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 Cuidad Juarez.[2]

Florida J. Wolfe.

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.[7][2] She attended church regularly at the Second Baptist Church.[2] She died in El Paso in 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. Sharp, Jay W. "Concordia Page Two - A Desert Graveyard in El Paso Texas". www.desertusa.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  2. 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. 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. "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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