Lake Ariana was a popular swimming area, and there was a pavilion used for
dances in the 1920s. Mr. Muir noted that Seminole Clubs were located in several
southern cities, and the Club was a social/fraternal organization. Muir had not
found any additional info on the Club, but stated that the Lakeland Public Library
Special Collections, Polk County Ephemera (RG3000), 1901-2003, contained
an original 1910 constitution, by-laws, and membership list for the Auburndale,
Florida, Club!
Charged up by this new information, I suggested, then insisted, that Bill go with me
to the library the following morning. He said, “Fine, but let’s have breakfast first
and then go by the Polk County Museum.” Bill had a number of his local Bartow
area tackle collections on display at the museum. Besides, Bill had never been to
the Lakeland Public Library, since it was so far away from Bartow (14 miles)!
We managed to get all of the above activities into our busy schedules that morn-
ing, and I must say the trip to
the museum was thoroughly
enjoyable. We then proceeded to
Lakeland, and eventually found
the public library, where we were
directed to the Special Collec-
tions area. When we asked the
librarian about information on
the Seminole Club in Auburndale,
he said, “This is the Lakeland
Public Library, we don’t keep
any information on Auburndale,
here!”
Bill then pulled out his email
from Tom Muir, and told the
Special Collections librarian
which file it was located in...
The librarian looked puzzled,
but said, “OK, lets take a look
there.” Within three minutes, he
produced the documents we re-
quested, and expressed surprise
that they were in the collection.
Bill and I reviewed the file and asked if we could have two sets of copies made.
Reluctantly, the gentleman agreed, but said he’d have to charge us for them. We
said, “Fine”, and after some technical problems with his equipment, he returned
to the desk with the two sets of copies and said, “That will be $2.20”. Being the
high rollers that we are, we paid him in cash. He was not set up to provide us
with a receipt, but like a bad Mitch Hedberg donut joke, we were not interested in
documenting the inconsequential transaction for reimbursement.
I then mentioned Kent Hagerman to the librarian, and he knew exactly where
that file was. Moments later he produced a dossier on Hagerman, along with
numerous pieces of his engraving and printing work. I was very pleased to see
press releases of his many awards and catalogued works. There was also a feature
on him in the March, 1997, Polk County Historical Quarterly, which
showed a fishing print I’d never seen before. All in all, this was a very successful
and productive morning!
Bill and I had lunch and then said our goodbyes. I headed back to Gainesville and
had dinner with Nicki and her boyfriend, Ryan, then returned to Panama City. I now
had enough information to begin writing this article.
The Seminole Club constitution was not what would pass as politically correct with
today’s social norms, but it did reflect the mood of the Deep South at the time. It
was interesting to note that only a handful of the more than 500 members were
from Florida, and the majority were from Georgia. Mr. G. O. Hatcher, who originally
held certificate number 100, was listed in the membership directory as residing
in Social Circle, Georgia. Looking up the town in a current Rand McNally
Atlas, I found that it is located 12 miles south-southeast of Monroe, and near
Interstate 20, some 45 miles east of Atlanta.
The copy of the lease boasts of having 66,000 acres and 200 lakes within Polk
County, on which the membership could hunt and fish, all teaming with game
including “deer, turkeys, ducks, snipe, and quail abound.” “The water is pure
freestone, clear as a crystal and fine.” The lease goes on to note that the land is
the highest elevation above sea level in the state, at 226 feet, and said to be “the
healthiest, warm in winter and cold in summer.” This must have been before it
was determined that the elevation near the Alabama state line in the Panhandle,
between Defuniak Springs and Crestview, is higher, at 345 feet!
The Club property was described
as being “on the Atlantic Coast
Line Railroad, main line between
Jacksonville and Tampa, 197 miles
below Jacksonville, and 43 miles
from Tampa about one mile from
the depot of Auburndale, Polk
County, Florida.” The clubhouse
grounds encompassed 12 acres,
and “overlooks one of the most
beautiful lakes in the State, with an
area of 1,000 acres, and almost a
perfect circle, and surrounded by
a pretty white sand beach.” It was
“the natural home of the orange,
grape-fruit, pine apple, guava, etc.,
not only admirably adapted to all
citrus fruits, but also to all varieties
of truck-farming, such as strawber-
ries, tomatoes, potatoes, celery,
sugar cane, grapes, cantaloupes,
etc.”
This “larger-than-life” promotional language became the standard in Florida real
estate efforts through the early decades of the twentieth century, and the Seminole
Club embraced this marketing strategy. The Club document was meant to entice
prosperous folks to come down to Polk County for winter and early spring respites,
and to enjoy nature’s bounty. As is still the case today, no mention of mosquitoes,
cockroaches, ticks, yellow flies, dog flies, sand gnats, no-see-ums, alligators,
rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, coral snakes, malaria, yellow fever, hurricanes or other
pesky conditions can be found when one consults with a broker to buy his or her
very own piece of paradise!
The three major entities involved in the Club’s
arrangement were the Carter Manufactur-
ing Company, the Lake Region Game and
Fish Preserve, and the Seminole Club
of Auburndale, Polk County, Florida.
Various individuals shared officer and
director positions within the entities, and
sometime between the April, 1909, date
of G. O. Hatcher’s certificate, and the May,
1910, date of the Constitution and By-Laws,
the officers and board members, including
J. E. Melton and T. H. McRorie, resigned, and a