When Okeechobee County was born on August 7, 1917, the late Colonel R.E. Hamrick worked with the organizational group selecting the slate of officers and also served as the county’s first Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Just two days after his 100th birthday in July 1989, the Colonel reminisced about what he has observed during the past seven decade. Col. Hamrick arrived in Okeechobee following his graduation from the university of Florida Law School in 1916. Elder Summer, chairman of the Okeechobee County Board of Commissioners and an avid member of the local Gator Booster Club, researched the computers at the University and said he believed Col. Hamrick, in 1989, was the oldest living graduate of the University.

The colonel was born and raised in Jefferson County in the northern part of the state. Prior to returning to law school, he taught school for five years in Taylor County and moved to Escambin County where he served one year as principal of a high school in Pensacola. It was this background in education that resulted in his selection as one of the first Okeechobee county officials.

He made the decision to move south from the Panhandle area to the shores of the big lake. Accompanying him on the move was his wife, Annie B. "I couldn’t vote because I hadn’t lived here long enough. I came down here to practice law and I got in on the organization for the county. We all met and was making up the ticket for the officials of the county. They came down to the superintendent of schools and I told them I would take it if there was no problem because I was not yet registered to vote," he said.

Others besides Col. Hamrick who took office 72 years ago included: Smith J. Drawdy, Sr., sheriff: Henry H. Hancock, county judge: David R. McNeil, tax assessor: Ewell R. Wright, tax collector: Rufus P. Fletcher, clerk of Circuit Court: W.F. Walker, Supervisor of Registration: Samuel L. Gray, J.M. Lee and Willis W. Chandler, school board members: and D.E. Austin, W.W. Potter, Alex Thompson, Robert Upthegrove, and R.E. McLaughin, county commissioners.

He held the office of superintendent for the next six years, practicing law and squiring land at the same time. One job cost him the other. "I had been in office six years as superintendent and the principal of the high school ran against me. I was practicing law at the time. I was at a murder case the day of the election. He beat me by one vote," Hamrick recalled.

Shortly after he and his wife, Annie B., also a school teacher, arrived in Okeechobee, his first of three sons was born, R.E. Hamrick, Jr. Died in 1964 at the age of 46. "I was married when I came here. My first son was born here. Doctor Anna (Darrow) was here and she is the one who delivered him. She was the principal doctor. She was a good doctor. I admired that woman. She would take a little old cart, like a wheelbarrow, and she’d go all over town day and night. Dr. (C. Roy) Darrow was here then, too. He was her husband. They were both doctors. He was the one who delivered Harvey," he said.

Harvey Hamrick, the middle son died in 1991.

A third son, David, arrived and completed the family group. David lives in Bradenton and is retired from Tropicana. He served a term on the Florida Citrus Commission. "He was with Tropicana for 35 years. He was vice-president of it when he retired. I’d say he made Tropicana and it made him," said Col. Hamrick.

The colonel said that when World War I broke out he was called for the draft from Jefferson County and he had to go to Pensacola. When they turned him down, he had to pay his own way back to Jefferson County. After the war. Col. Hamrick returned to his law practice, and became interested in acquiring land in the county. Through the years, he was owned land all over the county, and can relate many of the stories about the acquisition of some parcels.

One of the first parcels was a piece of land on S.E. Second Street where the American Legion Hall now stands. On that property, the Hamrick family lived in a ten-room house. The house sat in front of Bass’ Lumber Yard.

The Boromet family lived next door. He said their houses were right together and there wasn’t much space between them. "This boy was one of the best men I every knew. He was a wonderful character, Honest. Kept me with fish all the time. He owned a fish house. I like roe, and when he would find a big fish with toe, he’d take that out, and when he’d come home, he’d bring that by. "I knew you like it, so I brought this by," he’d say. He keep my refrigerator full of that roe all the time," he said.

He acquired parcels of land from $1 to $3 per acre. He said that land and land titles became his specialty in the law work. He would buy and sell his own land. But when he sold, he would always hold some.

Alec Fulford was the first county agent. Mr. Hamrick said he was the granddaddy of a small herd that started the cattle business in this county. He got people interested in the cattle business, the Colonel said. Prior to that time, area cattlemen rounded up the wild scrub cattle for sale. "I bought the first purebred bull in the county. I bought it and brought it here from the Clewiston Experiment Station. It came from out West and was the first one. We have a herd of purebred Brahma (cattle) out there now. My original herd cost $8 a head," he said.

Through the years, he acquired land all over the county. He said that he bought a lot of the land that was on the lake front (along U.S. 441 South) and he figured that some day it would develop. He was correct.

Opal was a small settlement located about eight miles north of present-day Okeechobee. "Judge Hancock was the county judge at one time. He first settled up a Opal, and that was where he got started in citrus. I bought Opal and sold it years later to Sonny Williamson’s daddy, Frank Williamson. I traded the whole thing to him for 90 Brahma yearlings," he said.

He said that he rode out the hurricane in 1928 by himself. "I was there. It nearly washed away everything I had. That was an awful time. I lived in the house where Harvey lives now. My wife had gone to take care of her mother who had fallen and broke her hip. So I was here by myself. I saw the water and the water came up to the second step where the house is. That was an awful time," he recalled.

The colonel and his wife were among the earliest members of the First Baptist Church. A small group formed the church in May, 1915 and the colonel said that there were a dozen members when he and his wife joined.

Through the years, the colonel gave land to the county for public use. He donated the land on which the Chamber of Commerce now stands. On another occasion, he donated the land on which the library now stands. And on yet another occasion, the title to the land where the swimming pool is located changed from his name to that of the City of Okeechobee on a quick claim deed. The same for the parcels which make up Flagler Park west of Parrott Avenue. The only time he sold any of the property was when he sold the land to the city where the City Hall stands today. "I took the money from the sale and donated the money to the library. That was the only time I ever sold any of that property. The library is on city land, and the county put money into the building, so I don’t know who owns it. Normally, the title to the land carries the building with it," he said.

Granddaughter Regina Hamrick, Harvey’s daughter, has followed in the footsteps left by her grandparents and is a teacher locally.

Annie B, Hamrick taught in the local public school during World War II, and later owned and operated the first kindergarten here. She died in 1970. Col. Hamrick died in 1989.