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SAMUEL PROCTOR ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM at
the University of Florida
AL 18 A CTM
Subject: Mrs. C. Addison Pound
Int: Joyce R. Miller
) f: I'm interviewing Mrs. C. Addison Pound in her home at Gaineswood Condominiums
on the evening of November 22, 1976 at 7:30 PM. And we thought we would start
the interview with the background to the thirties by talking about some things
that existed in Gainesville before 1930. For instance, the Maggie Tebtw School
which Mrs. Pound attended. And Mrs. Pound, if you could go ahead and tell me
anything about the school and what happened to the school.
4 ': Well, -leared throa) it was a very small boarding school. They had day
pupilsybut I lived there because my family lived in the country at Rocky Point.
Anadfh-B I boarded there with about a dozen other girls. .Jd I went there
when I was eleven years old and stayed unt4l I was fifteen. Then I went to
the East Florida Seminary, the last year that it was here. And when it -e+is,
-F .VA- obA e4e
I went to Wesleyan College in Macon. And that T didn't finis~ I just went
for a year. But this Tebow School, it was just a shame that it was ever done
away with. But-Mrs. Tebow left it to the Episcopal Church as long as they
maintained it as a girl 2 ) school. Well, Miss Alice, who was her
assistant, tried to maintain it but it wasn't practical. And she had to pay
so much taxes on the property that the lawyer for the Episcopal Church suggested
that she give her life interest to the church, just her life interest to free
her from a twelve thousand dollar tax. So, when she died, the Episcopal Church
were not willing to give it up. I remember Mrs. TigertA I went over and talked
to Bishop and he said that he" see about it. But they had lawyers
and then of course, our commission, city commission/ they needed money and the
lawyer and Mr. Grey got together, he was head of the commission then, Henry
Grey, and they decided that they would sell it and the Church would get.half
the money and the city would get half 6f.the money which was only sixty
thousand dollars. Each one of them got thirty thousand which was just a crime
because it was a beautiful old, historic place. That and the destroying the
Court House, ruined that part of Gainesville.
AL 18 A Page 2
M 1: Do you recall what year that was B j ', '
$: Oh no, I can't ever remember dates. I wish I could. But it must have been,
i Y) U,\j C,0\0 LA^ L\
I don't know, I went off to college,JI can't remember that even. (laughter)
I can't remember dates.
IT\ : After it was sold, did they immediately tear it down?
$ : Tore it down and made a parking lot of it.
S: And that's what stands there today. That same parking lot.
1 : That's right. Parking lot.
t' J: When you attended, did you have to wear uniforms?
Si: No, I didn't but when my sister came, she's younger than I, she had to wear
a uniform. She graduated there and taught there one year.
Sf)!: Do you recall what that uniform looked like that your sister wore?
B: /:A Yes, they were, ah, blue pleated skirts and white middy blouses.
, t: Did you have to attend church?
6 : Yes, yeta had to attend/Episcopal Church.
/A 'I: And what did they do about getting you to the Church?
~ 9: Well,/\that's the reason my sister left. MR> Maggie finally told her that she
would have to join the Episcopal Church and she felt that she shouldn't teach
there unless she joined. So, Mary didn't want to join the Church. She loved the
Episcopal Church and joined it after she was married. But she just didn't
want to be pressured into joining cause all of my people were Methodists.
M bt: Did they march you to the Church?
S: Q Oh yes, ahah, we, all the girls from the school, marched to the Church and
Mrs. Tebow, we didn't dare open our mouths, you know when we got inze church.
She said we were in the presence of God and we should not chatter or have any-
thing to say.
1 $:LU ou mentioned that, I think you said there were twelve other girls that lived
there when you did?
AL 18 A Page 3
P,: Ah, yes, but later she built a dorm, a kind of a dormitory out back over the
school room and had many more.
mO 4: Do you recall any-ef the names of any of the twelve youqwent to school with?
P 4: ,les,/ Nina and Murray Selum. They were the aunts of these boys up here at
Hague, Ralph Selum and that bunch.
1) E: Ahah.
p iS: They were their aunts. They were two girls that went there. And I remember
a girl by the name of Tillis and/lElsie Smith, whoAwas the, Elanor-Smith. sister,
older sister. She was there. You know I can't remember those other girls.
They came and went.
4P7 t: Ahah. Do you recall the cost of going to the school at that time?
- /S: No. I didn't know anything about it.
/ ; A: That was just something taken care of by your parents?
3P : (laughter) My parents, yes.
T/ t: What about the teachers? Did Mrs. Tebow teach herself?
f S: They just had, they had two teachers. -M r. Tebow taught everything but
mathematics. Miss Alice ran the school, you know took care of the4house and
everything and taught mathematics. But ah,/her n~4ce went when I was there,
6Che, l\icdL-hrP2 W'.-
lived there, Alice Thomas, who was later Alice Forsythe. / She iS4my age. I
can't remember many of the girls. Isn't that funny.
1/ : Well, ah, tell me...
p S: They came and went. They didn't all stay, you know. They didn't stay as long
as I did. Maybe they would be there a year,Amaabe two years. Then another one
/;) i: Would it be the wealthier people in town or sometimes would a discipline problem
go? A family send a child because of disciplinary....
