Captain Milton Benjamin Frank Sr. was born on February 11, 1862 in Baltimore, MD, the son of Captain Milton Bailey Frank (1834-1880) and Sarah E. Hall Colbert (1841-). His father was born in Virginia and made his home in Baltimore. He was a sea captain who was murdered onboard the schooner "Mignonette" by one of his seaman. His son would follow his father into the seafaring life which brought him to the quiet waters of Pensacola Bay in 1892. Apparently, he must have liked what he saw because he decided to stay and make his home here. He started by taking jobs as a day laborer and then as a bayman. Soon, he would marry Pensacolian Rosa Pauline Flores (1877-1954) and they took up residence at 1109 West Government Street. In 1901, he became a city policeman walking a beat downtown but remarkably by 1903 he was already a Police Captain. In fact, for the next 29 years of his law enforcement career he appears to have gone up and down the chain of command ranging from patrolman to chief. That same year, he and Rose decided to move into a house at 418 South "E" Street where they remained for a number of years.
Through their marriage, Rose would bear him seven children: Mary Anita (1896-1984)
Edwin Abbott (1898-1989), Pauline Ruth (1900-1918), Milton B. Jr. (1902-1967), Hilda May (1904-1918), Nellie Margaret (1906-1976), and Anna Isabel "Bell" (1907-1912). By 1912, he was making a fair living as a police officer and had a good roof over his head with seven happy children. Then, tragedy struck the Frank family! On July 11, 1912 his little 4-year-old daughter Anna Isabel "Bell" died at their home. The exact reason for her death is unknown and was never listed by the newspaper but regardless she was buried in the St. Michael's Cemetery.
But sadly, the Frank family had more tragedies to endure. Six years later, three of their daughters decided on the evening of June 11, 1918 to walk down to the end of "E" Street where it terminates at the bay. The girls often bathed in the bay and since none of them could swim they stayed in a shallow area. However, they were unaware that there had been recent dredging to free a fishing smack that had run aground. It was in this hole that Ruth (age 18), Hilda (age14), and Nettie Margaret (age 12) unknowingly walked into around 7:00 PM and disappeared. Their brother-in-law Joseph Albert Hemmer (1895-1973) was onshore and was able to dive in and grab Nellie Margaret and pull her to safety. Word spread like wildfire and volunteers came running to help search for her sisters. They were able to find Hilda around 11:00 PM and Ruth at 1:00 AM.
On June 14, 1918, the two girls lay in state at their home at 418 South "E" Street, clad in white dresses. They were placed in white caskets and carried to two white hearses by six US Marines and six US Navy Bluejackets. The two sisters were buried side by side at St. Michael's Cemetery.
Joe Hemmer was in the Navy himself where he servedD in WWI and later in WWII as a Lieutenant. He would pass away in 1973 and was joined in Barrancas Cemetery by his wife Mary Anita in 1984. The sister-in-law he saved grew up to marry Belfiore "Fiore" Campodonica (1892-1960) before she passed away in 1976.
As for Captain Frank, he stayed with the Pensacola Police department for 29 years before becoming a "wharf master" for the Municipal Docks on or before 1927. He then was appointed "City Recorder" that was apparently similar to a county judge. He handled traffic and misdemeanor cases and levied fines or short jail sentences. He was occupying this position at the time of his death on December 12, 1929. Rose would follow him to St. Michael's 25-years later.
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