Duval County FlArchives Biographies.....Bisbee, Horatio 1839 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 June 27, 2010, 1:40 pm

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Horatio Bisbee

    A soldier in the Union army who, looking upon the South. pronounced it good,
and has made his home in Florida since the war, is Horatio Bisbee, of
Jacksonville. Mr. Bisbee has met with conspicuous success in the practice of his
profession, and is recognized as one of the leading practitioners of the bar in
his adopted State. As a member of Congress during four terms, he rendered
inestimable and lasting service to the people of a greatly extended section by
his energetic and successful advocacy of ample appropriations for the
improvement of the St. Johns river.

    Mr. Bisbee is a native of Maine, and originally a thorough "down Easterner."
He comes of Pilgrim ancestry, his first known ancestor in America coming from
the northern part of England, and landing at Plymouth Rock in 1634. This
ancestor had two sons, one of whom settled in Massachusetts, and the other going
into the more distant colony which afterward became the State of Maine. Mr.
Bisbee is a descendant of the son who settled in Maine. Mr. Bisbee was named for
his father, Horatio Bisbee, who was a farmer. His mother's maiden name was Sarah
White.

    He was born May 1, 1839, at Canton, Maine, and as a boy enjoyed the best
school advantages, attending Auburn Academy and Westbrook Seminary in Maine, and
as a young man, matriculating in Tufts College in Massachusetts. From the latter
institution he was graduated technically in 1863, having conferred upon him the
degree of A. B. and afterwards M. A., though at the time of his graduation he
had already seen much service in the Union Army. He enlisted and served as a
private soldier in Company E, of the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry from
April 17th to August, 1861. He was with this regiment in Virginia, but later was
commissioned Captain in the Ninth Maine Volunteer Infantry, and from
Lieutenant-Colonel succeeded to the coloneley of the latter regiment. After he
was mustered out of the service, Colonel Bisbee decided to locate in Florida,
and coming to this State permanently in January, 1865, began the active practice
of law on Feb. 10, 1865. He met with immediate success, and soon attained a
prominence in his profession that was recognized in 1869 by his appointment to
the office of United States District Attorney for the Northern District of
Florida. He served the full term of four years, his administration of the office
being marked by distinguished ability, but declined a re-appointment voluntarily
tendered with the intention of applying himself to the more profitable private
practice of his profession. He remained in private life comparatively but a
short time, however, as there was work for him to do, and in 1876 he was elected
to the Forty-fifth Congress from the Second District of Florida. He was
re-elected at succeeding elections to the three successive Congresses, and his
eight years of service in Washington resulted in the furtherance of public work
in Florida, the value of which to the people of the State and the adjacent
section of the South can scarcely be estimated. He gave especial attention to
the securing of appropriations for the construction of jetties at the mouth of
the St. Johns River, for the deepening of the channel over the bar, and for the
permanent establishing of beacon lights along the whole river. These
improvements have been of immeasurable value to shipping, to commerce, to
industry, and, in fact, to every interest within a wide scope of country, a
lasting benefit to the section and a monument to Colonel Bisbee's service to his
adopted State.

        He has been married twice, first to Miss Florida Flotard, and then to
Mrs. Lottie R. Beasley. He has four children living. viz: Genevieve, Eldon, Ada
and Ralph. Colonel Bisbee is Republican in politics, and while not a member of
any church, has leanings towards the Universalist and Unitarian denominations.
He is of quiet tastes, devoted to his home life, and a lover of the Bible and
Shakespeare. He is a man of genial disposition, and early in his residence
easily adapted himself to the environments of his new home.

    He was for years a member of the Elks and the Seminole Club, but has retired
from both these social organizations. To use his own expression, he has always
"made a good living by practicing law and minding his own business." He admire*
as a profitable course of life "courage, industry and integrity, and courtesy to
those who deserve it, and never be guilty of trying to mislead or corrupt." He
believes that there should be "ample opportunity for educating the children,
complete toleration of political and religious opinion and the remorseless
punishment of public men who commit crimes." To serve the best interests of
State and Nation, he favors "laws and the enforcement thereof necessary to
dissolve all illegal combinations that tend to enhance prices to consumers or
promote monopolies; the preservation of the protective tariff policy intact; the
absolute divorce from stock-holding interests of the management and operation of
railroad companies and other common carriers."

    From the extreme North to the far South is a far cry, but this staunch
American of old Puritan stock has made himself as thoroughly at home on the
sunny pine levels of Florida as he was on the pine-clad hills of Maine. His
patriotic devotion to Florida could not have been stronger even though he had
been native born, and in consequence, he has a legion of friends who love him as
a man, honor him as a citizen, and admire him as a lawyer.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

FLORIDA EDITION
MAKERS OF AMERICA
AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS
VOL. II.
Published under the patronage of
The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida

ADVISORY BOARD:
HON. W. D. BLOXHAM          COL. FRANK HARRIS
HON. R. W. DAVIS            SEN. H. H. MCCREARY
HON. F. P. FLEMING          W. F. STOVALL
      C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY
1909
A. B. CALDWELL
ATLANTA, GA.


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