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 19th century pioneers from all across this great
land who had played a role in a developing 19th 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 19th 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 19th
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 49th 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 50th 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 50th State
on the 21st 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 19th 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 19th 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.
Comments
and questions always welcome at: Rick@CroninBooks.com
