Although Lisa\u2019s referring to documents, I had to laugh when I read the following headline in the Tampa Tribune, one of our local newspapers:<\/p>\n The marker states that Jose Julian Marti Perez, a Cuban poet and political theorist, slept at the Cherokee Club in 1891 on his first visit to Tampa.\u00a0 Problem is the Cherokee Club wasn\u2019t opened until March 25, 1896, months after he had died in 1895 in Cuba.\u00a0 Oops!\u00a0\u00a0Evidently when the plaque was installed in the 1960’s no one checked for accuracy. \u00a0Several members of the Florida State Genealogy Society\u00a0have written that\u00a0they have errors in plaques in their counties, as well. \u00a0I don’t know why it never occurred to me that a plaque could be wrong; I assumed that someone somewhere had done the research. \u00a0Apparently they did but the information was still wrong. \u00a0A well respected Tampa historian, Anthony Pizzo was interviewed 30 years ago about the plaques that are all over town. \u00a0The project began in the 1940’s. “Mr Bock at the time was the director of the Military Institutes of Cuba. \u00a0He volunteered to make the historical markers at the military foundry and put them all over Ybor City. \u00a0He said, ‘All you need to do is the research and write them up.’ \u00a0We were beside ourselves – what a fantastic deal! \u00a0So I took it upon myself to find out as much as I could, and I started to interview oldtimers, Cubans who were in their 80’s and 90’s. \u00a0What I learned from them was unbelievable-that we had such a rich history. \u00a0Then I started meeting historians in Havana, and one of the friends I really admired very much was Jose Rivero Muniz. \u00a0He had written many books-he wrote Conquistadors En La Florida<\/u> and Los Cubanos En Tampa<\/u>, which I cherish!”2\u00a0\u00a0Pizzo added, “The first marker was erected in front of the Ybor factory. \u00a0It is a beautiful stone put up by the Ybor City Rotary Club. \u00a0I think it was in 1949. \u00a0That was the first one. \u00a0And of course when Castro took over our project became paralyzed.”3\u00a0 A local foundry agreed to cast the plaques at a discount and individuals donations poured in. \u00a0“I quess I personally have been involved in putting up more than forty historical markers not only in Ybor City but all over Tampa.”4\u00a0\u00a0Makes you wonder how many other plaques contain errors.<\/p>\n The story made me want to discover where Marti spent his first nights in Tampa.\u00a0 First I went to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser site to verify the building date but the construction details just note Pre-1940 Commercial. \u00a0Tampa was incorporated in 1849 but the area where this building is located was not in the city limits. At the time, it was an unincorporated area.\u00a0 The current building, now on the National Register for Historic Places, was built as an exclusive men\u2019s club and to house the offices of Vicente Martinez Ybor (pronounced Ee\u2019 bor) the planner of Ybor City, which is now part of Tampa.\u00a0I guessed that Marti slept in a hotel that was at that site before the Cherokee Club was built.\u00a0 I found the deed information in the Library of Congress records:<\/p>\n “Original and subsequent owners: The building is located in the\u00a0Ybor City subdivision, Block 31, lots 6 through 10. The title\u00a0records for this building, supplied by Chelsea Title and\u00a0Guaranty Company, Tampa, Florida, are as follows:<\/p>\n 1886<\/p>\n Deed recorded December 1, 1886, filed February 24, 1887\u00a0Book W, page 572 W. Wells and wife to\u00a0Vincent Martinez Ybor, lots 6,7,8<\/p>\n 1886<\/p>\n Deed recorded December 1, 1886, filed February 24, 1887\u00a0Book W, page 572 W. Wells and wife\u00a0to\u00a0Vincent Martinez Ybor and wife<\/p>\n 1887<\/p>\n Deed recorded January 25, 1887, filed June 18, 1887\u00a0Book X, page 64\u00a0Vincent Martinez Ybor and wife\u00a0to Ybor City Land and Improvement Company”5<\/sup><\/p>\n \u201cThe Cherokee Club, built by the Ybor Land and Improvement Company\u00a0and opened March 25, 1896, was the most exclusive men’s club in the city. This club was unique in that its members combine persons of Latin and American heritage. The object of the club was to promote social intercourse of its members. The popular pastimes in the club were relaxation, entertainment and gambling.