e Historical Quarterly
of the St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
www.stluciehistoricalsociety.org
Vol. 31 No. 1
Fall 2013
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Greetings, everyone! We hope you have had a fantastic
summer, and are pleased to welcome everyone home for Fall,
and the beginning of a new SLHS membership year!
This year, Florida celebrated the 500th Anniversary of Juan
Ponce de León’s landing in Florida, with events all over the
state.
You must be sure to stop by and see us at the museum, and
see our Juan Ponce De León Timeline exhibit! The exhibit
will be on display at the museum through December. Make
sure you bring family along, and tell your friends to go see it as
well.
We hope you enjoy reading about Juan Ponce De León on the
following pages. We have included an article about him from
The Mariner’s Museum, and also a timeline of early Florida
from Viva Florida 500. Viva Florida 500 is the statewide
initiative created by the Florida Department of State to
commemorate 500 years of history in the great State of
Florida. More information on this statewide initiative can be
found by visiting www.vivaflorida.org.
The Treasure Coast Regional History Center; Urca de Lima
Underwater Archaeological Preserve; National Navy UDTSEAL Museum; Backus Museum; Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute; and Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks
Heritage Trail are all mentioned on the Viva Florida website as
notable historical or archaeological attractions.
We have many exciting things planned for this year, and we
hope to see you at the museum and at our dinner meetings!
Respectfully,
Nancy Bennett
“Juan Ponce De León,” The Story of the
Sea, 1895, From The Library at The
Mariners’ Museum, GC21.Q11.
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Juan Ponce De León
1474 CE - 1521 CE
Primary Goal: To find gold and colonize land for Spain.
Achievement: First European known to have visited present day United States in 1513.
Discovered Florida and the Bahama Channel, and colonized Puerto Rico.
Source: The Mariners’ Museum: www.marinersmuseum.org
Born in the village of San Tervás de Campos in the
province of León, Spain in 1474, Juan Ponce de
León became a page to the prince of Castile who
later became King Ferdinand of Castile. In 1493, de
León went with Christopher Columbus on a second
voyage to the West Indies and he was one of 200
volunteers on 17 ships. It was on this trip when de
León first saw the Antilles. Columbus anchored the
ships at Añasco Bay on the western shore of Puerto
Rico and it is believed that when de León saw how
beautiful the area was it inspired him to later choose
the place as the capital.
On February 13, 1502, de León took another voyage
with Frey Nicolás de Ovando. At the Canary
Islands, the crew split up into two groups, with the
first group arriving at Santo Domingo on April 15,
1502. From 1502 to 1504, de León lived on the
island and was named its captain by Ovando in
1504. De León then moved to Salvaleón and lived
there from 1505 to 1508. While there, in 1506, de
León made a request to travel and conquer
Borinquen. After receiving permission from
Ovando, he started a settlement and renamed the
area San Juan de Puerto Rico. Word got back to
Spain that de León had settled the area and was
named governor of Puerto Rico, but due to political
reasons, he was relieved of his governorship in
1511. He immediately applied for a royal grant to
settle the islands of Bimini, an island just north of
Cuba. It was believed there was a fountain of youth
on the island.
On March 3, 1513, de León, after receiving
permission, left Puerto Rico with three ships. By
March 27 he’d seen the mainland of Florida and
e St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
later landed there on April 2nd, just north of
modern-day St. Augustine. He stayed there until
April 8th and renamed the area Tierra La Florida
(land of flowers) in honor of finding the area on
Easter Sunday, called Pascua Florida in Spanish.
De León continued to explore, sailing along the
Florida’s east coast and discovered the Bahama
Channel. This proved to be a great success because
this channel provided a new route from the West
Indies to Spain. Continuing on his voyage, he sailed
through the Florida Keys and named them Martyrs.
De León then went north along the west coast and
sailed as far as Pensacola Bay. He then sailed along
the south west coast, coming to an island he named
Tortugas; today it’s the Dry Tortugas because of all
the nesting turtles found there. De León returned to
Puerto Rico on September 21, 1513, then to Spain in
1514 where he was knighted, given a personal coat
of arms, and granted a royal patent to colonize the
islands of Bimini and Florida. He was officially
named the Adelantado Don Juan Ponce de León,
Governor of the Islands of Bimini and Florida.
