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THE
LITTLE CHILDREN’S PARK: A Glorious Gift
March
1994
As the
pendulum motion of the swing rests, before commencing it downward
arc, the child sitting calmly in its wooden slat seat reaches deep
for the energy burst, which will thrust him into that imaginary
orbit. Another youngster may be contemplating parachuting into the
French blue skies above. Aren't those children on the monkey bars
really climbing the north slope of Everest, or the little girl
riding her luge at Lillehammer, as she slides face up on the sliding
board? Are their parents planning an escape to Hawaii?
Possibly these and other imaginary visions are created and enhanced
by the fantasy atmosphere created in a park scenario? Fortunately,
Ocean Springs is blessed with such an environment. We call it,
Little Children’s Park. For those of you not familiar with this
green space, Little Children’s Park is located in the City of Ocean
Springs on the northwest corner of Washington Avenue and Calhoun.
It extends eastward to Dewey Avenue and encompasses 1.84 acres. The
park is equipped with swings, sliding boards, and monkey bars. A
small picnic shelter is located in the northwest corner of the
park. It is naturally landscaped with pecan, oak, sycamore, and
cedar trees. A small, landscaped, parking lot is located in the
southeast quadrant at the northwest corner of Dewey and Calhoun.
The park was a gift to the people of Ocean Springs from
Katherine Crane Powers (1891-1961). One who visits the park is
reminded of this fact by the concrete monument with metal plaque
located in the extreme southwest corner of the grounds. The plaque
reads as follows:
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LITTLE CHILDRENS PARK
Presented by
Mrs. Neely Powers
1959
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Land donation
Mrs. Katherine Crane Powers and spouse donated the land
for Little Children’s Park to the City of Ocean Springs on February
6, 1959.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 186, pp. 435-436)
John
Shanahan
Over a
century prior to Mrs. Powers donation, this land belonged to John
Shanahan (1810-1892), an Irish immigrant. In June 1854, he
purchased Lot 12 in Block 4 of the Culmseig Map (1854) from Azalie
Lafauce Clay Ryan (1820-1866+), the granddaughter of Louis Auguste
LaFontaine and Catherine Bourgeois (1768- c.1847), the Widow
LaFontaine.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 39, pp. 221-222)
John Shanahan was a carpenter. Here he built a home, and
with his wife, Maria Torney (1826-1909), reared six Irish-American
children: Bridget S. White (1860-1943), Mary E. Ill (1862-1937),
John J. Shanahan (1864-1883), Richard Shanahan (1866-1896), Sallie
T. Simmons (1869-
1947),
and Thomas B. Shanahan (1872-1932).
Circa 1894, a few years after her husband's demise, Mrs.
Shanahan commenced the Shanahan House, a tourist home. In 1906, the
Shanahan edifice, a two-story, wood frame
building was enlarged. This family inn was a landmark on Washington
Avenue until its destruction by fire on December 24, 1919. Bridget
White, Mrs. Shanahan's eldest daughter, was the proprietress at the
time of the conflagration. She moved to Natchez to live with her
sons, Thomas (1884-1917+) and John (1887-1919+). Bridget Shanahan
also had a daughter, Alice Winona White (1890-1960).
In September 1920, with the family hotel destroyed, Thomas
Shanahan sold the large, vacant lot, formerly occupied by his
parents Hibernian hostel, to Charles E. Clark.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed
Bk. 48, pp. 540-541)
Charles E. Clark
Charles E. Clark (1879-1945) was the son of Edwin A. Clark
(1853-1936) and Katherine T. Glasscock (1849-1925). The Clarks came
to Ocean Springs circa 1897, probably from Concordia Parish,
Louisiana. Charles E. Clark married Lulu Haviland (1880-1972), the
daughter of Samuel T. Haviland (1845-1911) and Sue Moss Haviland
(1860-1903). He was educated at LSU and Cumberland University. C.E.
Clark made his livelihood with the railway mail service, as a rural
mail carrier, and as an attorney-at-law. In 1936, his legal
practice was office on the second floor of the Farmers and Merchants
State Bank Building on Washington Avenue.
The Jackson County Times of October 9, 1920 related
that Charles E. Clark who had closed a deal on the Shanahan Hotel
land intended to build a home on the tract. Clark had just sold his
home to Thomas E. Dabney (1880-1970). The Sanborn Insurance Map of
1925 indicates a small cottage and stable near the center of the old
hotel tract.
