Arrowsmith Timeline

Dr. William Lamb Arrowsmith was for many years thought to be a man of mystery by those at Goodwood.  However, through much research, a clearer picture of him has emerged.  There are still some questions, but we are closer to the answers today.  What follows is a basic timeline of Dr. Arrowsmith's life:

• April 10, 1821--William Lamb Arrowsmith (hereafter WLA)  is born, perhaps in London
• 1821--Annie Esther Eedes, WLA's 1st wife is born in London to Henry & Sarah Isabella Eedes
• 1836--Elizabeth Harris (hereafter EHA), WLA's 2nd wife, is born in England.
• 1839--WLA & Annie Esther Eedes are married in London
• 1841--WLA became an associate of institution of civil engineers in London
• 1841--WLA's 1st child, Caroline Annie, is born in London
• 1841--Queen Victoria appoints WLA superintendent of government works and affairs in Malta.  He is a civil engineer.
• August 8, 1842--WLA's 2nd child is born, Blanch Isabel Harriet in Malta.  She died February 5, 1847.
• March 26, 1846--WLA's 3rd child is born, Horace Reginald, in Malta.
• March 19, 1847--WLA's 4th child is born, Blanche Mabel.  She died May 9, 1851.
• September 19, 1849--WLA's 5th child is born, Alice Harriette.
• 1849-1854--WLA serves as the Collector of Customs in Malta.
• 1850--In Malta, the Korbin Corrective Facility is built by WLA, who is recognized as an "internationally renowned architect".
• 1854-1958--WLA and wife Annie Esther Eedes are involved in a very messy divorce (more on that in a later post).
• c 1859--WLA marries Elizabeth Harris.  

This is where things get a bit fuzzy.  He is rumoured to have been one of Giuseppe Garibaldi's personal doctors (he had 23).   While this does fit into his timeline very neatly, there are no facts to back this rumour up.  He also seems to have been trained as a doctor in Nova Scotia, but again, we have not been able to verify this.  His daughter Lucy Anne Ellinor was born during this window as well, but her date of birth has not been confirmed.  From here on, things become clearer:

• 1865--WLA is listed as a graduate of the Homeopathic Medical College of Philadelphia.  
• 1865-1868--WLA practices medicine in Philadelphia with three other doctors.
• 1867-1868--WLA serves as the Chair of Psysiology, Anatomy at the Homeopathic Medical College of Philadelphia.
• 1868--WLA is Professor of Physiology & General Pathology at the Homeopathic Medical College of Philadelphia.  This is also the year that his future daughter-in-law Rosanna Scott Richards graduates from the same institution. 
• 1868--WLA retires and goes abroad
• 1871--by this year, WLA is practicing medicine in St. Heliers, Isle of Jersey.  
• 1877--by this year, WLA is living in London on Gordon Street.  Lucy Anne Ellinor marries Frederick Molison Burke.  A ship captain, Burke will later be knighted.
• 1881--by this year, WLA is living in Wateringbury, Kent, England with fourty-one-year-old Elizabeth and 28-year-old Martha Dykes.  He is still in Wateringbury in 1883.
• 1885--WLA purchases Goodwood.  He dies about 8 months later and is buried in the City Cemetery.  The funeral takes place at Goodwood and the services are conducted by Dr. Carter.
• 1902--daughter Lucy dies in England. 
• 1911--EHA and Martha Dykes move from Goodwood to 534 N. Monroe, near the corner of N. Monroe and Georgia streets.
• October 10, 1915--EHA dies of a stroke on a train just before Jacksonville.  She had been visiting friends in Hague, NY, where, according to her obituary, "she had spent a pleasant summer with Miss Dykes and several friends.  The end came just before reaching Jacksonville, and her many friends were at the train here to escort the body to the city cemetery where the funeral service was conducted by the Rev. D. Garnell of St. Johns Episcopal Chuch."
• February 2, 1916--Miss Dykes dies in Tallahassee.  The obituary describes her as "a well known and popular young woman." (She was 63!) She died of a stroke while attending a social gathering at the home of Mr. & Mrs. John W. Henderson. 

To sum it up, Dr. Arrowsmith began his career as a civil engineer in London.  He was then sent to Malta to become Superintendent of Works and Affairs and later as the Collector of Customs.  He fathered three children who survived to adulthood and was in a messy divorce.  He left Malta for London after the death of his ex-wife.  He then married Elizabeth Harris and fathered another child, Lucy Anne Ellinor.  After who knows how many adventures (or maybe no adventures), he became a Homeopathic doctor in Philadelphia.  He both taught and served as a department chair before moving to the Isle of Jersey.  He then moved back to London, then left London for Wateringbury.  In 1858, he moved to Tallahassee and purchased Goodwood and transformed it from a working plantation to a country estate.  He died eight months later.  Elizabeth stayed on, with Martha Dykes, until 1911, when she sold to Mrs. Tiers.  Elizabeth died four years after the sale of Goodwood and Martha died the year after that.  

Goodwood Grounds--March 29, 1961--Part Two

Standing on the balcony of Main House looking
over Gray Cottage

Pathway between Main House and Old Kitchen, looking towards Gray

I can't see this well enough to know which building this is.

A Christmas Card from the Collins

Margaret saved this card from 1961, the year that Gov. Collins left the Governor's Mansion, having served from 1954-1961.  They are heading towards their home, The Grove, which is next door to the Mansion.  The card reads:

As this year draws to a close we end an experience of rare challenge and enjoyment.

