1830 – William R. Hackley recorded in his diary: Rose with the sun. After breakfast read the Prediction. About noon the Sloop Hyder Aly of New York, Captain J. Place, who comes out as a regular wrecker for the last two winters arrived from Charleston and reports that the Collector Algernon S. Thurston is removed from office and that William Whitehead of New York has been appointed to the vacant place.
1898 – The Battleship Maine Plot in the Key West Cemetery was dedicated. The procession and dedication were viewed by an estimated 10,000 people. The principal speakers were Captain Gideon A. Lyons and Major Frank A. Butts of Encampment 69 Union Veteran Legion, Washington, DC, that had provided the iron fence and gates for the plot. The Key West Cornet Band played the “Star Spangled Banner” and a flag saved from the USS Maine was raised on a flag staff made from a mast of the USS Winslow.
1901 – The case of the schooner Cactus which wrecked on Coffin Patches was heard in Federal Court. The vessel sailing from Philadelphia to Key West with a cargo of coal was saved. The salvors were awarded a fee of $5,993.
1923 – Captain Clark D. Stearns arrived and assumed duties as Commandant of the Seventh Naval District and Commanding Officer Naval Station Key West. He replaced Captain W.D. Brotherton who had already departed Key West.
1940 – Even though the United States would not enter World War II for another year, the war came close to Key West when the British Navy sank the German merchant ship Rhein about 45 miles west of the Dry Tortugas.
1941 – Frank Ladd was appointed Monroe County Tax Collector by Governor Spessard L. Holland. He replaced Joseph C. McMahon who died in office.
1975– CBS News was reported to be looking for the body of missing former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared mysteriously on July 29. An informant had told CBS that Hoffa’s body “was encased in concrete, lying on the ocean floor in 12 feet of water two and half miles off Key West.” Nothing was found.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library.
Image: The bell from the German ship Rhein sunk by the British Navy west of the Dry Tortugas on December 11, 1940. The bell was recovered in 1991. Photo by Tom Hambright. Florida Keys History Center, Monroe County Public Library. https://www.flickr.com/photos/keyslibraries/6487868795