JOHN SITES EARMAN
WEST PALM BEACH'S FIRST MAYOR

U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865

Name: John Earman

Age: 18

Birth Date: abt 1846

Enlistment Date: 1864

Military Unit: First Cavalry

Household Members

Name: Age

John Earman

John Sites Earman

First Mayor of West Palm Beach
John Sites Earman was the son of John B Earman and Amanda Jane Sites. His father John B. Ear-man was born in Virginia about 1819. He married first, Amanda Jane Sites prior to 1845 (the year of the birth of their first child). Amanda was the daughter of John Samuel Sites and Elizabeth Henton, both buried in Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County , Virginia. Amanda was born in 1820 and died at 37 years of age in 1855. John married a second time to Mary Ann Sites, a cousin of his first wife prior to 1860 in Rockingham County. Mary Ann was born about 1825 and died in Charleston, South Carolina where she was living with her daughter, an only child, Alice M. C. Earman Sherer. After the death of her husband in 1883, Mary Ann apparently went to live with Alice who at that time was living in Newberry, South Carolina where her husband was serving on the faculty of Newberry College, prior to living in Charleston Alice was married to Dr. Melanchthon Gideon Groseclose Sherer in Bridgewater, Rockingham County, Virginia Oct 20, 1886. M. G. G. Scherer was of the very prominanr Scherer family, Lutheran ministers. His brother, Dr. James Augustin Brown Scherer would become the President of Newberry College in South Carolina and later the President of what would become Caltech. Mary Ann was buried back in Virginia at St. Mathews Cemetery in New Market, Virginia.

John B. Earman served his state in the 9th Battalion Reserves of Rockingham County. He was mustered in at Harrisonburg April 28, 1864 when he was 47 years old.

John Sites Earman was born about 1845 in Rockingham County. He volunteered and fought with the CSA where he served as a scout for Stonewall Jackson’s army. He signed his parole papers May 31, 1865. He was only 18 at the time. His occupation at that time was that of a carpenter and cabinet maker. On February 27, 1873 he married Susan Elizabeth Burke, the daughter of Col. John Wesley Burke and Asnith Jane Adelia Pratt. The Colonel was in the stage coach, mail and livery business mainly in New Market, Virginia. Both he and his wife are buried in the Friedans church Cemetery in Mt. Crawford, Virginia, the same cemetery that John B. and Amanda Sites Earman are buried in.

John Sites Earman and Susie E. Burke Earman are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition, his eldest son, Joseph Lucien Earman and his wife, Georgia Alberta Farwell Earman are buried there, all in Plot B.

Per census information, we see that John and Susan had relocated to Florida after 1880 but prior to 1887 when his second son, John Burke Earman, was born in Tavares, Lake County, Florida. After a short stint in Tavares, John and his family are found in West Palm Beach, Florida. Although he lived with his family in downtown West Palm Beach, Earman farmed north of town in the area that is now Lake Park and North Palm Beach. When the city was incorporated in 1894, John Sites Earman was elected as the first Mayor.

Temptation often crosses class lines. West Palm Beach's first mayor, John Earman, was nearly booted from office in 1895 when he was charged with being "in a state of intoxication" in the company of a lady of the evening who went by "Specks." Earman denied the charges and they were dismissed a month later.

John and Susan had two sons, Joseph Lucien Earman and John Burke Earman.

Joseph was born in Virginia in 1875 and as mentioned above, John Burke was born in Florida. Joseph would go on and become quite successful as the Editor of the Palm Beach Post and later on as a judge. He was Editor of the Palm Beach Post from 1913 to 1920, Earman resigned to start the Palm Beach Independent, noted for its editorials. Earman became the only man ever elected to the Palm Beach City Commission running independent of the two major political parties. Governor Sidney Catts appointed him chairman of the board of control and he became known as one of Catts major advisors during a stormy period of Florida's politics. He served three terms. He was appointed municipal court judge. He became known for his philanthropic activities later in life.

Joseph and Georgia had a son named John Simms Earman, born July 15, 1901 in West Palm Florida and died August 30, 1983 in Vero Beach, Florida. He attended Cornell University in New York. He married Elizabeth Anne Albers June 18, 1925. They were the parents of three children.

His younger brother, John Burke Earman would become a prominent dentist, one of the few in West Palm Beach at that time, eventually having offices in West Palm Beach, Dade City and Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Earman and his wife are both buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, West Palm Beach.
As preparation for the dredging of the Florida East Coast Canal in 1897, a ditch was dug south of the haulover from Lake Worth Creek in order to help drain the land for farming. Joseph Borman, before he became Palm Beach’s first town marshal, helped to dig “Dimick’s Ditch” by hand, along with Nathan Pitts (Pitts Island), Elisha N. Dimick, and George Lainhart. Borman said in an interview in 1962: “I worked in it all the winter of [18]97, cutting muck down that floated out in the lake.” Today the waterway is known as the Earman River, or C-17 Canal.

March 23, 2015

By Eliot Kleinberg, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Readers: Twenty-five years ago this week, West Palm Beach voted to switch the name of First Street back to Banyan, ending 64 years of exile for the city’s most notorious road. We’ll revisit columns from 2002 and 2009:

From 1925 to 1989, it was First Street. Before that, it was Banyan Street. The reason for the change all those years:

In the 1890s, if you wanted whiskey, women or trouble in the fledgling city, Banyan Street was the only place to go.

It was the only street in town where alcohol was permitted — at least officially — and it earned the notorious nickname “Whiskey Street.”

Its saloons, gambling halls and brothels operated around the clock, luring the laborers building the Palm Beach resorts.

Temptation often crosses class lines. West Palm Beach’s first mayor, John Earman, was nearly booted from office in 1895 when he was charged with being “in a state of intoxication” in the company of a lady of the eve-ning who went by “Specks.” Earman denied the charges and they were dismissed a month later. In 1904, fed-up local women called in the “Kansas Cyclone”: Carry Nation, the 6-foot-tall, black-clad, Bible-clutching matron of temperance who smashed saloons across America with her holy hatchet. There’s no indication she smashed any bars on Banyan, but the city finally decided in 1925 to change the street’s name to First Street. That backfired when locals began calling it “Thirst Street.” On Nov. 6, 1989, apparently satisfied that time had buried Banyan’s sordid reputation, West Palm Beach restored its name.

Find A Grave

John S. Earman, First Mayor

On November 5, 1894, citizens gathered and voted 77-1 to incorporate as the town of West Palm Beach. The next day, the voters elected John Sites Earman as the town’s first mayor. Earman had his home in town and operated a citrus grove farther north, where he started a small settlement called Earman, located near today’s Lake Park. John Earman is at center, flanked by his son Joseph Lucien (left), grandson Joseph Simms, and great-grandson John Henry.
(Courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.)

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The Palm Beach Post

Oct, 9, 1949

Page 2

For Mayor, J. S. Earman defeated Joseph Elliott, 43 votes to 41.

(Webmaster Note: First mayor of West Palm Beach- elected in 1894, Mayor John Earman was quoted as saying: "If I had not voted for myself, I would have lost." In 1895, Joseph Ellioot, an Englishman by birth, lived across the street from th Earman House Hotel.)

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The Palm Beach Post

Monday, Dec 31, 1923

Page 6

Mr. John S. Earman, father of ex-judge Joseph Earman of West Palm Beach, is one of the most successful planters of Kelsey City. He always makes a good crop of snap bean, potatoes or pineapple and he also has soe fine poultry.

The Earman House Hotel is credited with being the hotel in the fledgling town of West Palm Beach. It was a frame vernacular building, typical of pioneer Florida during that time period. It was built by John S. and Susan Earman, probably in the late 1880s. Susan ran the hotel while John tended to his farming interests north of the city. Located near the corner of Datura and Narcissus streets, it was close to the waterfront and catered, more or less, to the working class. It was pulled down in the early part of the 1900s to make way for the Salt Air Hotel which in turn, was pulled down in the 1940s to make way for the Holiday Inn ("Beirut" Holiday Inn). In 1993, this Holiday Inn was imploded on New Year's Eve in a spectacular New Year's Eve celebration. to make way for the current Meyer Amphitheatre.

EARMAN HOUSE HOTEL

The Palm Beach Post

Wed. Sep 23, 1931

John Sites Earman Is Claimed By Death

First Mayor, Father of Present Commissioner, Succumbs.

John Sites Earman, long time pioneer, first mayor of West Palm Beach and father of Commissioner Joe L. Earman died Tuesday morning at a Lake Worth hospital following a two weeks illness. He was 84 years old.

Although Mr. Earman had been in feeble health for some time, he had been critically ill for two weeks and his death came unexpectedly from a heart attack. For the last 18 years, he had lived at his home north of Kelsey City where he had engaged in farming.

Funeral services will be held tonight at 8 o'clock at the Ferguson Chapel, after which the body will be taken to Jacksonville tonight at 11:25 o'clock to be buried in the family lot there. The Rev. Framk Atkinson, pastor of the Congregational Church, will officiate at the service here.

