Sunday Favorites: Luxury in the Wild South

Florida has always been a frontier where folks with high hopes come to accomplish their dreams and discover a better life. But long ago, the harsh climate, buggy conditions and state of unrest was far from the utopia many imagined. During the 1870-90s, one visionary’s contribution to the wild South set the foundation for the state, in a more luxurious and comfortable fashion.

A century before Walt Disney crated his imaginary world in Orlando, Henry Bradley Plant was forging breathtaking resorts and creating easy access to them via railway. His hotels stretched from Fort Myers to Tampa Bay to Orange County, but it was originally misfortune that brought the tycoon to Florida in the first place.

Plant was born in Branford, Conn., on October 27, 1819. He and his family lived in modest but comfortable circumstances. However, when Plant was only 6 years old, his father and sister died tragically of typhus fever and he and his mom were left to fend for themselves.

Things got better in the late 1820s, when Plant’s mother remarried and moved the family to New York during the heart of the Industrial Age. The factories mesmerized Plant and he became interested in industry at an early age. While Plant struggled in school, he excelled during an apprenticeship on a side-wheel steamship. After a short stint as a steamboat captain, he fell in love with the newly developed railroad system.

Plant married Ellen Elizabeth Blackstone in 1846 and the two bore a son named Morton Freeman Plant. Life was good in New York, as Henry was excelling as an executive in the freight and cargo industry. But, in the early 1950’s, Ellen fell victim to tuberculosis. As was custom at the time, a doctor recommended a visit to Florida to help ease the progression of Ellen’s disease.

It was then Plant took a job as superintendent with Adams Express Company in Augusta, Ga., where he began making connections all throughout the South. Plant gained knowledge of the ins-and-outs of the southern steamship and railroad systems, and the company excelled under his leadership.

At the onset of the Civil War, executives at Adams feared the Confederate states would confiscate the company, and actively sought a buyer. Plant utilized his connections to find investors and bought the company for himself, thus starting the Southern Express Company.

It was then that Plant saw the war as an opportunity. He was able to convince Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate states, to allow his railway to transport all Confederate monies, including those allocated to soldiers and other important packages. Davis also pardoned all Southern Express Railway employees from the draft.

The railway then drew criticism for its loyalty to the South, and in the midst of public outcry, Ellen Plant died of tuberculosis in 1862. Following the tragedy, Plant took a much-needed trip to Europe, leaving his best worker to head the company.

Plant never returned to the Confederate states. One of the last wartime duties of the railway was to transport $1.5 million in Confederate gold from Columbia S.C., to Augusta, Ga. The gold vanished, but Plant and his right-hand-man denied any involvement in the controversy.

The end of the war brought more controversy for Plant, who battled for ownership of the company both in and out of courtrooms, later expanding his operations by purchasing Texas Express Company and Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

After that, Plant fell out of the public eye, marrying Margaret Josephine Loughman in 1873 and taking his newly formed family on a extended European escapade. Upon returning to the states, Plant launched his railroad empire that would transform Florida for good.

Tune in next week to find how Plant’s southern railway system shaped the landscape of Florida and his European influence brought culture and luxury to the wild South.