We’ve all heard of the Barefoot Mailman.
But what about John Clemenson, the Fiddling Mailman?
Read all about him, from the Brown Wrapper series published by The Palm Beach Post from 1977 to 1985:
Brown Wrapper: The Fiddling Mailman
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On Oct. 9, 1887, mail carrier James E. “Ed” Hamilton set out on his usual route, from Palm Beach to Hypoluxo by skiff, then continuing on foot and arriving at the Hillsboro Inlet the next day. Hamilton was never seen again, and it’s believed he was drowned or killed by sharks or alligators while crossing the inlet.
Read more about the history of the Barefoot Mailmen here and on the Barefoot Mailman Facebook page.
These illustrations are from studies of the murals commissioned by the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts in 1939. Artist Stevan Dohanos painted six murals depicting the “Legend of James Edward Hamilton, Mail Carrier.” Studies of three of the murals are in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum collection. The murals still hang in the West Palm Beach Post Office on Summit Boulevard.
Tags: Barefoot Mailman, mysteries, This Week in History
As reported in The Palm Beach Post, Boca Raton middle schooler Hayley Crowell may have solved the 120-year-old mystery of the disappearance of Barefoot Mailman James Edward Hamilton, but how much do we know about the other Barefoot Mailmen?
Hamilton’s disappearance inspired a book and a movie, and the Barefoot Mailman image has been memorialized in the Hypoluxo town seal, statues, murals and historical markers.
Most accounts list 11 barefoot mailmen, but Jensen Beach artisan Marty Baum has documents showing that there were at least 20 Barefoot Mailmen covering the route from Daytona Beach to Biscayne Bay, including one who is said to have walked his route naked.
Photo is courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.
Tags: Barefoot Mailman
For as long as anyone can remember, articles and books published by The Palm Beach Post have counted 11 “Barefoot Mailmen” who walked from Palm Beach to Miami barefoot along the hard sand at the ocean’s edge from 1885 to 1893.
The March 28 obituary on Margaret Garnett Harris, believed to be the last surviving child of a Barefoot Mailman, included that number.
But Jensen Beach artisan Marty Baum has documents showing that there were at least 20 Barefoot Mailmen.
Baum said documents show that mailmen walked from Daytona Beach to Biscayne Bay as early as 1851.
Baum gives presentations in the character of his great-great-grandfather, Capt. Hannibal D. Pierce.
Pierce was keeper of the Orange Grove House of Refuge, in what’s now Delray Beach, from 1876 to 1877, and keeper of the Biscayne House of Refuge from 1882 to 1883.
Baum has studied the records of the Orange Grove house from 1883 to 1897, which were discovered at the Florida Historical Society headquarters in Cocoa.
His list includes James Edward Hamilton, who vanished on Oct. 11, 1887, while swimming in the Hillsboro Inlet near Pompano Beach, as well as the two men who took over his route: Andrew W. Garnett, Margaret’s father, and Charles Pierce, Baum’s great uncle.
It also includes an H. J. Burkhardt, who is said to have walked his route naked.
And there’s an “R Bradley,” whom Baum said is the father of Guy Bradley, whose 1905 murder by plume poachers in the Everglades made him one of the first martyrs of the environmental movement.
The first Barefoot Mailman shown passing the Orange Grove refuge: Charles “Charley” Coman, on Dec. 18, 1884.
Edward Pent made the last run, on Jan. 22, 1893.
Tags: Barefoot Mailman
Q: Several weeks ago you wrote an article about the Barefoot Mailman. My 87-year-old mother has always enjoyed anything having to do with that subject. She has asked me if I know of or could find out if there is a movie or video about the Barefoot Mailman.
Hal Simkaitis
Wellington
A: The 11 legendary carriers who walked barefoot from Palm Beach to Miami along the hard sand of the shoreline have become endearing icons of South Florida.
Theodore Pratt’s 1943 novel of the same name, loosely based on the only mailman to die while on duty – settler James E. “Ed” Hamilton drowned on Oct, 9, 1887, while crossing Hillsboro Inlet in what’s now northern Broward County – was a best seller.
It should still be available at your bookstore or an online book seller, although you may have to get it via special order. The Palm Beach County public library system has several copies at various branches and city
libraries also might carry it.
Pratt, who had come to Florida in 1934, later donated his papers to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He died in 1969, having written 35 novels, 14 of them set in Florida.
Pratt’s Mailman prompted a 1951 movie starring Robert Cummings – who would later gain sitcom fame in the 1960s – along with Terry Moore, Jerome Courtland and John Russell. Your local video store should be able to order it.
Some reviews of the film: Halliwell’s Film Guide wrote, “Inept comedy adventure that never really gets started.” Hal Erickson’s All Movie Guide wrote, “. . . the film’s story stops and starts so often that it appears to be three half-hour TV episodes strung together . . . no matter, since the premise is workable and the characters appealing.”
The Theodore Pratt Collection at Florida Atlantic University is at Wimberly Library, the main library of FAU’s Boca Raton campus. Call 297-3787. Web page: http://www.fau.edu/library/depts/pratt.htm; e-mail: lysca@fau.edu
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