Document text
28, 1949.
Prank s. Gruy (75)
Retired Hardware
Jc.eoutive y
34 west 4th-st.,
Jaak sonvi 11 e
Florida.
Hose chopherd,writer
/fatal/. tiOW i6BY GRIN
lray tits interviewed at hie home, 34 Trost Fourth i.etrJetp
Tho house of tho southern colonial sty lo of architeoturo, built
in 1890, its maesive fluted white pillars uscon,ting to the roof
in iront, tho tide entrance door, tho deep porches, the large
building itoolf eentorin-t the hundred foot feentago on Fourth
zitreot, identified it as O. mansion fifty years ago.
r. 3ray hi solf 4.Inst ered the door, an wis.s ushered thru
th front hall to his )rivate library on the east, the door of
whieh giving antranco from Li. side Porch stood oPon.
"holt hero's throo 3.11airs, you can take the one you like,
but i am 4r,oing to lark here," ho said, seating himself in
tell toil' arm ehair, the upholsterin•T j0113idaraibly worn, the
libriAry tab). J v ith its motal read ing 14..mr) to the left, and the
bookcase containinir hir, chosen volumes within easy roach of his
right hand. I sat opposite in all old fashionod "platform roc:ker.!!
kNhich s robably among the original furnishings of the house.
"Tant to look ov :r r:4 looks? I've 37,0 t 1-? OM good °nos
in filet, never buy a book u less it's good. Ci..assios "The
Ai91 und
Fall of the tioman zmpiro," dollar son Davis' History of
the t.ionfed:raey, Lindborgh's "We." sere's yrodericsk Davis's
"History of ,p.:sonvillo." .uo ;you like that? It's not worth
a hoot; ivei- thing in it co-Piod frori some other book not ev
26021
trunk J. Gray Z.
the wording changed. if you refer to tho orig;inal book- from
which the referewe is taken, you'll find it is just the same.
I Tuve himlotsef information v hen he v. to. a getting up the mater-
ial for his history, but I sure don't sea any of it in here.
o you want the story of my life ell, I've alvays
tried to ken!, out of print, and I do not understand how any-
thing about fill 'iersonally could possibly interest si.nybod.y.
wae born at mareus Hook, Delaware uounty, potIne.A.viAnist,
may 31, 1863. My father was Aare. Gray and my mother was JAfl
Slizaboth (Sowersbye Gray. My peonle wore of snglish descent.
Ey great-grandfather started ii,ray's Ferry just north of his
.property on the river from wilmington to uheetor, kennaylvt.‘niti..
"My fatha2.^, Iszra utray, was employed by the lialdwin Locomo-
tive forks, zInci 3arno to rornandina in 1870 with a load of boo
motives the old wood -burning type for tho Florida itii.ilwag
and Navigution company, of which David iuleo was rresident. The
road ral from JaJksonvill to codar Keys on the k7ulf of itexioo.
They were not new locomotives, aal th.) load which was shi,)ped
by schooner we did not have steamboats or fseight steamers in
those days lani114: finally at Fernandina. where the.repair shops
for the roc.d yore established, and the machino ry "roc ondi ti onod,
U2 v 0 say nov
"Mother and I came al ong on the trip, but tho job lengthened
out, e.nd since my father considered it would take over a year to
put these locomotives in zood shape, mother and i returned to
rennsylvania after L. few months, 1 .)tild 11P; father hare. His as-
sistant ,Nue /i man named nouoly.
Mr. .Prink Li. Gray 3.
"As the roud grew in importance and prosperity, the tork
and force at the shops incroused and my father i)as mud() super-
intendent, or master mechanic.
"Here is u nicture of the old xulee Auilroad shops the
road was more often referred to 44 !yule°. than by its right-
ful title, it was takon in 1872. The erase indioatee my
lather, and he is surrounded by his helpers.
"NoI I won't let you have that picture, or any others, bind
l've got lots of them it's too hard to get them buck, once
they leave your nossession.
"Th3 rloridu Times -Union issued a special historicui edition
July 41, 1936, and i let tham have some of my pictures to illus-
trate son) zu4( .4treet history on the promise they would be re-
turned. I waited three %Alks and no signs of them, then i went
down to the office, and they- could not Iind any trace of the
pictures. i tent a.a1n in a few days, becoming insistent thut
the -Toper ones locate my pictures, which vAvere finally dug up
from somewharo in the but I thought I would have to kill
somebody before got them back. No, sir: Never againl if
anyone 1 -ants to see these nicturos, I'll be glad to shot them, or
they can eopy them hero, but take them uwurio-- not on your life!
