Monthly Archives: January 2024

Palm City’s Real Founding Father, “Alligator Smith”

One of the earliest photographs of “Palm City,” along the St. Lucie River. Florida Photographic Concern, 1912-1913. Thurlow Collection.

In my previous blog post announcing my mother’s and my upcoming book, A Pictorial History of Palm City, I told the story of Palm City’s very interesting early homesteader, Alligator Smith. Today I will share another tidbit – how Palm City’s creation is connected to Smith, and how his 1891 “state of intoxication and drowning” in the St. Luice River inadvertently led to C.C. Chillingworth becoming the known founding father of Palm City Farms in 1911.

In 1891 C.C. Chillingworth was a young lawyer at Robbins and Graham soon to be working in Juno, the county seat of Dade County.

Chillingworth’s second case was civil in the United States Land Office. In those days thousands of acres of land were open for homestead-entry but one had to reside on the land for two years. It was Chillingworth’s job to prove that William M. Smith, locally known along the St. Luice as “Alligator Smith,” had “not abandoned” his 160 acre homestead, on the west side of the river. By law, a six month abandonment caused the homestead to revert back to the federal government.

An antique post card reads,” A Florida Native.” ca 1910.

Obituary of Alligator Smith, Tropical Sun 1891.

Jewelry made from alligator teeth, c. 1880s, Thurlow Collection.

Chillingworth’s autobiography written in his later years states:

“We were engaged about a week in taking testimony at Pottsdam, now known as Stuart and I had been unable to prove that Smith had been spending any time on the homestead during six months. Smith was drunk and fell overboard from a boat in the St. Lucie River on July 4, 1891. However when I began to check on the testimony and prepare a brief for the Register of the U.S. Land Office at Gainesville, Florida, I discovered that Smith had died just one day less than six months after he made entry.”

Smith seemed to have lost his homestead by one day!

The case was appealed to the General Land Office in Wahington D.C. and to the Secretary of the Interior, but in the end Chillingworth prevailed. According to my mother, the Bureau of Land Management documented that a Mr. George Mulligan ended up with Alligator Smith’s former homestead. How, we will never know!

These “coveted and valuable lands” located on the west side of the South Fork of the St. Lucie River are connected to today’s Palm City Farms developed in 1911 by none other that C. C. Chillingworth. Chillingworth’s familiarly with the lands of Alligator Smith inspired Chillingworth to develop Palm City Farms twenty years later. Without Alligator Smith, there would be no Palm City. I think we can say, Alligator Smith is Palm City’s real founding father!

Chillingworth offered a lot in Palm City to those who bought ten acres further west in Palm City Farms. Note location of St. Lucie River for reference – 1911 plat map.

Me modeling alligator hat holder and pin jewelry carefully arranged by my mother.

Palm City’s First Homesteader, Alligator Smith

“And the Palm Tree Nodded to the Mirror in the Jungle.” Ormond, Florida. Stereoscope c. late 1800s, Thurlow collection.

Over the past year, I have been doing something wonderful. I have been working on a book about Palm City, Florida, with my mother, Sandra Henderson Thurlow to be entitled A Pictorial History of Palm City. We are having it proofed and edited now; it will be published sometime in late 2024. In the meanwhile, I am going to share some tidbits.

Have you ever wondered who was the first modern character of Palm City? He was a trapper. An alligator hunter who more than likely, over time, killed thousands of alligators selling their teeth of fine ivory to make jewelry. The trapper’s name? Of course, Alligator Smith!

Apparently, Alligator Smith was very well liked and fraternized with the likes of now famous names of our area such as Bessey, Stypmann and Krueger. However, my mother and I had different feelings towards Alligator Smith. I was really not fond of him and felt like “he got what he had coming to him,” when he died on July 4th, 1891 in a state of intoxication, falling off his boat, Magic, and drowning in the St. Luice River off of Sewall’s Point.

Mom saw him as a suvivalist. My thoughts? Perhaps after killing so many alligators on a river once named “Halpatiokee” which means “alligator waters” in a native tongue,“ the spirit of the river may have decided to take Alligator Smith home.

His real name was “William Smith” and he was working to obtain his homestead from the federal government at today’s Pendarvis Cove. As you’ll learn in the next post, “his lands” inadvertently seeded the creation of “Palm City.”

