Joe Ashley’s stills near the Ashley home. STATE OF FLORIDA ARCHIVE
SHOOTOUT AT THE STILL
After nearly two more years in prison, John Ashley made his fifth and final escape from custody on Sept. 27, 1923.
ELLIOTT MUSEUM
THE LOVE INTEREST
Besides Hanford Mobley, Clarence Middleton and Roy Matthews, another person worked behind the scenes to execute the Bank of Stuart robbery, casing the bank in the weeks before with how-to instructions relayed by John Ashley from prison. Her name: Laura Upthegrove, John’s lover.
Another Bank Robbery
Instead of dressing for court and appearing in Tampa to face a charge of piracy on May 2, 1922, Hanford Mobley slipped on a woman’s black dress and white blouse, stockings and high heels and large-brimmed veiled hat.
The Boy Leader
With John Ashley in prison and three of his brothers dead from their criminal activities, leadership of the Ashley Gang in 1922 fell to John’s 17-year-old nephew, Hanford Mobley.
Joe Ashley, left, was killed in the shootout at the still and Albert Miller, right, was severely wounded. SANDRA MARiO PROVENCE ARCHIVE
Bad Dad
While the patch-eyed John Ashley is historically acclaimed as the leader of what became known as Florida’s notorious Ashley Gang, it was John’s suave father, Joe Ashley, who forged a path of criminality for John and his four brothers.
John Ashley is shown here with a shotgun in the Florida backwoods, where as the leader of Florida's notorious Ashley Gang he spent much of his adult life evading lawmen. He based himself near his parents’ home in the piney flatwoods of Fruita, which he used as a pathway to the Everglades. SANDRA MARIO PROVENCE ARCHIVE
Life on the run
John Ashley spent much of his career as a criminal on the run, hiding out in the Everglades while in frequent communication with his family in Fruita
Display items for the new Port St. Lucie History Museum and Education Center are being cataloged and sorted by Port St. Lucie Historical Society members Rachel Heid and Patricia Christensen, society board chairwoman, as they prepare for the fall opening. RUSTY DURHAM
Colorful Characters
The city of Port St. Lucie sprang up in 1961, seemingly out of nowhere. From jungle-like riverbanks, swarms of giant mosquitos and no residents, its population zoomed from zero to 240,000 in 63 years.
What is now the vibrant River Park neighborhood with sidewalks and waterways was once hunting ground and ranches. St. Lucie Historical Society
PAST FORWARD
In the vast circle of life, only humans display a fascination with the past. Quality 16th-century historian William Camden called it our “back-looking curiositie.”
A criminal clan
The killing of Seminole DeSoto Tiger thrusts pioneering Ashley family on wrong side of law. Today, exactly a century after John Ashley, Hanford Mobley, Ray Lynn and Clarence Middleton were killed at the Sebastian River bridge, the shootout and the gang’s activities still stir the public imagination.
The Buckhorn Saloon had a short but colorful existence. It was opened in 1905 but closed the following year when St. Lucie County voters approved a local ban on alcohol sales, 14 years ahead of the national prohibition.
INTOXICATING
At the dawn of the 20th century, Fort Pierce boasted two watering holes within walking distance of each other.
