ORLANDO Founding Families: Robert R. REID III

Part 12: ORLANDO RESCUER: Robert R. REID (continued):

Note: Part 13 of this Summer Series will be posted Friday, August 9, 2019

The Mayor’s 1879 proclamation dissolving the City of Orlando was a call to action for Robert Raymond Reid III. Landowner at the time of 120 acres surrounding Orlando’s 1875 Orange County Courthouse, a three-story structure that had been financed by Florida’s cattle-king Jake Summerlin, Robert R. Reid III went right to work rescuing the county seat from almost certain doom.

It had been 22 years since out of state founder Benjamin F. Caldwell of Talladega, Alabama donated four wilderness acres for a log cabin courthouse, a dozen years since Reid himself travelled from Palatka to submit the low bid to acquire Orlando, at auction, on its own courthouse step. It had been four years since out of towners Broome and Cohen had arrived to officially incorporate Orlando as a town. But in 1879, the question of multiple property deeds persisted clearly revealing overlapping landowners, some of whom perished during the Civil War. Barely a town as of 1879, Orlando, if it was to survive as a city, needed a big-time legal fix. Luckily, Robert R. Reid III had the wherewithal to fix Orlando’s problem.

Step One of Reid’s Big Fix:

Reid turned first to Orange County pioneer James G. Speer, the original attorney involved in founding Orlando as Orange County’s seat of government in 1856-57. Brother in law to Benjamin Caldwell, Speer traveled to Talladega personally during the spring of 1879 as a representative of Robert R. Reid III of Palatka. James G. Speer, a resident of West Orange County since returning from Florida’s Gulf Coast in the late 1860s, then met with the widow of Benjamin F. Caldwell, Speer’s one-time sister in law.

On April 21, 1879, James G. Speer signed as a witness to the signature of Louisa ‘Lou’ (Morris) Caldwell (1831-1906), “widow of Benjamin F. Caldwell of Talladega, deceased,” and conveyed to Robert R. Reid all title to land at Orange County, Florida. Also signing the document were three sons of Orlando’s 1857 original founder: William Sandy Caldwell (1856-1936); Lewis Ellington Caldwell (1860-1927); and Benjamin Franklin Caldwell II (1864-1936).

With the signed document in hand, Speer returned home to Orange County, where he recorded the document with Orange County’s clerk of court five (5) days after Orlando’s Mayor had issued the July 24, 1879 proclamation dissolving Orlando’s town’s charter.

Step Two of Reid’s Big Fix:

With the Reid/Caldwell conflict resolved, phase two kicked in. Palatka Attorney William F. Forward, son of the 1850s Circuit Judge Forward, who in 1857-58 had traveled to Village of Orlando to hold court, was in 1879 also the son in law of Robert R. Reid III. Reid looked to William to negotiate a settlement with the county. Orange County Commissioners James M. Owens; Benjamin F. Whitner; Henry Overstreet; and Christopher C. Beasley accepted Reid’s agreement May 17, 1879, and Attorney Forward recorded the approved county resolution with the clerk of court September 5, 1879.

Benjamin Caldwell had gifted 4 acres (except lot 10) to Orange County in 1857. Deeded 119 acres by the land office in 1860, Caldwell’s 119 acres included the 4 acres gifted to the county. Robert Reid acquired at auction 113 acres in 1867, the very same parcel owned by Caldwell, less 4 acres owned by the county as well as two, one-acre parcels, land adjoining the village that the Patrick’s believed they rightfully owned. With the Caldwell family now out of the picture, and County Commissioners in agreement, Reid could then proceed with the final phase of his plan.

Side-by-side aerial and map views of Benjamin F. Caldwell’s 119 acres (outlined in orange at right above) acquired by Robert R. Reid III at auction in 1867 and resolved through negotiations with William A. Patrick in 1880. Green square at left above was the 40 acres developed by Patrick. Red rectangle above was developed by Reid.

Step Three of Reid’s Big Fix:

Robert R. Reid and William A. Patrick came to a written agreement on who owned what. This phase was handled by Reid himself, and involved two stages resolved through two documents. First, Reid and the Patrick family representative reached agreement with regards to two parcels adjoining Orlando’s town square. Second, Robert Reid and William Patrick then agreed to a distribution plan for the remaining 120 acres. William A. Patrick settled on a square parcel 40 acres in size (see green square at left on aerial view above), leaving 80 acres in a rectangle shape that remained with Robert R. Reid III (red rectangle on right on aerial view above).

