Frontierswomen
of Central Florida
Sarah Jane (Church) Whitner, see also post of March 4, 2022
A
Women’s History Month Tribute
By
Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com
1 March 2022
Day 1:
CitrusLAND is observing Women’s History Month by
honoring extraordinary Central Florida frontierswomen, notable women who once
lived in counties Lake, Seminole, Sumter, Orange, and Osceola. Countless women
have made a huge impact on this region’s history, and so this March series
honors one hundred such extraordinary ladies. Each day throughout
the month we will feature remarkable Citrus Belt 19th and 20th
century female pioneers, some of whom made it into earlier history books, but
mostly those who did not. Our 100 featured Central Florida women will be
presented in alphabetic order - according to their #Maiden_name -
beginning with the three ladies featured in this post.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we will
also promote local History Museums. Each day a different museum will be
featured including their days and hours of operation. If you want to learn more
about central Florida’s earliest families, or want to learn more about any
museum, mention same in the comment section.
Our featured History Museum is at the end of this blog
Lula D. #Alexander Given
(1860-1921) exemplifies the countless forgotten young women of post-Civil War
central Florida. A native of Knoxville, TN, Lula’s father died on a Civil War
battlefield when she was 2 years old. She came to Florida at age 15 with her
mother, Lucinda (Cowan) /Alexander (18309-1910), and stepfather, General Joseph
J. Finegan. They settled at Rutledge, two miles south of Fort Reid,
where in 1886, Lula married Mustoe B. Given, the surveyor who five years
earlier had designed the new city of Tavares. Mustoe and Lula’s home at
Rutledge was on the route of Sanford & Indian River Railroad, now a
phantom railroad, as track still passes through where the Ghost Town once
stood.
Central Florida was heavily impacted by the Yellow
Fever epidemic of 1887-88. In 1889, Lula (Alexander) Given became a widow. With
her widowed mother, both gave up on America’s 19th century dream of
a Paradise and returned home to Tennessee. Lula died on 4 December 1921.
[Reference books: First
Road to Orlando and Tavares, Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake
County, both by Richard Lee Cronin].
1890 Rutledge on the Sanford
& Indian River Railroad. #CFtrainfan
See also Maria #St Cyr later in
this series, and First Road to Orlando by R. C. Cronin
Miss Easter #Armstrong of
Mount Dora (1857-1940), a published author, artist, and “ardent lover of
nature”, was also a Charter Member of the Mount Dora’s Woman’s Club.
The Club, established in 1919, member Easter Armstrong
took an active interest in the founding of, said her obituary: “an Art League;
Reading Circle; Book Club; Garden Club; and was the first member to recite a
“Play” to the Club’s members, as well as her own reading of ‘The Blue Bird’ (presumably
the play by Maurice Maeterlinck) and her paper on Florida birds when she gave
the bird calls.”
Easter Armstrong also played a role in founding Mount
Dora’s library, “a work in which she never lost interest.” The family’s stately
residence, dubbed “Westview” by Miss Armstrong herself, occupied an entire city
block, between 5th and 6th Avenues west of McDonald
Street, until Easter Armstrong sold the southern portion of the Family’s lot for
the Thompson House of today.
A graduate of Mt. Holyoke, a student of dramatics, a
published tribute to Miss Easter Armstrong in 1940 concluded by saying: “Beside
the tangible works of her hands, her beautiful pine needle baskets, and her
paintings, these other things, to which she gave her interest and practical
aid, are a real memorial to this woman who was a vital force for better things
in our town”.
[Reference books, Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders.
By Richard Lee Cronin].
Frances ‘Fannie’ #Asher Rush
(1851-1928) acquired 120 acres to the south of Winter Garden of today in 1883.
Her land, bordering the east shore of Johns Lake and the north shore of Black
Lake, was then subdivided in 1887 as the town of Creston. Fannie and her
husband, Dr. Warren Rush, had platted the Ghost Town Creston prior to the
founding of Winter Garden, and their 1887 plat (see below) showed the planned
alignment of the “T A G & RR”, aka the Tavares, Apopka & Gulf
Railroad, even though the railroad had yet to reach Orange County.
Dr. Warren & Fannie had been residents of Iowa in
1880 before relocating to West Orange County about the time Fannie acquired the
120 lakeside acres. On 25 March 1886, she and her husband sold part of their
land to Margaret A. S. W. Black, of Dundee Scotland (acreage on “Black”
Lake). Timing, unfortunately, was not good for Fannie’s land acquisition, for
as she and husband began planning their new railroad town, the Yellow Fever Epidemic
of 1887 began sweeping across Florida, crushing the hopes and dreams of many a
town builder.
Town
Plat of Creston, Florida #CFtrainfan
The Rush family settled for a time at Oakland, where
they were residing when the successor to Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad
finally reached Oakland, Orange County. The T&G Railroad eventually revised
it planned Orange County route – traveling instead to the town of Winter Garden
and Ocoee.
[Reference Rick Cronin’s Blog www.citruslandFL.com of
April 6, 2017 – Creston of Orange County,
Florida].
This salute to central Florida frontierswomen will continue
tomorrow.
Today’s Featured Museum: Sanford
Sanford Museum –
Tis only fitting our salute to central Florida museums begins at Sanford
Museum. Off to the right of the museum photo above, beyond the trees, is
the start of Mellonville Road – a southbound road leading inland from
Lake Monroe. In the 1840s and 1850s, the earliest Orange County pioneers
stepped ashore at this exact point, and they too began their inland journey to
settle what is now Orange, Osceola, and Seminole County. Sanford at that time
was part of Orange County.
A
far shorter road today, this Mellonville Road was originally 28 miles in
length, ending at Fort Gatlin – 5 miles south of the 1856 town of
Orlando.
Visit
Sanford Museum for more about the earliest days of central Florida.
The Sanford Historical
Society Museum is located at 520 E. 1st Street, Sanford, FL. Hours are
9 AM to5 PM, Tuesday thru Saturday, but it is always wise to call ahead and
verify hours before hiking the Mellonville Road north to Lake Monre.
407-688-5198.
Interested in central Florida Railroad History?
Tavares History Museum: March 4, 2022
Tavares Trains a
presentation by R. L. Cronin
Three presentations: 10 AM, 11:30 AM and 1 PM
Books by Richard Lee Cronin on sale during event
Questions
about central Florida history? Rick@CroninBooks.com
Frontierswomen of
Central Florida
A Women’s History
Month Tribute
Continues tomorrow…
No comments:
Post a Comment