Evelyn Du Pont Taylor is an important figure in St. Pete history. Research shows that she is an imposter. Genealogical records and newspaper archives provide new insights into the history of Pasadena and the Jungle.
Curious Strangers Appear
A land boom begins in Miami in 1920, but conditions in St. Petersburg are relatively calm until some sophisticated strangers appear in 1922. Among them is an heiress ‒ Evelyn Du Pont Taylor. Her entourage includes her husband "Handsome Jack" and some advisors. A chauffeur drives them around town in a Pierce-Arrow limousine.
Developer Walter P. Fuller isn't sure what to make of the visitors, but he eagerly trades 1800 acres of semi-developed land on the west side of St. Pete for Du Pont money. The sale ignites the fuse for a tremendous boom in land sales and building construction.
Except she wasn't a Du Pont.
A Conman Disguises His Identity to Look Important or Hide From His Past
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| Handsome Jack Taylor |
Jack's real name is Ivan Marshall Taylor. His Wall Street investment firm ‒ I.M. Taylor and Co ‒ has been engaging in fraudulent activities. With lawsuits pending, Taylor flees to Europe in 1921 with what is left of the company's assets and he opens personal banking accounts. Meanwhile, investors are left holding worthless shares of stock.
When Taylor returns from Europe, he needs to conceal his shameful past. As an investment banker, he is aware of new opportunities in Florida. He comes up with a plan. His wife, Evelyn, will be a Du Pont heiress while Jack plays the part of Evelyn's gold-digging husband "Handsome Jack." As a precaution, they let it be known that Evelyn is estranged from her family ‒ they disapprove of her scalawag husband. This explains why the real Du Ponts never visit or acknowledge her.
Jack looks into Florida land opportunities and begins to focus on an area south of the Jungle that includes Davista and part of what is now Gulfport. Taylor presents an offer to Walter P. Fuller to purchase 1800 acres for $500,000.
Jack looks into Florida land opportunities and begins to focus on an area south of the Jungle that includes Davista and part of what is now Gulfport. Taylor presents an offer to Walter P. Fuller to purchase 1800 acres for $500,000.
Du Pont Money
A meeting is called in Judge Freeman P. Lane's office to finalize the land purchase. Present are Judge Lane, Walter P. Fuller, Jack and Evelyn "Du Pont" Taylor and advisors from the Taylor Syndicate ‒ Inness Henry and Fred Aulsbrook. Money Laundering 101: Real estate is one of the methods criminals use to launder money. They can take advantage of large amounts of money exchanging hands, transforming illicit funds into legitimate investments.
Pasadena-on-the-Gulf
The Taylors are enthusiastic boosters of the aristocratic resort community that they name Pasadena-on-the-Gulf. They continue to invest in the project, building a golf course, luxury hotel, and impressive homes on brick paved streets. Jack and Evelyn are operating a legitimate business selling land to eager buyers, many of whom are looking for an investment they can quickly flip for a profit. In a few years, land prices peak and then start to drop. Demand falls and the land boom ends in 1926. Their cash depleted, Jack and Evelyn leave town ‒ victims of their own scam.
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| 1922 (colorized): Handsome Jack Taylor (in the shadows, far right) and his wife Evelyn Du Pont Taylor at the first Pasadena-on-the-Gulf sales office, a private railroad car located where the SAL railroad tracks (now the Pinellas Trail) cross Central Avenue. |
During a wild but short-lived run, the celebrated elite of the Roaring Twenties were attracted to Pasadena and the Jungle, enjoying luxury hotels, golf courses, opulent homes and the charm and beauty of St. Pete's west side.
It all started with a bogus Du Pont heiress.
The $10,000 Bill
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| The $10,000 bill is no longer in circulation. It was the largest denomination ever to be printed for public use. Currently, the largest bill circulated in the United States is $100. |
Positive Impact
Walter P. Fuller writes "the 1925 land boom in St. Petersburg started, I have always thought, that late afternoon in the winter of 1922-23 when the quite lovely Evelyn Taylor turned her back on a group of slightly flustered men, including myself, blushingly rolled down her stocking and peeled off a $10,000 bill."
The sale provided capital for large-scale projects in the Jungle area. Had the Taylors' dirty money not been invested in Pasadena, the land boom would have passed us by and there would be no Rolyat Hotel (now Stetson University College of Law) or Jungle Country Club Hotel (now Admiral Farragut Academy) or Jungle Prada building. Most of the brick streets and ornate homes in Pasadena and the Jungle would not have been built. Babe Ruth, Walter Hagen and many other athletes and celebrities would never have visited and made the west side nationally famous. This blog would not exist!
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Above 1923 photo was reprinted in the St. Pete Times in 1997. The caption notes that Evelyn was a Du Pont. From all appearances, it was her money that financed the new hotel. Jack, her husband, is portrayed as an onlooker. |
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| Rolyat Hotel (now Stetson University College of Law) |
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| Jungle Country Club Hotel (now Admiral Farragut Academy) |
Evelyn Du Pont: Blue Blood or Blue Collar?
Documents reveal she was probably born into the working-class Bowden family in the fishing town of Bucksport, Maine around October 9, 1873. Prior to posing as a Du Pont in 1922, she listed her maiden name as Bowdoin on her 1918 marriage certificate.I have a theory about Evelyn Bowden McIntire Wood Bowdoin Du Pont Taylor Pierce. When she married I.M. Taylor in 1918, he was already a successful investment banker. Upper-class credentials are useful in gaining the confidence of wealthy investors, so it was advantageous to marry into the distinguish
Will the Real Evelyn Du Pont Please Stand Up?
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| 1921 Passport Photo |
Although Evelyn claimed to be a Du Pont, there is no Du Pont branch on her family tree.
Following the trail of documents, it can be surmised that Evelyn C. Bowden of Bucksport, ME is born around October 9, 1873. Her father is a laborer. She marries Chas. E. McIntyre (a seaman) in 1893 and two years later gives birth to a daughter, Pauline. In 1901, Evelyn marries her second husband Forrest B. Wood (yes, that name IS real). They live in St. Paul MN for a time. Forrest owns a successful investment firm, but the company shuts down after he is charged with mail fraud. The family moves to Brooklyn around 1906. In 1918 Evelyn marries a third husband, I.M. Taylor. On her marriage certificate, she lists her maiden name as Bowdoin. The Taylor family ‒ Ivan, Evelyn and "Polly" ‒ live in Manhattan. In 1929 she marries Adin G. Pierce and they live happily ever after (just kidding, Evelyn deserts him and they are officially divorced in 1943).
Interesting read ...
More details about Evelyn's eccentric life are found on this page:
Thanks to Matthew Bane of Old Pasadena for sharing research into Evelyn's past.
Illustrations by DALL-E and Steve of the Jungle. Sources available on request.
