50 States
of central Florida, Part 4:
Builders of America’s 19th century Paradise in
Florida arrived from nearly every corner of the world. Amazing pioneers,
dreamers and doers, they selected land locations in a wide swath of a Citrus
Belt stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. A courageous
bunch of guys and gals, the pioneers came to Florida as well from parts of
every modern day State.
All 50 States played a role in founding central Florida, and
CitrusLAND will pay tribute to such remarkable individuals each Sunday
throughout the summer of 2018, doing so in the order States were admitted to
our Union of States. This week our spotlight shines on New Hampshire, State #9, admitted June 21, 1788; and Virginia,
admitted as State #10 on June 25, 1788.
NEW
HAMPSHIRE
John G.
SINCLAIR, a native of NEW HAMPSHIRE, relocated to Florida in November,
1879. He opened a real estate office
at the corner of Orange & Pine Streets in Orlando. “There is no agency in the county,” said an 1883 article of Sinclair, “whose
success has been so marked as this. From a small beginning in April, 1881, a course of square dealing has
built up a business second to known.” As a realtor, Sinclair, it was said,
had made sales “to parties from nearly
every State in the Union.” (Fitting, since this Blog series is about every state in our Union.)
Birds-eye view of 1884 Orlando prepared for land agent John G. Sinclair
Sinclair’s home was 2 miles north of downtown, on Lake Ivanhoe, near the Wilcox Railway
depot. According to author George M. Barbour, John G. SINCLAIR had, in addition
to his real estate firm, “an orange grove,
cassava starch-factory, saw-mill and a cotton-gin”. He had 800 orange
trees. As well. The Sinclair agency, it was reported, “had probably nine-tenths of the properties for sale in and around
Orlando exclusively on its books.”
Born 1826 at
Barnstead, NH, John G. Sinclair returned to New Hampshire following Florida’s
Great Freeze of 1894-95, where he died, at Grafton, in June, 1899.
VIRGINIA
One of only a few soldiers staying behind in 1842, after the
close of Florida’s Seminole Indian War, was Augustus J. VAUGHN, a native of Campbell County, VA, who then filed
for a 160 acre Homestead upon which sat Fort
Reid. Two miles inland from Lake Monroe, Vaughn’s Historic Fort Reid was
preserved because this man chose to reside on his homestead for the next 50 years, until his death in 1893.
Virginia became an unfortunate final resting place for many Florida
Infantryman during the Civil War. Orange County Sheriff Jonathan C. STEWART, and William
Vaughn, 16 year old son of Fort Reid veteran Augustus, both died near
Richmond, VA in 1862-63. These were but two of many young Florida boys killed
on the Virginia battlefields.
Manor House, Vaucluse, VA - Residence of W. S. Jones
Most all of the family of William
M. Randolph ventured into central Florida to make a new home after the
Civil War. A prominent New Orleans Attorney, William Mayer Randolph kept up his
Louisiana law practice while his wife Mary partnered in Orange County’s first
free-standing hotel. William reportedly died a long painful death at Vaucluse,
Virginia. (While researching Vaucluse for my book Beyond Gatlin, my wife and I
had the pleasure of staying overnight in the beautifully restored residence of William Strother Jones, the very home
where William M. Randolph died in 1876).
Randolph’s body was shipped via rail south to Fort Gatlin for burial. (From my latest book Beyond Gatlin).
1876 Obituary of William M. Randolph
Within a mile of old fortress Gatlin was the residence of Francis Wayles Eppes, born at his
grandfather’s Monticello plantation. Eppes was the only grandson of President Jefferson.
For more
on CitrusLAND and 19th century central FLORIDA:
William Mayer Randolph and his numerous central Florida family
members are featured in my latest book, awarded the 2017 Pine Castle Historian
Award by Pine Castle Historical Society: BEYOND
GATLIN: a History of South Orange County. Learn more at my Beyond Gatlin
page at www.CroninBooks.com – and
can also be found in my CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise– chock full of
early pioneers and their families.
Next Week: New York, North Carolina and Rhode
Island
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