1908 John R. Mizell

In all the years since its incorporation, Pompano Beach Mayors have been a diverse lot. It’s a safe bet, however, that none of Pompano Beach’s mayors had as colorful a background as did its first – John Randolph Mizell.

When 33 local residents gathered at the Florida East Coast Railway depot in the late afternoon of June 6, 1908, to vote on the matter of incorporating the settlement, Mizell was by far the oldest person present. Most of the others there were young enough to be his sons, and more than a few were young enough to be his grandsons.

One has to wonder if Mizell reflected on the relative youth of his colleagues. He knew that they were tough and resourceful men, but their lives had little of the drama and history that he had experienced.

The Mizell family had been residents of Florida for generations – but there were still less than 50,000 people living throughout the peninsula when John was born in 1838 (or as early as 1835 by some accounts) in the little settlement of Alachua.. His early years coincided with the vicious bloodletting between the white setters and the Seminole Indians. It was said that the Mizell family homestead more resembled a stockade than a conventional dwelling place of the period.

By the mid-1840s, the Seminoles had been pushed far to the south and the Mizell family moved from Alachua, first to the area around Micanopy and then later to Orange County, near today’s Winter Park. This sparsely-populated region was home to large stretches of cattle-grazing lands, and the Mizells quickly established themselves as some of the early “Cracker” cowboys of the central Florida frontier.

The building of a ranching empire was interrupted by the coming of the Civil War. Like many of the cattle ranchers of that area, the Mizells were not in favor of Florida’s secession from the Union. Still, John and his two brothers joined the Confederate Army, with tragic consequences. John’s brother Tom would be killed at the Battle of Richmond, and his brother David was stricken with cholera.

John enlisted in Company F, 7th Florida Infantry of the Confederate States Army in April, 1862. The 7th Florida was attached to the Army of Tennessee and took part in 32 major engagements during the war, including the battles of Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge.

By now a Captain, John was captured on July 3, 1964, the final day of the Battle of Marietta, Georgia. He was imprisoned at Johnson's Island, Ohio (a Union prisoner of war camp for Confederate officers located on an island in Lake Erie), for the duration of the war. He was paroled on May 21, 1865, after which he found his way back to Florida.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, the Mizell family became political kingpins in Orange County. John, who had studied law and was admitted to the bar, became judge of the Circuit Court, his brother David was elected Sheriff, and his father sat on the Orange County Commission.

Political power, however, only went so far. In 1870 John sent his brother out to collect cattle in lieu of back taxes and court costs. Bad blood had been brewing for some time between the Mizell and the Barber families, and when David approached the Barber’s ranch he was ambushed and killed.

On the nearly lawless frontier, even those sworn to uphold the law were more than willing to ignore legal niceties. John led members of his family on a quest to avenge his brother’s death. Seven members of the Barber family and their allies were caught, but none made it to trial. All were shot “trying to escape.”

By the mid-1870s, John Mizell was becoming more active in state politics. He ran for the state legislature in 1874 as an independent candidate, indicating that he was not sympathetic to the Democratic Party seeking to overturn Reconstruction, but at the same time would support “no Radical, carpetbagger or scalawag.”

As the Democrats solidified their power in Florida, John was increasingly marginalized in state politics, but by throwing his support to the Republican Party, he was able to reap the rewards of political patronage. Since the Republicans controlled the national government for most of the latter part of the 19th century, there were many local offices that had to be filled with people who professed party loyalty. Consequently, John was appointed to serve as United States Marshall in Jacksonville, and later as Collector of Customs in Pensacola.

Outside of government, he was a large landowner and for several years in the 1890s was president of the East Florida and Atlantic Railroad. During the Spanish-American War, John was sent by the federal government to Puerto Rico to help establish post offices in that newly-acquired American possession.

As the 19th century came to an end, and John Mizell entered his sixties, he decided to move his family to West Palm Beach. It is not clear how long he and his wife, Margaret, and their three daughters stayed in that city, but soon they moved again, to the tiny settlement of Pompano.

Perhaps he intended, at last, to retire from active life, but through either reputation or demeanor, he soon became a leader in the small community. Following the vote on incorporation at that June 6, 1908, meeting, John Mizell was the obvious choice to serve as the new municipality’s first mayor. He was elected without opposition.

John served a single term as Pompano’s mayor and drew upon his varied experiences to get the town and its new government headed in the right direction. He continued to reside in Pompano and was described as “clear and bright” of mind up until he died on November 9, 1913, while visiting his daughter in Miami. His body was taken to West Palm Beach, where he was laid to rest next to his wife.

Pompano Beach’s subsequent mayors have been able men and women, but who among them could claim to have seen and been a part of so much of Florida’s history? Even a century after he was elected mayor, John Mizell remains one of a kind.

Courtesy of the Pompano Beach Historical Society. All rights reserved.