Women’s Clubs Empower Early Punta Gorda Ladies

Back in the day in the early part of the twentieth century before women got the vote, women’s  clubs were very important for women to gain any political clout.  Through clubs, women  were able  to identify and solve problems within their communities while also gaining influence. These groups empowered women to address critical needs in their community.   Through their involvement in these clubs, more women began to see themselves as civic actors. These clubs also offered women a space for fellowship and learning,  and they became training grounds for learning activist skills such as organizing and speaking.. 

In  Punta Gorda, for example, women of the time formed a civic improvement club among others. The Women’s Civic Improvement Association was organized in 1911 to lobby for fences to keep open- range cattle from wandering into town and grazing on gardens -- leaving unsightly tokens before moving on.The effort was rewarded in August when the City Council adopted an ordinance "prohibiting running loose of horses, mules, jackasses, bulls, steers, cows, sheep, hogs or goats." The following year, the Civic Association and the Cattlemen's Association won the "privilege of fencing in the town.

The Civic Improvement group were also the drivers behind the formation of the Punta Gorda Women’s  Club still in operation today. Judge William F. Cooper sold the land to build a club facility for $1 in December, 1923  to Emma Hancock and Emily Carleton as trustees for the Women's Civic Association. Cooper's only stipulation was that the Tourist Club "should have the use of the auditorium with all lights and conveniences, free of charge to them.

The other two clubs at the time were the Fortnightly Club, which was the first founded,  in 1896 by teacher Norma Pepper.  It was said they discussed Shakespeare, gave reports on literary classics, and "raised their eyebrows at split infinitives.”  A photo of this group is below.   The other club that joined to form the Punta Gorda Woman’s Club in 1925 was the Married Ladies club.  

A Federation charter was granted the newly merged club on August 15, 1925. With this, the members began a drive to raise money for construction for a building.  They sponsored pancake suppers, pageants, rummage sales, dances and many other projects. No little pressure was applied on their husbands. Two members, Mrs. Martin and Miss Vera Speck, loaned substantial amounts. In two years, the clubhouse was ready -- including a stage where former Married Ladies members could perform skits.

Source: Charlotte Sun, January 23, 2000 based on interviews with Punta Gorda Woman’s Club and records of the Club.  

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Punta Gorda's Brief Time as the Southern Most Point of the American Rail System

 

The first train arrived in what is now Punta Gorda in August of 1886, making the town of Trabue the  southern-most terminus of the American railroad system.  It was founder, Isaac Trabue, who convinced the Florida Southern Railway to take the railroad they were building south to his town rather than across the Peace River to Charlotte Harbor.

   

Later in 1886, the Florida Southern began construction of the "Long Dock," a pier located near where the Isles Yacht Club is today.  The pier was forty-two hundred feet long and extended to a channel 14 feet deep, with tracks on the dock that gave the railroad access to seagoing-vessels, for shipment of merchandise and travel by passengers to New Orleans, Fort Myers, Cuba and other points north.

In 1894 the Florida Southern fell into bankrupcy and the line was sold to Henry Plant.  Plant not wanting Punta Gorda to be the major seaport on the southwest coast, but Tampa, had the track that extended to the long dock torn up and Punta Gorda lost it moment in time as a major seaport.  Soon thereafter, in 1902 the Atlantic Coast Line bought the Plant Line and began extending the railroad furtther south.  By 1904, the railroad reached  Fort Myers and Punta Gorda was no longer the southern most point of the American system.  

In Memory of those From Punta Gorda who were the first from here to Give their lives for our Country

 

This plaque honoring fallen hero’s from Charlotte County mentions two men killed during World War I who were from the Punta gorda area: Augustine Willis and Raleigh Whidden.   Lindsey Williams wrote about them in an article which we summarize below.

The first person from the Punta Gorda area to be killed during World War I was Augustine Willis of Charlotte Harbor Town, as reported by the Punta Gorda Herald in October 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Garrison L. Willis received Monday the heart-breaking news that their son, Augustine, had been killed in one of the  battles being fought in France.  Augustine and his father, Garrison, were gill-net fishermen at Charlotte Harbor. There were three Willis families there  at the time -  Garrison, Mott and Emmett. 

It was said of him in the Herald at the time that"he was one of the noblest young men of DeSoto County (Charlotte was not split from DeSoto until 1921) and was warmly esteemed by all who knew him." 

A letter regarding his death dated September 8, 1918  abounded in fervent expressions of sympathy for the bereaved parents and of praise for the dead youth. The following are extracts from it: 

 

"'I am writing you for the remembrance of your son, Augustine, who was at my side when he met his death. His manly form is always before me as I sit and ponder through the long evenings. 

 

"'He was, and is yet in a way, my dearest friend and chum. He at all times commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact. 

 

"'He met his death a few minutes after we had promised each other that should one of us be killed, the other would write to the bereaved parents and relate to them the sad news. It is in fulfillment of this promise that I am writing to you. 

 

 

"'His name will always be spoken with reverence by those who knew him, and it will go down as that of one whose military and personal record was without a stain. 

 

"'His last words to me were -- 'Write mother and father if I get killed.'" 

 

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The second military death from Punta Gorda was that of Raleigh Whidden of Punta Gorda who was severely wounded a month after Augustine Willis -- as related in the December 18 issue of the Herald 1918.   

Notice of his death appeared in the January 15, 1920, edition of the Herald. The paper noted that 18-year-old Whidden died at Carlstrom Air Field, Arcadia, where he was taken for treatment after his Army discharge. 

His obituary pointed out that Raleigh was a charter member of Punta Gorda post of the American Legion. His death was the first of the organization. Braxton Blount, representing the post, drove in his car to Gardner, Fla., to assist in burial arrangements. Raleigh was

buried in the family plot there between his mother and father. 

 

 

 

John H. Bowman - First Peace Officer to be killed in Punta Gorda

 

Marshall John H. Bowman was the first Punta Gorda peace officer to lose  his life. He was assassinated by a suspect that fired a shotgun blast through a screened front window of his home on Taylor Street in Punta Gorda. It was believed he was shot in response to his tough stance against drinking and gambling. His wife and four children were present when he was killed.

The suspect of murdering Bowman was Isiah E. Cooper.  Cooper strongly  denied guilt but was arrested, tried, and convicted to be hanged. After several appeals, his  sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Ten years later he escaped from a work gang and was never seen again. 

The Train Comes to Punta Gorda

The first train to operate in Florida was the Lake Wimico and St. Joseph line that connected the boomtown of St. Joseph to the Apalachicola River in 1836. Then in 1861, the railroad came to the west coast of Florida.   Track was extended from Fernandina in northeast Florida to Cedar Key, north of Tampa.  Essentially destroyed during the civil war the road was rebuilt in 1866 and by 1883 connected Jacksonville to Tampa.

  
As the railroad made its way further south, it was Isaac Trabue, the founder of Punta Gorda, who convinced the Boston owners of the Florida Southern Railway, to make his town then Trabue its southern terminus, rather than Charlotte Harbor on the north side of the Peace River.  

By July 24, 1886 track was extended the final six miles to Trabue, (Punta Gorda’s original name) which then became the southernmost point on the country’s rail system. The first passenger train arrived Aug. 1.  The line continued west through the city and terminated at a dock off the Peace River known as the Long Dock, which was located near where the Isles Yacht Club  is today. The dock was removed by Henry Plant in the 1890s after his company acquired the Florida Southern to insure that Tampa would be the major port on the gulf coast.  

The line, originally built as narrow gauge, was widened to standard gauge in 1892, and the Florida Southern was fully integrated with the Plant System in 1896.