LETA LOYCE: A MEMOIR OF PENSACOLA
By Meta Lois Diffenderfer White
Published in 2003 by Lindenstruth Books Inc. of Pensacola, Fla.
Hardcover Price $19.95
Barnes and Noble gives this summary:
In rich detail, a native Pensacolian portrays the charm and exuberance of this colorful seaport during the '20s and '30s, that brief peaceful interlude between the world wars. Included are Pensacolians as diverse as the seaport itself: old and young, from all walks of life. One can stroll Palafox Street with mothers and daughters, visit in homes both prominent and modest, sail Pensacola Bay on sunny afternoons as planes piloted by youthful Navy fliers arc overhead. More than 100 photos, many of them historic, 335 pages, 4-color dust jacket, fully indexed, including surnames that reach back to Spanish times. Engaging seaside reading, a must for local and women's history collections, valuable also for genealogy.
The view of 323 West Gregory from my window.
I first became aware of the author after finally acting on my curiosity about the pink Victorian house on the corner that I see every time I look out my upstairs window. A bit of deed research gave me the owner’s name and I called her in Virginia. She told me the house was built around 1850 and was owned by the Spanish Moreno family that married into the Dorrs. The house had long ago been purchased by her grandfather, and she spent some happy childhood days there. She tried to place my 2-story Victorian house that is almost kitty-corner from hers, but didn’t quite recall it. What she did suggest was that I read her memoir to get more information.
There are 2 copies of the book at the downtown Pensacola library, one available to take out and the other as a reference. I must say that anyone with a mild curiosity about Pensacola’s past will find this easy and satisfying reading. Her sources are her Aunt Bessie Lindenstruth’s 1906 and 1920-24 diaries and her own 5-year diary from the 1930s, plus decades of meticulous scrapbooking from high school, college and her wedding.
The first thing longtime Pensacolians ask is: What’s your pedigree? In other words, when did you become a Pensacolian? Leta Loyce’s coastal roots go back her grandfather, Peter Lindenstruth, a widower with two children, who sailed here from Georgia in 1889. The talented watchmaker set up a jewelry shop on Palafox Street and eventually brought his daughters.
Most of the author’s memories involve the neighborhood of east Pensacola, where her father, Will C. Diffenderfer, who also owned a jewelry shop at 166 S. Palafox, built a home 1924 East Jackson St. Their lot was purchased from Malcolm Yonge, and their hollow brick house reflected the Arts and Crafts movement that was popular at the turn of the century.
The diaries of her aunt, however, conjure up scenes of West Hill and Pensacola’s downtown business district.
But I must zero in on what’s the most significant for my studies of West Gregory Street. In 1906, Peter Lindentruth and his daughter Bessie, who were at first living above the jewelry shop, rented a house owned by a “Mr. Bell” at 309 West Chase St. That same year, they relocated their shop to 320 S. Palafox. I took a walk over to West Chase and Barcelona and found one house that could be a sibling of the house at 309. It was at 307 West Chase St. and has in recent years been housing Constance Cosby Interiors. A sign said “tenants leaving,” so that’s apparently about to change. I took a quick pic of the house. It is so well renovated, it wasn’t easy to determine its age.
307 West Chase Street, Pensacola, FL
Connie Crosby specializes in upscale residential interiors. She studied design at Florida International University, Florida State University, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Interior Design and in Europe. She is an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers. Her work has been published in numerous publications, most recently Southern Living’s Inaugural Bath book. She was recognized in the ASID 2006 Design Renovations. Crosby’s work reflects a classic and timeless understated elegance with warmth and comfort. Her showroom and studio is located in a 1900s Creole Cottage at 307 West Chase Street. Connie is the widow of Harold Bryan Crosby and has lived in Florida most of her life. She has an intense passion for music, art, architecture, design, film, travel and her canine companion, Sushi.
Undertakers WH Northup & JG Wood, Jefferson cor E Zarragossa
(Pensacola Livery & Sales Stables)
Northrup William H Mrs. . boarding-house h 201 W Gregory
This 1884 map shows Chase Street, which is one block south of Gregory. DeVilliers on the left is one block west of Reus. The Lindentruths house is located at the southeast corner of Gregory and Reus. The Northup house would be built in a decade at the southwest corner of Barcelona and Gregory, and the site of the Bell Creole cottage built in the 1900s on the south side of Chase near Reus is just a field. When I expressed to a city architect some concern that my house on Gregory between Reus and DeVilliers does not show up on the map, he told me that it appeared that some streets and houses were transposed in the creation of this map.