Southernmost railroad town of Orlando:

As yearend 1880 approached South Florida Railroad’s first train arrived at Orlando, the county seat of Orange County and the southernmost city (for a moment in time) in the United States of America having rail service. The first train stopped where Church Street today intersects with Gertrude’s walk, and where back in 1880, William A. Patrick owned land to the west of that track, and Robert R. Reid owned land east of the track.

A town called Orlando was back in business, saved largely due to the determination of Robert R. Reid III, a merchant from Palatka. Robert and Mary C. Reid of Palatka sold their first Orlando town lot March 16, 1881, signing that deed, as they did all sales deeds to follow, from their home in Putnam County.

Founded by an out-of-state resident who never lived at Orlando, the county seat was saved from almost certain doom by an out-of-town resident who never lived at Orlando!

This series will return Friday, August 9, 2019. The railroad’s arrival at Orlando was an important step in opening South Florida to development. As new track was laid further south, the depots built at intervals along that track encouraged settlers to chance “City Building in the South.” Some towns survived while others didn’t!

Friday, August 9, 2019: Mackinnon

Friday, August 16, 2019: Kissimmee

Friday, August 23, 2019: Davenport

Friday, August 30, 2019: To be announced

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The Rutland Mule Matter; A Civil War Novel (2015)

Beyond Gatlin – A History of South Florida; (2017)

First Road to Orlando; The Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road (2015)

Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes (2019)

Curse of Florida’s Paradise (2016 2^nd Edition)

Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains (2015)

Altamonte Springs of Florida (2014)

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CENTRAL FLORIDA FOUNDING FAMILIES RETURNS AUGUST 9TH

   

ORLANDO Founding Families: The REID family

Part 11: Robert Raymond REID & friends:

“A stage wagon twice a week goes from Orlando to Sanford and Mellonville through a region of country picturesque with new groves and pine castles risen like Aladdin’s palace.”

Robert R. Reid residence at Palatka, Florida

Orlando parcels sold by the Reid’s during the 1880s were signed at Palatka, FL

Correspondent Will Wallace Harney, a resident of Orange County, told of “stage wagon” service between Orlando and Lake Monroe in 1877. The article, entitled “Florida Letter,” was penned at Will Harney’s “Pinecastle” on Lake Conway. Twenty years had passed since Orange County’s seat of government had been established by 31 registered voters choosing Orlando as its site. An Abbeville clan (Part 10) had been the advocates of this remote location. And a decade had passed since Robert Raymond Reid III made the journey from his Palatka residence, arriving at Orlando in time to submit the low bid of $900 for 113 acres surrounding the 1857 Orlando village. After submitting his winning bid, Reid then returned home to Palatka.

COMING THIS FALL: PIONEERS of South Florida Railroad’s route beyond Orlando: Founding families of Kissimmee, Lakeland, Plant City, Seffner & others as the railroad continues laying down track toward Tampa Bay. Follow this Blog or my CitrusLANDFL Facebook Page for details.

Robert R. Reid III did more to rescue the forsaken village of Orlando than any other founder, but history failed to remember the Palatka merchant for his accomplishments. He had stepped ashore at Mellonville in 1867, before stage wagon service, and journeyed inland to Fort Reid, a small settlement named for the fortress built at this location in 1842. Fort Reid had been named by the Army for Territorial Governor Robert R. Reid II, father of the Palatka merchant Reid who passed this way 25 years later, on his way to the county seat - to rescue Orlando!

Reid had another twenty (20) miles to traverse south of Fort Reid, following the Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road, to arrive at Orlando. Will Harney traveled this way two years later, describing the trail in 1869 by conjuring up Alexander Kinglake’s 1835 description of the Sahara (Sinai), “Sand and sand and sand, and only sand and sand and sand again.” But despite all the sand, Robert R. Reid III arrived at Orlando in time to submit the winning bid at Sheriff John Ivey’s January 7, 1867 auction.

Robert R. Reid III was the successful bidder at $900 of the 113 acres outlined in orange, but with exception of four (4) acres outlined in red, the Village of Orlando. 40 acres inside orange area, left of the green line, was platted by William A. Patrick. 80 acres right of green line was platted by Robert R. Reid III. More on this development in Part 12.

Among the many intriguing uncertainties of Orlando’s founding are several mysteries involving R. R. Reid III: Why did Reid buy Orlando? Why, after submitting his winning bid, did Reid III return home to Palatka and do nothing for more than a decade with his newly acquired property? Why did Reid wait 13 years prior to recording Orlando’s first town plat? Why didn’t Robert R. Reid III relocate to the land he purchased in Orange County?

