Who is Skip Morgan Anyway? Part 2

In the September, 2001 issue of The City Observer I wrote an article called “Who is Skip Morgan Anyway?” That article dealt with Skip’s father’s side of the family as he hadn’t told me about his grandmother’s side – until recently – so hold unto your hats for a few surprises.
Skip Morgan’s grandmother was Mae Elizabeth Mann who was born on Feb 26, 1901, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She and her husband Robert Manning Morgan were married on May 5, 1918 and settled in New Smyrna, Florida in 1920.

Mae Elizabeth Mann’s grandfather was Austin S. Mann, Florida Senator and attorney. He was known as the “Father of Good Roads,” was the principal officer of Florida Homeland Company, Celery Farms, Maytown and Lake Harney Colonies. Senator Mann is credited for saving 3 million acres of public land and was successful in helping reclaim the Everglades.

Senator Mann’s daughter Mae Austin (Mann) Jennings – (see below) married William Sherman Jennings in 1891 who was a judge, attorney, Governor of Florida from 1901-1905 and first cousin to William Jennings Bryan who had been a three-time presidential candidate.

William’s brother, Charles Weyland Bryan was Governor of Nebraska from 1923-1925 and 1931-1935. Charles also ran as a vice-presidential candidate in 1924.

While researching Skip Morgan’s family I discovered a website called the “Most Important Floridians of the 20th Century” and learned from an article written by Tom Palmer that by 1912, Mae Austin (Mann) Jennings, “The Mother of Forestry” was the best-known woman in Florida for her civic and political work.

“She headed the Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs and was a co-founder of the Florida League of Women Voters. A dormitory at the University of Florida was named after her.

Jennings campaigned for women’s suffrage, Prohibition, better treatment of prisoners and children, more funding for education, historic preservation, Seminole Indian reservations, fence laws and highway beautification.

She also was responsible for the establishment of a state bureau of vital statistics and a forestry department.

Jennings spent 33 years fighting to preserve the beauty and uniqueness of the Everglades. Her role began with the purchase of an out-of-the-way hammock on the outskirts of Miami where the only natural grove of royal palms in Florida grew.

That 1,800-acre park, dedicated in 1916, was supposed to be the gateway to a much larger park, but it was years before that came to pass. Now, the former Royal Palm Hammock State Park is the eastern entrance to the 1.5 million-acre Everglades National Park.”

Senator Austin S. Mann also had a son by the name of Roy F. Mann – father of Mae Elizabeth Mann. Roy was the head horticulturist for the State of Florida in the early 1900’s. He owned and planted many of Volusia County’s biggest orange groves.

So, when you run up to the Gas N’ Shop to grab a Skippy Burger, a gallon of milk or possibly some gas, just remember that you just might speak with an ancestor of some pretty important people – namely our own Skip Morgan.