Born Sept. 4, 1847, in Rockingham County, Va., John Sites Earman was married in 1869 to Miss Susan Elizabeth Burke of Cross Keys, Va. The family moved to Florida 51 years ago, settling first in Leesburg and coming to West Palm Beach in 1893. When West Palm Beach was incorporated in 1894, Mr. Earman was elected the first Mayor of the municipality. He was affectionately known by his many friends as "Dad" Earman.

During the Civil War, Mr. Earman served as a scout through the mountains if Virginia for the Confederacy, and he was honored as one of the county's most distinguished veterans by the Thomas Benton Ellis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Surviving is one sister, Mrs. Alice Schearer, of New York whose husband is Moderator of the Lutheran Church, New York Synod; Two sons, Joe L. Earman, Commissioner, Dr. J. Burke Earman, well-known dentist of this city, two grandsons, Joe S. Earman and John Robert Eraman, two great-grandchildren, Joe Henry Earman and Georgia Ann Earman.

Pallbearers will be M. E. Gruber, George Butler, R. C. Baker, C. W. Calley, C. S. Raulerson, David Reed, A. B. Otwell and Fred Farwell.

Mrs. W. R Bowler, president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy issued a call last night for all members to attend the funeral tonight.

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The Palm Beach Post

Wed, Sep 23, 1931

Page 5

NOTICE TO U.D.C. MEMBERS

Mrs. Floy Turner requests all members of the Thomas Benton Ellis chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to attend the funeral of John Sites Earmaan, a Confederate veteran. The funeral announcement may be found elsewhere in this morning’s Post

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The Palm Beach Post

Thu, Sep 24, 1931

Page 6

LAST RITES HELD FOR JOHN SITES EARMAN

SCORES OF FRIENDS ATTEND SERVICES FOR PIONEER OF CITY

Attended by more than 200 friends and officials of the city, last rites for John Sites Erman, 84, longtime pioneer of Florida and West Palm Beach, were held at the Ferguson Chapel last night. The Rev. Frank Atkinson, pastor of the First Congregational Church, assisted by the Reverend J. P. Calhoun, retired pastor of Kelsey City, Mr. Earman’s home, conducted the services.

The funeral was one of the largest held here in some months with friends of the family crowding the chapel. A large number of floral offerings adorned the casket. One song was sung during the services, “ Jesus Lover of My Soul” by Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Clegg.

Joe L. Earman accompanied the body to Jacksonville last night where funeral services will be held this afternoon at the family plot. Short rites are planned only at the grave and will be held at 430 0’clock.

The late Mr. Herman was the city’s first mayor, having been elected to that post in 1894, a year after he arrived here with his family from Leesburg. His family came to Florida fifty one years ago. Death came to the aged pioneer who had made his home north of Kelsey City for the last eighteem years at a Lake Worth Hospital Tuesday morning following a heart attack.

His death was sudden, although he had been in poor health for some time and only critically ill for a short time. An active career marked Mr. Earman’s life. During his later life, he became a gentleman farmer, living on land he developed north of the city. He was a scout for Confederate forces during the War of Secession and was honored as one of the county’s most distinguished veterans by the Thomas Benton Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which took an active part in the funeral services.

he was born September 4th 1847 in Rockingham County, Virginia and was married to Miss Susan Elizabeth Burke of Cross Keys Virginia in 1869.

Pallbearers, all intimate friends of Mr. Earman’s family, were R. C. Baker, M. E. Gruber, Fred Farwel,l David Reed, A.B. Otwell, George Butler, C. W. Kelly and C. H. Raulerson.

Surviving are one sister; Mrs. Alice Shearer of New York whose husband is the moderator of the Lutheran Church New York Synod; two sons, Joe L. Earman, Commissioner, and Dr. J. Burke Earman, well-known dentist of the city; two grandsons, Joe S. Earman and John Robert Earman; two great-grandchildren, Joe Henry Earman and Georgia Ann Earman.

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The Palm Beach Post

Thu, Sep 24, 1931

Page 4

City passes resolution on John S. Earman death following the passage of resolutions of sympathy on the death of John Earman, father of Commissioner Joe L Earman and first mayor of West Palm Beach. The City Commission adjourned until 10:30 0’clock this morning. The city Hall was closed for the rest of the day by order of the Commission in deference to the memory of Mr. Earman.

Members of the commission attended the funeral services in a body last evening. A sheaf of flowers was attached to the door of the commission chamber in tribute to Mr. Earman and flowers were sent by the city officially. Following are the resolutions:

Whereas Almighty God in his infinite wisdom has removed from this life the Honorable John Sites Ermine, father of City Commissioner Joe L. Earman, and

Whereas the said John Sites Earman was for thirty-eight years an honored and respected citizen of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County and held in high esteem by the citizens and residents of our city, and

Whereas he served this community faithfully and unselfishly for many years and was the first mayor of the Town of West Palm Beach upon its incorporation in 1894, and

Whereas, in his passing West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County had lost an honored and respected citizen.

Now therefore be it and it is hereby resolved by the City Commission of the City of West Palm Beach and regular session that we do mourn the loss of our fellow citizen Honorable John Sites Earman.

That we do extend to our fellow Cmmissioner, Honorable Joe L. Earman and to the other members of the family our sincere sympathy in this their hour of bereavement.

That a mark of respect that the meeting of this Commission be immediately recessed;

Be it further resolved that this resolution be spread up on the minutes of the City Commission of the City of West Palm Beach Florida and copies thereof delivered to Honorable Joe L. Earman and Dr. J. Burke Earman and to the newspapers of said city.

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The Palm Beach Post

Tue, Sep 29, 1931

Page 2

SAWGRASS RIVER IS NAMED FOR LATE JOHN S. EARMAN

16 years after the late John Seitz Earman, through his gallantry and foresight, saved the Florida East Coast Railroad and County Bridge across the Sawgrass River located between Jupiter and Prosperity Farms, the county commissioners took official cognizance of his act.

C.H. Ruggles, County engineer at the time of the flood in 1915 that occasioned Mr. Earman’s act, appeared before the County Commission Monday morning to ask that resolutions overlooked 16 years ago be adopted in 1915. The county commission did change the name of the river from Sawgrass to Earman in honor of this pioneer

but the resolutions were never drawn. Mr. Ruggles explained the circumstances of the act by which Mr. Earman, then 68, endangered his health by fighting the flood waters all night with the aid of a Negro and saved the railroad and county properties from destruction and averted the danger of loss of life.

In addition to Mr. Ruggles, there appeared George Brown, contractor who was in charge of repairing the bridge, W. J. VonBehren, Boy Scout Commissioner, who wished the deed honored as an example to the Scouts. The name of Fred E. Fenno, clerk of the court, and George O. Butle,r former clerk, also appeared on the resolutions when presented. The resolutions were unanimously adopted on motion of Commissioner Raulerson from the Jupiter District.

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Tallahassee Democrat

Fri. Oct 2, 1931

Page 1

West Palm Beach-- Palm Beach County waited until after the death of John Sites Earman, first mayor of West Palm Beach, to award recognition for an act of courage performed 16 years before. The same resolution presented at the time but never acted upon was passed by the county commission changing the name of Sawgrass River to Earman river in recognition of the pioneer mayor's bravery. Sixteen years ago, Mr. Earman was 68, he saved the county bridge across that river and properties of the Florida East Coast railroad from destruction by flood waters. He was obliged to work all night at his self-imposed task of stemming the waters aided only by one negro.

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The Palm Beach Post

Tue, Oct. 20, 1931

Page 3

John S Earman Estate Division is Settled

Administration of the estate of the late John Smith’s Ermine was declared unnecessary Monday by County Judge Richard P Robbins Mr. Earman died September 22nd without leaving a will.

Only two heirs-at-law, John L Earman and J. Burke Earman survive. They have agreed between themselves on a division of the estate which consists largely of personal property and which was without indebtedness.

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(Webmaster's note: An interesting article follows - some of the facts are a bit off, but interesting nontheless)

River Press Journal

Mon. Dec 27. 1993

Page 3

By Carolyn Short

Earmans Were Among Area’s First Farmers

Joe H. Earman, 67, traces his Florida history back to his great grandparents. His great grandfather, John Sites Earman of Rockingham County Virginia, served under Stonewall Jackson in the Civil War. By 1872, he had migrated to Tavares from war-torn Virginia. His occupation included master carpenter and farmer. Ttales of. Flagler’s railroad and of his building hotels in Palm Beach inspired John to walk from Tavares to the ocean and then to Palm Beach.

Since John was the only man Flagler could find that could build a spiral staircase. He was hired and set to work on building the Whitehall Hotel. The hotel burned in the 1930s.

Flagler had a rule that tradesmen could only live on the west side of Lake Worth so the workers formed their own town, West Palm Beach and John was elected the first mayor with 31 of the 61 votes cast. He was later quoted as saying, ”if I hadn’t voted for myself, I wouldn’t have been elected.”

John moved to Kelsey City (now Palm Beach Gardens). His house and farm was located where the PGA golf course is today. Joe said his great grandfather built a dike around his tomato fields, and during a hurricane, he opened it up allowing water to drain from the Everglades. The water created a river. Joe said the river is called Earman and is about 8 miles long. Flagler billed him for the washed-out railroad tracks.

