About Miss EOLA Way #EolaNamesake

About Orlando’s MISS EOLA

A SPECIAL EDITION BLOG

For attendees of Fiesta in the Park at Lake Eola

November 2^nd & 3^rd, 2019

Perhaps while strolling around Lake Eola - enjoying all the unique creations of the artists - your own creative juices might ponder how this lake got its unusual name. #EolaNamesake is pleased to provide you with the answer.

Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes by Richard Lee Cronin, (2019) is an encyclopedia style history that traces the origins of 19^th century named lakes in and around central Florida. Orlando’s iconic Lake Eola, named in 1874, is one of 303 Citrus Belt lakes included in my book. From Lake Eustis and George in the north, to Lake Conlin and Tohopekaliga in the south, the origins of most 19^th century named lakes were found in official documents recorded at the 1857 Orange County seat at Orlando. Hence the title, Orlando Lakes.

Each lake is presented in alphabetical order in the book, with Lake Eola featured on Page 91. The lake’s description however is included below for curious attendees of Fiesta in the Park.

(Lake Eola is also featured on the cover of the book as shown above.)

A perfect holiday gift for the history fan in your family

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Page 91 of Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes

EOLA

Section 25 22S; 29E (Downtown Orlando)

Florida Cattle-King Jacob Summerlin moved his family back to Florida in the early 1870s. They had relocated to Liberty County, GA after the Civil War, moving there so the children could get a better education. Moving back to Florida brought the Summerlin family to Orlando, where the cattle king purchased 200 acres adjacent to the four (4) acre village of Orlando.

A son Robert, having graduated from law school in 1875, attended along with his father Orlando’s 1875 incorporation meeting. During the meeting Summerlin property, 200 acres adjacent to the east side of the village, was annexed into the Town of Orlando. Jacob subdivided his land that same year, sketching a plat in 1875 which showed a named Lake Eola.

An unusual name, Orlando’s iconic Lake Eola of today dates to the arrival of Jacob Summerlin in 1874. Historian and author Kena Fries said in 1938 that prior to Jacob Summerlin’s arrival, the lake had been known as "South Beach". Kena also said Summerlin chose the name at the request of his son Robert. According to Kena, Robert Summerlin and a girl named Eola had been sweethearts. They planned to marry, but Eola died within weeks of their proposed wedding. So, is any of this true?

Native Floridians, the Summerlin’s had lived in Georgia only a brief time. After arriving in Orlando, Jacob Summerlin’s wife attended a meeting too, her's to help organize a Presbyterian Church. One of eleven original church members, March 18, 1876 minutes reads as follows; “Mrs. Jacob Summerlin, formerly of Flemington, Georgia, was in attendance.”

Flemington, GA, southwest of Savannah, is in Liberty County, GA. The Summerlin family was listed in that county’s 1870 census as family #13. The Summerlin children were listed as: George, Robert, Samuel and Alice, and all were said to be “attending school.” A neighbor in 1870, family #6, was Widow Sarah A. Way. Residing with her was a daughter Florence, age 23, listed as a schoolteacher, and three other children, each attending school as well: EULA, Ellen and Joseph.

Lake Eola c. 1880s from downtown Orlando by Stanley J. Morrow

EULA was more formerly Eulalie Way, born at Liberty County, July 22, 1854. But Eulalie never married! She died at age 42, October 13, 1896, and was buried in the State and County of her birth. At age 6, EULA was listed as Eulalie, but 10 years later, as a young girl, friends apparently had nicknamed her EULA. In 1870, "Eula" was 16 years old, Robert Summerlin was 12.

“Till Eulalie became my blushing bride:” Eulalie was a popular name back in the mid-1800s (see Maitland’s Lake Eulalie), popular because of an Edgar Allan Poe poem that had been released nine years before Eula’s birth. The poem, “Eulalie,” is said to be verse about the author’s wife. Married in 1836, a line of the poem reads: “I dwelt alone, in a world of moan, till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride”.