Charles E. Clark sold the old Shanahan lot to Ellis Handy
(1891-1963) on May 15, 1925 for $2000. Captain Handy must have been
acting as a broker, since he immediately conveyed the lot on the day
of his acquisition, to William L. Reilly of Fulton County, Georgia
for $2750. Mr. Reilly held the property for several months before
he sold it to George H. Leavenworth in December 1925, for
$8000.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 55, p. 264, Bk. 55, pp. 264-265, and
Bk. 57, pp. 280-281)
George H. Leavenworth
George
H. Leavenworth (1875-1956) was a native of Sainte Genevieve,
Missouri. Ste. Genevieve, which is located on the west bank of the
Mississippi River, south of St. Louis, was founded in 1729, by the
French. Growing up in an old French Colonial village appears to
have given Mr. Leavenworth a penchant for French Colonial towns as
he was residing at Natchez in 1926. Ocean Springs, founded as the
site of Fort Maurepas in April 1699, is also French in origin.
George H. Leavenworth owned a large mill at Greenville, Mississippi
where he manufactured hardwood and had large timber holdings
throughout the South. He and wife, Katherine W. Pasch (1884-1951),
would spend summers in northern Michigan. Their daughter,
Josephine, attended Battle Creek College at Battle Creek, Michigan.
This small private institution was founded by John Harvey Kellogg.
Circa 1929, the Leavenworths came to the coast permanently, when he
purchased the large real estate holdings of H.F. Russell (1858-1940)
in November 1929.
Mr. Leavenworth sold his Washington Avenue property to
Lachlan W. MacLean in May 1927. MacLean was the son of Senator W.H.
MacLean (d. 1924) of Kenilworth, Illinois.
The
family owned a farm on the Ocean Springs-Vancleave Road. With the
depression years burdening all, Mr. MacLean lost his property to the
State of Mississippi for taxes on April 4, 1933.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed
Bk. 60, p. 368 and JXCO, Ms. Chancery Court Tax Sale Book 3, p.
142)
State and taxes
For
the next eight plus years, the future park site was owned by the
State of Mississippi. Ironically, on November 13, 1941, two men,
E.F. Shanks of Taylorsville, Mississippi and William Sheppard Van
Cleave Jr. (1899-1947) of Ocean Springs, paid the back taxes, which
were less than $400. They were both issued forfeited land tax
patent deeds by the Secretary of State.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 78,
pp. 424-425 and Bk. 78, p. 503)
Naturally, this action initiated litigation. Shanks sued Van Cleave
in the Chancery Court of Jackson County, Mississippi as Cause No.
6883, filed May 31, 1943. In the complaint, E.F. Shanks alleged
that Van Cleave, in addition to not having clear title to the land,
had also collected rents from D.R. Gillon, who was occupying a house
on the property. Shanks wanted the rent money and clear title to
the Shanahan tract. This Chancery Court Cause was not settled until
after Sheppard Van Cleave's demise in February 1947. The Court
ruled in favor of William Sheppard Van Cleave Jr.
William S. Van Cleave Jr.
William Sheppard Van Cleave Jr. (1899-1947), called Sheppard, was
the son of William Sheppard Van Cleave (1871-1938) and Eudora Casey
(1876-1950). His parents were married in December 1897, at the
Ocean Springs Methodist Church (now St. Paul's) on Porter. Mr.
VanCleave's sister, Sarah "Sallie" Van Cleave Reid Westbrook
(1876-1934), married D.F. Reid at the same time.
In August 1920, Sheppard Van Cleave opened a vulcanizing
plant in the rear of the Mobile Pressing Club. He repaired old
tires and tubes. Sheppard also was in real estate and also later
operated a tire and automobile company at 406 Reynoir Street at
Biloxi. In his later life, Sheppard worked as a clerk in his
father's store. W.S. Van Cleave is well known for the general store
that he established in 1906, on the northwest corner of Washington
Avenue and Porter. It survived until 1967, when the property was
sold to the City Ice Delivery Company, a Georgia corporation.
