The Century plantation called "Tannenheim" became the home of Frank Clarence Hecker and Lulu Webster. Clarence was the son of Colonel Frank Joseph Hecker of Detroit, Michigan. His father enlisted in the Union Army in 1864 and finished the war as a sergeant. After the war, he became an agent for the Union Pacific Railroad before being hired to build a railroad by a group of investors. His accomplishments so impressed the men who in turn brought him to Detroit as an up and coming entrepreneur. There, he entered the fledgling automobile industry and became rich. He soon expanded into the copper and brass mills, insurance companies, and the timber boom. He became the police commissioner in 1888 and dabbled a bit in politics.
In 1898, he reentered the Army during the Spanish American War, which earned him a colonelcy. This, of course, eventually brought him before President Theodore Roosevelt, who in turn appointed him to the Panama Canal Commission in 1904. That same year in Century, Florida he built the three story "Tannenheim" plantation, which means "fir tree home." By this time, Joseph had become connected to the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company in Century through his timber investments up north. He hired the architect Louis Kamper to design the home for his son, Clarence who he sent to Century to supervise the family's interest. Clarence's wife Lulu would pass away in the young timber town on May 19, 1906 after 15-years of marriage. Clarence would remarry Susie L. Jenkins in Mobile in 1916 before following Lulu in death in 1939. Both were buried in Detroit, Michigan.
Few modernization's have been added to the plantation since 1904, but there was some recent plumbing repairs ordered by the new owners that peaked by curiosity. Ironically, a sink was removed that still had the plumber's name and date written on the backside. A little investigation led to the following story. The installation of the original plumbing was contracted to Wicke & Company, owned by Mrs. Anna B. Wicke and Charles A. Born. Their office and business was located at 15 West Garden Street in Pensacola. One of the plumbers sent up to Century to work on the plantation was William Charles Kage (Americanized version is Cage) born in 1879. Whether they came by wagon or sent their equipment and crews up by train is not known, but I put my money on the train. Due to the distance, the plumbers would stay on the grounds or were boarded in town during the construction. William's father Joseph came to America from Prussia in 1874 and he and his sons were all plumbers by trade. William and his wife Lilly had a son, William Robert Kage who became a plumber's apprentice as well. After a lifetime of plumbing, William Charles would pass away on April 6, 1957 while Lilly would follow him to Bayview Cemetery in 1972. But, I reckon that the young plumber that installed a sink so many years ago, had no earthly idea that 115 years later his name and work would surface once again to remind us that he once was!
Frank Hecker's Plantation called "Tannenheim" in Century 1904
Tannenheim as it appears today
Tannenheim as it appears today
Colonel Frank Joseph Hecker
Pensacola News Journal article of 5-19-1906
on death of Mrs. Frank C. Hecker (Lulu)