J. Ralph Wilcox, Daytona Beach. Attributed to. Oil on board, 21 by 48 inches.
The following history of Ralph Wilcox and his time in Daytona Beach was done by an unknown researcher many years ago. I was given a copy of this work and wish to thank the author for its use and hope someday to be able to attach his name. “A good example of the life of an early artist in Florida can be seen in J. Ralph Wilcox’s experience in Daytona Beach. Wilcox, more than any other artist, made famous the weird beauty of the Tomoka River. Wilcox’s story in Daytona is told through brief articles found in local newspapers of the time.
From 1890 to 1900 he worked for the Elmira Portrait Company in Elmira, New York. In December 1904, Wilcox came down to Daytona from Elmira and rented a cottage for the season. A year later, in March of 1905, Wilcox bought a lot in Goodall, planning on building a cottage on the property that summer.1, 2, 3 By 1908 the Wilcox’s were established in Seabreeze. In December Wilcox made a trip to his place on the Tomoka River and returned a few days later to occupy a room at the Colonnade Hotel for his seasonal art exhibit. 4, 5, 6 In May of 1911 Wilcox and Charles H. Willson were waiting for the arrival of some photographic material before leaving on a boat trip up the Ocklawaha on a combined business and pleasure trip. The three week trip covered seven or eight hundred miles. At the end of May they left their boat at Silver Springs, returned to Beresford’s Landing by train from Silver Springs, and had the boat hauled home. The men spent two weeks boating through Florida, making sketches and taking photographs, returning only to secure more photographic material.7, 8, 9
Early that summer Wilcox and his wife left Daytona for the northeast. They visited in Philadelphia, Boston, and opened a studio at Old Orchard, Maine. Mrs. Wilcox visited relatives in Elmira. In September they returned to their home in Seabreeze, and shortly went up to their Tomoka River home to spend a few weeks putting up grapes, of which they had an abundant crop.10, 11 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Willson were close friends of the Wilcox’s. The Willson’s returned to their apartment house on Seabreeze Avenue the end of October 1911. They spent part of the summer at Chautauqua, New York, and Mr. Willson, some time on the coast of Maine with Wilcox.12 March 14, 1912 was noted in the Palmetto Club calendar as Art Day; the days program in the hands of J.R. Wilcox and H. D. Fluhart. Both were noted in the Daytona Daily News as local artists with more than local reputations. Fluhart could not attend, and to Wilcox fell the honor of an afternoon lecture.
The paintings exhibited were mainly Florida scenes, with a number of bits of northern scenery taken around Boston, the St. Lawrence region and the coast of Maine.13 Wilcox had an art store in Daytona at the George H. Clark Building, 188 South Beach St. He docked his houseboat Manatee, at the Wilcox dock on the Halifax and across the river opposite the Clark Building, where it was used as an art studio. The Manatee remained there for the winter with Wilcox painting on board.14, 15 In July 1914 Wilcox wrote a letter to Mrs. Wilcox from St. Petersburg, Florida. He was visiting business firms there, supplying them with his art work, and getting material for easel work in the fall. Accompanied by assistant W. C. Greene, Wilcox traveled down the east coast of Florida by water, making sketches for winter work, arrived in Miami, and returned to Daytona by the second week of August.16, 17, 18 The Wilcox’s spent the summer months of 1914 in the northeast, returning in September, first to their summer home on the Tomoka, and then to the home on the Halifax River, where the Manatee was anchored. They leased their home for the season and moved the Manatee to Daytona in November. They spent the winter on Beach Street opposite the Art Store.19, 20 Wilcox died suddenly on October 5, 1915 of a stroke. He was forty-nine years old.
The Daytona Gazette News noted, “J.R. WILCOX DIES AT SEABREEZE HOME. J. Ralph Wilcox died at his home in Sea breeze at about 10:00 o’clock Tuesday night, following a stroke of paralysis two weeks ago. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox came to Daytona ten years or more ago from Elmira, New York, in company with Mr. and Mrs. C.H. Willson, of Daytona Beach, also from New York State. The quartet was close friends and Messrs. Wilcox and Willson have been associates in business, having headquarters for several seasons in the George H. Clark Building on South Beach Street, this city. Mr. Wilcox owned a houseboat and in company with his wife, spent much of the summer time on the Tomoka River, sketching and painting for the winter’s business.” 21
1) In the Elmira City Directories J. Ralph Wilcox is listed as an artist working for the Elmira Portrait Company, 1890 through 1895. The Elmira Portrait Company did a large business enlarging family photographs. These were life sized crayon colored pictures. In the 1894 and 1895 directories George F. Wilcox is also listed as an artist working for the Elmira Portrait Company. He may be related to J. R. Wilcox. Neither is listed in the 1896, 1897 or 1898 directories. In the 1899 and 1900, directories, J. Ralph Wilcox is again listed as an artist working for the Elmira Portrait Company. He is again listed in 1901 and 1902 but only as an artist with no affiliation. He is not listed in 1903, but reappears in 1904 and 1905 again as an artist. 1905 is his last listing in Elmira directories.
2) Daytona Gazette News. December 3, 1904. Page 2, column 3.
3) Ibid. Page 3, March 11, 1905
4) Ibid. February 29, 1908.
5) Daytona Daily News. December 4, 1908. Page 2, column 1.
6) Ibid. December 8, 1908. Page 2, column 1.
7) Daytona Gazette News. May 6, 1911. Page 2, column 6.
8) Ibid. May 27, 1911. Page 4, column 1.
9) Ibid. June 10, 1911. Page 4, column 3.
10) Ibid. June 24, 1911. Page 4, column 1.
11) Ibid. September 9, 1911. Page 4, column 1.
12) Ibid. October 28, 1911. Page 6, column 2.
13) Daytona Daily News. March 15, 1912.
14) Daytona Gazette News. November 16, 1912. Page 2, column 5.
15) Ibid. December 7, 1912.
16) Ibid. July 3, 1914. Page 3, column 4.
17) Ibid. August 7, 1914. Page 3, column 1.
18) Ibid. August 13, 1914. Page 2, column 6.
19) Ibid. September 25, 1914. Page 8, column 1.
20) Ibid. November 13, 1914. Page 8.
21) Ibid. October 8, 1915. Page 4.
