DeFuniak Springs' Buried history revealed
Magnolia Cemetery shares her stories
The Buried American
History Tour featured a Florida Governor; an early Chautauquan and Consul
General to Edinburgh Scotland; a slave reported to have fathered more than 100
children; A Ripley’s Believe It or Not “human flag;” and a doctor who impacted
national medical culture.
Florida Governor
Sidney J. Catts was inaugurated on January 2, 1917, and was the first Florida
governor since 1877 to represent a political party other than the Democratic
Party. Catts was a member of the Prohibition Party and his was the first
political campaign to utilize cars instead of the traditional horse and buggy
making him able to visit more rural communities and garner more votes.
Gravesite of Florida Governor Sidney J. Catts
Catts has been
interred in Magnolia Cemetery since his death in 1936.
Consul to Edinburgh
Scotland from 1889 until 1893, Wallace Bruce was instrumental in
bringing the Florida Chautauqua to DeFuniak Springs and was its president until
his death in 1914. Born in New York in 1844, Bruce was a scholar,
author, poet, lecturer and visionary who saw great things for DeFuniak Springs.
Gravesite of Wallace Bruce
Tom “Big” M. Stockman was a slave from Angola Africa who is reported to
have fathered 136 children, one of which, Carrie B. Oates, is buried beside
him. Stockman was brought to Mobile Alabama aboard the Clotilda, the last known
slave ship to arrive in North America.
Gravesite of Tom Stockman
Descendants of
Stockman attended the cemetery tour to honor their ancestor and learn more
about his life. Stockman died in 1936 and is interred
in Magnolia Cemetery.
Perry Biddle was known at age 90 as Ripley Believe it or Not’s “Human Flag,” and could perform incredible physical feats well into his nineties. His home, “The Biddle House,” at 203 Scribner Avenue was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 and features a largely symmetrical design, a cross gable roof and a frieze.
Gravesite of Perry Biddle
Biddle has been
interred at Magnolia Cemetery since his death in 1945 at age 98.
Dr. Ralph Spires came
to DeFuniak Springs as a youth and attended Walton Senior High School
graduating in 1923. He later attended the University of South Carolina and
received his medical degree from Columbia Medical School. Spires returned to
DeFuniak Springs to begin his medical practice in 1929 and went on to open
Lakeside Hospital in 1939 bringing up-to-date medical practices to the local
area and pioneering the modern concept of birthing centers.
Spires has been interred at Magnolia Cemetery since
his death in 1966.
To learn more about Magnolia Cemetery, its residents,
events and/or volunteer opportunities, visit the City of DeFuniak online at
DeFuniakSprings.net. or email Coordinator Chris Mitchell at cemeterycoordinator@
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Originally published in DeFuniak Springs Herald 06.15.22
Customized versions available by request
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