Not only do we say "Merry Christmas" and express our sincere good wishes for your health and happiness; we also thank you for your friendship, your confidence and your prayers.

They have deeply enriched our lives and will remain unforgettable always.

LeRoy Collins

In case they are difficult to read, the photographs are labeled:  Roy Jr., Jane, Mary Call Jr., Roy, Darby, Mary Call, Jane, John.  For more information about Gov. Collins, check out the Museum of Florida History site.

1962 Christmas Card

In the Goodwood collection, we have a number of Christmas cards saved by Margaret Hodges Hood.  She usually saved only the front of the card, presumably for crafts.  This particular card, from around 1962, is no exception.  Only the first three paragraphs of the letter remain.

Merry Xmas!

Knowing that you are a student of history and of politics, I wonder what your opinion of the world situation is today?

I believe that President Kennedy will do some much needed work toward regaining American leadership if those right-wing Republicans will give him a chance.  Eisenhower left office without doing anything to strengthen us here at home, or abroad.

Do you like our present governor?  Frankly I am disappointed in him.  I did not vote for him in the first primary--but I did in the second.  In this area we are all burned up with him over the turnpike matter and his complete ignoring of the Ridge section of the state....

And there it stops!  President Kennedy served from 1961 to 1963.  Cecil Farris Bryant became governor in 1961, succeeding Leroy Collins.  The Florida Turnpike was advanced during his administration.   The Ridge section includes Polk and Highland counties, which the turnpike misses entirely.

From Florida Memory Project:  Gov. Bryant (center) breaking
ground for the Florida Turnpike

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Ball Christmas Card

Christmas is just around the corner!  We are preparing to decorate the Main House and several of Margaret's Christmas cards will be on display.  The inside of this card reads:

With best wishes for

A Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Ball

The velum insert reads:

Florida's giant spring, the bowl of which covers four and a half acres, has a depth of one hundred eighty-five feet. The natural beauty of the Spring and the surrounding territory has  attracted attention for centuries. Explorations of noted archeologists indicate that there have been settlements on the banks of this Spring for something over two thousand years.

One of the earliest Spanish explorers in Florida, Panfilo de Narvaez, with his company of explorers and adventurers, spent the winter of 1529 at this Spring.

Ponce de Leon in his search for the Fountain of Youth journeyed with his entire company to this Spring and bathed in its waters.

Ships were built near this Spring by De Narvaez, very likely the first ships ever built on this continent.

After the United States acquired Florida and established territorial and state governments this Spring became famous for its political picnics. Before every general election aspirants for State offices attend the picnic and announce their candidacy.

In the past several years it has become even more widely known for its athletically trained fish that, the the amazement of the visitors and sightseers, pole vault whenever called upon to do so by the negro boatman.

The Wakulla Springs lodge and park was originally owned by Edward Ball, a prominent businessman who led the St. Joe Company.  The property was purchased by the State in 1986 and named the Edward Ball State Park.

Remembering Nadine, 1900

William C. Hodges wrote these lines in honor of Nadine Richards on October 29, 1900, while in Tallahassee.  

William C. Hodges, c.1900

LINES
I was a student in a school,
Learning to work and read by rule.
I met a little Miss,
With ruby lips just right to kiss.
Here cheeks were rosy like the mom,
Her gentle eyes were deepest brown.
Here hand was small and very fair,
And loveliest chestnut was her hair.
My heart was given to this young girl,
Willingly to change for a tiny curl, 
I told her I loved her, Oh so very dear,
All my studies I slighted a little, I fear,
After school we'd plan our future life,
With, of course, this maiden for my wife.
But partings come to all on Earth,
Sometimes on the street,Sometimes by hearth.
And so we parted one Spring-time day,
She wept bitter tears when I went away.
In time I wandered to a sunnier land,
Close to the ocean's shimmering sand.
Distance and time makes one forget,
The parting, the tear, the sad regret.
And letters at last come far between,
Each thinks the other cares not so I ween.
At last ours ceased to cross each others track.
None were sent and of course none came back.
As I sit at the eve, I ponder where she went,
And if life's pathway for her was straight or bent.
She was a sweet and tender child, 
Her face most fair, her manner mild.
She lived I know once tenderly,
The object--but a thoughtless Schoolboy me.
And as I wonder sitting in the eve,
Where does she live, what roof beneath.
I hope, ah truly! She is blest,
She's good I know.  May she have rest.
Nadine.

Nadine's Diary, The Last Entry

I will miss Nadine and her college adventures.  I hope that one day we will find out what became of her!  It has been an interesting view into the young Hodges.  Here he is, a handsome young man, with the whole world in front of him.  He seems sure that the worst that could happen to him would be to lose a girl.  Not too long after this,  he will experience the pain of losing his brother to a horse and buggy accident.  He will come through that to mature into a hard-driving achiever, although he would never lose sense of fun.

Saturday, December 1, 1894. Will and I made a \\\ on the floor.  They didn't go home till about nine that afternoon. Ge isn't that awful? They were so good to us. They went out.  Got some oranges, bananas, crackers and salmond (?). How we did enjoy it. Some one put a letter in our mail slide for Will addressed to our room. We all said it was a put up trick of Kettles and Garlands. They again started home after telling some tacky conundrums.  Clara and I cleaned up the rooms and washed. I did not go to dinner. Fred came home with Clara and as usual took the \\\. Lucy Thomas came over to borrow our iron. Guess she thought they were in the \\\ by the way she talked. Don't care if she did. She would like to have a fellow herself if she could get one. Ge my pants are scorching. Wrote in my diary.