Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It was a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from this week in 1962. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• In preparation for the Independence Day holiday, the City of Jacksonville Beach cracked down on what was called by officials “undesirable elements.”
“We have a very nice, very quiet crowd down here. We’re looking for more of the same,” said Police Chief C.H, Franks.
During the crackdown, more than 100 people were arrested.
Mayor William Wilson said the increased enforcement was implemented to rid the area of “rough, obnoxious characters” that discouraged family groups from visiting the resort.
“We’re going to make conditions increasingly rough for this type of person, including the treatment they’ll receive in Municipal Court,” he said.
• The July 4 holiday drew an estimated crowd of at least 100,000 people to Jacksonville Beach, despite cloudy weather and an influx of jellyfish and Portuguese man-of-war.
Lifeguards were kept busy treating at least 160 people for jellyfish stings. In addition, a prevailing westerly wind swept several people on rafts and inner tubes far from shore and they had to be rescued.
In the most serious case, two people were caught in a runout near 15th Avenue North and carried more than 100 yards off the beach. They were rescued by lifeguard Wilson Robinson.
The holiday was capped by the crowning of 18-year-old Adelaide Smith as Miss Duval County 1962.
“This is it. This is the big one I really wanted to be,” said Smith.
She won a scholarship, merchandise prizes and an opportunity to compete in the Miss Florida pageant. The winner of the state event was eligible to try for the Miss America title.
After the pageant in the band shell, a $500 fireworks display was fired from the end of the new fishing pier.
Smith also held the titles of Miss Mayport Naval Station, Miss Blaze, Miss Fraternal Order of Police and Miss Florida Letter Carrier, among others.
Smith was chosen for the crown from 18 contestants in the two-day pageant, which was sponsored by the Beaches Jaycees.
• Robert Henry Beigay, who slit his throat in Criminal Court May 22, was sentenced to 10 months in the Duval County jail for grand larceny.
On May 22, Beigay startled courtroom observers and Judge A. Lloyd Layton by slashing his throat with a small razor blade concealed in his hand. After receiving 41 stitches for his wound, he was returned to the jail.
Beigay inflicted the wound upon himself after pleading guilty to grand larceny of $1,035 worth of miscellaneous articles from a local woman on March 1. He cut himself moments after Layton told him he would be sentenced the next day.
Following the courtroom violence, Beigay was examined by a court-appointed psychiatrist, who determined that Beigay was sane.
The prosecutor, Assistant County Solicitor R. Hudson Oliff, quoted Dr. William Ingram, the psychiatrist, as saying that Beigay was sane although he was subject to periods of depression and had a history of previous suicide attempts.
Layton accordingly adjudged Beigay sane and imposed the 10-month sentence, giving Beigay credit for the time he had been in jail since March 27.
• A young mother of two killed her husband with a blast from a shotgun, said Duval County detectives.
Henry Tedder Sr., 23, a sailor stationed at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, was dead on arrival at the U.S. Naval Hospital.
His wife, Sara Mae Tedder, 25, was held in the County jail without bond pending a hearing before Justice of the Peace Robert R. Roberts.
Detectives said the shooting occurred about 8:30 a.m. in the couple’s trailer home in Wesconnett near 118th Street.
Detectives said Tedder admitted she killed her husband with a single charge from a 12-guage shotgun into his chest as he advanced on her after slapping her several times the previous night and day.
Officers quoted Tedder as saying she only meant to frighten her husband and did not mean to shoot him. She told investigators she did not remember pulling the trigger of the weapon.
Tedder said her husband threatened to kill her several times and had slapped and hit her during arguments.
Tedder told officers she got out of bed about 7:30 a.m. and was sitting at the kitchen table with the couple’s two children, Henry Jr., 3, and Pamela Mae, 22 months. She said her husband got out of bed, walked over to the table, and lifted Pamela Mae roughly from her chair and put the infant on the floor. He then resumed drinking beer, which he had been doing the previous evening, she said.
According to detectives, Tedder said her husband told her, “I would just as soon kill you as look at you. You better not give me a hard time today.”
Tedder then left the trailer in his car and returned about 10 minutes later.
Officers said Mrs. Tedder picked up the shotgun, which her husband had left leaning against a wall. She pointed the weapon at Tedder as he came into the living room. She told police she fired the weapon when Tedder would not stop. The children were in the kitchen at the time.
Officers said Tedder had borrowed the shotgun from a neighbor to shoot animals that had been killing some of his chickens.