Thomas Austin Whitted, 7th child of Elbridge and Caroline Whitted, was born in 1858 in Boone County, Iowa. His family went from Iowa to Florida in 1878. His parents settled in Oneco, while Thomas (T.A.) worked at a sawmill nearby. In 1884 he went to Disston City (now known as Gulfport) to run a sawmill for George King. In the summer, during the sawmill's slack period, he helped deliver the mail in a sailboat. T.A. planed and sawed much of the lumber used in the first buildings of St. Petersburg.

T.A. served on the town council in 1894-1895; he played the double bass viol in St. Petersburg's first orchestra as well as in the first St. Petersburg's band. He was treasurer of the Carpenters Union for eighteen years and a charter member of the IOOF. He was also a member of the Christian Church.

In 1887, he married Julia Jeanettie Phillips of Long Key, Florida. They were the first couple to be married in Long Key. They first met in 1884 and their romance and courtship were carried on by boat trips to and from the mainland. Grandson Eric Whitted described T.A. as a "window and sash man" who put in all the windows and doors in the early homes in the St. Petersburg area. At night, after work, he and Julia went out to Gulfport in a horse and buggy and built their own home by lantern light. Julia was a real personality in early St. Petersburg, active in society and real estate. Julia's niece, Anita Evanco, says her Aunt Nettie had red curly hair, blue grey eyes, played the piano beautifully, and sang opera with a wonderful voice. According to Eric Whitted, his grandmother Julia "wanted to throw the biggest party St. Petersburg ever had." She did, at the Vinoy Park Hotel. Shortly after that, the real estate crash hit St. Petersburg. Because of the expense of the party, his grandparents were unable to pay the taxes on Pass a Grille Beach [inherited from Julia's father, Zephaniah Phillips] and they lost it. Eric Whitted felt that the combination of the Depression and the death of his son, Albert, caused T.A. to lose interest in everything. T.A. and Julia celebrated their fifty-ninth anniversary in 1946, just before T.A. died. Julia lived until 1949. Both are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Julia Phillips' brothers and sisters

Picture of Thomas Austin Whitted comes from History of St. Petersburg, Historical and Biographical, by Karl H. Grismer. Picture of Julia Jeanettie [Phillips] Whitted courtesy of Jean Healy.