<\/p>\n In 1924 Jose Alvarez bought the club and operated it as a restaurant and hotel called the El Pasaje. Although the club was closed during the prohibition, the restaurant and the bar were the center for many luxurious banquets.\u201c7<\/sup><\/p>\n My guess was wrong \u2013 there was no hotel on the site during Marti’s first visit to Tampa. That location was a vacant lot.\u00a0Unless Marti camped out on the grounds, which I doubt as the mosquitoes would have eaten him alive and then he may have contracted malaria, he had to have slept somewhere else.8<\/sup><\/p>\n Marti arrived in Tampa and was received by “Carbonell on the morning of November 26, 1891. That day lunch at the guest house Leonela Nestor, who had great memory, and narrated details of the war\u2026\u201d9<\/sup><\/p>\n “We do not remember days, we remember moments” -Cesare Pavrese<\/p>\n Leonela Nestor may have had a great memory of the war in Cuba but he didn\u2019t have a very good memory of dates. Either he got the day of the week or the day of the month wrong. \u00a0I suspect it was the day of the month as Marti must have arrived on November 25 and not the 26 because in the evening, Marti gave a lecture at the El Liceo Cubano, 1300 7th Avenue, a social and political club founded in 1886.10<\/sup>\u00a0 His speech was so well received that \u201cafter a time they carried Marti off literally on their shoulders through the streets of Ybor City in the early hours of a Thursday morning singing the Ten Years\u2019 War-era hymn of independence known as the \u2018Bayamo Anthem\u2019 and eventually delivering him to the door of host Nestor Carbonell.\u201d11<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1891, the 26th<\/sup> was a Thursday so it is most likely that Marti arrived in Tampa on the 25th<\/sup>.12<\/p>\n Although the newspaper article doesn’t cite its source, I did find a reference for Marti staying in a boarding house owned by Ramon Rubiero de Armas.13<\/sup> I think it’s more likely that Marti stayed at the home of his host, Nestor Carbonell.\u00a0 We know, \u201cthat the next day, November 27, (the 26th<\/sup>) again at the home of Leonela Nestor, both discussed details related to the future creation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party.\u201d14<\/sup><\/p>\n p, pre {margin: 0;} input.blogger-ie-hack {position: absolute; left: -9999px;}hr.more {border-width:1px 0 0 0; border-style:dashed; border-color: #666; height: 8px; background:#ddd}table.tr-caption-container {padding: 6px; margin-bottom: .5em} td.tr-caption {font-size: 80%; padding-top: 4px} img {cursor: move}body {margin: 8px 16px;}<\/p>\n Marti was invited to speak that evening by the Cuban Patriotic League in remembrance of the anniversary of the execution of 8 medical students.\u00a0 The event was also held at the Liceo Cubano.\u00a0 After the speech, Marti is said to have \u201cdrafted documents related to the future Party\u201d on Nestor Leonelo\u2019s desk.15<\/sup><\/p>\n Marti departed Tampa on November 28 after receiving a farewell toast at the El Liceo where his previous evening\u2019s writings were read to the attendees.<\/p>\n If Marti did not stay with Carbonell, he certainly spent much time at his home.<\/p>\n Who was Marti’s host, Nestor?\u00a0 Nestor Carbonell Leonelo Figueroa was a journalist and teacher turned Captain of the Cuban Liberation Army who considered himself a \u201csocialist, though he never specified of what school.\u201d16<\/sup><\/p>\n Nestor emigrated to Key West from Cuba in 1888 but was forced to leave due to his political views.\u00a0 Arriving in Tampa with his 3rd wife and 8 children, Nestor was aided by friends to open a school, publish a newspaper, La Bate, and serve as a librarian and treasurer of the newly formed Revolutionary Club, the purpose of which was to raise funds to liberate Cuba from Spain.\u00a0 A club member had heard Marti lecture in Philadelphia and recommended that he be invited to Tampa to speak at a fundraiser for the Revolutionary Club.\u00a0\u00a0 By May 1891, Nestor was named president of the club and extended the invitation to Marti to come to Tampa.<\/p>\n Carbonell writes of Marti \u201cHence, when from a group of Cubans (from) Tampa invites you to take participation in an evening, you accept the invitation.