/P: No, no it wasn't, I don't think it was the wealthier people. It didn't cost
an awful lot to go there. I think it wasGainesville at that time had of
an awful lot to go there. I think it was/Gainesville at that time had .al- of
AL 18 A Page 4
northern people here. And it was mostly the southern people, you know, the
uV\
old citizens that went there. Thelcarpet baggers that came in, you know.
Ah, I don't think Mes. Maggie would have taught them. She was such a died
in the wool southerner. We couldn't study anything but Lee's,jLee's history
of the United States. (laughter) We couldn't,Awe were all ashamed if we had
a northern relative, ME&,. Maggie was such a southerner.
pYl 1: Well, did any/students get sent there because they were trouble in the reg-
ular schools?
; : No, no, ah, they didn't have/good public schools though. They were not)L.ni LPU ',r. C
segregated. But they were very poor, very poor public schools. But,~MrS
Maggie, she was very thorough and she was such a lady everybodyAwanted their
children to go there and-you-nowy know how to behave and how to act.
(f) $: Let's go back to how your family came here and maybe you can tell me about the
Cannons and where they came.
f : Well, ah, my father, 0. P. Cannon, and his brother, E. E. Cannon, came be-
cause a-eausin had come down here, 0. K. Rawlings for tuberee4ie. This was
quite a health center at that time. And catsen Lyndon and/his mother came.
o\
And he was so enamored -wvh this section, he thought it was Eden of the South.
And got about a dozen young men from around that Seaford, Deleware. That's
where my parents were from, to come here- and invest here and live here. And
they all stayed doing different things until the freeze. I think it was about,
the freeze was in '95, the first freeze. And ah, it justruined business
everywhere in Gainesville. People left just like rats in a sinking ship. I
can remember my mother standing at the window crying/ pulling up all the
orange trees outside the window. Then, nearly everybody that was in the orange
(h
business went into the produce business then. And/it was after that that they
built that T & J Railway, down through that agricultural section to take care of
Agriculture. And Gainesville really was just a booming town atthe time the
JtVe agriculture. And Gainesville really was just a booming town at/lthe time the
AL 18.A CTM page 5
the freeze came. After that,Athere were people at Kanapaha, and Wacahoota,
Palmer and all of-the people 4iha had come down here from the Carolinas,
South Carolina and Virginia. And there were quite alot of people Whqcame
from Canada -and settled around Gainesville. Of course, Gainesville was a
trading center. And the people who came down here, mostly lived out in the
country. c J6o COXQ
V~ I: How did you meet your husband, Was-he out of me -- ?
P 8: Well, we went to school together. Part of the time, we went to the East
Florida Seminary and/ell, I just always knew the Pounds. I knew his sister
and then I just ran around wi-th the same crowd. Nearly all of my girlfriends
married University boys from out of town. I think I was the only girl who
married a home boy.
1 *: A'That would have -ben in/1911 that you were married.
cue -uJ. .(I
p /: 1911. Aha, that-was in 1911.
7 4k: AndAat that time, your husband was already working for Baird Hardware?
P : Yes, he had been working fes a year. He, heAisn't the kind that enjoyed
school and he went to4business school in Bowling Green, Kentucky. -Then
he and a friend went up there and then,Ahis brother was working for
the Baird Hardware Company and mother kind of wanted to get him in there.
She was a widow. His father died when he was five years old. She was left
a widow with four children and in fact, she paid for about a year, she paid
for him to go aa work at Baird because she was so determined that he would
get into that kind of business.
)Y T: Well, where was Baird hardware -ste at the time? Where was it located?
P :&A\Rightwhere it ended up. It was right, no, it started/in the middle of the
N Um \ w", ( .U:)
lot, you know where McCrory's was(Well just north of McCrory's. And then,
later, Mr. Baird built that building on the corner, the Biard Hardware
Company.
AL 18 A CIM page 6
YQ) 4: Now, your husband started,/,he traveled for the company?
P ': Yes, he started after he had been with them several years. Their traveling
salesman died and he seemed to be the logical one to put on the road.A 'fe
was a very, very good salesman. And he was sort of thrust into his respon-
sibility there. His brother was the natural one when Mr. Baird retired, to,~ u
well, there was a Mr. Taylor, who was the natural one. He was the manager
of the store. But he died. And then soon after Mr.Taylor died, Addison's
brother, Turner, died. So, you know, he just got thrust into his job as)u, c-
president when he was very young. I don't remember just how young he was), Ji' "
\e b't he was very young. A t was all because of circumstances.
r"n : He would have been presidentAaround, when he was 41, because I believeAthat
was in 1930/fwhen he became president.
$: Well, I guess so. He had been there 50 years whenever they had, or gave
him, I forget what they did, something. %tL ck.,h,
O 1: Do you recall when he became president? Was there a big change between being
well first he was the manager,/then secretary-treasurer,Athen vice president,
was there a big change when he became president in 1930 or was it....
': Well, I think there was quite a change. Well, Gainesville was beginning,
because of the University, it was growing very fast and/lhe conceived the
idea of getting state agencies rather than, you know, like a state agency
for the Johnson motors and later for the Mercury motors. AndAit grew very
fast under his management. But it was because the town was growing and
times were on the up and up, you know.