"Well, to zet back to my story. My mother's health %us not
very good vhon to lived in the north, so te came back to Fornundinu
in the orly art of 1872, the next your the shipps of the Plorida
gailway and NaviTtion k'ompany were movodto Jucksonville, and
we came llore, locating in LaVilia.
Yrani b. Gray
4.
"While in Fernandina we became friends with the old
families there Fairbanks, kings, Thaukerus, kellys. Where
the spiscollal uhureh in Fernandina ie looted, there wus in
the early days umond. looked like an Indian mound. I dug
down into it wid ot out a lot of Indian reA.es, beads, wameum,
and earthenwuro dishes and pots.
"Mr. Thuokeru was my mindaysehool teacher. Then there rus
4abn L10 WiaiUMH, surveyor, who went all over Florida survey-
ing nreperty and cld land grants, and wrote ulout them most
interesting hitory. his !.4on, 4i.rthur T. 4A.11iame, vas my boy-
hood chum and friend gran.' man.
'Ur. George it. Fairbanks was u very fine gentleman. Here
is his IFister of rloridu,' and under his photograph here he
has autograohed this oy er me that is his very own hand-
writing a lovely, lovely mi411.
"nil these famili)s were old Uonfedlrate .eoople rather
hidebound. if a newcomer c ma to Fernandina, there was grout
quiz- in,z around to get his pedigree, Jalci ascertain whut Ildesignsi
ho might have on the ton. If ha wished to buy property, the
price on the plot desired was i-Adiately raised sky-high, and
the disuo raged wouid-be nurehuser went elsewhere. This spirit
vas a detriment to tho city's erogreas, an:i is the reason the
development droPped lohind. he (lame to Jaeksonville, a progrees-
ive and forward -moving community, and lots of others did, the sans.
if among the o rly eettlers, the former residents of Fernandina
and their desuendants 'ant back to Nassau Uounty, there Toud
left
not be anybody in Ja:;ksonviilo.
Prank n. Gray 6
147 mother wee a very religious woman, mud when I 104A
small boy, it wue decided i. would study for the ohuroh. However,
our coming to Olorida, which happened in the period of neoon-
struction uftar the war between the *tate* when there was small
chance of higher education, broke that 41 up.
"LaYilla was separate from Jaekeonville oity government.
We had our own setup of city officials.
"Here," he suid, going to an office safe in the corner
of the room from, which he extracted a number of papers und re-
cords," is a copy of the ,aaVilla Advertiser ..juet one Sheet
d-ted oebruary 1, 1873.
"Now, hero is a relic the first paper published in the
city of Philadelphia the Philadelphia Publics :odor Vol. 1,
Number I dated Sarah 26, 1836.
"In this envelope is a copy of the Jacksonville Press
forerunner of the present Oloridu iimee-Union dated maroh 6,
1877. See the nowedealeee stamp in purple ink up there in the
right hand corner Telfair ntooktonl aie descendants are now
among our most distinguished eitizene.
"This one 4- this is precious the ulster uounty Wasette
of January 4, 1800, the pules enclosed in stripes of wide black,
mourning the death of ueorge Washinglon.
"And in this little box with the paper is some oontinental
money, with which wuehington pit of his troops during the
winter eneampment at Valley rorge this &nal paper of half"
dollar value, this one two dollars, and this, three.
"Here is a pencil sketch of Oarpenter's null i made as
youngster in 1876, as 1 sat in the park neitrby.
Prank A. Oruy 6.
"I liked to draw when 4 'as a chili, and wherever A went
I took paper and penal and if a thing struek me as interesting
I just sat down and drew my idea of it.
"Here is a sketeh of the ruins of 'Dungeness, the old
Uarnegie home on Amelia Island, off rernandina.
"This is my version of the'airplaas -.a mode of future trav-
el I drew from imagination in 1872. bee the wheels to run on
true/cm, the floats for water travel, and the bird -like wing'
for lifting it in the airt nee the two men up in iront the
pilot and his assietant and the propellers in the rear? In
shape, size and design, not muah different fram modern craft, is
it, AA.nd hare in a °rayon sketoh of my father, said to be very life"
ipe."irds blaekbirds on the wing, redbirds in color, the
bluejay and the mookingbird all Oketohed from life. A dog,
/4.
ii
my beloved oompanion in boyhood days, a horse jut -roping a rail
;genes, an old store on the waterfront of Jaaksonville, a
:tiara house on the Aem turner 'toad.
"Hero is a toed sigSed.by usoar Aart, son of I. D. Hari the
found ar of Jaoksonvillso dated July 16, 1873, as %Mork at
Ulrouit (Wart, dlerk of board of uounty Uommissioners of muirs.1
Uounty." It uovers a plot of land known as the nibbald aradt
et apanish days. It Was, originally five miles square and cion
tamed seven thousand acmes. The abstract dates baak to 18024
"I still own a great part of this property on 1,em
whioh I myself laid off years ago, and for thirty-five
years have had large farm there on nonorief uroek near
minsmore.
