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
SUMMER SAVINGS AT YOUR ONLINE HISTORY
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The following books will be shipped to your door:
The Rutland Mule
Matter; A Civil War Novel (2015)
Beyond Gatlin – A
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First Road to
Orlando; The Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road (2015)
Orlando Lakes:
Homesteaders & Namesakes (2019)
Curse of Florida’s
Paradise (2016 2nd Edition)
Ghost Towns &
Phantom Trains (2015)
Altamonte Springs
of Florida (2014)
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