Frontierswomen
of Central Florida
Mary Elizabeth (Henwood) White (1883-1972)
Photo courtesy Find-A-Grave memorial 17794113
A
Women’s History Month Tribute
By
Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com
11
March 2022
Day 11
CitrusLAND is observing Women’s History Month by
honoring extraordinary Central Florida frontierswomen. And as we celebrate
Women’s History Month throughout March, we are also promoting each day a local
History Museum, listing their days and hours of operation.
See also our featured History Museum in this Post
#Harden
of Yalaha
Kizannah #Harden McEaddy
was ready to do whatever was necessary to protect her children, even if it
meant clubbing a bear or poking the muzzle of her shotgun between the chink of her
log cabin to chase away Indians. Frontierswoman Kizannah did both, according to
the Orlando Sentinel of 10 September 1997, an article describing Yalaha
resident, Kizannah (Harden) McEaddy (1836- 1927).
A native of Chester, South Carolina, Kizannah Harden came
to Florida with her parents prior to formation of Sumter County, so at 14 years
of age, Kizannah was listed as living with her parents in 1850 Marion County. “The
first permanent settler at Yalaha,” according to Professor William T. Kennedy,
author of a History of Lake County, Florida (1929), “was Captain W. J.
McEaddy, who came to the region in 1869”. (The actual date of McEaddy’s arrival
at Yalaha was likely an entire decade earlier). “Indians,” said the professor,
“had made a reservation out of a part of what became McEaddy’s property.” Kizannah
Harden married William J. McEaddy on 3 June 1858.
Yalaha, Florida on Lake Harris
No series about central Florida frontierswomen would
be complete without mention of a mother willing to club of a bear to protect
her family.
On March 26, 1926, descendants of Kizannah (Harden) McEaddy
gathered at the Yalaha Yacht Club, with the facility “decorated with garlands
of asparagus fern suspended across the hall and looped up with dainty baskets
filled with ferns and flowers,” reported the Eustis Lake Region newspaper.
Descendants were gathered to celebrate the 90th birthday of “Grandma
McEaddy, who, promptly at 9 o’clock, led the grand march of 85 guests assisted
by her oldest son, grandson and the fourth generation, three little great
grandchildren.”
Julia #Hart
of Fort Reid (Sanford), like far too many young central Florida frontierswomen,
was left out of central Florida history. As for Julia Hart, her absence from Central
Florida history also means part of the fascinating story of Fort Reid has yet
to be told.
Buried at Old Jacksonville Cemetery in Duval County, one
would know nothing of this lady by reading her tombstone. Identified only as
the wife of Willam Caulk, a Find-A-Grave memorial gives no date of birth nor
date of death for Julia. (Her information is being submitted to Find-A-Grave by
the author of this Women’s Month post).
Julia Caulk was Julia Hart’s second married name. Speer
was her first married name. Julia Street in Jacksonville, Florida had been
named for her, the daughter of Isaiah D. Hart, founder of the town of
Jacksonville. Isaiah D. Hart was also partner in an 1850s attempt to establish
Fort Reid as the seat of government of Orange County.
Julia Street in Jacksonville still exists, but there
is not a single remnant of Julia Hart at historic Fort Reid – the one-time town
that is now a residential neighborhood in east Sanford, Florida.
Orlando and Fort Reid were sister cities in 1856 (Fort Reid is now a Seminole County Ghost Town), two settlements competing for the coveted title, Orange County Seat of Government. A third contender for the title was Apopka.
Fort Reid of 1856 was a town. Orlando was neither a town nor a village. Both locations were located along the 1838 Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin trail, a dirt military “road” that became a dirt “First Road to Orlando”.
1849 Fort Reid (lower
left spelled Read); Fort Mellon upper left on Lake Monroe
Note trail (dotted line)
leading from Fort Reid up to Fort Mellon but also veering to the right toward
“River Grove” – at far right. This entire area today is Sanford, Florida.
A tad over a mile south of Lake Monroe, Doctor Speer lived at Fort Reid lived, and together with Isaiah D. Hart of Jacksonville, teamed up to transform Fort Reid into a prosperous county seat. A total 120 acres of wilderness owned by Hart and Speer were to be the town of Fort Reid.
Further down the Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin trail lived Attorney Speer, who promised to make a town of Orlando on four (4) acres provided he win, for his client, the county seat title. [A town of Orlando might not have been established had Attorney Speer lost the battle for county seat].
Fewer than 300 inhabitants lived south of Lake Monroe in 1854, roughly half of the 1850 Orange County population which, in 1854, became part of a new Volusia County. Residents of Orange County were then given the opportunity to determine where they wanted their county seat.
