JENNIE of Florida's INDIAN RIVER

The conclusion to my Nine Part Fall Blog Series: 

Florida's Forgotten Frontierswomen: 

Florida history has wrongfully identified this intriguing woman as Jennie of the Anheuser beer family, an error illustrating how women all too often became lost or muddled in recorded historical events. The story of a duke and his Duchess living for a time on Florida’s East Coast is indeed true, although the real identity of these high profile individuals had remained, until now, unclear.

Florida's Dummitt a/k/a Dummett Castle along the Indian River 

Jennie was not the daughter of Eberhard Anheuser, founder of Anheuser Busch. Florida’s ‘Duchess of Castelluccia’, as this fascinating lady was most often referred to, was not in any related to the Anheuser family. In fact, Jennie was born in New York before the beer brewer ever arrived on America’s shore.

There is ample compelling evidence as to the true identity of both the duke and duchess, evidence documented in detail in my EBook, ‘Florida’s Indian River Duchess’. Only vague references to a duke and duchess exist in Florida’s history, but the couple did receive extensive notoriety elsewhere in the USA and abroad.

The duke and duchess had purchased historic Florida land along the Indian River in 1881, but then sold their land in 1886. The duke never returned to Florida. His duchess however did return briefly, to wed a final time.

I emphasize the word final in her marriage because of varying accounts as to exactly how often this “strikingly beautiful lady” was said to have walked down the aisle. Early court records pertaining to her estate ‘suggests’ Jennie had been married four times, but the record also  sarcastically added the duchess had, “a special predilection for matrimony and for the making of wills.”

The Duchess of Castelluccia appears to have married only three times. Even the court record suggesting otherwise names only three husbands. Of each of her marriages, the third and final was, by any measure, the weirdest. Jennie’s third and final wedding took place south of her earlier Florida homestead she had owned with the Duke.

On January 29, 1895, the Duchess of Castelluccia married at Hotel Indian River in Rockledge, Florida. Four months following this third wedding, Jennie, Florida’s infamous Indian River Duchess, died in New York.

Newspapers in the North fell in love with America’s Duchess of Castelluccia. They wrote of her and her Italian duke often, published stories that in turn preserved in print a history of Florida’s earliest economic engine, the Florida Orange!

The historic Dummitt (Dummett) Grove appears on early Florida maps

It’s true! A captivating story of a young New York girl who made it BIG actually served to record the history of Florida’s Indian River orange. The Duchess, so it turns out, was rich! Her money, combined with the experience of an Italian duke, acquired what had been one of Florida’s original orange groves. The Dummett (a/k/a Dummitt) Grove south of New Smyrna and northeast of Titusville has long been known as one of the earliest groves, but it was the notoriety of a duke and duchess that helped preserve the grove’s real history.  

The press never tired of passing along stories of America’s adopted royalty – an Italian duke and his American born duchess. From her native New York to an island of granite off the coast of Maine, Jennie had become a millionaire by the time of her second marriage to the duke. Interviewed in the Hawaiian Islands, a Marine, Jennie’s third husband, half her age, told of their short-lived marriage, and of how he lost much of the fortune Jennie had accumulated.

Florida’s Indian River Duchess is available in EBook for $3.79 or FREE to Kindle Unlimited members. Visit: https://www.amazon.com/Floridas-Indian-River-Duchess-Castelluccia-ebook/dp/B01G42CK4G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482932963&sr=8-1&keywords=Florida%27s+Indian+River+Duchess

The role of women in history is not easily found, but it’s a challenge gladly undertaken by the author of CitrusLAND books. Our true-life American story, including the story of early Florida, can only be told through the lineal descendants of its earliest pioneers, men and women alike. Telling the story of early Florida through its people is an integral part of all CitrusLAND books. Visit my website www.croninbooks.com for further information.

CitrusLAND books are available at BOOKMARKIT ORLANDO bookstores, Amazon.com and FREE to Kindle Unlimited members!

Visit my FREE Goodreads Group ‘Florida History’

This concludes Ricks 9 Part FALL 2016 Blog Series

Coming to Rick's Blog in 2017:

The First Families of Florida’s Highlands

GERTRUDE of SANFORD

If you believe the entire story of Henry S. SANFORD and the founding of Sanford, Florida has been told, think again! A native of Connecticut, Henry Shelton Sanford purchased the 12,000 acre Moses Levy Spanish Land Grant in May of 1870. A year prior to his Florida land deal, Sanford was wrapping up a 22 year career as an American diplomatic.

