Historic Englewood Florida
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Page 26 Historic Englewood Guide 2022 PHOTO PROVIDED BY DIANA HARRIS Joseph "Jody" Daniel Anderson standing in front of four of his sons, from left, Stuart, Charlie, Phillip and Clyde. Photo early 1900s. PHOTO PROVIDED Stuart Anderson's Lemon Bay Fisheries was located at the end of Wentworth Avenue and stayed in business until the late 1960s. This photo was taken in the 1940s. Anderson married, and his first wife died. He mar- ried again. While raising 17 children, Anderson ran an agricultural cattle, seafood and citrus enterprise. He raised hogs, poultry and vegetable gardens and smoked and salted fish caught in Lemon Bay and the surrounding waters. "With his well-kept felt hat, knee-high leather boots and ever-present curved- stem pipe, Jody Anderson, as he was known, was said to be a man of quiet dignity, strong character and un- bending morals," Pope said. Pope said Anderson insist- ed on having family dinners together with his children. He ended with family square dancing featuring a fiddler. He also loved to tell his chil- dren stories about fishing and hunting trips with the son of legendary Seminole Chief Billy Bowlegs III who would visit the family from time to time. Anderson was among the first elected county com- missioners in newly formed Sarasota County. He drove his Model T Ford on rough roads from the Englewood farm to attend meetings while Sarasota County was splitting from Manatee County. On July 1, 1921, Sarasota County was created follow- ing a voter-approved referen- dum. The governor appoint- ed Englewood resident P.E. Buchan to serve out the District 4 term. That area included Anderson's farm. In 1922, Anderson ran for office. He displayed campaign information at the Sarasota County Fair. After he was elected, he worked on setting up the county seat, establishing a courthouse and jail, finding rental facilities for a county building, pushing for a hospital in Sarasota and creating a levy for school improvements. The commission worked with the city of Sarasota to buy land for a county fairground and ballpark for major league teams to encourage tourism.