The Ashley Gang lived in the woods on the edge of John’s property. Joe said his great grandfather often brought supplies for the gang when they were in hiding,

John had a son, Joe L. ( Joe’s grandfather) who had stayed in Tavares after his father moved on. Joe had an ice business and his business card read Joe Earman ”Congealed Water.” Later prohibition put him out of the wholesale beer business in Jacksonville. Around 1920, he moved to Palm Beach and founded the Palm Beach Independent, the newspaper eventually became the Palm Beach Post.

Joe’s other great grandparents, Mr. And Mrs. Augustine Farrell were Jacksonville pioneers. During the Civil

War, Jacksonville was a Federalist city and his great grandfather spwnt the war years in prison because of his southern leanings. His mother’s grandmother “Ga’ Albers was raised in Washington D.C. and played with Lincoln children at the white House. In addition to Joe L and his wife Georgia, his other grandparents were Henry and Ann Albers of Washington D.C. Joe’s mother, Betty, was raised in Washington D.C. his father Joe S. was attending Cornell University. Joe had run track in the 1920 Olympics. Joe said his father was a very strong man, Joe and Betty met at a party in D.C. and they were married in Washington in 1925.

Joe bought 80 acres on 43rd Avenue and Eighth Street. The old Harris School and a Baptist church were located on it. Joe said his family lived in the church building from 1928 until 1939. His bedroom was in the steeple until it was hit by lightning. Joe said they survived the mosquitoes and artesian water. He remembers when he was 11, he shot a deer from the back porch. Joe remembers that many of the town folks, both white and black, worked for his father. They received 50 cents a day and toting privileges. Some of the black folks lived on the farm in one-room houses that had dirt floors and a stove. Betty often served as midwife to expectant mothers.

Ed Becton, a neighbor, was the original director of McKee Jungle Gardens As the gardens were being developed, Becton used the Earman farm to plant and store the exotic plants. Today many are still thriving he said.

During the great Depression, Joe S. became a bank liquidator for the state and Betty took to driving the truck to Palm Beach to deliver the vegetables. The state wanted the cities to have their own banks and set a requirement of $25,000 for collateral. Alone, Joe didn’t have that much money, but with the help of Merrill Barber, Charlie McClure, C.E. “Cephus” Cox, Ned Poole and Speck Schaefer, they raised the money and became bank directors. Joe S. was president. The Farmers Bank reopened as Indian River Citrus Bank in 1948. Merrill Barber bought the bank.

Joe S. built an ice plant where the Vara thereof building (Gulf Western) is located. Joe said the government impounded the plant when they were building a launch pad at Cape Canaveral as they needed ice mixed with cement. he also founded Blue Crystal Water.

Joe S. and Betty had three children, Joe, Georgia Anne of Ashland, Kentucky and William “Bill” of Vero Beach. Joe left Vero Beach High School in 1943 to join the US Army Air Corps. Superintendent Louis Parrish mailed him his diploma. He served in the Pacific. After the war, Joe attended the University of Miami and the University of Florida at Gainesville. In 1949, he founded the Earman Oil Company and operated it until he sold it in 1980. He married Gladys Holmes in 1951. They had 3 children, Joe H. Jr., of Vero Beach; Mary Elizabeth Waddell, Stuart: and Gail Frierson, Easley, South Carolina.

AN INTERESTING STORY

in downtown West Palm Beach there is a building, seemingly plucked out os Virginia or Georgia - sitting amongst the highrisers. What is it? What connection dos it have to the first mayor of Palm Beach and the first mayor of West Palm Beach? Here is the back story:

Palm Beach Post

June 2, 2020, 7:43 a.m. ET

LIFESTYLE

How a pandemic, politics and the press collided to create a local landmark

Joseph L. Earman, pictured here in the 1930s, was editor of The Palm Beach

Post from 1913 to 1920.

1922: The unveiling of the statue of Elisha (Cap) Dimick, one of the most influ-

ential Palm Beach pioneers and the first mayor of Palm Beach, in front of the

State Laboratory building in West Palm Beach. Dimick owned a lot of land,

and he worked with Joseph Earman's family and other pioneers to steer early

development in the county. Dimick died in 1919, and his family commissioned a bronze statue of him. His widow, Ella, is seated in front of the statue, and Joseph L. Earman is third from left in this photograph.

The statue of Cap Dimick now greets drivers as they come into Palm Beach from the middle bridge.

This rendering appeared in a Palm Beach Post article in 1920 announcing the construction contract being awarded to E. H. Barto.

PHOTO CREDIT: floridaurbanphotos@gmail.com

Capt. Dimick statue at the start of Royal Palm Way - Palm Beach, Florida

Special to the Daily News

Updated March 31, 2021, 10:47 a.m. ET

By Timothy Hullihan and Priscilla Schwarz

The Fascinating Story Behind the Statue of the Town’s First Mayor

Many residents are familiar with the bronze statue that graces the middle entrance to town. Heading east over the Royal Park Bridge, visitors are greeted by the statue on the western tip of the palm-lined median that divides Royal Palm Way.

The figure stands resolutely, head up, cap in hand, and smiling broadly to welcome visitors to the place he called home two decades before Henry Flagler. This statue, commissioned in 1921, depicts one of Palm Beach’s earliest pioneers and first mayor, Elisha Newton “Cap” Dimick (1849-1919). But many may not know that the statue was unveiled at a different location in 1922.

First situated in West Palm Beach, it was moved to its present location in 1947. Still fewer are likely to know that the sculptor of this masterwork was Burt W. Johnson (1890 – 1927), a sculptor who, in spite of a short life, completed numerous significant public commissions in New York, California, and other states.

Traveling from his studio in Queens, New York, Johnson presented a speech at the elaborate unveiling ceremony for the Dimick statue on Feb. 26, 1922. Johnson’s artistic training was indirectly tied to his most famous relation, the prolific and iconic American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who taught a generation of acclaimed sculptors at New York City’s Art Students League.

Johnson moved with his family from Ohio to Claremont, California, in 1904. He took informal lessons from Johnson’s sculptor sister Annetta, and her accomplished sculptor husband Louis St. Gaudens, brother of Augustus.

After a year at Pomona College, Johnson moved to New York City to study at the Art Students League under Augustus’ former students Robert Aitken and James Earle Fraser, especially noted for his major public memorials to U.S. presidents. With a small studio in Claremont and another in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, Johnson began to establish himself as a sculptor of bronze portraits and public memorials.

One of his first pieces

The Dimick statue commission was one of Johnson’s first major public pieces. It added to the recognition his multiple World War I memorials brought him during this early period (1920-1923). Johnson’s memorials are found in several states, including California and New York. Lest We Forget, in Woodside, Queens, was named the best war memorial of its kind by the American Federation of Artists in 1928. At Pomona College is an early bronze fountain sculpture of a boy playing a flute, The Spirit of Spanish Music — one of Johnson’s beautiful allegorical figures.

His most ambitious project was for Los Angeles’ Fine Arts Building (1926). On the façade of the structure are Johnson’s colossal allegorical figures and bas-relief panels. Within the lobby/gallery is a charming three-figured bronze fountain for which his young daughter Cynthia and son Harvey posed, ages 3 and 5 at the time. After suffering a heart attack in 1926, Johnson oversaw the completion of the exterior sculptures for the Fine Arts Building from his wheelchair, until he passed away in March, 1927.

The bronze likeness of “Cap” Dimick captures the personality and charm of a pre-Flagler pioneer and, creator of our area’s first hotel, Cocoanut Grove House (1880). It would not have come to be, however, had West Palm Beach’s first mayor, John Sites Earman, not been Dimick’s friend and business partner. John S. Earman’s eldest son, Joseph (“Joe”), was the driving force behind the Dimick statue. He established a committee to promote and raise funds for the piece. Of the 15 sculptors who submitted proposals, Johnson, just an emerging talent at the time, was ultimately selected.

Johnson, who was supplied with a single photo of Dimick, first modeled a small plaster portrait bust. Upon seeing the one-fourth life-size bust of her husband, Dimick’s widow, Ella is reported to have wept, telling Earman she “felt a pall, as in the presence of the dead,” so accurate was Johnson’s rendering. Earman and Johnson would become close friends during the commissioning and creation of the statue. They continued to correspond regularly until Johnson’s untimely death in 1927. Their correspondence reveals that Earman envisioned Johnson producing additional commemorative sculptures of such Palm Beach historic dignitaries as Henry Flagler. However, ongoing civic support was unavailable.

Letters reveal controversy

Their letters also reveal that the statue attracted controversy. Some West Palm Beach residents objected to the cost and location of the project, the choice of bronze, and honoring a Palm Beach figure in West Palm Beach. Nevertheless, the statue was placed at the State Board of Health Laboratory. The building, completed in 1921 at 415 Fifth St., is now part of Seacoast Bank. Hundreds of people attended the cceremony, complete with musical performances and speeches. The strong friendship that formed between Johnson and Earman might have had agriculture at its core.

