Julia DeForest Tuttle, “Mother of Miami” (Wikipedia)

Julia DeForest Tuttle
“Mother of Miami”
The only woman to found a major American city

Julia DeForest Sturtevant Tuttle earned the title “Mother of Miami” because she is the only woman who is attributed to founding a major U.S. city. She was born in 1849 and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio where, one report says, her father, Ephraim Sturtevant, was a professor at Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio after graduating from Yale University. Not much is known about Julia’s early years except that her family was educated. Her father married three times, the first two wives preceded him in death, and Julia was the child of Ephraim and his third wife, Frances Pierce Leonard. Many articles on the web give divergent years for events in Julia’s life, but one fact doesn’t waver: she was a businesswoman, although she was in debt most of her life.

In 1867 she married Frederick Leonard Tuttle, who owned an iron foundry. In 1875 Julia, Frederick and their two young children visited her father, who had moved to the Biscayne Bay area of Florida because of failing health. The area where he moved was named Fort Dallas, a military base on the banks of the Miami River. He developed land and had homesteaders on his property. He owned a 40-acre orange grove and farmed tropical fruits and flowers. Julia fell in love with the area, although she and the family returned to Cleveland.

Her father died in 1881, and Julia inherited his estate, her three half-sibling having passed away before their father did. Julia’s husband’s health had declined from tuberculosis, and she helped him with his business, but when he died in 1891, she learned they were in debt. As a result, she sold the business and moved to Fort Dallas. There she bought 640 acres of land, which is now Miami.

She convinced Henry Flagler, a railroad magnate, to extend his railroad line, the Florida East Coast Railroad, to Miami. In exchange, she deeded him about half of her 640 acres of land. He agreed to lay out streets, provide infrastructure and build a hotel, which became the Royal Palm Hotel.

In part of a letter to a friend, Julia wrote, “It may seem strange to you, but it is the dream of my life to see this wilderness turned into a prosperous country.”

Her dream was fulfilled, and today Miami is the second-largest city in Florida after Jacksonville and ranks about 42^nd in population of U.S. cities.   Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties rank 8^th in metropolitan areas.

 Bio

• Born – January 22, 1849 in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1867 – January 22: Married Frederick Leonard Tuttle on her 18^th birthday
• 1868 – Daughter, Frances Emeline, born
• 1870 – Son, Henry Ethlebert, born
• 1881 – Frederick died from tuberculosis
• 1886 – Julia moved to Florida

Career

• 1891 – Bought land in the Fort Dallas area of Florida
• 1896 – The East Coast Railway reached Miami on April 7
• 1896 – Miami incorporated on July 28

Personal

• 1897 – Julia’s daughter, Frances “Fanny,” married Charles Conrad Saunders on April 12 at the Fort Dallas barracks.
• 1898 – Julia Tuttle died in Miami on September 14, 1898 at the age of 49.
• 1898 – Julia’s son Henry “Harry” married Corrie Rosetta Fowler October 11, almost a month after his mother’s death
• Frances and Henry inherited her estate, but Julia was deep in debt having given away a large portion of her property to Flagler. The children paid off the bills, and the only real inheritance they maintained was the Fort Dallas homestead.

 Further information
https://medium.com/metro-news/julia-tuttles-real-estate-holdings-2ea00829cfc0
www.miami-history.com/p/daughter-of-julia-tuttle-gets-married-in-1897
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_Sturtevant

My ebooks available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com:
Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists