Politics
During the late 1860s and 1870s, Gleason traveled between his Fort Dallas residence and Tallahassee, seeking business and political connections. As a consequence of this and a few powerful Republican friends, on July 7, 1868, he was sworn in as the state's second lieutenant governor. During an attempted impeachment of Governor Harrison Reed, Gleason claimed the Governorship. The Senate had adjourned on without November 7, 1868 without deciding whether or not to impeach Reed. Reed's supporters, including the state's Adjutant General and the county Sheriff, kept him out of the Capitol. He set up in a hotel and signed documents as Governor. The Supreme Court sided with Governor Reed, and the political struggle ended with his removal from office as Lieutenant Governor December 14, 1868.
Traveling along Florida's coast, Gleason passed many charming harbors. He liked one such area so much that he purchased most of it (16,000 acres (6,500 ha)) at $1.25 an acre and named it Eau Gallie. This was the site of Arlington, founded by John C. Houston. Gleason prepared a plat of his new land, which encompassed the entire area from Indian River Lagoon to Lake Washington, approximately thirty square miles. William Lee Apthorp's 1877 Standard Map of Florida shows Eau Gallie in large capital letters, incorrectly designating Gleason's land as the county seat of Brevard County. Part of Gleason's land eventually became the city of Eau Gallie, Florida and later north Melbourne
Read more about this topic: William Henry Gleason
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the mud stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime records unique, violin player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“His talk was like a spring, which runs
With rapid change from rocks to roses:
It slipped from politics to puns,
It passed from Mahomet to Moses;
Beginning with the laws which keep
The planets in their radiant courses,
And ending with some precept deep
For dressing eels, or shoeing horses.”
—Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839)
“Politics are for foreigners with their endless wrongs and paltry rights. Politics are a lousy way to get things done. Politics are, like God’s infinite mercy, a last resort.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)