1860 - 1937
.
George Hamilton Blount was born Feb. 17, 1860 and died July 3, 1937. He was a
son of Riley Readding and Jane (Varn) Knight Blount. The following obituary and
editorial are from Kyle VanLandingham's collection--transcribed from a copy in
the Blount Family File, Polk County Historical Library, Bartow, FL.
LAST RITES FOR GEORGE H. BLOUNT
Who Died Saturday at LaBelle After Lingering Illness
Funeral services for the late George H. Blount, 77, who died Saturday afternoon
at the home of his son, William D. Blount, in LaBelle, after a lingering
illness, were held here Sunday afternoon at the chapel of the Stephenson Funeral
Home.
The Rev. Mr. A. M. Glisson of LaBelle officiated, special music being arranged
with solos by Michael Guido.
Pallbearers were Payne M. Sebring, A. M. Wolfe, C. M. Hamrick, H. S. Jones, Tom
Michell and Eugene O. Douglas Interment was made in Pinecrest Cemetery.
The deceased was one of the early settlers of this city having for many years
operated his own knife making plant on Lemon street. He was among the first of
the manufacturers of that part of the state, and for many years conducted a
wagon factory located in Titusville which prospered long after automobiles came
into general use throughout other sections of the country, because that part of
the state had as yet no hard roads.
With the coming of the railroad and the branching out of the paved roads
throughout South Florida, he turned his attention to the manufacture of steel
knives, and later moved his business to this city where he continued actively
until failing health several years ago compelled him to retire.
At the height of his success in this later venture he has furnished knives for
the White House kitchen, and for most of the prominent hotels throughout the
East and North.
He was a keen student of political and business trends, and an ardent fisherman
and hunter, and he numbered among his friends many of the political powers of
the early days, and may nationally known sportsmen.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Geneva H. Blount; one son, William D. Blount of
LaBelle; one daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Myers, of Tampa; a sister, Mrs. Mary
Oeland of Bartow; and a brother, Nathan Blount, of Kissimmee.
EDITORIAL
All that is mortal of George H. Blount, one of the pioneers of South Florida,
lies under a plot of newly turned earth in Pinecrest. With him is buried many a
colorful bit of Florida history, those human, first hand anecdotes that made
pioneer days stand out in living profile for the listener, told as only he could
tell them, while his eyes twinkled in retrospect.
He knew South Florida before Flagler built his railroad, when the man who could
shoot the quickest and the strongest ruled the land. When Miami consisted of the
two families who homesteaded what was then rocky, swampy, mosquito-ridden
country.
Many a time he told the story on himself, told it with a rueful grin, of how he
laughed at the Widow Tuttle when she offered him a piece of land and promised to
build him a factory there if he would move his wagon manufacturing plan from
Titusville. And of how, during the boom, he had gone back and looked at that
same site, selling then for $20,000 a front foot.
It's a loss to any community when a man who can see the human side of the
upbuilding of that community passes on. Something of the color and richness of
it dies with him. And there's something unconquerable about anyone who can laugh
at himself, turn his mistakes in judgment into a rollicking good story, and
waste no time in futile regrets. It took such men to make this southern tip of
the Floridian peninsula what it is today.
May he find that larger joy of vision in those limitless horizons beyond our
human ken.