Janet was active in community affairs serving as president of the Stuart Women's Club three times, as the first president of the Stuart Garden Club and directing the Altar Guild of St. Mary's Episcopal Church for over forty years. She was one of the first white children born in the Stuart area (Thurlow, Sandra Henderson. Stuart on the St. Lucie : a pictorial history. [Stuart, Florida] : Sewall's Point Co., 2001, pg. 78-80).
Two reminisences from Pattie Boykin, who knew Janet:
Janet was a very good friend of my Mother and I knew their son John and Kit. I spent many hours with Janet and visited in 1963 or 64 when I went to Miami to visit my father and took my daughter. Janet gave me many little treasures and wanted to give me more, but I did not want to take her things. She had a china set my grandmother gave her and wanted me to take it, but I thought that my grandmother wanted her to have it and refused. I have pictures of her at Jensen Beach with us as children and I was punished by Janet because I sat in her Mulberry tree uninvited and ate mulberrys! I paid for that by being sick all night! I spent alot of time talking to her about the past and the gorgeous pieces of furniture and china she had. She was very funny and said what was on her mind. In fact when her brother married a second time she did not care for the bride and refered to her as the "swamp queen"! Thank you for the wedding write up, I believe Janet's family were the first residents of Stuart to move there as a family. I went to school with the Krueger children and used to visit at their house. Carl's mother was Raydibelle(?) kind of an unusual name. Pattie Boykin (psboykin@aol.com) (Feb. 2003)
By the way, my brother was a graduate of Dartmouth, I noticed that Homer Stuart went to Dartmouth also, although I do not believe he graduated or the article did not indicate that. Janet did not like anything "fancy" and was just a down to earth, plain spoken person. She went on a cruise with my Mother in the late 30's (they traveled on the SSNorth Star to the islands) and was just a fun person to be with, no affectations!
When I visited her, for what ever reason they had been evicted from their house and Dunnie had fallen on rather hard times, had lost some of his teeth and did not have them replaced etc. He was very honest and forthright and was a lawyer. Their furnishings, according to Janet, had literally been thrown out of their house when they were evicted.I wish I could remember why they were evicted, something to do with the taxes or title or ??? Some of the lovely old things were broken and abused. She gave me what was a lovely old 18th century enameled box that had been smashed in the move. I still have it on my coffee table. I thinkthe thought of losing his family home really crushed Dunnie and somewhat broke his spirit which I can understand after the history of his life there. That is all for now
Best Pattie (Feb. 2003)
The first girl baby born in Stuart who lived to maturity, daughter of Albert Krueger and Anne Donaldson Kincaid Speirs, married Carroll Dunscombe, now a practicing Stuart attorney. Dunscombe, a relative of Homer Stuart, became a land developer.
Mrs. Dunscombe has been three times president of the Stuart Woman's Club, for thirty-three years directress of the Altar Guild of St. Mary's Episcopal Church as well as first president of the Stuart Garden Club. During World War II, Mrs. Dunscombe served as leader of the volunteer citizens group which staffed Stuart's Service Men's Center, now the Stuart Youth Center. The Center centertained men on leave from nearby Camp Murphy, now Jonathan Dickinson State Park. In conjunction with the WOman's Club she was also head of the library committee. [Hutchinson, Janet. History of Martin County. -- Stuart, Fl. : Historical Society of Martin County, c1975.]