The huge house, known presently as Pensacola Victorian bed and breakfast, with its restored carriage house that now houses the fantastic Cottage Café eatery, now has a 203 West Gregory St. address (which makes me think 207 West Chase could have once been 209 West Chase). My own house down the street has had several addresses, especially when several families have occupied it at once.
Here’s an extract from the B&B’s web site at www.pensacolavictorian.com/aboutinn.html
Capt. WH Northup
During Captain Northup's distinguished careers at sea and on land, he also served Pensacola as a Councilman, as Mayor, and as Collector of Customs and Postmaster under Presidents Roosevelt and Taft. His exquisite home, with its gleaming hardwood floors and paneling, sparkling chandeliers, and charming Victorian nuances was a favorite gathering place for the leaders of turn-of-the-century Pensacola. Northup's son Edwin, continued this tradition after he and his family moved into the house upon Captain Northup's death. Because Edwin and Louise Northup deeply loved music, the "gatherings" expanded to include a group of musicians and eventually led to the founding of The Pensacola Philharmonic Orchestra in 1926.
An early photo of 201 West Gregory
203 West Gregory today
The Cottage Café
More on the Northups can be found at the St. John’s Cemetery website at www.stjohnshistoriccemetery.com/pensacolas_heritages/business.htm#w_h_northup
Peter Lindenstruth sold the jewelry store in 1919. Although the purchaser is not mentioned in the book, it was Elebash Jewelers. That company’s history is posted at www.elebashs.com/history.htm and says in part: Elebash's can be traced back to early 20th century beginnings in Selma, Alabama, the birthplace of brothers Eugene P. and Le Grand S. Elebash. After completing apprenticeships, the brothers opened their own store, naming their new firm "Elebash Jewelry Company."
“On April 1, 1919, Eugene and Le Grand (Elebash) purchased Lindenstruth Jewelers in downtown Pensacola and subsequently renamed the store "Elebash's". Within a few years, the family was operating several stores across the Southeast. Eugene moved to Pensacola to focus on overseeing the Pensacola location while his brother Le Grand assumed supervision of the Selma store.
Soon after the sale of the business, Mr. Lindenstruth bought the clapboard house at 323 West Gregory, the house I still see every time I look out my window. The father and daughter both lived the rest of their lives here, and the house at this date in 2009 is still owned by the author.
323 West Gregory St.
According to Mrs. White, the house was built in 1850, which would be significantly earlier than a lot of houses in North Hill. She states that the Moreno family had lived there and had run a florist shop in a small building near the big house. Although there is a small house in the backyard of the big house, more than likely the florist shop is the other building that faces Reus Street. This is what it looks like today:
The outbuilding at 323 West Gregory St. that probably held the Moreno florist shop.
“Previously, there were two Dorr brothers who lived there,” writes Mrs. White. “The Dorrs were related to the owner of the Dorr house on Seville Square. In the house on Gregory Street, both families left envelopes addressed and mailed from relatives. I have the envelopes, but unfortunately, someone removed the letters that would have been inside. The only letter that remained was from a Moreno written to his wife during the Civil War. He told her to try to find some seed to plant a garden. He also tells her how much he loves her.”
The Morenos, the author continues, “must have planted the hundreds of narcissus bulbs that bloomed every Christmas.” Bessie Lindenstruth apparently sold these flowers during her time at the house. The house boasted many other rare species of trees and shrubs, some of which are still growing there, including the ginko and mulberry. I haven’t notice located the pomegranate or loquat in the yard yet. I do have a small loquat tree in my yard, however, planted in memory of the loquat tree that grew in my daughter Teresa’s backyard in New Orleans when she was attending Loyola.
Finding which Moreno lived at 323 West Gregory was not too difficult. James N. Moreno was living at 323 W. Gregory in 1885 directory. He was born in 1836, so I doubt he would have built the house at age 14 if it dates back to 1850.
According to the genealogy pages of Thomas W. Saltmarsh Jr. (http://www.familyorigins.com/users/s/a/l/Thomas-W-Saltmarsh-jr/FAMO1-0001/d31.htm), James Nicholas Moreno was born on Dec 7 1836 in Pensacola, the son of Don Francisco Moreno and Margarita Eleutaria Lopez. He died on Mar 7 1898 in Pensacola and was buried in St. John's Cemetery, Pensacola. Furthermore:
Little is known James' Civil War career. He enlisted at Mobile, Alabama, in May, 1862, as a private in the "Mobile Cadets" Company, an Alabama Infantry Regiment commanded by Capt. R. M. Sands. How long he remained with this unit is unknown. After the war, his brother Theodore left a brief note entitled "War Record Moreno Family," in which he wrote "Jas. N. Moreno, Capt. Qr. Masters Department."
