Florida J. Wolfe.

Florida J. Wolfe (c.1867 – May 20, 1913), also known as "Lady Flo",[1] was an African-American socialite, cattle rancher and philanthropist in El Paso, Texas,[1] and Ciudad Juárez.[2]

Biography

Wolfe was born in Illinois around 1867.[2] Wolfe may have arrived in El Paso in 1882 along with Henry O. Flipper.[3] She was fluent in Spanish.[2]

Wolfe was responsible for helping her common-law husband, Irish Lord Delaval James Beresford, regain his lost fortune and help build up his cattle ranches in Juarez.[4] They met while she was working as a nurse in the American consul in Mexico.[5] Their relationship was less of a problem in Mexico than it was in Texas.[5] It was illegal at the time for interracial couples to marry or live together.[2] The couple would go to El Paso to give parties and donated money to the El Paso Fire and Police departments.[2]

In December 1906, Beresford died in a train wreck in Minnesota and Wolfe inherited his property.[2] Beresford's family contested the will, leading to a long court battle.[2] In 1911, she filed a suit over the title of a tract of land in El Paso.[6] At the end of the court battles, she received $15,000 and a few hundred cattle.[2]

Wolfe lived in El Paso at 417 South Ochoa Street in downtown El Paso towards the end of her life.[2][7] She attended church regularly at the Second Baptist Church.[2] She died in El Paso on May 20, 1913, after she contracted tuberculosis.[2][8] Her real estate property was appraised at $5,150 and her personal items were worth $120.65 at the time of her death.[8] She is buried in the Concordia Cemetery.[9] People visiting the cemetery claim to see her moving across the grounds in a white dress.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Sharp, Jay W. "Concordia Page Two - A Desert Graveyard in El Paso Texas". www.desertusa.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Dailey Jr., Maceo Crenshaw. "Wolfe, Florida J. (c 1867-1913)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  3. ↑ Cusic, Don (2009). The Trials of Henry Flipper, First Black Graduate of West Point. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 120. ISBN 9780786439690.
  4. ↑ Dailey Jr., Maceo Crenshaw; Smith-McGlynn, Kathryn; Venable, Ceclia Gutierrez (2014). African Americans in El Paso. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 9781467131773.
  5. 1 2 Brado, Edward (2004). Cattle Kingdom, Early Ranching in Alberta. Surrey, British Columbia: Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd. p. 266. ISBN 9781894384575.
  6. ↑ "The Courts" (PDF). El Paso Herald. 15 August 1911. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Guzman, Will (2015). Civil Rights in the Texas Borderlands: Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon and Black Activism. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780252096884.
  8. 1 2 "Appraisement of 'Lady Flo's' Estate Approved" (PDF). El Paso Herald. 23 September 1913. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Joyce, Matt. "Western Specters - Texas Highways". Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  10. ↑ Espinoza, Lizette (26 April 2009). "Concordia Cemetery". Borderzine. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
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