50 STATES OF CENTRAL FLORIDA, the FINALE: AK & HI

Summer Blog Part 18: The FINALE

Summer is fast drawing to a close, and so too is our CitrusLANDFL Summer Blog Series. 

Each Sunday throughout the past 17 weeks we have been featuring 19^th century pioneers from all across this great land who had played a role in a developing 19^th century Florida Paradise. Dreamers and doers, these individuals selected parcels in a wide swath of a Citrus Belt that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. A courageous bunch of guys and gals, these amazing individuals came to Florida from parts of every modern day State as well.

This week, we conclude our series shining the spotlight on Alaska, State #49, admitted January 8, 1959; and Hawaii, State #50, admitted on August 21, 1959.

ALASKA

“The Speer and BECK grove, and twenty other great ten, twenty, hundred acre parks of bearing orange trees. To see these in their beauty one must take a buggy and follow the picturesque old Fort Mellon Road, among the groves and gardens of a prior generation.” The description you just read is of MELLONVILLE and FORT REID, two Ghost TowNs today, but up and coming 19^th century cities between 1850 and 18800. The description of this “prior generation” appeared in an 1887 travelogue published by the South Florida Railroad Company.

Citrus had become Central Florida’s catalyst for development. Groves were believed to be the pathway to accumulating wealth. Claiming a share of that wealth was simple in the 19^th century, make your way to Florida and file a homestead claim. CitrusLAND had its share of home grown visionaries as well, one in particular being a Floridian named Charles H. BECK of Fort REID. He owned the “BECK grove” first mentioned above.

A pre-Sanford resident, Charles married Nancy (GALLOWAY) WOODRUFF, the Widow of William W. WOODRUFF, a prominent Fort Reid resident who had come to central Florida in the 1850s. Charles H. Beck raised three Woodruff children, and fathered two sons of his own with Nancy.

Mrs. Nannie Woodruff married Charles H. Beck at Fort Reid, FL

The Beck’s continued enjoying America’s Paradise until two back to back freezes swept south in the winter of 1894-95. Historian William F. Blackman, in his 1927 History of Orange County, described residents of 1895 as: “disheartened, apparently bankrupt and helpless.” Tens of thousands of trees had been “killed to the ground,” and many of the citrus growers lost everything, and in some cases, one report had stated, “they left tables set and beds unmade, and went away.” Desperate times required desperate measures, and so Charles H. BECK came up with a plan.

As CitrusLAND dreams turned to frozen nightmares, in the faraway northwest, another fantasy of great wealth was just beginning to stir. ALASKA’S Gold Rush had begun in 1896, the year after Florida’s killer freeze. Floridian BECK came up with an idea to resolve his financial dilemma – he’d strike it rich by finding Alaska gold.

Charles H. BECK left his family at Fort Reid and set out for Skagway, Alaska, gateway to the Klondike. At Skagway, gold seekers then needed only to climb the CHILKOOT Mountain Pass to reach Canada and the Klondike, a task much easier said than done.

Heavy March and April 1898 snows had made Chilkoot Pass even more dangerous than usual. But the gold seekers drive to find gold outweighed concern, and an endless procession of prospectors climbed the treacherous pass anyway.

Charles H. Beck grave marker, Dyer AK

Charles H. Beck and other prospectors were attempting to make the difficult climb up Chilkoot Mountain on Palm Sunday, 1898, but an avalanche suddenly brought their journey to an abrupt end. Charles H. Beck of Fort Reid died in an historic PALM SUNDAY Avalanche. Beck was buried at DYEA, ALASKA cemetery, in a territory later to be admitted as the 49^th State in our Union of States.

True-life pioneer Charles H. Beck is featured in my Historical Novel, The Rutland Mule Matter, based on a little-known, real-life central Florida Civil War event,

As Charles H. BECK was making his way toward ALASKA, a debate was underway at our Nation’s Capital. Politicians were at odds concerning the future status of a group of Pacific Islands. Some felt strongly that the islands should become a U. S. Territory, while others argued against such a move. One well-known Attorney - Politician, a New Englander who also had close ties with Orange County, Florida, set the record straight. His words moved Congress, and the rest, as they say, is history. Harry Bingham, a man of remarkable vision, and the 50^th State, concludes our summer of 2018 series.