Vr ( : Did he have close business contacts with the University?
g 4: Anell, I think he did. He got alot of business from the University.
Y~) : Now, I know, among other things, your husband was very active in town. Among
other things, he was director of First National Bank....
1 ': Yes, he was director there many years, aha.
AL 18 A CIM page 7
V.: Was there any competition between the First National Bank, when he was
director and say the Efi-fer Bank that was located in town?
' $: Ah, I never felt-th4a-there was. A good many banks,4there were/,several
banks in Gainesville. The First National was nearly always the leading
bank, I think it has been since it started. ButAI don't believe there
was too much competition. And of course, I don't remember the year that
all the banks failed but the First National Bank.
i1 4: The First National Bank never failed?
f 8: No, it never closed it's doors. But the Pfifer Bank,4what was the n tmef t7
-ef the bank on the corner, there were two or three in town, I can't remem-
ber names...
01 t: And they all closed their doors?
SS$: Yes, all closed doors.
1% 4: I guess that would have beenAin '33, I want to say. 1-[1 have to checklthat.
S: 1tt was an awful blow to the town. But they had to fight to stay open and I
think there was a feeling then, I know it was at the Pfifer Bank, they
seemed to think that they might have kept them open but I rememberAthe
president of the bank then, Lee Grimm, spent a whole night with FleW5~' ife
trying to plan a way to save his bank. But they had made so many4rash
investments someway that they just couldn't do it.
kr : Your husband wasn't president then of First National Banr-at that timethen.
P 6: Oh, he never was president. He was just a-,dixs r,Ajust one of the directors.
Mq: Aha.A \t was actually Mr. Graham who....
P : Oh, Mi. GrahamAwas the banker. In fact, his family came here as bankers from
West Virginia. His father was a banker and/they just knew banking which was
something that every4t goes into banking/1'it they don't all know.
MfA: And where was the bank located at that time?
AL 18 A CTM page 8
V $: Ah, I think Mr. Pound bought it when they4went over where they are now. It's
right back of ah,Athat corner store, I\was a jewelers......
fyi: Lewis Jewelers, maybe?
P$: No, no, right on the square, right on the corner. He's moved out but it was
Hatcher.
)l@: 4 Hatcher, oh right.
8 : Hatcher. The First National Bank was directly back of Hatchers, right opposite
Woolworths....
v4i: / And then it moved later on to the present location?
PS: Yes, aha.
K1(C-y, L'v\
m11: /What was his involvement with the railroads? I understand he was also a
director of one of the railroads?
Q ^ Well, he was, he was a director for that little branch railroad, that
T&J,Acalled Tampa and Jacksonville. Later was called G & G, Gainesville
and Gulf, I guess, it had two or three names. But it was just a little, (1~LCi'-
railway. A friend of his was treasurer and/he was a director. So when t.- ,
the Atlantic Coastline bought it, he stayed- on, you know, as director.
pfI: How did he get involved in the first place with railroads, did he have c
special interest or was it just because of his financial background?
S: I think it was because of his financial standing and of course, he was
interested, their hardware business was interested in all of the/farmers
and ;a ~ te things around the country, you see./) Ne was very well
owd CO-U'/jeaVCG uOo^
known all through Alachua county/because of his traveling.
r)4: Also, I understand,/your husband was one of the founders of the Gainesville
Golf and Country Club?
Q : Yes, ...
(qi: Do you recall anything about that founding, for instance, what were some of
the other, \,\)'Ol6 3
Q $: Well, ah, a group of/families started a country club out at Newnan's Lake.
AL 18 A CTM Page 9
Palm Point. We own it now. We bought it at the time that they wanted
to buy this. Addison bought the property. And they literally moved the
house in town. (Laughter) They moved the old country club, took it apart oGr
moved it out/where the/University Club is now.
fr) : Do you recall anything about when that was?
P $: The time?
V( I: Aha, approximately...
S9 : Can't remember a date to save my neck. I cannot remember dates.
A LoroLe6i & ) LD\y
V\ : A Then later on, did they sell it to the University when they moved it to
where it is?
L our J oL
6: Yes, aha,4Mr. what is the man's-name that owns all of that property out
there, he gave the property for the golf club in order to develop his
ha0
property. He ad- thousands of acres out there. And he gave that property
and so they built their/9golf club with the moneythey got from the old
golf club. Of course, they had to put alot more too.
ft Y): How did your husband begin to acquire so much land? I knowyou mention
a few things already, and he owned the land where Gainesville High is and.cc': \VcRc~
) J: Well, I don't know. He/always believed in property. It wasAbor in him.
His father/lbefore him and his grandfather Tyson, his grandfather Tyson and
his father/bought quite alot of land. And the- when Mr. Pound died, he left
mother Pound with quite alot of property. And she, it was just that he
Ui;
died at the same year as the freeze and/left her with very little money
but she held on to every bit of that property for the children. They were jpt
and so,Ashe just inherited his love for property. He always invested in
property. And he seemed to know just instinctively ~j\ t-where the town
was going to develop. For instance, he bought all of this property here,
two hundred acres from the Rolf's, from the Glenn family and he started
that Glenn Springs, you know, but all of about two hundred acres out here
AL 18 A CTM
that e owifand it gradually, the town,all real estate men tell you that
it grows north and west, and that's the way it grew. /Of course, we had a
bit of undesirable property too.