Johnson was born to farming parents outside Columbus, Ohio. Dimick came to Palm Beach in the 1870s from Illinois to farm in a place that had the potential for two growing seasons. Dimick was a business partner with Earman’s father in a large farming operation where Lake Park and North Palm Beach are today.

The former and present names of the C-17 canal on North Palm Beach’s south end are evidence of that. Dug in 1897 by Earman, Dimick, George Lainhart, Joseph Borman and Nathan Pitts to drain the land for farming, the waterway carried the nickname “Dimick’s Ditch” for several decades. It was officially named for Earman after his death in 1932.

A masterwork

In 2022, a masterwork by a significant American artist, Burt W. Johnson, will mark its centennial in Palm Beach County. There are no other Johnson pieces in Florida, though his works occupy prominent public places in several other U.S. states.We have something unique at the western tip of Royal Palm Way – something we all should cherish. Maybe parking the car a short walk away and spending a few minutes there is a simple way to honor this remarkable piece of our shared history – a century old bronze likeness of a man who came to Palm Beach to farm 150 years ago.

Timothy Hullihan is an architect and third -generationnative of West Palm Beach. Priscilla Schwarz, Ph.D., is an art historian at Oklahoma State University whose research is devoted to her grandfather, Burt W. Johnson.

Elisha Newton "Cap" Dimick First Mayor of Palm Beach

Burt W. Johnson

Sculptor

Dedication of Dimick Statue
West Palm Beach - 1922

Brothels, booze in Banyan Street’s past

BANYAN STREET Twenty-five years ago. West Palm Beach voted to switch the name of First Street back to Banyan, ending 64 years of exile for the city’s most notorious road. From 2002 and 2009: From 1925 to 1989, it was First Street. Before that, it was Banyan Street. The reason for the change all those years: sin.

Brothels, booze in Banyan Street’s past. It was renamed First Street from 1925 to 1989, when the original name was restored.In the 1890s, if you wanted whiskey, women or trouble in the fledgling city, Banyan Street was the only place to go. It was the only street in town where alcohol was permitted — at least officially — and it earned the notorious nickname “Whiskey Street.”

Its saloons, gambling halls and brothels operated around the clock, luring the laborers building the Palm Beach resorts.Post Time:

Banyan Street 1895

In 1904, fed-up local women called in the “Kansas Cyclone”: Carry Nation, the 6-foot-tall, black-clad, Bible-clutching matron of temperance who smashed saloons across America with her holy hatchet.There’s no indication she smashed any bars on Banyan, but the city finally decided in 1925 to change the street’s name to First Street.

That backfired when locals began calling it “Thirst Street.”On Nov. 6, 1989, apparently satisfied that time had buried Banyan’s sordid reputation, West Palm Beach restored its name.

Carry Nation in West Palm Beach, 1904

Clematis Street 1916

THE FAMILY

John B. Earman and His Two wives, Amanda Sites, and her cousin, Mary Ann Sites (John B. and Amanda Earman were the parents of John Sites Earman)

Parents of John Sites Earman

John B Earman

Amanda Sites Earman

Mary Ann Sites Earman

Staunton Spectator Staunton Virginia Thu., Jan 14, 1873 Page 3

The Small Pox-- This disease has appeared in Rockingham near Peel’s cross roads and Cross Keys in the families of Jonathan Peel, John Earman father of our Earmans, and the widow Sheets, whose daughter died Friday. -- Every precaution has been taken to keep it from spreading, but our people should see that everyone is vaccinated so if Augusta should be afflicted no great danger will be incurred. Mrs. Amanda Earman wife of John Ermine died Saturday but we can hear of no further spread of the small-pox as we go to press.

Staunton Spectator Staunton, Virginia Tue, Mar 11, 1873 Page 3

MARIAGES -- on the 28th by Reverend William Dinkel II., at Walnut Grove, the residence of the bride’s father. Mr. John S. Earman and Miss Susie E., daughter of Colonel John W. Burke, all of Rockingham.

Published in the Palm Beach Post
May 16, 1916

Col. John Wesley Burke

(Father of Susan Burke, wife of John Sites Earman)

Col John Wesley Burke

Birth: Sep. 24, 1817

Death: Feb. 20, 1898

Family links:
Parents:
Nancy Weaver Burke (1777 - 1850)

Siblings:
Julia Burke Chelf (1807 - 1881)*
Jurietta Burke Level (1810 - 1882)*
John Wesley Burke (1817 - 1898)
Allen F Burke (1819 - 1877)*
Burial:
Friedens United Church of Christ Cemetery
Friedens
Rockingham County
Virginia, USA

Created by: Karen Sites
Record added: Jul 10, 2010
Find A Grav

e Memorial# 54746768

SOURCE: Find A Grave

Jane A Burke

Birth: Jan. 1, 1834

Death: Jul. 19, 1896

Burial:
Friedens United Church of Christ Cemetery
Friedens
Rockingham County
Virginia, USA

Created by: Karen Sites
Record added: Jul 10, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 54746767

SOURCE: Find A Grave

TRANSCRIPTION OF DOCUMENT

BELOW

City of Richmond

State of Virginia

I, J.W. Burk of the firm of Burk and son Stage Line declare and say that the unpaid bill for $a49.00 is and just that the services rendered to the confederate states & that the rates charges are the usual rates in this line in writing my hand this 29th day of September 1862.

J. W. Burk

Subscribed & sworn before me a notary public for the city afoesaid the day & year above mentioned.

Mr. Maurice Smith

Notary Public

1860 United States Federal Census

NameJohn W Burk

Age40

Birth Yearabt 1820

GenderMale

Birth PlaceVirginia

Home in 1860District 1, Rockingham, Virginia

Post OfficeHarrisonburg

Family Number447

Household Members

NameAge

John W Burk40

Asenath J Burk26

Nancy J Burk7

Susan E Burk5

Laura V Burk3

Ida Bell Burk5/12

Cross Keyes, Virginia

Picture given to Mamie Genevieve Austin Welcker by Ida Belle Burke Bowers in 1937. Standing on Porch: Luther Thomas Burke, Ada Leavell, Olin F. Leavell, Asenith Jane Adelia Pratt, John Wesley Burke's Wife.

Parents of Susan Elizabeth Burke Earman

Col. John Wesley Burke and his brother Allen F. Burke ran a a mail route in Viginia

Allen F. Burke was the great, great grandfather of the Webmaster. The following give an insight into the life and times of the brothers.

The Old Stage Line

One of our earlier Folklore meetings in Page County in the barn at Egypt Bend had a program about a road wagon that was being restored by the Graves family. Here is another type of horse-drawn conveyance story only this it involves coaches. In 1899, the stage line between New Market over the Massanutten Mountain to Luray was being discontinued. This article contained an amazing amount of information about what it was like to travel in the early stage lines. Some of the sentences go on and on and on. My word processing program was about to have an apoplectic fit dealing with them. Here is how the Shenandoah Valley newspaper reported the event.

In 1850, Mr. A. F. Burke came here from Burke’s Mill, Augusta County, Virginia, to be at the” half-way point” to look after the daily stage line which he and his brother, J. W. (Wesley) Burke ran between Staunton and Winchester, Virginia, a distance over the Valley Turnpike of nearly 100 miles. They sold this line to Kemp about 1853. At or shortly prior to this time they began a tri-weekly line from New Market over the Massanutten and Blue Ridge Mountains, a distance of fifty miles to Culpeper Court House, Virginia. The Burke’s continued this line until after the “War Between the States” and a daily line from here (New Market) to Luray which will terminate February 20 1899. The reason for this is the government will discontinue the mail route between the points indicated and without the mail pay, the line will not quit expenses, and has not been paying for several years, the pay for mail service having gradually dwindled down from $600 to $195, and the passenger and freight traffic, since the advent of the railroad through Page County, has been very small.

In all these years there has been but one post office along the route at Massanutten, (“White House,” near the South River) between here and Luray, a distance of fourteen miles. The new route would be from Laurel via Massanutten to Leakesville, a distance of six miles daily and the subcontractor, a Mr. Prince gets the munificent sum of $118 for his service. The Burkes have always carried the mail between here and Luray except for about a year when Brock and Zirkle had the contract, though they continued their daily stage line.

Mr. A.F. Burke, when he came here in 1850 rented the Cushman House for six months, and afterwards bought the house in which his widow now lives and continued to reside there until September 20th 1877 when he died at the age of 52 years since that time his son John W and Charles Elbert have continued their father’s work and extensively engaged in the livery business they are now operating the mail route between here and the Newmarket depot and Harrisonburg and for a while ran a daily line between Harrisonburg and Franklin West Virginia but burps have a fine record in the mail service and received very few reprimands and no suspensions during their long service from the government no doubt the burps will continue in the business as the sons and grandsons of the elder Burke take as naturally to horses as "ducks do to water."

Mr. A. F. Burke had nine brothers and sisters, all of whom are dead except a sister, Mrs. Kyger at Mcgaheysville Virginia. The brothers were in good circumstances and went on each other’s bonds, in very extensive mail and other contracts, and mail contracts to parties living in other states where seldom known, and there was little speculation in mail routes in any state by outside parties as now.