HAWAII

“It has been objected that the annexation of HAWAII will require us to augment our Navy and to become a strong naval power.” These words were spoken by a New Hampshire Politician and Lawyer in an address to the New Hampshire Bar Association on January 28, 1898. “This objection assumes that if we do not annex HAWAII, we shall not need an augmented navy and will never have occasion to become a strong naval power. Nothing can be further from the truth than this assumption.”

Within the month, February, 1898, the U. S. S. Maine was sunk, and the Spanish American War commenced. The significance of a mid-Pacific fueling station became clear. Despite the objections, Harry Bingham helped make the annexation HAWAII a reality, as the islands became a Territory of the United States in 1898.

Forty-three (43) years after annexation, while HAWAII was still a Territory, on the Day of Infamy, December 7, 1941, our Navy Fleet was attacked at Pearly Harbor.

The USA Territory of Hawaii became our 50^th State on the 21^st day of August, 1959.

But 16 years before Harry Bingham of New Hampshire came out in favor of annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, the prominent Attorney expressed an interest in yet another land far from his New England residence: Orange County, Florida. Harry Bingham partnered with Orlando land agent John G. SINCLAIR, also of New Hampshire, in a 160 acre parcel of land south of present day Winter Garden. A town of Winter Garden however did not yet exist at that time. 

A 538 Page Memorial paid tribute to the Honorable Harry Bingham

Located along the west side of Lake Butler, the partnership of Bingham and Sinclair originated July 27, 1882. One year prior, Capitalist Hamilton Disston of Philadelphia had purchased 4 million acres of wilderness land in what is now Osceola County, a purchase that set off an overabundance of central Florida developments. Bingham was among the earliest of Northerners to invest in West Orange County, Capitalists that very soon included such notable individuals as Charles H. Morse, Franklin Fairbanks, and Francis B. Knowles, three men known too for their role in developing Winter Park and nearby Rollins College.

Bingham also took an interest in South Orange County. Cypress Grove Park, a mile west of Randolph’s Fort Gatlin and that family’s 19^th century family burial ground, was once partially owned by Harry Bingham. Nearly equidistant to this park was the Will Wallace Harney homestead. Although a park today, in 1884 much of the lakeside parcel belonged to Attorney Harry Bingham: “Toward the close of his life,” we learn from the man’s 538 page memorial to Honorable Harry Bingham; “he became interested in orange growing in Florida, where he spent some time in the late winter and early spring for several years, and where he became the owner of considerable real estate, including fine orange groves.” Fourteen years later, Harry Bingham spoke out in favor of annexing the Hawaiian Islands.

Harry Bingham in fact owned thousands of acres in West Orange County, and 80 acres fronting on Lake Jessamine, one mile from the home of Will Wallace Harney and the town named for Harney’s residence, Pine Castle.

Cypress Grove Park west of Historic Fort Gatlin, Orlando, FL

Central Florida was truly an American Melting Pot, especially during the 19^th century. Pioneers arrived from nearly every corner of the earth, and, as our summer of 2018 series has shown, they came as well from places that are today America’s 50 States. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series. My central Florida history books are available in the Gift Shop at Winter Garden’s Heritage Foundation in Winter Garden, Florida, or visit my Author Page at Amazon.com by clicking on the link below.

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Comments and questions always welcome at: Rick@CroninBooks.com

50 STATES OF CENTRAL FLORIDA Part 17: OK, NM & AZ

NEXT WEEK: OUR SUMMER SERIES FINALE

Builders of America’s 19^th century Florida Paradise arrived from nearly every corner of the world. Amazing dreamers and doers, these pioneers selected land locations in a wide swath of a Citrus Belt that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. A courageous bunch of guys and gals, they came to Florida from parts of every modern day State as well.