Henry acquired the Levy Grant with an $8,200 down payment and a $10,000 note due in 12 months. A public servant for much of his life, an obvious question seems to be, where did Sanford get the $18,200 to buy his land? One likely answer points to a Philadelphian and one-time owner of the once-upon-a-time 19^th Century orange grove Belair.

Born at Philadelphia in 1841, Gertrude Ellen Du Puy was living in Paris with her widowed aunt when she met and married Henry S. Sanford. Gertrude married Henry in 1864. Sanford retired from diplomatic service five years later, in 1869, and a year later, found his way back to the USA and to central Florida. Henry S. Sanford then invested a sizeable sum of money in undeveloped Florida wilderness land.

Gertrude E. DuPuy (left) with her mother

Three miles inland from a planned town of Sanford, Henry Sanford reportedly developed an estate known as Belair. “I sometimes feel the 18^th day of December at Belair was a delicious dream” wrote a journalist visiting General Sanford’s estate in 1882. Continuing the write-up the reporter wrote: “Having dismounted at the rustic Belair Station, on the South Florida Railroad line, carriages then transported our party through a broad gateway into a shady avenue. The pure fresh air is ambrosial.”

Ten railway minutes south of Sanford, Belair was the first stop on South Florida Railroad’s 1880 first train to Orlando. “The grove and residence of H. S. Sanford,” wrote a reporter in 1889, viewing the estate from onboard his train, “had Crystal Lake on one side and Belair Station the other.” Upon 145 acres, said that reporter, were “all the principal varieties of oranges grown in Florida.”

Early write-ups reference Belair as dating to 1870, yet during 1875 and 1876, Henry S. Sanford and wife Gertrude signed deeds as: “residents of Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida”. Belair occupied acreage included in Sanford’s 1870 Land Grant purchase, so an 1878 deed raises a rather interesting question.

Among Orange County’s early deeds is a transaction regarding Belair estate: “Reverend Charles Du Puy, of the City of Philadelphia, PA, did give and bequeath to Gertrude E. Sanford, his niece, certain property, real and personal.” The parcel transferred in 1878, to Gertrude in exchange for the receipt of $18,000, was 400 acres described as “property known as Belair, bounded on the south by Crystal Lake.”

As Belair was part of the 12,000 acres purchased in 1870 for $18,200, why had Reverend DuPuy bequeathed the 400 acres in 1878 to Gertrude E. Sanford for $18,000?

Reverend Charles Meredith Du Puy, brother of Gertrude (DuPuy) Sanford’s father, died November 26, 1875 at Philadelphia. At the time of the Reverend’s death, Belair, the citrus grove near Sanford, Florida, belonged to a member of the DuPuy family.

Likely the source of funds for Henry S. Sanford to acquire the Levy Land Grant, the 1878 deed may well have settled that loan. Gertrude’s family may have given Henry the idea of not only developing the town of Sanford, but the naming of Belair itself.

Gertrude’s brother, also a Charles Meredith Du Puy, was serving in 1870 as President of a railroad venture at that time constructing a line between New York and Philadelphia. Gertrude’s brother, named for her uncle, had also been instrumental in this nation’s westward movement into Illinois prior to his Philadelphia venture.

The DuPuy family of Philadelphia predates William Penn by five years, says a detailed history of the DuPuy family. DuPuy’s Rock is noted on early Philadelphia maps, while nearby, Bellaire Manor, “a building known by all variations of Bell Air,” according to the building’s historic preservation records, dates to the very early 1700s.

Henry S. Sanford is remembered as founder and developer of Sanford, Florida, but as is often the case with early Florida history, an amazing frontierswomen was clearly involved as well. Presently the County Seat of Seminole County, Sanford, it appears, truly owes its very existence not only to Henry Shelton Sanford, but to his lovely wife, Gertrude Ellen (Du Puy) Sanford (1841-1902) as well.

The next and final installment of my fall 2016 series will be posted December 30, 2016.

The role of women in history is not easily found, but it’s a challenge gladly undertaken by the author of CitrusLAND books. The true-life American story, including the story of Florida, can only be told through lineal descendants of the earliest pioneers, men and women alike.

