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SAMUEL PROCTOR ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM at
the University of Florida.
St. Lucie Tapl'9a
Cornelia Keen
October 19, 1967
mgs
age 1
Tonight it is my pleasure to present to you one of the descendants of
one of the oldest families in this county. And the more I say about it
the less time she will have6to say it, so I will give you Ms.-Cornelia
Keen.
I'm afraid I'm not going to have very much to say but I'll do the best
that I can. My father Judson Keen, better known to me as Jud was born
in Taylor County near His family moved to the St. Augustine
area. r .
?: We just spent four million eight hundred ninety two dollars for
this,
K: His family moved to the St. Augustine area when he was small, where
they lived until he and his brother,James,came to Fort Pierce about 1887.
My mother, Della Tonmin and her family had :;een in Fort Pierce several
years before my father came. Her family moved to the Miami area when
she was small. At that time the Miami area did not have any more people
than Fort Pierce. She and her family moved here when whenwas about
fifteen. She said not more than a dozen families lived in this area
then. When she and her sister were about seventeen and eighteen they
went to help Mrs. Richards who owned a boarding house, I think, on
south Indian River. It was called the Richards House and now is known
as the Eden House. There was not much work for anyone to get around
here in those days. My father and his brother also went to work for
the Richards'and that is how my father and mother met. And when they
were married at the Richards' house by Mr. Harry Richards in May, 1889.
Her sister and Jenny Keen were already married at that time. Soon after
St. Lucie Tape #9a
mgs
Page 2
he was married, my dad and his brother contracted to clear land and
plant pineapples for Mr. Henry Obstead and Mr. P.P. Cobb along south
Indian River. At that time there was not even a trail along the river.
They used boats to go and come. They stayed there until the work was
finished. Mr. Rise would not stay down there, as it was all woods and
there was plenty of mosquitoes and no homes in the area. By the time
daddy finished his work he had purchased a small track of land and
built a small home located on what is now Thirteenth street, South
Thirteen street, just north of Georgia Avenue. This was all wooded area
at that time. There was a dirt road located just south of the house
and one other smaller building in the area. He later contracted to clear
the right-of-way for South Indian River Drive. He had a number of men
doing this work but I can't recall how long he said it took, but I expect
it was quite some time. As you know, there was such a heavy growth of
trees, yines and so forth. He said at that time the Cards were living
on the riverfront where their old home now stands. You recall seeing
Lucy, their young daughter playing around the place. She was later to
become known as as most of you know. By this
timeOrange Avenuehad been opened up part of the way to Thirteenth
street. My father also primed and planted a few citrus trees west of town
of what was later known as as Mr. Cobb bought it from
dad after he quit farming. All five of my parents were born at the ,i
south western street home, but when I was small they sold it and
built a larger home on Orange Avenue, located at what is now Sixteenth
Street, which is the home now owned by the minnets. By this time
Orange Avenue had been opened up probably to Thirty Third Street, just
a dirt road from Thirteenth Street west. Soon after we moved there
St. Lucie Tape #9a
mgs
Page 3
they digged up some shallow rock on Orange Avenue for
a wagon. We lived at this location until all our children had finished
school.W1'en we were small children we had to walk from home on Sixteenth
Street to the old school on north Second Street located about where the
power plant is now located. Sometimes we had to walk through water
along several sections of Orange Avenue. Later we went to the Delaware
Avenue school. My two older sisters started school in the little
school house in Edgartown in the north part of town, near where Avenue B
is now located, west of North Fourth Street. We had to walk a little
dirt road from Thirteenth Street to get there. Dad also planted
pineapples on the land he owned, along Orange Avenue. This crop was
located between what is now Thirteenth Street to Seventeenth Street, along
the south side. He planted, grew pineapples until the cold weather and
disease killed off most of the pineapples By this time
he was working for the Florida Coast Railway in the shops, which were
located just south of Orange Avenue along the railroad track. In this
time he had planted his first orange grove located in the ten mile creek
area which he sold in 1919. He also sold the home on Orange Avenue and
bought another on Boston Avenue at Fourth Tenth Street. And we lived there
about five years and in this time he purchased forty acres of land in the
Fort Pierce farm zone and started a grove. We soon moved there and lived
therr until after his death in 1953. My father was quite active in politics
most all of his life, although he never ran or held an office himself, which
the exception of having appointed school Trustee at one time.
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