Photograph by Stephen Goldfinger, Blogfinger staff. October, 2017. ©
Rev. Alfred Cookman was one of the original founders of Ocean Grove. His “cottage” was built in stages, but he was the first to construct a building on this Lake Avenue site overlooking Wesley Lake. The turret was added later. Historian Ted Bell refers to the house as ” a gem”
Historian Kevin Chambers comments below.
Blogfinger researched and wrote a history of Rev. Cookman. The link is below, and there is a surprise to his story.
BF history of Rev. Alfred Cookman
DICK HYMAN AND THE STUDIO PLAYERS . From the soundtrack of Everyone Says I Love You.
Here is a link to what I know: https://wp.me/pqmj2-zDb
We have no winner to our contest to name the historic figure who built this house. Kevin Chambers and Ted Bell knew, but they are ineligible for a prize.
Rev. J. H. Thornley (58 Lake Avenue)
Cookman Institute is now known as Bethune-Cookman. It is considered one of the historic black Un. in the US. Mary Bethune ran a school for girls and merged her school with Cookman. Cookman was founded through the Freeman’s Add Society of the Methodist Church.
Rev Cookman only built the back end of the house. The front that you see was built after his death. About 1872, Rev. Daniel secured 400 dollars in memory of Rev. Cookman from residents of Ocean Grove and founded Cookman Institute in Florida. It is the oldest black college of higher learning in Florida.
Ellwood H. Stokes?