Introducing James Falana

Author: Lois O. Gray

James Sebastian Falana is the only occupant of the Falana plot with a headstone.  Earlier sources say that his wife & daughter should also be there, but nowadays no headstones remain to justify the assertion.

Mr. Falana was a descendant of the Minorcans who came to Florida in the 1700s.  He lived and worked most of his life in Jacksonville as a bar pilot. 

What intrigued my interest in this person was that he lived at the time of the 2nd Industrial Revolution. His birth and death dates were 1843 to 1916 while the beginning and ending dates for what historians call the revolution were 1870 to 1914. 

We marvel at all the inventions we have seen in our lifetimes, but his time was no less momentous.  From the bridge of his pilot boat, he would have seen structural steel becoming the most important building material for ship - replacing wood and iron.  He would have seen the introduction of the internal combustion engine as the newest way to power ships, railroads, and machinery of all kinds. 

His wife might have requested that newfangled washing machine to relieve her from the drudgery of hand laundry.  They both might have enjoyed going to the silent movies which came along during their lifetimes.   

A telephone might have become more than just a luxury for them at home and in his business. He would definitely have marveled over the telegraph that could send messages across oceans at lightning speed. Radio would have been a necessity to him and all his neighbors and friends.  How else would they have kept up with local, national and world events in small town Jacksonville? 

He and wife probably shook their heads in wonderment at all the miraculous things that were becoming available. Just a listing of some of the amazing inventions and developments that occurred between 1870 and 1914 would have boggled his mind just as television, space travel, the internet, cellphones, and computers have created wonder and excitement in all of us. 

Mr. Falana lived in a time of great changes, exhilarating, unsettling and sometimes genuinely scary.  Advances & Inventions during the 2nd Industrial Revolution included: 

Factory Assembly Lines
Skyscrapers 
Bicycles 
Cameras 
The Ferris Wheel 
Roller Coasters 
Sewing Machines
Elevators and Escalators 
The Vacuum Cleaner 
Electric lights 
Refrigerators 
The phonograph 
Typewriters 

Can’t we hear him saying,” What will they think of next?”  

Just as we say so often today!