In November 1946, Alcena Casey (1885-1961), the
sister-in-law of W.S. Van Cleave, was awarded a deed to the former
Shanahan House lot by the Chancery Clerk for paying the delinquent
taxes on the property. Thereafter, Gordon Van Cleave (1906-1964)
and his family moved into the six-room cottage on the large vacant
lot. They remained here until 1950. The structure was later
purchased by Adam Westbrook and relocated to 1912 Kensington
Avenue. Mr. Westbrook has subsequently remodeled the building.(JXCO,
Ms. Land Deed Bk. 95, pp. 278-279)
After Sheppard Van Cleave's demise in February 1947, the
old Shanahan property was inherited by his mother, Eudora Casey Van
Cleave; brother, Gordon Van Cleave; and the children of his deceased
brother, Dryden Van Cleave (1901-1946). Alcena Casey gave Gordon
Van Cleave a quitclaim deed in May 1950, to clear the title. In
April 1954, the surviving heirs of Sheppard Van Cleave conveyed the
property to David Neely Powers (1890-1983) and spouse.(JXCO, Ms.
Land Deed Bk. 112, p. 435 and Bk. 138, pp. 349-352)
Katherine Crane Powers and David Neely Powers
The
Little Children's Park donor, Katherine Crane Powers (1891-1961),
was born on April 5, 1891, at New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was
the daughter of Frank H. Robson and Alice C. Crane. Katherine
married industrialist, David Neely Powers (1890-1983), a native of
Butler, Alabama. Neely, as his was known to his friends, was the
son of Joseph Neely Powers (1869-1932+) and Ava Gavins. The elder
Powers was born on May 15, 1869, at Havana, Alabama. Circa 1907,
Joseph Neely Powers was appointed the Mississippi State
Superintendent of Education by Governor Vardaman. Powers served the
University of Mississippi as its Chancellor (President) in the years
1914-1923 and 1930-1932.
Circa
1950, the Powers family had come to Ocean Springs to retire. They
settled on lower Washington Avenue at 1012 LaFontaine. In May 1943,
Mr. and Mrs. Powers had bought a large tract of land (285 feet x 407
feet) at LaFontaine and Washington from the Ocean Springs State
Bank. Mrs. Mignon Courson Lundy (1878-1957), the widow of F.J.
Lundy (1863-1912), was the former owner. She and her daughter,
Margaret Lundy (1903-1957+), had left Ocean Springs in the mid 1920s
for Townshend, Vermont where they lived at "Terraced Fields Farm".
The old F.J. Lundy house burned on April 14, 1926. It was used by
the D.H. Holmes Company of New Orleans in the early 1920s, as a
summer vacation home for its female employees. The house was called
"Haven-on-the-Hill" at this time. Prior to its destruction by fire,
the domicile was in a severe state of demolition by neglect.
On
their LaFontaine Avenue site, the Powers built an
international-style house designed by local architect, William
Raymond Allen, Jr. (1911-1985). The Powers' estate was called
"Windswept". The affluent Wing, Tebo, and Lundy families had all
enjoyed the magnificent view and witnessed powerful hurricanes in
former times from this elevated site. David Neely Powers had made
his career as an industrialist. He was president of the Colson
Corporation at Elyria, Ohio, which is located in the Lorraine-Avon
industrial triangle, an area tenanted by large Ford assembly
plants. The Colson Corporation employed about five hundred people
when Powers was at the helm. They manufactured bicycles, casters,
hospital equipment, stretchers, lift-jack systems, skids, and other
industrial equipment. The company relocated to Jonesboro, Arkansas
in 1957.
The Powers were active in many social and cultural activities
while they resided in Ohio. They were members of the exclusive
Elyria Country Club. Mrs. Powers was active in the theater and
civic projects, and was a personal friend of stage, screen, and
television actress, Beulah Bondi (1892-1981). A native of Chicago,
Miss Bondi, was a pioneer, character actress. She was a two-time,
Oscar nominee for best supporting actress. In 1935, with Henry
Fonda and Fred McMurray, Bondi made a motion picture, "The Trail of
the Lonesome Pine". It was the first outdoors color film.
Neely Powers sold his industrial interests to the Pritzer
Brothers of the Hyatt Regency Hotel chain and retired to Ocean
Springs where he enjoyed golf and his dogs. The Powers often
entertained at "Windswept". In April 1958, Mildred Dilling, the
premier harpist in the world, was a guest of the Powers. Neely's
sister, Powers Fisher of Jackson, was a well-known Southern lecturer
and very active in state politics. She made occasional stops here
while on lecture tours or campaigning for the League of Women
Voters.
