What People Have Said Through the Years
"Our Founder
was a good man and a good friend... He taught me one thing: Without vision a people perish." . Kenneth MacIntosh, Casselberry
City Attorney, 1960-1996
Hibbard
Casselberry is “a husky, broad shouldered man with black hair, thoughtful eyes, and an effervescent type of personality
whose ideas, plans and hard work have transformed a wilderness of scrub land and pines into a delightful town unlike any other
in the nation.” .
John Forney Rudy, Sunday Sentinel, October
1941
* "Hibbard Casselberry, a transplanted Chicagoan, owns this little Florida town that bears
his name, and he's having a lot of fun running it like he thinks a town should be run."
. Joseph Hearst, Chicago Tribune,
January 21, 1948
* “You, Mr. Hibbard Casselberry,
are the master of your destiny, and the promise and prosperity of your dream of
a community, town and city is in your hands.” . A.P. Phillips Report, Casselberry’s
first plan – commissioned by Hibbard 1950
* "It is not a job for a common man, this town building business. You,
I and the other fellow, can follow through with the fripperies, the embroidery, and many good substantial contributions, to
be sure. But the big old tycoons of yesterday - and the few left today - such men as Henry Flagler, Walter
Rose, Hib Casselberry, Henry Plant and Charles H. Morse aren't to be found on every bush, and the country is understandably
the worse for it, more's the pity."
. Jim Forsyth, Orlando Sunday Sentinel-Star February 22, 1953
* "Hibbard Casselberry was an unusual man, and a lot of people thought he had a lot of unusual ideas
about how to run a community.
He was controversial, as they say. But
when you pause and begin to list the men whose contributions have made Central Florida the great section of the country it
is today, Hibbard Casselberry's name always is up there somewhere at the top."
. "Hush
Puppies" columnist Charlie Wadsworth Orlando Sentinel, August 28, 1969
* "Because
of Hibbard Casselberry's dreams, that city is a pleasant place to live. It's not perfect and neither
was its founder. But it has a whole lot more good than bad. Brailey Odham has the same vision that Hibbard
had. Charles Clayton is another. Lester Mandell, Everett Huskey, Roy Dye and Joe Robinson
have the same genius. They are the dreamers and doers. From their imagination and sweat
have come most of our homes in Central Florida. I hope that the next generation can replace them with men
as great."
. "The Way I See It" columnist, "Barney Jones" (Tom Freeman), Seminole
Citizen News September 1, 1976
*
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For many years, Hibbard held a Christmas Party for the
workers and their families. When a woman said she throught it was great, and that her son would know the present came from
him, Hibbard said, "Tell him it came from Santa Clause, becuase you and I won't always be here, but Santa will." However, Hibbard's wife, Mel, saw how his generosity and single-minded
rule worked against each other. She wrote him, "The good you can do for others as a friend is nearer the real reason
for life. People aren't really impressed with just being doled out money and are often resentful that
they don't get more of the filthy stuff from you… Very few people resent friendship but are irked
to be made to do things you way or else - and you lose the opportunity of making them friends who might decide with
you to do the very same thing of the own accord. "Sorry if this philosophizing irks
you, but it just had to come out, and maybe while you are by yourself you can think a little and rouse on what happens when
a dictator falls and how quickly he is forgotten." In 1948, Hibbard did try to control the rate of business
development. He told a reporter that if he let more than two grocery stores in town, neither of them would make enough
money to survive. At the time, the population was 500. Here he is at Weaver's Grocery Store in the Williamsburg
Building. In 1952,
Hibbard was tried for assault
. The man had called him a Hitler - and said that the mayor and aldermen were his gestapo agents. Hibbard maintained his composure
until the man called his wife, Martha, a liar. When Hibbard was asked in court about what had happened, he said,
“Well, I don’t know. I have been told several times. I know I reached
for him. I know I told him, ‘You can’t say that to my wife.’” Then
he kind of laughed. “I thought I hit him but they say I tried to choke him. I
don’t remember.” He was obviously not helping his own case. . On cross-examination, the
prosecuting attorney honed in on Hibbard and asked if the incident was funny. “Yes, and I would do
it again tomorrow,” he admitted. No one doubted him.
Below left - Among other donations, Hibbard gave land
to the Womens Club for their clubhouse. Receiving the deed is Evelyn Morris, club president. Left is Mayor Herman Joyce, who
was also the Assistant Fire Chief. . Hibbard tried to give land to Seminole County for schools twice. He
only asked one thing in return: that the schools be annexed into town. The School Board turned down his donation and
paid for land instead. Like other people, they probably thought that Hibbard was only doing this to grow the town - thus glorifying
himself. He just thought it was fair.
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