In 1881

The first surveys and first sale of property to the public
A plan of the Village of Tampa by John Jackson was recorded in Jan. 1847 and the first properties for public purchase went on sale in April 1847 for the purpose of financing a courthouse. That plan surveyed a small area for "The Village of Tampa" from Madison St. southward, and from the river eastward to Morgan St. and showed the blocks numbered and partitioned into lots.

In the months or years after the lots went on sale in April 1847, property owner names were added to the lots. Given the image of that plan, it is currently not possible to make out what is written in the lot on the southeast quadrant of the block where the Stringer house was built. Not much is written there and it could be that there was no owner at the time. The northeast quadrant at Monroe (which became Fla. Ave around 1885) and Lafayette St. shows it was owned by H. D. Kendrick.

In 1853 Jackson expanded the 1847 plan northward to just beyond Harrison St. and the "Burying Ground" that would become Oaklawn Cemetery, and eastward to around East. Street. At some point afterward, structures were a crudely drawn in red ink. It shows a structure of size that could be the Stringer house at the northwest corner of Jackson and Monroe and a very small one on the southwest corner of Monroe and Lafayette, the property indicated on the 1847 survey as being owned by Kendrick. The structure is too small to be a house.

In 1881, an article was published in The Sunland Tribune which provides information about Dr. Stringer from "W.H.B. the correspondent of the Savanna News, who described members of the Florida Legislature. Of Dr. Stringer, who represented Hernando County, he says "He removed to this State when but a child, and resided in Tampa until the commencement of the great civil war. He was left fatherless when only eleven."

In 1889 a July 25 article in the Tampa Journal "The Sites Selected" says for city hall with police station, "the Stringer lot, corner of Lafayette and Fla. Ave., price $2,000. By August 1889, the lot on the corner of Florida Avenue and Lafayette was purchased and the new brick City Hall / Police station was built soon afterward on the northeast corner of the block at that intersection, the quadrant originally owned by Kendrick, yet no mention is made of Kendrick. Apparently, the Stringers owned the entire east half of the block by this time, between Lafayette and Jackson along Fla. Ave. The southeast corner of the block where the house itself stood at Jackson and Florida Ave., was not part of the construction site. It was part of the purchase and is kept and used to house various city officials offices in the next 25 years.

In 1914 newspaper articles are published in June and August when the city plans to build a new city hall and separate police station on this block. Plans for the Stringer house are to tear it down. The articles that mention it was built in the 1850s for Dr. Sheldon Stringer, (Sr.) by contractor John T. Givens "who built a number of houses of this type and class about that time." One article only says "more than fifty years ago" which would mean before 1864.

In 1923 James McKay wrote two lengthy articles about the early history of Tampa and Hillsborough County. The first was printed in the Tampa Times, Dec., 20 1921, and was later reprinted in D, B. McKay’s Pioneer Florida. The second article appeared in the Tampa Times, Dec. 18, 1923 and appears in this feature. Neither of the articles mention the Stringers.

Also in 1923, History of Florida, past and present, historical and biographical by Harry Gardner Cutler, is published. The only mentions of Sheldon Stringer Sr. in Vol 1 occurs on is on pages 320 and 334. On page 320: "The book of minutes of the municipal body was begun on August 21, 1857, when D. A. Branch was mayor and S. Stringer, clerk. Most of the items entered are comparatively uninteresting, although some are culled which closely concern the progress of a new city. " On page 334, the same is mentioned "when D. A. Branch was mayor and S. Stringer, clerk." Volume 2 carries two pages about Sheldon Stringer, Jr., pages 44 and 45. This is the biographical section. In the account of Stringer Jr.'s life and page 44, it presents a paragraph about his father.

Doctor Stringer was born at Brooksville, Florida, June 23, 1883, a son of Doctor Sheldon and Margaret Elizabeth (Lykes) Stringer, natives of North and South Carolina, respectively. The father was a practicing physician and surgeon for many years, and a graduate of Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, class of 1859. He became a surgeon of the Regular Army, and served as such until the secession of the Southern states, when he resigned and offered his services to President Davis. These were accepted, and he was stationed at Saint Augustine, Florida, with the rank of major, in the capacity of chief surgeon of the Florida Division and in charge of the Confederate Hospital at that location. After the close of the war he moved to Brooksville, Florida, and there continued in practice until his death, which occurred in 1903. His widow survived him until 1908. They had three children, of whom Doctor Stringer of this notice is the youngest.

