Thirteen former mayors are buried here, including Tampa's first mayor,
Judge Joseph B. Lancaster - sort of.
A similar marker was erected in Jacksonville, where Lancaster spent summers.

So no one knows under which stone his body lies. "Short of digging him up . . ."
the tour guide said, as dead leaves clicked against the sidewalk after they found
themselves trapped in the sweeping net of her lace gown.

James C. Magbee, who donated much of the land for the cemetery, is also interred here.
His gravestone says he was Tampa's first lawyer, a Florida legislator,
a circuit judge and an editor and publisher.

He was also considered a scalawag. He was a Democrat during the Civil War
but changed parties to side with Union forces.

And he was known to be overly fond of the bottle. He drank so much, he would pass out
in the streets of downtown Tampa, which, back then, was a cow town of unpaved roads.
Cattle and hogs roamed the streets.

One night, he went on one of his benders and passed out. A crowd gathered and poured molasses
and sprinkled cornmeal over his form. During the night, hogs ate his clothes off.
He woke up cold and naked.

"So judge, I salute you," the tour guide said, saluting Magbee's gravestone.
"I know you love it when I tell the story, so I tell it with regularity!"