Roy Whidden is a True Ol’ Cracker
By Carl Allen 
Lakeland Ledger, May 10, 1984

  I’ve known Roy Whidden ever since I can remember and I’ve always admired this 
Ol’Cracker; he is really a true Cracker.  His grandfather came to this county in an 
ox cart before there was much in Central Florida.
   Roy, 93, was born in Bartow on June 11, 1891, and moved to Auburndale when he 
was only 6 years old.
   He recalls many stories about his grandfather that were told to him by his 
father.  Roy remembers a lot about our early history in this county; those were our 
pioneer days.  Roy keeps telling me that it’s almost unbelievable how many changes he 
has seen take place in this county.
   He recalls when he came to Auburndale, it was just a small town with only two 
stores and a saloon, and the streets were all dirt.  He says it looked a lot like the 
little western towns that he now sees on television.  He says the two stores were 
owned by two men.  The dry goods store belonged to Mr. Baynard, and the grocery or 
general store, as it was called, was owned by Mr. Patterson, who was the grandfather 
of Sen. Lawton Chiles.
  There was a good bit of business in Auburndale, for such a small town.  At 
that time, Lakeland was too far to go to do their shopping and Winter Haven was just 
a wide open spot in the woods, and was called Sick Island.
   Roy had a great uncle by the name of Jim Whidden that lived on Sick Island.  
Roy remembers his uncle and two friends by the names of Combee and Alderman, along 
with an old Indian whose name was Tom Tiger, used to come into town to buy supplies 
and they would stay with Roy’s family while they were in town.
   Roy remembers Indians passing through town and sometimes they stop over for a 
few weeks and he would play with the Indian children.
   On those Saturday nights of so long ago, the cowboys used to come into town 
and all go to the saloon, which was located where the old theater building now 
stands.  Roy says there were no cars and just about everyone owned and rode a horse.  
The streets of Auburndale were always filled with Cowboys on a Saturday afternoon and 
they would ride up and down those old dirt streets on their fine little Cracker 
ponies.
   Roy can remember many things his father told him about early life in our 
county.  He says his father was also Cracker-born and lived to be 108 years old.  He 
was a railroad man, and as the railroad was just beginning to push through Florida, 
there were many thrilling stories happening during that time.
   One thing Roy told me was when his father would let him go along on the train 
with him.  They used to have to stop along the way to cut wood for the engine to keep 
it going.
   Roy attended school in Auburndale in a little wooden building that was 
located on Howard Street.  His teacher was a Mrs. Walker and there were hardly a 
dozen children in school at this time.
   He recalls that the postmaster was Mr. Zackery, and remembers the town 
burning down in 1913.
   He tells about the town marshall, a Marshall Jones, and how he used to walk 
up and down the wooden sidewalks of Auburndale, and how easy it was back them to keep 
the peace.
   With eyes looking off into the distant past, Roy tells of the time his Uncle 
Pogas Smith walked into the saloon and said he would give any man $10 that had the 
guts to walk up and hit him.  Roy’s other uncle, Jim Whidden, who was a big man, and 
a brother-in-law to Pogas, told him to give the bartender the $10 and when Pogas did, 
Jim hit him so hard he was never able to hold his head straight again, although he 
lived to a ripe old age.
   If there is one thing Roy can do, and do it well, it is raise vegetables.  He 
always had a green thumb and it came mighty handy during the Depression, when he went 
to farming for our old chief of police, Chief Alderman.  I can remember seeing those 
two together during the hard times and one thing for sure, Roy or the old chief were 
never without food, for Roy knew when and how to grow it.
   Roy says President Hoover was the first to set up a relief program by giving 
men a job and paying them $1 a day and letting them work three days a week.  He 
remembers those trying days when he could not find a job any place, and he says, 
tears wouldn’t put food on the table, for he saw many men in deep despair as he was.  
But as he says, somehow God provided.
   People today live in a world of paradise, he says, in comparison to that 
time, because there is no such thing as hunger in this county anymore.  The sad part 
is that they just don’t know how lucky they are because they haven’t had to go 
through the trying times he remembers.
   Roy married the charming Irene Blackburn, who he met in Plant City on a 
beautiful summer day at a parade many years ago, only to lose her during the 
Depression.  When talking to Roy, he speaks of her as though she was still alive, as 
I am sure she is in his heart.
   Roy is a grand old Cracker who I am proud to have known for so long.  His 
kindness to others can never be forgotten.  He is what a Cracker really is.