Robert Summerlin and Eulalie Way never married, but not because his "to-be bride" had died. Robert may have had a crush, and it seems the Summerlin boys asked dad to name the lake on their property for their Liberty, GA school chum, Eula Way. But how then did Eula become Eola?

Early surveyors were detailed mapmakers, but often terrible spellers. Fort Reid, named for Florida Territorial Governor Robert R. Reid, was printed Reed by surveyors in 1846. Historians perpetuated that error. Lake Jesup is still misspelled Jessup to this day. Jacob Summerlin hired a surveyor in 1874 to plat his addition to Orlando, and apparently, when told to name the lake Eula, and unaware of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, Surveyor James Jefferson Davis printed Eola instead.

LEGEND Pg. 14: 1881P00C068

END OF LAKE EOLA SECTION OF ORLANDO LAKES

Grave of Eulalie Way (1854-1896) Liberty County, GA

Central Florida history

Richard Lee Cronin

Website CroninBooks.com

Email Rick@CroninBooks.com

Will Wallace Harney, Orlando’s First Renaissance Man: Commissioned by Pine Castle Historical Society, this is the first-ever comprehensive biography of central Florida’s distinguished pioneer and Pine Castle founder. More than a biography of one notable individual, this book describes the origins of Florida’s Citrus Belt itself. Proceeds benefits the Historical Society’s ongoing Pine Castle preservation projects.

Pick up your autographed copy at Fiesta in the Park
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Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes: Name origins of 303 central Florida lakes identify the area’s earliest homesteaders and why they gave lakes the names we know them by today. From Lake Eustis in the north to Lake Tohopekaliga in the south, 19^th century records were kept at the then county seat of Orlando.

The Rutland Mule Matter: A central Florida Civil War Historical Novel based on a true-life Orange County family during the aftermath of America’s War of Rebellion. A son and daughter search for their missing father, banished from local history after the War. Quite possibly the only Novel that includes a bibliography! The siblings find the answer they sought – but that knowledge changed everything. Seven Honorable Floridians compliments Rutland, offering biographies of all seven Florida Secession Convention delegated who voted NO!

Beyond Gatlin: A History of South Orange County. Recipient of Pine Castle Historical Society’s 2017 Historian Award, Beyond Gatlin tells of the pioneers and their settlements south of Fort Gatlin, including towns: Troy, Gatlin, Pine Castle, Mackinnon, Kissimmee, Smithville, Runnymede, The Prosper Colony, Taft, Belle Isle & Edgewood. Beyond Gatlin is a perfect companion to Will Wallace Harney, Orlando’s First Renaissance Man.

First Road to Orlando: A history of Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road, established in 1838 as a military trail. For four decades this dirt path was the main artery for settlers coming inland to Orlando. Today’s I-4 corridor developed largely along this path – a trail that in 1870 was used to plan the route of central Florida’s first railroad. Includes analysis of each old-time version of how Orlando was named – and one new version based on facts.

CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains: Ride along with real-life Edward T. Stotesbury and John P. Ilsley – two Philadelphians who had attempted to rescue the Orange Belt Railway in the 1890s. Boarding at Sanford days after the freeze of 1894-95, you’ll meet real-life homesteaders, men and women, who founded: Sylvan Lake; Paola; Island Lake; Glen Ethel, Altamont (Palm Springs); Forest City; Toronto; Lakeville; Clarcona; Crown Point; Winter Garden and Oakland. History in Novel form complete with bibliography.

CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise: Central Florida’s earliest pioneers faced every imaginable challenge, and many unimaginable, while attempting to tame a remote Orange County wilderness. Each of twelve chapters begins with a biography paying tribute to a central Florida frontierswoman, partners with the remarkable male counterparts who – against all odds – established Central Florida’s Citrus Belt.

In His Brother’s Memory: No history! Escapism in the form of a suspense Novel which takes place on the streets of Paris. a Novel added to the family of R. L. Cronin Books in 2018.

History, Mystery & Intrigue

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