Thomas and Davie Worcester Sarasota Bay Property Records

Collection

Identifier: MSS 184

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

These records document the ownership of several islands in Sarasota Bay by Davidella (Davie), Thomas, and Alfred Worcester in the early 20th century. The islands involved include Coon Key, Middle Key, Little Key, Pass Key, and Bird Key. The documents include Mrs. Davie Worcester's correspondence to the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and the United States Department of the Interior inquiring about purchasing the islands, patents to the island property, deeds and abstracts of title associated with later transfers of ownership, and an account of Thomas Worcester's estate following his death in 1918. Also included is a map of a shellfish lease originally established by Harry Higel but transferred to Thomas Worcester by the State of Florida in 1916.

Dates

Creation: 1904-1922

Biographical / Historical

Thomas Martin Worcester was born in 1847 in Newport, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. His wife, Davidella (called “Davie” or “Dido”) Lindsay, was born in 1858 in nearby Grant County, Kentucky. The Lindsays were an aristocratic Scottish family that had originally emigrated from Scotland to Virginia. Opie John Lindsay, Davie’s father, was a physician and served in the Kentucky Legislature. Thomas and Davie were married in Campbell County, Kentucky in 1874, after which they made their home in Cincinnati.

Thomas Worcester was engaged in the wire goods business, eventually becoming vice-president of the Bromwell Brush and Wire Goods Company, which had operated in Cincinnati since 1819. Davie spent much of her time engaged in local charities and community organizations.

Davie Worcester visited Sarasota for the first time without Thomas in 1905 and became intensely interested in Bird Key in Sarasota Bay. The Worcesters purchased Bird Key and several other Sarasota Bay islands from the State of Florida in 1906 for two dollars per acre. They built a two-story frame house on the north side of the island at first, but soon began work on a much larger mansion, which they called New Edzell Castle, a nod to Edzell Castle, the ancestral seat of Davie’s family in Scotland.

Davie Lindsay Worcester died in 1912 before the new home could be completed. Thomas finished building the mansion and lived there with the family of his sister, Mary Elizabeth Pickett, until his death in 1918. The Picketts inherited New Edzell Castle and Bird Key from Thomas’ estate and sold it to circus magnate John Ringling in 1922.

Extent

0.25 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Physical Location

This collection is stored offsite in a remote storage facility. Materials from the collection can be brought to the Sarasota County History Center for viewing upon request. Please contact the Sarasota County History Center by phone at 941-861-6090 or by email at historycenter@scgov.net at least three business days before your visit to ensure the material will be available when you arrive.

General

The Sarasota County History Center collects historical records and publications that were created over a broad span of time by a wide variety of individuals and groups. Some of the content in these collections may contain language or imagery that today would be considered negative, inappropriate or offensive. The contents of these historical collections do not necessarily reflect the views, beliefs or policies of the History Center, the Department of Libraries and Historical Resources or Sarasota County Government. These materials are made available to the public strictly for research and educational purposes.