First Families of Flagler, pg 207
By Mary Ketus Deen Holand (1995)On 5 Mar 1911, Deputy Guy White was alerted that three brothers, Bascom, Dan and Marion Carlton and Mack Burnie were on a train headed for Espanola, drunk, breaking windows and rough housing after spending the previous night in jail for being "tanked up on booze and getting ugly" in a tavern in Hastings, FL. Deputy White deputized Ave Schneider, a local merchant, to help him arrest the men and after taking them to the jail and in the process of searching them, Bascom Carlton pulled a gun and shot Guy White, killing him instantly then swung around and shot Abe Schneider, who fell to the floor dead.
The men escaped but were apprehended later and the three Carlton brothers were tried and sentenced to life in prison. However by May of 1926, all three Charlton brothers had been pardoned and released from prison.
R. B (Bob) Porter, director of investigations and chief of staff for the St Johns CO Sheriff's Office began a search in the case of the first St. Johns CO Deputy to be killed in the line of duty. Sheriff Neil Perry created an award for excellence in White's name. The first recipient of the Guy White Award by the Sheriff's Office was give in 1993,
The St. Johns CO Sheriff's Department dedicated a grave marker for Guy W White at the Espanola Cemetery in Nov 1993, where his grave had previous been marked only by conch shells placed there by his widow.
THE NEWS-JOURNAL
Daytona Beach, FL
Saturday, April 16, 1994
NEW ARTICLE HELPED SOLVE 80-YEAR PUZZLE
ESPANOLA - Far from the fast food restaurants and quick lube garages is Espanola. It is a bend in the road which once was a busy little railroad and timber town in Flagler County. A tiny road sign marks the turn off S.R 100, north of Bunnell, which takes you to this congregation of sagging buildings bordering Railroad Street.
Why am I here, in a lonely, still-life setting on a Sunday afternoon? Curiosity, I guess. I wonder how I helped the St. Johns County Sheriff's Department solve an 80-year-old riddle which involved a lawman.
It began on a slow Friday afternoon in the newsroom last July. I was trying to get to the golf course before sundown. Metro editor Bruce Kuehn got a call, looked for a reporter, and spotted me alone in the newsroom. Five more minutes and I would have been out of there. "Sheriff in St. Johns needs our help," he said. "Do a brief (that's news-talk for short story)." OK, so my plague of a slice could wait a few more minutes.
On the phone was Department Director R. K. Porter. He told me his office was seeking relatives of the deceased Deputy Guy White, first St. Johns County deputy ever killed in the line of duty. Porter was reconstructing a crime that occurred in Espanola in 1911. The sheriff intended to honor White with an award in his name, but knew little about him.
After talking with Porter, I wrote a story that we printed the next day. Days later, Porter wrote me: "I would like to thank you for your guidance and assistance with the article. We received calls from the family immediately after it was published. Subsequently we have contacted the family of Guy White and are starting to piece the story together. Your article helped us tremendously. The Sheriff's office appreciates your quick and positive action. Many thanks, RK. Porter."
IN A COLD, GRISLY setting in the chilling railroad town of Espanola, an episode of violent murder had been played out in the shadows of the tall, sleepy oaks. Deputy White was 34 when he deputized Abe Schneider to help him make an alcohol-related arrest on Sunday evening, March 5, 1911.
A St. Augustine Record news story recounted the incident: "Murdered in cold blood while in the performance of his duty as an officer of the law, Deputy Guy White was yesterday evening victim of one of the most deplorable tragedies recorded in the history of St. Johns County. Abe Schneider was killed while endeavoring to assist the deputy in his duties. Bad booze is at the bottom of the trouble."
White's grave site in Espanola was almost indistinguishable, marked only by a small pile of seashells. Time almost made the story, and White, disappear.
Porter's curiosity and his desire to honor White by naming an award for him to give to St. Johns deputies who excel, pushed him to learn. After seeing the article in The News-Journal, Port Orange resident Geraldine Wilson, White's granddaughter, called Porter to fill in the blanks and provide photographs to bring things up to date to honor White suitably.
"I'd heard about him (White) all my life. I feel like he (Porter) gave me my grandfather," said Mrs. Wilson.
A new, proper monument will mark the grave site of a brave lawman named White, killed in the line of duty more than eight decades ago, thanks to Porter. I was glad I helped a little.
Now, I am here, in Espanola. It is so quiet, so chillingly quiet, the docile sleepiness of lazy oaks and slumping buildings cloak what was once a backdrop to a ruthless murder so long ago. Villainous deeds done at dark here to a young deputy send prickly chills up the nape of my neck. I thought about newspapers, of a brief article written on a slow news day which helped right a wrong. I put my car in gear and got out of there, thinking about Guy White.