V "T:/ Where else did he own land besides directly in this area of the Gaineswood
Condominiums, where else in town, that and you mentioned Palm Point.....
( : Well, he bought, we still own Palm Point. It's out4 During the Boom,
a real estate group developed, started to develop there. They put in that
W)) L',Lue\O
pretty road around the lake and electricity. And,/but it never hasof
course,j Sidney Robertson has developed, it was the Robertson family that
started that development. And the4yit died with the Boom, you see. When
the Boom,4the Boom was over. Ancdhe has gradually built up quite a nice
section out there, though, of his own property. But we still own the
Point.
VynI: And, what other land in town did/your family own?
'\d 6vc oo 7',
S3:/ ell, he owns the old, the old First National Bank property and that
corner and two stores right there and all of the, where the Baird
Hardware Company on south Main Street, where the wholesale, you see
when they sold the property up town, when/they went out of that, they
just went into/iwholesale, they gave up the retail and went into wholesale.
vr 4: Does your son now own that property where Baird Hardware is now?
P S: Yes, aha, the estate owns it and he is president of it. And then where he
lives, I don't know whether ~ent you know where he lives it's right
around the corner there on 19th Circle, he has a home there. And just at
the time that the Gainesville Golf and Country Club was began to develop,
they had divided this land up, Addison and his father, into acre lot4 I
think they were and they put a price of about twelve thousand dollars on
each lot and put in that street around there. Well, everybody who normally
would have gone there just began to buy out at the Golf and Country Club.
page 10
AL 18 A CIM Page 11
So, they just took it off the market. But that's been one of the most ex-
pensive pieces of property that we owrbecause it's all on the tax books
at twelve thousand dollars a lot, you see. Then we still own4about seventy
acres on the other side of Glenn Springs, here on 23rd Avenue.
VJ1 : Well, we' talked alot about your husband, but I'd like to talk some about
you. I understand that you are a member of the Twentieth Century Club...
S': Yes, aha.
M 1: and maybe you remember some of the older activities that that club partici-
pated in?
8 : Well, the Twentieth Century Club was instrumental through Mrs. Cubberly and
Mrs. ,there was another member, I can't remember her name, ah, they started
the library in a store down town. They started the Gainesville Library.
And it was that committee, from that club, that were instrumental in getting
[Ah)
the/Carnegie Library. I don't remember the requisite for getting a Carnegie
Library. I think you had to make certain promises, you know, keeping it,
the finances and so forth. That was their mairnwork, their main activity
was working with that Library. Oh, they did 4e=s- other things. They had
lots of other committees. I was always on the art committee and they never
would let us have any money to do anything for the development of art. So,
LA\
a bunch of us just separated andAwe still belonged to the Twentieth Century
Club but we started the eGaintevil Art Club, the Gainesville Fine Arts
Seeiety- I was the first president. Then Mrs. Louise Fielding and Mrs.
Bholt- and a bunch of people, I was no artist. They just had me president
cause I didn't have much else to do.
V^' 4: Would that be Fritz uhe wife or would it be Buholtz senior?
f S: Yes, aha, no,;it was, we always called him Fritz. He was the principal of the
high school. She was quite a/good artist. Well, Mrs. Fielding, she/had
been a hotter, see, she was the sister of Carrie, Carrie McCullum,/she was
AL 18 A CTIM Page 12
quite an artist. She taught art in school. And we had a very active
art club for/qite-awkihil Now, it has been turned over to the University
nearly, I mean because nearly all of the artists are connected with the
University. So, it has changed. Our object was to get an art school
here. And when the University started it's art department, weAfelt that
we had accomplished our end, one end. ,ARrom then on, it seemed to te.voi~Y OeeCC
sort of taken over by the artists -a the University.
J.: Did you have shows also? r 2?cx )
S: Oh, yes, we had exhibits, aha, and wehad, Mrs. Fielding conducted a class
of, for the children, in her home and/Kramer Sword, who was quite a good
artist, she will always think,Awe will always think that Kramer got his
first training under Miss Louise, we called her Mrs. Fielding lher name. t( Lk
o\> We worked at a number of things./ We used to have exhibits from the
North, the galleries, from the North. We would get very fine exhibits docn
here. One we were very proud of was George Pierce Innes. They brought
his exhibit here.
1 4: American Impressionism. They have some of Innes's paintings at Tarpon
Springs, in one of the churches....
8 $: Yes, he's the man. They came here and brought their wholeAexhibit and put
it on. We had it in the,ilI forget what you call it of the Episcopal Church, te Lk
what do you call that room back there, it had just been built, and I
remember Mrs. Innes came up and they covered the walls with green burlap
and hung his pictures. And really he was such an inspiration for the town.
I remember we got Dr. Murphry to introduce him and we had a great affair
for them. And/jwe really did alot of things to start the art club. Then
weArented a studio, it had been a bicycle, photograph studio, on the south on uct,
of the square. We rented this studio whereAwe could work and exhibit, I
don't know, we were very active for a long time. I really can't remember
everything that we did.
AL 18 A CTM Begin Side Two
S) 4:,,.Women's Club before they had a building of itself. Was part of the Women's
Club used as a Library for a short while?
