Dannitte Hill Mays (1852-1930)

From the History of Florida, Past and Present, Vol. III, 1923.

   The Strangest Names in American Political History makes its first stop in Florida for 2018 to examine the life of multi-term state representative, gubernatorial candidate, and U.S. Representative Dannitte Hill Mays, a man best known to this author as that funny named Florida congressman whose first name sounds as if it belongs on the periodic table of elements. Curious name notwithstanding, Mays was for over twenty years a political power player in the Sunshine state, serving three terms in the state legislature (including one as speaker of the house), a two-time candidate for Governor, and in 1908 was elected to the first of two terms in Congress. 

   A son of Richard Adams and Eliza (Williams) Mays, Dannitte Hill Mays was born in Madison County, Florida on April 28, 1852. Bestowed the unusual name Dannitte (an ancestral family name) upon his birth, Mays was not the first child in his family born with that name, an older brother (name spelled Daunitt Hill Mays) having died in November 1851. Dannitte Mays' formative years were spent upon his father's plantation and attended the public schools of Savannah, Georgia. From 1866 to 1870 he was a student at Washington and Lee University, and despite having the opportunity to go into multiple fields, Mays elected to pursue farming as a full-time career. 

  Returning to Florida, Mays began his career in agriculture in a "small way", and by the time his two terms in Congress had concluded owned large landholdings in Jefferson, Madison, and Leon Counties, totaling "7,000 acres and his farms are operated by tenants." In 1880 he married to Emmala "Emma" Bellamy Parkhill (1861-1954), and the couples near five-decade marriage saw the births of six children, Elizabeth B.P. (?--?), Mary Eliza (1884-1957), Sarah Croom (?--?), Emmala Mays (1889-1975), Dannitte Hill (1893-1966), and Charles Parkhill (1902-1981).

  Dannitte Hill Mays began his political career in 1888 when he was a delegate from Jefferson County to the Florida Democratic state convention. Two years later he was elected to the first of three terms as Jefferson County's representative to the Florida state legislature. His first term from 1891-93 saw him named to the committees on Rules and State Institutions, and after winning a second term in late 1894, he sat on the committees on Finance and Taxation, Public Health, Public Printing, and Railroads and Telegraphs. Mays also chaired the Appropriations Committee during the 1895-97 session.

  Elected to a third term in late 1896, Mays was elevated by his fellow representatives to the position of Speaker of the House at the start of the 1897-99 session, and during this term held no committee assignments. Following the conclusion of his final house term, Mays set his sights on higher office, and in 1900 his name was put forward as a candidate for Florida Governor at that year's Democratic convention held in Jacksonville. Despite an impressive showing in the balloting, Mays would fail of nomination by only a few votes, the nomination instead going to William Sherman Jennings, who later won the election and took office in January 1901. In 1904 Mays again made a run for Governor in the Democratic state primaries but was defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, who in turn was elected as Governor that November.

From the Pensacola Journal, January 26, 1908.

  After two losing gubernatorial candidacies, Mays's political fortunes changed in 1908 when he announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 3rd congressional district. As one of five Democratic candidates vying to succeed outgoing congressman William B. Lamar, Mays faced an uphill battle. After announcing his candidacy in January 1908, Mays' campaign platform and previous legislative service were touted in a number of Florida newspapers, and Mays himself detailed the following tenets of his political platform in the April 16, 1908 edition of the Madison New Enterprise, including:

• An improved Florida waterway system to meet the demands of Florida's "growing commercial importance."
• An improved rural free delivery system
• Government aid in building good roads
• Backing labor unions in the state 

  In addition to the above platform, Mays would relate that as a longtime farmer and lifetime Florida resident, he was very much in touch with the needs of the average citizen, remarking that:

"As a Floridian born and bred, I invite and solicit my people's support. Having been a farmer always, I may have missed some of the strenuous features of modern life; but I claim that this will not alienate from me, a tiller of the soil, the support of the people, nor disqualify me from serving them faithfully as Congressman."

  Following his win in the 1908 Democratic congressional primary, Mays faced off against Republican William H. Northrup in the general election that November. When the votes were tallied it was Dannitte Mays who coasted to an impressive victory, garnering 9, 314 votes to his opponents 1,712. Taking his seat in Congress in January 1909, Mays' first term saw him named to the committees on Private Land Claims and Reform in the Civil Service.