All 50 States played a role in founding central Florida, and CitrusLAND is paying tribute to the remarkable individuals from around the U. S. each Sunday throughout the summer, doing so in the order States were admitted to our Union of States. This week our spotlight shines on Oklahoma, State #46, admitted November 16, 1907; New Mexico, State #47, admitted January 6, 1912; and Arizona, State #48, admitted on February 14, 1912.

OKLAHOMA

Still a Territory when REED & Harper Furniture Store, based out of Oklahoma City, opened store number three at Ardmore, OK in 1899, partner Fred H. REED, an Ohio native, had previously been a resident of both ALTAMONT and FOREST CITY in 19^th century central Florida.

Fred’s parents, George & Sarah REED, left behind their home at Tontogany, OHIO with their 2 children soon after that city’s catastrophic fire of 1876. A large part of that Ohio town had burned down, including George REED’s mercantile, where then teenager Fred H. REED had worked for his father.

The Reed’s started anew in America’s Paradise: CitrusLAND. The family arrived at Orange County in 1882, before a railroad had reached Dr. Kilmer’s remote community of Altamont, at the present day crossroads of SR 434 and Markham Woods Road. At that time, one had to ride a rough and tumble 3 mile mule-drawn buckboard, traveling with mail bags and an occasional passenger, from Longwood depot on South Florida Railroad’s line.

By 1884, the REED family had relocated again, to FOREST CITY, yet another remote Orange County settlement even further from the nearest depot. Forest City however was a town being developed by a fellow BUCKEYE, Cleveland retailer, John G. Hower.

Father and son George and Fred H. REED opened a store at Forest City, where in 1885, it was said they serve a population of nearly 200. George Reed became the town’s first Postmaster, appointed to that position March 19, 1884. Orange Belt Railway arrived at Forest City in 1886, greatly improving access to a host of new West Orange County towns. But within a year a State-wide Yellow Fever epidemic cut off CitrusLAND from the rest of world, threatening the future of the County’s emerging towns.

Forest City on the Orange Belt Railway is one of the West Orange County Ghost Towns featured in CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains

Fred H. REED departed central Florida in the epidemic’s aftermath, but his parents decided to remain at Forest City, until, that is, the Freeze of 1895. With their citrus grove in ruin, the Reed’s too packed their bags, joining their son’s family at Oklahoma City. (Reed’s Forest City grove and residence was described in 1892 as “overlooking a pretty lake,” a body of water known today as PEARL LAKE).

Although most all of our Nation’s 1890 Census Records were destroyed by fire, a small number had been spared, among which was the 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census. Fred H. Reed, age 33, was among those residing on First Street in Oklahoma City, one year after the historic ‘Oklahoma Land Run,’ the homesteading event that opened up Oklahoma Territory to settlements.

The REED family of merchants, having lost an Ohio store to a tragic fire, a CitrusLAND store to a horrible epidemic and following devastating freeze, had finally found success as furniture dealers in the Oklahoma Territory.

NEW MEXICO

“FLORIDA is so hemmed in by the sea that it seems a part of it.” One must look long and hard to find a comment that suggests the Sunshine State’s extensive coastline is a negative, but an 1885 newspaper article did just that. The remark came from a man claiming to be a correspondent for American Field Magazine, a publication today considered as the oldest and most highly respected sports magazine, dating to 1874.

WILLIAM BACKETT was the individual making this negative appraisal of Florida on December 20, 1885, writing under the headline, ‘NEW MEXICO and FLORIDA.’ A self-described naturalist and sportsman, the Backett critique appeared in the Las Vegas Daily Gazette, Las Vegas, New Mexico. At the time, Florida had been a state for 40 years. New Mexico was a territory, and would remain so for another 27 years.

Backett’s BEEF (pardon the pun) is uncertain, although it appears to have been related to the cattle business: “At first glance you would think the pine woods of Florida were full of the most luxuriant grasses capable of sustaining innumerable flocks and herds,” wrote Mr. BACKETT, “and yet cattle will not touch them except for a month or two in the spring.”