Thus are the stage lines passing away and States without either and will soon exist only in memory. The names of the Trotters, Kemps, Burkes, Parrishs, “Shag” Evans and others of stage line renown will soon be forgotten. Each man could recount many experiences. The Burkes, if living, could tell concerning opposition lines the making and loss of much money how they sold out their line along the Valley Pike for $3,200 (retaining some rolling stock) which was lost while in litigation, valuable papers being consumed when the courthouse at Harrisonburg was burned by fire long before the war, how trunks were stolen out of the old fashioned boots, before they were fastened with locks and chains which carried a thousand pounds or more, when were big bandbox of fashionable lady or belle, with her sky-scraper or scoop bonnet( no hats worn) set with artificials and costing $25, took up almost as much space as a trunk( no doghouses then) had to go along, how some who lost trunks would claim they also contained money, the loss of which had to be paid by the owners of the stage lines until the courts decided that money in trunks was not property, how some wealthy persons would charter a coach and and allow no others in, and then would come plain English on the part of the passengers who had to wait on the ways and means of the stage line for their transportation, how social and selfish qualities of traveling companions in a closed coach should manifest themselves in more ways than one, how the old fashioned tin-and tallow candle lanterns were carried along by some thoughtful passengers for a light unto their feet and a heat unto their bodies, and also to show how to minister unto the wants of the dear babies, on their long nocturnal journey, and the inevitable bottles of milk and often of water, besides eatables for the older ones were among the extra free baggage, how some cross old bachelor (not cranky for there were no cranks in those days), and the fussy old maid would growl and complain and frantically grasp at the swing straps for support when the stage would make sudden lurches, while lovers would “bill and Coo” and waiste places be made glad, and loving heads receive manly support, without strap or back of seat, when fair Luna( the moon) hid her blushing face behind some friendly cloud or misty mountain top, how now and then some rural postmaster would appropriate funds from letters and Uncle Sam’s detectives would come along the route under various disguises and often by decoy letters, would soon find out the culprit, how occasionally a driver would appropriate some of the “extras” “get a little top heavy” and let the horses go on their own way, always stopping at the accustomed relays and post office of their own accord, to the terror of the passengers when they found it out, how in the fast driving when opposition was on the road, some gallant steed would fall from exhaustion and the other stage would get ahead, how some poor driver unconscious from exposure and cold had to be carried in and resuscitated at some post office where the horses always stopped and remained long enough for the changing of mail, by force of habit, and started again whether or not the mail had been changed, driver or no driver,

The big four-six Concord coaches costing from $500 to $800, generally came from the North and carried nine passengers on the inside and some on top, never got to full and had “always room for one more.” The big body was swung on leather springs, as it were, and rode easy when loaded. There were relays of horses about every fifteen miles and from six to eight miles an hour was made, the driver and stock often seeing hard service. The fare varied according to opposition from 50 cents to $5 from here to Winchester and freight from 25 cents to $1 per hundred pounds for fifty miles. The waybill, in a tin box, was looked after by hotelkeepers along the route, yet “extras” along the road would slip into pockets of some – not always the owners of the stage lines.

Before the War, Stonesiffer’s tavern was the headquarters for Burke’s line at New Market and Modissetts’s at Luray, and the outgoing and incoming of the stages were watched with far more interest than the trains and mails of today. The stages along the Valley Line generally passed New Market at 12:00 at night, where a large mail for this and other points had to be changed. The stage would stop at the post office (old Doc Solomon Hinkle, postmaster) and the driver from the seat would pull a rope (often by an ink bottle handle) attached to a loud sounding bell in a back room where the clerk slept, to arouse them to a sense of their duty. At the relay stables, the colored brother and stable boys who looked after the care and changes of horses, often had to be aroused as their sleeping hours then as now, did not commence until after midnight. The driver would do some tall swearing, hammering and kicking and then quietly remarked to the passengers that he ought to be rewarded for his patience and trials and if there was a heaven, he would be sure of getting there. Many of our citizens can remember some of the old drivers, the Riddlebergers of Edinburgh, Henry Moss who lived in the O’Rourke house, Chris Stuart Swartz in the Walden house, John Edwards and others who are numbered with the departed.

in comparison with the once a week horseback mail, the stage line was fast, with the railroad, slow, and yet, these days were not without their advantage. It has been said by some philosopher that improved machinery which does will work rather than the man is not of advantage to the laboring masses but simple machinery which enables the man to do the most work not the machinery as the scythe cradle the saw the hammer is the best for the largest number so too the means of locomotion by animal power but few would want to go back to the days of old yet we find in looking over some entries during the early 50s (1850s) the following prices paid by Mr. Burke for horses: Bay Bet $117.50, Blue Belle $65, Black Kitty $75, Davy Whitefoot $85, Spot $90, Roan Bet $70, Dick $90, Bay Charlie $115,Ssorrel Nell $65, Gray Charlie $100, Roan Jack $112.50, and Roan Sally $117.50.

Some entries probably made by Mr. Burke’s representatives in 1850 show that 2 tubs of corn 3 bushels cost $1.50, wheat $1, oats 37.5 cents, a gallon of molasses $0.51 half gallon oyel 62.5 cents, 5 lbs of shugar per pound 31 ½ cents, pound of coffee at 62 cents, a barrel of flour $4, a load of slabs 52 cents, gallons of liquor $1 25, etc…

Now and then, a driver is charged with a “fine shirt with ruffles” $1.50, a pair of breeches $4, a pair of socks 40 cents, hat $1.75, boots $3.50, though his pay was only 50 cents a day “and found.” During the harvest season the cradle got $1 per day and others $50 cents to 62 1/2 cents while boys worked for 12.5 cents to 25 cents.

Entries were made of “outside expenditures” for camp meetings, etc., and occasionally 25 cents could not be accounted for and it was entered – “stole by myself.”

In those days there were many small industries and most people had something to do and did it - few idlers - and that which was raised was either consumed or sold for that purpose at home, and the people were about as well off at the end of the year as they are now after all expenses paid.

LINE OF DESCENT

(Note: Not all living descendants may be listed)

JOHN SITES EARMAN

SUSAN ELIZABETH BURKE

1. JOSEPH LUCIAN EARMAN

GEORGIA ALBERTA FARWELL

1.1. JOSEPH SIMMS EARMAN

ELIZABETH ANN ALBERS

1.1.1. JOSEPH HENERY EARMAN SR

GLADYS HOLMES

1.1.1.1. MARY BETH EARMAN

MARSHALL BRENT WADDELL

1.1.1.2. GAIL LOUISE EARMAN

ALLIE STOWE FRIERSON

1.1.1.3. JOSEPH HENERY EARMAN JR

ELIZABETH ELAINE ARNOLD

1.2. GEORGIA ANN EARMAN

HENRY CLAY RUSSELL SR

1.2.1. ANN EVERETTE RUSSELL

THOMAS WATTS KING

1.2.1.1. EVERETTE KING

1.2.1.2. PRESTON WATTS KING

1.2.2. ELIZABETH GORDON RUSSELL

GEORGE WARREN JACOBS

1.2.2.1. JOHN TARLTON JACOBS

1.2.3. HENRY CLAY RUSSULL JR

BETTY

1.2.3.1. AUDREY MARIE RUSSELL

1.3. WILLIAM ALBERS EARMAN SR

MARY LENA HAMILTON

1.3.1. WILLIAM ALBERS EARMAN JR

SUSAN M SULLIVAN

1.3.2. JOHN DEWILL EARMAN

FORTUNATE LAMARCA

CYNTHIA ANN CHRISTENSEN

HEIDI LYNETTE JOHNS

2. JOHN BURKE EARMAN

SALLIE SEAY

2.1 JOHN ROBERT EARMAN SR

IDA MARGUERITE PRATHER

2.1.1. HONOUR KATHLEEN EARMAN

CHARLES ARTHUR WERNER SR

2.1.1.1. DAVID WERNER

2.1.2. JOHN ROBERT EARMAN JR

2.1.3. THOMAS BURKE EARMAN

BONNIE JUANITA CUSHMAN

2.1.3.1. STUART BURKE EARMAN

2.1.3.2. TYLOR THOMAS EARMAN

GO TO JOSEPH SIMMS EARMAN FAMILY

GO TO JOHN ROBERT EARMAN FAMILY

CHILDREN OF JOHN SITES AND SUSAN BURKE EARMAN

1. JOSEPH LUCIEN EARMAN

2. DR. JOHN BURKE EARMAN

Eldest son of John Sites Earman

1. JOSEPH LUCIEN EARMAN
Georgia Alberta Farwell

Highlights

Publisher, editor, politician, jurist, Philanthropist, Mason.

Editor of the Palm Beach Post from 1913 to 1920, Earman resigned to start the Palm Beach Independent, noted for its editorials. Earman became the only man ever elected to the Palm Beach City Commission running independent of the two major political parties.

Governor Sidney Catts appointed him chairman of the board of control and he became known as one of Catts major advisors during a stormy period of Florida's politics. He served three terms As a police court and was appointed municipal court judge. He became known for his philanthropic activities later in life.

