10 Jacksonville Men Who Ran Florida
With election day finally arriving, here's a list of Florida's governors that were either born or lived in Jacksonville, in chronological order.
1. Harrison Reed
Image courtesy of Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Reed_(politician)#mediaviewer/File:Governor_Harrison_Reed_of_Florida.jpg
In Office: 1868-1873
Harrison Reed was the ninth Governor of Florida. He owned a farm along the St. Johns River and died in Jacksonville on May 25, 1899, while representing Duval County in Florida's House of Representatives. Reed Street, near Edgewood Avenue and Moncrief Road is named for him.
2. Ossian B. Hart
Image courtesy of Wikipedia at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/59/Ossian_B_Hart_gv000469.jpg
In Office: 1873-1874
Ossian Hart was the son of Jacksonville's founder Isaiah Hart and tenth Governor of Florida. During his term, Hart openly opposed secession from the United State.
3. George Franklin Drew
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/128586
In Office: 1877-1881
George Franklin Drew was the 12th Governor of Florida. Prior to his term, Drew operated a number of businesses in Ellaville, FL including logging, sawmill, turpentine, and railroad car building. After his term ended, he settled in Jacksonville and got back in the lumber business as Drew Lumber Company in 1886. Totally abandoned by 1942, Ellaville is a ghost town in Madison County.
4. Francis Philip Fleming
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/136861
In Office: 1889 - 1893
Born in Panama Park, Fleming was the 15th Governor of Florida. During his term, he was a strong supporter of segregation and an opponent of civil rights for blacks. Before becoming governor, he was a Confederate soldier and attorney. Buried in downtown's Old City Cemetery, Clay County's Fleming Island is named after his family.
5. William Sherman Jennings
Image courtesy of Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sherman_Jennings#mediaviewer/File:William_Sherman_Jennings.jpg
In Office: 1901-1905
Jennings was the 18th Governor of Florida. Before taking the oath, he was the president of the Brooksville, FL town council. During his term in Tallahassee, he set the path forward to drain and develop the Everglades by cutting the natural rock dams in the rivers of South Florida. After his term, he moved to Jacksonville where he established a successful law practice. In 1910, Jennings and his business partners purchased 60,000 acres of land west of Middleburg, forming the Artesian Farm Land Company. There, they produced forest products such as lumber and naval stores. This land was acquired by the State of Florida in 1990 and is now the Jennings State Forest.
6. Napolean B. Broward
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/128345
In Office: 1905-1909
The 19th Governor of Florida, Broward was a Jacksonville river pilot and captain before becoming a politician.
During the 1890s, Broward operated a military filibustering operation out of Jacksonville until President William McKinley declared war on spain. As governor, the project to drain the Everglades became a reality. The Dames Point Bridge and Broward County, FL are named for him.
7. John W. Martin
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/157136
In Office: 1925-1929
The 24th Governor of Florida, Martin served as the Mayor of Jacksonville from 1917-1923. The Florida land boom and bust occurred during his tenure. He also advocated for state funded public schools as governor. Martin is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Martin County, FL is named for him.
8. Fuller Warren
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/128488
In Office: 1949-1953
After graduating from the University of Florida, Warren moved to Jacksonville to practice law. During his term as the 30th Governor of Florida, Warren set the foundation for the state's turnpike system. A former Klansmen, after being elected, he spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan and signed an anti-Klan law in 1951. However, Warren had a darker side.
During the hearings of the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, it was bought to light that Warren's 1948 campaign had been funded by organized crime. A transplanted Chicagoan with ties to Al Capone named William Johnston made illegal contributions to Warren's campaign. A Jacksonville resident, Johnston owned Jacksonville's dog tracks and Chicagoland's Sportsman's Park. After Warren became the Governor, the State immediately started raiding the South Florida gambling syndicates, which happened to be rivals Johnston. Warren moved to Miami after his term ended, running for governor again in 1956 on the promise to maintain segregation in Florida. Luckily he lost. Jacksonville's Fuller Warren Bridge is named for him.
9. Cecil Farris Bryant
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/19045
In Office: 1961-1965
The 34th Governor of Florida, Bryant was originally from Marion County and also served on the United States National Security Council and in the Office of Emergency Planning during the President Lyndon B. Johnson administration. A segregationist, Bryant worked to get interstate highways built in Florida. He was also a major proponent of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. After his term and losing the 1970 race for the U.S. Senate to Lawton Chiles of Lakeland, Bryant moved to Jacksonville where he practiced law and lived until his death in 2002.
10. William Haydon Burns
Image of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/128931
In Office: 1965-1967
Burns, mayor of Jacksonville from 1949-1965, was the 35th Governor of Florida. As mayor of Jacksonville, Burns demolished downtown's wharves, then known as skid row, and replaced them with a new courthouse, City Hall, Sears Roebuck store (the site of Omni Hotel today), the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad headquarters (now CSX), and a riverfront parking lot (now the Landing). Burns was the governor who introduced Walt and Roy Disney to Florida as they announced their plans to open Walt Disney World. Returning to Jacksonville after his term ended, the Haydon Burns Library was named in his honor.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com
Title image: William Sherman Jennings (far right) inspecting the dredging of the Everglades in 1907.
