Robert Spottswood (kneeling on left) with a fishing party. Photo appeared in the New York Journal on Dec. 15, 1934
1823 – The U.S. Navy schooners Greyhound and Beagle left Key West for a cruise to the south side of Cuba in search of pirates.
1884 – The steamship Alamo sailed from Key West for New York with 9 casks of alligator skins, 9 barrels of shells and coral, 1,090,000 cigars, 10 packages of junk, 98 sponge bales, 19 bales of tobacco scraps, 2 barrels of syrup, 19 packages of general merchandise, 182 hides, 80 turtles, plus 386 barrels, 254 cases, and 3 tierces of pineapples.
1898 – A U.S. Marine Battalion that had been camped on Key West left for Cuba on the USS Panther.
1947 – Captain Ray Noop of the shark fishing boat Dusky brought in a record catch of 20 tons. He had a total of 145 sharks ranging from a 14-foot, 1000 pounder down. The livers were sold to the Borden Milk Company and the fins sold for shark-fin soup.
1960 – The Middle Keys Humane Society asked the Monroe County Commission for $100 a month to help defray increased expenses driven by the increasing abandonment of animals in rural parts of the Keys. Commissioners referred the request to the finance committee.
1964 – Colonel Robert Spottswood died at age 73. He was survived by his wife Florence Maloney Spottswood and his son John. He was a past president of the Rotary Club and was active in the establishment of the Key West Golf Course and the Key West Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Information compiled by Tom Hambright, Historian Emeritus, and Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: Robert Spottswood (kneeling on left) with a fishing party. Photo appeared in the New York Journal December 15, 1934. From a collection of photographs taken or collected during the 1930s by the WPA workers in Key West. The Heritage House Collection, donated by the Campbell, Poirier and Pound families. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.