Daniel Stephen Carlton

Daniel Stephen Carlton

By Spessard Stone



Daniel Stephen Carlton, the first elected sheriff of St. Lucie County, Florida, died while serving in the line of duty.

Daniel Stephen Carlton was born February 6, 1872, near present-day Arcadia, Florida. With his parents, Reuben Carlton and Elizabeth (Crews) Carlton, he later moved to Ten Mile Creek and then Fort Pierce. On April 30, 1904, Daniel married Theresa Molly Hilliard, born May 2, 1884, Wildwood, Florida, daughter of Thomas B. and Mary Ann (Willingham) Hilliard of Fort Meade, Florida.

Daniel was a cattleman, citrus grower, and in 1907 began serving as the first elected sheriff of St. Lucie County, in which office he continued until his death on May 22, 1915.

He was a friend of the Seminoles. On one occasion he returned the bones of Tom Tiger, and, by so doing, he stopped an Indian uprising. Ironically, he was a close friend of Billy Bowlegs, a descendant of the Billy Bowlegs whose banana patch destruction led to the Billy Bowlegs War of 1855-1858, in which Alderman Carlton, Daniel's great-grandfather was killed and his grandfather, Daniel Wilson Carlton, was wounded on June 14, 1856.

Miley�s Memo, published by the Indian River Community College Historical Data Center in 1980, provided the following account of that incident and Sheriff Carlton's actions:

"EARLY INDIAN SCARE
"Residents of the area had quite an Indian scare back in 1907.
"On the pretense that he was going to send them to the Smithsonian Institution, a guy from Pennsylvania had robbed the grave of a respected and beloved Seminole chief, Tom Tiger, and taken his skeleton, pipe and other items buried with him.
"The man�s name was John T. Flournoy, who was manager of an amusement park at Johnstown, Pa.
"The grave was located deep in the swamp out from Big Mound City.
"Flournoy reportedly brought the bones to Ft. Pierce in a box and shipped them north, leaving on the same train.
"Indian reaction was not long in coming. The St. Lucie County Tribune of March 8, 1907 carried the following item:
"INDIAN CHIEF THREATENING
"Big Yankee stole bones of Tom Tiger, Indian big chief and best friend. Indians all fight. Kill white man ojus (much), bones no taken back by big Yankee by 'next moon.'
"That was the salutation that Billie Smith, chief of the Seminoles gave the people of Tantie (Okeechobee) on his visit there Saturday, Feb. 23, and it is evident that the Indians are stirred up as they never have been since the days of the Indian wars, and unless they are pacified by some method they are liable to give trouble.
"Editorially, The Tribune commented:
"While the community is not excited over any prospective Indian uprising, still the Indian temper is not a known quality, and should they all harbor the same feelings as expressed by their chief, our outlying sections may be in danger of annihilation at the hands of the outraged Indians, and our officers cannot be too diligent in their efforts to pacify them.
"In the same issue there appeared....:
"KILL WHITE MAN OJUS
"So threatens Billie Smith, the big chief of the Seminoles, unless their demands are complied with.
"All of this, you may be certain, didn�t reassure the residents, particularly those living in the outlying sections.
"County Commissioner Peter Raulerson of Tantie, a little settlement on Taylor�s creek north of Lake Okeechobee and then in St. Lucie County, informed the county commissioners of the situation and the apprehension of residents.
"The commissioners sent Sheriff Dan S. Carlton to the Indian settlement to arrange 'terms of peace' and to assure them every effort would be made to bring back the bones of their departed chief.
"Evidently Sheriff Carlton, who was a long-time friend of the Indians, was successful in calming their indignation a bit, but assured them it would take longer than 'the next moon' to get the bones back.
"And then, in the March 22 issue of the Tribune, appeared:
"INDIAN VENGEANCE DEFERRED
"Chief Billie Smith, on Sheriff Carlton�s assurance of friendship, grants an extension of two moons.
"This throws the time of the war whoop and the scalping knife into May. Uneasiness continued in some quarters, particularly in the outlying sections of the area.
"Many citizens were jumpy and inclined to shoot at shadows.
"Sheriff Carlton advised the people through the press, however, that there was no cause for alarm. In a letter published in The Tribune of April 19 he said in part:
"For some time, I did not credit the statement that some of our citizens were alarmed about the supposed attitude of the Indians toward the white people, thinking the statements I had heard about people leaving the country or threatening to leave were idle gossip, but recently, I have received several letters anxiously inquiring about conditions and wishing to know if I really thought it would be safe to remain.
"To say that all of these exaggerated statements are wholly unwarranted is putting the matter mildly. There is as much danger of an Indian uprising as there is of a Hottentot invasion of England....
"Meanwhile, R. Rathburn, assistant secretary in charge of the Smithsonian Institution, had advised J.M. Wilson Jr., of Kissimmee, described as the Seminole�s 'best friend,' disclaiming any role in removal of the Indian chief�s bones. Flournoy was unknown to the institution until he had written offering to sell the skeleton of 'an Okeechobee (not Seminole) chief.' In this, Rathburn was quoted as saying, Flournoy had misled the museum, and they would have nothing to do with any artifacts fraudulently obtained. He offered to assist in any way possible to have the bones returned. He provided Flournoy�s mailing address and forwarded Wilson�s letter of inquiry to Flournoy.
"Indian hysteria reportedly had run its course by late spring, and white residents� fears calmed. Flournoy returned to the state in June and brought back with him Tom Tiger�s bones.
"The Tribune of June 14 carried the following item:
"TOM TIGER�S BONES AT REST
"Sheriff D. S. Carlton returned Wednesday from Hungerland, where he went to return the bones of Chief Tommy Tiger that had been carried away by J. T. Flournoy of Johnston and Altoona, Pa.
"The sheriff reports that the Indians were much pleased that the white people had succeeded in returning the remains to their original resting place and were content to accept the sheriff�s word that the box he carried contained the cherished relics, without an investigation; nor would they accompany him to the spot where they were to be deposited....
"Subsequently, State Attorney John C. Jones filed charges against Flournoy. But the wrong initials were used in the information. A corrected information reportedly was filed, but apparently nothing ever came of it.
"And so that is, in brief, the story of the Indian uprising scare to our area residents of 1907 as revealed in the files of the local press.
"Indians were quite frequent visitors to town and outlying homes in their colorful garb in the early days.
"Today, it is very seldom that one is ever seen hereabouts."


