Storybook Tallahassee: Places of My Ancestry

69 Pages·2015·0.45 MB·English

by  Julie Strauss Bettinger

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2009
Storybook Tallahassee: Places of My
Ancestry
Julie Strauss Bettinger
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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

STORYBOOK TALLAHASSEE:
PLACES OF MY ANCESTRY

By

JULIE STRAUSS BETTINGER

A Thesis submitted to the
Department of English
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts

Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2009

Copyright © 2009
Julie S. Bettinger
All Rights Reserved
The members of the Committee approve the Thesis of Julie S. Bettinger

defended on March 31, 2009.

________________________________
Ned Stuckey-French
Professor Directing Thesis

________________________________
Diane Roberts
Committee Member

________________________________
John Fenstermaker
Committee Member

Approved:

________________________________________________________________
Ralph Berry, Chair, Department of English

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above named committee
members.

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To Mary.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing, by its nature, is a solitary activity. What helps fuel the endurance for time
spent wrestling with words is receiving encouragement from friends and family. I'm
grateful to one family member in particular – "Cuzzin' Dave" – who continually
expressed an interest in my topics and boosted my research with books, articles and
Web links. He reviewed my lengthy timeline and fed me with his own enthusiasm for
connecting the dots between events and people.
I'm grateful, dear cuz.
An unexpected boost to my research came through Claude Kenneson, a volunteer at
the State Library of Florida (as well as the Homeless Shelter). I'm grateful to have met
someone who shares my love for Tallahassee, its land and its people.
The State Librarians and Florida Archives staff (Emily, Holly and Boyd) were
invaluable. Thank you for your patience – especially while troubleshooting those
doggone microfiche readers.
To my Thesis committee members – thank you for saying "yes." And to Mark
Winegardner, your "can do" attitude provided pathways through what can be a cold,
uncaring bureaucracy. I'm indebted to you for making my re-entry into the program
possible. Thanks also to Ginger Martin with the College of Arts & Sciences for your
problem solving abilities.
Heidi Tyline King gave me the initial idea to pursue my Master's and I couldn't have
done it without our telephone calls and writer retreats that kept the words flowing.
You're a great writing pal.
To my understanding friends who left me alone this last semester – I hope we're still
friends. Thank you to … all who shared memories of St. Teresa; to retired Judge Jimmy
Joanos for his Greek knowledge; to Karin Stanford and Jerry Lewis at Mission San Luis,
who let me camp out in their offices; to Bob Bates at the University of Florida – it sure
was fun sharing about the great Florida grape man, Emile Dubois.
To my husband of 25 years, Jim Bettinger, my parents (and manuscript reviewers),
June and Buddy Strauss; Fr. Kevin, Fr. Cecil and my community of faith who prayed me
through…my thanks and love.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………………… vi

ST. TERESA BEACH: ELIXIR FOR GENERATIONS
PART 1: A HUNTING CAMP FOR THE REST OF US …………………………. 1
PART 2: STAKING THEIR CLAIM ……………………………………………….. 12

MISSION SAN LUIS: GRAPES & WRATH
PART 1: A STORIED LAND ………………………………………………………. 22
PART 2: DUBOIS IS HISTORY………………………………………………….... 30

A DOWNTOWN WITH GREEK ROOTS ………………………………………………..... 41

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….. 55
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH …………………………………………………………………. 60

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ABSTRACT

This collection of Creative Nonfiction is like a folding table in the living room corner
covered in puzzle pieces. That's been my life: the keeper of the pieces – little facts
about our family that have collected over the years in storage bins, drawers and
computer files.
"Oh, Julie, here's another one: Did you know Granddaddy Alex's nickname was
Poulykee? That means 'stone crab' in Greek."
Every once in awhile, I wander over to the table and attach another piece. Each
discovery adds to the tapestry and the picture is starting to take shape. Like an artist's
landscape, small details hint at the place and time and offer clues about the people in
the scenery. Like religious iconographic art – each gesture, fact or facial expression
brings meaning to the whole.
This thesis became an excuse to spend more time at that folding table – and to look
for missing pieces that would help bring the picture into better focus. In the research
and writing, I was guided by two questions from one of my Thesis committee members:
"Why are you doing this? Why do you care?"
I had to do some soul searching for the answer. Then discovered a quote that I think
best explains my drive:

"Life is often lived forward, but understood backwards."
- Os Hillman

Understanding – yes. I want to better understand the people and places of my
ancestry and at the same time plug some of the holes in history. And perhaps separate
fact from folklore.
Most important, though, this collection was an excuse to explore the relatively new
genre of Creative Nonfiction. I happened upon this intriguing newcomer in 1995, a
dozen years into a full-time writing career. My discovery breathed new life into what had
become a formula-driven journalistic career. Finally, nonfiction writers were given
permission to play with their craft, just like our fiction counterparts.
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I've been working on our relationship ever since – seeking workshops that offered a
glimpse of this magnificent attraction, sharing what I learned with interns I employed and
bringing stories about the object of my affection to a writing seminar for senior citizens.
In seeking a deeper connection to the genre, I still feel like a face in a crowd of fans
behind the rope at a celebrity event. I get a glimpse of the heady world of Creative
Nonfiction, but feel forever an outsider.