Doctor Stringer was born at Brooksville, Florida, June 23, 1883, a son of Doctor Sheldon and Margaret Elizabeth (Lykes) Stringer, natives of North and South Carolina, respectively. The father was a practicing physician and surgeon for many years, and a graduate of Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, class of 1859. He became a surgeon of the Regular Army, and served as such until the secession of the Southern states, when he resigned and offered his services to President Davis. These were accepted, and he was stationed at Saint Augustine, Florida, with the rank of major, in the capacity of chief surgeon of the Florida Division and in charge of the Confederate Hospital at that location. After the close of the war he moved to Brooksville, Florida, and there continued in practice until his death, which occurred in 1903. His widow survived him until 1908. They had three children, of whom Doctor Stringer of this notice is the youngest.

In Volume 3 of the same work, one reference is made to Stringer in the biography of Plant City lawyer George B. Wells. It says on page 85 "He is a scion of old and honored souther families, the marriage of his paternal grandparents, George W. and Margaret (Rain) Wells" took place in St. Marys, Geo. in 1842. His maternal grandparents, Benjamin F. and Mary (Stringer) Drew was recorded in Madison, Fla. in 1839. Mary Drew's maiden name was Stringer, but couldn't be our Mary Stringer since that was her married name.

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264036

In 1924 two articles were published in the Tampa Times, one on Oct. 11 by C.A. Winchell and another on Oct. 18. by an unnamed author. Winchell describes Tampa before the 1848 hurricane. "The buildings of the village were nearly all within the limits of what was known as the "reservation", the northern boundary of which coincided with Whiting St." He goes on to name various other buildings and homes all of which were near the river, then other important buildings further inland. He says "A Mrs. Stringer also lived at Florida and Jackson St. on part of the present City Hall block, it being from her heirs that land for the southern portion of the present city hall was bought." Afterward, he gives credit to his sources of information, W.G. Ferris, the army post sutler, and his son, Josiah Ferris, who "was a kid in the year 1848, that the Times is indebted for an authentic description of the great storm. Both of these gentlemen are long since dead..." It is unclear if their story was used for the description of Tampa before the hurricane. He goes on to write about the hurricane and its effects, but doesn't mention the Stringers anymore, only mentioning some structures that survived or were destroyed and other damage.

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001264036

The second 1924 article by an unknown writer, a week later, publishes comments to the newspaper from a letter they received from Thomas Jackson, the son of surveyor John Jackson. The article refers to Winchell as "better known as 'The Philosopher" and the purpose of the Jackson letter was to corroborate what Winchell had written the week before. The author says some of the things in Jacksons letter make up this article. Jackson says his parents told him of the incidents written about by Winchell, as well as other incidents. He says he believes Winchell's story to be "correct in every particular" and goes on to relate things not covered which were told to him by his parents. About the hurricane, he relates "a rather amusing incident which occurred" at his mother's house. This would have been witnessed by his mother because his father was away surveying at Anclote when the hurricane hit. He goes on to tell of the elderly lady who was afraid to get her feet wet and was carried out of the house by old Captain Paine. He later calls her an "old lady." He makes no mention of Mary Stringer.

In 1928 E. L. Robinson wrote his history of Hillsborough County using county commission meeting records and city council records as one of his sources for the very early history of Tampa. He used an advisory board of eleven very important and notable persons who assisted him. In describing Tampa before the 1848 hurricane hit, he says "A Mrs. Stringer lived on a part of the present city hall block, it being from her heirs that the land for the site of the southern portion of the present city hall was bought in 1914." His source isn't stated, but it sounds very much like Josiah Ferris's account of the hurricane.

In 1934 an article about surveyor John Jackson and his son Thomas Jackson appeared in the Jan. 25 issue of the Tampa Times. In it, Thomas Jackson goes in to great detail about how his father came to Florida and to Tampa and his surveying experiences. The section of the article that describes the "Early Days" opens with "Mr. Jackson's mind is keen and his memory is good. It is a delight to hear him recount the stories of the old Tampa. He reminisced with a Times man the other day, telling how it came about that his father happened to make Florida -- and Tampa --his home." Jackson was 81 at the time. He describes early Tampa in great detail and of the 1848 hurricane he tells of the events transpiring in the Jackson home while his father was away surveying Anclote. He tells how the whole house was picked up by the flood and washed away, but remained intact the whole time. He doesn't mention the particulars that he mentioned in his 1924 letter to the Times. He mentions the damage afterward, in particular, to the W. G. Ferris store, but again, nothing of the Stringers.

