superintendent, a position which he held until his death, during the war between the states.

At that time Dr. N. F. Walker was serving in the Confederate Army, and was immediately called home to take up the position left vacant by the death of his father. He entered enthusiastically into the work, carrying through his father's ideas and amplifying them. He has studied the questions that have arisen from various angles, and has gathered a great deal of material from the experiences of other men who have worked along the same lines. Five children were born to Doctor and Mrs. Walker: Harold Eppes, who ably serves as head of the educational department of the Tennessee State School for the Deaf; Albert Hayne, of this notice; Newton Pinckney, whose death occurred in 1894; William Laurens, in charge of the active management of the South Carolina State School, under the presidency of his father; and Virginia Eppes, the wife of Robert M. Hitch, of Savannah, Georgia.

During the boyhood and youth of Albert Hayne Walker he came into almost daily contact with unfortunate wards of the state who were under the care of his father, and there grew within him a constantly increasing desire to assist them and to endeavor to lighten the burdens of their afflictions. He acquired his primary educational training at the Wofford Fitting School at Spartanburg and the University of South Carolina, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts as a member of the class of 1890. At that time he accepted a position as teacher in the Texas and Tennessee School for the Deaf and the Blind, where he acted as head teacher until coming to Florida in the capacity of principal of the educational department in the state school in 1902. His able services along this line were soon recognized, and in 1906 he was appointed to the position of president. He has instituted a number of innovations which have proven greatly to the benefit of the pupils, and has accomplished results that a few years ago were not even dreamed of. The instruction given in the school is so thorough and so carefully selected that its pupils become useful members of society in the truest sense of the word, and to this result the highly laudable endeavors of President Walker have in a large measure contributed. In recognition of splendid service rendered in 1916 the University of Florida conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature. Conscientious, earnest and capable in the discharge of his responsibilities, Doctor Walker has shown his capacity to fill the important position to which he has been called by his state. Personally he is a kindly man, of even tenor, who has the respect and confidence of the people of St. Augustine and the affection and gratitude of the wards under his care. In commenting upon his most recent reappointment by the State Board of Control a newspaper stated: "It will be interesting to the many friends of the school that with the close of this session Doctor Walker will have completed his twentieth year of service in the state school, sixteen of which have been in the position of president. Any one looking back to the school as it was in 1902, housed in old, firetrap frame buildings, all so poorly equipped, with educational advantages so limited, and with an enrollment of scarcely more than fifty, cannot help but marvel at the growth of the school in only twenty years' time."

In 1896 Doctor Walker married Miss Betty Rawlings, of Columbia, South Carolina, a daughter of J. B. and Mary J. Rawlings, residents of

Virginia. Two children have been born to this union: Virginia Eppes and Lilah Octavia.

WILLIAM ROWAN GROOVER, M. D. A busy professional man, in active practice at Lakeland for a quarter of a century, Doctor Groover has been all the more useful to his community because he has not been devoted entirely to the routine of his vocation. He has accumulated business interests, has worked with his progressive fellow citizens in various undertakings for the general welfare, and to some degree at least the distinction Lakeland enjoys among Florida cities is due to plans and movements he has set in motion there.

Doctor Groover is a native son of Florida, and his people were pioneers of the state. He was born August 9, 1867, in Columbia County, near the present site of the town of Hagen. At that time this was an isolated rural district with little development. Doctor Groover is a son of Rev. Rowan J. and Julia (Douglass) Groover. His father, a native of Georgia, came to Florida in the early fifties. He cultivated and improved some of the first farm land in Columbia County, and in the early years of his residence there some of his nearest neighbors were Indians, and the hunting of wild game was an important source of the daily livelihood of a family. Rowan J. Groover at the outbreak of the Civil war joined the Fifth Florida Regiment, and soon went with this regiment into the Army of Northern Virginia under General Lee. He was in some of the hardest fighting of the war, including the battles of Spottsylvania Court House, Gettysburg and the Wilderness. He was finally captured, and was confined a prisoner at Fort Lookout, Maryland, until paroled. He was at home when the final surrender occurred at Appomattox.