Livestock farming had been an integral part of Florida’s early history, but by the 1880’s  

Floridians were growing tired of free ranging herds. As early as November, 1880, Orlando’s Town Council declared it “unlawful for any swine or hogs to run at large upon the streets of Orlando.” But the Mayor, a son of Florida’s Cattle King, Jacob Summerlin, according to historian W. F. Blackman in 1927, “Vetoed the measure.” Lake EOLA had long served as a watering hole for free range cattle.

Backett’s harsh review added: “It is a curious historical fact, which speaks volumes on the point in question, that a century or so ago large cattle were brought into Florida to be raised there. But they dwindled and degenerated in size from generation to generation, until they became the puny race one sees there at present time.”

My search for William Backett had turned up little, so I asked American Field if they could assist. My thanks to American Field’s travel department for searching their files. In those days, I was told, pseudonyms were sometimes used by writers. No record of a Backett could be located. And so the identity of William BACKETT remains a mystery.

  

ARIZONA

Separation of Church and State was not his thing, but as Arizona Territory Chief Justice in 1874, Judge DUNNE had sworn he’d do just that. It wasn’t long before his religious beliefs began to interfere with his job though, so in 1881, the devout Catholic departed Arizona Territory to relocate to central Florida.

The ARIZONA Citizen Newspaper of September 25, 1875: “Honorable Edmund F. DUNNE, Chief Justice of ARIZONA, since his entrance into this Territory, evidenced an irrepressible propensity to enlist as a partisan in every pending religious, political and personal controversy; that he has bitterly assailed the common school system of the whole country as well as our own.” So the Judge did seem to have a problem with separating church and state.

Nominated in 1874, Edmund Francis Dunne was removed from his job as Chief Justice of the Arizona Territory in 1875. “No American citizen,” Dunne said in his address before the Territorial Legislature in February, 1875, “who has any fairness of mind, or sense of right, cannot feel that the system of public schools as now worked in our country is a monstrous wrong to our Catholic population.”

Edmund and his brother John had followed their father west, hoping to strike it rich in the California gold rush. But by 1863, Edmund Dunne had settled at Nevada, where in 1864 he served as a delegate at the State’s Constitution Convention. A family legend says Edmund had, “lost his way in the Arizona desert while prospecting for silver, and that he prayed to his patron saint for rescue, vowing in return to give the name of SAN ANTONIO to the settlement he contemplated establishing in Florida.”

Apparently rescued, Edmund with his brother John found their way to Central Florida, where they began accumulating land throughout Florida, including parcels near present day Sea World. They acquired land at Hamilton DISSTON’S towns of KISSIMMEE and St CLOUD as well.

Edmund’s bought land as well at an 1880 stage coach stop 35 miles north of TAMPA, a settlement he soon founded, and, keeping to his promise, named it SAN ANTONIO.

Edmund donated 40 of his acres for HOLY NAME ACADEMY on Clear Lake, a lake at his town of San Antonio he renamed LAKE JOVITA. A mythical figure today, Saint JOVITA is said to have lived in 120 AD, and along with brother Faustinus, were zealous preachers. Legend explains they were tortured and beheaded because of their religious beliefs – so perhaps Judge Dunne believed he was a modern day JOVITA.

Holy Name Academy, Lake Jovita, San Antonio, Florida

In addition to the Arizona judge, Florida’s citrus belt, Port Richey in particular, caught the eye of a governor from that state as well. A Hernando County farmer named Aaron M. RICHEY homesteaded 80 acres alongside the ex-Governor of Arizona, Anson P. K. SAFFORD. In 1884, RICHEY & SAFFORD laid out a coastal town they named Port RICHEY. That same year, the Steamboat ‘Governor SAFFORD’, owned by Florida Railway & Navigation Company, began hauling freight between Port RICHEY and Cedar Key. In addition to operating a schooner, Aaron Ritchey planted orange trees, and his were said to “as large as many of the trees in other parts of the State.”