James Moreno married Clara Dorr on February 15, 1860. She has been confused with her sister-in-law, Clara Barkley Dorr, after whom the Dorr House next to the old Christ Church on Seville Square was named. Clara Barkley Dorr was the sister of Clara Dorr's brother.
Their children were: Reverend Eben D. Moreno , Scarritt Moreno, Mansfield Moreno, Ruth Moreno, Violette Moreno.
It turns out that Ruth Moreno stayed in the neighborhood. I can also see her house at 207 N. Reus from my upstairs window. She moved there in 1891 after her marriage to to John McClay Coe on Oct 14, They were married at the nearby Christ Church by the Reverend Eben D. Moreno of New Orleans, the brother of the bride. Their Coes’ honeymoon was spent in New York, with stops at Cincinnati, Washington and Philadelphia. Their children were: William Cecil Coe, John Moreno Coe.
Scarritt Moreno
Source: http://www.familyorigins.com/users/s/a/l/Thomas-W-Saltmarsh-jr/FAMO1-0001/d32.htm#P19
Scarritt Moreno, born on March 13, 1862, who married Fannie Linton Jones about 1915.
The 1860 census, has these folks at probably at 323 W Gregory:
James N. Moreno merchant, 23
Clara B (or R) Moreno, 23
Sarah C. Dorr, age 57, Clara’s mother
Anna W. Dorr, age 25, probably Clara’s sister
Thomas Byrnes, 16, clerk
James N. Moreno’s personal value was put at $2000, but there is no value on real estate, so they must not have owned the home? Could it be that the house was actually owned by the two Dorr brothers mentioned in the White memoir? Only the mother and sister Dorr were there in 1860. Mother Sarah Dorr is 74 in the 1880 census. In the household at that time are: James Mareno, 43, wood merchant; Clara Moreno, 38 wife, sons Edmond, 19, an office clerk; Scarrett, 18, an office clerk; Mansfield, 16; Ruth, 12, and Violet, age 12. The census margin says West Chase Street, but they are obviously living at 323 West Gregory.
Escambia County Courthouse
One final anecdote. This postcard of the Escambia County Courthouse that once stood at the corner of Palafox and Chase streets shows the tower that holds the clock that is now preserved outside the old Customs House on Palafox at Government St. The clock was saved due to the efforts of the Lindentruths. Mrs. White explains how this happened:
“In 1925, the county commissioners were thinking of replacing the tower clock with an electric one. This upset Grandpa, who had cared for the clock for many years. ‘They can’t put up an electric clock – they mustn’t. They don’t have any works, any soul – they’re just a face with cords attached,’ my grandfather told The Pensacola News Journal. I was fairly young back then, but I do remember Aunt Bessie’s telling me about Grandpa’s going up into the tower to set the clock.”
To rally support, Miss Lindenstruth wrote an article for the paper that detailed the clock’s history. It was published on Dec. 6, 1925 and part of it reads:
“Back in 1883, Pensacola was having a ‘boom’ year … Chase and Palafox Streets had two busy corners for that year both St. Michael’s Church and the county courthouse were being built. There was a tower built on the courthouse at that time, but for several years this tower remained silent and empty. … “
Miss Lindenstruth notes that a donation by ship Capt. William Folker, a winner in a Louisiana lottery, kicked off the fund drive for the tower clock with its booming bell. The clock arrived in April 1890: and was given this report in the Daily News:
“This is a McShane bell, made in Baltimore and weighing 1500 pounds. … Attached to this bell is also a hammer with a bell cord which was formerly used for fire alarms. … This clock is a very fine piece of mechanism, made by the E. Howard Clock Co., makers of the finest tower clocks in the world. … These clocks and the material sent with them never wear out and should show no signs of wear in thirty-five years of service if they received proper care. … For several years my father had the care of this clock and during that time its accuracy was remarkable. On the last night of each year he would always climb those winding stairs and watch carefully that the midnight strike told the exact second of the arrival of a new year.
“Let us ‘hold fast to that which is good.’ Commissioners, spare that clock! It can be made to give perfect time. It has counted out only half the allotted three score and ten years of a human life. It should be put into condition to count accurately a century of time.”
Aunt Bessie’s argument won them over, and the clock tolled on for a dozen more years until the courthouse was going to be torn down. Miss Lindenstruth helped save it a second time in 1938 by arranging for Congress to give the clock to the Pensacola Historical Society. It was stored in the basement of City Hall until the 1960s when Mrs. White read that it had been given to Francis Taylor, who wanted to put the clock outside his business at 200 E. Main St. A phone call by the author retrieved the clock. In 1982, the clock and bell were installed at their present location.
P.S. Theckla White Williams, the noted Pensacola artist, is the daughter of Meta Lois Diffenderfer White.
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