On May 22, 1915, Sheriff Carlton was killed by night marshal D. J. Disney.

Joe Crankshaw wrote in �Lawmen�s gun battle shattered town�s peace� in The Miami Herald, 3B, of Sunday, March 29, 1987:

�One of St. Lucie County�s most shocking shootings took place the evening of May 22, 1915 when a gunfight erupted between the sheriff and man hired as a Fort Pierce night marshal.
�Fort Pierce was a raw and growing town. P. P. Cobb was constructing his new building, the railroad was adding spurs to its section yards and land sales were brisk.
�Saturday night was a lively night in the town. Farmers came to make their weekly purchases and let off a little steam while townspeople turned out to socialize.
�The town had no police force. Merchants employed a recent arrival from Georgia, D. J. Disney, as the night marshal to patrol stores and keep order. Actual law enforcement was in the hands of Sheriff Dan S. Carlton, a popular St. Lucie County native, and his four deputies.
�Carlton also was the town butcher.
�Fort Pierce and St. Lucie County were usually peaceful enough that Carlton could devote a considerable amount of time to the butcher shop.
�Residents were astounded when the peace of a Saturday night was shattered by a fusillade of pistol shots. As the shots ceased echoing through the streets, Sheriff Carlton, pierced by four bullets, lay dying on the board sidewalk and Disney, bleeding from three wounds, was staggering into the sandy street.
�People shouted the two men had shot it out in an alley.
�The sheriff�s brother, L. L. Carlton, snatched the marshal�s pistol, pointed it at Disney and pulled the trigger twice. The weapon snapped on empty chambers. L. L. Carlton threw it at Disney and ran to his brother.
�The sheriff was carried upstairs over the St. Lucie Drug Store to the office of Dr. H. D. Clark where he died on the examining table. The lawman had been shot through the right eye, in the chest, above the heart and through both arms.
�Disney was carried to Dr. E. W. VanLandingham�s office above the St. Lucie Bank. He had been hit in the right eye, right side and leg. After Disney was patched up, it was decided he should be sent to a Miami hospital.
�A problem arose. No city money was available to send him and a deputy as a guard so Mayor Richard Whyte offered $50 of his money to the trip.
�Disney was put on a southbound Florida East Coast Railway Pullman. He didn�t stay there long.
�Deputy Sheriff Jim Alderman and a group of citizens forced their way onto the train at gunpoint, dragged Disney off and beat him severely, breaking a leg. The frightened train crew wasted no time in leaving. Passengers told reporters further south that anarchy reigned in Fort Pierce.
�Gov. Park Trammell appointed William T. Jones, a former FEC engineer, as sheriff and the grand jury indicted Disney for second-degree murder. Disney pleaded innocent.
�A trial quickly followed. Twenty witnesses testified a total of 40 hours. They said Disney had bested Jim Alderman in a dispute several days before the shooting, and the sheriff was upset.
�On May 22, the sheriff and Disney met in the alley. Words were exchanged, and then shots. Some said that Carlton was walking away from Disney; others said both men were facing each other before shooting.
�Taking the stand in his own behalf, Disney said that Carlton had drawn first and that he had been hit in the eye before firing back.
�The jury could not make a decision. A mistrial was declared.
�The trial was moved to Orange County, where in May 1916 a jury heard the same 20 witnesses and delivered a verdict of guilty of manslaughter. Disney was sentenced to five years in jail ending a rare incident in which one lawman fought another at gunpoint, on the Treasure Coast.�


Charles S. Miley in "Miley's Memos" in the News Tribune noted that Disney had appealed the verdict to the Florida Supreme Court, but the decision was upheld. Disney was received in the state penal system on January 25, 1917 and served until July 24, 1919 when he was released on a conditional parole.

On April 9, 2002, Theresa Whitice Olah related:

�On the night of my grandfather's death, my grandmother Theresa Carlton, mother Louise Carlton, and my mother's first cousin, Ruby Carlton Teague, were planning to attend a silent movie at the local movie theater. As they walked down the street, they saw my grandfather, and my mother ran to him and put her arms around his legs.
�He said, �Hello, Dirl,� which was what he affectionately called her. Then, he turned to my grandmother and asked her if she needed any money.
�She replied that she didn't need money and would see him later.
�He paused, and said, �Theresa, there is something I need to tell you which is important, but I will tell you later this evening.�
�That was the last time they saw him alive.
�As my grandmother, mother, and cousin sat in the movie theater, someone came into the theater, and bluntly told my grandmother, �Theresa, Dan's been shot, and he is dead!� My grandmother jumped up and ran screaming out of the theater into the street. She tried to get to my grandfather, but the crowd blocked her way. All this time, she continued screaming, until a friend grabbed her and put her in a buggy which was sitting close by.
�Meanwhile, my mother was totally panic stricken, but a friend took her and her cousin, Ruby, outside, and continued to stay with them until the chaos subsided. Mother felt as though her whole world had fallen apart. Her father was dead, and her mother was somewhere else. She carried that trauma with her until the day she died, and she could never stand the smell of Easter Lilies again, because they were the flowers used at his funeral.
�When my grandfather was taken to the doctor's office, a wash tub was placed under the table, as he was bleeding profusely, and Mother said that the wash tub became filled with blood. Of course, there was blood all over the side walk, and the stain remained there for quite a while, until that section of the sidewalk was removed and a new section replaced it.
�After the hysteria subsided, my grandmother began to think about what my grandfather had said to her the last time she saw him. Whatever it was that he had wanted to tell her seemed important, but how was she to know what it might be? As time went on, she began to feel his presence, and several times he seemed to appear to her. Once while sleeping, she awakened and saw him bending down over her. She said she could see the buttons on his suit very clearly, but being startled, she screamed and he slowly backed away, into the corner of the room, and disappeared.�


Kyle VanLandingham on June 18, 2002 added:

�About 1970, I spoke with two elderly ladies, Addie (Holmes) Emerson and Jessie (Parker) Hambleton, both of Ft. Pierce, about the killing of Sheriff Carlton. They were both alive at the time of his death and remembered the details. Both are now deceased.
�According to them, there was a real problem in Ft. Pierce about illegal liquor sales, primarily in the black community. These liquor dens were called 'blind tigers.'
�Some of the leading ladies of the community including Mrs. Effie (Morgan) Alderman Raulerson, daughter of Eli Morgan, cattle king, and divorced wife of David Lee Alderman and later wife of Keightly B. Raulerson; and the Widow McCarty (Mrs. Charles McCarty, widow of Charles T. McCarty and grandmother of the future governor), were concerned about the problem and were instrumental in bringing in Disney to help resolve this 'problem.:"

Dr. William Wilbanks in Forgotten Heroes, Police Officers Killed in Early Florida 1840-1925 chronicled:

"There are several 'schools of thought' as to the cause of the pistol duel between Carlton and Disney. The local newspaper suggested (6 days after the killing) that:
�The cause of the quarrel has not been definitely established. Several evenings previous, Deputy Sheriff Jim Alderman had a mix up with Disney in a little night restaurant and it is said Disney was the winner.� (Ft. Pierce News, 5/28/1915)
"Clearly, there was 'bad blood' between Carlton and Disney before the killing and it only took a 'spark' to cause the shootout. However, Carlton family members today and historians suggest that there may have been more to the shooting than a simple shootout between two men who did not like each other. The family believes that Disney was hired by local 'bootlegging' interests who wanted Sheriff Carlton 'out of the way' because he was 'hurting business.' Allegedly, the 'liquor interest' included Mrs. McCarty whose son later became Governor of Fl.
"On the other hand, there are those who believe that Carlton was protecting the bootleggers and was killed by Disney at the instigation of 'reformers.' The 'deeper cause' of what lay behind the Carlton killing is still very much debated in 1997."

Dr. Wilbanks further commented:

"The funeral was held on Sunday at the home of the Sheriff�s brother, L.L. Carlton 'in the presence of all the relatives and many friends.' The service was conducted by Rev. W. C. Norton, pastor of the Methodist church and 'several numbers were rendered by a quartet.'
"The funeral procession then proceeded to the Carlton family cemetery at Ten Mile Creek 'near the home of the mother and brothers where it was placed with touching ceremonies.'
"In 1997 there were approximately 40 graves at the Carlton family cemetery at Ten Mile Creek (10 miles west of Ft. Pierce just off Highway 70) including those of his father, Reuben (1842-1917); mother, Elizabeth (1844-1918); widow, Theresa (1884-1958); son, Daniel (1905-1980); and daughter, Louise Carlton Whitice (1907-1982). The grave of the slain sheriff is marked by a flat 3-ft. by 7-ft. flat white concrete marker that reads:

DANIEL STEPHEN CARLTON, SR.
FEB. 6, 1872-MAY 22, 1915


"The name of Daniel S. Carlton is inscribed (East Wall, Panel 22, Line 6) on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C. A photograph of the slain sheriff is displayed at the headquarters building of the St. Lucie County Sheriff�s office along with the other sheriffs who have served the county."


Theresa Carlton died August 12, 1958 at Fort Pierce. She was buried beside Daniel in the Carlton Cemetery.

Theresa Whitice Olah lovingly reminisced:

�I have my grandmother's diaries, and something that always touched me, was the fact that she, through the years, would mention her wedding anniversary in her diaries. She would say, 'Today I have been married to Dan for such and so years.' Every diary is the same, when the date of their anniversary is noted. I think she loved him until the day she died. Mother told me that Grandmother was only thirty-one, when my grandfather was killed. She was an attractive woman, and many considered her to be beautiful. Mother said, that after my grandfather's death, she would, often, see her mother walk the length of the upstairs porch at night and gaze out at the moon. Mother sensed her loneliness, and the fact that she missed my grandfather. Her life was never an easy one, after he died, but she had a great heart and a great spirit. She was a modest and often shy person, but she loved to dance, especially, when she got together with her brothers, sisters-in-law, and sister.
"One of the hurricanes tore the roof off her two-story house, which banked on Ten Mile Creek, and of course, her piano, which she loved to play, and all her furniture were ruined. The house, which had been built on her land, was never repaired. From that time, she lived in various places, until later in her life, my mother and father helped her to buy a house in town. My memories of her are sweet and lingering, and she was a wonderful and loving grandmother to me. My sister and I still wear the rings, she gave to each of us, on our sixteenth birthday. I just wish my grandfather could have lived and continued to give her the love and respect she deserved."

Daniel Stephen and Theresa (Hilliard) Carlton had two children:

1. Daniel Stephen Carlton, Jr., born July 21, 1905; died Aug. 17, 1980, Okeechobee Co., FL; married Virginia Barnes.
2. Louise Carlton, born Nov. 12, 1907; died Dec. 16, 1982, Fort Pierce, FL; married (1) William Wallace Maund; (2) James Walker Whitice.


Acknowledgments: My thanks are extended to Theresa Whitice Olah for her research assistance. Photos, courtesy of Theresa Whitice Olah, show (1) Sheriff Carlton, (2) Theresa Carlton and daughter Louise.

Music is "Il Mio Cuore Va."

It should be noted that VanLandingham has Mrs. McCarty as the grandmother of Governor McCarty while Wilbanks has her as the mother. I do not know who is correct. A version of this was published as "History: The Shooting Of A Sheriff," in The Herald-Advocate, 8A, November 27, 2008.

June 22, 2002, Dec. 1, 2008