Prank is, Gray 7.
"As a little tyke I went to school in a Miss shepherd, who had
a private school at Jackson and Oomneroial streets, the latter
no xiverside avenue. dhe was a very fine teacher. I later
went to the Jaoksonville public schools, being one of the early
graduates of auval high.
"After delivering papers for the Ilorida Times-Unioa and
working for a while helping my father in the shops of the Ylorida.
hallway and navigation Uompany, which later bootee the Jackson-
ville, Tampa and w., being the beginning of the Atlantic yeast alas
hailroad in a later merger, I obtained a position with the h. b.
nubbord hardware %.ompanw as an office boy on June 1, 1878. I
was in the employ of this firm for fifty-five years, becoming
irasideut of the company upon the death of hr. hubburd in 1903.
"Come over here and read this testimonial, given to ms by
the employees of the store when I retired in 1936," he said,
lighting a table lamp so that the careful lettdring could be
more easily discerned.
The testimonial in a frame 18 by 24 inohes, reads:
June 1, 1878.
Manager ,1884.
August 31, 1936.
President since Jane, 1903.
"Ws, the undersigned, wish to express our esteem
for our association with you those many years, and
it is with grateful appreciation for the fine spirit
which you created that we pledge ourselves to continue,
and wish you the best of health and many years -of
happiness."
tbelow are pen signatures of all employes).
Prenk m. Gray 8.
"Get bless themi I hired every ono of then, and not a
*allege an among them. Ion know colleges here ruined more
men than they have made great.
"pa you know bow i judge people? by their eyes. they are
the greatest index to a person's oharactere I hired those men,
some of them when they were boys, now they are middle-aged men
my two sons slang with the others beoause they had honest eyes,
and they have never fulled me, nor will they fuil the firm for
which they work.
"1 was married in Jacksonville on neoember 13, 1883, to
Miss Jessie sugenia Orierson, daughter of Joh& mates Grierson,
pharmaeist who was also located in LeNilla. ny the way, the
boundary of LaVilla was Ulay otreet.
"We had five children: John Ularence, Prank Ularenoe,'
gyre, sdith (wife of Leonard Griffith walls) and Dam Hubbard,
Gray.
wildith is the only one of my planar.* interested in my old
papers, pictures, and historical records. She came down here last
year and tried to sort them over and started to list them, but
she had mixed them up so t can't lay my hands on anything now.
"Did you ever see anything like this a book written on
sheepskin, with a sheepskin cover? It is a book my mother brought
over from Sngland, oontaining the records of a little church
where her family the Sowersbys originated at Molingston, near
MulleIngland. Paper was so precious and so expensive, that only,
one page was allowed for a year's records you see the birth se
marriages, and other records entered the earliest date 1664,
and still very legible. My grandfather's name, mg gieat-grand-
father's and othars they go beak three or four generations.
Br. frank B. Gray 9.
"Here is a little bundayschool paper,The Carrier Dove.
published April 11, 1870, which my mother vary carefully pre
mine
served because it oentained a little poem of mat offering my
young heart and services to God.
"I have written hundreds of poems, a great many of them
on he buck of my business cards. Can you imagine a hardware
executive getting out of bed in the middle of the night or
early morning hours just to jot down a poem that came to his
mind? Here is a sample:
'A successful man is one who gathers a
fortune be don't need
To leave to people who do not deserve it.'
"Here is another of personal sentiment to mg wife on the
()cession of our fiftieth wedding annivorsary on December 13,
1933, which 1 presented to her with a filx fifty dollar gold
pieee, mode out of gold from the dtate of oulifornis.
By tha way, i have quite a collsotion of gold coins, both
from America and suropean countries.
"This poem 1 wrote on retiring from active business in
1936:
'Re pat aside his work regretfully, with hands
that lingered, yearning, while the thoughts
still surging through his teeming brain now
throbbed for freedom.
He had toiled for years yet deemed
sack pease to be a mnaller part of some far greater
plan that he must shape, and mold., until it
reached perfection.
Then he rose, to slowly mount the stairs in
searoh of rest.
Prank n. Gray 10.
The moonlight and the stars, with silver sheen,
&opt watch above u fervid world, where men still
dreamed of fame, or fought for place and powers
As step by step he neared his room above,
he grow less weary; saw with clearer sight.
his footsteps hastened and his hands, with strength
renewed, were eager to respond and thus bsommo
attuned with heart and mind and soul.
he walked as one to whom has been revealed, as in a
vision, God's eternal ways.
The consciousne$s of Ohrist brought life anew, and
knowledge, too, that endless time was his in
which to finish all he had begun."
