Franklin L. Dimick arrived on the shores of Lake Worth about 1875. He and his brother, Elisha, and friend, David Brown, had come to see whether the area was a suitable place to settle. Liking what they saw, they returned to Jacksonville for their families. In October of 1876, the Dimicks arrived by ocean-going schooner, loaded with building supplies, personal possessions and an extra passenger, Jenny the mule. The Dimicks’ parents and sister, with her family, came by an inland route a few days later. They all stayed with the Browns, who had settled there some months before, until their homes were built. (See the David Brown story.)
Franklin, son of Moore Wellington and Parthenia May Dimick, was born and raised in Illinois. On 7 April 1868, he married Anna Geer, who was born 8 May 1848 in New York State.
Franklin’s brother, Elisha, married Anna’s sister, Ella. Franklin’s sister, Marion, married Anna’s brother, Albert. (See the E.N. Dimick and Albert Geer stories.) The lives of the Dimicks and the Geers were evermore intertwined. They all decided Illinois was too cold and left for Florida. They stayed first in Jacksonville but had heard of an even more temperate climate farther south.
Franklin was a pharmacist. He and Anna had three children: Eugene Henry, Ella (Lella) and Lorena. These three were among the original eight pupils of the first school in the area.
Franklin and Anna sold their Palm Beach property to the Brelsford brothers and moved to Highlands, North Carolina, where they lived the rest of their lives.
Their son, Eugene Henry Dimick (“Gene”) was born 12 March 1869 at Buckley, Illinois, and died at Hypoluxo on 8 April 1945. He married Meta Belle Wilkinson at Rockledge, Florida. Meta was born in September 1874 at Harrisonburg, Virginia. Her father, a citrus grower, moved to Hypoluxo in 1905. Gene was one of the first seven aldermen elected in West Palm Beach. In 1896, he bought the drugstore which had been established by his uncle, E.N. Dimick. Gene and Meta had two children:
Louise Laird, who worked for Lainhart and Potter Lumber Company for many years, and Howard Eugene Dimick, a banker and later real estate partner of Claude D. Reese. Howard served two terms as president of The Lake Worth Pioneers’ Association. He and his family lived in Hypoluxo.
Ella Dimick married George Potter. (See G.W. Potter story.)
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