From the Tallahassee Weekly True Democrat, June 5, 1908.

   Announcing his bid for reelection in 1910, Mays' reelection campaign was advertised in newspapers throughout his district throughout that year, which intoned his accomplishments during his first term. As the Pensacola Herald detailed in its May 8, 1910 edition, Mays:

"Has done and is doing earnest work for his district--he has had over half a million dollars appropriated for the rivers and harbors of his district for one year--he has had rural routes increased nearly 100 per cent, and will continue to work until every family has daily mail, carriers have better pay, and good roads throughout the district from one end to the other. He is a farmer, and is making every effort to assist the farmers of the district, and encourage agriculture."

  In November 1910 Dannitte Mays polled another impressive victory, besting his Republican opponent, Eric Von Axelson, by over 7,800 votes. During the 1911-13 session Mays was named to the committees on Expenditures in the Department of Agriculture, and Post Offices and Post Roads. In the 1912 election year, Mays entered the Democratic primary but later withdrew, the nomination instead going to Emmett Wilson. 
  Following his time in Congress Mays returned to farming and partook in two of his favorite leisure activities, hunting, and fishing. Dannitte Mays died in Monticello, Florida on May 9, 1930, several days after his 78th birthday. He was survived by his wife Emma, who, after her passing at age 93 in 1954, was interred alongside her husband at the Roseland Cemetery in Monticello.

Celestino Moreno Jones (1865-1938)

Portrait from the Bench and Bar of Florida, 1935.

   A figure of distinction in Pensacola, Florida for over four decades, Celestino Moreno Jones was a native Texan who would hold several political offices in Florida, including serving as assistant U.S. attorney, state representative, and Mayor of the city of Pensacola. In 1917 he would be elected as Judge of the Escambia County Court of Record and would serve in that capacity until his death two decades later.

  Born in San Antonio, Texas on June 26, 1865, C. Moreno Jones (as most sources refer to him) was the son of Joseph Pickett (1833-1895) and Victoria (Moreno) Jones. A prominent figure in his own right, Joseph Pickett Jones was a Confederate veteran and lawyer who would serve as Mayor of Pensacola from 1875-76. C. Moreno Jones removed to Pensacola with his family while still a child and attended the public schools of that city. He would begin the study of law under the tutelage of his father and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1886. Jones began the practice of his profession in Pensacola soon after receiving his law degree. He married in Pensacola on June 15, 1898, to Rose May McHenry (1874-1968), with whom he would have three sons, Joseph Pickett (1899-1950), Lou Epler (died in infancy in 1902), and J. McHenry (1903-1996). 

  Described as a "staunch Democrat", C. Moreno Jones first entered Florida political life in the mid-1890s when he began service as assistant U.S. District Attorney for Florida. In 1900 he was elected as one of Escambia County's representatives in the Florida legislature. Jones' term extended from 1901 to 1903 and during this term pulled political "double duty", as he had taken office as Mayor of Pensacola in 1901! Jones served one two-year term as mayor and in 1907 was boosted for a second term, even being the subject of a petition "urging him to run."  Jones would decline to be a candidate, however, citing attention to his law practice.

                                                       Portrait from the Pensacola Journal, February 19, 1912.

   C. Moreno Jones returned to political life in 1912 when he announced his candidacy for State Attorney for Florida's 1st Judicial Circuit. Jones would lose that election to fellow Pensacola native John P. Stokes and continued to practice law in Pensacola until 1917 when he won election as Judge of the Escambia County Court of Record, a court responsible for hearing "civil, chancery, and criminal cases." 

  Jones would serve on the bench until his death on July 5, 1938, shortly after his 73rd birthday. Acknowledged as a lawyer of "admirable record and achievement", he was survived by his two sons and wife Rose, who died in 1968 at the age of 93. Both Jones and his wife were interred at St. Michael's Cemetery in Pensacola.

Stealie Monroe Preacher (1891-1971)

Portrait from the 1935 Bench and Bar of Florida.