9 1: No, no,4they never used the Women's Club. The Women's Club at that time,
was down on University Avenue near where Murphy's is now.A They had it
down town where it was available, you know, for people, easier for them
to get to. They had it in a shop right back of Bidell's Drug Store. That's
where it started.
o\p lbeeccau
Yrm t: I know you and your husband were friends with the Tigert s, we talked about
this earlier. What was your impression of Mr. Tigert?
PS: We've always been. Well, Ielt that he was a really great man. He was, AC)
he made alot of mistakes, you might say, well, you know, people from a
different section of the country, but I think he will stand out as one of
the great presidents of -he University. HeAwas a man of great integrity.
C) He'd often say things that he shouldn't. (laughter) And we used to
laugh and say he was like a bull in a China shop/ But/I think he was a
great influence/with the athletic group here. Hefkept them straight.
jy) i: Do you remember his physical appearance?
P 4:/4 e was a big man, in every way. I don't know. He was over six feet, I
think. She wasAa rather large woman and a very, very sweet, understanding
person. Everybody loved Mrs. Tigert. Of course, he had his enemies, his
political enemies. But it was mostly because they couldn't control him.
That, they really tried to get rid of him/ And4went through a rather sad
time. Bu1the came out all right. He went to India for two years. He was
chosen to go over and help, ah, who was the sazmran then for India....
1: Neru?
P : Aha, Neru. He and a man from England went over and/helped them found an
educational program. They were over there two years. Then they came
back and Dr. Ashe, I think it was, invited him to teach at the University
Page 13
AL 18 A CTM Page 14
of Miami. She is living in Miami now. Ihe is in a nursing home.
r: Mrs. Tigert?
P : Aha. She is nearly ninety years old.
r, 4: And did they have children?
P : Yes, two children. John and Mary Jane.
0m4: Do you happen to know where they live?
PS: Yes. John had, he was/iin charge of the maintenance department of the Pan
American Airways in Miami for many years. And then, they moved him to New
York and he has recently retired. AndAthey live out of town, just outside of
New York. And they are coming down. They are going to build a home at, L'C)
c((ite ^e'6 3;I'3 to
Lake Placid. He's owned some property down there for/,some time andjthey are
going to build a place down there.
j1): So you still stay in contact with the Tigerts?
J8: Yes, aha. Oh, she and I have corresponded and I've gone to see her. She's been
here to see me. We've just been devoted. And my son and John were very close.
And Mary Jane teaches in Miami. She's a teacher.
yri: What kind of social events would the Tigerts, as president of the University,
have?
P8: Well, she's often laughed since. She did everything in her home. They weren't
^-he t'C- lc.
equipped-at the Reitz Union and you know, all the-se thingsA/they/put in when
Miller came, they fixed the place to entertain, have dinners and things\ at the
University. But everything was done in their home. Big receptions and every
dignitary that came here, she had to entertain there.
PiiA: And that's the home that is located just off the Duck Pond?
V S: Yes.
", : A few blocks from the Belks?
VS: On what they call the Boulevard.
I': Aha, on the boulevard.
AL 18 A CIM Page 15
? ,S: That was furnished then, you see, the home, I mean I think, I think the
University paid the rent on it.....
1 S,: Aha.
P: Or owned it maybe.
1 4: Had Dr. Murphry also lived in that home?
PI: No.
n4t: Or was Tigert the first one?
PA: No, he lived,fwell, I can't think what street it is on now. It's old Gaines-
ville. It's back of the 0i dMethodist Church. Down about two blocks back of
the Methodist Church.
m -: Aha, the one near the/ Seminary Methodist Church?
P $: Aha, yes, that one. They have a park there, you know. There is a park
right back of the Methodist Church. That was the old ....
031: The ROTC field, drill field.
S$: it belonged to the East Florida Seminary.
1 : Aha.
f: And they are on the opposite corner, on the south, north east corner. Their
house was on the north east corner over there.
y : hYou mentioned that your husband liked to go the football games quite abit, all
over the state. Did you go with him?
P : Oh, yes. We went to every football game until he got to where he couldn't.
Then I stopped,AI stopped for good.
n4D: Well, describe a day of getting ready for a football game. What would you do
on a day when the Gators were playing?
P : What did I do? I was mostly in the kitchen. I was preparingAsomething fer
after the game. I don't think there was a game for many years when we didn't
have out of town people4coming. We/(always"had a big party after the game, just
like they do now.
AL 18 A CTM Page 16
j 4: Would they stay with you or.....
V 4: Well, I always had guests but not many. There would be a couple or two. But
it was mostly peopleAddison knew throughout the area, that came in. He always
liked to entertain them.
p li: And how would you dress to go to a game?
8 8: Oh, (laughter) very simply. Not like they do now, you know.A sport clothes.
And afterwards, the same way. We would, everybody would come from the game
as a rule.
'{i P1: Do you recall some people mentioned they recalled 4da to the game and parking
directly on the side lines. Did you do that also?
'P 8: (laughter) Yes, absolutely. We would drive and park right on the side lines.
That's right. And then with the first little bleachers, I declare it was.