"Do you like that one? It's the way I expressed my senti-
ments when A retired for active service at the store, which
i saw grow from a modest retail hardware establishment to a
a wholesale house with a territory covering several adjoining
states and a swarm of hustling employes. But I have not re-
tired altogether; am still on the board of directors.
"Rare is a comical poem words and music printed
envelope size, entitled 'Creditor Query,' the air 'Comins
Through the Ayes;
"If a body trust a be*,
And fail to get prompt pay.
Uay a body ask a body,
Please remit today."
This was signed with the firm name b. B. Ntibbard Hardware
Uompany, JuoLsonville, florida, and mailed to delinquent
customers.
Prank Gray
11.
"Here is a poem in J.atin 1 composed and sent to one
of our beloved rectors of ut. Stephens uburgh." as
chuckled reminiscently as he said: "I was expelled once
from old muval High udhool because i would not study my
leosons. but J. went back and mastered it.
"Mind if I smoke?" ho quarried, extraotina amall
briarw.:od pipe from Us coat pocket. "Isn't it a beauty?
Italian briar. I have never learned to smoke cigars or
cigarettes. Avery morning I ride down town in 4 taxi
i never owned an automobile, and what's more, never will
generally with three or ZDUZ young lady oompants; they
light up and 4 got out, my old pipe self defense!
"When my family locate4n LaVilla, they started .the
apiseopel pariah ()hurdle known as st. Stephens, in 1873.
itev. 0. D. Barber was the first rector. ae buried my
father who sacrificed his life in the yellow fever epidemic
of MIS. only six men attended the funeral, and every one
of them died later with the fever, inoluding M. barber. I
had it, but only in a light form and never even want to bed.
my mother 4.4nd sister also contracted it, but recovered.
"Rev. Brooke E. white then was sant to the parish,
but he was not much of a preacher more of a horse trader
used to seat to Texas and get earloses of broncos and sell
or trade them off.
"Mere is one of the old record books of st. Stephens,
showing a list of fifty members in 1008. On this pogo is
Frank 8. Gray 12.
Kev. White's eolleotions for cunday, nareh al, 1089.
Rev. J. H. Bicknell was superintendent of the pundaysohool.
Another reetor died of tuberculosis. The original churoh
property consisted of an entire block of ground, but it
has been whittled down by one mewls or another until it is
now a small plot. The building still stands.
"I was one of the founders in 1888 of the American
Trust uompany, later taken over by the Atlantio national
sank. 1 am still on th board of directors, also for an-
other local bank, and. have been one of the bond trustees
of suval Uouuty sine° 1890, including the ut. Johns Aiver
bridge too much responsibility for one of my age, I'll
have to pass some of it ,o younger shoulders. And just
look at this steak of unanswered lettors nit inehes high.
I have three secretaries at the store, but do not like to
trouble them tith my ilersonal mail.
"This house, where j. have lived for fifty years, is
in need of a new roof •aud other repairs, and the man who
has attended to my property upkeep for fifteen years is
siok. He might as well be dead, because he'll never get
up again. Present day mechanics are unreliable nothing
but tykes and negroes just grab what money they can and
take little interest in their work. have three houses on
the farm, too, that heed going over. Things like that are
beginning to worry me afraid I'm getting old.
Still going through the bundle of old papers he
brought up a faded photograph of the old Freedman's sank
building of the early 1870's. "This was on the corner
/Prank 0. Gray
where the turoligott store now is," he said.
"In 1877 Mr. Burnett came from DROSS and $tarted
his bank on the opposite corner. He afterwards built a
larger building at Laura and Yersyth streets, and in 192b
erected the magnificent 16 -story bank and office building
running through the block So AMAMI etreet a magnificemt
aohievement for a magnificent business men. 1 met Sion
surnett this morning, a splendid gentleman. Me is a
little older than J. am.
"One of the earliest settlers of nu:Tel uounty was
william Barre, the father of all these Sarre boys in
Jacksonville. he vas log surveyor for the county. The
loge would be raftet down the et. Johns Hiver and dumped
on the levee in front of the sverett Hotel. this was in
the 18001s, and nearby was sradbury's sustain, which
turned the logs into lumber.
"Here is a picture of the old ehoemaker sank, of which
young bryan Taliafero was cashier.
"And this bm a bundle of photographs taken after the
big fire of 1901. 1 was living rif.ht here with my family,
but we were out of the fire sane, and that night our back
yard was filled with refUgees.
"Picttres and photographs are a hobby with no. thisi
bundle consists of camera shots taken in Havana, Cuba,
four months after the conclusion of the upanish-Amerlean
war. This one is tho outside of Moror Castle, and this
from the inside- Here is one of the maims wreaked in