Home of J. L. Earman, 217 Valencia Street, West Palm Beach, Florida

J. L Earman Home, 217 Valencia Street, West Palm Beach, Florida

Joe L. Earman is probably as well known as any other man in the state, and his name is one of merited distinction because of his personal character and what he has done and is doing. Mr. Earman for many years was on the road as a traveling salesman, and in that way built up a large acquaintance throughout the state. His home is at West Palm Beach, where he is in the investment business, and for several years was president and majority stockholder of the Palm Beach Daily Post. He is a former chairman of the State Board of Control and president of the State Board of Health, and as municipal judge

Mr. Earman is a native of Rockingham County, Virginia, and when he was four years of age his parents moved to Florida and located in that part of old Sumter County now Lake County. He lived there until he was seventeen years of age, left home and went on the road as a traveling salesman for a Jacksonville firm. His work as a traveling salesman continued for twenty-five years, taking him to all the cities and villages of the state.

When he left the road in 1916 Mr. Earman located permanently at West Palm Beach, and here established the Daily Post and was active on that paper five years. He made of it a real institution carrying all the local news and the associated press dispatches and made it a substantial asset to the city. He sold his interest in this paper on January 1, 1921, and since then his active business interests have been confined to investments, with offices in the Professional Building.

Mr. Earman was appointed a member and president of the State Board of Control of Florida in 1917. After two years Governor Catts transferred him to the office of president of the State Board of Health, and he continued to serve in that capacity for two years, until 1921.

His service as municipal judge of West Palm Beach began in September 1921. He accepted this responsibility through the urgent solicitation of the best citizens and not from any desire for political advancement or for any of the emoluments that pertained to the office. It is an office that suffered greatly by abuse or by routine performance of its duties, and in this case- the judge has proved greater than the office. Mr. Earman disposes of the cases that come before him each day from the viewpoint of the good citizen and humanitarian rather than from the legalistic point of view of the lawyer. He dispenses with legal technicalities, judges his cases solely on the main facts and always tempers justice with mercy. He is especially concerned with juvenile cases, boys or girls brought before him for a first or often trivial offense. He goes to the bottom of each case, studies the conditions of the environment out of which the offense might arise, and he employs all his official influence and the kindliness of his nature to set the offender on the right path and shut off further opportunity for a life of crime. Out of his experience as a municipal judge he has founded at West Palm Beach an institution that has become famous, the School of Opportunity, an institution where the boys work during the day and study rudimentary educational courses at night. This has proved a boom to illiterate boys, and some of them as old as eighteen or more have acquired their first education in this school and at the same time acquired the self-respect which such a course inculcates. Mayor Hylan of New York when in Palm Beach in the winter of 1922 took particular note of Judge Earman's School of Opportunity, declaring his intention to establish similar schools in New York. Judge Earman bought over $500 worth of books for this school, and has given it his constant care and attention. Judge Earman is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Dixie Highway Association and the Rotary Club.

He married Georgia Alberta Farwell, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, and daughter of James

A. Farwell. Mrs. Earman is president of the Women's Club of West Palm Beach and is also active in civic and social movements. Judge and Mrs. Earman have a son, Joseph Simms Earman, who is a graduate of Woodbcrry College and is now a student in Cornell University

History of Florida: Past and Present, Historical and Biographical, Volume 2 PAGE 195

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The Palm Beach Post

Fri, May 10 1935

Page 1

JOE L. EARMA DIES FROM ILLNESS AT MIAMI HOSPITAL

Well-lKnow Resident Succumbs Late Thursday Afternoon – Was Political, Financial Figure, Edited Independent Here Until Several Years Ago

Earman died from illness at Miami Hospital well-known resident succumbs late Thursday afternoon, Was politicall financial figure, edited independent here until several years ago

Joe L.Earman, editor and financier, one of South Florida’s most picturesque characters died late Thursday afternoon at a Miami hospital following an operation he was 59 years old

Widely known

Known throughout the state for his independence of thought and his idiosyncrasies, Mr. Ehrman had a vast number of friends who were shocked at the news of his unexpected death. He had been in ill health for some weeks.

The stories connected with the name of Joe L Earman in this community amount almost to legend. There are those who will remember him as an astute businessman for his years of connection with the Robert W. Sims Company of Jacksonville and for his extensive dealings in mortgages. Others will think of him as a publisher for his seven years as president of the Palms Publishing Company when he would partner in publishing the Palm Beach Post from 1913 to 1920, and for his several years as publisher of the unique Palm Beach Independent, noted for its spectacular editorials, and he will also be recalled as the stormy petrel of local politics, always interested in public affairs, generally taking the position as a lone wolf, whether it was as police judge or as city commissioner or ever in state affairs on the Board of Control and thea Board of Health. It was in this latter capacity that he was instrumental in bringing to this city the Board of Health building opposite the Florida East Coast station.

With Mr. Earman, politics was closely woven with his career as an editor. The Independent came into being at a time when the city affairs were in a chaotic state and his editorials, written in his own peculiar and inimitable style, were of a source of widespread comment He was elected to the city commission as the first man to flount the white primary by running on an independent ticket.

Known for Charities

Mr. Earman was widely known for his charitibies, which he conducted like all his other affairs in his own characteristic manner. His Christmas parties for needy children were famous, and he took great pleasure in collecting funds and assembling toys at his Independent office on 17th street.

Born in Cross Keys, Virginia, on June 13, 1875, his parents brought him to Florida the age of five, settling in Lake County, at Leesburg, and later at Tavares. When he was 18, Mr. Earman went to Jacksonville where he became associated with the Robert Sims Company and he was vice president of this concern when he resigned after 25 years service.

in the meantime his parents had moved to West Palm Beach and his father, John Sites Earman, was the first mayor of the city. John S. Earman also operated the first hotel here, the Earman House at what is now Datura Street and Narcissus Avenue. Later, the family moved north of West Palm Beach and a settlement in the north part of the county is still known as Earman. Joel L. Earman first moved to West Palm Beach in 1913 and was a partner in the company which published the Palm Beach Post until 1920.

During the administration of Sidney J. Catts as Governor of Florida, from 1916 to 1920, Mr. Earman was chairman of the State Board of Contro, the group which directs the institution of higher learning, for 2 years and during the latter 2 years of the administration, he was chairman of the State Board of Health during which time he had the local laboratory built.

Starts Newspaper

In 1925, Mr. Ehrman founded the Palm Beach Independent as a weekly newspaper. He operated this for 3 years, when publication was suspended, he retained ownership of the plant and equipment until his death. He served three terms as police court judge and his conduct of the court once was the subject of an article written in a national magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. In 1928-29 he served as a city commissioner.

During his career, he was associated with Edgar M. Albee, New York, of the Keith- Albee theater circuit and together they established about 80 libraries in rural communities in Florida He held the distinction of being with Senator Duncan Fletcher, one of the 2 older living members of Solomon Lodge, F.&A.M. He was a member of Morocco Temple, Jacksonville, and a past patron of Irita Sherman Chapter, O. E. S. West Palm Beach. He was also a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge

Survivors

He is survived by the widow, Mrs. George A. Earman, a son, Joe S. Earman of Vero Beach, a brother Dr. J.B. Earman of West Palm Beach and three grandchildren, Joe Henry, Georgia Anne and William Albers Earman Vero Beach. A funeral is to be held at the Ferguson Funeral Chapel Saturday afternoon at a time to be announced later, and burial will be in Jacksonville Monday.

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The Tampa Times

Mon., Feb 9 1920

Page 3

“Just Joe” Earman From Virginny, Suh

Time was when the principal indoor sport at Palm Beach - that is, with 1 or 2 possible exceptions - was indulged in Bradley’s. And well you you’ve doubtless heard of Bradley’s, even if you haven’t experienced Bradley’s hospitality. In either case you’re fortunate.

But in recent years an even more interesting experience has been the portion of the most notable of the multimillionaire visitors - the experience of being interviewed and written about by the Hon. Joe L. Earman, one time chairman of the Florida State Board of Control which controls the higher educational institutions of Florida but now president of the Florida State Board of Health and publisher of the Palm Beach Post. But to Floridanss and the luminaries he writes about each winter he’s “Just Joe” - and a regular fellow. And nowadays no Palm Beach habitue, masculine or feminine, is satisfied with life until he or she finds his or her way into Joe’s “Who’s who in Royal Poincianadom.

A Virginian, Suh

Mr. Earman was born at Cross Keys, Rockingham County, Virginia, June 13, 1875, but he “got over it” by moving to Florida in his fifth year. For exactly 25 years he covered the state as a traveling salesman and no Knight of the grip made more friends during that period than he.

But in September 1913, he ceased to wander over the Land of Flowers and with Donald H Conklin, organized the Palms Publishing Company which first published the Palm Beach Post as a semi-weekly and later converted it into one of the most attractive small towns dailies in the country.

Political Experience

Shortly after Governor Sidney J. Cattsz assumed office, Mr. Earman was appointed chairman of the State Board of Control, held the position with credit for two years and then succeeded Charlie Frecker of Tampa as president of the State Board of Health. Being a business man “from the word go” he worked well in that position too.

