Holiday Post - Part 3:
The Speer
family & the St. Johns River of 1845
Algernon Speer and father-in-law Arthur Ginn are
well-known to fans of central Florida history. They are remembered as the
earliest settlers of Mellonville - Fort Reid, along the south shore of Lake
Monroe, or Sanford as most know it today. But what about Algernon’s brother, Alexander
Speer, of Culloden, GA?
A February 1845 letter to the editor of 1845 sheds new
light on a third Speer family member in the origins of central Florida. Published
March 13, 1845, in the Southern Reporter, Alexander, it turns out, was
also well acquainted with a newly christened Orange County. Florida Territory
became the 27th State in 1845. A Second Indian War had ended three
years prior, and surveyors were busy at work that year mapping Florida south of
Lake George. Surveys were needed so homestead applications could commence.
Mosquito County became Orange County as of 1845, and Orange
still had oceanfront property that year. Volusia County was not formed until
1854. But few individuals knew about Orange County, and only a handful of
settlers, as we learn from Alexander Speer, had dared to call the wilderness
south of Lake Monroe their home.
Having explored the land below Lake Monroe by early 1845,
Alexander Speer provided an eye-witness account of his travels into central
Florida. His analysis below is unedited except for an occasional (sic) to
indicate a different spelling than is used today.
Augusta, Ga., 1st Feb. 1845,
South Florida
“Messrs. Editors: In reply to numerous inquiries from
various parts of the State, permit me to trouble you with one more letter on
South Florida. The inquiries are so numerous, that I hardly know how to reply
without being tedious. However, I will condense what I have to say as much as
possible.
“First. There are two routes to Florida, one by railroad
to Savannah, and thence by weekly steamboats to Lake Monroe, 225 miles up the
St. Johns. This route, from Macon, going and returning, will cost about 50
dollars.
“From Savannah to Lake Monroe, will take about four
days; and the traveler would do well to lay in his stores at Savannah, on which
to subsist while exploring the country. In going this route, the voyager will
see a most magnificent river in the St. Johns. It varies from 1 to 3 miles wide
up to Lake George, a distance of 140 miles. Lake George is 12 miles wide and 20
long, and beautiful as the vision of fancy. Here the tide stops, and the river
from this place is from 200 to 400 yards wide, and very deep; and from this
lake up is called the “Upper St. Johns.”
“The lakes are in the following order, as you ascend:
Little Lake George, Lake George, Spring Garden Lake, Lake Berisford (sic), Lake
Monroe, Lake Jessup (sic), Lake Pointsett (sic), Lake Hainey (sic), Lake Winder (sic),
and Lake Washington; and beyond this, the river is unexplored.
“Lake Washington is very large and is perhaps about
100 miles higher than Lake Monroe. Lake Jessup (sic) was the ne plus ultra of my
peregrinating and is about 250 miles by water from the mouth of the river.
“During the war, large steamboats ascended the river
about 46 miles beyond Lake Monroe, and it is unknown how much farther they can
go. The objections to the traveler taking this route, are, that it is
expensive, and he will hardly be able to get horses to explore the country when
he gets there.
“A public house is kept by Major Taylor at Enterprise,
on the east (sic) side of Lake Monroe. From this lake to Smyrna on the Atlantic
coast, is 18 miles, and to Tampa, on the Gulf, is about 70 miles; the Lake
lying nearly between them. Further up the river, say 70 to 80 miles, it
approaches so near the Atlantic, that, from the river you can hear the roaring
of the surf as the waves roll in on the shore – and here the river is said to
be 60 or 80 feet higher than the sea; and it is asserted that a canal of six
miles long would connect that part of the river with the sea, and this is
already contemplated by the settlers of Indian River.
“The better plan to explore the country is to go by
land. Any one can look at a map and see the course. From where I reside, the
way would be through Lowndes County and thence to Fort King. Here the
settlements cease, and for about 80 miles you have the wilderness, to Lake
Monroe. There are roads, however, or trails, and no difficulty to get on by
taking some stores with you. On this route you may see Orange Lake, then Lake
Eustace (sic), and Lake Opopka (sic), then Fort Gatlin, where three families reside, then turn
east (sic) 25 miles to Lake Monroe and Lake Jessup (sic), where several families reside.
“I am asked if the country is healthy? How about
musketoes (sic)? And what about the water?
“1st. As to health, I would be very willing
to live there. I think is healthy. My reasons are these; the great mass of the
country is poor sand pine land, or sandy oak scrubs. The branches, creeks,
rivers and lakes, have sandy shores and sandy bottoms, and there is very little
wet land, notwithstanding the authority of Murray’s Encyclopedia of Geography,
which asserts that it is all swamp, and produces forty bushels of frogs to the
acre.
“2. The climate is mild and delightful – ne extreme
cold or heat – a slight frost indicates the greatest cold, and heat scarcely
ever reaches 90 degrees. Here in Georgia, we have it up to 95, and in the upper
valley of the Mississippi, according to the notes of an officer of the army, it
ranges from 105 to 115. In Cuba 84 is the greatest heat. The reason is, these warmer regions are
continually fanned by sea breezes, moderating the heat of the sun, producing a
bracing and exhilarating effect on the feelings, and preventing that lassitude
which is so often the precursor of fever.
“3. The settlers after trying the country for several
years, say it is healthy; and I, from the face of the country, see no reason to
doubt their word. But let man judge for himself and act accordingly.
Next in order come the musketoes (sic). The editor of
the Democrat, in Columbus, manifests some alarm on this subject. I was
amused at his fears. What? A man living in Columbus afraid of musketoes! (sic) It is
too bad. This insect is not a stranger in Georgia. Hot weather and standing
water will bring them forth anywhere. They swarm on the lakes of Canada; they
filled the woods in the settling of Kentucky. Go near the rivers and you will
find them – go back into the pine lands and there are none. As it is here, so
it is in Florida. I saw none when there, but no doubt about the rivers, there
are a plenty in summer. I was told there were none in the pine lands off from
the river.
As to water, I think it about such as we get in the
pine lands of Georgia. Some better and some worse. Neither the river nor lakes
are good, though those who are accustomed to them think differently. The small
creeks and branches tasted very pleasantly. So also the wells and springs, as
far as I saw. What is called sand hill water is as good there as in Georgia. It
is true, however, that there is no such water to be found in Florida as is seen
gushing from rocks and mountains, and an up-country man would no doubt for a
time complain of the water, but this passes away in a few weeks, and he feels
it no more.
From Culloden, I think it about 400 miles to Lake
Monroe by land; and by water, via Savannah, it is about 800. I beg leave to
remark, that I am persuading no one to go to Florida. I have no interest
involved, and no motive to make a misstatement, and have not done so knowingly.
I intended an act of kindness when I published my letter, and nothing more. Let
all judge and act for themselves. I selected a spot on Lake Jessup (sic) to
which I desire to move, but whether I shall ever get there is another question;
time will determine.
ALEXANDER SPEER.”
End of Speer's letter to the Editor.
Happy Holidays from
Richard Lee Cronin, Author & Historian
CroninBooks.com
GIFT HISTORY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!
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