Rowan J. Groover lived for nearly half a century after his return from the army. He died in his seventy-sixth year, December 29, 1914. This period was filled with many activities. In addition to operating his farm in Columbia County he was ordained a minister of the Primitive Baptist Church, and filled a pulpit nearly every Sunday, and for sixteen consecutive years was elected moderator of the Suwannee River Primitive Baptist Association. He was also a member of the Florida Legislature. In Columbia County Rev. Mr. Groover married Julia Douglass, a native of that county, where her parents were pioneers. She is now in her seventy-eighth year and resides at Lake Butler, Florida. Rev. and Mrs. Groover were the parents of sixteen children, and reared thirteen of them to maturity.

His

The fifth child is William Rowan Groover. There was much in his early environment calculated to bring out the essential strength of his character and develop his talents. He helped in the work of the farm, and his school privileges while there were limited to a few months each year in the district school. However, at home he profited much by the teachings and the influence of the personal character of his parents. mother was a woman of superior intelligence and encouraged her son in his efforts to make the most of his time and opportunities. Doctor Groover has achieved success in his first permanent ambition, but it required a number of years of determined effort on his part to realize the educational qualifications for the practice of medicine. At the age of eighteen, on his own resources, he began teaching, and spent several years in that Occupation in the country schools of Georgia and Florida. With his earnings he enrolled as a stu

dent in the Southern Medical College at Atlanta, now the medical department of Emory University, and was graduated and received his degree there in 1892. For about six years Doctor Groover practiced at Fort White, Florida, and in January, 1898, located at Lakeland. Here he has had a large general practice for many years, and the only important interruption thereto came during the World war.

Doctor Groover volunteered his professional services to the Government in 1917, and in July was commissioned a lieutenant. He was assigned to active duty at the Base Hospital at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Georgia, and continued his work until mustered out in December, 1918, having been in the meantime promoted to the rank of captain.

The community of Lakeland has come to appreciate Doctor Groover's readiness of response not only to professional calls but to those demands made upon the public-spirited citizen for practical cooperation in matters for the public betterment. He has given liberally both of his time and efforts to said causes. For six consecutive years he was a member of the Lakeland City School Board, and in that capacity worked earnestly to improve the facilities of education. He has also served on the City Council, and one of the measures with which he was especially identified was the passage of the present telephone franchise. Doctor Groover is president of the Kiwanis Club of Lakeland. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason and Knight of Pythias, and is a member of the various medical associations. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and votes as a democrat.

April 1, 1891, Doctor Groover married Miss Mary Matilda Knowles. She is also a native of Columbia County, Florida, and her parents, James J. and Elizabeth (Sandlin) Knowles, were a prosperous family identified with the early settlement of that section of the state. Five children were born to the marriage of Doctor and Mrs. Groover: Arthur Van Dyke, now deceased; Morgan, an active young business man at Lakeland, and assoIciated with his father as a member of the firm Groover & Son; Sue Ella, wife of R. N. Skipper, of Lakeland; Mary Agnes, wife of Judge Spessard Holland, of Bartow, Florida; and Kittie Loehr, deceased.

WILLIAM WHITWELL DEWHURST. As a strong and active member of the St. Augustine bar for thirty-six years, William Whitwell Dewhurst wields an influence that only men of unusual strength of character and power can exercise in a community of this importance. He is a native of New England, born at Greenland, New Hampshire, July 3, 1850, and is a son of George Dewhurst and Sarah Emerline (Williams) Dewhurst.

The father of Mr. Dewhurst was a sea captain by vocation, and during the Civil war was acting master and navigator of the sloop of war "Brooklyn," in which connection he distinguished himself in the battle which resulted in the capture of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, near New Orleans. In 1870 he bought a plantation on the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, where he spent the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of three sons and two daughters, and William W., the fourth in order of birth, is the only survivor.