On February 20, 1521, de León made his second
attempt at colonization. He sailed from Puerto Rico
with a crew of two hundred men. The crew landed
on the west coast of Florida near the Caloosahatchee
River or Sanibel Island, where they tried to start a
settlement. The Calusa Indians attacked them and de
León was wounded with an arrow. The settlement
was abandoned and the crew went as far as Havana,
Cuba where Ponce de León died July 1521 from an
infection.
Source:
ageofex.marinersmuseum.org/index.php?type=explorer&id=66
Fall 2013
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Page 3
HISTORY OF LA FLORIDA: TIMELINE AT-A-GLANCE
12,000 years ago (10,000 B.C.E.) - Native Americans occupy Florida
16th Century - Africans arrive with Spaniards
1513 - Juan Ponce de León lands on East Coast
1521 - Juan Ponce de León returns and is mortally wounded on Florida’s SW Coast
1528 - Pánfilo de Narváez expedition
1539 - 1543 - Hernando de Soto expedition
1539 - 1540 - Francisco Maldonado
1559 - Tristán de Luna
1562 - Jean Ribault – Jacksonville and Beaufort, SC
1564 - Rene de Laudonnière – Ft. Caroline
1565 - Pedro Menéndez – St. Augustine
1573 – Spanish Missions
1587 – Roanoke (Lost Colony). VA
1607 – Jamestown, VA
1620 – Plymouth (Pilgrims), MASS
1630 – Massachusetts Bay (Puritans)
1687 – The first runaway slaves from northern
plantations
are granted asylum in St. Augustine.
1698 - Spaniards re-establish Pensacola
1738 – Fort Mosè
1763 – Florida to Britain
1783 – Florida to Spain
1818 – First Seminole War
1821 – Florida as United States Territory
1845 – Florida becomes a State
Source: Museum of Florida History and www.floridamemory.com/timeline
e St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
http://www.vivaflorida.org/
Fall 2013
e Historical Quarterly
Page 4
IN MEMORIAM
Dr. Charles R. Croghan, Jr. June 04, 1925 - July 23, 2013
Past Editor, The Historical Quarterly and dedicated SLHS member and volunteer
An excerpt from Mr.
Croghan’s Memoirs:
Charles Croghan
is a native of Fort Pierce,
Florida. He grew up and
attended school there,
graduating from Fort
Pierce High School in
June 1943. During World
War II, he served with the Fourth Infantry
Division (the “Ivy” Division), participating in
the Normandy Invasion (June 1944), and the
invasion of Germany, later in 1944.
At the conclusion of the War, he
enrolled in and was graduated from the
College of Wooster. He continued his
St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
Post Office Box 578
Fort Pierce, Florida 34954
www.stluciehistoricalsociety.org
772-461-8020
Officers and Board of Directors
2013 - 2014
President: Nancy Bennett
First Vice President: John Gordon
Second Vice President: Sue Favorite
Treasurer: Bob Burdge
Secretary: Deborah Billis
Parliamentarian: Maggie Minchew
Historian/Chaplain: Jack Favorite
education at New York University, Union
Theological Seminary, and Columbia
University and did post-graduate study at
Philip’s University in Marburg, Germany, and
at Yale and Clermont Universities in the
States.
He spent two years in Allahabad, India,
teaching at Ewing Christian College as the
representative of his undergraduate college,
The College of Wooster, in its outreach
program Wooster-in-India.
His career since acquiring his
doctorate has been as an academic, teaching
Religion and Humanities at Bloomfield
College in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and
English and Humanities at Indian River
Community College in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Upon his retirement in 1995, Dr.
Croghan has been a volunteer in the
community, serving in various capacities at
the St. Lucie County Historical Museum,
the Manatee Education and Observation
Center, and the Visitor’s Information
Center. His hobbies include gardening,
postcard collecting (mainly of early Fort
Pierce and St. Lucie County), furniture
refinishing, and caning.
He lives in Fort Pierce with his wife
Rose-Marie on South Hutchinson Island
and enjoys visiting with his sons and their
families in Hobe Sound and Tallahassee,
Florida.
Croghan, Jr., Charles R., Memory Believes,
pg. 117. Charles R. Croghan, Jr., 2005.
