Mary Call Darby was the daughter of Thomas Arthur Darby and Jane Kirkman Brevard, who was the daughter of Theodore Washington Brevard Jr. and Mary Laura Call, who was the daughter of Richard Keith Call and Mary Letitia Kirkman.
Mary Call's great-grandfather, Richard Keith Call, was one of Florida's early territorial governors. After serving with Andrew Jackson in the Indian Wars, he was appointed to a three-year term as Florida's territorial governor. Thus, the Call family became Florida Pioneers.
The Call family history is beautifully told in Jane Menton's book "The Grove," and the life that Mary Call and her family have built there is a chapter that punctuates the rich history of Florida.
Mary Call grew up in a close-knit, multi-generational household that characterized many families of that era, especially in the South. She was the only child of Jane Brevard and Thomas Darby, born on Sept. 11, 1911, in New York City. Her father had business interests in NYC and where she would have grown up but for her parents' concern that the harsh Northern winters might be detrimental to their daughter's health.
Mother and daughter came to Tallahassee, where Mary Call's mother had been born, moving into the Brevard family home of her widowed maternal grandmother on Monroe Street. Tom Darby visited his wife and daughter when he could leave New York and planned to relocate himself to Tallahassee when his business allowed him.
Mary Call adored her grandmother, Mary Call Brevard, her Aunt Caroline and her first cousins, who shared the house with Mary. Alongside her mother, Mary Call credits both her grandmother and "Auntie" as having a great influence on the development of her character and interest in the world around and beyond her, with magazine articles from "National Geographic" and "The New York Times" as everyday topics of conversation. Mary all developed a life-long interest in historical preservation after learning the details of her own heritage. Today, the Mary Call Darby Collins Award, one of three historic preservation awards from the Florida Secretary of State's office is presented to a volunteer who has forever changed the course of historic preservation
After graduation from Leon High School, Mary Call attended Florida State College for Women (FSU) until her father died suddenly in 1923 while in New York City. Stolen business assets left his widow and child in a financial hardship during the Great Depression. Nine years later her mother died after a long battle with cancer. Now alone in her grandmother's home, her uncle and aunt, Ephraim and Bess Brevard, invited her to their home, but that was only for four months. The courtship of a high school classmate, LeRoy Collins, had been on-going and on June 29, 1932, Mary Call and Thomas LeRoy Collins were married at St. John's Episcopal Church in Tallahassee. Collins became Florida's 33rd governor making Mary Call the State's First Lady from 1955 to 1961. Mary Call later returned to college and graduated, as she had promised her mother she would. The couple had four children.
She is resting next to her husband Gov. Leroy Collins and their son Leroy Collins, Jr.
Parts of bio taken from August 2006 Tallahassee Magazine
Mary Call's great-grandfather, Richard Keith Call, was one of Florida's early territorial governors. After serving with Andrew Jackson in the Indian Wars, he was appointed to a three-year term as Florida's territorial governor. Thus, the Call family became Florida Pioneers.
The Call family history is beautifully told in Jane Menton's book "The Grove," and the life that Mary Call and her family have built there is a chapter that punctuates the rich history of Florida.
Mary Call grew up in a close-knit, multi-generational household that characterized many families of that era, especially in the South. She was the only child of Jane Brevard and Thomas Darby, born on Sept. 11, 1911, in New York City. Her father had business interests in NYC and where she would have grown up but for her parents' concern that the harsh Northern winters might be detrimental to their daughter's health.
Mother and daughter came to Tallahassee, where Mary Call's mother had been born, moving into the Brevard family home of her widowed maternal grandmother on Monroe Street. Tom Darby visited his wife and daughter when he could leave New York and planned to relocate himself to Tallahassee when his business allowed him.
Mary Call adored her grandmother, Mary Call Brevard, her Aunt Caroline and her first cousins, who shared the house with Mary. Alongside her mother, Mary Call credits both her grandmother and "Auntie" as having a great influence on the development of her character and interest in the world around and beyond her, with magazine articles from "National Geographic" and "The New York Times" as everyday topics of conversation. Mary all developed a life-long interest in historical preservation after learning the details of her own heritage. Today, the Mary Call Darby Collins Award, one of three historic preservation awards from the Florida Secretary of State's office is presented to a volunteer who has forever changed the course of historic preservation
After graduation from Leon High School, Mary Call attended Florida State College for Women (FSU) until her father died suddenly in 1923 while in New York City. Stolen business assets left his widow and child in a financial hardship during the Great Depression. Nine years later her mother died after a long battle with cancer. Now alone in her grandmother's home, her uncle and aunt, Ephraim and Bess Brevard, invited her to their home, but that was only for four months. The courtship of a high school classmate, LeRoy Collins, had been on-going and on June 29, 1932, Mary Call and Thomas LeRoy Collins were married at St. John's Episcopal Church in Tallahassee. Collins became Florida's 33rd governor making Mary Call the State's First Lady from 1955 to 1961. Mary Call later returned to college and graduated, as she had promised her mother she would. The couple had four children.
She is resting next to her husband Gov. Leroy Collins and their son Leroy Collins, Jr.