“I have no political ambition whatever,” he said to the writer, other than to make good as head of the Board of Health, but Florida is so healthful that I don’t seem to be able to find much to do.

“I was educated in the college of experience,” Mr. Earman continued, “and therefore my chief hobby is that of seeing that all children get proper educational advantages. For this reason, I greatly appreciated my appointment to the Board of Control.

“My newspaper experience has been limited, but I’m clinging to the interesting game from now on. Looking after business in the summer and writing about American and foreign celebrities in the winter is – well, partly profitable and highly pleasing doesn’t describe it.

And adorning the walls of Mr. Earman’s Sanctum are the autographed photos of more celebrities than can be found in any place in America aside from a metropolitan photographic studio.

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Jacksonville Florida

Dec. 13 1920

Governor Not Mad, But He Gives Editor Shotgun Warning

Jacksonville, Fla., Dec. 13 - Governor S. J. Catts of Florida is not mad at Joseph L. Earman, publisher of the Post, West Palm Beach. He told him so in a letter made public here today but he warned Earman that repetition of an alleged slander published Sunday in the post would meet with immediate retaliation.

Retaliation would be in the shape of a personal visit by the governor with a double barreled shotgun. Catts said,

“I can’t see why you should wish to air your falling out with me,” the letter read “and am writing this letter to let you know that I am not mad with you.

“Now I have got to speak plainly with you. I am willing to let you and yours alone. You do the same with me and mine. But if you publish any more in your paper like that last one or bother me or my business or my children any more I will go to West Palm Beach with my double barrel shotgun loaded with buckshot and I will have a final settlement with you.

“You say your printer’s ink is worth 10 cents a drop, but I say 14 buckshot in each gun barrel, with a man willing to pull the trigger behind the gun weigh 1,000 pounds each.

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West Palm Beach, Florida

Dec., 18, 1920

“I won’t run but w

ill meet governor upon arriva.I will not run away but will be right on hand to meet the governor on his arriva,”l said Joseph L. Earman, editor of the Post, when informed of Governor Catt’s letter made public in Jacksonville. “Let him come,” said Earman.

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Tallahassee, Florida

Dec. 17, 1920

Vol. M, No. 120

Shot Gun Threat Made By Florida Governor Catts

Writes Publisher That He Will Settle Matters With Buckshot if Again Attacked, (By The Associated Press) Tallahassee Fla/ Dec. 17 - In an open letter given out today Governor Sidney J Catts, of Florida, threatened to go to West Palm Beach, Florida with a “double barreled shotgun loaded with buckshots” and have a final settlement with Joe Earman, president of the Board of Health and publisher of the Palm Beach Post, a daily newspaper

The Chief executive stated in his letter that he did not want any trouble with Mr. Earman but was tired of his “tyranny, arrogance and big stick bossing,” and that this was the “last warning.”

Thea letter by Governor Catts followed the publication by Mr. earman and his paper of an article which the chief executive characterized as a “page and a half of vituperation and bitterness”against him on account of his reinstatement of Edgar Thompson as state attorney at West Palm Beach.

Governor Cats wrote that he is not mad with Mr. Earman and that he is” not going to remove him from office but stated:

“I am not going to let you rule and boss me at your whim and pleasure. I am a man and am in a man’s place and will not run away when hanged in effigy as you did at West Palm Beach when they hung you.”

In conclusion he said, “Iif you publish one more page like the last about me or my business or my children anymore, I will go to West Palm Beach with my shot gun loaded with buck-shot and have a final settlement with you.

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MAYOR AND JUDGE OF WEST PALM BEACH

WHOM HIGH COURT ORDERS DISCHARGED

Photo: Judge Earman, Mayor Big-gers & Sheriff Baker

Mayor L..G. Biggers and Muni-cipal judge Joe Earman of West Palm Beach, Fla. in custody of Sheriff Baker are shown here entering the West Palm Beach Jail to serve sentences of ten days each imposed upon them by Circuit Judge E. C. Davis for contempt of court. The two had criticized some of the ethical decisions of Judge Davis. While they were in jai,l they were visited by Mayor Hylan of New York who was present when they were released on bond pending the appeal of the case to be higher supreme court.

The latter court yesterday ordered the mayor and the judge dis-charged from custody.

................................................................................................................................................................

The Palm Beach Post

Sun, Feb 25 1923

Page 1

Earman - Biggers Contempt Writ Argued Today

Attorneys Leave Here For Tallahassee Hearing

Expected To Last One Day

Three Days Out of Ten Were Served

Attorneys H. J. Quincy and Frank A. Pettibone left last night for Tallahassee, the state capital, to argue in the Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus case under which the Judge Joe L. Earmann and Mayor L. G. Biggers seek discharge from sentences imposed on them by Judge E. C. Davis of the Circuit Court. He found them guilty of contempt of his court.

Mr. Quincy will appear as a friend of the court which imposed the sentences and will oppose the discharge of the defendants. Mr. Pettibone represents Judge Earman and Mayor Biggers and will be associated with James Hodges of Lake City in the effort to have the sentences set aside and the defendants discharged.

Tuesday is the date set for the argument in the Supreme Court. This day was set for the hearing when the defendants had served three days of a ten-day sentence, that period being required for their attorneys to get their cases before the Supreme Court.

When the supreme court will pass on the questions presented by the opposing counsel is purely speculation, but it is expected that Mr. Minister will return to West Palm Beach Wednesday.

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Jacksonville Journal

Wed, Jan 19 1955

Page 3

Rites Here Tomorrow For Mrs. Georgia Earman

Graveside funeral services for Mrs. Georgia F. Earman, former Jaxon, and sister of Fred H. Farwell of this city, will be held here at 2:30 PM. Mrs. Earman, 77, died in Vero Beach Monday. She was the widow of former co-owner of The Palm Beach Post and prominent in social and business affairs. She had been taken to the Vero Beach Hospital to be near her son, Joseph S. Earman at that city.

A native of Jacksonville, Mrs. Earman was the daughter-in-law of an early Palm Beach mayor. Her husband sold his interest in the Post to begin the Palm Beach Independent, a weekly. He also served as a city commissioner before his death in May 1933.

Mrs. Earman was president of the Palm Beach Woman’s Club in 1937. She was an officer in the Eastern Star and a member of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church as well as the Garden Club Founders Circle.

Conducting the funeral services in Evergreen here will be the Rev. Douglas B. Leatherbury. Arrangements are in charge S. A. Kyle. Mrs. Earman’s brother here is affiliated with the First Federal Savings and Loan Association. In addition to him and her son, she is survived by two other brothers, Guy D. Farwell, affiliated with McCormick and Sons, Jacksonville Beach, and Joe Farwell, a Miami newspaperman. She also is survived by two great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Only son of Joseph L. Earman, grandson of John Sites Earman

1.1. JOSEPH SIMMS EARMAN

Joseph Simms Earman

Elizabeth Ann Albers

HON. JOSEPH LUCIEN EARMAN & GEORGIA ALBERTA FARWELL
HAD ONE SON

DESCENDANTS OF JOSEPH SIMM EARMAN

GO TO JOSEPH SIMMS EARMAN FAMILY

Second son of Johns Sites Earam

2. DR. JOHN BURKE EARMAN
Sallie Seay

Woodlawn Cemetery

West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida, USA

Plot

Block 30, Lot 9 (N.W. 1/4 of N. 1/2) (South Section)

Jacksonville Journal

Sat, Mar 22, 1913

Page 6

Earman – Seay The following clipping from the Dade City Star will be of interest in the city, where the couple have relatives and friends and are at present visiting. Dr. J. B. Earman and Miss Sally Seay were married at the home here, Wednesday, leaving on the Seaboard Palm Beach, where they will reside.

The bride is one of Dade City’s popular young ladies and a great favorite with our people. The groom lived here for nearly two years, practicing his chosen profession, dentistry, and during his stay in this town made friends of our people.

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The Palm Beach Post

Thu, Oct 5, 1933

Page 3

First fall meeting of Thomas Benton Ellis chapter, United Daughters of The Confederacyat the home of Mrs. J Burke Earman, 12 Currue Crescent, 3 o'clock. Hostesses, Mrs. Earman, Mrs. E, D. Anthony, Mrs. W. E. VanLandingham and Mrs. G. C. Wood. Executive board meets at 2:30 o'clock.

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The Palm Beach Post

Thu., Sep 22, 1938

Page 2

Kiwanians Are Told Of Work In Clinics

Reports on the work being done in the Kiwanis dental and medical and surgical clinics were presented at the Kiwanis Club luncheon meeting, Wednesday, at the Hotel George Washington. They were given on an underprivileged child committee program sponsored by C.H. Warwick, Jr.

Dr. J. B. Earman reported on the dental clinic and Dr. Jay A. Powell on the medical and surgical clinic. Dr. Earman informed the club that the dental clinic has taken care of more than 75,000 appointments since it was started. had placed 27,000 fillings, and made 19,000 extractions. Dr. Earman and Dr. R. L. Ward supervise the clinic.

