James “Acrefoot” Johnson, fourth of Elias and Elizabeth Keen Johnson’s eight children was born in Florida in 1850. He is said to have stood at between 6 ft 7 inches and 7 feet tall and weighed in excess of 250 pounds. While engaged by the US Postal Service as a mail carrier Acrefoot walked a one hundred eighty mile roundtrip route twice weekly. It has been said that he could walk faster than a horse drawn buggy and often refused rides as that would likely slow him down.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~crackerbarrel/Acre.html

http://www.willmclean.com/gallery4/img02_nf.html

Famous Folks

Thomas Edison was said to be able to wither his employees with his biting sarcasm or even ridicule a person into extinction. But imagine how it must have felt to hear the world's greatest inventor criticize their work!

http://www.nps.gov/edis/muckers.htm

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edbiohm.html

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/edison

Outlaws and Wannabes

There has never been a man who has epitomized the Ten Thousand Islands area of Florida more than Edgar J. Watson. Trying to understand the incomparable Mr. Watson is like trying to navigate through those islands in the middle of the night. There is just no way to do it. The following is one man's attempt to illustrate how E.J. Watson still plays a role in the everyday activities of the area. Here is one account of how more than just the legend of Ed Watson still lives on.

http://www.sptimes.com/News/112899/Floridian/Edgar_J_Watson__ca_18.shtml

Lore and Legend

Scandals

Tales from the Past

FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS, July 1, 1945
"Sure it rains fishes," said Forest E. Williams, old-time Fort Myers Beach fisherman who has lived all over Florida. He made this comment to several men who scoffed at a story that there was a downfall of minnows at Buckingham field.
"Why, up in Citrus county when I lived there I remember when it rained turtles - tiny box-backed terrapins," said Williams. "I picked up a dozen of them and kep them in a tub for several weeks. But talking about stories hard to believe, it rained so hard at Fort Myers Beach early this week that it drowned a school of mullet.
"On top of that, mosquitoes are getting so bad on the island that persons with poultry and live stock are bringing them indoors at night. Over on Captiva, the skeeters killed a nice flock of pullets and two ducks. I understand they practically killed mule on Sanibel and the owner now has the animal in his back room, which is screened."

Mr. Williams said lots of things happen that are difficult to believe. He said he was out fishing in Ostego bay and saw a three pound mullet jump out of the water. Before the fish could get back to its natural element a bunch of Estero island mosquitoes swarmed down and carried the mullet to shore where they picked its bones clean as a whistle.

FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS, June 25, 1929
Capture of a giant hammerhead stark weighing 980 pounds in whose stomach a whole tarpon was found was reported yesterday by a party of northern business men returning from a six-day fishing trip. The enormous shark was harpooned the first day, and it required the combined efforts of the six fishermen and two guides to land the monster. Members of the party also caught 51 tarpon and three jewfish weighing 250 pounds apiece. One of the tarpon weighed 176 pounds and is believed to set a record for the 1929 season.

In the party were W. G. Baumhagger and W. S. Davis of Chicago, Ill., vice president and merchandise manager of Montgomery Ward company, respectively; Jacob Teller, president of tht Teller company and Mercants Furniture Manufacturing company of Chicago; C. L. Hardwick, president of the Hardwick Stove company of Cleveland, Tenn.; William C. Quinn, president of the Anderson Stove company of Anderson, Ind., and J. H. Waff of North Shore Point, Norfolk, Va. They were aboard Fred Roberts' yacht Friendship with Arthur Roberts and Hugh Cooper as guides.

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