Long before Ponce Inlet became a town, it was a small community with just a handful of families that chose the rugged Florida outdoors over the hustle and bustle of city life. No family was more influential to the town’s early development than the Pacetti family, who could trace their roots there back to the late 1700s. Above is the most complete surviving photograph of the Pacettis of Ponce Park, taken at their Cracker-style house by the Halifax River. Though that house no longer remains, the Pacetti Hotel was built directly next to it and can still be visited today.
Bartola (c1823-1898)
Bartolomeu Clemente Pacetti, Bartola for short, descended from the families of Menorcans and Italians brought to Florida for the failed New Smyrna Settlement. One relative was Antonio Pons II, namesake for the town of Ponce Inlet. Bartola inherited a large piece of Pons’ land, upon which both the Pacetti Hotel and the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse are now built.
Martha (1844-1917)
Martha Pacetti, originally Martha Jane Wickwire, was married off to Bartola at a young age, though reports of their ages differ. Her mother, from Georgia, and her father, from Vermont, came to own a homestead at nearby Spruce Creek, where she lived until the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. She then lived the rest of her life at the inlet.
Douglas (1862-1879)
Bartola and Martha’s first child was a son named Douglas. Little information of him survives today, other than the fact that he died young. His death record indicates that it was due to pneumonia aged only seventeen, but various stories have been passed down throughout history with conflicting information. These stories often involve him being attacked by a wild hog and possibly drowning at the inlet, but no evidence exists of such an attack.
Henry (1863-1888)
The second Pacetti child was a son named Henry, who unfortunately also died young. In 1885, while unloading bricks for the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse’s construction, Henry’s leg got caught in a line of rope, resulting in heavy injuries and amputation of that leg. A few months later, his wife Lula Yates died in childbirth. The baby, a daughter named Nettie, survived, but Henry himself died a couple of years later in 1888. Nettie was then raised by her grandmother Martha, and eventually married Walter Rowell, who was the first assistant keeper at the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse from 1907-1913.
Bert (1865-1929)
The middle Pacetti child was Bartola John Pacetti, better known as Bert. He married Bertha Rowlinski, the daughter of the first principal keeper at the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse. They had son Robert and daughter Mattie. Bert was known for being the first federal game warden of the newly established bird reservation at Mosquito Inlet. He eventually became a federal bird reservation inspector for the entire state of Florida. As part of his duties, he traveled throughout the US to combat the poaching of bird feathers for use in women’s hats.
Seraphine (1869-1909)
Bartola and Martha’s only daughter was Seraphine Pacetti. Unfortunately, little information is known about Seraphine today, other than that she married a local ship captain named John Gardner and had seven children: Ethel, Henry, Annie, John, Marguerite, Martha, and William.
Gomez (1870-1957)
The youngest of the Pacetti children, Gomez, also happened to live the longest. From a young age, he assisted his mother Martha in the daily operations of the Pacetti Hotel, especially following the death of his father Bartola in 1898. This experience in the world of hospitality led to his career managing hotels in the Daytona Beach area. Eventually he moved to Orlando, where he spent the rest of his life with wife Flora Williams.
