From the Archives

Tucked away on shelves in the Advancement Office, alongside Epitome editions ranging from 1927 to 2020, sit several curious old volumes. A bit dogeared, their worn, unassuming bindings give absolutely no indication of the surprise contained within — page upon page filled with the old-fashioned penmanship written over one hundred years ago by teenage boys. What exactly are these volumes?

Let’s step back in time. Back when Northwood was called The Lake Placid School, the Spring and Fall terms were held in Lake Placid and a Winter term took place on the coast in Cocoanut Grove, Florida. (Originally spelled with the “a” it is now Coconut Grove, a neighborhood within Miami.) Naturally, one of the activities during the winter term included sailing.

“The fleet consists of a cruising yawl, a knock-about, several sailing dories and larks, a proa and a launch, together with a generous supply of rowing skiffs. The cruising yawl is fitted to accommodate six or seven persons.”

“The cruises are made to the neighboring keys, where the shallow water on the “banks” affords opportunities for exploring the varied and interesting fauna and flora with which the bay teems. A master and an experienced sailor go on every cruise.”

These slim volumes served as logbooks for their weekend sailboat cruises. They list the date of the cruise, the destination and the names of the crew. In a couple of pages, they chronicle everything from weather conditions, meals, fishing and swimming and any significant happenings from the time they weighed anchor. For instance, on the first cruise in January 1911 on the Etta May:

“In spite of the delay caused by low tide, the first cruise of the term started off with a merry crew and the nose of the Etta May was headed south for Cutler. The sail down was a glorious one as we had a fine breeze and the delight of seeing the full moon come up out of the sea. We came to anchor in the bay off Cutler at 6:45 p.m. and immediately began to prepare supper. There were various exclamations heard when the engineer discovered that sugar and butter had been left out of our supply of provisions. The boatswain and the junior member of the crew were sent in to the “department store” at Cutler to get the missing delicacies.”

Throughout the log of the Etta-May, the name Israel Lafayette Jones keeps popping up. Such as, “Immediately after breakfast an expedition set out in search of Israel Lafayette Jones, and soon they returned accompanied by the old man who looked as hale and hearty as ever.” Or here, “after having had lunch one of the boats and the Captain, Second Mate and Israel Lafayette Jones went out after crawfish.”

We were curious about this man mentioned by name in these sailing logs. We did a little research and learned that he was no ordinary fishing guide. Israel Lafayette Jones had “risen up from slavery in North Carolina, migrated to Florida after the Civil War, and eventually managed to buy three of the small, uninhabited islands that separate Biscayne Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. He began a profitable business growing key limes.” (PBS.org)

This land owned by Israel Lafayette Jones would eventually become a part of Biscayne National Park.

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