GERTRUDE &
daughters of Eustis-Mount Dora:
Valeria’s death at age 83, in faraway Forrest County,
Mississippi, on the 25th of June, 1953, begs the question, did
anyone recall at the time that a 19th century memorial to Valeria
Gertrude (Henry) Baker still existed back at Lake County, Florida?
1925 U.
S. Interior Waterways of Central Florida
Today, departing northwest from Lake County’s historic town of
Mt Dora, requires driving old Route 441 alongside railroad track first laid
down in the 1880s by Leesburg & Indian River Railroad Company. An expansive
Lake Dora appears on the left, or south side of your drive, while on your
right, or north, a glimpse of Lake
Gertrude appears.
Lake County did not yet exist when Valerie’s father, William
Perry Henry of Gwinnett County, GA, first arrived in Orange County’s “Great Lake Region.” Orange Land, an
1883 Orange County publication encouraging newcomers to settle in central
Florida, promoted this corner of the county as well: “The route
for those wishing to go to the Great Lake Region in the northwest part of the
county, is to leave the St. Johns River steamer at Astor and take passage on
the cars of the St. Johns & Lake Eustis Railroad to any desired locality.”
“Doc Henry,” as locals soon came to know the Georgia native,
planted the first orange grove in Mount Dora in 1873. William, wife Mary Jane
(Lea), and their three year old daughter Valeria Gertrude, settled on a 147
acre homestead along the west shore of a then unnamed lake on their property.
William & Mary Henry sold a ten acre chunk of that homestead March 28,
1884, describing the parcel sold as being located on “Lake Gertrude.” The Henry’s had granted Leesburg & Indian River
Railroad permission to cross their property in December of 1882.
When the Henry family arrived in 1873 the nearest post offices
were Lake Eustice (sic), opened by James Hull on May 15, 1871, and Fort Mason,
opened September 24, 1872. It would be another four years before Augustus &
Olivia Pendry built a hotel fronting on Lake Eustis, opened the Pendryville
Post Office, and named a lake on their property for their
daughter, Grace Olivia Pendry.
Olivia
Pendry, mother of Grace Olivia Pendry
Ocklawaha Hotel, Lake Eustis, built by Augustus & Olivia Pendry
Ocklawaha Hotel, Lake Eustis, built by Augustus & Olivia Pendry
Florida native Nettie Morin, born 1880 to Philias & Charlotte
(Dowling) Morin on the family homestead near today’s town of Eustis, was the
namesake of Lake Nettie.
All three Lake County lakes are still known by the names the
parents of three daughters gave to each lake nearly 140 years ago. Nettie Morin
of Lake Nettie moved away from Lake
County. She became a school teacher. Grace Olivia Pendry of Lake Gracie married Clifford Crandall,
moved back to her parent’s home State of New York, but died at Bradenton,
Florida in 1964. Valeria Gertrude (Henry) of Lake Gertrude married Benjamin Thomas Baker, a native of
Mississippi, and she relocated to Mississippi, where Valeria Gertrude (Henry)
Baker died, June 25, 1953.
Not every lake was named for a daughter of a 19th
century homesteader, but you now know of at least three that were. Deeds
transferring ownership of the Henry parcel of 1884, and the railroad right-of-way
of 1882, were both recorded at Orange County’s courthouse in Orlando. Hence the title of my new book, ORLANDO Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes.
To learn more on each lake identified in bold above, or other Eustis-Mount Dora waterways such as: Crooked; Dora; Harris; Ocklawaha; Saunders; Simpson; Woodward; Lerla; Neighborhood and more, I invite you to consider purchasing my latest book on the story of central Florida: ORLANDO LAKES: Homesteaders & Namesakes, an encyclopedia of central Florida lakes, profiling the origins of 303 historic lakes from Eustis and Sanford in the north to Kissimmee in the south. In the 19th century, all roads led to Orlando!
To learn more on each lake identified in bold above, or other Eustis-Mount Dora waterways such as: Crooked; Dora; Harris; Ocklawaha; Saunders; Simpson; Woodward; Lerla; Neighborhood and more, I invite you to consider purchasing my latest book on the story of central Florida: ORLANDO LAKES: Homesteaders & Namesakes, an encyclopedia of central Florida lakes, profiling the origins of 303 historic lakes from Eustis and Sanford in the north to Kissimmee in the south. In the 19th century, all roads led to Orlando!
Now available at Winter
Garden Heritage Foundation in historic Winter Garden, as well as Amazon.com. I invite you to check out
ORLANDO LAKES: Homesteaders & Namesakes. You can do so simply by clicking
on the convenient link below:
Beginning FRIDAY,
April 5, 2019
A
series like none other:
FAMILIES
of the VILLAGE
The
founders of ORLANDO
Part One: Merchant OVERSTREET
CitrusLANDFL:
Celebrating central Florida’s amazing Women
No comments:
Post a Comment