\u201d17<\/sup><\/p>\n So where did Nestor live in Tampa? \u00a0Since there is no 1890 US Federal census record for Tampa I looked for city directories. \u00a0The Tampa Public Library’s oldest directory is from 1906. \u00a0The Tampa History Museum has a slim volume from 1893 but you must make an appointment to view it through the Tampa Public Library. \u00a0I have an appointment for next Monday and I’ll share with you what I discover.<\/p>\n The Tampa Tribune article notes that there were other errors in the plaque. \u00a0You can read it in its entirety here<\/a>:<\/p>\n I’m challenging you to check out a plaque in your community and let me know what you find. Wouldn’t this be an interesting project for a local genealogy group, historical society or a social studies class? \u00a0I don’t think I’ll ever look at plaques the same.<\/p>\n ___________________________________ 2″Tony Pizzo’s Ybor City: An Interview With Tony Pizzo.”\u00a0Tampa Bay History<\/em>7.2 (1985): 142-60. Print.<\/p>\n 3Ibid<\/p>\n 4″Tony Pizzo’s Ybor City: An Interview With Tony Pizzo.”\u00a0Tampa Bay History<\/em>7.2 (1985): 142-60. Print.<\/p>\n 5<\/sup>Fl-271, Habs Ho. “Cherokee Club (El Pasaje).” Historic American Buildings Survey<\/em> (n.d.): n. pag. Library of Congress<\/em>. Web. 13 May 2015. 13<\/sup>Wright, E. Lynne.\u00a0It Happened in Florida Remarkable Events That Shaped History<\/em>. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot: 62, 2010. Web. 13 May 2015. Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 14 May 2015. Finding documents with conflicting info is common.\u00a0 Determining which information is correct takes careful analysis. Lisa Lisson\u2019s article in Crestleaf about the Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Researching Your Family\u2019s Genealogy notes that you can\u2019t believe everything you read. \u00a0(Check it out here.) Although Lisa\u2019s referring … Continue reading “Marker Mistakes – Historical Plaque Inaccuracies”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[75,77,73,74,76],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-cuba","tag-historical-markers","tag-jose-marti","tag-tampa","tag-ybor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/97"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"marti-plague\"](\"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Marti-Plague-300x200.png\")
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\n1<\/sup>“Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00ed Historical Marker outside Ybor Building Is Wrong.” TBO.com<\/em>. 1, 10 May 2015. Web. 11 May 2015.<\/p>\n
\n6<\/sup>“Prints & Photographs Reading Room | Prints & Photographs Division – Library of Congress.” Prints& Photographs Reading Room | Prints & Photographs Division – Library of Congress<\/em>. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015.
\n7<\/sup>Fl-271, Habs Ho. “Cherokee Club (El Pasaje).” Historic American Buildings Survey<\/em> (n.d.): n. pag. Library of Congress<\/em>. Web. 13 May 2015.
\n8<\/sup>Altonen, Brian. \u00a0Public Health, Medicine and History The 1890 Census Disease Maps.<\/em>
\n9<\/sup>“N\u00e9stor Leonelo Carbonell Figuerosa.” EcuRed<\/em>. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015.
\n10<\/sup>\u00a0Rajtar, Steve.\u00a0A Guide to Historic Tampa Florida<\/em>. Charleston, SC: History: 169, 2007. Print.
\n11<\/sup>Lopez, Alfred J. Jose Marti: \u00a0A Revolutionary Life.<\/em> Austin: \u00a0University of Texas Press: 253, 2014. Print. \u00a0Information taken from Hildago Paz. Jose Marti 1853-1895<\/em>, 144-145.
\n12″November 1891 Calendar.” November 1891 Calendar<\/em>. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015.<\/p>\n
\n14<\/sup>“N\u00e9stor Leonelo Carbonell Figuerosa.” EcuRed<\/em>. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015.
\n15<\/sup>Ibid
\n16<\/sup>Casanovas, Joan, and Joan Casanovas. \u00a0Bread or Bullets!: \u00a0Urban Labor and Spanish Colonialism in Cuba, 1850-1898.<\/em> Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh: 217, 1998. Print.
\n17<\/sup>Carbonell, Nestor.\u00a0\u00a0PROCERES. Ensayos Biogr\u00e1ficos. Havana: Montalvo y C\u00e1rdenas,1928. Print.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"