Anson P. Safford, Arizona Territorial Governor and Founder of Tarpon Springs, Florida (1882)

After serving as Arizona Governor, Safford had occasionally journeyed to New York and Philadelphia, and while visiting Philadelphia he learned of the 4 million acre Florida land acquisition by Capitalist Hamilton Disston. Safford then came to Florida as a land Agent for Disston.

Next week – Part 18, the finale of our 50 States of Central Florida summer series.

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Next week – Part 18, the FINALE: 50 States of Central Florida 

A summer 2018 series by CroninBooks.com

50 STATES OF CENTRAL FLORIDA Part 16: ID, WY & UT

Builders of America’s 19^th century Florida Paradise arrived from nearly every corner of the world. Amazing dreamers and doers, these pioneers selected land locations in a wide swath of a Citrus Belt that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. A courageous bunch of guys and gals, they came to Florida from parts of every modern day State as well.

All 50 States played a role in founding central Florida, and CitrusLAND is paying tribute to the remarkable individuals from around the U. S. each Sunday throughout the summer, doing so in the order States were admitted to our Union of States. This week our spotlight shines on Idaho, State #43, admitted July 3, 1890; Wyoming, State #44, admitted July 10, 1890; and Utah, State #44, admitted on January 4, 1896.

IDAHO

A promise of great wealth from citrus farming in central Florida captivated the nation’s attention as early as 1870, but then a series of setbacks, miner at first, and capped off by Florida’s Great Freeze of 1894-95, brought down the 19^th century dream of America’s Paradise. Florida eventually regained its place as a world renowned destination, but its recovery as a world class destination was to be ever so slow, and financially painful. 

Newer homesteading opportunities, including mining minerals out west, caught the eye of those in search of a place to settle in an ever-expanding United States.

Edwin W. WADDELL, Jr. turned 5 years old the year of Florida’s Great Freeze. His family celebrated their homeland becoming the 43^rd State, and even the dawn of the 20^th century as residents of IDAHO. His parents had been born at Atchison, Kansas, the father one year before Kansas became a State, the mother, two years after. Edwin’s grandfather, Nathaniel Cruikshank CLARK, was a surgeon in the Civil War, and he was then appointed Atchison mail agent.

On the Ocklawaha River, circa 1890

Grandfather Nathaniel Clark came to Florida with the WADDELL family, and settled at Orange Springs, FL. Located on the Ocklawaha River, the settlement of Orange Springs was in Marion County, along a river that served as a transportation corridor during the earliest stages of a developing ‘Great Lake’ region around EUSTIS. Many a new community sprang up in the late 1880s along the river.

After Florida’s devastating freeze, and after burying Grandpa Nathaniel, the Waddell family abandoned 200 acres of hopes and dreams at Orange Springs and returned home, to IDAHO, where Edwin’s father resumed his position as a Merchant. The only remaining evidence today of the Waddell’s presence here in CitrusLAND is a lone grave marker for their family patriarch, “N. C. Clark; Surgeon; the 8^th Kansas Infantry.”

Newspapers had begun touting Idaho’s potential for settlers, pointing out the fact bank deposits had increased significantly – funds largely from mining operations. The town of Burley, IDAHO attracted William Milton DAVIS, who purchased an existing general store there, and changed the name to DAVIS Mercantile. He prospered until the economic crash of the 1920’s, went bust, and then relocated to Florida. Davis bought a small grocery store at Miami, and with the help of his sons, built a chain of stores that eventually became WINN-DIXIE.

WYOMING

After first attempting to transform Florida’s wilderness into a renowned winter resort, CitrusLAND pioneer Oliver E. Chapman ended up assisting kinfolk develop a ranch in a wide open territory that soon became the State of Wyoming.

“Health & Wealth” was Orange County’s mantra during America’s 19^th Century heyday. Its reputation as a healthy environment began as early as 1867, after land agent John A. MacDonald arrived as a sick man. Five years later, Dr. Washington Kilmer walked from Ohio to present day Seminole County after being diagnosed with a terminal disease. Then came Mahlon Gore, arriving in May 1880 with failing health.

