John Simon HOPKINS Frow was born on January 14, 1859, in Colquitt, Georgia, to Frances Elizabeth HARRIEDE (HARRARD) (1832-1865) and James HOPKINS (1828-1865).

John Simon, whose parents were James and Frances HOPKINS of Colquitt Georgia, was raised by John & Adelaide FROW after John Simon’s parents died of yellow fever in Aug 1865 on Knockemdown Key. While he was never formally adopted by the Frows, he carried their last name for the rest of his life.

His adopted father, John Frow, was the Cape Florida lighthouse keeper for many years and then moved to Key West and worked for a few years in the U.S. Custom House. He was killed by a small plane landing in the bay which struck his fishing boat in 1918.

The Miami News April 27, 1918

In 1870, John Simon lived with his adoptive parents, John & Adelaide FROW. John Frow was a lighthouse keeper. Simon Frow, the father of the elder John lived nearby where he worked with his son as the assistant lighthouse keeper along with Joseph Frow who was also an assistant lighthouse keeper.

In 1880, John Simon and John Frow (father and son) lived in Dade County, the elder working as a boat builder and the younger working as a sponger & turtler.

MARRIAGE & CHILDREN

John Simon Hopkins Frow married Josephine STIRRUP (1860-1943 born in New Providence, Bahamas). They married in Monroe County, Florida, on January 1, 1880, when he was 20 years old.

The Miami News Sat, Jan 30, 1943

Their children were:

  • Minnie Stanhope was born on June 12, 1884, in Miami, Florida.
  • John William was born on January 14, 1886, in Florida.
  • Josephine R was born on July 27, 1886
  • Fred F was born on March 17, 1891.
  • Isabelle Antoinette was born on October 13, 1894, in Coconut Grove
  • Albert was born in October 1896
  •  Ora L was born in July 1898

In 1900, John Simon and Josephine lived on 10th St in Miami with their children. John Simon worked as a seaman.

In 1910, John Simon and Jospehine lived at 405 Fourth St in Miami. John Simon was the captain of a steamboat, and his son Fred was a quartermaster.

In 1918, John Simon and Josephine lived at 606 1/2 Ave D in Miami.

CAREERS

U.S., Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, 1863-1959, 1869, Volume 1

Captain John Simon Frow carried mail and passengers between Miami, Coconut Grove and Key West when there was no railroad. He survived an Indian attack on the lighthouse and another Indian attack at his homestead. He rode out the 1909 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. See the article below for those stories.

THE ARTICLE IS TRANSCRIBED BELOW FOR EASIER READING.

The Miami News, Monday, August 25, 1924. JOHN S. FROW, PIONEER FLORIDA SEA CAPTAIN IS CLAIMED BY DEATH

Was Working on the Boat That Brought Brickells to Miami to Take Up Homestead; Family Twice Narrowly Escaped Being Massacred by the Seminoles.

John S. Frow, 64, retired sea captain and a resident of this section of Florida for 45 years, died Sunday morning at his home at 27 NE Ninth St. after a lingering illness.

The greater part of his life had been spent in commanding ships plying the ocean along the East Coast of Florida. When he came to Florida from Colquitt Georgia with his father, not a single building was standing in Miami. On one of the boats on which he was working the Brickells came to Florida to take up a government homestead.

At 14 years of age he was working with his father John Frow, who was the keeper of the old Cape Florida lighthouse, which at present is a historic landmark.

The white settlers were having great difficulties with the Seminole Indians at that time. On one occasion the Indians attacked the lighthouse and drove the boy and his father to the top of it and set fire to the wooden staircase. The top was iron and became almost unbearably hot as the fire crept up the staircase.

A ***** worker who was with them was shot to death by the Indians after they had reached the top and the boy and his father stood on his body to keep their feet from scorching. Death seemed certain but a sharp whistle from a steamboat which was entering the bay scared off the Indians and the boy and his father made their way to the ground below.

Shortly after he was married at 20 years of age, Captain Frow started to work on the ocean boats and continued this work until his retirement in 1912.

He carried passengers and mail on his boat the Emily B. between Key West and Coconut Grove when there was no railroad to connect the two sections.

For a time he manufactured starch from arrowroot at Coconut Grove where he had taken a homestead. Sale of the product was made at Key West.

While at Coconut Grove his father Mr. Frow and his family narrowly escaped massacre at the hands of the Seminole Indians when a disagreement occurred between the family and the tribes of the Everglades.

Indians in 11 canoes came down the Miami river and then went down to his home at Coconut Grove with the sole purpose of exterminating the family against which they had a grudge.

Mr. Frow and his father were working on a ship near the house when the chiefs of the tribe were sent ahead to hold conference with the white men.

Mercy was granted by the Indians only upon condition that the elder Frow, who was an abstemious man, agreed to become intoxicated. For the sake of the family Mr. Frow’s father agreed.

While in that condition he was dragged about the yard by his long beard. The Indians stayed in the home for three days demanding the best that Mrs. Frow could provide.

When Henry M. Flagler, J. C. Parrott and J.E. Ingraham were constructing the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, Mr. Frow was captain of the yacht Biscayne, which was used for all inspection trips.

His courage and efficiency as a sea captain were shown nobly when a terrific hurricane hit the East Coast of Florida in October 1909. A great number of vessels were lost and many lives.

Mr. Frow was captain of the tugboat J. H. Pelton when the hurricane hit. In spite of the crew’s threats, he headed his boat away from the shore toward the Gulf of Mexico, and after a long fight was able to bring back his boat in safety without one of his crew being lost.

For three days his wife and children examined the bodies which were washed ashore and finally the head office of the railway company in Miami gave out an official report that the J. H. Pelton had gone down in the storm.

After his return with the boat he was given official recognition by the railway company for his remarkable way he had saved his boat and crew.

Besides the widow, Mr. Frow leaves three sons, John, Fred, and Albert, and three daughters, Mrs. J Knowles of Key West, Mrs. J.M. Warren of Miami, and Mrs. J. Abbott of Miami,and 14 grandchildren.

Funeral services, which are in charge of the W.H. Combs company will be conducted in the home at 3:30 o’clock this afternoon. Burial will be in the Woodlawn Park Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Captain W.H. MacIntyre, Charles Albury, A.M. Brice, Jackson Peacock, Charles Peacock and Frank Hardee.”

John Simon Hopkins Frow died on August 24, 1924, in Miami, Florida, when he was 65 years old.

John Simon HOPKINS Frow was laid to rest at Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum in Miami, Florida. Section 9. Lot 166. Grave 2.

SOURCES

Miami, Florida, City Directory, 1918; 1870 United States Federal Census; 1880 United States Federal Census; 1900 United States Federal Census; 1910 United States Federal Census; Florida State Census, 1885; Florida, County Marriage Records, 1823-1982; U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current; Ancestry.com; U.S., Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, 1863-1959, 1869, Volume 1

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