We-were so glad when we got the first little bleachers.
r0 4: Did you ever bring your lunch there and have a lunch there?
f ,: Yes, later, we always, well as we got older and they have a parking place
at the back, we would take-&e car out, he had what they called privileged
parking e-f---he-ar and we would take our car out in the morning and leave
it-in- place and then we would have a driver drive us out to the game that
afternoon. We always had a man. And so he would drive us and put us out at
the gate. But after it was over, we would get our own car and go out. But
when we....
~I): Why didn't you have guy pick you up again and make it easy?
r8: Well, it wasn't easy to get to come back into that crowd. He couldn't get
back in to save your neck. It was easier to just park e car there and
get out yourself. But then later, sometimes we would go out and take our
lunch and we always took our lunch when we went to Jacksonville to the games
over there. We always took our lunch. That was part of the fun, several
people getting together, you know and eating their lunch and having their
drinks before the game.
AL 18 A ctm page 17
nI /: One thing I forgot to ask you when we were talking about the land is your
husband had hundreds of acres within the vicinity of Gainesville. What
would be......
f #: We were not within the city then.
9m : No, excuse me, right. Within today present -setg of Gainesville which
was not the city limits at that time, right. It was considered in the
country.
P$: He didn't intend/lfor it to be in the city limits. (laughter)
il: Ahat, what would be a cost of a typical acre of land be at that time. You
mentioned later on when your son was going to sell part of it but, say in
the thirties or around there?
P6: I haven't the faintest idea. I never knew a thing in the world about his
business, I mean, the cost of anything. I knew whether it was going well
or not. But that's all.
1] N: Was that typical maybe of people at that time that the husband took care of
those kinds of things?
S: That's right. I think it was. I think it was. I don't think my mother
ever knew anything, about my father's business. I never even much thought
about Addison's.
03 (X: Even now, maybe your son takes care of it now?
S: I spent what he gave me to spend. It was very, women wouldn't do that now.
I never thought of anything different.
A(ll: Well, we have talked a little bit about the banks' closing in the thirties,
andlwihat I'd like to ask is did the Pepression effect you and your husband
any? What was the effect of the Depression as you saw it?
r8: Well, I can't remember. But it did effect everybody. It really did. I know
the hardware was effected greatly because I know for several yearsA they
really struggled. But every business did. But, you know, those things seem
AL 18 A CiM Page 18
to disappear in your mind. They, I'm a great one to just remember the
happy times. I'm sure we had plenty of hard times, but I don't even remem-
ber them.
rr4: OK. Then let's talk about some of the happy times. Let's say you wanted
to go out and celebrate in Gainesville, years ago. Where would you go?
Where would you go to eat? What would you do to celebrate?
p /$:A e mostly celebrated in each others homes,/ ell you the truth. There was alot
of social life here. Ah, but it was in the homes mostly.
A : Did you ever go to say the White House Hotel or the Thomas Hotel?
) C: Oh yes. Oh, we did. Ah, and when the Thomas came, we frequently entertained
there. And we would, take people to the White House but the kind of enter-
taining we did mostly was in the homes, We-weold go to each others homes.
There just wasn't any place to go.
f 4{: As far as the two hotels, which would you say would be the more exclusive of
hotels or exquisite of the hotels?
f ;: The only exclusive hotel we had here was the Thomas.
Pr: It was much nicer than the White House?
'2 ujo,6 42\-
PS: Oh yes, yes. The White House had been a dormitory, you know,/,A girl's dormi-
tory for the East Florida Seminary. And Major Thomas, who later got interested
in the Thomas Hotel,Athat was his first hotel. He bought right after the East
Florida Seminary closed. He bought the girl's dormitory and changed it into
a hotel which was never very eligent,Ayou might say. But it was always good.
You know, as good as you find in small towns through Florida. And the train
stopped right there at the Hotel for the people to get off for their having
to eat lunch.
SM1: So then the Thomas, Mr. Thomas went into the second business....
9IS: Well, ah, a man by the name of Chase, here that owned a big phosphate business
out here in the country, he was the one that started the building of that
AL 18 A CTM Page 19
Thomas Hotel for his home, where that Spanish Court is, that part of it. There
were, it was a flop there, I think there were four houses on it, maybe three,
and they moved them together for the foundation of that hotel. Some way they
made quite a success of it. Then they sold the phosphate business to the
Longcala Phosphate people in Ocala. And the Chases left town and Major Thomas
acquired the hotel. And later on,/Ithey had a bond issue, I think, to add to
that hotel, add to that home, it built the new part of the hotel. In fact,
I think it was his home to start with. Then later, he conceived the idea
of the hotel and floated some kind ofAbond issue to people in town, they
bought bonds from him.
mf: Did he sell the White House then, when he went into...
PS: No, he...
~ 4: the Thomas?
P6i kept, kept them both. I don't know when, when they, I think it was after he
died that theyffinally sed the White House, after he was dead.
0F4: And then in about '64, I guess, is when they knocked it down for the bank.
f8: I wish I could remember dates. I remember the family's birthdays (laughter)
weddings, and so forth. But that's about all.
yi ^: Well, there is one date, not specifically a date but one event that you might
recall, do you recall the fire that took place on the square .....
fi: Yes, Cox store...
M t: in 1948?
S: Very well. We got up and went to that fire. Oh, it was a big fire.
