Chapter 22

SOME HISTORIC FAMILIES AND EARLY ISLANDERS

Woodring Family – Settled on the island in 1888 (Woodring Point). Flora Woodring was the first white child born on Sanibel.

Laetitia Nutt and Family – Settled on the island in 1888 (Gray Gables on Gulf)

Rutland Family – Settled on Sanibel in 1888

Capt. William Reed and Family – Settled on the island (San Carlos Bay) in 1888. William Reed, Sr. was postmaster in 1894. His son Will, Jr. took over the job in 1895 and was postmaster for 40 years.

Rev. George Barnes – Came to the island in 1889 and later brought families from Kentucky to Sanibel. He was pastor of the first church on Sanibel, Church of the Four Gospels.

Henry Shanahan – Settled in Sanibel in 1890 and became the lighthouse keeper in 1892.

Rev. George Gatewood – An itinerant preacher who came to Sanibel in the 1890s. He used the Burnap Cottage to hold church services.

Doane Family – Settled in the Wulfert area in the 1890s. They owned the west Sanibel packing house and operated a post office that covered the western part of the island.

Doyle Family – Were on the island in the 1890s. They sold the eastern packing house on Mathews Wharf to the Baileys in 1899.

Bailey Family – Mary Beers Bailey and her three sons, Harry, Frank, and Ernest, arrived from Kentucky in 1895. They became farmers and store owners.

Matthews Family – Will and Hallie Matthews and their family came in the 1890s. They hailed from Kentucky.

Kinzie Family – Came to Sanibel in the early 1900s. They operated a ferry business and opened up a new ferry dock in 1934.