After Katherine C. Powers died in 1961, Neely Powers married
Irene Nelson Endt (1916-2007). Mrs. Irene Powers resided at "Windswept"
until she became ill.
A resident for
seventy years, she expired on May
16, 2007.(The Ocean Springs Record, May 24, 2007, p. A5)
Recent improvements
Citizen interest in the welfare of Little Children's Park has been
responsive in recent years. Good neighbor on Calhoun, Harriett M.
Perry, has maintained the landscaping in the parking lot for several
years. During the spring and summer of 1996, Cherie Hanneman led a
group of HOSA "green
thumbs" who planted a variety of shrubs and flowers on the south
central area of the green space. The Historic Ocean Springs
Association (HOSA) provided about $700 in funds for this "butterfly
garden".
Little Children's Park improvements
[L-R: images made December 1997 and January 1997 by Ray L. Bellande]
In early January 1997, McPhearson Construction Services
commenced work on a boardwalk to unite the parking lot with higher
ground in the park. The span crosses a low drainage area, which is
generally wet except during an occasional summer drought. The
Historic Ocean Springs Association again provided the funding for
the project from their annual November fundraiser. The civic group
budgeted $8,000 for the footbridge. After the wooden span had been
completed, a Carl Germany AIA, designed, rest area was added to the
west side of the span.
Park superintendent, Carolyn Stafford of the OS Park Commission completed a walkway
to the main area of the green space. Stafford promises that the new
path will be either boardwalk or cement and acknowledges the
incongruous nature of the
asphalt path installed in 1995. It will be replaced with an
appropriate material. The City invested $25,000 in new
playground devices. District Four Supervisor, Tommy Brodnax, promised that
county workers will grade the parking lot to prepare it for a
surfacing with crushed limestone. HOSA spokesman, Larry Cosper,
said that this organic aggregate will be in keeping with the natural
theme of the park.
Dolphin Family
On
March 29, 2008 Marlin Miller, a wood sculptor domiciled at Fort
Walton Beach, Florida carved a mother dolphin with her young
utilizing a chainsaw on a pecan tree in the park.(The Ocean
Springs Record, April 3, 2008, p. A1)
THANK YOU, MRS. POWERS for your generosity and insight
into the future needs of Ocean Springs. Green can always replace
the gray in our daily lives.
REFERENCES:
Ray L.
Bellande, Hotels and Tourist Homes of Ocean Springs,
Mississippi (1853-1968), (Bellande: Ocean Springs,
Mississippi-1994).
Alen
Cabaniss, The University of Mississippi-Its First Hundred
Years, (Second Edition), (The University and College Press
of Mississippi: Hattiesburg, Mississippi-1971), pp. 129, 134, 144,
and 148.
Polk's Biloxi City Directory (1922-1923),
(R.L. Polk & Company: Memphis, Tennessee-1922), p. 193.
Journals
The
Daily Herald,
"W.S. Van Cleave Dies", February 28, 1947, p. 9, c. 5.
The
Jackson County Times, "Local News Interest", October 9, 1920.
The
Jackson County Times, "Death of Senator MacLean", August 2,
1924, p. 4.
The
Jackson County Times,
"Local and Personal", April 25, 1925.
The
Jackson County Times,
"Lundy Residence Destroyed by Fire", April 17, 1926, p. 1.
The
Jackson County Times,
"H.F. Russell sells large real estate holding", November 30,
1929, p. 1.
The
Mississippi Press,
"Springs group driving force behind park bridge (photo)",
January 13, 1997, p. 8-A.
The
Ocean Springs Record,
“Lundy-McClure Family”,
March 16, 1995.
The
Ocean Springs Record,
“Lundy-McClure Family”, March
23, 1995, ditto, part II
The
Ocean Springs Record,
“Lundy-McClure Family”, March
30, 1995, ditto, part III
The
Ocean Springs Record,
"HOSA funds bridge for park", January 9, 1997, p. 1, (photo)
and p. 8.
The
Ocean Springs Record,
"Herb Fest hooks Martin", April 3, 2008, p. 1, (photo).
Personal Communication:
J.K.
Lemon-March 4, 1994
Howard
Jones-March 17, 1994 (Elyria, Ohio), son of Leola Jones
Adam
Westbrook-April 26, 1994
Norwood Alley-August 1997
Marshall
Park - Freedom Field -
Ruskin Oak -
Gay-Lemon Park - Seamen's Memorial
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