The Oakes Mansion and Pioneer Days (WD) 1-10-79i
TITERC�
1
Oakes Kels'e -s ProblemsWt*th IRS
nter tr Harr 0 0 0
PART III:
:•.
a .1kes T lansion ALn I ]?Ioneer 101a ey s
1i e 0
:•
<< intro to a Mr. Smile wYio losses of his personal dealings and those of the (Kelsey auditor — who was rated incompetent. Kelsey
B Charles A. Branch In Dec. 1927 I was int y
Y all airport in Tennessee. Under his direction, I owned) East Coast Finance Corp. All resulting charges complained to Branch. he had paid all his bills and
Former V -P of Developer Harry S. Kelsey had a sm p IX
an airstrip just north of the Earman River were found to be in error against hire, but that was owned nobody. He asked his attorney , Bert Wanters,
constructed p
Geoffrey Birt oad on art o our years later. Meantime, Kelsey's ability to raise funds for advice. According to Branch, Winters
As Told To ff y and west of the P-rosperity Farms I� (p f)
was known as the Kelsey Cit Dair and sell properties was limited by the government recommended that Kelsey should file for bankruptcy.
Charles A. Branch was vice president to Harry S. land which y Y Y
" we reopened the Palm Beach Winter Club action.. - Kelsey asked Winters how much he owed him. Winters
Kelsey, developer of what is today the town of Lake When p Kelsey Vs. The I.I R. replied, $60,000. Thereupon, Kelsey wrote him an :•:
during the 1920s. An engineer, he played a major (Now the NPB club and golf course), ,fan. 12, 1928, Mr. Y oint for I.O.U. for $60,000 and Winters departed. Branch
.•. Park d g g .
role in the building of the Palm Beach Winter Club, Smiley gave aerial exhibitions over the fairways, driving (Branch was interviewed on this I p
•.•. he man of the players off the course and) running for .clarification and elaboration. He explained to me that added .-G. •)
known today as the Oakes Mansion, located at t y p y
Fairchild 'plane acted correctly and no the IRS auditor came to him (Mr. Branch) complaining "In the end. Kelsey returned to Boston and started
North Palm Beach Country Club — a charming (if now cover, but his Fairc p
decaying) building of architectural significance which damage was done
of lack of cooperator by some members of the ECFC some promotions on frozen food stuffs — in his eaxliest
again and to inform him that the government was going to file days he had developed a chain of restattrants. Finally, :•
exudes real "character".' The clubhouse (now the Oakes Mansion) wasg
'n oder he direction of Miss Falconer and the local girls a lien against Kelsey's properties. with the help of Sam Bickford -- a former associate —
Today, Mr. Branch (B. Oct. 22, 1892) reside i u t o
as cooks and waitresses man who I see (Branch said: "Mr. Kelsey never went into Kelsey re-entered the real estate field in the Orlando
retirement with his wife at 4500 N. Dixie Highway (the who acted y r the 1928 great area. He did not die oor, but he never again became
Palm Beach and this is about us today. The winter season was well attended but bankruptcy. The matter was settled after g P g „
.. Regency Apartments), West hurricane. The ex-V.P. ,recalled that when he very wealthy. He managed to make a good living.
the third in a series of articles he specially penned for much of the glamor had gone because of the Florida Kelsey— who was in the north— the (Branch noted, in passing, that the fateful lien
this
column on the mansion and pioneer days in the land bust. telephoned y
of course "Mr. Kelsey was meeting with financial difficulties, developer refused to believe. he was at fault, and Continued on Page 10 ..
Lake Park- North Palm Beach area (N.P.B , Y
roaring twenties): The I.R.S. was looking into his reported profits and returned in a state of indignation against the IRS .
did not exist in the days the g ) _.................
Y .
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paap 10 - WeekDay January ,1.1;-16, 1979
-M=�� Ilk]
%.A
Emp we
C,0111irlticld 1'090 1 Count
Kelso was filed in the Palm Beach y
against
courthouse- G • •)
Back to Branchis narrative: usteeshi
J. C. Bills Form Trustee p e executive)
W_*Feb. 20, 1928 Charles Burr (a top K Y Soon
urned to Flint, Michigan.
resigned and ret
C. Bills (father of realtor� Louis B.
afterwards, .%• , attorney originally
iginally from Boston,
Bills], a Sandford, Fla pert Winters turned over
was called in, and attorney Billsand the ECFC went
his legal responsibilities to Bis � hi . On
Mar
under the protection of the J.C. Bills trusteesed
that I
March 26 Mr. Kelsey came to my office and requestrs
act with the Bills Trusteeship in all matte
relating to the ECFC-
(Bra -on increasing difficulties caused
(Branch com
bust and national great depression, which
by the land
made it difficut
1 to kee both the winter club (Now NPB
p
gif course) and the Kelsey City golf course operating,
o had been considerably involved
especially since both
,W
�with the ECFC.- G.B.)
