26 TEQUESTA


Joseph A. McDonald, Flagler's chief of construction on the Hotel
Royal Palm, was elected chairman of the meeting, H. J, Burkhardt
was elected secretary and John B. McIntyre assistant secretary."
 The secretary called the roll to verify that at least two-thirds of
the registered voters were present as the law required. There were
312 in attendance. However, as the meeting progressed, at least 32
stragglers arrived, since 344 votes were tallied in the final voting. The
official minutes of the meeting indicate that the County Supervisor of
Registration certified that there were 424 registered voters eligible to
vote. This number consisted of 243 whites and 181 blacks. Of those
registered voters, 368 were present at the meeting 206 white and
162 black.1"
 After ensuring that the required number of voters were present,
Walter. S. Graham moved to vote by acclamation for the first three
items on the ballot. The motion was made and unanimously carried
to incorporate and organize a city government under the corporate
name of "The City of Miami," with the boundaries as proposed, and


 that a corporate seal of this municipality shall be as follows: A
 round seal two inches in diameter, with the words 'The City of
 Miami' arranged in a semicircular form, constituting the border
 around the base and the design of the Royal Palm tree in an
 upright position in the center of the seal, with the inscription
 'Incorporated 1896' inserted just below the center of the seal."0'

 The next order of business was to elect officers. This was
carried out by ballot. After the ballots were cast and while they were.
being tabulated, most people left to eat and then reassembled after
dinner to learn the results, which were not announced until 10 p.m.02
The vote was a straight ticket win for the proposed "citizen's ticket"
candidates. There were five proposed tickets, each of which en-
dorsed 26-year-old John B. Reilly for mayor.103 Reilly headed Flagler's
Fort Dallas Land Company in Miami. He received 341 votes. The
following were elected as Miami's first aldermen: Joseph A. McDonald
(334 votes); Walter S. Graham (341 votes); William M. Brown (343
votes); Frederick S. Morse (343 votes); Edward L. Brady (317 votes);
Daniel Cosgrove (343 votes); Frank T. Budge (233 votes). J. M.
Graham (199 votes) was elected city clerk and Young F. Gray (247
votes) was chosen marshal."'4