Sunday Review, November 2, 1924; Ocala (Florida) Star-Banner, November 7, 1924; The Evening Independent of St. Petersburg, November 3, 1924; The Evening Independent of St. Petersburg, September 28, 1925; The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida, October 12, 1975
84. “There they are – three of them”: Miami Herald, November 9, 1924
85. Decades later, author Ada Coats Williams: Sonne, Warren J., “The Ashley Gang: What Really Happened,” Indian River Magazine, October 2007.
Chapter Five: The Stars Shine Brightest in Florida
86. By the winter of 1924–25, Gilda Gray: Miami Daily News, December 20, 1924; Miami Herald, December 22, 1924
86. “How She Shivers, How She Shimmers”: Miami Daily News, January 3, 1925
87. The terms of Gray’s contract: Fitchburg Sentinel, reprinted in Lowell Courier-Citizen, January 9, 1925
87. Burdines Department Store hired her: Miami Herald, January 2, 1925
87. Nationally syndicated sportswriter and author Ring Lardner: Free Press of Winnipeg, Ontario, March 14, 1925; The Davenport Democrat and Leader of Davenport, Iowa, March 15, 1925
87. . . . Babe Ruth was telling reporters he was broke: Kingston Daily Freeman, March 11, 1925
87. He was seen playing basketball: Fitchburg Sentinel, January 9, 1925
87. “In Florida he would hang around a greyhound derby”: Syracuse Herald, April 10, 1925
88. Ring Lardner noticed another distraction: Lincoln Sunday Star, April 26, 1925
88. The Helena Daily Independent reported that Joe Tinker: Helena Daily Independent, March 24, 1925
88. . . . manager John McGraw told Lardner that the stability of the Florida market: Lincoln Sunday Star, April 26, 1925
88. Merrick reportedly paid the Great Commoner $100,000: Nolan, David, Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida (New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984) p. 177
88. “They’re here trying to see which can sell”: The Bee, Danville, Virginia, January 15, 1925
89. Florida was a “durable asset”: Miami Herald, January 16, 1925
89. “You can tell the biggest lie you can think of”: Nolan, David, Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida (New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984) p. 179
89. “. . . he had become “a crimp for real estate speculators”: Nolan, David, Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida (New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984) p. 177
90. A judge from Nebraska who’d visited Bryan: Miami Herald, January 21, 1925
90. On January 6, Bryan attended the inauguration: Miami Herald, January 7, 1925
90. “. . . an endless serpent whose joints, composed entirely of automobiles”: Roberts, Kenneth L., Florida (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 8–13
91. British author T. H. Weigall was among the hordes: Weigall, T.H., Boom in Florida (London, John Lane The Bodley Head Limited, 1931) pp. 27–28
91. The palms, they say, of Florida: Rainbolt, Victor, The Town that Climate Built: The Story of the Rise of a City in the American Tropics (Miami, Parker Art Printing Association, 1925) p. 76
91. Over-Night Millionaires of Florida: St. Petersburg Times, February 17, 1925
92. “Their minds were so inflamed: Roberts, Kenneth L., Florida (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 28–31
92. A new development called Miami Shores sold $2.5 million: “Brokers, Binders and Builders,” by Paul George; Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 1, July 1986, p. 35
92. . . . his salesmen raked in an astonishing $21 million: Roberts, Kenneth L., Florida (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926), p. 42
92. . . . Merrick was being financially cautious: Roberts, Kenneth L., Florida (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) p. 86
92. Carl Fisher was tightening financial requirements: “Brokers, Binders and Builders,” by Paul George; Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 1, July 1986, p. 41
> 92. The hospital for returning World War I veterans: Tindall, George B., “Bubble in the Sun,” American Heritage, vol. 16, no. 5, August 1965
92. “. . . every atom of beauty that human ingenuity can add”: Promotional brochure, Boca Raton Mizner Development Corporation, from the collections of the Boca Raton Historical Society and Museums, Boca Raton, Florida (Philadelphia, J.H. Cross Company, 1925) p. 21
93. “Get the big snobs”: Vickers, Raymond B., “Addison Mizner: Promoter in Paradise,” Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 4, p. 384
93. . . . that included Palm Beach Post publisher Donald H. Conkling: Vickers, Raymond B., “Addison Mizner: Promoter in Paradise,” Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 4, p. 387
93. Mizner’s backers also included US Senator T. Coleman du Pont: Vickers, Raymond B., “Addison Mizner: Promoter in Paradise,” Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 4, p. 384
93. . . . she overheard two men talking about Livermore and his family: New York Times, March 9 and March 16, 1925; The Evening Independent of St. Petersburg, November 29, 1940; Milwaukee Journal, January 6, 1939
93. . . . one of those who departed was Reverend R. S. Wightman: New York Times, March 9, 1925
93. Brothels operated openly with little interference: Reno, Jane Wood, and Hurchalla, George (editor), The Hell with Politics: The Life and Writings of Jane Wood Reno (Atlanta, Peachtree Publishers, Ltd., 1994) pp. 34–35
93. . . . the masses coming to the state were being drawn: New York Times, March 22, 1925
94. “Since houses were being rushed to sell”: Roberts, Kenneth, “In the Wake of the Hurricane,” Saturday Evening Post, November 27, 1926
94. “Southern nights are cool and starlit”: New York Times Magazine, December 6, 1925
94. Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans told a gathering: Miami Daily News, September 24, 1924
95. . . . had helped to defeat a motion to include a sentence denouncing the Klan: Kazin, Michael, A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2006) p. 284; Miami Daily News, September 24, 1924