-,i: How did you hear about it?
rS: Oh, heavens, I don't know. I just remember-that-it was at night and we all
Addison and I went down to the fire and I don't remember the date or a thing,
but it was one of the biggest fires, I guess the biggest fire we had in
Gainesville.
AL 18 A CTM
V04: Was the whole town there?
PB: You would think so. (laughter) Everybody came. You saw everybody you knew.
0)1: Were people frightened because of the fire or was it more like a social event?
FP: I don't remember that we were afraid of the fire, no, no just curious. And
you were there because everybody else was there.
m$4: And how many days, how long did it take before they rebuilt the downtown?
PB: Well, I think they went back to work to build it back. It doesn't seem to
me that it was vacant very long. And I think 4Cox himself, built it back.
ii'4: Well, what about the shopping areas in town. Where would you go to shop?
Obviously the mall wasn't here and Gainesville Shopping Center? Did you
shop at Wilson's?
S8:/%Aere was, Wilsons started, I can't think now where it is, it's part of the Loh. Lh
Sixty property, a woman by the name of Scarett, Mrs. Scarett, had a store
there for many years. And then she married a man by the name of Wilson,
Bill Wilson. And they changed the name of the store to the Wilson Store.
And/fI was trying to think, over on the corner where the Wilson's were, there
was the Hyde Store. It was always Hyde. That was the big store in town,
was Hyde Store.
0) : How would you spell that?
P 8: H YD E. /You know, the daughter, the only daughter is living now. She is
T \c- k he'6 &VtevL -
Mrs. Gordon Tyson. She's ninetyAseven. And she's living, she's Addison's
aunt. She married, Dr. Tyson was mother Pound's brother. And/we went out
to see herAnot -te long ago, so frail, old woman. But the Hyde Store was
on the corner and that was the big store in town. And 1ison's was a very
small store, fight over here right next to the Scarett home, the Wilson
home. But later, Mr. Hyde sold the store to Wilson. But that's the only
Page 20
AL 18 A CTM
store that we dealt with here in town for many years. -An there was a Mrs.
McCormick that had a hat shop. We always got our hats from Mrs. McCormick.
I 1: What about groceries? Did you go to Piggly Wiggly?
) 5: Well, Piggly Wiggly came later on and they rented from us, they were right
next to the hardware store. They came there, the Borlands came, rented from
us. He owned the property. And they, we've always been great friends, the
Borlands. And they stayed right there until they moved out on 13th Street.
Then later, they came over where Thrift Way is, you know.
fi I: What about furniture? Did you buy from Cox's?
9 I: Well, I guess I did. Didn't have any for so long. I lived in Addison's home.
You see, Mr. Pound had, they had that big old house. He didn't intend it for
their home. He just bought it as an investment. It was kind of a rooming
house, I think, that somebody had built. And so, he bought it and planned to
build mother Pound a beautiful home but he died, when you see, he was
quite young. And, I can't remember where we, we got some of our furniture
from Cox's. But Addison had a connection in New York. I know I went up
with him once and bought quite a good bit of it through, he could get it
through the hardware store.
\ )/: And then, they would ship it down?
S8: Yes, ship it down.
\ r: What about a car? Where would you go to buy a car at that time?
P $: Addison had a .....
V)1: Ogletree or Shaw andLKeeter?
p : one. He had a -S e when we were married. He was traveling in a car. He
was the first person that traveled around the country in a car. Several
people had cars in town. But we didn't have any roads. AThere were no paved
roads anywhere, not even in town, except around the square and out about
two blocks. And/he always had a car. He was crazy about cars. He always
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AL 18 A CIM Page 22
had the best cars. -Ra alwayss said, well we never had a home for a long
time but we always had big cars.
fT k: Well, if you wanted to replace this car, where would you go? To Ogletree
or Shaw -ai Keeter or?
1 3: Well, he, he, I don't think there was a Cadillac agency. We always had a
Cadillac and then he had a Chord. I even remember that big old Chord, front
wheel drive car. If there was anything new in a car, he would try to get
it. (laughter) So, I don't remember whether, about his buying any in
Gainesville./A He haa recently, but I meant in the early days. I don't
think there was a Cadillac agency here. Jacksonville was the nearest place.
And I don't remember where he bought the Chord.
01 4: Did you know any of the black families in town such as Mr. Chestnut, Senior
or have anything to do with them?
P 8: Ah, oh yes. I knew, which Chestnut were you speaking of, the Chestnut Store pecc7e,
ryq: No, Charles Chestnut, who was funeral director.
S4: Oh, the black people. Well, we always knew them. There were two or three
good black families, Athe Chestnuts, and the Chiles, the DuBose, there were
several very good black families. AndAthere never seemed to be any ill feelings
among the whites and blacks, ever. Of course, the whites were very dependent
on the blacks and the blacks were very dependent on the whites./) You know
Gainesville is built around a square. And there were nice homes, every
OY, eiP tu .' :
direction,Anorth, east, south and west. And SI back of thkse homes, there were
always colored sections. You see, they were the servants for that section.
They had it out east, the porters quarters were down there on they didn't
have one out toward the University, never had one there. They depended on
porters quarters. And then there was this big Negro section over here north
you know, that was one of the biggest Negro. It served thqfnorth and west
sides. But your servants always walked to work, you see. I had...
AL 18 A CTM
f\I; Cause it would be right near...