Each of twelve chapters in my CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise, Second Edition, begins with a dedication and brief biography of an exceptional central Florida Frontierswoman. Telling the story of Florida through its people, each CitrusLAND book is described in more detail at my website: www.croninbooks.com

CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida's Paradise

CitrusLAND books are available at BOOKMARKIT ORLANDO bookstores; Winter Garden Heritage Foundation, and Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden, FL.

BOOKMARK IT ORLANDO BOOK FAIR, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2016

Stop at my CroninBooks table and say hello!

EAST END MARKET, 3201 Corrine Drive, Orlando, FL

25 AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS, NOON TO 4 PM

Also available at Amazon.com and FREE to Kindle Unlimited members!

Visit my Goodreads Group, “Florida History”

Ricks FALL Blog finale: December 30, 2016

Part 9 of 9: Florida’s Indian River Princess

NAMING LAKE EOLA

A Special Holiday Edition BLOG

NAMING LAKE EOLA

An Orlando, Florida Icon

By Richard Lee Cronin, Author - First Road to Orlando

Folklore, handed down from one generation to the next, often takes on a life of its own. Central Florida history is chock full of such folklore, so the challenge for researchers becomes separating fact from fiction. Such is the case in seeking the truth as to how Orlando’s iconic Lake Eola got its name.

Follow our holiday countdown at www.Facebook.com/citruslandfl

Twitter, GOOGLE+, LinkedIn or www.CroninBooks.com

This Holiday Blog is also Day 6 of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration

Long-time Orlando resident Kena Fries wrote, in 1938: “Sandy Beach was changed to Eola in the early 1870s by Bob Summerlin, in memory of the beautiful young girl, his bride to be, who died from typhoid fever two weeks before the appointed wedding day.” This legend has entertainment value, but an obvious question comes to mind, is there any truth to this legend?

Kena Fries wrote of this legend 63 years after the first known use of the name Lake Eola. So, to solve the riddle of this legend we must begin at the beginning - the 1870s!

Florida cattleman Jacob Summerlin relocated his family to Orlando in 1873. He bought 200 acres adjacent to, and east of, the original four (4) acre village. Jacob, as well his then teenage son, Robert L. Summerlin, both attended an organization meeting at Orlando’s log-cabin Courthouse in June, 1875. The meeting had been called for the purpose of incorporating the town of Orlando.

Robert ‘Bob’ Summerlin graduated from the University of Georgia in 1875, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1876. There was indeed a ‘Bob Summerlin’ in the vicinity of Lake Eola during the “early 1870s!” His father Jacob platted all 200 acres of his land, signing the first land deed May 8, 1875.

The name ‘Lake Eola’ appears on the 1875 Plat filed by Jacob Summerlin, suggesting Kena’s legend might indeed have some bases of truth. Bob Summerlin’s beautiful young bride however did not “die of typhoid fever.”

Robert L. Summerlin and Texas B. Parker married May 30, 1876. The newlyweds settled down in Orlando, in a lakefront home on, you guessed it, Lake Eola. Their first child, daughter Ruby, was born 1877, and another daughter, Maude, was born in 1878.

1875 Jacob Summerlin Plat of Lake Eola

Robert L. Summerlin lakefront home was on Lot 2

Attorney Robert L. Summerlin served as Mayor of Orlando in 1880, but then, Robert & Texas divorced in the mid-1880s, and his ex-wife then returned to her family home in Polk County. She remarried in 1888! Robert L. Summerlin departed Orlando too. As years passed, the legend of a mysterious girl, the young bride who died of typhoid fever weeks before marrying Bob Summerlin, a girl named Eola, eventually surfaced.

Local historians never wrote of the whereabouts of Robert L. Summerlin after he departed Orlando in the 1880s.

A New York newspaper however reprinted an 1890 San Francisco story telling of a doctor who had been treating Mexicans for yellow fever. That doctor, the article reported, “effected cures in 85 per cent” of patients treated. The story also reported Dr. Angel Bellinzaghi traveled to New York in preparation of a Brazil trip, and that the doctor was accompanied by, “R. L. Summerlin of San Antonio, Texas.” Was this Orlando’s R. L. Summerlin?