All three recovered, and each broadcasted their recovery to a very attentive world. But Oliver E. Chapman was one prominent Central Floridian to abandon his CitrusLAND dream for health concerns.

Oliver and Loring A. CHASE had become Central Floridians in the early 1880s, and each came citing health problems. Childhood friends, the two men also recovered, and then formed a partnership that forever changed central Florida. Partners Chapman & Chase founded WINTER PARK, FLORIDA. Chapman soon abandoned the land partnership due to health concerns.

Winter Park’s first Postmaster in 1882, Oliver E. Chapman sold his interest in Winter Park to return to Massachusetts with his sick wife. Going home however didn’t help his wife. Elizabeth (FOSTER) Chapman, 31 years old and a mother of two, died March 15, 1887 of Tuberculosis.

Oliver E. Chapman, co-founder of Winter Park, FL

Oliver Chapman disappeared off the radar after his wife’s death, but a comment found in the 1927 William F. Blackman History of Orange County that assisted in locating the rest of Oliver E. Chapman’s story. Blackman said Oliver went to WYOMING to be with his brothers.

Anna Ames-Frohlich, great granddaughter of George F. CHAPMAN, Oliver’s younger brother, wrote of the four brothers, including Oliver Everett Chapman, and their accomplishments at Evanston, WYOMING. The Chapman brothers left quite a legacy in Wyoming.

Oliver S. CHAPMAN, father of the Chapman brothers, had been a railroad builder, and served on the first Board of Directors of Union Pacific Railroad. Evanston had become home to a Union Pacific Roundhouse in 1887, and son George F. Chapman settled at Evanston as an employee of the Union Pacific. Then the family got into ranching - in a big way.

Meanwhile, back here at CitrusLAND, Winter Park’s CAPEN Avenue adds a chapter to the Chapman legacy. “Capen Addition to the town of Winter Park was filed in 1885. George Chapman, brother of Oliver, the half-founder of Winter Park, married Eliza CAPEN just prior to relocating his family to Evanston, WYOMING.

UTAH

“The bride,” reported SALT LAKE Herald on the 11^th of November, 1891, “was Miss ELIZA FLETCHER, recently of ORLANDO, Florida.”

As a little girl, Miss Eliza Fletcher, the 1891 Utah bride, had for a time attended church at ALTAMONT (no ‘e’) CHAPEL near where US 434 intersects Interstate 4 today.

Ingram Fletcher, Eliza’s father, had founder Central Florida’s HOOSIER SPRINGS in the late 1870’s. Prior to moving to Florida, Fletcher had been an Indianapolis banker. He built a winter residence for his family on property near the chapel. In fact, Ingram Fletcher donated, November 9, 1877, the acre site for the chapel, gifting the church land to the Methodist Church. Hoosier Springs eventually became part of Altamont (no ‘E’), and then, around 1890, Palm Springs.

Hard times forced Fletcher to abandon his dream for developing Hoosier Springs into a town, so he relocated his family south to ORLANDO. The Fletcher family settled near Lake Lorna Doone, and by 1890, Ingram Fletcher was Orlando’s Postmaster.

How Lake Lorna Doone was named, by Historian E. H. Gore (1951)

Opportunity required Eliza Fletcher to follow her groom-to-be to Salt Lake City, where he, William A. Chapman, went to work as a construction accountant. The couple’s first child, Ingram Fletcher Chapman, grandson of Ingram & Gertrude Fletcher of CitrusLAND, was born at Salt Lake City, in UTAH TERRITORY, on the 26^th day of October, 1894. Two months after little Ingram’s birth Florida was devastated by a great freeze. A year later, January 4, 1896, UTAH celebrated Statehood.

Next week, States 46, 47 and 48, and then, in two weeks, our summer 2018 Series finale.

