WILKS - A Short Avenue Long on History
Part Four: The STEPMOTHER
Age 26 in 1940, Wallace Harney Wilkes lived in Chicago
with Mae Wilkes, age 60, a widow. A native of Iowa, Mae Wilkes was the head of
household. Wallace was identified as Mae’s son.
Far to the south of 1940 Chicago a struggling
community of Pine Castle, birthplace of Wallace Harney Wilkes, was just beginning
to awaken from a horrible nightmare. Much had happened in Orange County since
Sawyer James A. Wilkes established a sawmill on the largely abandoned 1870s
homestead of frontiersmen Will Wallace Harney.
A “Land Bust” of the late 20s, followed by the Market
Crash of ‘29 and the Great Depression of the 1930s, had once again – like that
of the Great Freeze of 1894-95 – caused many a Floridian to pack up and leave.
James Wilkes, together with his second wife and three kids, were among those
who up and left Pine Castle.
Lula (Parker) Wilkes died in 1921. James remarried
soon after, to a mystery woman from Iowa known only to this historian - after
an exhaustive search - as Mae, born circa 1878 at Iowa.
Iowans were indeed finding their way to central
Florida during the early 1900s. “The Prosper Colony,” as reported in February
of 1910, “sold 70 tracts of 5 acres to parties from Indiana, Illinois and
Iowa.” Known today as Taft, James A. Wilkes had acquired five lots in The
Prosper Colony in 1924, soon after marrying Mae of Iowa.
For many reasons, Wilks Avenue is a perfect location
for a Pine Castle Historical Society Museum. Even the misspelling of the street’s
name is representative of many central Florida historic locations. Wilks Avenue
was named for an individual who got his start by subdividing Will Harney’s
Homestead – birthplace of Pine Castle itself. And then like many early
pioneers, history kind of forgot about him. The name Wilkes stands as a
constant reminder of all who came this way, gave it their all, but became lost amid
a fascinating story of this land.
James A. Wilkes died July 2, 1932 and was buried at
Detroit, Michigan. His first wife Lula was buried alongside her parents and
first child at Ocoee in West Orange County. Of the three Wilkes children, Mary
Cornelia died in California; Pine Castle’s namesake - Wallace Harney Wilkes - died
at Chicago; and Alwena, the youngest, died at St. Petersburg, Florida.
Mae from Iowa, stepmother to the Wilkes siblings,
remains lost amid the annals of Pine Castle. Perhaps another researcher will
provide us the rest of the Wilkes family story.
Saturday, November 30th, Pine Castle
Historical Society will open its doors at 631 Wilks Avenue (not WILKES) - from
10 AM until 3 PM. Come and meet friends of historic Pine Castle, and jump start
your holiday gift giving with an author’s signed book or two of “Will Wallace
Harney, Orlando’s First Renaissance Man”, a PERFECT holiday gift for the
history lover in your family.
Watch too for my Christmas holiday series, “12 Days of
a Central Florida Christmas.” Hum the
classic tune while reading each new day’s
post beginning Friday, November 29, 2019 and running thru Tuesday, December 12th.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM CITRUSLANDFL!
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