Historian Kena Fries wrote this of the Palatka merchant in 1938: “Robert R. Reid, a lawyer from Jacksonville, was engaged to settle the dispute, and for his services was paid that part of Orlando known as Robert R. Reid’s addition to the original town of Orlando. There was a romance, Reid fell in love and married Mary Lovell. They left soon after.” Reid III however was a not a lawyer, nor was Reid given the land for services rendered. As for Mary, the daughter of William Allen Lovell, she married a Taylor, not a Reid. Robert R. Reid III had married Mary Benet in 1850, not Mary Lovell, and the Palatka couple remained married until her death at Palatka in 1889.

The particulars of Orlando’s origin are complicated, so it is no wonder historians often got the story of the town’s founding wrong. Even Orlando’s timeline is askew. Founded in 1857, the village wasn’t incorporated as a town until August 1875. Jacob Summerlin financed building the three-story county courthouse that same year. And at the 1875 incorporation meeting, locals all agreed to expand the town size from its original 4 acres to a square mile. But despite Orlando’s 1875 incorporation, a town plat was not recorded until 5 years later.

When the first town plat was recorded, it was depicted on two pages and recorded with the clerk of court in 1880. At the center of the town plat was shown the 4 acres donated to Orange County in 1857 by Benjamin F. Caldwell. The north half of the 80 acres platted as Addition to Orlando appeared on page one, with the owner listed on the page as Robert R. Reid. Page two of the plat showed the south half of the town, and the owner was listed as R. R. Reed. The correct name of course was Robert Raymond Reid III of Palatka, and there is also an excellent explanation as to why Reid’s plat was 80 acres rather than 113 acres. Reid III, one could say, was a peace maker.

Plat of Orlando recorded as two pages at Orange County in 1881 by Robert R. Reid III 

Remember the Patrick family of Part 4, and how they believed the 113 acres outlined above in orange belonged to them? And remember Benjamin F. Caldwell of Part 5, and the deed showing he owned that very same parcel? Well, by 1879, Robert R. Reid III of Palatka had one big mess on his hands. He could not sell the acreage he had owned since 1867 without first cleaning up his deed. Cohorts of Robert R. Reid III, including merchant Jacob R. Cohen, had been instrumental in formally incorporating the Town of Orlando in 1875, but then the past reared its ugly head.

Reid’s problems reached fever pitch in July 1879. Historian William F. Blackman wrote of that year’s strange turn of events: “Some question having arisen as to the legality of the existing Charter, the Mayor issued a proclamation that the corporation of Orlando is dissolved by the majority vote of the citizens of Orlando.” Orlando dissolved? Four years prior Henry S. Sanford had made his pitch to move the county seat to Sanford. Jacob Summerlin said never!

Founded by an out-of-state family, Orlando’s only hope of rescue in 1879 rested with an out-of-town landowner. Orlando now looked to Robert R. Reid III to solve a problem 22 years in the making. And had it not been for what happened next, Orange County’s courthouse may well have been relocated to Sanford, despite the objections of Jacob Summerlin.

Next Friday, Robert R. Reid III steps in to save a mysterious little county seat named Orlando.

  “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 Series delves deeper into the courageous people who found their way down a lonely dusty forts trail – and became the first families to settle Orlando.

Central Florida History by Richard Lee Cronin

Visit my Amazon author page by clicking on the link below

https://www.amazon.com/author/richardcronin

ORLANDO Founding Families: Aaron vs the ABBEVILLE Consortium

Part 10: Aaron vs the ABBEVILLE Consort:

Pin the Tail on the Donkey comes to mind when I think about how a location for the town of Orlando appears to have been made by the 1850s “planners” of Orange County.

The long donkey’s “tail” in this case was the 28 mile long Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road. Note I used the word “planners” rather than “settlers,” an important distinction. The 19^th century organizers of central Florida – perhaps while blindfolded – pinned their 1857 county seat at an unremarkable location on a sand rutted military trail 28 miles in length. There was  NO lake for drinking water, NO waterway or railway for transportation to and from the county seat, and yet for some unknown reason the site selected for Orlando seemed acceptable to all involved.

Settlers versus planners of a place called Orlando were indeed two entirely distinct families. “Settlers” at the time were mainly the Jernigan’s, the bravest of brave pioneers who in the early 1840s had followed Aaron Jernigan to Mosquito County. The Jernigan-Patrick families arrived in central Florida when there was nothing in the form of civilization. Nothing! 