In 1948 a Tampa Tribune article on June 6 shows a picture of the I. Stalnaker house on 8th Ave. in Ybor. This article is the first mention of any specific year for the construction of the house, and it seems to be from Dr. Sheldon Stringer, Jr. who was born in Brooksville in 1883. The article states, "The house was originally erected by the grandfather of Dr. Sheldon Stringer in 1842 on the site of the south (police station) section of the present City Hall." It goes on to tell about what happened to the house later. The Dr. Stringer mentioned was Dr. Stringer, Jr. , so his grandfather would have been Dr. Sheldon Stringer senior's father--the husband of Mary Stringer who died when the elder Dr. Stringer was age 11. It also says that Dr. Stringer (Jr.) came to see the old house "a few days ago" and did not know of any house still in existence in Tampa as old as this dwelling built by his grandfather in 1842. He assumes that the next oldest house was the old school house built 8 years later (1850) standing between the University of Tampa and the Municipal+ Auditorium (now the Business College), the plaque on the house states "The Historic School House, built in 1850 by Gen Jesse Carter. Restored in 1932 by DeSoto Chapter, D.A.R."

In 1949 an article appeared in the July 15 Tampa Times, "Assessment Raised on Oldest House." It says the tax assessors increased the valuation of the "107-year-old structure by 40 percent." It says the home was built during the Seminole Indian War when Florida was still a territory and was "originally built by the grandfather of Dr. Sheldon Stringer on the site of the south section of the City Hall where the Police Station Annex is now located." It goes on to say Tampa had a population of less than 100 then and the frontier for hostile Indians was only a few miles to the southeast. It ends with the 1914 sale to Stalnaker who razed it and reconstructed it at its present site. The 107-year age of the house likely was based on the 1948 article, where an 1842 construction date is given. The rest about the Indian war and Tampa's population could easily have been provided by any accounts of the Seminole Wars, including any local historians such as Grismer or E. L. Robinson.

In 1950 Karl Grismer published his history of Tampa. On page 118 he writes: "Let us turn back the hands of time nearly a hundred years ago and see what Tampa was like when it became a city." It is assumed he means Tampa's first incorporation date of 1855 because for the next three pages he describes in great detail the town's residents by name and their businesses, along with locations, and he mentions the first Masonic hall built in 1852 by Hillsborough Lodge No. 25 on Whiting Street. Soon thereafter, he says "The town boasted of having six attorneys and four physicians...The doctors were Franklin Branch, S. B. Todd, John P. Crichton and L. A. Lively. A little later Dr. S. Stringer arrived. He had just been graduated from medical school..." This is Grismer's first mention of Dr. Stringer. He goes on to describe how Dr. Stringer led a movement to standardize fees. From another source we know Dr. Stringer graduated from medical college in 1859. It seems Grismer was either unaware of the news articles of the previous two years, or wasn't concerned with going into detail about the early years of Dr. Stringer and the house, or discounted the articles as not being credible.

On page 237 where Grismer is describing Tampa's growth, he tells of the plans for the new 1914 city hall, built on the site of the old 1890 city hall. He states, "Additional land needed was purchased from the estate of Sheldon Stringer whose old home was on the northwest corner of Florida and Jackson at the rear of old city hall." It is unclear of Grismer means the purchase of the Stringer house property occurred in 1914 for the "new" city hall, or if it occurred for the building of the 1890 city hall. (In 1890 Dr. Stringer no longer lived in Tampa and his widowed mother, Mary, died in 1874. She apparently still owned the house at that time. Dr. Stringer, Sr. died in 1903, so it would not have been from his estate. The house and property it stood on was indeed purchased from the estate of Mary Stringer for the building of the 1890 city hall, even though the city hall itself only occupied the north half of the property and not the south half where the house stood.)

Grismer never covers the subject of when the Stringers came to Tampa and when their house was built, nor who it was built for. He only seems to touch on the subject when he says "A little later Dr. S. Stringer arrived."

In 1998, Prof. Canter Brown, Jr. wrote about what Tampa was like just before the 1848 hurricane. In The most terrible gale ever known -Tampa and the Hurricane of 1848. In The Sunland Tribune, Journal of the Tampa Historical Society, Volume XXIV 1998, he states: A few houses dotted the landscape inside Tampa’s surveyed limits east of the river. Among them, widow Mary Stringer occupied a dwelling where Tampa’s city hall now stands. He goes on to describe other residents and their locations--the A. H. Henderson family, surveyor John Jackson, the Darling & Griffin store (later called Kennedy & Darling), the town’s principal hostelry, the Palmer House Hotel, operated by Port Collector John M. Palmer and his wife Margaret F. Palmer, the L. G. Covacevich home, Judge Steele’s former residence, a Seminole War blockhouse, and the Simon Turman and William Ashley homes.