Dr. Algernon Speer had been one of the first settlers of Fort Reid. He and wife Christiana (See #Ginn of March 10th post) planted the first commercial orange grove in the early 1840s. But in 1853, Dr. Algernon’s first wife, Christiana (Ginn) Speer, died during childbirth. So, later the same year, on 12 December 1853, Dr. Algernon re-married. His second bride was Julia Hart, the daughter of his business partner and founder of Jacksonville.
Age 19 at the time of her marriage, Julia became the stepmother to five children ranging in ages from 3 to 14 years. The doctor and Julia had one child, Lula Josephine Middleton Speer, born March 26, 1856, at Fort Reid.
Orlando won the election of 1856. Fort Reid not only lost the election it lost its future. The very next year, Dr. Algernon Speer drowned in Lake George. Widow Julia (Hart) Speer returned to Jacksonville with her daughter, and Arthur Ginn, father of Algernon’s first wife, took charge of raising his grandchildren.
Years later, on 3 December 1874, in far off
Albemarle County, VA, a husband and wife signed away all rights to Orange
County property described 73.84 acres “on the road to Orlando”.
The wife was Laura C. #Hart, older sister of Jane. Laura, in 1874, was the only surviving
child of Isaiah D. Hart. Julia (Hart) Speer - Caulk had died at
Jacksonville in 1871.
[Further reading: First Road to Orlando, by
Richard Lee Cronin]
Mary #Henwood White
On 6 June 1919, Mount
Dora ladies who were interested in forming a Woman’s Club gathered to take the
first steps toward establishing a Mount Dora Woman’s Club. The meeting was a
great success, for the club celebrated its 100th Anniversary in the
year 2019.
An issue of the Topic,
published October 9, 1947, explained: “Mrs. Keller, then editor of the Topic,
placed a notice in the issue of June 4, 1919, inviting all women who might be
interested in forming a club to meet June 6.” This 1947 article went on to
report that Mrs. Keller had placed the notice after “Mrs. R. N. White, Sr.”
suggested forming such a club.
The 1947 article named
four original club members: “Mrs. Keller, Mrs. White, Mrs. Emma J. Tallant, and
Emma O’Hare”, each of whom attended the presentation during which they were
presented, “a perpetual membership card.”
It is worth repeating
that as early as page 15 of this book, this author went on record stating he
“despises the use of peoples initials when writing history.” As stated then, if
a pioneer is important enough to write about, that pioneer deserves to be
properly identified. Since the publication of my first central Florida history
in 2013, I have often said that too much of the history of central Florida will
be left out if the contributions made by the pioneer women are overlooked. Such
a claim is especially true, as this book has already established, of the
contributions to the history of Mount Dora by women.
“Mrs. Keller” of 1947 was
not Mrs. Keller of 1919. Edith Edeburn (Page 221), in 1915, founded and edited
the Mount Dora Topic. Her involvement as publisher of the paper
continued until her retirement in the year 1947, the same year she was awarded
with a perpetual membership in the club as a Charter Member. Edith Edeburn took
on the identity of Mrs. Keller in 1923 by marrying George Keller.
Mary Elizabeth
(Henwood) White (1883-1972)
Photo courtesy
Find-A-Grave memorial 17794113
News articles regarding
the Woman’s Club up until the retirement of Edith Keller in 1947 therefore are
likely very reliable considering her personal involvement in the Club. Edith’s
newspaper helped launch the Woman’s Club, but credit for the idea of
establishing the Club, reported Edith in the Topic, belonged to that of
“Mrs. R. N. White, Sr.”, who went on to become a Charter Member.
[Further reading: Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders. by Richard Lee Cronin]
Our History Museum of the Day
Central Florida
Railroad Museum
Located in a 1913
Tavares & Gulf Railroad Depot
Operated by
Central Florida Railway Historical Society
101 S. Boyd
Street, Winter Garden, FL 34787
Saturday, March 19, at the Railroad Museum
Tug
& Grunt: Our beloved Tavares & Gulf Railroad
1 PM - Saturday, March 19, 2022
One of two
railroads serving Winter Garden during the city’s earliest days, Tavares
& Gulf Railroad is more widely known among railfans today as the “Tug
& Grunt”. Our Tavares & Gulf was plagued by a daily
onslaught of challenges, the least of which was keeping the train on its track.
Still, despite all its troubles, the train that originated at a one-time
Tavares railroad hub did in fact play a major role in development of both
Winter Garden and West Orange County. In this, our first of quarterly
presentations at the Central Florida Railroad Museum, Tug & Grunt: Our Beloved Tavares & Gulf Railroad history presentation will exam the good, the bad,
and the ugly of this historic Central Florida Railroad.
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