   We continue our stay in Florida for a look at the life of Stealie Monroe Preacher, a representative in the Florida legislature from Walton County. Nearly two decades following his time as a representative Preacher was returned to public office, being elected to two terms as the Mayor of his home city of DeFuniak Springs, Florida. Born in Darlington, Florida on July 17, 1891, Preacher's unusual first name "Stealie" is the first such instance of that name that I've seen, and after first finding it I was under the assumption that it was a nickname! As it turns out, a nickname it is not, and this is reinforced by Preacher himself writing it in full on his 1917 draft registration.

   Little is known of Preacher's early life or education. He was a veteran of WWI, serving with the 31st Division of the American Expeditionary Forces, and is recorded by the 1935 Bench and Bar of Florida as having attended the Blackstone Institute in Pennsylvania. Preacher first entered Florida political life in 1925 when he began a seven-year stint as Tax Assessor of Walton County, Florida. He was admitted to the Florida bar around 1930 and in 1931 established his law practice in DeFuniak Springs.

   Stealie M. Preacher married in 1934 to Ella Brannon (1902-1994). The couple were wed until Preacher's death in 1971 and had two sons, Tommy and Jimmy. In the same year as his marriage Preacher was elected as one of Walton County's representatives to the Florida State House of Representatives and served during the 1935-37 session. During that session, Preacher and fellow representative D. Stuart Gillis worked for the passage of an act:

"Creating the Walton County bridge authority, providing for it's powers and duties authorizing it to construct a bridge or bridges and approaches thereto, across the Choctowatchee Bay or Choctowatchee River, connecting State Road Number 10 and State Road Number 115."

   Following his time in the Florida legislature Preacher was elected as the Mayor of DeFuniak Springs in the early 1950s and won a second term as mayor in July 1954. Preacher would continue to be active in Walton County political life well into his seventh decade, and in January 1959 began a four-year term as Prosecuting Attorney of Walton County, Florida. Stealie M. Preacher died at a hospital in DeFuniak Springs on August 12, 1971, just a few weeks following his 80th birthday. He was survived by his wife Ella and both were subsequently interred at the Magnolia Cemetery in DeFuniak Springs.

From the DeFuniak Springs Herald, August 19, 1971.

Cilbey Lihu Wiggins (1847-1910)

Cilbey Lihu Wiggins, from the Pensacola Journal, November 4, 1908.

    Hailing from the county of Escambia in Florida, Cilbey Lihu Wiggins accumulated a fortune through the manufacture of timber, and through his work gained a reputation as a prominent business figure in the South. Towards the end of his life, Wiggins was honored by being elected as Pine Barren, Florida's representative in the Florida State Assembly, taking his seat in January 1909.

   The son of William David and Sarah Ann Noble Wiggins, Cilbey L. Wiggins' birth occurred in Pike County, Alabama on July 5, 1847. Wiggins was left fatherless at a young age (his father having died in 1849) and shortly thereafter was sent to live with the Emmons family of Escambia County, Alabama. He would reside in their home until reaching his "twenty-fifth year" and married in March of 1872 to Martha Hamac, and they are recorded as being childless through the duration of their nearly forty years of marriage. Though they may not have had any children of their own, Wiggins and his wife were the guardians of two brothers, John L. and Walter B. Jernigan. 

    Shortly following his marriage Cilbey Wiggins entered into a partnership in a mercantile firm with Neil McMillan. The firm of Wiggins and McMillan lasted for about a year when Wiggins decided to withdraw from the business. Sometime later he turned his attention to the lumber industry, and, after meeting up with A.R. McMillan (presumably a relative of the previously mentioned Neil McMillan), the two men established a sawmill located near Pollard, Alabama. This business was sold in 1881, and soon after Wiggins and McMillan set their sights on property located in Pine Barrens, Florida where they would erect another lumber mill.  This mill (described by the Memorial Record of Alabama as being one of the "best of its kind in the lumber region") would put out "60.000 to 75,000" board feet a day, and was furnished with then state-of-the-art machinery and kilns.