Stereoscopes became popular around 1850; today, they are considered the first step towards “virtual reality.”

“And the Palm Tree Nodded to the Mirror in the Jungle.” Ormond, Florida. Stereoscope c. late 1800s, Thurlow collection.

El Nino, Lake Okeechobee, and the St. Lucie River

1-10-24, St. Lucie Inlet region, Ed Lippisch

El Nino has not given us many sunny Florida days this winter; however, there have been a few. These aerials taken by my husband Ed Lippisch on January 10, 2024, around noon are an example of a rare sunny day. As mentioned in my last post, Lake Okeechobee has not been discharged to the St. Luice River heavily since 2018. Today, on 1-13-23, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Okeechobee is sitting at 16.06 feet. You can see from the 2024 chart below how the lake is creeping up since the new year. The 2023 chart below it, reveals numbers sometimes over 16 feet as well. There are a number of things causing uncertainly regarding lake operations. But on January 16th, 2024 the ACOE Periodic Scientist Call will occur. At this time we will get a clue of the fate of the St. Lucie. Hopefully nothing will change. Until then, you can go to eyeonlakeo.com and watch the numbers in close to real time while you email your favorite elected official.

~ACOE

~All aerials below were taken 1-10-23, Ed Lippisch

~St. Lucie Inlet with rain plume

~Looking west over Hutchinson Island, Sewall’s Point and Stuart. Just off of south Sewall’s Point is the confluence of the St. Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon

~St. Luice Inlet State Park (L) and Sailfish Point (R) on Hutchinson Island. Note lack of seagrass beds. There were once 700 acres of lush grasses in this area. Also called the Sailfish Flats

A strong El Nino 2023/2024 means higher than average rainfall for Florida.

“The Fishing Grounds of Presidents,” Martin Digital History

In case you haven’t heard about Martin Digital History, I’d like to share a bit of it today. Part of the library system, its “mission is to encourage the appreciation of Martin County’s unique history by collaborating with community members and local organizations to collect, present, and interpret relevant digital content.”

Some of the first cultural documents digitized at the encouragement of historian Sandra Thurlow were the old Martin County Chamber of Commerce Fishing Guides. I know many of my readers will appreciate these historic documents!

Here is a page from the 1935 fishing guide noting the St. Lucie River was “the Fishing Grounds of Presidents.” Pretty amazing all things considered today!

5 presidents who fished the St. Luice River.

A list of fish and the artwork of the 1935 cover note fish that are still found in the area but in much lesser quantities.

Click here to see a pdf. version of the 1935 Fishing Guide’s Entire Document.

Click here to see the Fishing Guide of 1935 and other Collections

I hope this is just the beginning of your learning about Martin Digital History!

It’s a Beautiful New Year

On December 31st, the eve of 2024, Ed photographed our region. On a bright sunny day after the settling of heavy El Nino rains, the camera revealed a world of beauty. Stubborn water quality problems and lack of seagrass habitat for wildlife persist but we are thankful for policy shifts that since 2019, have spared the St. Luice River major damaging, toxic discharges from Lake Okeechobee, and it shows.

El Nino’s guaranteed rains through spring, an entrenched legislative culture of protections for agriculture and development, and a lake sitting today at 15.97 will make this blue beauty difficult to hold.

But for today, it is a beautiful new year. Happy 2024 to everyone and may we continue to to speak out at any cost and may we continue to shine the light. J &E

~The St. Lucie River Indian River Lagoon

~Hell’s Gate, Sewall’s Point and Hutchinson Island where darker estuary waters collide with the incoming ocean

~St. Lucie Inlet at today’s Sailfish Point, Hutchinson Island

~Boats fishing over the reef off of Peck’s Lake in the blue and beautiful Atlantic Ocean. It is widely reported that only 3% of reefs have survived warming, pollution, and other stressors.

~Manatee Pocket bottom right -looking towards St. Lucie Inlet

~Rocky Point and St. Lucie Inlet State Park south of inlet. The once 700 acres of seagrass mostly bare. Like a plant in one’s yard it is dormant in winter but should not be absent

~The C-23 Canal divides St. Luice and Marin counties discharging into the St. Lucie River and is highly polluted from agriculture and development’s runoff. Reservoirs and stormwater treatment areas are underway by the ACOE and hoped to be completed by 2032.