Charles Grover Burgoyne Exhibit September 25, 2010

Charles Burgoyne was born in Fairmont Virginia in 1847. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, joining at age 14. At age 28 he went to New York and began a printing company. After earning a fortune there, he moved to Florida with his third wife, young Mary Therese MacCauley, who was a proofreader at his printing company. Charles Burgoyne purchased a city block in downtown Daytona between Bay and Volusia and Beach and Palmetto Streets. He built an ornate three-story mansion that became the showplace of the area. He was elected Mayor of Daytona between 1897 - 1898, and in 1899 he was elected Commodore of the Yacht Club. He was referred to after that time as Commodore. His 65' yacht, The Sweetheart was built in 1898, and a huge boathouse was built on the river across from the mansion to accommodate it. In 1912, Burgoyne had a $25,000 aeolian pipe organ installed in his home. He played the organ for his friends and associates at musicales held in his music room. The Commodore shared his love of music with the public by building a round gazebo at the corner of Orange and Beach Streets and hired Saracina's Royal Italian Bank from New York to play here during the winter seasons. In 1914, to improve the downtown Beach Street area, he built as a gift to the City a 10' wide concrete promenade bordered by a rock seawall that extended from Orange to Bay Streets. It was lined with streetlights, each pole containing a cluster of five large white globes. It was named THE ESPLANADE BURGOYNE, and a bronze plaque to honor him for this was donated by the City. In 1915, he built a spacious casino across the street from the Merchant's Bank. It was a 17,000 square foot structure and was to house the band that played in the winter season, and to be used for other types of recreation. It burned in 1937 and was lost forever. The Burgoyne's had no children of their own and were very generous to the children of the town, providing milk for school children and aiding the needy in whatever they could. Mrs. Burgoyne gave young girls of the town a pearl necklace for their birthday, and a huge party was provided for the children every year on the lawn of their home. Mr. Burgoyne died unexpectedly in 1916 at the age of 69. He is buried at Pinewood Cemetery on Main Street in Daytona. The marble angel placed on his grave was vandalized in 1953 and has not been replaced. Mrs. Burgoyne continued to live in the home for the next 25 years at which point she sold the home to a land developer and spent the rest of her years in an apartment on Grandview Avenue. She died in 1944 at the age of 81. A booklet of the life of Charles Grover Burgoyne is for sale in the Gift Shop at the Halifax Historical Museum.