8: I had a maid. When I went housekeeping out here, my Aunt had given up house-
keeping, my Uncle had died, and I inherited her maid. And I had her 5ar
34 years.
mCn: Oh, my goodness. A very reliable person.
80: Well, she's about three blocks n back of me.
imI: What was your impression of Fritz Buholtz? You mentioned him earlier.
\ 8: Well, that was one of the best things that ever happened to Gainesville, was
to have him here as a principal. He was a wonderful man and with a marvelous
education. He was German. His father was German. A. e was an Oxford grad-
uate. / Gainesville was very lucky and I think that the Gainesville high school
had a higher standard than most any around the state.
il0 S: Did you ever socialize with....
8 B: Oh, yes. Emiline, his wife and I were very good friends. We were the-ause
of the Art Club, the Art Association.
tr)\: Yes, you mentioned that she was president, not right after you but after that.
( S: Aha, that's right. Well, she was our only real artist.
a 1: Do you recall ever going down to the Court House and/seeing bands playing
around the Court House?
P 8: Yes,/\they used to have a band stand there on the north side of the Court House.
fou.
It was builtAjust for political occasions, you know and oh, yes, we would
0\, t%',,de It
all gather down there at certain times and)have parades and things like that.
They always had a band.
60 yotc Cccx
v4: /IActually, downtown was the center of Gdinesville?
P8: Yes it was. .Yes, it was.
MIT: Do you recall any of the pajama parties marching down to down town?
PS: That was when I was too old for it. I was too old for the pajama parties.
Page 23
AL 18 A CTM Page 24
V,': So, you don't recall ever even seeing it?
V : Oh, yes, I've seen them cause I lived out so near the University, you know.
YCf ": Well, would they march just directly down University Avenue?
9 S: Well, yes. That's the way they got down town.
'*: And then what would happen? Would they just march down and that was it?
S'S: Oh, that's all. They just marched. They just had to express themselves.
1-was like the marches now. (laughter)
%"': How many men would go in a group like that? Would there be say 50 men or
would it be a large group?
V $: No, there wouldn't be any more than that. Well, you see, the University at
that time, wasn't very large and it was mostly/fraternity boys, most of
them.
ViX: In long pajamas?
9 4: Well, just like the panty raids and things like that (laughter) that they/or
setting fire to right out after a, I forget what football game they had, that
they set fire right out in the street. They had quite a to do. Just boys.
0, : Boys' pranks.
)'S: That's right.
rit': Do you recall, at one time during the thirties, the Lion's Club brought
Helen Keller to town. Do you recall that at all?
V8: INo, I don't. I don't know why but I don't.
t: A What about recreation in terms springs? Now you mentioned Palm Point. I know
some people would go out there and swim....
?\S: Yes, we'd always go swimming.
fIM: A here else might you go to swim?
S: Well, Glenn Springs. That's one reason Addison opened Glenn Springs. I think
those, well, it was before my time, but they used to go out to a place called
Boar Springs. It's out beyond the cemetery. But I never did that.
AL 18 A CIM
0Y q: Would you have to pay a fee/to get into Glenn Springs?
09 : Yes, aha, it was pure commercial. We had a man and his wife that ran the
springs.
% )t: And there would be a place to change clothes?
b : Oh yes. They hacrvery nice accommodations. And a dance hall and a pool.
4-3-
M t: I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Glenn Springs today. What/is the area today?
The spring is still there?
8 : Yes. /4e, you know, Elks Club own" it. Addison traded it to the Elks Club
for a piece of property on University Avenue. It was the ol4lCongressman
Clark home. f\I think it is where the Bell Telephone Building is now.
NM: Well, did they,Athe Elks Club use, use the spring to swim in?
8P: Oh, yes.
4A : They still do.
9 : As far as I know, they sti- do. And they meet out there and they have their
dances and social affairs.
0)1: Can the public just drive in there and look around?
pBj: Well, I think so. It's usually kept locked though. I think the gates are
locked. I know when we had it, they were always locked. We had a couple that
lived on the place and Addison built them a home. And they lived there and
ran it as long as we had it.
i'0 i: What was mail delivery like in Gainesville at this time?
PS: The what? A4
nil: The mail delivery. Did the mailmen come each day?/ fere you friendly with your
mailman?
8P: Yes, we, I think we did. I think we had mail delivered. We always had.a box,
Addison had a box, you know, you can if you want to. But we had mail delivered,
when, I think when We married and went over to live with the Pounds, we had
mail delivery.
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AL 18 A CTM
4 : Well, I've asked most of the questions that I had planned to ask. Was there
anything that you specifically wanted to say about the thirties that perhaps
I did not cover?
M : No, I've said alot more than I thought I could say. I can't think of anything
that might be of interest to you.
IAO I
(14: What about4your son was born in what year? Your son was born.....
S : He was born right where his father was, in the same house.
1' I: In what year?
S$: Ah, he'll be 62 in January. He was born in 1915.
fjI: OK. 1915. So by the thirties, he would have been in high school. Did he go
to Gainesville High?
S B: Yes, and he graduated at 16. He went to the University when he was 16.
' ~T: I see, OK./4 o you mind if I use this material in my research at all?
C @: No, I don't mind, if it sounds all right to you.
i' t: OK.
f' -But- r /
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