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The Palm Beach Post

Sun, Oct 23 1938

Page 6

Mrs. J J B Earman returns from Abroad

Dr. and Mrs. J. Burke Earman arrived home on Saturday afternoon from New York, where Dr. Earman met her on October 13 on her return aboard the Italian liner Volcania from a stay of four months in Europe. The first two months were spent on a tour of the continent during which she visited fifteen countries and the latter two months in Rome, where she visited her sister, Mrs. Charles Brady, who had been a guest at the Erman home here on several occasions.

En route from New York, Dr. and Mrs. Earman visited in Asheville and several other cities. Their son, John Robert Earman, who graduated from Northwestern University College of Dentistry last June, is taking post-graduate work there, specializing in orthodontia.

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The Palm Beach Post

Fri, Apr 16, 1948

Page 1

Dr, J.B. Earman Dies At Age 61

Dr. John Burke Earman, 61, one oldest practicing dentists in this city, died last night at his home, 12 Currie Crescent, after a short illness. Widely known in his profession, Dr. Earman was an amateur horticulturalist and as a hobby, raised orchids, which were recently exhibited at the Norton Art Gallery.

He was a graduate of Vanderbilt University. Among the many organizations to which Dr. Earman claimed membership are: American Dental Association, life member of Florida State Dental Society, Palm Beach Dental Society, life member of Harmonia Lodge 138, F&AM, and charter member of Kiwanis International.

DR. Earman was the founder of the Kiwanis clinic and was a member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Sallie Earman, one son, also a dentist, Dr. John Robert Earman and two grandchildren. Funeral services are to be announced by Ferguson Funeral Home.

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John Burke Earman Patent
DESCRIPTION (OCR text may contain errors)

Nov. 27, 1934. J. B. EARMAN 5 DENTAL SLAB Filed April 4, 1933 Patented Nov. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT} OFFICE.

DENTAL SLAB John Burke Earman, West Palm Beach, Fla.

Application April 4, 1933, Serial No. 664,436

3 Claims.

My invention relates to slabs used in dentistry for the preparation of fillings andother similar materials used in the art of dentistry and it particularly has for its object to provide a slab which may be given, at little or no expense, a fresh working surface at each operation without using up the slab or wearing out its working face.

Further, the invention has for an object to provide a dental slab with means temporarily to re- '10 tain a film or sheet of suitable material, such as celluloid, wax-paper, etc., the slab being made of any suitable hard material such as cement, stone or in fact almost any material which will give a hard working surface.

Further, it is an object to provide a slab over whose working face a thin sheet is removably held by a frame which has provisions cooperating with the slab for drawing the sheet taut and, by the weight of the frame supplemented by friction, holding the sheet in place taut while being used.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, the invention still further resides in the novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in the following detailed description, then be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section showing the position of the parts when a new sheet is about to be secured to the slab.

In the drawing in which like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures, 1 represents the slab composed of cement, stone or other suitable hard material capable of taking on a hard surface which constitutes the working face 2 of the slab.

The slab has an ofiset portion 3 and a base surface 4, the latter being engaged by the skirt 8 of the frame 9 when in the assembled position.

The slab has a gutter or groove around the same and a rib 6 the latter entering the groove 10 of the frame 9. The frame 9 also has a rib 11 which is adapted to be received by the gutter or groove 5 of the slab 1 when the parts are assembled. The film or sheet 7 is laid over the working face 2 of the slab and then the frame 9 is placed on the same and pushed down from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 2. This folds over the sheet and clamps its marginal portion between the slab and the frame. V

In lowering the frame 9 from the position shown in Figure 3 to fit the film to the slab, the lower border of the skirt 8 will grip the film 7 at the rib 6 on the slab. As the frame passes down around the slab the film is at an angle from the margin of the working face 2 of the slab to the border of the rib 6. Now as the frame is moved 5 farther down the rib 11 engages the film (its margin now being held by a skirt 8) and forces the film tight to the border of the slab, thus making the film tight on the face of the slab and creating a smooth working surface.

The frame is preferably made of heavy metal such as lead, non-corrosive iron, or the like, so that the weight of the frame plus the friction of the parts in contact will be sufiicient to hold the sheet taut over the working face 2.

A new sheet is used at the commencement of each operation so that in this way a fresh working surface is given the slab each time it is used.

The frame 9 may be provided with a knob 12 at each end to permit its easy withdrawal from the slab.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it is thought the construction, operation and advantages of my invention will be clear to those skilled in the art to which it relates.

What I claim is:

1. An appliance of the character described, comprising the combination with a slab having a working face, and having stepped sides and ends, the step having a downwardly cut V-shaped groove, a film placed over the working face and a frame embracing said stepped sides and ends of said slab and the marginal portion of the film, said frame having a downwardly directed V- shaped rib to enter said groove, said frame having a weighted and a skirt portion, the weighted portion serving to hold the frame down and effect the holding of the film taut over the working face of the slab, the upper face of said frame being downwardly beveled away from the slab.

2. A dental appliance of the character described comprising a slab provided with a raised work supporting body and an outstanding base portion, said outstanding base portion being provided with a vertical channelway extending entirely around the said block, a sheet of flexible material for disposition over the top surface of the block, a frame provided with a depending rib, said frame being adapted to snugly engage material, a frame for snug slidable fit over the side walls 6f the slab portion and being provided with 2. depending rib for nested disposition in the channel when the frame is urged downwardly and into the base to clamp the sheet in a U-shaped bend, said frame being provided with a depending apron outwardly offset with respect to the rib and adapted to snugly clamp the edge portion of the sheet against the side walls of the said base portion.

" JOHN BURKE EARMAN.

Only son of Dr. John Rober Earman, grandson of John Sites Earman

2.1. JOHN ROBERT EARMAN SR.

Dr. John Robert Earman Sr.

Isa Marguerite Prather

DR. JOHN BURKE EARMAN & SALLIE SEAY HAD ONE SON

DESCENDANTS OF Dr. JOHN BURKE EARMAN

GO TO DR. JOHN ROBERT EARMAN FAMILY

Son of Dr. Robert Burke Earman, grandson of John Sites Earman

Sons of Confederate Veterans

West Palm Beach, Florida

Gen. James Patton Anderson Camp 1599

Celebrating 34 Years 1992 - 2026

Do You Have Civil War Ancestors? Let Us Find Them

JOHN SITES EARMAN WEST PALM BEACH'S FIRST MAYOR

U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865

For Mayor, J. S. Earman defeated Joseph Elliott, 43 votes to 41.

(Webmaster Note: First mayor of West Palm Beach- elected in 1894, Mayor John Earman was quoted as saying: "If I had not voted for myself, I would have lost." In 1895, Joseph Ellioot, an Englishman by birth, lived across the street from th Earman House Hotel.)

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The Palm Beach Post

Monday, Dec 31, 1923

Page 6

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Mr. John S. Earman, father of ex-judge Joseph Earman of West Palm Beach, is one of the most successful planters of Kelsey City. He always makes a good crop of snap bean, potatoes or pineapple and he also has soe fine poultry.

AN INTERESTING STORY

in downtown West Palm Beach there is a building, seemingly plucked out os Virginia or Georgia - sitting amongst the highrisers. What is it? What connection dos it have to the first mayor of Palm Beach and the first mayor of West Palm Beach? Here is the back story:

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PHOTO CREDIT: floridaurbanphotos@gmail.com

Capt. Dimick statue at the start of Royal Palm Way - Palm Beach, Florida

The Fascinating Story Behind the Statue of the Town’s First Mayor

One of his first pieces

Letters reveal controversy

A masterwork

Elisha Newton "Cap" Dimick First Mayor of Palm Beach

Burt W. Johnson

Sculptor

Dedication of Dimick Statue West Palm Beach - 1922

John B. Earman and His Two wives, Amanda Sites, and her cousin, Mary Ann Sites (John B. and Amanda Earman were the parents of John Sites Earman)

John B Earman

Published in the Palm Beach Post May 16, 1916

1860 United States Federal Census

LINE OF DESCENT

(Note: Not all living descendants may be listed)

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1. JOSEPH LUCIEN EARMAN Georgia Alberta Farwell

Home of J. L. Earman, 217 Valencia Street, West Palm Beach, Florida

J. L Earman Home, 217 Valencia Street, West Palm Beach, Florida

HON. JOSEPH LUCIEN EARMAN & GEORGIA ALBERTA FARWELL HAD ONE SON

DESCENDANTS OF JOSEPH SIMM EARMAN

2. DR. JOHN BURKE EARMAN Sallie Seay

DR. JOHN BURKE EARMAN & SALLIE SEAY HAD ONE SON

DESCENDANTS OF Dr. JOHN BURKE EARMAN

Earman Home in Vero Beach... Still held by family

JOHN SITES EARMAN
WEST PALM BEACH'S FIRST MAYOR

Dedication of Dimick Statue
West Palm Beach - 1922

Published in the Palm Beach Post
May 16, 1916

1. JOSEPH LUCIEN EARMAN
Georgia Alberta Farwell

HON. JOSEPH LUCIEN EARMAN & GEORGIA ALBERTA FARWELL
HAD ONE SON

2. DR. JOHN BURKE EARMAN
Sallie Seay