Those representing the region when Jernigan arrived were residents of areas far to the north of Fort Gatlin, areas that are today Seminole and Volusia Counties.

Aaron Jernigan (1813-1891) Photo courtesy of Ross Adam Wood, Sr.

Aaron Jernigan represented a dozen or so homesteaders spread across ten square miles surrounding present day Orlando. Not a one however, not even Aaron, homesteaded ON the trail itself.

The “planners” were folks I call the “Abbeville Consortium”, natives of historic Abbeville, South Carolina. Many of the planners working to establish the town of Orlando never even settled in the area. But of those who did come to central Florida, the first, James & Isaphoenia Speer, arrived in 1854, a decade after the Jernigan clan had built homes and cleared palmettos for their ‘home garden.’ Aaron Jernigan even established a Jernigan post office - four years before the Speer family arrived.

Although the original settlers were mainly cattlemen, Aaron Jernigan had not only homesteaded 160 acres prior to the “planners” arriving, he had established himself as a land speculator on the old forts trail as well. He had opened a store at Henry A. Crane’s lakeside town of Mellonville on Lake Monroe, and he acquired 160 lakefront acres on Lake Lucerne, near Orlando, but before there was an Orlando. Aaron bought 80 acres on Lake Conway at Fort Gatlin, and lakefront land far south of the old fort, on Lake Tohopekaliga. Aaron Jernigan even owned his own island - Jernigan Island in Lake Toho.

Aaron Jernigan had a plan in the mid-1850s for central Florida, a wilderness of fewer than 200 residents – a quarter of whom were his relatives. But in 1854, as the Speer’s first followed the old forts trail south to Jernigan’s neighborhood, one wonders what his plan was, and how that first meeting between the Jernigan’s and Speer’s worked out. Did James Speer inform Jernigan that they too had plans for central Florida’s remote wilderness?

Judge James G. Speer (1820-1893) Early Settlers of Orange County

Within two years of the Speer’s arrival an election was called to determine a location for a new Orange County Courthouse. Attorney James G. Speer (Part 6 of this series) and wife Isaphoenia C. (Ellington) Speer (Part 7) represented the Abbeville Consortium; as did Abbeville, South Carolina families John R. Worthington (Part 3); Thomas Harris, Jr. (Part 8); and William & Emily (Watson) Hull (Part 9).

Then too, from far off Talladega, Alabama, the Caldwell family (Part 5), originally of Abbeville, fulfilled their part of the town building plan hatched by the family’s patriarch, William Harris Caldwell.

The Abbeville Consortium’s plan worked – Orlando, Florida was established as the Orange County seat of government and made official October 5, 1857 with Benjamin F. Caldwell donating land for the site of a courthouse. But then, most all those involved in Orlando’s origin had vanished from the town within a decade. And by 1867, even Aaron Jernigan had departed the State of Florida. Most all of Aaron’s family who stayed in Orange County chose to relocate further south in the county.

Legacy requires history to remember that which occurred, but a horrific Civil War, four short years after Orlando’s founding, threatened to erase all memory of the hopes and dreams of one proud Abbeville consortium. A family’s who heritage dated to America’s unprecedented Revolution and beyond, had set out to establish a family memorial to one of their own. But by 1867, Orange County residents struggled to survive while still enduring a demeaning post-Civil War Military Reconstruction Period.

A nearly abandoned 1867 town of Orlando was literally on the verge of going the way of ghost towns. A court decree had been issued in late 1866, an order Sheriff John Ivey had no choice but to carry out. The Sheriff was ordered to sell at auction the landholdings of Orlando’s Postmaster, John R. Worthington, a casualty of the Civil War.

Sheriff John Ivey held an auction January 7, 1867, selling all 113 acres surrounding four acres where the village of Orlando had been founded in 1857, in one package. A merchant from Palatka, Robert R. Reid III, the son of Florida Territorial Governor Robert R. Reid II (1789-1841) submitted the low bid of $900.

A story about a family founding a town in memory of an ancestor came so near its conclusion until Reid came to town that day in January 1867. And although he returned home to Palatka, the history of this place called Orlando survived because that “family” was more determined than ever to make it so.

Next Friday, June 14, 2019: Robert Raymond Reid III     

“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 Series delves deeper into the courageous people who found their way down a lonely dusty forts trail – and became the first families to settle Orlando.

Central Florida History by Richard Lee Cronin

Visit my Amazon author page by clicking on the link below

https://www.amazon.com/author/richardcronin