Category: Biography Publisher: Alice L. Luckhardt
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 68
Copyright: April 2008
One man, a native of Florida, a lawman and his adventures in early Florida.
There are always individuals in a region's history that can be overlooked or 'lost' over time. One such person I have now brought to the forefront of the history in Martin County, Florida.
He was one of the youngest city Chief of Police in Florida.
This Florida native was Oren B. "O. B." Padgett, from Taylor County, Florida. The time frame was the 1920s, a period of bootleggers and outlaws during America's Prohibition era. O. B. served as a Deputy Sheriff then Stuart's Chief of Police from 1924 to 1926. However, things would not go smoothly for this young lawman.
The book, "O. B. Padgett - A Florida Son" covers his life (the good, bad and ugly). Most interesting are the 'lost' personal recollections written by O. B. Padgett between 1976 to 1978 before his death in 1980 which are included in the book.
An article in the May issue of FLORIDA MONTHLY MAGAZINE, pages 8 - 10, is a brief overview of one of the events in O. B.'s life as Chief of Police in Stuart in the 1920s.
Excerpt
In his final years of the mid-1970s, Padgett wrote his recollections of the events in Stuart and of the Ashley Gang. As he wrote, "I am going to tell it like it was - word for word - as I saw it and know it to be a fact. I never have made a statement." He goes on to write, “So, all I can do is just ‘tell it like it was’ as it happened and of my experience in the case; the way I came to know the Ashleys and the Mobleys and by whom I came to know them, both before and after I became Chief of Police in Stuart and Deputy Sheriff of Palm Beach County.”
My memories as an immigrant professional woman in Ottawa, Canada 47 years ago. A new life after having survived the liberal war of a new country Bangladesh on December 16, 1971.
The story of Ron Hull, paralyzed in a surgical accident back in the dreaded polio epidemic days, was able to overcome most of the stigma and stereotypes and "pass for normal" for 30 years. As Ron's paralysis increased gradually through the next 20
My memories as an immigrant professional woman in Ottawa, Canada 47 years ago. A new life after having survived the liberal war of a new country Bangladesh on December 16, 1971.
