RE Log Fall 2016

1837 to 1856 John Dubose , lighthouse keeper on Key Biscayne, built a home on the mainland located at “Sassifras Hammock on the Big Spring.” Peter Johnson , a native of Sweden, operated a comptie starch mill on the shores of Biscayne Bay, probably at the location of the “Big Spring.” (Comptie starch was an extraction from the roots of a small plant called the Zamia floridana .) 1868 Edmund Beasley , one of Coconut Grove’s earli- est residents, filed an application for 160 acres of land that included the property now known as 3551 Main Highway. In a 1943 article by Mary Barr Munroe, she described the Beasley house as a log cabin thatched with palmetto leaves. The article also recalled the existence of ruins from Beasley’s old stone chimney on the grounds of the Ransom school. La Brisa: stories. Fellow pioneer Charles Pierce described Munroe as “the most enter- taining man I had ever met.” The couple also founded a literary club for Coconut Grove’s black residents, and directed efforts to found the first library in the black community. Mary Barr Munroe helped found Coconut Grove’s Housekeepers Club, and a similar club for girls called the Pine Needles Club. There, she read to the girls excerpts from great classics and taught them handiwork and crafts. She also invited girls from the black commu- nity to Scrububs for stories and cookies. She babysat many of those children to assist their mothers while they worked, and offered medical services to families in need. She also ensured that a beloved companion who for years worked at Scrububs was provided for. When she died, Mary Barr Munroe left Alice Burrows a title to a new home on Charles Avenue. The Munroes also fraternized with local Seminoles, seeking to understand their needs and culture – another practice that defied the custom of the time. They invited Seminole families into their home. They urged them to collect fresh water from a spring near the bay that was considered one of Scrubub’s most valuable assets, and pro- vided unfettered access to the property’s vegetable garden. A famous Seminole chief known as Big Charlie camped with his family on the Munroes’ lawn. The re- lationship between the Munroes and the Seminole community grew so strong, Kirk acted as something of an ambas- sador for the tribe to the U.S. govern- ment, frequently visiting the Seminoles in their camps in the Everglades to help mediate disputes. He was always welcomed. The Munroes also sought protections for birds and animals, becoming the re- gion’s first animal-rights activists. Mary Barr, the first president of the Coconut Grove Audubon Society, challenged visi- tors to Scrububs when they wore bird plumage of any kind; she was known for plucking egret feathers from hats and offering impromptu lectures on the eth- ics of such adornment. Her husband shared her passion. When Kirk Munroe, the founding vice president of the Florida Audubon Society, encountered an injured manatee that had been har- pooned in the tail, he nursed it back to health for six weeks, then petitioned for the first animal- protection legislation in Florida. Munroe’s ef- forts helped persuade the state legislature to make the penalty for killing a manatee $500. The Munroes also enjoyed transforming the rough growth surrounding Scrububs into tropical flow- ers and fruit trees, even winning prizes at local exhibitions for their citrus cultivation. A box of Florida or- ange blossoms plucked from one of the Munroes’ trees helped persuade Henry Flagler to extend his railroad to Miami, the Miami Metropolis reported. During the Spanish-American War, drinking water from the spring was sent daily to a U.S. fleet anchored in Key West. Kirk Munroe spent hours fishing and sailing on a 35-foot sailboat that he named Allapattah, an Indian word for alligator. In 1887, Scrububs hosted the The Munroes also fraternized with local Seminole Indians, seeking to understand their needs and culture – another practice that defied the custom of the time. Mary Barr Munroe Zamia 8 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2016