Orange County, Florida records include a February 24, 1900 deed signing by Robert L. Summerlin, a document conveying land to his sister. Robert signed as a single man, residing at the time in San Antonio, Texas. Archives also reflect Robert L. Summerlin as being a land agent in 1900, and assisting Dr. Bellinzaghi in locating land to establish a vaccine laboratory. In addition, University of Georgia Alumni records place their 1875 graduate, one Robert L. Summerlin, “a lawyer and one-time Orlando Mayor” as residing in San Antonio, Texas as of 1890.

Born March 7, 1858 outside of Tampa, Robert L. Summerlin died at Los Angeles, CA, November 7, 1926. At the time of his death, Robert L. Summerlin appears to have remarried only once, that in 1901.

Connecting dots in Lake Eola’s naming certainly includes a dot for Robert L. ‘Bob’ Summerlin, but we’ve yet to mention the name EOLA, or the alleged bride-to-be. To resolve that mystery we must return to other early records of Orlando, and specifically to an organization meeting of Orlando’s Presbyterian Church. Held on the 18^th of March, 1876, the congregation of this new church consisted of 11 members, including; “Mrs. Jacob Summerlin, “formerly of Flemington, Georgia.”

Flemington was a small town southwest of Savannah, located in Liberty County. The Summerlin’s were all native Floridians, but Jacob relocated his family following the Civil War. The reason for moving to Georgia was said to be to allow the children to get a better education. After returning to Florida, and while designing his Addition to Orlando in 1875, Jacob even named one street in his new plat Liberty Street. (See bottom of plat above).

In the 1870 Liberty County, GA census, family #13 was the ‘Summerlin’ clan. Children included: George, Robert, Samuel and Alice, and each noted as “attending school.” Nearby, family #6 was a Widow, Sarah A. Way, along with her eldest daughter, Florence, age 23, a School Teacher. Sarah’s other children, each listed as attending school as well, were; EULA, Ellen and Joseph Way.

Born July 22, 1854 at Liberty County, Georgia, Eulalie Way never married. She died at age 42, October 13, 1896, and was buried in the State and County of her birth. At age 6, her parents gave her name as Eulalie, but in subsequent years, the young girl went by her nickname, EULA.

In 1870, then 16 year old Eula Way was attending school at Liberty, taught by her sister. Classmates included Robert ‘Bob’ Summerlin, then only 12 years old. Bob Summerlin graduated from law school in 1875, and he followed his family south to Orlando that same year. Did young Bob leave behind his childhood sweetheart?

After the Summerlin family departed Orlando in the 1880s, Samuel Y. Way arrived in Orlando. A bachelor, he married the daughter of another celebrated Orlando pioneer, James DeLaney. Samuel became active in land development, platting in 1902, an extension of Ivanhoe and Highland Avenues, north of Colonial Drive.

Samuel Y. Way also served as Mayor of Orlando in 1940, two years after author Kena Fries published her book, a book that included telling how Lake Eola was named. One year old in 1870, Samuel’s older brother, Richard Way, was attending school at Liberty County, along with his cousin, Eulalie Way.

Eulalie was a popular name at the time of Eula’s birth in 1854, and the reason for its popularity was an Edgar Allan Poe poem, released 9 years earlier in 1845. The poem was “Eulalie”, and it has been said the poem was written about Poe’s wife. Married in 1836, one line of Poe’s poem: “I dwelt alone, in a world of moan, till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride”.

Fragments of historical facts often assimilate into mysterious legends. In the case of Robert L. Summerlin, and the naming of Lake Eola, pieces of the legend appear to be true, although facts became muddled. Eulalie, the beautiful young girl who first captured a young boy’s heart, became forever memorialized as Bob’s father laid out home sites far away in Orlando. “Dad,” one can almost hear Bob saying, “Could we name the lake EULA?” One must also wonder though, if Robert ever revealed to his wife Texas as to the source of that name?

Central Florida maps of yesteryear verify that early surveyors were detailed mappers, but terrible spellers. Fort REID versus Fort REED, Robert R. Reed vs Robert R. REID, & Lake Jesup vs Lake Jessup, are but a few examples of early place names misspelled on plats and maps. Still, I’ll let you decide, was Orlando’s Lake Eola meant to be Lake Eula?

This Special Christmas Blog is brought to you by:

FIRST ROAD TO ORLANDO

CroninBooks.com

Available at Bookmark it Orlando and Winter Garden Heritage Foundation

Amazon.Com or read each book FREE at the KINDLE Store!