1825 – Sickness raged across Key West, and the most affected were people employed in clearing the island of trees and bushes. Some guessed it was because they drank from ponds fringed with poisonous manchineel trees.
1829 – A New York correspondent wrote of a conversation with a Key Wester: “We learn from him that there is a lawless set of individuals in the habit of visiting the place… As proof of the depraved character of many who visit the island, we learn that no person thinks of walking the streets without being armed with a brace of pistols or some other weapon of defence.”
1899 – Key West Postmaster Lewis Otto was arrested on charges of “appropriating for his own use a portion of the salaries of various clerks employed in the post office.”
1934 – Frank Welters died at age 70. In 1889 he was one of the founders of the 17-piece Welters Cornet Band, which had appeared across Florida and was once named “Champion Band of the State.”
1994 – The number of Cuban refugees who successfully crossed the Florida Straits in 1994 surpassed the 3,656 who completed the journey in 1993. Authorities estimated that only 4 out of 10 who attempted the crossing were successful.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Dedication of the Trinity Presbyterian Church at 713 Simonton Street, Key West, in 1924. The Welters Band is in front of the Church. Scott De Wolfe Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.