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 1961. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• One of the most tedious prosecutions in the history of the Criminal Court ended when a former deputy constable pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of bribery.
A Criminal Court jury Feb. 21 found 49-year-old James Williams guilty of bribery in the $200 shakedown of a young burglary suspect, but Judge A. Lloyd Layton on March 3 granted a motion for a new trial on the ground that the prosecutor had made remarks to the jury which prejudiced the defendant’s rights.
It was Williams’ second trial, and second guilty verdict, on charges involving the same circumstances. If the felony conviction had stuck, Williams would have been subject to a maximum of 10 years in prison or a $1,000 fine. After his guilty plea, he was subject to no more than a one-year sentence.
A jury in 1959 found Williams guilty of grand larceny by false pretense. Layton, however, granted a defense motion then for a new trial because the Florida Supreme Court had defined actions such as those alleged to Williams as not constituting grand larceny but rather malpractice in office.
The County Solicitor’s Office then filed the amended bribery charge under a statute which made it a crime for an officer to extract a thing of value for the performance or nonperformance of a legal duty.
Williams was a deputy under Constable A.M. Stephens and Justice of the Peace Sarah Bryan before Stephens fired him when Williams was arrested in Bryan’s courtroom in July 1959 in possession of $200 in marked bills.
Testimony showed Williams accepted the money from a 19-year-old burglary suspect, Freddie Patten, after Patten was freed from the County jail on the basis of a release card signed by Bryan. The card was dated July 29, two days after Patten’s actual release.
Testimony showed Williams pressured Patten to pay the $200 after he was released or else be returned to jail. The actual payment, witnessed by a sheriff’s deputy, took place on July 31.
Layton deferred sentencing Williams until July 21.
• Miss Chic, a local celebrity and headliner at the Jacksonville Zoo for 35 years, had zoo officials and fans worried.
The 38-year-old elephant, purchased when she was about 3 years old with pennies, nickels and dimes contributed by school children, suffered a heart attack early Monday morning.
She was raised to her feet with the aid of zoo workers and a crane sent by the State Road Department, and seemed to have recovered, dining on a meal of hay and carrots after giving herself a bath.
Then she suffered a relapse about 12:30 p.m. and again could not get to her feet.
Dr. S.T. Johnson, a veterinarian who had attended the animal since 1935, injected more than two quarts of a saline and glucose solution into an artery.
For a long time, and with a large audience of Miss Chic’s fans watching, the huge elephant lay in obvious distress and several times attempted to get to her feet. Some of those watching were among the students who raised the $3,000 with which the elephant was purchased.
At 6:30 p.m., everyone gave a sigh of relief when Miss Chic rose to her feet.
• Judge Donald K. Carroll of Jacksonville was elected chief judge of the First District Court of Appeal for a term to begin July 1.
He would succeed Judge John T. Wiggington of Tallahassee, whose term as chief judge would expire on that date.
Carroll was appointed to the appellate bench in 1957 and was elected in 1960 to a six-year term.
He was president of The Florida Bar Association in 1951-52 and was in his fourth year as president of the Florida Citizenship Clearing House. He also was a past state commander of the American Legion and author of a book, “Handbook for Judges.”
• A three-year drive to raise $250,000 for the largest building program ever undertaken at The Bolles School was announced at the 7th annual reunion of the alumni association.
About 300 alumni of the school, established in 1933, attended the reunion.
Association President Fred Brundick said the plans called for a $100,000 two-story school building to replace an existing building, $15,000 for a new building to accommodate an additional 50 day students, and a general purpose gymnasium, auditorium and chapel building. General beautification of the campus was also included in the budget.
One distinguished alumnus was unable to attend. Air Force Capt. Joseph Kittinger, holder of the world’s record parachute drop of 14.5 miles, telegraphed at the last minute he would be unable to be present. He was a member of the class of 1946 and set the record when he jumped from a balloon gondola over New Mexico in 1959.
The group also created at the meeting an association board of directors.
• U.S. Rep. Charles Bennett told a House Appropriations subcommittee that major ports with a depth of no more than 34 feet were “fast becoming obsolete in an era of larger and even larger tankers.”
Bennett’s comment came in support of a request from President John F. Kennedy for $35,000 to continue a survey to determine the feasibility of deepening the Jacksonville harbor from 34 to 42 feet.
• The Clay County Commission voted to halt Sunday sale of 3.2 beer in District 4, the Kingsley Lake and Keystone Heights section, effective Sept. 4, after the Labor Day weekend.
More than 300 people overflowed a courtroom in the County Courthouse in Green Cove Springs to argue the issue. The 90-minute debate was described by one attendee as a “delightful free-for-all.”
Board members listened to Biblical quotations and heard an argument over whether fruit juice or wine was served at the Last Supper. They were advised that a Sunday ban on beer sales would help law enforcement, hurt business, protect young people and increase sales for moonshiners.
Board members H.E. Moody, Luther Wilson and Marvin Green voted to halt Sunday sales. Chair Walter Odum and Otto Murhee, who represented the district, voted to continue Sunday sales.
Legally, Clay was a dry county because the state did not consider beer with alcohol content up to 3.2 percent as intoxicating. Sunday sale of 3.2 beer had been permitted for 15 years in District 4, where numerous lakes drew large numbers of people seeking recreation.
The controversy started three months earlier when the Sunday ban was lifted in District 2, the Orange Park and Doctors Lake areas.
Two Baptist ministers, Rev. A.D. Martin of Green Cove Springs and Rev. Jack Hall of Russell, organized church groups to protest the action and two weeks prior to the vote on sales in District 4 were successful when the board rescinded the District 2 vote.
The major argument of the ministers and other speakers was that sale of beer on Sunday was un-Christian. They also cited statistics on accidents caused by intoxicated drivers and argued that the sale of beer on Sunday was a bad influence on young people.
The major argument of those favoring continued Sunday sales was that it helped the economy of the county. B.C. Paul, owner of New Kingsley Beach, said he had invested “considerable money” in his recreation center, which employed 40 people. A ban on Sunday beer sales, he said, would put him out of business.
Ed Wiggins, bank president and member of the Keystone Heights City Council, said a majority of people in the district favored Sunday sales because of the economic boost to the area. Both he and
Paul cited the lack of trouble and the low crime rate in the district.
In other action, the board agreed to consider at its meeting in July a request from a delegation seeking to establish a public library in the county.