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50 STATES OF CENTRAL FLORIDA Part 15: SD, MT & WA

Builders of America’s 19^th century Florida Paradise arrived from nearly every corner of the world. Amazing dreamers and doers, these pioneers selected land locations in a wide swath of a Citrus Belt that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. A courageous bunch of guys and gals, they came to Florida from parts of every modern day State as well.

All 50 States played a role in founding central Florida, and CitrusLAND is paying tribute to the remarkable individuals from around the U. S. each Sunday throughout the summer, doing so in the order States were admitted to our Union of States. This week our spotlight shines on South Dakota, State #40, admitted November 2, 1889; Montana, State #41, admitted November 8, 1889; and Washington, State #42, admitted on November 11, 1889.

SOUTH DAKOTA

“Many nights, usually near a full moon, smoke signals would rise from the distant hills. Fearing an attack by Indians, they would take their blankets and guns and retreat to the ravines behind the house under the cover of darkness.” Curious Central Floridians might wonder how a Union County Historical Society description of life in early Dakota Territory fits in with the history of CitrusLAND, but there is a connection. A story as told by Union County historians is that of their first homesteader, Mahlon GORE, truly a brave soul, moved to the wilds of Dakota in 1862.

Central Florida historians also have a story to tell about Mahlon Gore: “He spent the first night with a native that lived near LONGWOOD. In the morning, he was told to follow the trail through the woods and it would lead to ORLANDO.” A gutsy fellow that Gore, he walked in early 1880 from Lake Monroe to the county seat, arriving at Orlando about six months before the first train from Sanford pulled into the station.

Failing health, specifically “nervous debility and sleeplessness,” was Gore’s reason for leaving his Dakota homestead. Full recovery within months of arriving in Florida was his reason for staying. A true believer in the healthfulness of CitrusLAND, Mahlon Gore became one of the most active proponents for encouraging others to relocate here.

Gore purchased Orange County Reporter newspaper soon after arriving, and years later he served as a three-term Mayor of Orlando. His writings helped preserve local history.

In 1883, as an example, Gore published a marketing brochure called ORANGE LAND, a detailed pamphlet sanctioned by Orange County Commissioners. Targeting those in search of new homeland, and somewhat exaggerated at times, such as its description of Orange County: “A land that, compared with the cheerless rigors of a bleak, frozen northern winter, is indeed an Eden on earth,” the brochure today is an outstanding source for learning many of the pioneers, where they came from and how they hoped to build a prosperous Central Florida.

A decade passed between Gore’s departure from Dakota and the territory’s Statehood, yet Dakota citizens never forgot their first homesteader. Lincoln Daily Star of 1916 reported the sad news of Gore’s death to Midwesterners: “Sioux Journal proprietor is dead at his home in Orlando, Florida.” He is remembered to this day in South Dakota history.

Gore’s obituary said this of the man: “His early struggles were those of the pioneer and he forged success from obstacles that must have seemed almost insurmountable then.”

MONTANA

CUSTER’S LAST STAND, as I recall learning about the Battle of Little Bighorn, occurred June 25, 1876, in a land now known as MONTANA, the 41^st State to join the Union of States. Part of the Dakota Territory then, Montana became a State six days after the States of North and South Dakota were officially organized. Soldiers arrived at the site of the battle soon after Custer’s army had been wiped out, and among those first to observe the 1876 tragedy was a noted photographer, a soon to be celebrated central Florida photographer. And a town builder! 

Eight years after the Battle of Little Bighorn, in Florida’s faraway Orange County on the 15^th of April, 1884, Stanley J. MORROW, an Ohio native, established a Post Office near Orlando. A town of TROY, located on Morrow’s homestead, sat lakeside on Lake Holden, a little west of the original Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road. The Troy railway station was located between stops at Gatlin and Pine Castle.

Troy, Florida - 3 miles south of Orlando on Lake Holden

South Florida Railroad published a travel brochure in 1887 describing its route as their train passed through Central Florida, describing the southbound route from Orlando: “We pass Major Foster’s grove, the orchards of oranges, lime, lemon, Le Conte pear, closing like a sea at each side: pass TROY, sitting by the lake shore, down a spacious avenue, Lake Holden.”

