Synopsis
The story of my family begins in Kentucky prior to 1884, Chapter I, and leads to the birth of my father, Theodore Wortham Webb, Sr. (Capt. Webb to most of his friends). The title of Captain he acquired while sailing an iron ore ship on the Great Lakes prior to the 1920’s. Moving to Florida from Detroit in 1919, at the beginning of the land boom, he homesteaded on Lake Pierce, N.E. of Lake Wales, Florida. Lake Wales, at that time, was only a small settlement in the center of acres and acres of citrus groves. Later he married and moved to Lake Stearns, Florida (later renamed Lake Placid) where he remained rearing his family. Daddy loved Florida. Its jungles, swamps and wildlife he respected and said that all life was a God-given gift for man’s enjoyment. He often said that wildlife should never be destroyed unnecessarily, but only killed and eaten for survival. His belief was that everything on this earth is part of a pattern destined to work together to constantly repair and replenish the earth, that all animal and plant life is a network of survival, each with its own intricate design. Relaxation for most people is to read, listen to the radio or watch TV. Daddy liked to read too, but relaxation for him was watching a thunder storm, a sunset, a sunrise, or a bird flitting around in a nearby tree. Many items of interest were told to me over the years of his likes and dislikes and experiences. Now, as an adult, I so much wish he had written down himself what I will endeavor to put on paper. I am writing this with a two-fold purpose in mind. FIRST – I feel an obligation to my two younger brothers, to record as much information as I can about our father who they never had the chance to know. Perhaps, through me, with the help given me by other members of the family in the past, they will be able to know him better and the Florida he loved so much. SECOND – So my children and theirs, in turn, will have these pages to keep alive a little of the family heritage.
About the Author
Gloria Webb Sutton is a native Floridian, a "cracker kid" who loved her Lake Placid home and her family. She has lived a life filled with family, friends, a love of quilting, and, most of all, a heart dedicated to service to others. Now in her senior years, she recalls general family fun during the years of her childhood, in the sparsely populated lower Central Florida muck land. She did not intend to write an autobiography; hoping only that her childhood memories will open the pages of time and bring to her brothers and the now generation a mental picture of the almost forgotten Florida of yesterday.
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