Nancy Bennett, Deborah Billis, Bob Burdge,
Ted Burrows, Brad Culverhouse, John Culverhouse,
Cynthia Crankshaw, Joe Crankshaw, Jack Favorite,
Sue Favorite, Robyn Hutchinson, John Gordon,
Maggie Minchew, Marilyn Minix, Lucille Rights
The Historical Quarterly Editor: John Culverhouse
e St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
Fall 2013
e Historical Quarterly
Page 5
Printing and sponsorship of this edition
of the Quarterly is sponsored by:
John Gordon, CRPC®
Financial Advisor
NMLS Registry ID# 894495
789 Southwest Federal Highway
Suite 304
Stuart, FL 34994
Looking for
Any historical pictures of fires in St. Lucie
County
Old photos of the St. Lucie County Fire
District
Local fire-related pictures
CONTACT:
Jack Favorite
772-461-6990
e St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
772-692-5802 (Direct Line)
[email protected]
Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
the Following...
Old scenic pictures of St. Lucie County
Old Holiday photographs of Fort Pierce,
showing Christmas lights and decorations for
possible showing in the Holiday Quarterly
Photographs of the old Fort Pierce
water towers decorated at Christmas
CONTACT:
John Culverhouse
772-812-4323
[email protected]
Fall 2013
e Historical Quarterly
Page 6
Benefits of Membership:
* Free Admission to the St. Lucie County Regional History Center,
* Special preview of visiting exhibit openings,
* Subscription to the Historical Quarterly
The Society has the following particular purposes:
Support of the St. Lucie County Regional History Center.
Promote public interest in and study of the history of St. Lucie County
and of the East Coast of Florida.
Participate in and support of community events and displays that portray the
history of St. Lucie County and the East Coast of Florida.
Publication of or support for the publication of historical subjects of
St. Lucie County and the East Coast of Florida.
Society General Meetings are held on the 4th Thursday of the month, from September
through May of each year. The Elks Club provides attendees with a meal prior to the
General Meeting at a price of $12 per meal. Reservations must be made for these meals.
Meal reservations must be made no later than two days in advance of the General
Meeting. To make reservations, call the Society phone at 772-461-8020 and leave a
message, or you can e-mail your RSVP information: [email protected].
Dinners begin at 5:30 P.M. and the General Meeting starts at 6:00 P.M.
General Meetings are held at:
The Elks Club
635 South Fifth Street
Fort Pierce, Florida 34950
The Society is a Florida Corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3). The
Society is also classified as a public charity under 509(a)(2).
e St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
Fall 2013
e Historical Quarterly
Page 7
PLEASE JOIN US IN PRESERVING OUR LOCAL HERITAGE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS!
ST. LUCIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
Membership Application
Name:___________________________________________________________________________
Spouse’s Name:___________________________________________________________________
Names & Ages of minor children:______________________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip:_____________________________________________________________________
Phone: Home:__________________ Cell:___________________ Business:___________________
E-mail:___________________________________________________________________________
I/We wish to join the Society at the level indicated (Membership Year is from September through August):
 New
 Renewal
 Individual ($20)
 Family ($25)
 Business ($50)
 Yes, I am interested in volunteer activities
Please make checks payable to:
St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
Post Office Box 578
Fort Pierce, Florida 34954-0578
For information call: 772-461-8020
Send a gift membership to:
Name:____________________________________________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip:______________________________________________________________________
Gift from:__________________________________________________________________________
Membership is open to any interested person
 My employer will match this gift:__________. Employer’s name: ____________________________
Address:__________________________________________________________________________
SPONSOR A QUARTERLY OR A DINNER MEETING!!
Promote a business
Congratulate friends or family members for accomplishments or
important milestones in their lives
FOR SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION:
contact John Culverhouse:
772-812-4323
[email protected]
e St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
Fall 2013
St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
Post Office Box 578
Fort Pierce, Florida 34954
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Your help is needed in making history come alive!
As we run the daily operations of the St. Lucie
County Regional History Center, we are an allvolunteer operation, and we need your help!
St. Lucie Historical Society, Inc.
The tasks are varied and many. A number of
volunteers have been cleaning, dusting, and
polishing everything in the buildings. Others have
been needed as docents to guide people around
and explain the exhibits and their significance. By
the way, if you speak Spanish, French, Creole,
German, Italian, or even Japanese or Chinese, you
are especially desirable.
Please join us for our first
general membership meeting of the
2013-2014 season:
Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 5:30 PM
at the Fort Pierce Elks Club.
Mark your calendars now!
If you are interested, or would like more
information, please call: 772-462-1795, or contact
one of our officers or directors. Thank you!!
We hope you had a great summer, and we
look forward to seeing you soon!