   Through his dealings in lumber and milling Cilbey Wiggins amassed a fortune, and was recorded in his Montgomery Advertiser death notice as having an estate worth nearly $500,000. Mentioned as being a man of great "personal popularity" amongst his fellow Escambia County citizens, Wiggins had substantial real estate holdings in the area, as well as a large share of stock in various local banks. Though not an office seeker, Wiggins' name was put forth as a Democratic nominee for the Florida House of Representatives in 1908, and in November of that year was elected with a vote of 1, 460. Taking his seat at the beginning of the 1909 term, Wiggins was named to the house committees on Forestry, Game and Public Health. During his service, Wiggins introduced "a bill to protect gophers" which was later given to the committee on bills in the third reading. The bill eventually came up for vote and passed, 41 votes to 5, in May 1909. 

   Cilbey Lihu Wiggins died in office on March 26, 1910 at age 62, his cause of death being attributed to "heart trouble." In his will, Wiggins left a number of bequests to institutions in both Alabama and Florida, including a $10,000 donation to the Summerfield Orphanage in Summerfield, Alabama and a $10,000 donation to the Downing Industrial School for Girls. Wiggins also left $30,000 to both his brother John and Walter Jernigan, the latter of whom also received twenty-five shares of stock in the McMillan Lumber Company as well as real estate holdings. 

  Following his passing Wiggins was entombed in a mausoleum at the Pollard Cemetery in Pollard, Alabama. He would later be posthumously recognized by the Downing Industrial School by having Wiggins Hall named in his honor. 

From the 1909 Florida House Journal.

Appling Speaks Wells (1867-1930)

   Originally a resident of Louisiana, Appling S. Wells later moved to Florida where his political and business fortunes were realized. He was a member of both houses of the Florida legislature and later held a seat on the Florida State Railroad Commission for nearly a decade.

   Appling Speaks Wells was born in the Parish of Claiborne, Louisiana on October 6, 1867, the son of Daniel Appling and Caroline Ambrose Beard Wells. Little is known of Appling's early years and education, but at some point in his twenties removed to North Carolina. He married in 1889 in the town of Columbia to Ms. Caro Belle Lester (1871-1942). Thirteen children were born to this couple, and are listed as follows: Thomas Lester (1890-1955), Bonnie Sinclair (born 1891), Bessie Leigh (1893-1974), William Mitchell (1895-1897), Cornelia Jackson (1896-1900), Ada Belle (1898-1899), Appling Speaks Jr. (1899-1926), Lora Mae (1900-1987), Cora Patrick (1903-1973), Helen (born 1906), Pauline (born 1908), Blossom (died at birth in 1910) and Charlie (died at birth in 1912).

   The Wells family resided in Mississippi before moving to Florida in the late 1890s, eventually settling in the city of Tallahassee. In 1906 Appling Wells was elected to the Florida State House of Representatives from Leon County, officially taking his seat in January 1907. He served two terms in the state house, and in 1912 won election to the Florida State Senate, serving here until 1917.

  After leaving the Senate, Wells maintained a low profile until 1921, when he was named to the Florida State Railroad Commission. His service on this board extended until his death at age 63 on December 16, 1930, in Tallahassee. He was survived by his wife Caro and was later interred at the Oakland Cemetery in Tallahassee. Also buried in Oakland is famed U.S. Senator (and later Representative) Claude Denson Pepper (1900-1989), who served over 40 years in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

This new portrait of Appling Speaks Wells was located in a 1917 Florida Blue Book in May 2013.

Wankard Pooser (1893-1978)

  I'm sure anyone who is reading this article got an immediate chuckle out of the strangeness of this man's name, but make no mistake, Florida politician Wankard Pooser was an actual person! One can wonder if this two-term Florida state legislator had to endure some teasing about his curious name. The rare portrait of him shown above was discovered via the Florida Memory historical website and is in all likelihood the only portrait of him to be found online.
  Wankard Pooser was born on September 27, 1893, in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, and little else could be found concerning his early life, the exception being a WWI draft registration card denoting that he'd attended "rural schools". Pooser married his wife Maude in the mid-1910s and became parents to a family of eleven children. Of these children, his son Wankard Lucius Pooser died aged 91 in 2008 and was an attorney for five decades, being a member of both the Florida and New York bar.

