One Bid Was All That Mattered
ASHS Column for 01 25 07
Jerry Simmons

Room for only a few more – that’s
always a good sign. There was a
great crowd attending our annual
meeting on January 16.
Considering the weather, which was
horrendous, a turnout like we had is
mighty gratifying. It tells us that the
interest level in what we’re doing is
where it should be. We had a very
entertaining speaker, Denise
Daughtry of Pensacola’s Historic
District.

Elections were held and new officers
for the ASHS are Jerry Fischer,
president; Don Sales, Vice-President;
Dianne Simmons, Secretary; and Ann Brooks, Treasurer. A new office has been officially created, that of Curator, and the appointee for that position is yours truly, Jerry Simmons.
 
The only other business carried out was the unanimous passing of a motion for the officers and trustees to proceed in negotiations with the University of West Florida exploring the possibility of a merger of our Society and UWF – coming under their umbrella, so to speak.
 
If you saw this column a couple of weeks ago, you’ll know that 2006 was a busy year. We accomplished a lot of things, not the least of which was the beginning of the overtures to the University of West Florida and West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc.

If it becomes reality, we expect little to change in our operation, and we plan to continue making improvements and documenting the history of this area. We still have a lot to offer the public, now that Old 100 is practically on its way. We hope to have the old girl back in town in a couple of weeks and then the actual restoration can begin.

Saturday, January 27 is a cause for some celebration, because as this is written, we plan to have the track laid in preparation for the engine. We’re naming the area of the park "Clancy Station" in honor of Leon Clancy, owner of the Alger-Sullivan Sawmill Company from 1957 until 1967. There’s to be a golden spike driven by our president, Jerry Fischer and a few words to be spoken by a couple of visiting dignitaries.

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My personal feelings: I am happy to report the celebration of the heritage of Teaspoon on Monday, January 15, Martin Luther King’s birthday. What I am not pleased about is the failure of the celebration’s main men, Irvin Stallworth and Jack Moran, to include the ASHS in the festivities. It’s insulting to me for them to totally snub our organization and duplicate efforts we’ve made for so long to include the black community in our work.

Much of the literature that was circulated at the contained nothing that was new to us. No one really knows the entire story about the origin of Teaspoon or how it got its name. There are legends, stories and results of folks’ imaginations and speculations, all of which are documented in our publications, if anyone cared enough to look at them.

Even though one of the backers of the Teaspoon heritage "celebration" seemed to claim they have it wrapped up in a tight little bundle, when pressed for answers, they backed down and told one of our members they are doing more research.

The ASHS doesn’t claim to have a lock on the history and heritage of anything in this world; but we do claim to have done an immeasurable amount of work trying to find out things and we have an insatiable appetite for making new discoveries. We’ve worked hard to include all people in our work, and this act may serve to divide us further.

Thank you, Mr. Moran and Mr. Stallworth. I need to ask one question: what is your agenda?

****

Fifty years has passed since The Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company announced its sale to the group of investors soon to be called "Alger, Tenants in Common." The sawmill itself was sold to Leon Clancy, who renamed it the "Alger-Sullivan Sawmill Company." Mabry Dozier wrote an article in our Scrapbook Volume 1 about Mr. Clancy’s being tricked into purchasing the old recreation/office building. I thought I’d reprint it here:

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For years the building was used as an office building for The Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company. In 1957, the lumber company sold all of its property to five companies. They were St. Regis Paper Company, Scott Paper Company, International Paper Company, Koppers Company and Cyprus Mines Company. There were 227,000 acres of timberland in the deal, including the sawmill property in Century.

The five companies formed a managing group, named Alger, Tenants in Common, to manage the lands and eventually divide the assets equally.

The buyers had no use for the sawmill, so they sold the plant to a lumberman, Leon Clancy, with a 10-year contract for saw timber. The new company was named Alger-Sullivan Sawmill.

Alger, Tenants in Common, owned the office building and set up their office there. They allowed Leon Clancy and his staff to also maintain an office in the building.

Several years later, when Alger, Tenants in Common had finally divided the lands, high officials of the principal companies met in the office to settle the final details and sign the papers completing the division of the land.

On this day Leon Clancy, who was not involved in the division of the lands, anticipated that when the Tenants in Common dissolved they would probably offer to sell the building to him. He had decided that even though the building served well as his office, it was more than he needed. He would not buy it.

Sure enough, after the high officials had met all day, in the afternoon they sent for Clancy.

He stood before them with his cigar in his hand as the spokesman told him that they had completed the division of all of the property with the exception of the office building. The spokesman said, "To be fair, we have decided to auction the building between us and we wish you to participate in the auction."
Clancy quickly said that he had no use for the building and explained his position. The spokesman responded, "Clancy, this may be so, but we would like for you, being an outside interest and having knowledge of values, to start the bidding."

Clancy thought a minute and said, "Gentlemen, I have no use for the building, but to start the bidding, I will bid $10,000." In unison, they all responded, "Sold to Leon Clancy for $10,000!" There were no other bids. They were glad to be rid of the building and they would have taken $5,000 or even less.

****

Later, after Clancy sold the company to Jim Walter Corporation and the door plant was built, the office was moved to the plant, abandoning the old building. It eventually became the property of a Christian school. It has been mostly empty since then, most recently having been the site for a school of massage therapy.

Even though the building has historical significance, considering the cost of its purchase and then its upkeep, few can afford to buy it. Let us hope that there may be a chance that if UWF comes to town that there can be something that can be done about it and other historically significant structures in the District.

****

Scrapbook Volume 1 was once out of print, but if you would like to have one, we have made a way to provide a copy for you. This new edition contains a lot of great stories and anecdotes you’ll find nowhere else, along with some added features and pictures the first printing didn’t have. We also have volumes 2 through 4 available, too. Come to the Leach House Museum and browse our books and other items we have for sale.

Ya’ll come.

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Old ASLC office building, built about 1925 and first used as a recreation building where silent movies were shown. Elsie Jones (Hare) played the piano while the movies played.

This page last modified on Friday, January 19, 2007