Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Arrowsmith and the Byrd Mansion

Claude Kennison, of Tallahassee, researched the Old City Cemetery burials.  His entry for William Lamb Arrowsmith includes:  

Religion:  Episcopalian
Profession:  Physician
Floridian:  5/12/85
Of England, Arrived at Morgan last Friday 
Rented Byrd Mansion on East side of Green Square and purchased Hopkins estate near Centerville; a suburb of Tallahassee, one of the best mansions.
Citation:  Floridian 4/02/1886

The Byrd home was located on Calhoun between Gaines and Madison--see map here.  It was built for Matthew Lively, a druggist, in 1865 and sold to Willie P. Byrd in 1882.  Willie's brother Thomas Blake Byrd moved to Tallahassee from Miccosukee in the late 1800s and lived there for many years.
The Byrd Mansion, c 1881
Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/10395
The Byrd Mansion, Early 1900's
Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/35620
Perhaps home was rented to Dr. & Mrs. Arrowsmith between Willie and Thomas Byrds' residency.  There is always more to find out, which certainly makes it interesting.
Photocollage of Lewis Green, Green Square and Calhoun St. North, c. 1894
Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/27596,  
Photographer:  Alvan S. Harper;
Sadly, Green Square no longer exists.  So far as I can tell (and I am directionally challenged, so forgive me if I am turned around), the Bloxham building was built on Green Square.  The Bloxham building was built in 1925 as the Caroline Brevard Grammar School and purchased by the state in 1964.  So far as I can tell, a parking garage occupies the former lot of the Byrd home.

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