After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy with the class of 1871, William W. Dewhurst entered Harvard College, class of 1875. At the end of his freshman year he took up the study of civil engineering at the Lawrence Scien

tific School, Harvard University, but left before completing the course and took a position in the engineering corps of the Wisconsin Central Railroad. Coming to Florida at a time when there was little work to do in the line of his chosen profession, he was appointed postmaster at St. Augustine in 1878, and while serving his second term as postmaster began the study of law. After taking a summer course at the University of Virginia, he was admitted to the bar in 1886. Mr. Dewhurst entered upon the practice of the law without the benefit of office training when he was thirty-six years of age, and his probationary period as a lawyer was a hard one. He had many difficulties in mastering questions of practice, having a number of cases decided against him by the Supreme Court of Florida upon purely technical points of practice. What measure of success as a lawyer he has reached, and it is by no means a modest one, has been in large measure due to his industry and close application. He has been counsel in some of the largest cases tried in the Florida and Federal Courts. In the case of Mitchell, governor of Florida, vs. Furman, as counsel for the state he secured a reversal by the Supreme Court of the United States of a decree of the District Court which held as valid the Spanish grant to Jesse Fish of 10,000 acres of land (Anastasia Island). In the case of the United States vs. Dalcour as counsel for the claimants for a Spanish grant of more than 1,000,000 acres in West Florida he obtained a decree in the District Court, which was reversed by the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1912 he brought to a successful issue the suit of the Florida East Coast Railway vs. the Trustees, etc., of the State of Florida for more than 1,000,000 acres of land granted the railroad company by the State of Florida. In 1907 Mr. Dewhurst prepared and published Dewhurst's Annotated Rules of the Federal Courts, containing citations from more than 2,000 cases decided in the Supreme Court, the Circuit Court of Appeals, the Circuit Court and the District Courts of the United States. This book on practice has received high commendation from practitioners in the Federal Courts, and was republished, in a second edition, in 1914. Mr. Dewhurst is ranked as one of the leading lawyers of Florida. In suits affecting corporations, estates and title to land, especially Spanish grants in Florida, his practice extends over the whole state. For many years he was local counsel for the late Henry M. Flagler, and at the present time is attorney for the Flagler System Land Companies, general counsel for the Model Land Company, the Okeechobee Company and the Chuluota Company, local counsel for the Florida East Coast Railway Company, and counsel for the St. Augustine Improvement Company and the St. Augustine Gas and Electric Light Company. He is the author of a history of St. Augustine, which has been received with much favor by both press and public.

A republican in his political affiliation, in addition to serving three terms in the capacity of postmaster of St. Augustine Mr. Dewhurst has been mayor of the city and assistant to the attorney-general of the United States. He is a member of the Advisory Board, law department, of Stetson University, a trustee of the Flagler Hospital and the Buckingham Smith Benevolent Association, an honorary member of the St. Augustine Yacht Club and a member of the St. Augustine Golf Club. He has numerous business interests and is the owner of Paradise Prairie, a

large tract of land near Cape Sable. His offices are located at 8 and 10 Municipal Building, St. Augustine.

On October 24, 1878, Mr. Dewhurst married Fanny Brigham, born at Albany, New York, a daughter of Charles and Cordelia (Rundell) Brigham, both of whom are deceased. Of the two daughters and two sons in the Brigham family three are now living, and Mrs. Dewhurst was the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Dewhurst have had four children, of whom two died in infancy, the others being Mary, the wife of Heber Blankenham, of New York City; and Dorothy, the wife of Grosvenor A. Parker, with two daughters, Jean and Sylvia, and with home in St. Augustine.

CRICKET PREWITT. To the real newspaper man the vocation of journalist is the only one in the world. Without doubt many others are more remunerative and some have features that are more agreeable in some ways, but the attraction is in the nature of a "leading," and it is the testimony of veteran journalists that "once a newspaper man, always one." From the time that he was fourteen years of age Cricket Prewitt has been engaged in newspaper publishing, and while he is still a young man as to years, his experience is extensive. At present he is the editor and publisher of the Nassau County Leader of Fernandina, one of the leading publications of its kind in Northern Florida.