Parts of bio taken from August 2006 Tallahassee Magazine
Mary Call Darby was the daughter of Thomas Arthur Darby and Jane Kirkman Brevard, who was the daughter of Theodore Washington Brevard Jr. and Mary Laura Call, who was the daughter of Richard Keith Call and Mary Letitia Kirkman.
Mary Call's great-grandfather, Richard Keith Call, was one of Florida's early territorial governors. After serving with Andrew Jackson in the Indian Wars, he was appointed to a three-year term as Florida's territorial governor. Thus, the Call family became Florida Pioneers.
The Call family history is beautifully told in Jane Menton's book "The Grove," and the life that Mary Call and her family have built there is a chapter that punctuates the rich history of Florida.
Mary Call grew up in a close-knit, multi-generational household that characterized many families of that era, especially in the South. She was the only child of Jane Brevard and Thomas Darby, born on Sept. 11, 1911, in New York City. Her father had business interests in NYC and where she would have grown up but for her parents' concern that the harsh Northern winters might be detrimental to their daughter's health.
Mother and daughter came to Tallahassee, where Mary Call's mother had been born, moving into the Brevard family home of her widowed maternal grandmother on Monroe Street. Tom Darby visited his wife and daughter when he could leave New York and planned to relocate himself to Tallahassee when his business allowed him.
Mary Call adored her grandmother, Mary Call Brevard, her Aunt Caroline and her first cousins, who shared the house with Mary. Alongside her mother, Mary Call credits both her grandmother and "Auntie" as having a great influence on the development of her character and interest in the world around and beyond her, with magazine articles from "National Geographic" and "The New York Times" as everyday topics of conversation. Mary all developed a life-long interest in historical preservation after learning the details of her own heritage. Today, the Mary Call Darby Collins Award, one of three historic preservation awards from the Florida Secretary of State's office is presented to a volunteer who has forever changed the course of historic preservation
After graduation from Leon High School, Mary Call attended Florida State College for Women (FSU) until her father died suddenly in 1923 while in New York City. Stolen business assets left his widow and child in a financial hardship during the Great Depression. Nine years later her mother died after a long battle with cancer. Now alone in her grandmother's home, her uncle and aunt, Ephraim and Bess Brevard, invited her to their home, but that was only for four months. The courtship of a high school classmate, LeRoy Collins, had been on-going and on June 29, 1932, Mary Call and Thomas LeRoy Collins were married at St. John's Episcopal Church in Tallahassee. Collins became Florida's 33rd governor making Mary Call the State's First Lady from 1955 to 1961. Mary Call later returned to college and graduated, as she had promised her mother she would. The couple had four children.
She is resting next to her husband Gov. Leroy Collins and their son Leroy Collins, Jr.
Parts of bio taken from August 2006 Tallahassee Magazine
Mary Call's great-grandfather, Richard Keith Call, was one of Florida's early territorial governors. After serving with Andrew Jackson in the Indian Wars, he was appointed to a three-year term as Florida's territorial governor. Thus, the Call family became Florida Pioneers.
The Call family history is beautifully told in Jane Menton's book "The Grove," and the life that Mary Call and her family have built there is a chapter that punctuates the rich history of Florida.
Mary Call grew up in a close-knit, multi-generational household that characterized many families of that era, especially in the South. She was the only child of Jane Brevard and Thomas Darby, born on Sept. 11, 1911, in New York City. Her father had business interests in NYC and where she would have grown up but for her parents' concern that the harsh Northern winters might be detrimental to their daughter's health.
Mother and daughter came to Tallahassee, where Mary Call's mother had been born, moving into the Brevard family home of her widowed maternal grandmother on Monroe Street. Tom Darby visited his wife and daughter when he could leave New York and planned to relocate himself to Tallahassee when his business allowed him.
Mary Call adored her grandmother, Mary Call Brevard, her Aunt Caroline and her first cousins, who shared the house with Mary. Alongside her mother, Mary Call credits both her grandmother and "Auntie" as having a great influence on the development of her character and interest in the world around and beyond her, with magazine articles from "National Geographic" and "The New York Times" as everyday topics of conversation. Mary all developed a life-long interest in historical preservation after learning the details of her own heritage. Today, the Mary Call Darby Collins Award, one of three historic preservation awards from the Florida Secretary of State's office is presented to a volunteer who has forever changed the course of historic preservation
After graduation from Leon High School, Mary Call attended Florida State College for Women (FSU) until her father died suddenly in 1923 while in New York City. Stolen business assets left his widow and child in a financial hardship during the Great Depression. Nine years later her mother died after a long battle with cancer. Now alone in her grandmother's home, her uncle and aunt, Ephraim and Bess Brevard, invited her to their home, but that was only for four months. The courtship of a high school classmate, LeRoy Collins, had been on-going and on June 29, 1932, Mary Call and Thomas LeRoy Collins were married at St. John's Episcopal Church in Tallahassee. Collins became Florida's 33rd governor making Mary Call the State's First Lady from 1955 to 1961. Mary Call later returned to college and graduated, as she had promised her mother she would. The couple had four children.
She is resting next to her husband Gov. Leroy Collins and their son Leroy Collins, Jr.
Parts of bio taken from August 2006 Tallahassee Magazine
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