928...we closed the Palm Beach
<<
On April 1, 1
Winter Club for the summer...The Kelsey City Water
been transferred to the town of Kelsey City
Works lead b The Kelsey City
(now Lake Park) for back taxes.
d been incorporated as a Florida corporation
Nursery had
Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey owning all the stock except
With M
given to Mr. and Mrs. Sam Blakely for past
oft dft All,
that
AM A-
•1.1i11iJlcZ
n %va(w H3V39 WlVd 14180
NI
-__ — .Amon the properties were the
over these holdings) g rid the
-Enter Oakes,
es. Mr. Bills and myself were left to salvage any
services.
value still left in the-ECFC for Mr: Kelsey.
The Great 1928 Hurricane hich did
On August 8, 1928, We had a small storm wt• 13,
dams a to the Kelsey City area. OnSep his
someg
eported in the Atlantic.
1928, a second storm was r
the devastating great hurricane of 192
was to become.
ands lost their lives, a
when thousnd millions of dol ars
damage occured as storm flooding
worth of property
and Lake Okeechobee rose to break
inundated the area,
dikes and create one great she
water from the Glade et of
its, then earthen s to Military Trail, plus vast floods
in the coastal region. G .B •) direction, I had the
- "As the storm continued in our, d b and our
entire payroll roll men board up the Winter Clu
properties in Y ice
Kelsey City. Mr. Bills came to my of
and then took
Mrs. Kelsey and most of the children in his car to his home in Sanford.
porm
s assed, Mr. Bills and I returned at
After the t
e Sept- 17, just as martial law was being
9.30 p.m., S p n da
ro erty hadbee our
proclaimed. Most of P � in our wrecked'
but Mr. Bills and I manage to stay
Branch returned Sept.
borne and Mrs. Kelsey and Mrs• a again.
21 after We had made our homes livableg o f
""This great storm finished the downfall property
.
which revious reported matters) had startedand
values (P could not be given away a
and building.._----M__---_��.-_...�....••••�w
LandAM
two golf courses (presently, the NPD. course, a Other
dfunct d vanished Kelsey City ' course)
Arth,ur- 1on geanies were about 85 % of the Kelsey City
included. propert
ceased paying taxes on any property. Bond
everyone P Y
and interest ceased to have any value. and
payments
As duties and responsibilities with the -,ECF a
( Branch. was
Bills Trusteeship became less demanding, .assisted
elected to the county school board for 1929-30,
ole April 1, 1936 was
in the county engineer's office and, Ap
ed chief engineering inspector for the U.S.
appoint
department of the interior in the construction oft e
OverseasHighway Hig hwa between Lower Metac umbe and
Big Pine Keys, and later on a Mississippi River bridge
at Greenville, Miss . - G . B .)
ntime Mr. Dills was attemptin
the ECFC bolg to dispose of
Mea ding . s. The_ IRS matter with Mr. Kelsey
had been settled ... The Intracoastal Canal properties
had been transferred to the federal department of war
which was busy deepening and widening it to improve
shipping between Jacksonville and Miami.
Sir Harry Oakes Gains Ownership
"'Mr. Foskett was an attorney who became
associated with Mr. Bert Winters) and J. CoBills
interested him in acquiring the ECFC properties y
buying up • the unpaid tax certificates, and also in
buying the defaulted bonds of Kelsey City. he was
Foskett interested Mr. Harry Oakes (before ate on
P
knighted by King George VI) in this deal. (The dm the
the special quick claim deed to Tesdem, Inc. ro oo
:ECFC will establish the actual date when Oa es t
lots.
It
is believed that the Oakes family lived a short
time at the (Winter .Club) clubhhouse. However they
C�med more
soon bought a house in Palm Beach. They s
d in ponies
and polo than in golf, and the
interests p
(Winter Club) golf course was entirely destroyed and
the irrigation system and pumps were moved to the
south end of the Winter Club to begin a field for riding
horses.
Te golf olf course was made over to provide riding paths for Oakes and his children. After the (Oakes) seemed to
family moved to Palm Beach, the clubhouse
receive less maintenance.
(0akes- a native of Maine• at this time began
uirin interests in the Bahamas, and became known
actl g During
in England, and became a British subject. During
World War II he gave $500,000 - to St. George's
W He was
London, and was given a knighthood. s
Hospital,
murdered in his Nassau home. The crime remain
unsolved. -G•B•) narrative thus:
Branch concludes his n all the Oakes holdings --•
rfsposed of Mr. Foskett diD. Macacquired from the ECFC— to the John Winter
interests. 'It was then that the old Palm Beach
b was re -named the North Palm Beach Country
Clu
Club." Aft AOW