In Prof. Brown's description of the events at the Jackson house, he appears to have written from the 1924 account of Thomas Jackson; either from his original letter to the Times, or from the article published in the Times. Here, Brown adds the possible identity of the "elderly woman" as "likely Mary Stringer."

Events at the Jackson home then proceeded at a maddening pace. One elderly woman, likely Mary Stringer, expressed the terror that she felt by voicing an acute fear of getting her feet wet. "When the water began to come into the house this lady and others got up on the chairs and from there to the tables," recalled son Thomas E. Jackson. "When the house began to rock on the blocks, a change to some other refuge was contemplated," he added. "The old lady selected old Captain Paine, a large portly gentleman, to bear her out and keep her feet dry." Jackson concluded, "This Captain Paine consented, but, unfortunately, when he left the porch, he became entangled in a mass of drifting fire place wood, and the couple were soon prostrate in the surging waters. "Subsequently, the house floated off its blocks and "crossed the street and bumped into three large hickory trees that barred its way for hours."

Events at the Jackson home then proceeded at a maddening pace. One elderly woman, likely Mary Stringer, expressed the terror that she felt by voicing an acute fear of getting her feet wet. "When the water began to come into the house this lady and others got up on the chairs and from there to the tables," recalled son Thomas E. Jackson. "When the house began to rock on the blocks, a change to some other refuge was contemplated," he added. "The old lady selected old Captain Paine, a large portly gentleman, to bear her out and keep her feet dry." Jackson concluded, "This Captain Paine consented, but, unfortunately, when he left the porch, he became entangled in a mass of drifting fire place wood, and the couple were soon prostrate in the surging waters. "Subsequently, the house floated off its blocks and "crossed the street and bumped into three large hickory trees that barred its way for hours."

In 2017 the City of Tampa released The City Clerks of Tampa. In the city clerk timeline on page 27, it shows Stringer succeeded Tampa's first city clerk, William Ashley, and Stringer's clerkship from Feb. 9, 1857 to Feb. 10, 1858. The source is Council Minute Book #1, page 4. Three paragraphs on Stringer appear on page 30 where it says Stringer's signature is the first signature in the city council books because William Ashley did not sign any of his entries in his first term. It claims Stringer was born in 1834 and that he came to Tampa in 1841 with his family. It then says his father built the house in 1842 at the corner of Jackson and Florida Ave. It goes on to mention its purchase by Stalnaker and the move to Ybor in 1915. More biographical information is presented from his graduation from medical school in 1859 to his death in 1903, and his surviving family. It ends with info about the Stringer family home in Brooksville now being a museum and open to the public.

This work isn't footnoted, but at the end of the publication it cites Grismer, E. L. Robinson, Canter Brown, Dr. James Covington among some of its sources. None of these are the source of the 1841 date of the Stringers arrival. Neither does another source; History of Florida, past and present, historical and biographical., v.2. by Harry G. Cutler, 1923. The earliest account that gives an 1842-1843 construction date is the 1948 Tampa Tribune article, which is not cited in City Clerks of Tampa.

It is of TampaPix's opinion that oral histories handed down over the years are the least reliable. I have found time and time again original source records in my research which show the "witness" testimonies passed from generation to generation have almost always evolved or been embellished to the point where they are very different from the the story the source records created at the time of the event show. This is quite rampant in genealogical family histories, particularly when connecting one's roots to a famous or infamous person or noble heritage.

Here we have an author relying on an account from someone (Thomas Jackson) who wrote his letter decades after the event, based on information given while a child or quite young, from stories told by his parents. Imagine the whole family reminiscing some years or decades later, about the great gale of 1848, and young Thomas hearing the stories, possibly already partly faded from memory. Thomas Jackson was born in Tampa in 1852, four years after the hurricane, and so he was in his mid-70s at the time of the article. Jackson never names the Stringers; he only corroborates at the beginning of the article in agreement with what Winchell wrote. Perhaps the short reference to Mary Stringer in the Winchell article was of no particular importance to Jackson, since he doesn't provide any further reference to them.

As for Ferris, he was a child at the time of the hurricane. A an event through the eyes of a child is easily misunderstood or subject to much imagination and over decades, the thoughts turn into facts, albeit unintentionally. He mentions Mary Stringer being in Tampa before the hurricane, but no mention of whether the Stringer house survived or was destroyed. He could have easily forgotten if the Stringers had a new house built on the same property after John Givens came to Tampa in Dec. 1848, three months after the hurricane.