    A resident of Jackson County, Florida beginning in 1903, Pooser was a farmer and school teacher prior to his time in state government. Pooser abandoned teaching in 1937 and engaged in house moving, in addition to farming. He entered politics in 1935 with an unsuccessful run for state senator, and in 1944 Jackson County elected him to the first of two terms in the Florida House of Representatives, where he served from 1945-1949. The following Florida Humanities Council link denotes that Pooser was elected on a single campaign promise, which was to vote no on every single bill that passed before him. It is also mentioned that he broke this promise only once (it isn't elaborated on what bill he voted for) and that the "voters rejected him at the next election". Pooser's frequent "nay" votes were highlighted in the June 1, 1949 edition of the Miami Herald, which described him as red-faced, bespectacled, and "often irascible."

  During his two terms, Pooser was frequently at odds with veteran house members and government officials, referring to them as "those Tallahassee bureaucrats". The Herald detailed that Pooser's cantankerousness carried over into a lack of legislative accomplishment, having "failed with a couple of general bills to help the house moving business." Despite his record of little-to-no legislation, Pooser remained non-plussed, with the Herald remarking:

"Pooser's defense is that he is doing--and has been doing all along--precisely what he told his people he would do if elected."

   Pooser's two terms in the house weren't without controversy, however. In May 1945 Pooser began preparations to introduce a constitutional amendment that aimed to "abolish" the Florida legislature and turn its duties over to the Governor. Pooser noted that his bill would save "many thousands of dollars to the taxpayers of the state formally endowing the executive with the complete lawmaking powers he already is exercising and abolishing entirely the figurehead body now known as the legislature." 

From the May 11, 1945, Sarasota Herald.

From the Pensacola News, March 4, 1960.

    Later in May 1945, the Saint Petersburg Times reported on a remark Pooser had made during a debate in the house with fellow representative John Lambe. In this debate, Rep. Lambe had made known his objections to a bill Pooser had introduced that proposed "strict regulation" of the Jackson County Hospital, located in Pooser's hometown of Marianna. During the debate proceedings between them, Pooser made a remark about the death of one of Lambe's children two years previously. Lambe is recorded as becoming emotional and being unable to continue his debate with Pooser, who was later admonished by his fellow representatives for his remarks. The legislature then "immediately killed his bill by a loud voice vote."
  Pooser is later quoted in the same paper as excusing himself from further house proceedings, noting that "I'm withdrawing from politics, for which I feel myself totally unfitted anyway." As noted earlier, Pooser was elected to two terms in the house, which proved that he did not make good on his statement. During his second term, Pooser continued to be the "great dissenter" of the house, and sources of the time frequently picked up on his consistent voting pattern. In the Miami News edition of July 2, 1949, an editorial referred to Pooser as "out of tune" with the times, noting that:

" Representative Pooser went to great lengths during the legislative session to explain practically all of his votes. There is no telling how much it cost the state to have spread in the legislative journal, his lengthy explanations for saying either aye or nay, and yet, with all of his explanations, his service to the state was negligible."

  Pooser flirted with a state senate run in 1950 and 1952, being described as a man who "set was is believed to be a record for negative votes." In March 1960 he announced his campaign for his old House seat but failed to make his candidacy extend past that year's primary. After many years of being out of the political spotlight, Wankard Pooser died on February 22, 1978, at age 84, and was subsequently interred at the Pope Cemetery in Sneads, Jackson County, Florida. 

                                               Would you vote for a man named Wankard Pooser?

Keightley Braxton Raulerson (1861-1913)

  I recently discovered Keightley Braxton Raulerson on a roster of former Florida State Representatives, and given the fact that the state of Florida has yielded very few strangely named politicians to post here, his discovery comes as a very pleasant find.
  Raulerson was born in Seville, Volusia County, Florida on September 19, 1861, the son of Wade and Katherine (Hart) Raulerson. He attended school in Geneva, Florida and his youth was spent engaged in farming and cattle raising. During the 1890s he served a few terms as Commissioner of Orange County, Florida, and in 1896 entered into the cattle raising. In 1903 he established the East Coast Cattle Company (later serving as its president.)
   In 1900, Raulerson was elected to the Florida State House of Representatives, where he served for one term. After his service in the House, Raulerson was elected to the St. Lucie County Board of Commissioners and was named as its Chairman shortly before his death. He died while on a trip to Atlanta, Georgia on November 10, 1913, at age 52. 
 The picture of Raulerson shown above was found in a 1909 book entitled Makers of America (Florida Edition) which centers on prominent men in the business and political circles in Florida.