MORROW arrived in Orange County in 1883, and was gone from Orange County prior to that decade’s end, and yet during the man’s brief presence, Stanley J. Morrow added immensely to the preservation of Central Florida history. A professional photographer, more than a hundred of Morrow’s quality black and white photos of the area, each one dating to the 1880’s, crystalizes a story otherwise known only by the written word.

Morrow’s lens preserved George A. Custer’s last stand as well as a large collection of the earliest known black and white central Florida scenes, pictures of popular modern-day locations we still know as Silver Springs, Winter Park, Sanford and downtown Orlando.

Soon after Custer’s regiment was killed in present-day Montana, Stanley J. Morrow traveled with an Army expedition to the battleground. The Montana Historical Society preserved a collection of nearly 70 prints taken by Morrow between 1868 and 1881.

Morrow married Isadora A. KETCHUM in 1866, sister of Robert A. Ketchum, a Dakota Territory merchant residing at Yankton, SD, where Morrow also lived.

During 1881, Yankton was visited by a swarm of critters, leaving behind a disaster that was described by local ‘Press and Daily Dakotan’ as follows: “I ascertained at the TROY Farm that the proprietors do not expect over 18 bushels an acre, and give as a reason the ravages of the grasshoppers.” This same local newspaper had often quoted news and views from back east, published under a ‘Troy, New York” byline.

WASHINGTON

TRIMBLE Park is perhaps the most serene respite in all of Central Florida. Hidden far from the mainstream, Trimble Park Road meanders through towering ancient oaks fraught with hanging moss, until finally the pavement reaches a secluded park having a 270 degree scenic vista of not one, but two historic lakes. As I said, lovely little Trimble Park, with its history ties to WASHINGTON, the 42^nd State to be admitted into the United States, could well be the most serene place in all of CitrusLAND.

Established January 21, 1924, the day Ocklawaha Nurseries, Inc. gifted 10 acres on Lake BEAUCLAIR to Orange County, Trimble Park came with two conditions. First, the land was to be maintained as a public park, and second, a 50’ wide road had to be constructed to access the park within two years of the land gift. Trimble Park Road was built in 1926.

Trimble Park

The park land was deeded to the County by Sadie M. Trimble, President of Ocklawaha Nurseries and the wife of Seattle, Washington native, Roy J. TRIMBLE.

Roy Trimble was born July 31, 1890, the same year Orange County surveyors were hard at work re-surveying all 42 Townships, efforts that ended with a historic 1890 Orange County detailing every property owner. Land upon which Trimble Park is today shows on that map as being owned by Eustis developer John A. MacDonald.

Roy’s parents departed Washington State for Tampa, Florida in 1892, but that same year, Orange County Tax Collector sold certain parcels for unpaid taxes. A Philadelphia investor, Howard H. Ramsey, bought a large number of the abandoned parcels, one in particular being the land upon which Trimble Park is now. Another parcel sold by the county for unpaid taxes was described as Lot 9, Block 6, of Tangerine, Florida. That lot was acquired by Owen W. CONNOR, founder of Ocklawaha Nurseries.

Widower Roy J. TRIMBLE, a father of three, married Widow Saddie M (FUTCH) CONNOR, and Roy became manager of the CONNOR’S Citrus business. “History of Lake County, Florida”, by William F. Kennedy, describes Ocklawaha Nurseries as having 600 acres of citrus bearing trees divided evenly between Orange and Lake Counties.

If you haven’t yet been, you owe it to yourself to explore the Oasis that is Trimble Park, and while there, remember those who preserved this unique corner of CitrusLAND for generations to come. Our thanks to Roy J. & Sadie M. (FUTCH) TRIMBLE.

Next Week: Idaho, Wyoming and Utah

AND IN THE MEANTIME,

JOIN US FOR A VERY SPECIAL EVENT

Monday, August 13, 2018 – 7 PM

Central Florida Railroad Museum, Winter Garden, FL

https://www.facebook.com/events/179002359459248/