PART ONE: Merchant Henry Overstreet
ORLANDO’S story kind of began in 1856. The idea of
such a town likely began years before, but not until 1856 was Orange County
introduced to the 417’ X 417’ square want-to-be town.
1857
Plat of Orlando, Lot 10
Four acres in size (417’ x 417’), the square town
consisted of four streets: two running north-south, and two running east-west.
The streets formed sort of tic-tac-toe board. 12 city lots were sketched around
the perimeter, surrounding a very small courthouse square. Of the man donating
this land to Orange County there were only two requirements: First, the village
had to be named the County Seat. Second, the town had to be named, ORLANDO!
Historians have typically told of the town’s Lot 10
merchant, David W. Mizell, but he was not the city’s first merchant, nor was
he the first merchant at Lot 10. David W. Mizell acquired the lot (today the
southeast corner of Central Avenue and Magnolia), on the 12th of
December, 1859. Mizell paid Henry &
Mary Overstreet the sum of $209.87 for the land as well as “all of the goods and merchandise.”
Merchant Mizell therefore bought the store of merchant Overstreet.
Because Mizell didn’t buy until 1859, Orlando’s mysterious
Lot 10 likely originated with Henry C. Overstreet, (I say likely because some
cattle wrestlers burned down the courthouse in 1868, and many of the earliest
deeds went up in smoke). Still, Lot 10 is indeed a mysterious parcel.
I know its old news to write about Benjamin F. Caldwell of Talladega, Alabama
donating four acres in 1857 for a courthouse,” but you may not know the
whole story of that transaction. For starters, the statement is not correct! Benjamin
F. Caldwell of Talladega, Alabama signed a deed which stated: “Town Plat of the Village of Orlando, the
county seat of Orange County, State of Florida, containing four acres, more or
less, excepting Lot No. 10 in said plat, which lot is hereby not conveyed.”
So, Caldwell donated less than four acres – because lot 10 was not part of his
land gift. But why was one of twelve town lots specifically excluded? One
possibility is that a general merchandise store already occupied the land area
that then became lot 10.
Another important fact worthy of mention is where lot
10 was located in the overall scheme of 1856 Orange County. Note in the map
above that ‘Main Street’ ran north and south alongside Lot 10. The dirt road
called Main Street was in reality the Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin road first
established as a military trail in 1838. By the 1850s this route was called
Mellonville Road.
Sketch
of 1871 Mellonville Road becoming Main Street
After the Civil War, David W. Mizell conveyed his
store to his son-in-law, E. W. Spier, shown as such on the 1871 sketch above,
on the east side of Main Street. Years before, like in 1856, the 25 mile long
Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road was a lonely trail having only ONE store south
of Fort Reid at Mile Marker 2 – and that ONE important general store, at Mile
Marker 22, belonged to Merchant Henry C. Overstreet.
Overstreet family legend says Henry Overstreet arrived in Florida in 1856. Orange County’s 1860
census supports this claim, for of the family of 10 in 1860, all but two were natives
of Georgia. Henry and Thomas were both listed as born in Florida, in 1856 &
1860 respectively. The Overstreet family is also wrongly shown as residents of
Brevard County. Although listed with the Brevard census, the family post office
address, as shown below, was Orlando.
1860
Brevard Census with heading “Orlando in Orange County”
Merchant Henry Overstreet is the perfect place to
begin this Orlando Founding Families series, and for a variety of reasons. His arrival
in 1856, together with his 1859 deed to David W. Mizell, helps piece together a
complicated origin for this place called Orlando, FL. Twenty-three years after
his arrival, in 1879, a then Orange County Commissioner Henry Overstreet signed
yet another deed, this one attempting to clarify the four acres: “upon which the courthouse stands.” Even
this Orange County Commissioner’s deed however only adds to Orlando’s mystery.
Henry Overstreet is also a great place to start the
story of Orlando because, as father to a dozen central Florida offspring, he
and wife contributed as well to expanding the area’s population.
Born October 11, 1821 at Swainsboro, Emanuel County,
GA, Henry Overstreet married Mary Cowart in 1843 prior to relocating to
Florida. He settled first at the Village of Orlando, but as the Civil War
began, the village was all but abandoned. Perhaps desiring to get as far away
from any civilization as possible, as if Orlando of 1860 could be deemed
civilized, the Overstreet family relocated again, this time even deeper into
the wilderness of Orange County.
While living at Orlando during the 1850s, merchant
Overstreet and James Yates, Sr. had been neighbors. The two families then
became Shingle Creek neighbors. Orlando Founding Families next Friday continues
with Part II: Patriarch Yates of Orlando.
About the Overstreet’s of central Florida:
CAUTION: Long-time central Florida Overstreet families
could be lineal descendants of Moses Overstreet, also of Georgia. He arrived at
Orange County after the Great Freeze, began buying up thousands of acres, and
established Overstreet Turpentine Co., Overstreet Crate Co, and Overstreet
Investment Co. Henry and Moses had different parents, so any family ties
between the two would be either a second or third generation relationship.
GENEALOGY: Orlando’s Henry & Mary (Cowart)
Overstreet, after moving further south from Orlando, founded Shingle Creek
United Methodist Church on their property. Still part of Orange County at that
time, Henry died at Shingle Creek on November 23, 1879. Osceola County was
carved from Orange eight years after his death.
“First
Road to Orlando” is a history of the old Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road and of
how a tiny village in the middle of a remote wilderness became the Orange
County seat of government.
This
Orlando Founding Families delves deeper into the courageous pioneers who found
their along a lonely dusty old forts trail – and became the first families to
settle at Orlando.
Central Florida History by Richard Lee Cronin
Beyond trail’s end – “Beyond
Gatlin: A History of South Orange County”
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winning books
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