The Florida Historical Marker Program is one of the Division of Historical Resources' most popular…read moreand valued public history programs. It raises awareness of Florida's cultural history while enhancing the enjoyment of historic sites for residents and tourists. The blue historic markers tell the stories of the people and places that were important to Florida's history and they can be found in front of churches, schools, roads, archaeological sites, battlefields, and historically important buildings.
I always enjoy discovering one of these blue historic markers which have taught me so much about the state I love. I discovered this one in the Evergreen Cemetery next to the graves of Okeechobee pioneers, Peter and Louisiana Chandler. To find the marker make a right when you enter the cemetery. It is located near the front.
Peter Raulerson was born September 1, 1857, in Bartow, Florida. In 1874 when he was 17, his family moved to Basinger where he met and married Louisiana Chandler in 1877. In October 1896 the couple traveled by covered ox cart with their children to a wilderness area three miles north of Lake Okeechobee known called the Bend along Taylor Creek. The area was chosen because it was high and dry, with water nearby and good quality soil. The Raulerson family was the first white settlers in this area where Peter worked as a cattleman. He fenced in 30 miles from Onoshohatchee River all the way to the Kissimmee River. The first building the family erected was a barn to protect there livestock from wild animals and they lived on the second floor for three years. Later friends arrived from Basinger and helped the family build a log home in three days.
In 1901, Louisiana gave birth to Cornelious Vanderbilt Raulerson, the first white child to be born in what would become Okeechobee. Legend has it that when he was playing outside she attached a cowbell to him to scare off the bears and panthers that roamed the area.
In April 1902, the Raulersons helped establish the first post office in a suitcase under a bed. At that time the community was known as Tantie, in honor of Tantie Huckabee, a popular school teacher. The Raulersons daughter, Martha, served as the first postmaster followed by Peter in June 1902. Peter established a Star Route, a privately-contracted mail route, between Tantie and Fort Drum. In October 1911 after the railroad arrived it was decided that Tantie was not a proper name of a town and it was renamed Okeechobee.
Peter established the first school in a palmetto shack 1898. In 1909 he helped build the Tantie School, which was School #14 of the St. Lucie County School System. Peter was a trustee of the first brick schoolhouse built in 1916. When the City of Okeechobee was chartered in 1915, he served as the first mayor appointed by Florida Governor Park Trammel. He also served as the first county commissioner from the area in St. Lucie County. He was instrumental in the establishment of Evergreen Cemetery and donated the land for the Primitive Baptist Church.
Peter Raulerson passed away in 1947 at the age of 90 and Louisiana died one year later. The couple were survived by their children Lewis, Adline, Harmon, Melville, Faith, Ada, and Cornelius, 22 grandchildren, 48 great grandchildren, and four great-great-grand-children. Many of the historic buildings in Okeechobee have a Raulerson family connection. In 2000, Peter was designated as a Great Floridian with a plaque in his honor placed at the Okeechobee City Hall.
Marker F-825 was erected in 2014 by the Okeechobee Historical Society, The Okeechobee Board of County Commissioners, The Family of Peter and Louisiana Chandler Raulerson, and the Buxton-Bass Okeechobee Funeral Home.
