The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-06-29
MOST REMARKABLE CAREER
OF A ROUSTABOUT WHO BECAME
GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA.
Broward Has Been a Deck Hand,
Sailor, FiIibuster, Governor and
TC Now Going tn the Senate

Broward Has Been a Deck Hand,
Sailor, FiIibuster, Governor and
Is Now Going to the Senate.
One of the most picturesque fig
ures in the southland and a man the
story of whose life reads like q novel
is Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, ex-
governor of Florida, who defeated
United States Senator Taliaferro in
the senatorial primaries held in Flor
ida.
Broward's career is a brilliant ex-
ample of achievement rarely equaled
even in this day of self-made men.
He was born in abject poverty, his
parents being ignorant Florida
crackers" and his schooling was
practically nil, yet he rose to the
highest office in the commonwealth,
and now he is about to enter the
United States senate. He is a big
man, mentally and physically, and
his honesty and integrity have never
been questioned. He won success in
politics, as he did in civil life, by
sheer bulldog courage and pertinaci-
ty and by keeping his word. He
stands six feet in height, weighs over
zoo pounds and is a born fighter.
Whenever this man of the people
wanted anything he went out and
fought for it tooth and nail, and he
has generally succeeded in getting
whatever he went after. His life has
been one long, hard struggle up
1rI of,I IN, he g, &c Il
and discOuragements which would
have disheartened the majority of
men he has won success.
Reclaiming the Everglades.
Ex-Governor Broward. first attract .
ed political notice by his project to .
reclaim the Everglades of Florida
and making them into farming lands.
1t was this issue which carried him
into the office of governor. He has,
too, demonstrated that his scheme is
feasible by converting a part of the
Everglades into productive farms,
and this made him immensely pOpu-
lar.
The father of the future senator
lived in a log house on the St.
Johns river, and eked out bare liv-
ing for his wife and children Brow
ards parents died when he was in
his early teens. His two sisters were
taken by his aunt to Jackson, but
BrOward and his brother, MontCalm,
mere boys though they were, decided
to stick to the homestead. They |
titled the soil, looked after their .
raZOT-back nogs, and did their own
homely cooking and housekeeping. !
Then they went to work for an uncle /
in a logging camp. Later Napoleon .
Broward hired out as cook and as !
sistant fireman on a small St. Johns .
river steamboat Through the blaz- .
ing summer months he sweated in !
the hold and on deck, working and |
saving that he might obtain a few |
months schooling during the winter |
season. Then, while he was still I'M !
der 20, and moved by a spirit of adj |
venture he shipped on a lumber
laden schooner bound for Boston !
There he was paid off and landed in |
the dead of winter. He had never |
seen a snowstorm before, he was
thinly clad and suffered terribly from !
the cold An attack of whooping
cough laid him up and took all his
money. Nevertheless as soon as he
could crawl out he shipped on one
of the winter fishing fleet bound for
the Grand Banks. He endured hard
ships without complaining, did his
work with a smile, and thus won the
friendship of the men of the sea.
Following his work on the Banks he
worked his way back to Florida as