William John Howey

William John Howey (January 19, 1876 – June 7, 1938) was an American real-estate developer, citrus grower and Republican politician from Florida.If the buyer purchased a maintenance contract, Howey guaranteed the investment plus interest within certain time constraints.However, the stock market collapse in 1929, the discovery of the Mediterranean fruit fly and hurricanes in the later 1920s heralded the decline of his businesses.In 1928, Howey and his political associates sought to make the Florida Republican Party more attractive to white voters.He accused the Democrats of institutional corruption, mismanagement, and maintaining a one-party political system in Florida.In 1930, he was one of few Republican Floridians to hold elected office, and he attempted unsuccessfully in 1930 to secure control of his fractured party.His platform was largely the same as in 1928 with the addition of a plank that sought an elimination of the poll tax, a lynch pin in the disenfranchisement of African-American voters.
William John Howey mansion (1925)
Odin, IllinoisRepublicanreal-estate developercitrusFloridaHowey-in-the-Hills, FloridagrovesLake Wales, FloridaBok Tower Gardenslife insurancesalesmanOklahomapineappleMexicomansionWinter HavenDundeeLake HamiltonLake County, FloridaMediterranean RevivalHowey HouseFlorida land boomMediterranean fruit flyhurricanesDepressionSupreme Courtdeemed his real estate sales/maintenance contracts illegalsecurityFlorida Republican PartyDemocratsinstitutional corruptionone-party political systemHerbert HooverAl SmithDoyle Carlton1928 electionsDavid Sholtzpoll taxdisenfranchisementKnights of PythiasWilliam R. O'NealGovernor of Florida