Written as published in "Tales of Sebastian" courtesy of the Sebastian Area Historical Society.
Meta M. Hardee was born on August 13, 1901, in Sebastian, Florida, United States, to her father, Captain Robert George Hardee and Clarissa M. Kitching (daughter of Sylvanius Kitching). Meta M. Hardee later married Lemuel F. Chesser and they had one son Robert Hardee Chesser, and one daughter Emma Clarissa Chesser.
Meta Chesser was appointed to the City Zoning Board in 1948 and first elected to Sebastian City Council in 1953 and served six years. She was the first female to be elected to Sebastian City Council. Her father Captain Robert G. Hardee had served on City Council 1926 through 1935.
1974 City Council Meeting Minutes
1976 City Council Meeting Minutes
Meta’s son Robert Hardee Chesser married Cynthia Turlington and they owned a ranch in Sebastian, where they raised their six children. The ranch was then known as “Chesser Gap.” The former Chesser Gap ranch is now the site of the Fleming Street extension and several business establishments and Seawinds Funeral Home and the Sebastian Elks Lodge. They sold the ranch in Sebastian in 1985 and bought a 1,200 acre ranch in Kenansville, FL, where they built a home.
In 1974, Mrs. Meta Chesser Bolinger presented the City with a painting of a Seminole Indian scene dedicating the painting to her father, Capt. Robert G. Hardee. Mayor Cragg thanked her for the painting and said it would be hung properly in the newly built community center on North Central Avenue. The painting was discovered many years later in storage upstairs in City Hall (1927 old schoolhouse from 1983 to 2004), reconditioned by the Sebastian River Art Club and presented to the City again during the new City Hall dedication on December 8, 2004 and hung in the new Council Chambers for many years. The painting was turned over to the Sebastian Area Historical Society later on and is now hanging in the Sebastian Area Historical Museum in the old schoolhouse next to City Hall.
Meta M. (Hardee) Chesser died on March 12, 1991, at the age of 89, and was buried in the Sebastian Municipal Cemetery, Sebastian, Florida, United States.
Comentários