Mr. Prewitt was born at Ackerman, Choctaw County, Mississippi, June 15, 1891, and is a son of John N. and Margaret (McMakin) Prewitt. His father was born in Choctaw County, May 21, 1850, and received a college education at French Camp, Mississippi. As a young man he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, raising cotton on the plantation of his father, and remained in Mississippi until February, 1891, at which time he came to Florida and located at Orlando. Later he moved to Lake County, this state, where he planted an orange grove, and this promised to do well until killed in the great freeze of 1895. Following this Mr. Prewitt went to Stark, Bradford County, Florida, where his death occurred February 2, 1900. He was a democrat in politics, and his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian Church, while Mrs. Prewitt belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Prewitt was born in Winston County, Mississippi, October 27, 1861, and still survives. They were the parents of four children: Annie; F. M.; Bessie L., the wife of Dr. J. H. Coffee; and Cricket.

The public schools of Waldo, Alachua County, Florida, furnished Cricket Prewitt with his early educational training, and when he was only fourteen years of age he disclosed in what way his inclinations lay by commencing to publish the Waldo News, a weekly newspaper. This was a very creditable effort for the youth, and proved to serve as excellent training for what the later years were to bring. He had just passed his majority, in 1912, when he established the Nassau County Leader, and this he brought to Fernandina December 15, 1920, at which time he also absorbed the News Record of this city. The News Record had been established in 1888 as the Fernandina News, and in 1910 had been absorbed by the News Record. Mr. Prewitt now publishes a weekly paper, issued every Friday, of six pages, each of six columns. It is well printed and well edited and contains reliable news matter, timely editorials and features making it an interesting weekly visitor to its readers,

who are found all over Nassau County and in the surrounding territory. As an editor Mr. Prewitt has achieved a recognized place. His mental eye has keen and swift perception of all the points of his subject. Forming clear ideas, he expresses them with accuracy, force and a grace that comes from natural taste and cultivated fancy.

A democrat in politics, Mr. Prewitt has taken more than a passing interest in public affairs. In 1916 he was elected supervisor of registration of Nassau County, but resigned and was later elected to the office of democratic executive committeeman. In 1921 he was appointed supervisor of registration of Nassau County by Governor Hardee. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Prewitt first became a member of Callahan Lodge No. 32, F. and A. M., in which he served as master for two terms, but in 1921 demitted and became a member of Amelia Lodge No. 47, F. and A. M. He is also past district grand master of Callahan Lodge No. 90, I. O. O. F., and belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star.

On September 26, 1911, Mr. Prewitt married Miss Bessie Pearl Geiger, and to this union there has been born one daughter, Vesta.

EFFINGHAM WAGNER BAILEY. Among the enterprising and progressive citizens of Fernandina who while advancing their own interests and fortunes have also endeavored to contribute to their community's welfare and betterment, few have given themselves so whole-heartedly to the work as Effingham Wagner Bailey, who up to January I, 1923, was vice president of the steamship and forwarding agents firm of McGiffin & Company, and was the builder of the handsome Keystone Hotel. During a busy career he has experienced a number of the vicissitudes which are apt to occur in the life of a man of action, but at all times has maintained his affection for and faith in his adopted community.

Mr. Bailey was born at Charleston, South Carolina, July 11, 1866, and is a son of William Henry and Eugenia (Wagner) Bailey, natives of the same city. Dr. William Henry Bailey was born June 13, 1835, and after attending private schools in his youth entered the Charleston Medical College, later pursuing a course at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and finally taking a post-graduate course which included attendance at noted institutions of Heidelburg, Germany, and Paris, France. He returned to the United States not long before the outbreak of the Civil war and became a surgeon in the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army, with which he served until the close of the struggle. After the war he became demonstrator of anatomy at Charleston Medical College, a position which he retained until his death in 1881. He was a member of the various organizations of his profession, held membership in the Knights of Pythias, and was a democrat in political faith. His religious belief was that of the Episcopal Church. Mrs. Bailey, who was born January 31, 1839, died in 1884. There were four children in the family, all of whom are living, and Effingham W. was the third in order of birth.

Effingham Wagner Bailey attended the public schools of Charleston, including the Bennett High School of that city, and later pursued a course at Porter Military Academy. He was not yet fifteen years of age when his father died, and his first employment was as a messenger for a general store, his salary being $1.50 per week. From