Journey filled with intrigue
Like an actor hides behind her characters, CNF has hidden behind many aliases
over the years – narrative or literary nonfiction, personal essay, memoir, literary and
"new" journalism. I haven't noted references to it recently, but there was dramatic
nonfiction for a time as well.
Making the character study even more challenging, the genre's subcategories
include essays, articles, memoirs, documentary drama and narrative history, among
others. Creative Nonfiction's identity crisis has left many of us no choice but to come up
with our own definition.

• "(Creative Nonfiction) combines the personal with reading, research, study and
factoid. You can use quotes or other devices, always in an attempt to create
meaning for the reader." (Susan Neville, author, English professor)
• "It's nonfiction with extra imagination." (Stuart McIver, author)
• "(Creative Nonfiction) is fact-based writing that uses techniques of literary writing.
It uses techniques of journalism and mixes with fiction writing techniques." (John
Calderazzo)
• "Nonfiction is information – what you communicate to your readers. The creative
part is how you communicate it." (Lee Gutkind, author of "The Art of Creative
Nonfiction: Writing and Selling the Literature of Reality")

Gutkind, who has been called the "godfather" of this new breed of writing, says
further, "Creative nonfiction is a matter of writing nonfiction using literary techniques
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such as scene, dialogue, description, and allowing the personal point of view and voice,
rather than maintaining the sham of objectivity. It's taking the time to integrate dramatic,
suspenseful, compelling story structures within the articles you write."
In order to reach my goal of exploring Creative Nonfiction techniques, I had to break
my big puzzle into several sections. I chose three topics from my ancestral ties – Greek
roots in downtown, French ones at San Luis and a place old Tallahasseeans call simply,
"The Coast." While all are mentioned in the history of the Capital City of Florida, none
have been explored in depth. So while my original focus was to stay true to the genre,
at one point, I felt driven to assure a thorough account of the topic. And that required
breaking my three essays into five parts.
As I researched, certain questions plagued me. For example: "How did St. Teresa
Beach and St. James Island get named?" And, "What was happening in Alabama – or
Bainbridge, Georgia for that matter – in the early 1900s that attracted teenage Greek
immigrants?"
For the San Luis vineyard era, "Why would Emile Dubois leave the vineyard he
worked so hard to build – and one that paid him handsomely?" and midway through
research, "Could a black man get a fair trial in Tallahassee in the late 1800s?"
Much of my time was spent conforming the pieces to what I look for in good Creative
Nonfiction: personal voice, a definite story, scene (vignettes, episodes, slices of reality)
and universal appeal. Each story seeks to reach out and embrace the reader – to move
them along through action and involve the writer as both actor and observer.
As a journalist, I couldn't resist the urge to include the teaching element or some sort
of information transfer, weaving facts into the story, but trying to avoid a stilted analysis.
My hope is that the genre didn't get lost in answering these questions and relating
historical facts.

Let the reader decide.

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ST. TERESA BEACH: ELIXIR TO GENERATIONS

Part 1
A Hunting Camp for the Rest of Us

Porch sleeping. That's got to be it. Being startled awake by a giant gust of Gulf air,
propping up on an elbow to see shadowy crooked oaks swaying outside the wall of
screened windows. Then recognizing the tap, tap, tap turn to bat-da-tap-tap-tap of rain
on the thin roof of this Depression-era log cabin at the coast. After breathing in the
warm, better-than-dryer-sheets air, and reaching for the old quilt crumpled at my feet, I
snuggle back into my pillow for more of the same restful sleep I knew as a child.
Yeah, that's probably what I love most about St. Teresa Beach. To me, this
place is made for sleeping. In fact, why don't we just erect one of those country
roadway claim-to-fame signs right out on coastal Highway 98: "Welcome to St.
Teresa Beach, Home of the World's Greatest Naps."
Most cottages here at the coast have community sleeping arrangements.
When I was growing up, the combination of bunk beds and double occupancy
ones on the porch accommodated six bodies, easy. If you were one of the late-
arrivals home (or uneasy about sleeping in the open air), you crashed in the
middle bedroom – another four bodies. Parents were the only ones with private
accommodations – back bedroom, two up. If there was a little one – and it was
yours truly for many years – you got a smaller bed or crib in the folks' room.
Couches and floor pallets in the living room Super Sized the place. I think the
sleep record is 17 – mostly teenagers.
That's one of the charms of the coast – it's a lot like camping, only without the
tents. There are communal arrangements for everything. We always have mess-
hall meals. Sometimes Dad would spend the better part of a morning at the
griddle, serving buttermilk pancakes and Bradley's Country sausage in shifts:
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