LIVING HISTORY
31
She sometimes even used soft-shell turtle eggs for cake baking.
She also was precocious in another respect. At about the
age of 12, she began driving Mother Lou and Granddad
Frank on yearly trips to one of their favorite vacation spots,
Hot Springs, Arkansas. Kathy and Debra say Frank apparently
used his political influence as a former state senator and
county commissioner to get Jo Ann an early driver’s license.
“Granddad Frank probably went to some judge and said, ‘Jo
Ann needs a driver’s license,’ so at 12 she drove them out to
Hot Springs,’’ Debra says.
SCHOOL DAYS
At Fort Pierce High School, Jo Ann didn’t spend a lot of
time with students outside of school. Few students knew
about her abilities as a young cattlewoman.
A classical beauty with alabaster skin, jet black hair and a
lithe form, she was never too far away from Mother Lou and
Granddad Frank. “They were really strict with her,’’ recalls
Elinor Phillips Blum, 91, a member of the Class of 1948 with
Jo Ann.
Though Jo Ann was known as being wealthier than the
other kids, she wasn’t snobby, Blum says. “None of us had
any money back then, so she probably was the wealthiest kid
in our class. I can just remember her being a really nice, sweet
girl. She didn’t flaunt that they had a little more money than
anyone else.’’
Nevertheless, Mother Lou made sure that the local newspapers
shared what she perceived as Jo Ann’s wonderful life.
Newspaper accounts record that her 11th birthday was spent
with an all-day celebration at the ranch; her Sweet 16 birthday,
recorded with a photograph in The Miami News, featured
a formal dance at the Indian Hills Country Club; and her 18th
birthday was “a gay celebration by a group of her friends’’ at
the Pleasant View Inn.
In high school, Jo Ann
belonged to the Glee Club and
a theatrical production called
Stunt Night. She also appeared
in the junior play and was on
the yearbook staff. Classmates
voted her wittiest. Says an
inscription in her yearbook
with her senior photo: “She is
always bright and witty; her
you’ll never have to pity.’’
Thomas Kindred Sr., 91 and
another member of the Class of
1948, remembers that in their
senior year Jo Ann dated Joe
Baggett, son of W.C. Baggett,
Jo Ann Raulerson, about the age of 12, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with
Granddad Frank Raulerson and grandmother Mother Lou Raulerson, in
white. Family members say Jo Ann received an early driver’s license and
would drive her grandparents to Arkansas.
Jo Ann Raulerson attended Rollins College in Winter Park. Her grandparents
hoped she would meet a boy who could help her run Cow Creek
Ranch. She appeared close to getting her degree but never graduated.
The Miami News featured Jo Ann Raulerson’s 16th birthday on its pages.
Jo Ann and her mother, Mae
Pearce Raulerson Floyd. Mae
relinquished custody of Jo Ann
when the girl was 8 after the
death of Jo Ann’s father and
>> Mae’s husband, Alfred, in 1938.