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/136895
In Office: 1868-1873
Harrison Reed was the ninth Governor of Florida. He owned a farm along the St. Johns River and died in Jacksonville on May 25, 1899, while representing Duval County in Florida's House of Representatives. Reed Street, near Edgewood Avenue and Moncrief Road is named for him.
2. Ossian B. Hart
Image courtesy of Wikipedia at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/59/Ossian_B_Hart_gv000469.jpg
In Office: 1873-1874
Ossian Hart was the son of Jacksonville's founder Isaiah Hart and tenth Governor of Florida. During his term, Hart openly opposed secession from the United State.
3. George Franklin Drew
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/128586
In Office: 1877-1881
George Franklin Drew was the 12th Governor of Florida. Prior to his term, Drew operated a number of businesses in Ellaville, FL including logging, sawmill, turpentine, and railroad car building. After his term ended, he settled in Jacksonville and got back in the lumber business as Drew Lumber Company in 1886. Totally abandoned by 1942, Ellaville is a ghost town in Madison County.
4. Francis Philip Fleming
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/136861
In Office: 1889 - 1893
Born in Panama Park, Fleming was the 15th Governor of Florida. During his term, he was a strong supporter of segregation and an opponent of civil rights for blacks. Before becoming governor, he was a Confederate soldier and attorney. Buried in downtown's Old City Cemetery, Clay County's Fleming Island is named after his family.
5. William Sherman Jennings
Image courtesy of Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sherman_Jennings#mediaviewer/File:William_Sherman_Jennings.jpg
In Office: 1901-1905
Jennings was the 18th Governor of Florida. Before taking the oath, he was the president of the Brooksville, FL town council. During his term in Tallahassee, he set the path forward to drain and develop the Everglades by cutting the natural rock dams in the rivers of South Florida. After his term, he moved to Jacksonville where he established a successful law practice. In 1910, Jennings and his business partners purchased 60,000 acres of land west of Middleburg, forming the Artesian Farm Land Company. There, they produced forest products such as lumber and naval stores. This land was acquired by the State of Florida in 1990 and is now the Jennings State Forest.
6. Napolean B. Broward
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/128345
In Office: 1905-1909
The 19th Governor of Florida, Broward was a Jacksonville river pilot and captain before becoming a politician.
During the 1890s, Broward operated a military filibustering operation out of Jacksonville until President William McKinley declared war on spain. As governor, the project to drain the Everglades became a reality. The Dames Point Bridge and Broward County, FL are named for him.
7. John W. Martin
Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/157136
In Office: 1925-1929
The 24th Governor of Florida, Martin served as the Mayor of Jacksonville from 1917-1923. The Florida land boom and bust occurred during his tenure. He also advocated for state funded public schools as governor. Martin is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Martin County, FL is named for him.
8. Fuller Warren
In Office: 1949-1953
After graduating from the University of Florida, Warren moved to Jacksonville to practice law. During his term as the 30th Governor of Florida, Warren set the foundation for the state's turnpike system. A former Klansmen, after being elected, he spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan and signed an anti-Klan law in 1951. However, Warren had a darker side.
During the hearings of the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, it was bought to light that Warren's 1948 campaign had been funded by organized crime. A transplanted Chicagoan with ties to Al Capone named William Johnston made illegal contributions to Warren's campaign. A Jacksonville resident, Johnston owned Jacksonville's dog tracks and Chicagoland's Sportsman's Park. After Warren became the Governor, the State immediately started raiding the South Florida gambling syndicates, which happened to be rivals Johnston. Warren moved to Miami after his term ended, running for governor again in 1956 on the promise to maintain segregation in Florida. Luckily he lost. Jacksonville's Fuller Warren Bridge is named for him.
9. Cecil Farris Bryant
In Office: 1961-1965
The 34th Governor of Florida, Bryant was originally from Marion County and also served on the United States National Security Council and in the Office of Emergency Planning during the President Lyndon B. Johnson administration. A segregationist, Bryant worked to get interstate highways built in Florida. He was also a major proponent of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. After his term and losing the 1970 race for the U.S. Senate to Lawton Chiles of Lakeland, Bryant moved to Jacksonville where he practiced law and lived until his death in 2002.
10. William Haydon Burns
Image of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/128931
In Office: 1965-1967
Burns, mayor of Jacksonville from 1949-1965, was the 35th Governor of Florida. As mayor of Jacksonville, Burns demolished downtown's wharves, then known as skid row, and replaced them with a new courthouse, City Hall, Sears Roebuck store (the site of Omni Hotel today), the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad headquarters (now CSX), and a riverfront parking lot (now the Landing). Burns was the governor who introduced Walt and Roy Disney to Florida as they announced their plans to open Walt Disney World. Returning to Jacksonville after his term ended, the Haydon Burns Library was named in his honor.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com
Title image: William Sherman Jennings (far right) inspecting the dredging of the Everglades in 1907.
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/136895